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“You are truly like no other teacher we've had here this year,” Colin responded, his eyes darting over June's face in a way that had her insides squirming.
“What’s it been like up here, during this time?” June couldn’t help herself from veering back into serious topics. Sometimes booze made her happy, but most of the time recently, it had made her maudlin.
Colin sighed and took a generous swig of his beer and chuckled to himself. “So I got hired as the new director literally four months before all the shit hit the fan. I had all these grand ideas to totally revolutionize camp - embracing some really cool science experiments, doing some citizen science with the kids, partnering with the university museum down in the city with my sister, focusing on ways we could make the camp more inclusive to nonbinary and trans kids and then -” Colin mimed an explosion with his hands and added the accompanying sound effects.
“Heh, I remember that day,” June chuckled, signaling the bartender for another round as he picked up their empty bottles.
“Last one,” the older man said, coming back and clunking down the two cold bottles. June and Colin nodded and picked up the bottles.
“Yeah, we all thought we were just going to get an extended spring break,” June continued on. “And then just waves of extensions. Watching this major school district go distance, then this school, then the debates in the state legislature, then masks, then vaccines, then this variant - it definitely became too much at times.”
“We just, completely shut down,” Colin explained. “I hated doing it, but we had to furlough all of our seasonal staff.” A pained expression passed over his face. “Fuck, it was the worst. These are young kids - just out of college, figuring their shit out - and camp is such a safe place to learn to be an adult and have a safety net of a community. And the larger organization and the pandemic took it away.”
“Plus, no campers.”
“Exactly. No summer camp for the first time since the 1950s. We were down to exactly six staff members from fifty during the winter and over 100 in the summer. It was just the directors, facilities, and the cook. We got close, but man, it was like a weird reality show at times.”
“How’s it been opening back up?” June asked.
“Great, but scary. The first outbreak, I thought we were done for.”
“Yeah, I remember the first time I had an entire table test positive at the same time. I felt like such a failure. Plus, then I got COVID, after two-plus years of doing everything I could to avoid it - I just felt like such a fuck up.” June sighed, spilling out more of her emotions than she anticipated. Tonight was supposed to be about getting a nice buzz on with her co-teachers and maybe flirting with the new camp director, but here she was, pouring out her heart and soul to this guy.
“You know getting sick is not a personal failure,” Colin said, looking at her intensely.
“Yes, I know, and I’m sorry - I’ve totally crossed professional boundaries here and I’m getting drunk and I should probably head back to camp.” June picked up her bag and started to put on her headband.
“You’re fine, you’re fine,” Colin said, tugging on her arm to get her to sit down. June felt his touch like a laser, burning her skin through her fleece. “Stay and finish your beer. This is the last one, and remember, I promised Kevin I would get you home safely.” He looked a bit bashful at the last statement.
June thought for a moment, looked at the door and then back to Colin. She then plunked down in the seat and took an overly aggressive sip of her beer.
“You don’t have to chug the beer,” Colin said, chuckling. “I know Simon, the bartender, and I’ve never seen him kick anyone out for staying late. For being too drunk or throwing up on the fireplace, yes, but last call is more of a wiggly concept.”
”I’m sure you’re just waiting with baited breath to hear me rant about some other bullshit problem in my life,” June replied, settling more comfortably into her seat. Or, at least, she was comfortable, until Colin looked at her slyly out of the corner of his eyes. Something about his gaze caused her entire body to flush, to tighten, to become aware in a way she hadn’t in a decent chunk of time.
“Feel free to rant away,” he replied.
“I’m sure you do this with all the teachers,” she teased. “You get a new crew up every week and you wine and dine them. Or beer and camp-pizza them.” She immediately pictured Colin with a new woman every week, and something hot and angry flared in her stomach, which was quickly replaced by an image of her and Colin. He could push her against the bar, and she would slide her hands into his hair and grip that messy bun, steer his head towards hers...
“Hah, nope, this is…unique,” Colin chuckled, snapping June out of her inappropriate thoughts. “This is actually kind of unprofessional,” he admitted.
“I’m sorry,” June apologized. “I just really wanted to relax and you seemed cool and, I’m sorry to put you in a weird place.”
“You don’t have to apologize,” he said, gently placing his hand over hers. Her eyes snapped to where their skin touched and she felt a low hum of electricity buzz over the top of her hand where his pressed into her own. “I came up here of my own volition. But,” he took a sip of beer with his other hand, cocked his head. “I’d be lying if I’d said those reasons were entirely about professional connections.” The corner of his mouth kicked up slowly, and June felt a shiver run down her spine.
“Oh,” she said. “Well, I, for one, have been entirely professional tonight.” She shook her shoulders, straightened her spine, and gave a haughty toss of her hair. She then shot Colin a look and started to giggle, pressing her lips together into a firm line to keep the laughs in her mouth. Was this flirting? It felt like waking up after a long nap, figuring out how to reuse old muscles that had gotten heavy and stiff.
“Of course, Ms. Lehrer,” Colin said. “Or is it Mrs.?” His eyes betrayed a small flash of nerves.
“It’s Ms. Lehrer, but I’m not married. Or dating. Or anything.” She wiped a hand over her face. “And you?” She asked coyly.
“I’m married to the trees,” he replied, jokingly. “No, I’m single. It’s hard to meet people when you live full time at a summer camp.”
“It’s been easy tonight,” June said, deciding to press her luck a bit. Colin’s hand still rested on her own, and she flipped her hand face up, so their palms touched. She heard Colin’s breath catch before he began to draw small circles with his middle finger on her palm. Where else could he draw circles with that finger, thought June, growing warm and liquid. She squeezed her legs together on the barstool, the old fabric creaking and giving her movements away. Dammit.
“You good?” Colin said.
“Great,” June replied, slightly out of breath. She slid her hand out from under Colin’s, then drained her beer. She couldn’t tell where this evening was headed, but she had the sudden urge to be back at camp, to be able to make an easy escape if things crashed and burned. “Are you ready to head back to camp?” She chewed on her lip, suddenly nervous, but was suddenly pacified by the way that Colin’s eyes flicked down to her mouth, how his eyes widened as her lip slid between her teeth.
