Page 18 of Taming His Teacher

I’m stuck between joblessness, possibly homelessness, and a lush with whom I’ve had tepid sex. No girl’s dream situation, but I could deal with it. As long as I can deal with it here.

“I’m going to ask you again in the morning because I don’t trust you in this state. But you can’t go walking around campus drunk. Headmaster Wilson would fire you on the spot.”

“Solve some problems.”

“Yes, it would. But I’m not that kind of girl. Give me your keys.”

He hands them over without protest, without even asking what I want them for. I turn on my coffeepot before I head across campus to his place. When I come back with a clean set of clothes, I’m relieved he’s in the shower.

When he steps out of my bathroom, he looks like he’s had a hard night, but not as bad as he had looked. There are droplets of water clinging to his beard and the hair on his chest. The towel is slung around his narrow hips. Whatever else he may be, Will is a finely built specimen of man. I hold out the pile of clothes, but instead of taking them, he grabs my arms and pulls me in close, the khakis, button-down, boxer-briefs and his favorite argyle socks crushed between us.

“I’m sorry, Erin. This is absolute shit, but that doesn’t give me an excuse to behave like an absolute shit. I hope you can accept my apology.”

I offer him a half-assed smile. “You’re right, it sucks. I’m sorry, too.”

He sinks to one knee, his hands trailing to my mine, which are still clutching his post-bender outfit.

“Erin Elizabeth Brewster, will you marry me?”

I have to laugh. This whole situation is absurd and there’s nothing else to do in the face of it except let the desperate barks of hysteria overtake me. “Yes, Will. I will marry you.”

The wedding is a rushed affair. We got a license from City Hall and a few days later make our way into Boston to the courthouse. I wear a dress and Will wears a suit. No one we know is there. Strangers act as witnesses and when it’s over, we finger the thin gold bands on our ring fingers.Did that really happen?But when we arrive back on campus, there’s a note on my door to please report to the faculty dining room.

When we get there, a handful of colleagues are waiting to fête us with a small white cake. The swooping red letters read “Congratulations Will and Erin!”

I want to throw it on the floor.

Congratulations on what? Messing up my whole life? But some arranged marriages are happy, aren’t they? I could still get my happy ending, have everything I’ve ever wanted. Though I’d rather curl up in my bathtub and cry, I put on a brave face and accept congratulatory hugs and well wishes from the other faculty and staff. At least I can stay here. That’s what really matters.

If they know why we’ve done this, they don’t say. If the walls of this school could talk, I can’t imagine this is the most scandalous thing ever to take place here. Aunt Tilly is particularly kind.

“I’m so happy for you, Erin. Will is a handsome, intelligent young man. You two are going to be very happy together.”

I give her a tight smile, begging her with my eyes to say something, anything, that’s going to make me feel better. She’s as close to a mother as I’ve ever gotten and this is the kind of thing moms are good for, right? “I think so, too.”

“It’s not the fashion to get married so young these days, but there are benefits to starting out together. You’ll never be alone.”

I nod and hope springs. She would know. She and Uncle Rett got married young, too, and they’re still madly in love almost fifty years later. But they started out that way. At least she’s right about one thing: I’ll never be alone. That’s one of the reasons I wanted to work here. Even if I like the illusion of being by myself, it’s most comfortable when someone else has got your back. Whatever’s happened, these people do. I wouldn’t trade the most perfect husband in the world for having to leave the Hill.

Someone’s procured a couple of bottles of something that can’t technically be called champagne, and Uncle Rett makes a toast. When we’ve raised our glasses and downed the cheap bubbly, he has one more announcement to make.

“A married couple shouldn’t start out living in the closets single junior faculty members are privileged to enjoy.” Chuckles sound around the room because most of the people here started out in those apartments. “So, for you, Will and Erin, the key to your next phase of life. And the two-bedroom apartment in Sullivan.”

He produces a literal key from his pocket and holds it aloft before Will accepts it. “Thank you, sir.”

Uncle Rett claps him on the shoulder and then draws me into a hug.

“It’s going to be fine, Erin. You made the right choice. Will’s a good man. He won’t let you down.”

My eyes water and I lay my head on his chest. I hope that’s true.

After the party dies down, Will and I walk hand-in-hand across campus to Sullivan to check out our new digs. It’s a third-floor apartment, left vacant because there are two other apartments in the dorm and this one is small and oddly shaped; not quite enough room for two people. My fingers graze my belly in an involuntary reference. Never mind three.

It’s been freshly scrubbed, I can smell the vacuuming and industrial cleaning powder the custodial staff uses. As we take the short tour, I imagine my things here. A bookcase up against that wall, the coffee table littered with papers to be graded before the fireplace. Canisters of flour, sugar and salt on that shelf. But those are all my things. I don’t remember what Will’s things look like from the few times I’ve been in his apartment.

“So when do you think we should move in?” he asks.

“Tomorrow, I guess. Most of the boys will be at games off campus, so we shouldn’t have much of an audience.”

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