Authors: Judy Angelo
She stole a quick
glance in the mirror. Not bad, but she was missing something. Oh yes, Indie’s
peach and cream scarf. Shoot. That would have been the perfect touch. She
frowned as she realized that after she’d left that voice message Indie hadn’t
even returned her call. Boy, as soon as they get married they forget about
their friends. Grrr!
Anyway, too late
now. This look would have to do.
Tessa tore back
down the stairs – which was more like fast tiptoeing, seeing that she was in
high heels – and out the door, hopped into her Audi which she’d left running,
backed out and roared down the street somewhat faster than she was supposed to
be going on a neighborhood street.
Please don’t let me get a ticket
.
Of course, when
she got to school everybody noticed that she looked different. It started with
the teachers in the lounge.
“Ooh, somebody’s
got a date today.” Jackie Hepburn grinned at her as she gathered up a pile of
notebooks. “Who’s the lucky man?”
Tessa could have
pinched her. Trust Jackie to start something. Now the whole staff would be
teasing her.
“Yeah, Tessa.
What’s up with the fancy dress?” Redhead Fred was all too willing to jump on
the ‘Tease Tessa’ bandwagon. He welcomed anything that would distract him from
his work. Where Fred was concerned, a dose of Ritalin would be very much in
order.
Next it was Paula
then Karen putting in their two cents until Tessa had to grab her papers and
notes and escape to her class. “Nothing special, guys,” she called out as she
fled the staff lounge. “Just a quick business lunch.” She didn’t miss Fred’s
sarcastic, “Yeah, right.”
Tessa had thought
her fellow teachers had been pretty vocal in their comments but it was when she
got to her first group of students that she knew what ‘vocal’ was. As she
walked into the classroom the wolf whistles were so loud she had to slam the
door shut behind her before the principal heard and came running to
investigate.
“Lookin’ good,
Miss T,” Karl Janssen yelled from the back of the room and of course, like good
little minions, the rest of the boys started woof-woofing until she had to put
a stop to it.
“Okay, class,
that’s enough.” Tessa practically had to bark the words to be heard over the
din. Then she looked directly at Karl, the renowned ringleader and master
troublemaker in this group. “Thank you for your compliment, Karl, but now it
is time for class. Understood?”
“Gotcha,” he said
with a nod even as he gave her a bold stare that started at the tips of her
toes and traveled all the way up her person to stop at her chest.
Tessa almost threw
the blackboard eraser at him, she was so annoyed. Instead, she drew in some
oxygen and turned her back to the class as she picked up a stick of chalk and
got ready to write the day’s topic on the board.
She had to
remember that these boys were not so much boys but, at eighteen, fully grown
men with an awareness she hadn’t had at their age. Young men with hormones
kicking into overdrive. They’d be testing her, trying out their manliness,
trying to look macho in front of their peers. Knowing this, she did her best
not to deflate any of them in front of their friends.
Tessa taught two
sessions before her morning segment ended and as the bell rang to signal eleven
o’clock she sagged with relief. Never again would she dress up and come to
school, no matter who she was having lunch with. Whether priest, politician,
or president they’d have to receive her in her basic black, gray or navy skirt
suits because being harassed at school because you dared to look good was just
not worth the trouble.
At ten minutes
after eleven Tessa was already in her car and heading down Plains Road toward
The Lord Nelson. She got there with a whole ten minutes to spare. She’d told
Wolf to meet her at eleven thirty for lunch so she slung her purse over her
shoulder and took her time as she strolled to the main entrance of the
restaurant.
As she stepped out
of the sunshine and into the softly lit lobby she blinked as her eyes adjusted
to the subdued lighting. Her brows raised when she saw that, standing less
than ten feet away, was Wolf. Talk about an early bird.
But he looked like
no bird she’d ever seen. No, Wolf Spencer was all man, dressed casually in
dark gray slacks and a blue Oxford shirt open at the collar to reveal the
tanned skin of his neck. Strange how he always seemed so tanned – in South
Africa, at the dinner at Indie's house, and even now. It was only the
beginning of February, for goodness sake. Where’d he get the chance to soak up
so much sun? Or was he the product of the tanning booth?
“Tessa. Good to
see you again.”
Her thoughts were
snapped off when he came forward and extended his hand in greeting. It
swallowed hers whole. “Hi, Wolf. You’re early,” she began then realizing that
hadn’t sounded too welcoming she cleared her throat. “Thanks for coming and
for accepting my apology.”
That got her a
smile. “I hope you’ll have lots of reasons to apologize,” he said with a
teasing look. “That way, I’ll never be short of lunch dates.”
That made her
smile, too, and then she began to wonder what he’d done with his
‘brick-wall-for-a-face’. The more she saw of him, the more human he was
becoming. She could get used to this.
In quick time they
were seated at a table. The server greeted them and took their order and then
they were alone. Alone as in no-one else with them, as in no-one else to talk
to, or to break the ice. Tessa gave Wolf a little smile then dropped her
eyes. She’d already apologized. Now what? Heck if she knew what to start
talking about now that they were alone.
“So how are things
at school?” Even if he was just trying to break the silence Wolf was doing a
good job at looking interested. Thank God. At least he’d got the ball
rolling.
“Pretty good,” she
said, nodding. “It can get pretty hectic sometimes, especially as we’re
getting farther into the term. You know, exams and so forth. But it’s also
part of the job. Part of the challenge. Love it.”
He tilted his head
to one side. “You love being a teacher, do you?”
Like a copycat she
tilted her head, too. It was almost as if she was in sync with him and she
knew why. He’d asked her about a topic that was close to her heart.
Don’t
let me get started, Wolf. I may not stop
.
“Absolutely.”
There was not an iota of doubt in her response. “It’s my life. I love to
interact with young people, educate them and most of all, motivate them to be
their best. I could have no greater reward than to see one of my students hit
the ground running on the path to a life of achievement.”
He leaned back in
his chair and smiled at her. “It’s kind of weird, hearing you talk about
working with ‘young people’. You don’t look much older than a high school kid
yourself. How old are you? Nineteen?”
Tessa laughed,
knowing he was just being facetious. “Hey, don’t disrespect. You’re looking
at a woman who’s all of twenty-five years old. Way past the high school age.”
She’d never been shy about revealing her age and she wasn’t going to start
now. She’d probably start to count backwards once she hit the big four-O but
until then her age was just another number.
Wolf gave her a
teasing nod. “I stand corrected.” Then he reached out and took a sip of the cranberry
juice the server had brought him. “So, Miss Tyndale, I can see you have a
passion for education. Right up my alley.”
“Your alley?” That
made her cock an eyebrow. “You’re into education, too?”
"Been in it
all my life. I grew up seeing both my parents working in the field of
education, then I did a stint as a tutor and then a teaching assistant in
university. And remember, I started out as a lab assistant in high school.
You know the story behind that one.” He chuckled at the memory. “Anyway, I
recognized pretty early on that I wanted to motivate others to learn. Probably
a little bit like you.” He stroked his chin and gave her a thoughtful look.
“And that’s why I started my video production company. The best of both
worlds. A marriage of my training in film with my passion for sharing the joys
of learning.”
That made Tessa’s
ears perk up. Now this was an interesting topic of conversation if there ever
was one. “So what exactly do you do at this video production company of
yours?”
“Your grilled
salmon with whipped potatoes, ma’am.”
Tessa jumped, only
then realizing that the server had returned with their orders. She’d been so
engrossed in the conversation, so fascinated with the knowledge that she and Stone
Face had something in common – no, that wasn’t fair, calling him that name; he
was way human now – that she’d lost track of time, space and her surroundings.
Wolf Spencer, you’re becoming so interesting, if you’re not careful I might
begin to like you
.
She waited until
the server had laid the warm plate in front of her and a plate of steak and
potatoes in front of Wolf then as soon as the young woman was out of earshot
Tessa prodded Wolf again. “Your company? What do you do there?”
Wolf shook his head
and grunted in a disapproving manner. “Oh, no, you don’t. You’ve got a gleam
in your eye and your breathing just got faster. I bet your mouth's watering,
too, and it’s not for food. It’s for information.” He gave her a smile that
was both teasing and disarming all at once. “I know the symptoms. I’ve fallen
under that spell lots of times and I know that means you’ll probably spend the
rest of the time plying me with questions, forgetting that you have a meal
growing cold in front of you.” He picked up his fork. “Not another word about
my company or my projects until you’ve eaten at least half of what’s on your
plate. Bon apetit.”
Tessa began to
pout but then decided to give up and just eat fast. She wanted to get back to
the talking as soon as possible.
True to his word,
she was halfway through her meal when Wolf switched their light conversation
back to the topic that had captured her interest.
“The main focus of
Dynamic Video Productions is to create quality videos and television programs
for both children and adults, shows that will not only entertain but also
educate in areas ranging from foreign languages to science to culture and
sociology. It was an ambitious goal, to try and cover such a vast range of
subjects, but it came out of my dissatisfaction with the television shows
available to the general public. There’s just so much 'Sponge Bob' and 'Loonie
Tunes' that a child’s head can take.”
Before she even
realized what she was doing Tessa had reached out and touched Wolf’s hand.
“You hit the nail right on the head. That’s been a major – and I mean major –
pet peeve of mine. Where’s the quality programming for children?” Her point
made, and seeing that he’d glanced down and noticed her hand on his, she
withdrew before he thought she was being forward. She’d always been a
touchy-feely sort of person, quick to touch someone on the arm or the shoulder
when making a point. Bad habit.
Note to self – don’t do that anymore
.
“Right,” he said
with a nod. “The thing is, even the channels that say they're providing
educational programming are woefully lacking. So there’s 'Blue's Clues' and 'Sesame
Street' for the tots but what about elementary and middle school children?
What about high schoolers? They could benefit from shows supporting their
learning."
Tessa laid her
hand on her heart and looked at Wolf with eyes that probably shone with love.
Well, not love-love but a whole lot of admiration. She couldn’t help it. The
man was speaking as if he’d been reading her heart. She couldn’t hold it in.
She had to tell him how she felt. “Can I box you up and take you home with
me? You are so…so…with it. You understand exactly what we’re missing. I love
that.”
For a second Wolf
looked taken aback by her passionate declaration but then he leaned forward and
his eyes flashed with a fire which told her they were thinking along the same
lines. “So you’re feeling me and where I’m coming from,” he said, his voice
crackling with obvious excitement. “My dream is to revolutionize the world of
television with real-world, viable options for adults and children who value
learning. Not another PBS or TVO. No, a real alternative – education TV, a
station where it’s all education, all the time, twenty-four hours a day. And
real learning, not just kiddies game shows-”
“And interactive
learning, fun learning, materials from the school curriculum but presented in a
viewer-friendly format.” She’d cut him off, she knew, but she couldn’t help
it. He got her fire burning and she could not stop. And he was right. Her
mouth was watering. "And mock quizzes and educational game shows-”
“Stop.” Now it
was Wolf’s turn to reach out and touch her hand and he was grinning as broadly
as she was. “If you keep going, my head is going to explode. It’s like…” he
looked away, seeming to be searching for words. “…it’s like connecting with
you opened up the flood gates. There are too many ideas rushing at me right
now.”
“I know,” Tessa
said, giving him a look of sympathy. “It’s a phenomenon I’ve heard of before.
It’s called synergy.”