Eva Pt. 19

Eva rested her head on my chest and sighed. "No, I guess time is starting to catch up with us. But I don't feel old...usually. Tonight, however, I feel sixty. Even sixty five."

"Well, maybe Saturday we can feel sixty nine" I said with a chuckle.

That got a laugh from my love. "Wouldn't that be nice. We haven't done that in a while."

"Come. Let's go downstairs and spend some time with Maria. After I tell you what she said to me yesterday....."

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The first month and a half, until the end of September, was a time of learning for everyone. We learned about our new student body and our staff and they learned about us. There was some pushback from some of the staff about changes we instituted, such as our request to the teachers to be more lenient when a student spoke out in class, as long as the remark was relevant to the class conversation. One particularly difficult case was Arthur Cassoff, a teacher of World History and Economics. He ran his classroom like a dictator, punishing students with detention for the slightest of infractions. We wanted to support our staff, who had varying ideas on how much interaction was permissible, but with Cassoff, it was his way with no debate. How can you teach history to intelligent young people without give and take? From observing his class twice, it was clear his students had already become disengaged and uninterested. It was a long way to Christmas for those children.

We had him come into Eva's office after classes one day and the three of us tried to find a solution. Or, I should say, Eva and I tried to find a solution. Cassoff wouldn't give an inch. He was fifty three years old, so he'd been doing this a long time, though only four years in Durham Academy after he retired from the Raleigh school system. He was too set in his ways. After some 'spirited' back and forth, it was clear we weren't getting anywhere with him.

Eva said "Look, Arthur, we were willing to try to find some middle ground here. But that's now over. You're going to have to adjust and do things our way. Stop trying to be such a disciplinarian and let the students interact with you. They'll have a more rewarding experience and so will you. And they'll get more out of your class."

I added "The writing is on the wall, Arthur. We have a mandate to fix what we think is broken here to turn the school around. And don't think for a moment we won't do what we have to to fix what's broken here."

He stood up- he was a big man, 6'5" and 250 pounds at least- and with fire in his ice blue eyes, Arthur Cassoff thundered like a Baptist preacher. "I've been teaching MY way for twenty nine years! And by God, NO one is going to tell me how to teach these brats! Certainly not you two....carpetbaggers!" That was all he said. He walked out without being dismissed from the meeting, slow and steady, staring straight ahead like he had all the confidence in the world that he was right.

We looked at each other, stunned, as he left the offices like he was Moses on the Mount. It would have been funny in a way if it wasn't so damn serious. And he actually scared me. I'd been through one school shooting in my time. I wasn't planning to go through another. He kind of had that look. "What the hell was that?" I asked Eva, incredulously.

"I don't know, exactly, but I don't want it in my school. We have to fire him but not here. We'll call him at home and we'll tell security not to let him on campus starting tomorrow. We have grounds for dismissal here. That man scares me."

"You too? I'm glad I'm not the only one. And down here, a lot of people have guns. Once was enough for that shit."

Eva went into her desk and got out the list of teachers who had applied to work at Dunham Academy and between us we called the first four names on the History/Economics list. Two were interested still and we made appointments for them to come in the next day. In the meantime, yours truly would have to fill in. I had taught those subjects, a long time ago, so I was the choice to fill in until Cassoff was replaced.

That night, we called him from home and we let him know his services were no longer required. We thanked him for his years of service (yeah, right) and wished him luck. He said some things, to Eva particularly, that I won't repeat here. Very misogynistic things. Thank goodness nothing more came of it. We mailed him his personal effects and never saw nor heard from him again.

After going over some old notes (teachers never throw out lesson plans), I went and covered his classes the next day...and I had a ball. More important, the kids enjoyed it as well. I encouraged them to speak their ideas and ask their questions and it was just fun. I missed this; I forgot how much over the years. Still, I couldn't take over the classes; Eva and I were hired for full time administrative duties and we had a lot of work to do. So I filled in the rest of that week and two days later we hired Cynthia Ruiz, a 30 year old talented teacher who was thinking of leaving the profession because she hated the public school system in Raleigh, where she was working. Of course she knew it was provisional based on the background check we ran, but she cleared that without any problem. It wasn't really right for her to quit that job with almost no notice, but we needed her and we had the opening. She quickly became a student favorite for her easy going yet no nonsense style. It also helped her that she was a looker.

A few nights later, Eva and I were in bed and she was atypically quiet when I tried to talk to her. To put it simply, when I reached for her to fool around, she was kind of cold to me. She may have been smarter than me, but since I was no dummy, I had a pretty good idea what this was about.

I laid on my back and decided to fuck with her a little. "I wonder what Cynthia is doing tonight."

Eva made like she was ignoring me at first, but her curiosity and frustration got the better of her. "Cynthia who?" I could hear the edge in her voice.

"Cynthia Ruiz, of course. Cynthia who" I said mockingly. "Think she has a boyfriend? Think she'd mind a phone call some night from a lonely old man?"

Eva knew I was fucking with her. She hit me with her pillow and said "Keep talking like that and you'll BE a lonely old man for the rest of your days! You naughty Bear!" She hit me again, then I got my pillow, and we were having a good old fashioned pillow fight, laughing like idiots.

Maria pounded on our door. "Hey you two perverts! I'm still legally a minor!" We were laughing too hard to answer her then. When I finally could talk I managed to say through my tears of laughter "Your mother actually thought for a minute I was interested in another woman!" I was rolling on the bed and Eva hit me again with her pillow.

"I'm the child of lunatics" we heard her mutter as she walked down the hall back to her room. We were still having trouble getting serious, but soon we did.

"Angel, did you really think I was interested in Cynthia Ruiz? You thought I was eyeing her?"

"Don't say you didn't, Bear. I know the look. I caught you checking her out this afternoon at the staff meeting."

"Ok, I looked. Guilty as charged. You know what? I notice attractive women, You once told me you'd wonder about me if I didn't. And you look as well at men. Neither of us ogle anyone, and I know neither of us wants to sleep with anyone else. Angel, we're married forty years. You remember what Maria told me while you were away taking Vince to college? She told me she thought it was cute that her parents were more in love with each other than any of her friends back in Pennsylvania. And she neglected to mention we're older and married longer than any of her friends parents. And she was right; we're still madly in love. More than anyone I know, whatever age." I slid over and held her in my arms.

Eva snuggled up to me, her head on my chest, teasing my almost all silver hairs there. "I'm so sorry, Bear. I'm really feeling my age the since we moved here. Even when I get aroused....I don't get wet enough to really enjoy sex. I don't NOT enjoy sex, but it's not like it was. Maybe it's all the stress from starting this new career. I know it's not that I don't love you. That's not possible. I am still crazy about you, Bear. Maybe we should have retired and just enjoyed life."

I kissed her head and tilted her head up so we were looking into each others eyes. "We do enjoy life, Angel. I love being married to you. I wouldn't trade you for a harem of Cynthia Ruiz'. If you're having a problem, then we're having a problem. Doctors can prescribe all sorts of treatments. Pills, creams, lubricants. We can still enjoy each other. And, if for some reason we can't, then I have the best cuddling partner in the world. After all the times we've made love and had great sex, I won't be complaining. I have the best life with the best wife."

"Oh come on, Jon. If we stop having sex while you're still virile, you'll start looking. And how could I blame you? As long as you're able, you should want it." And then my Angel started crying in a way that made me hurt all over for her.

"Hey, honey, we're getting ahead of ourselves here. The problem might be minor and very fixable. It's probably just a natural factor of aging. So why don't you make an appointment with a gynecologist so we can get some answers."

"All right, Bear. I'll try to find one in the morning. But Jon...what if it's something serious? What if it's..."

"Angel, it's not. No way. But, if by some minor chance it is, then we deal with it the way we've dealt with every problem we've ever faced. Together, right? We don't go through any problem by ourselves. Never have and never will." I hugged her in a way that let her know if somehow the worst was happening, the unsaid word 'cancer', I'd be with her every step of the way, every appointment, every treatment. But we were again getting ahead of ourselves. Eva didn't have cancer. She couldn't. Right? Right???

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Eva got the name of a few gynecologists from some of her co-workers and she made an appointment with one. I'd been married to her long enough to know finding the right gynecologist can be a little tricky for women. They were at their most vulnerable and they discuss the most intimate details of their lives with the doctor. So it was with relief that she felt comfortable from the start with Dr. Erica Lin, 30ish, and a graduate of Duke Medical School. Dr. Lin reassured her by telling Eva there was nothing wrong that she could see from an exam. So she drew blood and recommended some lubricants that could be ordered over the internet for discretion.

Eva came back to work smiling, kind of laughing to herself, so I knew she didn't get bad news. "Well, I'm glad to see you're in such a great mood, Angel" I said as she closed the door to my office. "I guess you got good news?"

"Yes, well, pretty much. No signs of anything serious, and the doctor took some blood. In the meantime, she recommended a lubricant that should help. But that's not why I'm laughing. File this under 'It's a very small world indeed.' I was talking to Doctor Lin, a nice, young Asian American woman."

"What, you're turned on by women lately? No wonder you're not so excited by me." I smiled at her and she knew I was busting her balls.

"You really can be an asshole, you know?" She was smiling right back at me. "Anyway we were talking and she grew up in Queens and then went to college at Binghamton. Small world, right? It got much smaller. I told her we went to Bayside High School and she said her mother went to Bayside. Graduated our year. Bear, her mother is Elizabeth Chen!"

Wow! Talk about a tiny world! She was the person who edged ahead of Eva to be our class Valedictorian! "You've got to be kidding me, Eva! I don't believe it!"

"Tell me about it. I told her the story of how her mother beat me out for Valedictorian. We both were laughing and she said she hoped I didn't hold it against her. I told her that I had no complaints, that her mother beating me out led me to have the most wonderful life. I told her to thank her mother because I ended up marrying you, the most wonderful man there is, we have careers and children we love and a life most people would envy." She gave me a quick peck on the lips.

"Thank you, Angel. I'm a pretty big fan of yours as well. How about that. Elizabeth Chen. What is her mother doing?"

"She's divorced, she recently moved to Charlotte, she's a VP in the corporate office of a bank here. You know, Bear, it's only two hours from here. We should call her and either ask her to visit us or we could go to her one weekend. It would be nice to see her after all these years. I told Dr. Lin she could give our phone number to her mother."

"Sure, why not? Show her the booby prize you ended up with."

`

"Hey, you are nobody's 'booby prize, Bear. You are the Gold Medal with the Blue Ribbon all the way."

"Thank you, my love. And as far as I'm concerned, you were never second place. You're Number One each and every day." After work, we had a very nice evening, dinner with Maria (who couldn't help but notice her parents were even happier than usual), some paperwork, then music the rest of the evening. I played my guitar and we all sang light and easy songs. Then in bed, I sang to Eva alone. I sang Follow You, Follow Me by Genesis and then I sang our song, Tupelo Honey, which I hadn't sang for a few months. She wasn't ready for sex that night without the lubricant, but we were affectionate and intimate, and that was lovely and beautiful in itself.

Thankfully, Amazon has two day free shipping for members, so two days later, the lubricant arrived in the mail and Eva and I gave it a try and we had a great time, better than we had in weeks. So good that we went for a second round since it was a Saturday night. We could sleep in a bit the next morning. And a few days later we got the news that Eva just had a simple hormone imbalance, not uncommon at our age. A simple vaginal cream helped a great deal, and within a few weeks, Eva was feeling more energetic and like herself. We still needed a little lube, but that also meant we found new ways to have fun. Having creative minds helped a lot.

A week later, we got a call at home on Saturday. I answered and it was Elizabeth Chen, now Lin, and after we talked for a few minutes I gave the phone to Eva. I figured they were more interested in talking to each other than Elizabeth was in talking to me. They talked for over an hour, laughing and loud. Then Eva called to me "Jon, would you like to go with me to see Elizabeth tomorrow for lunch?"

"We don't have any plans. Sure, it should be fun to see her." I heard Eva take down some directions, a good backup in case the GPS in the car pooped out, and then they got off the phone. "So, we taking a drive to Charlotte?"

"No, we're meeting her in Asheboro, just about halfway between us. She gave me the name and address to this restaurant, The Table. She said it's a great brunch place. We're meeting her at noon." She sat next to me on the loveseat. "I don't know how much I really want to do this, Jon."

"Why? What could be bad about this? We haven't seen her in over forty years. Not since graduation."

"Yeah, but we were such rivals back then, and she usually came in first. Except in the handsome husband contest. I won that one, hands down." We kissed a few times and then Maria came into the room.

"Hey, what are you guys up to?" We told her that we were going to brunch with an old 'friend' from our high school days, and Maria started asking us all sorts of questions` about way back when. It was a pleasant way to spend the afternoon, talking about some happy times from our past. We'd be doing it again the next day.

We got to the restaurant a little early and looked around for a woman of our age, Asian American, but didn't see anyone. After about ten minutes I felt someone tap my shoulder and a voice said "Jon? Jon Grossman? Eva! Hey!" It was Elizabeth. She had been built like Eva back in high school, even more petite, and she still was almost tiny. She was still very attractive; the years had been kind to her. We hugged like we were best friends back then instead of acquaintances, and then she and Eva also hugged warmly before we asked to be seated.

It was a typical reunion, talk of mutual acquaintances, our families (she just had the one daughter, of whom she was rightly proud), and we told her about all four of ours whom we were also proud of. We ate and had coffee, sitting at the table well past when we were done eating. Lunch had started out pleasant enough, but I knew my wife; she was unhappy under the surface. Elizbeth told us she first started out as a lawyer "but I got bored with the law so I went back to get my MBA- from Wharton, of course- and I'm likely to be made president of the bank in a few years." And on and on, bragging about this accomplishment and that. All the professional awards she earned. It was getting boring. "And you're both principals at a little school here! That's so...noble of you both. I thought you, Eva, would be someone important, but working with children is very nice." Condescending bitch. She was also saying in a way she never expected much from me.

"Yes, it is nice" Eva replied, all sunshine and sugar in her voice. "We think it's vitally important and we love our career. We spent thirty years at our last school and we were considered among the very best in the country." She was showing the shine on the blade of her knife.

"Oh yes, of course. I didn't mean to suggest there was anything wrong with it. I just thought you'd be somewhat more important." Ouch.

Then Eva stuck her knife in. "So, Elizabeth, how long were you married?" Zing!

Elizabeth paled a bit before answering "Matthew and I were married four years. But we did have Erica, my brilliant child."

"No serious men in your life since then?" Eva said it with an outwardly sympathetic look, but she was twisting the blade. "Over thirty years on your own? Jon and I have been together forty one years now and we have four amazing children. And they've been very happy years, haven't they, Bear?" She gave me her most loving smile.

"Every single one" I replied, knowing which side of my bread was buttered. "I wouldn't have anyone else, ever, Angel."

Elizabeth got uncomfortable then. "Well, I should be going. Lots of work to do at home, the life of an executive." One last shot.

"True. Not much else to do when you live by yourself at our age, is there?" Eva shot back, giving the knife a final twist. So much for my always sweet and kind wife. She was a cobra when provoked.

We said our goodbyes, saying bullshit like 'we must do this again sometime.' Yeah, right. Speaking for myself, I sure as hell didn't want to do it again. We got in the car and headed back to Durham in the very quiet car. Finally, about fifteen minutes from Charlotte, we both got the giggles, which turned into the chuckles and then into huge laughter. "My tough gal wife! You girls don't change from eighteen to sixty."

"Oh, come on, Bear. She provoked that and you know it. She knows it too. Elizabeth and I never liked each other, we always were rivals since first grade. One and two, in every school. And she was adorable while I was plain. It drove me crazy and she still doesn't let me forget it."

"First of all, don't you ever start talking about how you're 'plain'. You are beautiful. I tell you that every day of our lives. Not just because I love you so much, but because you ARE beautiful. I've felt that way since we sat in the hall years ago and you're still beautiful. Even more than you were back then. So knock that off. I don't mind you standing up for yourself with her. She definitely did prod and poke at you. I couldn't believe it, all these years later, and she was sticking it to you. So I have no problem with you fighting back and standing up for yourself. In fact," I said, lowering my voice as if someone was listening in on us, "watching you stand up to her and giving it right back to her...it wasn't you finest hour, exactly...but it got me incredibly turned on. Look down."