they had gone back to his place and they had practically spent the rest of the night and early morning making love.
She slipped out of bed, went over to the photo and turned it down, along with the other two of them. She didn’t think she could stand seeing them that happy, especially when she knew they would never be like that again. She cradled the pillow close to her chest and reminisced about the first time she had met Will, a then thirty year old charismatic, up and coming lawyer at a prestigious law firm in the city.
He had been at Ellington Collegiate, the small private college where she taught English Literature and American History, doing a semester there, teaching a course on corporate law twice a week as part of a community outreach program his firm had with Ellington. She found out later that two of the partners at Ingram and Associates, the law firm where he worked, were on the board of directors at Ellington. And she remembered the morning she had bumped into him in the hallway while rushing to a class she was already late for, spilling her cappuccino on his expensive Armani suit and white shirt.
“Oh, my goodness! I can’t believe I just did that,” she had said to him, mortified at her clumsiness. “I’m so, very sorry. I don’t know what came over me.”
She had apologized profusely to him, putting her hand over her red-berry lips in shock, as she took in the mess she had made on his clothes.
“Don’t beat yourself about it. It’s better my suit than your lovely white blouse,” he had said to her, holding on firmly to her arm to steady her. “You don’t want to show up to class with coffee stains on your nice blouse, do you? I’m certain your students wouldn’t let you hear the last of it, trust me on that one,” he had said to her, with a knowing smile. “I have seen them in action. They can be fierce!”
And, Avery had looked into Will’s smiling green eyes, taking in the friendly smirk on his thin lips, and knew right away that she had fallen for him. She couldn’t resist the fleeting attraction that had passed between them, either, or the way her body had reacted at the sight and touch of him.
“I haven’t ruined your suit, have I?”
Avery had glanced at the stains on his suit and white shirt and handed him the napkins she had been holding her coffee cup with.
“Thank you, but that’s not necessary.”
He had still taken the napkins, though, using them to wipe the coffee off her hands, instead of his clothes. And Avery’s heart had been fluttering so fast when he had touched her hand that she thought she would either pass out right then and there in his arms, or faint at his feet.
Luckily, she had done neither. But she had been completely lost for words as she stared into his eyes. She had mumbled something to him that had made absolutely no sense to her. And she couldn’t deny that she had been acting like a complete fool, well more like a love sick teenager.
She had expected Will to be angry at her, yell even, tell her to watch where she was rushing to next time, but he had continued to smile at her, before bending to help her pick up the stack of research papers that had fallen from her hands and were scattered on the floor at their feet.
“Here, let me help you get those.” He had scooped the papers up and handed them to her.
“Thank you,” Avery had said to him, with a broad smile, taking the papers. “I feel awful about your suit.”
“Don’t worry about it. It’s an old one, anyway. I’ve been thinking about getting rid of it for some time now. You just gave me that extra push.”
But the tailored Italian suit had looked anything but—it was brand new.
“Besides, I always keep an extra one in the car for unforeseeable emergencies.”
(Clearly meaning her awkward run-in with him.) “I have to show up to court dress to impress, if