It took Mateo a week before he decided to go ahead and approach Ms. Gresham. She’s been hinting in her emails that she would like to take things to the next level, might as well just go ahead and talk to her.
He had stayed away from the park, purposefully avoiding the temptation to meet up with the lovely Lucy again. Maybe if things don’t work out with Ms. Gresham, I can see if she ... His thoughts trailed off as he approached the stone structure that he had snuck into just a week previous.
He was a little early. The bell should be ringing in approximately fifteen minutes, if his research was correct. His heart pounded harder with each minute that passed. The heat of the sun was beating on his neck and sweat started trickling between his shoulder blades.
Am I going to scare her off? Will she be mad that I looked her up? He ran a frustrated hand through his hair. So many things could go wrong and he desperately wanted them to go right. He had become attached to their emails and he truly felt that they had great chemistry through their words. Now to see if we can have it in person.
He stopped mid pace when the bell rang; his breath suddenly becoming shallow. “Get a grip!” He scolded himself. “You’re acting like a teenage boy.”
He watched closely as the children busted out of the school as if they had just been given the ultimate Christmas present. Surely the teachers won’t be that far behind.
After another ten to fifteen minutes, Mateo watched a few adults come out of the building together. Not recognizing any faces, he settled in to wait some more. Just a few minutes later he saw her. She was walking with a male colleague, smiling brightly.
Mateo watched with narrowed eyes as they paused in the parking lot and Ms. Gresham put her hand on the man’s forearm. Maybe she isn’t taking this email thing as seriously as I am.
Glancing both ways he started across the parking lot, his eyes still on the blonde woman. As he got closer, the man turned, got into his car and left. But Ms. Gresham spun in Mateo’s direction and locked eyes with him. As Mateo approached, he noticed her looking him up and down, blatant approval in her eyes and pursed lips.
“Well hello,” she purred as he stopped in front of her.
Mateo scrunched his eyebrows. She’s much bolder than I expected her to be. Her emails make her sound so innocent. He cleared his throat. “Hello. I’m uh, well ... there’s no easy way to say this. I’m M.K.” He stuck his hands in his pockets and ducked his chin, looking at her from under his eyelashes, a little nervous of how she was going to respond.
The woman tilted her head, her eyebrows raised and expectant.
“Umm ... M.K.? From the dating site? You’re L.G., right?” Mateo shifted his weight from side to side. She doesn’t look like she knows what I’m talking about.
She scrunched her eyebrows and pursed her lips. “L.G.?” The woman asked. “And you say, you’re M.K.? From the dating site? Online?” She didn’t appear to be happy about the situation.
Mateo felt his ego take a hit. I could have sworn she looked happy I was here a minute ago. “Yeah. I, uh, when you mentioned you taught at Middleton, I looked you up. L.G. I heard someone call you Miss Gresham? So what does the ‘L’ stand for?” He tried to smile at her, but their easy email banter obviously didn’t translate into real life and he just felt awkward.
“L.G. and I teach at Middleton. Oh!” Her face lit up, as if finally recognizing what was going on. “L.G. And I teach at Middleton. We were writing from a dating site.” She laughed, loudly, leaning forward and holding herself against his arm.
Mateo looked around uncomfortably, hoping no one could hear the obnoxious laughter coming from the woman next to him. Luckily, they were alone in the parking lot.
Keeping her hand on his arm, she finally got herself under control and sidled up close to him. “Well, M.K. It’s nice to officially meet you. I’m Lillith. Lillith Gresham.”
Mateo cleared his throat, “I’m Mateo Kingsley.”
“Kingsley?” She raised an eyebrow as she looked him over again.
“Yes. My mother is latina, if you recall, but my father is caucasian. I mentioned that.” He rubbed his hand on the back of his neck. He still felt uncomfortable, although she had finally recognized who he was. Maybe I just need to spend a little time with her. Get to know each other in person like we’ve done online. Standing right beside her, he felt zero draw to her, but he couldn’t deny the easy chemistry they had had through words. Give it time. He told himself.
“Would you like to grab something to eat tonight? You have been hinting that you would like to take things to the next level and I thought maybe this would be a good way to start?” He stepped back from her reach, as she started to draw circles on his arm with her bright pink nail.
“Oooh ... that sounds nice.” She stepped into his space again. “What time would you like to pick me up?”
“Seven?” He leaned back, fighting to keep a light smile on his lips.
“Perfect.” She fished in her bag for a business card and handed it to him. “See ya tonight handsome.” She gave a small wiggle of her fingers and strutted to her car. Just before she closed the door she called out to him. “I like nice dinners. None of those small mom and pop places.”
Before he could answer her, she slammed her car door and took off.
“That did not go how I thought it would,” he mumbled to himself as he walked down the street to where he had parked. “Surely as we get comfortable with each other I’ll see the girl I’ve talk to online.”
His shoulders were slumped and his heart felt heavy, as doubt crowded his thoughts. With a firm shake of his head, he stopped the depressing emotions. “You haven’t given her a chance,” he scolded himself. “Patience. Patience.”