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Julia couldn’t help but smile as she looked past the wine glass she lifted to her lips. “Of course.”
“Unbiasedly,” Erin said. She rolled her eyes before smiling behind her wine. “Do you see any real change coming from my evaluations?”
“Well,” Julia sat up a little straighter as she set her own food down, “you’ve already helped with teacher evaluations and remediation, identifying weak points in our curriculum, and we’ve moved onto budgeting to determine what necessitates more attention or what can be reallocated.” Julia stopped her spiel, knowing too well she put her administrative hat on for the conversation. She really did need an off switch.
“Well, thank you, Dr. Jenner,” Erin mocked in a sarcastically professional voice.
“I’m sorry.” Julia rubbed her face with her hand, hoping she wasn’t blushing from embarrassment that tinged her cheeks. “It’s been a day,” she sighed. “The short answer is yes. I think with your assistance, we’re actually going to make some improvements.” And then she allowed her lips to move without thinking. “I really like having you around.”
“Thank you.” Erin gave a soft smile and then picked her food back up. “I really like being around.”
“They’re really lucky to have someone as passionate and forward thinking as you.”
“Sometimes I don’t even know what I’m doing,” Erin mumbled, and then her eyes went wide as if she didn’t mean to say that out loud.
“What do you mean?”
“I just, I–” she paused. “I think so many others have so much more experience than I do. Being a woman in this profession, coming into places where they don’t know me or my background, is hard to command respect.” There was a moment of silence and then she added, “Not like I see them do for you.”
“Me?” Julia laughed. “It doesn’t get any easier the longer you’re in it. I’ll let you in on a little secret: no one knows what they’re doing.”
“Oh, come on! In all honesty, I haven’t seen a school run better than Kleinton, and it’s not because of the building, or teachers, or even students. They’re the same everywhere,” Erin hesitated, her lips apart as if she wasn’t done speaking. “It’s you, Jules.”
Julia wasn’t sure if it was meant as a compliment, but it sent butterflies scattering throughout her stomach. And hearing her name said like that again? Oh, that feeling hit her in her core like a cotton candy cloud.
“Thank you,” she said quietly. She picked her wine back up and swished it in the glass before taking the last sip of it. “Would you like some more?” she asked, while raising her own.
“Absolutely,” Erin said with a smile, “but you sit. I’ll get it,” and she was up before Julia could even argue.
“So, any fun plans when you get back to Virginia?” Julia asked, trying to fill the silence with something other than the clinking of glasses or the slosh of wine from an emptying bottle.
“No, actually,” she said, handing Julia her glass. “I haven’t really thought about it.”
“You’re over halfway done with your contact, and you haven’t daydreamed about getting back to your life?”
Julia was in shock, a grin forming on her lips as she took another sip. Erin looked torn as she considered that question–her face wrinkled limestone as she thought about her answer.
“Can I say something that might sound weird?” she asked, setting her glass down. She slouched back down on the rug and leaned against the front of the chair that was behind her.
“You never have to worry about asking that with me.” Julia watched as those words ran through Erin’s mind, contemplating everything that came before.
“There are places I have to go that I can’t wait to leave from. There are assignments that are there and gone before I can even wrap my head around them. But Kleinton?” Her eyes never left Julia’s. “I can’t explain it. All I know is I haven’t thought about home much.”
Julia wasn’t quite sure what Erin felt, but she knew a piece of it lived within her, too. It was so easy to forget that anything else existed when she was with her, as if time was truly just a construct and everything else insignificant.
She wasn’t sure how she should respond to something so honest. Should she agree and admit that she feels the same way? That in the last year combined, she hadn’t felt as alive as she had the last couple of months? Maybe Julia was overthinking it all–forcing something to be written when it hadn’t even been imagined yet.
“I get it.” Julia wanted to reach for her food or wine–wanted to do something that would take her eyes off of Erin–but she didn’t. “Kleinton is like that for so many.”
“I didn’t say it was just Kleinton,” Erin corrected, a small twitch of a smile pulling just one cheek upward towards her scattered freckles.
Well, shit. She forgot to breathe and instead let out a little breathy sigh to avoid it being too obvious. Erin noticed. She always noticed.
“I’m excited for summer.” Erin picked up her food again.
“Why is that?” Julia asked. She picked up her food as well, thankful for the change.
“My family is from Madrid, and two years ago I booked a trip to stay with my abuela there. She has this beautiful little villa on Alberche Beach. It’s away from most tourists and turns the most beautiful color of teal in August.” Her eyes glimmered as if that sparkling water was reflected in her iris’.
