Sandalwood Pt. 02

"No, no," he said, somewhat stunned. "I got tested after Janice. And after her, there's only been Mrs. Palmer and her five daughters," he said, wiggling the fingers on his left hand. Maya laughed and rolled her eyes. Then she lifted her head up and kissed him again as her calves crept up and across his back.

"Go slow?" she asked. Cole nodded and wondered how he'd ever gotten so lucky. Maya drew in her breath as he gradually filled her, his eyes searching her face for any sign of discomfort.

"Still okay?" he whispered.

"Better than okay," she smiled up at him.

He kissed her neck until she started to move beneath him, then matched the rhythm she'd started. Faster and faster until he felt her lurch and then tighten around him, her nails on his back as she wailed Cole's name. He couldn't hold himself back any longer and groaned while falling off the edge, gripping on to Maya for dear life and biting down on her shoulder.

Her arms wrapped around him, one in his hair and the other on the small of his back. They lay in silence, Cole's head on Maya's chest, until Maya kissed his forehead after feeling him slip out of her. Minutes later, she finally spoke, still holding onto him.

"You think there's something about this in the school staff handbook?" she asked, running her fingers up his backbone. "Like, never have sex with your students' parent?"

"Fuck the handbook," Cole replied with a flirty smile. Maya's eyebrows shot up.

"Mr. Gundersen!" she exclaimed. "You teach second-graders with that mouth?" Cole propped himself up on his forearms and lowered his voice.

"I teach second-graders with an entirely different mouth. Just give me 20 minutes and I'll show you what I can do with this mouth."

***********

Cole opened his eyes to the hint of sunlight that peeked into the room, not knowing what room he was in. One glance around, from his clothes on the floor to the naked woman sleeping beside him in her queen-sized bed, reminded him of everything.

He squinted at the clock on the dresser across the room, which read 6:05. I've got time, he thought, pulling the comforter up around Maya's bare shoulders and lying back down beside her. He watched her closed eyes dart back in forth, and the corners of her mouth curve in a ghost of a smile.

They had made love again as soon as they got upstairs the previous night, but not before Cole checked a doubt of his. As she started to lick his nipples, it took the utmost in determination for him to grip her upper arms and pull her slightly away from him.

"He never went down on you, did he?" It was a statement more than a question. The room was dark but Cole could feel Maya shrink back. "It's not something you should be embarrassed about, sweetie," he continued in the wake of her silence. "I just can't believe... was this your first time?" When Maya put her hands up against her face, Cole held her tight against his chest.

"I'm sorry I kind of put you on the spot like this, but I'm at a loss how any man could waste that opportunity over and over again." Maya remained silent, listening to Cole's heart against her ear. "I just want you to know you don't have to feel shy with me, okay?"

With that, he gave her a gentle kiss from which she broke away to roll the covers down on the bed, and then pull Cole into the sheets with her. They ended up coupling with him spooning her from behind, the only part of which Cole didn't like was not being able to watch Maya's face as she came.

It seemed Maya trusted what he'd told her earlier, because she later woke him up at about 1 a.m. by slipping under the covers and taking him into her mouth. He simultaneously gained consciousness and hardened against her busy tongue, instinctively tangling his fingers in her hair with a groan.

In the glow of dawn, he thought about how prim and proper she'd always behaved when he saw her years ago at the school, always friendly but only on a surface level. And then he contrasted that with how she'd brought him to the brink with her tongue and then mounted him in one swift motion.

Cole was both shocked and thrilled as Maya slowly rode him, moaning softly as she steadied herself with her hands on his chest. She looked like a goddess in the moonlight, making his breath catch while she rocked on him while gently rolling his nipples between her fingers. It briefly crossed his mind how long her husband had left her high and dry that she was ready to go three times in the span of about six hours.

He brushed a tendril of hair off her sleeping face, then turned to the pen and pad on the night table. If he left now, he could head back home, shower, change, look over his lesson plan for the day, and head to school. It didn't make a lot of sense to go 10 minutes away from work just to drive back, but he hadn't wanted to be presumptuous and pack an overnight bag yesterday.

Twenty minutes later, Maya awoke with a start to the sound of the garage opening. Someone's in the house, she thought, disoriented. She almost fell out of bed as she staggered to the window, not realizing until the cold air hit her that she was nude.

Covering herself with a blanket, she made it just in time to see Cole's white truck pulling back on the street and then zooming off. She recalled how he'd slept with his arm around her and turned to look at the bed. He remembered to close the door behind him, she smiled, hearing the buzz of the garage door lowering back down.

Her blanket hit the night stand as she dragged it off the bed, sending a piece of paper floating to the floor. She picked it up and saw Cole's neat printing.

Sweet Maya,

I badly wanted to wake up together this morning, but I had to start my drive of shame to make it in time for school. I wasn't counting on last night to happen the way it did. I just wanted to spend time with you and maybe go home late. But oh my god am I glad it happened the way it did. Give me a day to catch up on the marking I should have done yesterday, and let me know when we can see each other again. Will text if you don't. Cole.

***********

"So who is she, man?" Mark Vasquez asked, his white track suit glowing against his dark brown skin. "I've been standing at this photocopier for three minutes and you've been smiling away like the Queen that whole time."

He straightened the bunch of handout sheets for his next gym class against the counter where the coffee maker and microwave sat in the school staff room. Then he looked pointedly at his friend of almost 20 years, who stared back at him, startled.

Mark and Cole had met in teacher's college and Mark was pumped when he took a job as the head physical education teacher at his buddy's school. Then Janice happened and Mark almost didn't recognize his old friend for almost 18 months now. Cole looked blankly back at Mark.

"I don't know what you're talking about." He bit the inside of his cheek to put on a straight face, then shoved his phone back in his pocket.

"Whatever you say," Mark shrugged. "Just wear long sleeves tomorrow, alright? Five bucks says the scratches on your back match the scratches on your arms." Cole almost toppled his coffee mug inspecting his biceps until he looked back up and saw Mark snickering.

"There are no scratches on my arms, jackass," Cole hissed.

"But you just told me I was right about the ones on your back," Mark grinned. "So I repeat--who is she?" Cole looked away. "Look man, I'm not here to make fun of you." Mark lowered his voice. "I haven't seen you smile once for all of last year and now you're laughing at your phone like you're 17. I'd just accepted we'd never have fun like we used to before. And I wouldn't have said anything if there was even one other staffer in this room."

"Is it..." Cole made a face. "Is it bad if I used to teach her kids?" Mark almost spit out his own coffee.

"Holy crap, you couldn't have just picked her up in a bar like a normal guy?"

"Actually, she sort of picked me up in a bar. Or... peeled me off the floor."

"Okay," Mark nodded. "Well, 'used to' are the operative words here, right? Where are her kids now? Still attending?"

"No, they're in high school in another city."

"Then it's okaaaaay!" Mark twirled in a pirouette, then stopped. "And you're wearing your glasses so I'm going to say you didn't have time to put in your contacts this morning? Which means it was a looooong night full of scratches. On a school night, man?" Cole turned crimson. "That's my favourite thing about white folks," Mark continued, calmly sipping from his mug again. "Y'all can turn all kinds of awesome colours that I can't turn."

"Are you done yet?" Cole asked, covering his face.

"Almost," Mark said. "I'm guessing this is just you getting back on the horse? Nothing serious, huh?" Cole hesitated and Mark tilted his head. "So then it is serious?"

"Well..." Cole started, "she's technically still married bu--"

"The fuck?!" Mark exclaimed, then hurriedly looked around to make sure no one had entered the room. "Cole, have you lost your mind? You realize you're Jack in this situation, don't you?"

"It's not the same," Cole said quickly, shaking his head while still in thought. "Her husband left her more than three years ago and he's living on the other side of the world. He texts her once a month to let her know he hasn't died yet and there's no other communication between them."

"That's... that's not what I thought you'd say," Mark slowly replied. "I was going to invite you to bring her over to meet Denise and the kids but I think I'll hold off." Cole grinned.

"Look, I've had a crush on her since her kids were in my class but the timing was never right. Plus, I never thought she'd look twice at me that way even if we'd both been single. Last night was the really the first time it hit me that this could be more."

"I'm sure it hit you quite a few times, am I right?"

"You're an asshole, Mark." Mark laughed and picked up his photocopies with one hand and mug with the other. Then his voice softened.

"You've been through enough, man," he said. "Janice was cheating on you for years and you took it a lot better than I would have in your spot. I don't want to be a downer here, but the first question I have is why your new girl hasn't divorced her estranged husband yet. I mean, if what you say is true, it'd just be a matter of paperwork." He tapped Cole on his arm before turning toward the door. "Be careful, 'k?"

***********

Cole knew he needed to bring up his questions to Maya but he just wanted to ride the high of being with her. This part doesn't last long anyway, he reasoned. When it wears off, we can have a talk. It's only January. We have time.

He kept one of Maya's garage door remotes in his truck and dropped by after school every week he didn't have Isabel, usually a few times. After a month, she told him to bring an overnight bag, to his great relief, as the school was just around the corner.

Most of the time they stayed in but sometimes he was able to convince her to let him take her out, especially as the weather got milder. He wondered why she always picked a place closer to his apartment than her home. But he didn't mind as it meant they would go back to his place afterwards and he could hold her in his bed all night.

"Here," she said early in February, sliding a bowl full of flour and water toward him as they stood beside each other at the kitchen counter. "Get your hands in there, Gundersen."

"Uhhh, I can't do it the way you can, Maya," he said, sliding the bowl back toward her.

"Would you accept that from one of your class kids, or would you insist on guiding them through it?" she asked pointedly. "Chapatti dough is super easy to mix and I've already added everything in proportion for you. Besides, you're better equipped to knead it."

"Are you talking about my big, manly fingers?" Cole smiled, smooshing his fingers into the flour. It was like playing in a sandbox.

"Partly. But it's mainly your height," Maya said, adding a splash of olive oil. Cole nodded, as he'd seen her stand on her tiptoes to get enough leverage to knead the dough at the end. She watched, lightly touching his arm as he gathered the dough and squished it repeatedly.

"Look at you, Vanilla Ice. You're a natural." She grinned at him and then grabbed handfuls of the finished dough, rolling them into lime-sized balls, then flattening them with the rolling pin into circles the size of her handspan.

Cole washed his hands, took out the frying pan, and found the spatula. He flipped the flatbread circles while she rolled them out. They talked about school, Maya's job, and their kids, and Cole couldn't remember when--or even if--he and Janice had ever cooked together. He frowned, trying to remember whether his ex had even chatted with him while he cooked. She always insisted he leave the kitchen when she cooked.

Maya's kids had their March Break a week later than Isabel, and Cole ended up with Isabel for an extra week ahead of her break as well. After they had to hit pause on their visits for three weeks, Maya texted Cole the Monday morning after all their kids were back in their routines.

Get over here right after school and come directly upstairs. Cole's students caught him in several mistakes throughout the day. He rushed over the second he was done bus duty, burst into Maya's house, and leapt up the stairs two at a time. He almost crashed into the doorframe before he saw Maya standing in front of the bed just wearing four-inch, blood red pumps and a bedsheet. Her smile lit up the house and Cole felt the blood drain from his head.

"I missed you," she told him. "I thought maybe it would be fun to go up against the dresser with you behind me... but probably awkward since you're so much taller." She stuck one leg up flamingo-style. "Thought maybe I could compensate a bit."

She wobbled and grasped the bed post, losing her grip on the sheet, which floated to the floor. Cole groaned and put his hands on his head, leaning against the doorframe. "Don't worry, I can stand in these," Maya said, "I just can't walk in them."

"You're not going to be doing much walking afterwards, sweetheart," Cole grinned, bounding across the room and circling Maya's waist with one arm while snapping his shirt buttons off with the other. They spent the rest of the afternoon exhausting each other and finally collapsed in bed, wrapped up together.

"Looks like you missed me too," Maya whispered as she snuggled into Cole's shoulder. He kissed her forehead.

"You know you totally wrecked me sending that text during first period? I'm sure at least eight of my kiddos corrected me today, and I got called a goofy-doofy twice." Maya giggled.

"I like surprising you," she said, giving him a soft kiss. Cole wasn't sure Janice had ever kissed him so lovingly, even when they had been at their best. He curled his arms around Maya's waist and fell asleep, being sure to hold her tight so she wouldn't get up and cook them dinner.

Luckily, he woke up before she did and slipped downstairs to make tea. When she awoke and searched the house for him a short while later, she was greeted with a note on the stove near the kettle.

I knew you'd come here and try to start dinner, it read. Went out to pick up a pizza. Black olives and green peppers on my half, jalapeño peppers and pineapples on your half. You're gross, by the way. Be back in a few. Maya smiled to herself and saved this note with the others he'd written her whenever she'd woken up to find him missing.

Another two months passed and they found themselves in the middle of an early heatwave before the Victoria Day long weekend in May. Cole had started thinking about how they would continue their relationship when Maya's kids were home all summer long, and he still had Isabel on alternate weeks. He'd completely forgotten his chat with Mark at the beginning of the year.

So what are you wearing? Cole's phone lit up on a Friday afternoon just as he sat down at his desk. He'd spent the last 20 minutes explaining double-digit addition and it was perfect timing as the kids started trying it out on their math sheets.

You need a new pick up line, he wrote back with a smirk.

"Mr. G, no phones in class!" Ava called out.

"He's texting his girlfriend," Brady said. "You know it when he's looking at his lap and smiling."

"Boys and girls, eyes on your pages," Cole ordered.

"It's definitely his girlfriend," Brady spoke up again. "Look, Mr. G is turning red." Cole cleared his throat and willed his voice not to crack.

"I was looking at something funny on my phone but you're right, I shouldn't have let it distract me in class." He held the device up high and slid it into the side pocket of his lunch bag. "See? I put it away and it won't even--"

BUUUUUUUUZZZZZZZZZ...

The class laughed as he retrieved the phone and switched it to silent.

"Okay, now it won't even make a sound. Let's remember if you don't finish those sheets before the bell, it's gonna be homework. Do you really want homework on the long weekend?" A room full of seven-year-olds turned their heads back down to their desks. Cole watched his phone light up repeatedly from within his lunch bag and bit his lip, convinced the analogue clock above the window was actually moving backward.

The last bell finally rang and Cole held on for a few minutes more while the kids put away their work and grabbed their backpacks to go home.

"Okay, Caroline," he said to the last child there, famous for taking her time. "Because it's Friday afternoon, I'm going to help you gather your shoes and homework."

"You can't wait to look at your phone, can you?" the red-haired, freckled little girl responded without missing a beat. "You're definitely talking to a lady, Mr. G." Cole sighed and laughed in spite of himself. Helen Keller would probably notice I was talking to a lady, he thought, shaking his head. "Is she nice?" Caroline asked.

"Very nice."

"Is she pretty?"

"She's the prettiest lady I think I've ever seen in my life."

"That's a long time," Caroline said, sliding on her rubber boots one by one. "Does she love you?" Cole stopped in the middle of putting Caroline's running shoes in her carrying bag.

"Hmmm," he said. "I don't know."

"You should probably ask," Caroline advised, squirming into the straps on her backpack. "You always tell us to ask if we don't know something important."

Caroline had taken so long her dad came into the portable, to Cole's relief. He handed him the child's shoe bag, waved goodbye, and made a beeline for his phone.

I was unaware I had to pick you up at this point, Maya had texted. I figured all I had to do was show up in red heels. Cole felt himself lift to half mast at recalling that incredible afternoon. Anyway, she wrote, wanna spend part of the day together tomorrow? I have to do some cleaning and groceries, but I'm free in the afternoon.

What if I drop by earlier and go shopping with you? Cole replied.

I dunno, dude, Maya said, I have to go to the Indian store, not the regular supermarket.

Oh, in that case, maybe not, Cole answered, smirking to himself. The white people network frowns upon that, you know.

I deserved that, Maya replied. Is two-thirty okay? I'll wait outside for you.

***********

Cole pulled into Maya's driveway the following afternoon, unsure whether she'd be coming out through the garage or the front door. Just as he turned his eyes toward the porch, he saw her and was taken back in time. There she was in the knee-length, light blue cotton sundress she'd worn seven years ago in his portable. It was the same dress, smock waisted with white spaghetti straps.