Lessons in Love

Chapter 4

"No, of course not. My mind just drifted. I think it might be best to do some smaller activities together in the classrooms before we throw them all together for a day-long field trip. Do some get-to-know-you activities to help them get comfortable with each other, that sort of thing."

Lucas sipped his coffee as he considered. "I see what you mean. Okay, how about we plan the field trip for three weeks out? In the meantime, we can arrange a couple activities together each week in school."

"That sounds reasonable. I'll..." Aria stopped in mid-sentence. The last person she wanted to see at this moment in time was currently walking through the door of the coffee shop. She looked around frantically. There really was nowhere to hide, short of cowering under the table. The restroom was across the coffee shop, in a direct path in front of the new arrival.

*****

Lucas was puzzled by Aria's reaction. "Aria? Is something the matter?" Aria was trying to shrink down in her chair, leaning forward with her hair covering her face. "Aria, what is it?"

"Shhhhh. It's my..."

"Aria, what a nice surprise! I didn't expect to run into you here."

"Hello, Mother. I didn't expect to see you here either." Aria tried a half-smile. Her mother looked expectantly at Lucas, who was standing and sporting a complete smile.

"Mother, this is Lucas D'Angelo, a colleague from school. Lucas, my mother, Helen Spencer."

Lucas extended his hand to Helen. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Ms. Spencer."

"Likewise," Helen said, smiling at Lucas and then at Aria.

"Well," Aria started. "We had better..."

"Ms. Spencer, would you like to join us for a cup of coffee?" Lucas offered.

"That's very kind of you. I would love to!" Helen set her jacket on the chair and went to the counter to order.

*****

Aria turned to Lucas. "What are you doing?" she hissed.

"Having coffee with two beautiful, interesting women," Lucas said. "What are you doing?"

"Trying to figure out if I should strangle you or run away. This is a terrible idea."

"Good manners are never a terrible idea." Lucas folded his beautiful hands together and grinned at Aria. This outing was turning out to be even more fun that he had hoped. He couldn't believe he had had second thoughts about doing this. Now he would get more insight into Aria, courtesy of a little mother-daughter interaction, which was clearly the last thing Aria wanted at the moment.

"So, what are the two of you up to?" Helen asked, after she had settled herself with a non-fat coconut milk latte. Lucas noted that it was a large, and saw that Aria had noticed, too. It looked like Helen was settling in for a while, but Aria was clearly less than thrilled about it.

Aria answered her mother. "We're doing some planning for the school year. Lucas is the sixth-grade teacher at Lakewood, and his students are buddies with my students."

"We're going to do activities together each week to help the kids build friendships," Lucas said. "The older kids get the experience of being mentors to the little ones, who benefit from the company and care they get from the older ones. It's a win-win."

"That sounds wonderful!" Helen said. "I wish they had had something like that when Aria was at Lakewood."

Lucas tried to imagine a little blonde Aria, running around the Lakewood playground. He couldn't quite get there, especially since the person in question had her arms crossed and looked cool and aloof.

*****

After a few more minutes of conversation, Helen stood and picked up her coffee. Aria prevented herself from sagging with relief that she was leaving. "It's been lovely to meet you, Lucas. I would like to hear more about the ideas you're working on for Lakewood. Why don't you and Aria come to dinner tomorrow night?"

Aria's eyes widened. "Thank you, Mother, but I don't think that will be possible. I have prep to do, and I'm sure Lucas has a lot going on as well."

"You have to eat, don't you, and this way you can save yourself the time spent cooking."

"Some other time..." Aria said, looking frantically at Lucas, who betrayed her and said, "I would love to come to dinner, Ms. Spencer. Thank you for the invitation."

Aria, who knew defeat when she saw it, resisted the temptation to stomp on Lucas's foot. "Fine. Thank you," she said through gritted teeth.

Helen smiled. "Six o'clock then. Do you like lasagna, Lucas?"

"Absolutely!"

And just like that, Aria was plunged deeper into this thing that might or might not be a thing with Lucas. Could she not get away from this man?