My Ten-Year Crush by Olivia Spring
Chapter Twelve
Of all the courses. Of all the teachers that could have been standing at the front of the class right now, it had to be him.
I’d heard of coincidences, but this was crazy.
If I’d taken more time to talk to Zainab about the course when she’d first called instead of rushing her off the phone and done more research, then I might have found out that he was one of the tutors. Dammit.
Just as I tried to process how spooky it all was, Mike clocked me and his eyes widened. His face broke into a smile and then he continued introducing himself.
‘I’ve been teaching English as a foreign language to young learners and adults for eight years, and for three of those, I’ve also trained teachers to help them become PEFLITC qualified. I’ve worked all over the world: across Asia, so Japan, China, Vietnam and Thailand; South America, including Brazil and Argentina; and also throughout Europe, in France, Italy and Spain.’
Wow. I knew Mike would have travelled a lot, but I hadn’t realised he’d been to so many places. I supposed he always had loved travelling.
‘So I’m sure you researched PEFLITC thoroughly before you signed up and everything was explained in your interview, but in a nutshell, this course is going to help you learn the principles and practical skills you need to teach English as a foreign language. We’ll focus on communication and learning through tasks. There’ll be a lot of group work, discussion and coming up with cool ideas and activities you can use for your learners…’
God. He’d only just started speaking and I could already tell he was great. Of course he was. He was Mike Jones for goodness’ sake. He was always great at everything.
There I went romanticising things again. He wasn’t great at everything. He had his flaws, just like everyone else. I couldn’t quite remember them all now, but I know he did. Yes! For example, he wasn’t great at commitment or holding down a long-term relationship. There were probably plenty of other things I’d forgotten about too.
Mike took us through the different topics we’d be covering, which included focusing on language skills, so reading, writing, listening and speaking, planning classes and preparing resources, that kind of thing.
Another tutor, Graham, a short, stocky man with receding blonde hair, came into the room, introduced himself briefly and said that he would also be teaching various elements of the course to us. He seemed sweet and very knowledgeable. Two tutors for the price of one. If only Graham could teach me full-time instead of sharing the role with Mike, something told me I’d have a better chance of focusing. Graham sat at the side of the room whilst Mike turned his back to the class and started writing on the board.
‘Ding-dong!’ said a woman behind me. ‘No wonder this course was popular. I thought his face was beautiful, but look at those buns! I’d pay money just to sit and stare at him. He is lush.’
A pang of jealousy shot through me. Just like when Ursula had expressed her intentions, I wanted to spin around and say ‘back off, lady’, but I had no claim on him. Especially considering he’d texted me two days ago and I hadn’t replied. Awkward…
Seconds later, Mike turned back to face us. That woman wasn’t wrong. He really was a vision. Especially dressed in that crisp white shirt, colourful tie and smart trousers. As he spoke, I watched his lips moving. I’d always loved his lips. They were full and so evenly proportioned. Even though it was a decade ago that I’d felt his mouth on mine, I still remembered how soft they were. He was such a good kisser too…
‘There’s no final exam. You’ll just be assessed throughout the course. To receive your PEFLITC qualification, you’ll need to meet the assessment criteria for all of the written and practical assignments…’
Faye coughed, which jolted me out of my thoughts. Damn. This was only the first lesson and I was already getting distracted. If I wanted to stand a chance of passing, I’d need to concentrate. How, though? Mike was so confident. So commanding. So annoyingly sexy…
‘I’m not going to lie to you. This course is intense. It will be like cramming a uni semester into one month, so you’re going to have to kiss goodbye to a lot of your free time in the evenings and at weekends. I’m going to work you hard…’
Someone pass me the cold water.
‘But it will be worth it. Both Graham and I will be here to help you every step of the way, and once you have your PEFLITC, it will open doors for you all around the world. Anyway, that’s enough from me. One of the things you’ll learn about is the importance of minimising teacher talk, so let’s get straight down to it.’
I only digested about fifty percent of what Mike had said. Something about kissing, working me hard and getting straight down to it. That was the gist of it, right?
Oh God.
This was ridiculous. I shouldn’t even be having these thoughts. Before I’d arrived I was worried about the workload and the intensity of the lessons. But as I looked at Mike in front of me, I knew it wasn’t just the assignments and teaching sessions I needed to worry about. It was how I was going to curb my attraction enough to focus on basic instructions.
Damn.
I knew this course would be tough, but with Mike as my tutor, it was going to be a lot harder than I thought…
During the coffee break, I’d messaged Sophia and Melody to tell them the news. I wasn’t expecting a reply from Sophia until this evening. After her big pitch earlier, she’d be exhausted. Plus, once she’d started work, she usually wasn’t contactable for the rest of the day. She was always rushed off her feet.
Melody, on the other hand, had sent me a string of messages. Andrea was having a nap and she’d taken the day off sick from her part-time office job because she was still recovering from Friday night. That must have been one hell of a hangover.
Melody
OMG!!
This is fate!
You were meant to be together. Told you!
Me
It’s not fate! It’s just a nightmare coincidence…
Melody
Bull! You’re the one that used to harp on about the universe and stuff. If this isn’t a sign, then I don’t know what is.
It was true. I used to believe in all that universe stuff, but I’d abandoned hope ages ago. I’d been asking it to send me a decent man for an eternity. I’d placed my order in the relationship catalogue, and yet years later there was no word on a delivery date. That was when I decided to face the truth: there wasn’t a Mr Right out there for me.
Anyway, signs from the universe didn’t always have to be good. I had no idea why Mike had to be one of my tutors, but it didn’t have anything to do with us forming some sort of romance like Mel kept thinking.
Melody
You’ve GOT to ask him out for lunch. DO IT!
Me
I’ve got to go.
Melody
DO IT!!
I went back into the class, my stomach churning. I couldn’t…
There were a couple of women chatting to him as I walked in, so I took my seat. The room quickly filled up and he started the lesson again.
A couple of hours later, it was time for lunch. Surprisingly, everyone filed out of the classroom quickly and we were left alone. I supposed it wouldn’t hurt to try and diffuse some potential embarrassment.
‘So…’ I approached his desk. ‘This was a bit of a shock. I was not expecting to see you here today.’
‘That makes two of us! I should have checked the register before the lesson.’
‘Looks like we really do have a lot to catch up on…’ I paused. I needed to get the awkward bit—well, one of the many awkward bits—out of the way. ‘Sorry I didn’t get to reply to your message… I only got a space on this course at the last minute, so you know me, always the nerd, I spent the weekend swotting up and preparing for today’s lesson and time kind of slipped away from me. I was going to respond. Honest.’
‘Yeah, yeah.’ He smiled. God, that smile… ‘I believe you.’
‘Let me make it up to you. Let me buy you lunch. Well, don’t get too excited. This week, I’m a student, so I’m not talking a slap-up meal or anything. Just a sandwich from Pret or something?’
I hadn’t wanted to meet him for a drink before when he’d texted, but asking him to lunch now was completely different. Now I knew he was going to be teaching me for a month, I needed to resolve any awkwardness to get the most out of the lessons. If spending an hour over lunch with Mike would help me with the course, it would be worth the sacrifice.
‘Oh… I…’
‘Are you ready, Mike?’ I turned to see a woman, who I assumed was another teacher, standing at the door.
‘Sorry… I’ve already arranged to…’
‘No worries!’ I plastered on a smile. ‘Just a thought. No big deal. Maybe we could just grab a drink later, then, instead?’
The question flew out of my mouth before I even realised it. Shit. Mike winced a little.
‘I’m, um, I’m going to Rebecca’s tonight…’
Doh.
Of course he was. I’d heard her gloating about it at the reunion. God. It was at times like these that I wished I could freeze time. If I could I’d also get myself a shovel, dig a giant hole to bury myself in, permanently. This was so embarrassing.
The woman came into the classroom, tilted her head and made a face that seemed to say ‘awww… diddums. Poor little woman has a crush on the teacher. How sad.’
I felt pathetic.
‘Rain check?’ said Mike.
‘Yeah, sure.’ I backed out of the room, hitting a filing cabinet on the way out. Ouch. As if I wasn’t mortified enough.
I literally sprinted along the corridor and down the stairs, then raced through the barriers and out the front door into the fresh air.
My phone chimed.
Melody
So… did you ask him to lunch?
I quickly typed out a reply. Seeing it written down in black and white made me wince even more.
Me
Yes. But he already had a lunch date with another woman. So I stupidly asked him for a drink later instead and he reminded me he was seeing Rebecca…
Melody
Oh, love. I’m sorry.
Me
No big deal. I was just trying to avoid any awkwardness and apologise for not replying to his text. That was all. Probably best to keep things strictly professional anyway.
Right now, I wanted to run to the station, jump on a train and never come back. But it was too late. I couldn’t walk away now. I’d already paid for the course—I couldn’t afford to lose that kind of money. And if I wanted to give myself the best chance of developing my career, I needed to get this qualification.
Yep. There was no way around it. As much as I wanted to climb under a rock and never come out again, I had to continue. I was stuck on this course with Mike for four weeks, and if it was anything like how it had gone so far today, I had no idea how I was going to get through them.