Pieces of Perfect by Elizabeth Hayley Page B

was all she said. I nodded my head.  Then, she rose and walked out without saying another word.
 
    Finally alone, I threw myself into my chair and buried my face in my hands. I only had three minutes before the third period bell, so I needed to pull it together. I dropped one of my hands to my mouse and gave it a slight jiggle to wake up my monitor. When the screen remained black, I realized that my monitor had been turned off. Dread moved through me as it dawned on me that Max had been sitting here only 40 minutes prior. As I hit the button, I inhaled deeply.
     
    There on my screen was a picture of Max, dressed in a hockey uniform from the waist down, shirtless from the waist up. His hair hung in his strikingly blue eyes, his muscled torso sweaty and delectable. I’ve never wanted to fuck a picture so badly in my life.  When I clicked out of the Internet, I realized just how sadistic he was. It wasn’t an image up on just Google. The fucker had made this my wallpaper.  
 
    *               *              *
 
    The rest of the day passed and my agitation waned as my students reminded me of what my true focus was supposed to be. The truth was, that despite the fact that I jokingly called the kids animals and nerds and complained about my job, I loved being a teacher. And I was damn good at it. I certainly wasn't going to let one man ruin all of that for me.
     
    I decided to check my email one last time before heading out to meet Tina. As I clicked Outlook open, my eyes fell to one email in particular. I eyed the sender’s name curiously: Carter, Adam. The subject line was blank, so I was forced to click on it to see what it was about.
 
    Dear Miss Hamilton,
 
    I just wanted to follow up on our meeting yesterday and make sure that you had my email address so that you could readily contact me about Eva’s progress in English.  Also, I was thinking about starting up a book club and wanted to run my first book selection by you.  Have you ever read Water for Elephants ? ;) Though, I think it’s about a circus, so maybe that doesn’t quite pique your interest.
     
    Hope to hear from you soon,
    Adam
     
    P.S. Am I too old for the winky face above? I put one in a text to Eva and she told me I was too old for emoticons. The nerve!
 
    Once I finished reading Adam’s email, I found myself grinning like the Cheshire Cat. So, maybe there were men left in the world who could hold appropriate conversations with women. It was refreshing. I quickly tried to think of a witty reply.
     
    Dear Adam,
 
    Thank you for your email, and I will be sure to keep you u pdated about Eva. In regards to the book club, I didn’t know parents of giraffes were all that into reading.  Learn something new every day.
     
    Sincerely,
    Lily Hamilton
 
    P.S. I thought old men were the only ones who still winked anyway. Therefore, I think you’re safe.
 
    I hit send, hoping he would find my email humorous. I mean, granted I basically called him old, but he’d see the humor, right? I was obviously being sarcastic; he couldn’t have been more than 35. Now that I was thinking about it, maybe he wouldn’t see the humor because it wasn’t funny. And what if he didn’t remember that Miss Mason had called Eva a giraffe? Was that the sort of thing someone would forget? I was pretty damn sure I’d never forget it and it hadn’t even been said about my kid. Questions plagued my mind as I contemplated all the ways he could react to what I had written.
 
    My cell phone buzzed. I glanced down to see a text from Tina.
 
    I’m waiting!!!! was all it said. I looked at the time. 3:17. Christ, impatient much?
     
    I shutdown my computer, grabbed my stuff, and walked toward the door. I suddenly thought that I should email Adam again and thank him. For the first time all day, I wasn’t obsessing over Max.
     

Nine
     
    Tina gazed at me hard. “Okay, spill it! You’ve been a complete wreck since Mr. Sweet Ass Samson