SHE couldn’t believe that it was the fifteen-year-old boy sitting in front of her right now.
He has grown into such a man!
Rachel took a while to find her voice, “T-that was quite a long time.”
“Yeah,” he said with a casual smile, “But I never forgot you.”
“Oh boy!” she exclaimed quietly and took a deep breath to keep her mind calm before responding to him.
“You were just a boy, and you left for a land of opportunities, new school, new friends, a great career and you still remembered me?”
“Yep.”

“That’s amazing!”
She had known he had become infatuated with her, something normal for teenagers, but she had never let it show, continuing to work as normal with the class. When his grades started slipping because he was not concentrating on his studies, she decided to talk to him one-on-one. She had patiently explained to him that his studies were important for a good future and it would be quite pleasing to her to see his grades improving.
“Why would it be pleasing to you?” he had asked.
“Because I care about my students.”

“Not me, specifically?”
She had known she had to be careful when answering him.
“It would be against my principles as a teacher.”
He had gotten up, walked to the window and did not respond for a while and she had held her breath hoping she had gotten through to him to help him understand. He turned back from the window, picked up his bag, smiled at her, and said casually, “I know what I have to do.”
“What?”

“I have to grow up and become a man, then I will get your special attention.”
She hadn’t answered. Sure he would have forgotten that.
But how wrong could she have been!
“I grew up and became a man,” he said to her, “But you did not wait for me.”
She looked at him, her mind in a state of disbelief.
“You were a student who was going through a phase in your young life that goes away as you grow older.”
He looked at her and stated with a gentle smile, “Well I guess it wasn’t infatuation.”
“What?” she exclaimed quietly, “What are you saying?”

“I have come back after ten years and the first person I wanted to see was you, that’s why I went to visit the school.”
That left her at a loss for words again and seeing the disbelief on her face and her struggle to respond, he said, “You didn’t believe me so you found love and got married.”
She shook her head and took a deep breath to find her voice, “You were a boy, it would have been wrong of me to think that way.”
“Yeah,” he sighed, “I understand.”
And after a long pause, he asked, “Still married?”

She shook her heard and answered, an edge of regret in her voice, “Divorced.”
He saw the flicker of pain in her eyes before she looked away and he said, “I’m sorry to hear that.”
She smiled wryly, “Are you really?”
He smiled at the tease and said, “Yeah, I’m sorry that you’re still feeling the pain of a broken marriage.” I can’t be happy about that if you’re sad.”
The sincerity in his voice unknotted a little, the tense feeling in her mind and she smiled just a little.
“I can, though, try to make you happy again,” he said in the same sincere tone.

For the first time, her eyes actually met his and what she saw there triggered a new feeling within her. She looked away and got up to stop what just happened. Bryan knew it was time to go but Nathan who had been quietly playing with his toys, got up hurriedly and asked Rachel, “Mommy, can he have lunch with us?”
“I’m sure he had things to do,” she replied hesitantly.
“Not quite, I can have lunch,” he said with a hint of mischief, knowing she wanted him to leave.
“Cool!” Nathan laughed happily.

They had lunch together, which was nice, Bryan enjoying the special meal and Nathan, a happy little boy. At the door Bryan said to him, “Come on, I have something for you.”
He gave him a cap, a T-shirt and an autographed basketball, all too big for a six-year-old boy.
“You’ll grow into them,” he said with a little laugh.
“Will you come see us again?” the child asked hopefully.
Bryan glanced at Rachel and answered, “I hope so.”

That night as Rachel tucked Nathan in bed, he said sleepily, “Mommy, I like Bryan, he’s a cool guy.”
“That’s nice to know.”
“Do you like him?”
“Hmm, he’s okay.”
His eyes closed to sleep but a few minutes later, he murmured, “I think he likes you.”
She laid sleepless in bed for a long while, thinking of all that Bryan said today. After ten years, he hadn’t forgotten her and came back to find her.
Was this love, true love?

“No it can’t be,” she told herself, “I had believed in love once, now today I am alone.”
She began working on her summer schedule and was in her flower garden pruning and replanting when Bryan stopped by. He had an engagement at a sports club on the upper Corentyne, so he did not spend long but shot some hoops with Nathan.
“I’m willing to offer my help with the garden,” he said to her.
“Thanks, but I’m doing okay.”

“You know, the more I can be around you, the better you can get to know me,” he paused then added, “for the man that I am.”
She hadn’t an answer to that and just shook her head a little, “Have a good day.”
She took a short break just after he left and sat down, taking a couple deep breaths to gather all of her thoughts in one place. She had been stunned by his good looks and refined body before she knew who he was and now that she knew, the image became stronger in her mind.

“I can’t let this happen,” she cautioned herself and went back to her gardening but stopped a short while later again, as a vision of his cool, casual smile flashed before her eyes.
“Damn it!” she expressed in frustration, pulling off her garden gloves and throwing them down.
“Mommy!” Nathan called to her from a shady corner he was playing in, “Are you okay?”
“Yeah, babe,” she answered.

She sat with him a little and as she got up to continue her work, he said, “Remember I told you that I like Bryan?”
“Yes.”
“Well today, I like him better,” he said with a joyous little laugh.
Seeing that joy on his face touched Rachel’s heart for someone has come into his life whom he liked.
“If he gets close to him, what do I do?”
To be continued.