Sunrise at Sunset (5 page)

He watched her go with his eyes, even as his face was tilted towards the top of the podium, and his mind raced with the desire to call her name. However, he remained silent and turned his gaze to the remaining students with a sigh.

Caleb spent the next week grading exams, meeting with students regarding their grades, and trying to bring order to the chaos often accompanying the end of a semester. It was the first time he had experienced the process completely from the opposite side of the podium, and he gained immediate sympathy for his previous college professors.

He sighed. On top of the hectic pace at work, Melanie was annoyed with him. His responsibilities had ruined her plans for them to join some of her friends on a weekend getaway trip to Florida. He tried to explain that his evenings and upcoming weekend would be swamped with a litany of semester-ending activities, but she brokered no sympathy for him.
Never mind that in October it’s too late to fully appreciate the beaches.

On Thursday evening, he sat alone at his office desk wearing a pair of blue jeans and dark blue T-shirt with the college’s name emblazoned across the front of it in large white letters. He had just finished posting the grades for his evening history class, in which Katrina made a perfect “A.” Her accomplishment, while uncanny, somehow failed to surprise him. He found her to be quite a remarkable woman at many levels.
Melanie would kill me just for thinking that,
he realized.

His cell phone rang, and he noticed it was Melanie’s number.
Speak of the devil
, he mused.

“Hey, what’s up?” he absently asked as he filed away some graded essays in a small filing cabinet drawer for safekeeping.

“Hi,” she replied in a surprisingly perky manner.

Everything must be forgiven
, he resolved.

“So, I was wondering,” she tentatively ventured, “How would you feel if I went ahead and joined my friends on the Jacksonville trip this weekend? I mean, you’re just going to be distracted most of the time with school stuff anyway, right?”

He considered her logic with a raised eyebrow. “Well, sure, Mel. I don’t mind if you go without me.” He wasn’t sure exactly how much time he’d have to devote to her on the upcoming weekend anyway.
And if it makes her less angry with me, so much the better.

“Great!” she replied with renewed excitement. “I knew you wouldn’t mind.”

She must know me pretty well after six months of dating
, he considered.

“Jodi said that a friend of hers, Greg Betwich, was going by himself. So it evens up the couples count again.”

“Greg Betwich?” he asked with uncertainty.

“Yeah, you remember Greg? He was the guy at the Valentine’s costume party we went to who was dressed as the peanut M&M,” she explained. “The accountant with the odd sense of humor.”

Oh, that Greg
. He recalled Greg Betwich, all right. Greg was the guy dressed as the M&M who kept asking women if they wanted to prove he melted in their mouth and not in their hand.
What a creep!

“So, this Greg thing,” Caleb began carefully. “Are you planning to be with Greg while you’re there?”

“Huh?” she asked. “Me and Greg? No silly, he’s just going to even out the numbers for our group.”

Much better
, he corrected. At least she seemed to appreciate his concern. “Oh, well, that’s okay,” he replied more smoothly.

“I mean, we’ll probably sit together and may do some dancing,” she casually added. “But it’s not like we’ll be staying in the same hotel room together. He already booked the room across from me.”

They already booked the rooms, and she’s just now calling me? Okay, so maybe she doesn’t appreciate me as fully as I thought
, he considered as an afterthought.

He grit his teeth. “When are you guys leaving?” he asked with an edge to his voice.

“Well, probably early tomorrow morning so we beat the Friday afternoon rush,” she answered. “We’re all piling into Candace’s minivan.”

“Well, call me when you get there, so I’ll know you’re okay,” he insisted in a resigned tone.

“Will do,” she replied matter-of-factly. “And don’t stay too late up at the college. There might be more muggers out there or something.”

“Sure,” he replied. “Talk to you tomorrow then.”

“’Night!” she said before the line went dead.

Caleb shook his head and stared out the window at the campus, although it was so dark outside and so much lighter in his office that he really couldn’t see anything. Reaching up, he turned the blinds down so he wouldn’t feel like a fish in a bowl. He noted how eerily quiet the building was. It was only around eight o’clock, but most of the faculty had left for the day, and finals were over so there weren’t any students around anymore. It felt lonely to him, actually, and sort of matched his mood at that moment.

“You’re quite the night owl.”

Caleb nearly bolted out of his chair, and his heart felt like it stopped in its tracks. “Holy –” he exclaimed with a start.

Katrina smiled down at him with a mischievous grin while folding her arms across her chest.

His breath was having a hard time returning to him, but it wasn’t because of surprise. Caleb took note of her snug black denim jeans and brilliant blue, long-sleeved turtleneck sweater. Her red hair was pulled back into a ponytail, giving her a sexy, yet edgy, appearance. She was simply beautiful.

“Sorry to startle you,” she playfully offered.

He grinned and shook his head despite himself. “You got me there,” he conceded.

She raised an eyebrow at him and muttered, “Lucky me.”

He stared at her for another moment in silent admiration. “So, Katrina, what brings you up here at this time of night?”

“I thought I might find you here,” she answered simply.

“Oh, really?” he asked with raised eyebrows. “Were you wanting to know your final grade? It should be no surprise that you made a perfect score on everything, including the bonus questions.” The completely unusual nature of that registered on him with remarkable impact. Suffice to say, while not impossible, it was a highly unusual level of performance.

“Thank you. That’s nice to know,” she absently replied. “Actually, I came by for you.”

Came for me?

She noted the momentary look of confusion on his face with silent appreciation.
Slow down, Katrina
, she silently chided in a split second’s time. She warmly smiled at him as she listened to his pulse, noting he had a strong heart. From where she stood, she could almost hear the blood rushing through his body. His blood momentarily called to her, and she steadied the innate desire for it that rose in her system.

“I was hoping that we could talk, actually,” she amended with a gentle tone.

“Sure,” he replied while gesturing to a small guest chair next to his desk. “What’s up?”

She tentatively smiled with a sparkle in her green eyes. “Actually, I was thinking that maybe you’d like to talk over coffee somewhere.”

He was disappointed as a small warning bell went off in his head. His smile faded, and he responded, “I’m sorry, Katrina. I shouldn’t; what with you being one of my students and everything.”

But her smile was confident as she raised an eyebrow and countered, “Have you posted our final grades?”

“Well, yes, as a matter of fact,” he carefully answered. “But you’re still a student.”

“Really?” she asked. “I don’t believe I’m enrolled here anymore.”

A momentary look of surprise played across his face. “I don’t understand,” he ventured with confusion. “Aren’t you enrolling in other courses?”

She shook her head in an almost self-satisfied manner.

“But –” he paused. “Your potential is amazing. Surely, you want to finish a degree or something.”

Katrina smirked, regarding his confusion with a sly expression. “No, my college experience has come to an end,” she replied. “It provided me with all that I needed.”

Caleb blinked once and asked, “Well, what other courses have you completed?”

Her expression turned serious, and she paused before answering in a quiet voice, “History.”

His mind momentarily reeled at the odd implications of her simple statement, and his thoughts seemed to seize as he got lost in the pair of beautiful green eyes staring back at him.

“Coffee?” she ventured while never losing eye contact. “I’ll drive.”

In the parking lot, Caleb stood before the sleek, jet black Audi sports car in awe. Even by the dim lighting it was a spectacle of automotive engineering. He couldn’t even dream of something like that given his salary. “
This
is your car?” he incredulously asked.

Katrina smirked at him as she unlocked the doors with her remote.
Ah, he likes it
, she complimented herself. “Hop in,” she offered while sliding behind the driver’s seat.

He gingerly sat in the passenger seat and reveled in the luxurious leather interior. The vehicle fit him like a glove, and he glanced sidelong at Katrina with a wide-eyed expression. “This is new,” he noted while breathing in the scent of the new car smell mixed with fresh leather. “Cool.”

Katrina smiled during their drive through the Atlanta city streets as the radio played alternative rock tunes. She basked in the sense of anticipation emanating in small waves from him and took pleasure in having piqued his curiosity.

She studied Caleb with interest as they sat across from each other at the Starbucks on Northeast Moreland Avenue. The place was bustling with people at that hour, but the atmosphere still felt cozy as they secured a small table in the corner of the room near the magazine rack. Pleasant acoustic guitar music serenaded them over the speakers, and they viewed the busy street outside through the front window. Despite the invitation to coffee, Caleb carefully sipped at a mug of Darjeeling. Realizing it was still too hot, he sat the cup down and smiled at Katrina as he noticed her intently observing him.

She enjoyed just watching him sip his tea. It was satisfying simply to sit across the table from him with no impediments to her interest in him. Gone were the premises of the college environment in which she initially sought him. He was hers to focus on entirely. She momentarily paused to consider the possessive nature of her thoughts and found that they suited her.

“Do you like it?” she asked. “Granted, it’s not coffee, as I originally suggested.”

“It’s tasty, actually,” he conceded with a hint of surprise. “I don’t drink a lot of coffee anyway.”

In truth, he didn’t tend to stray too far outside of his comfort zone, even when it came to tea. But that night had a different feel to it; somehow daring, yet surprisingly comforting to him. “Yes,” he added, his mind back on the tea. “It’s light, but there’s a sweet hint of nuts and something buttery.”

She nodded with a smile while sipping appreciatively from a cup of the same flavor. She relished that vampires could appreciate many beverages and even some foods, though they derived no nutrition from them. In fact, large quantities of human food usually caused her unpleasant digestive effects.

“What did you want to talk about?” he asked.

She regarded him for a moment, once again reveling in the intimacy of their conversation. “Anything,” she said simply. “Tell me about yourself.”

He smiled, not having expected such an open-ended invitation. And yet he frowned ever so slightly as he considered whether it were appropriate to be sitting across the table from her.

“Am I complicating anything?” she asked in an intentionally vague fashion. While Katrina didn’t want to cause him undue guilt over being here with her, she also didn’t really care what Melanie might think. The more that she learned about Melanie, the less she liked her.

“Um, not complicated, really,” Caleb offered awkwardly before pausing to collect his thoughts. The truth was that after the conversation with Melanie earlier that evening, he wasn’t at all certain just how much more complicated anything could be between the two of them. Even after six months or more he still wasn’t entirely sure where he and Melanie stood as a couple. Just when he thought he had it figured out, another unexpected event sprang up. Overall, he sometimes felt that he was just “Mister Right Now” when it came to his girlfriend.

Katrina noted his struggle and patiently waited for him to continue.

“What I mean is, I want to be here with you,” he said finally with a sheepish smile.

He’s cute
, she mused.
Much like when he was a child.

“I’m glad to hear it,” she answered with an encouraging smile. “Because I want to be here with you, too.”

They sipped their tea for a moment, silently appreciating each other’s company. Then something that had been on Caleb’s mind since he first saw Katrina in class came to the forefront of his thoughts.

“Forgive me if this sounds strange,” he tentatively began. “But do we know each other from somewhere? And not from class, of course. What I mean is, have we met somewhere before?”