Once back at her office, he phoned home and left a message for Zac. Then they both worked. Or at least, for the benefit of the other, they both pretended to be busy.
Joshua attended her lecture. He wasn't letting her out of his sight. Not for one moment.
He sat in the back row and watched as a steady stream of students filled the small lecture theatre. He was intrigued to see a sizable number of men attended the lecture and he wondered whether his presence would make Grace uneasy. He watched her switch on the console, and insert her disc. The first slide of the powerpoint presentation flashed onto the screen.
The seats were gradually filled and when she was ready to start she simply said in a voice just loud enough to be heard over the chatter, "Good evening." A gradual hush descended as everyone focussed on her. She smiled as she waited for them to settle. Then she began, "Last week, we pursued the notion.....
Joshua was surprised to find that forty five minutes had passed from the moment he started listening to her talk. He was impressed by the way she presented her material and he was fascinated by the material she presented. Even though he knew nothing about the area, he had been engrossed throughout the class. There were things he was going to ask her about, later, when he took her home. That had him smiling. He was going home with her. That made him inordinately pleased.
He was still mulling over some of the points she had highlighted and found himself listening avidly to fifteen minutes of follow up questions. There was plenty to talk about. Issues that he wanted to talk about. It had been fascinating. That surprised him.
There had been over a hundred students there and as they left he listened to them. They were still discussing some of the issues, weighing up the ideas.
None of her students would have guessed that she had had a lousy day. That her day prior to this lecture had been filled with threats, violence and concern. She came across as informed, amiable and articulate. Yes, he was impressed.
The more he got to know her the more he found himself ensnared.
He waited patiently for her while she talked to a few students who had ambled to the front to seek further clarification. Joshua watched as she dealt with each situation quickly and affably. When the last student departed she threw Joshua an apologetic smile, as he got up from the seat he had taken.
"Sorry." Grace gathered her folders and discs, placing them back in their respective slots and original packaging.
Joshua strolled down the steps to the front podium.
"That was impressive." He stated as he handed her a pile of the left over hand out material she had used.
"Thanks." She switched off the computer she had used for her powerpoint presentation and turned off the console, taking off the radio microphone and flicking off numerous switches. "It could have been better." She muttered to herself as she automatically reflected on her lecture. "I skimmed some of the points and I need to update my third slide." She was muttering to herself, even though it sounded as if she was answering Joshua's praise. "Plus I forgot to include stuff on the section on surrogacy. And I talked too fast. Again." She shook her head, "Next time."
Joshua chuckled. Grace threw him an affronted questioning look.
"Grace." He beamed at her, "You were bloody brilliant and here you are nit picking." He ruffled her hair with his free hand. "I was so engrossed I lost track of the time, and the students were still talking about the topic as they left." He smiled teasingly, "I might even sign up to do this course next year."
"Yeah, right." But suddenly all the little mistakes she had made were exactly that, little. He had listened to her lecture. Somehow it wasn't what she had expected. She thought he might retrieve some of his work and do it while she delivered her lecture. Initially, she had been aware of him, when she began her talk, she was very conscious of him being in the theatre, but as she began to talk about the issues, she had slowly shifted focus. She was aware of his presence but she wasn't unsettled.
"Here, let me take those." He reached for the pile of papers she had and she handed them over without an argument. That in itself told him she was exhausted. The day was taking its toll.
"Thanks." She put the computer discs in her satchel and glanced around one final time, just making sure she had all her things and had shut down all that needed to be switched off."You ok?" As the adrenaline disappeared, she looked tired.
"Nothing a good bed won't fix." She replied as she pushed her hair off her face with both hands and then lifted her satchel off the podium top. "Ok, let's go." She glanced around, checking to see that she had collected all her gear, "Right, we need to get a move on." She flicked the wrist of her cuff, "Yup. Cutting it fine."
"Where do we have to be?"
"Back at the department, seminar room. We say 6.15, that gives everyone a chance to get a tea or coffee and settle down before the seminar starts."
"Is it ok for me to be there?"
"Sure, it's open to all and sundry. Basically our students, PhD students, use it as an opportunity to rehearse for conferences or papers or vivas even."
"Useful." Amicably they walked toward her building.
"Usually. Unless of course someone is trying to score points then it becomes tricky. But usually two students get a chance to talk about their work. They get twenty minutes to present and ten minutes of questions. We break them in gently."
"How often do you do this?"
"About once a month, but we take it in turn to chair the session. I'm chairing the second session."
He asked about the classes she taught, she gave him an overview of her teaching load. He asked her some questions about the lecture. She gave him a bit more background information.
After Grace had introduced him to some of her colleagues, Joshua took up a seat at the rear of the small room. About thirty people were there, and though he'd listened to the first student, the poor woman was so nervous it was difficult not to cringe on her behalf. Even Grace kept wincing.
The second student was no better. She was nervous and stuttered her way through the entire presentation, though clearly what she had to say was of interest to those present. Joshua felt them shift into a more alert mode as soon as she started. When it came to the questions, it appeared as if one particular member of the audience was determined to upstage her. It wouldn't take much, but Joshua thought it was unnecessary. He wasn't at all surprised when Grace skillfully turned the question back when once again the student looked completely baffled. Grace then proceeded to guide the discussion asking members of the audience for their views, giving the student a chance to catch her breath.
When the seminar was over, Grace said something quietly to the student and the other adult who had come up to the student immediately after the talk. The two people smiled at Grace.
A few minutes later Grace retraced her steps back to Joshua.
"Well that's it for today." He could see that she was exhausted.
"That's quite a shift you've put in."
She grinned, albeit tiredly, "yeah, see I told you we are poor, hard done by academics."
"But you love it."
She nodded. When she reached for her case he beat her to it and kept it out of her reach even after she raised a demanding brow.
"Come on. I'm ready for that lasagna." He draped an arm along her shoulder and hauled her closer to his side. If she had been anything other than tired she would have moved out of his embrace. As it was, she was grateful to have his support.
They both called out good byes and received replies as they left the room. Grace was sure she would face a barrage of questions from her nosey colleagues tomorrow morning. But she was too tired to care.Together, with his arm still across her shoulder, and with him carrying her work bag, they made their way to his car.
"Why was that guy giving that student a hard time?"
Grace sighed. "Politics. She changed supervisor. He's not too impressed that she dumped him to stay with her second supervisor. Both her supervisors were having some professional difficulties to do with each other. Unfortunately the student got caught up in it."
"Ah, that's why he kept hassling her."
"Yes. And she was so nervous because he was there." They crossed the car park to his car.
"You were pretty deft at steering him away from her jugular."
She laughed. "I just knew he was going to be difficult. And it's not fair on the student."
Joshua agreed. "You were impressive, I've got to tell you. I think the way you batted the questions back at him, soon shut him up!"
She looked up at him, "You don't have to do this."
"Do what?"
"Be nice to me. Butter me up."
"Stating facts Grace. No buttering."
He opened the door for her and when she climbed in he put her bag on the back seat. It didn't look as if anyone was following them, but that didn't ease his mind.
He drove round to her car that was parked in a different car park. Grace transferred to her car and then Joshua followed her to the cottage. He did not let her out of his sight and he made sure he checked his rear view mirror. Now wasn't the time to wish that he had trained as a detective. They arrived at her cottage ten minutes later.
They watched t.v and ate their reheated lasagna from plates on trays on their laps. Grace had thrown together a salad. Joshua opened a Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc that he had bought. He had brought it along just in case they went to lunch at a b.y.o place. Dessert was fresh fruit from the fruit bowl. A low key unexpected dinner date, that was a success given its inception.
The ease with which they settled down to eat, wash-up and talk, suggested a longtime congenial friendship. No-one would have believed that a few weeks back she had been incensed enough to strike him. They had come a long way in an incredibly short time.
They talked about Zac and Mariah, about Briar and Sasha. They talked about computing and Joshua running his own business. They talked about anything and everything that wasn't too intimate.
Family, work, lifestyles were safe topics, but their reactions to each other were not shared. It was too risky. Too much had happened, and not enough time had elapsed for them to accept what they were feeling for each other. But for the moment they were both pleased with the way things were going.
Even though she was exhausted, it was late when they mutually decided they should get some sleep. Neither of them had wanted the evening to end.
"I'll show you where everything is." Automatically Joshua followed her. She showed him the bathroom, and retrieved a new spare toothbrush and a spare towel for him. She showed him how to operate the shower, and then she showed him Briar's room. "I'll get some fresh sheets." She disappeared out of the room for a few minutes leaving Joshua with time to look around. It wasn't a large room, one double bed, a dressing table and a wardrobe occupied what little space there was. There were photographs of young children on the dressing table and Joshua was looking at them when Grace returned. She had her arms full of pale blue cotton sheets.
"I didn't realise your sisters were married. They've got kids?"
Grace chuckled as she put the sheets down and picked up a pillow "That was us." She peered over his shoulder, "I'm the tallest one there. In fact I was taller than them until they turned fourteen then they suddenly shot up. Now I'm the shortest."
Joshua studied the framed photographs more intently. "How old were you here?" He held out a photograph toward her.
Grace glanced at it and said offhand, "Oh, about eleven, I guess." The newly covered pillow was thrown on to the bed and she picked up the next one.
Joshua continued to study the photograph. There was something about her in that photograph. She looked stoic, her eyes reflecting experiences beyond her years. He replaced the photo on the dresser and glanced at the others again before turning back to Grace.
"Here, let me give you a hand." He took one end of sheet she was holding and helped tuck it in. They worked quickly.
"There you go." She glanced around the small room, "Got everything you need?"
He nodded, "I think so."
"See you in the morning." She hesitated at the doorway, "And thanks for staying over."
"At least this way I might get some sleep." He reminded her. "Well, thanks anyway. Good night."
"Sleep well Grace." He replied but she had already stepped out of the room.
Turning he surveyed the room and picked up the photograph once again. There was a self-possessed look in her eyes, and suddenly he remembered when he had seen such a look. It had been earlier today, when she had pulled herself together, fought the tears and grappled with her fright. He replaced the photograph amongst the others, glancing at them slowly in turn. In the other photographs she was smiling, it was reflected in her eyes and on her lips. They were happy photographs. He stripped off, switched off the light and lay in the darkness, thinking of Grace a few doors down the hallway.