Always, Alice

Gingerbread Lattes

Alice pottered for a few hours, tidying, organizing and finding jobs to pass time until she could go home without feeling guilty at the lack of work she had done today. She was just finishing tidying up in the art room when she heard footsteps coming slowly up the stairs and pushing the door open gently.

'Oh, hello again,' Harry smiled at her as he walked in, that same bright beautiful smile. 'I was told this is where to find supplies I might need,' and he began to nose around the stack of jotters on the shelf just by the door.

'Yeah, you should find everything in here - it's like an Aladdin's cave,' Alice cringed at her own words before turning her head away to continue shuffling the jars of glitter she was trying to fit onto a shelf - she's thankful when she hears Harry laugh and say that he loves that movie. Alice smiles quietly to herself and turns around in Harry's direction - she catches him looking over at her before returning his attention to the jotters and her cheeks blush a deep shade of red.

A comfortable silence falls between them before Harry speaks again, the clinking of the glitter jars the only sound breaking the quiet of the room. 'I'm going to give all the kiddos a blank jotter, for ten minutes when they come in each morning they can write or draw about whatever they fancy - like a journal,' Harry explains as he grabs a handful of jotters that must be what he's looking for. Alice see's him counting them out to himself, his soft pink lips mouthing the numbers silently.

'That's a lovely idea, with all the work that's required these days they don't get the chance to write just for themselves much,' Alice loves the idea, thinking how much the kids in her class would enjoy it too - their imaginations would run wild.

'I got my last class to do it and they came out with all sorts of weird and wonderful things,' Harry continued, smiling to himself. Alice suddenly wondered what kind of class he had taught before, or how many classes? She wondered how long he had been a teacher and was curious to learn more about this handsome new stranger.

'I can't wait to read them, it's quite a bunch you have in that class - lovely, but quite a bunch,' Alice popped the last jar of glitter onto the shelf, thankful she had completed at least one of the many tasks no-one else was willing to take on.

'When do you finish today? Maybe we could grab a quick coffee to chat through some things,' Alice hears Harry say, turning to look at him as he pops the books under his arm and makes his way back to the door.

'I'm just passing the time if I'm honest, I'd be fine to chat whenever,' she replied.

'Cool, let's not have the stuff in the staff room though, why don't we head down to the cafe?' Harry asks kindly. Alice's freezes for a second, nerves building up in her chest before she somehow manages to agree to his offer.

Although she may have seemed calm on the outside, inside her head - she was freaking out. Alice was a very well liked person amongst her friends, family and coworkers. She had always been shy - preferring to observe rather than join in and quietly listen rather than speak up. She adored working with children, her fear of people judging her or not liking her was never an issue with kids, they always adored her. Her kind and gentle demeanor always had them loving her, sometimes more than the teachers themselves.

Her shyness did hold her back though, and it drove her crazy. She always preferred to be cozy at home with her Fred and passed on a lot of social situations. To be asked out for coffee - even just in a professional manner, it left her starting to sweat. She wanted to make a good impression though and found herself wanting to know more about Harry - yes was the only option to his question.

'Cool, let me just pop these downstairs and grab my things - meet you out front in five?' Harry said casually, already halfway out the door with an armful of jotters and a packet of coloured markers he had grabbed on his way out.