8
“Jaden,” Mom yells to me as I finish toweling off from my shower.
“Be there in a minute.” I quickly dress and check myself in the mirror before heading downstairs. She doesn’t need to know about this bump in the road between Blaire and me. She doesn’t even know I’ve been with a woman so much older than me.
I doubt it’ll bother my mom or dad. But I know Mom will be upset if I fuck up my education. I need to figure out how to be with Blaire and remain her student. I don’t want to transfer to another instructor.
“Hey, Mom. What’s up?” I ask and kiss her cheek.
“Will you be a dear and fix the TV for your dad? He pressed the wrong button again and can’t get it to work.” She smiles at me.
“No problem. It’ll take a second.” I walk into the living room, and my dad is fiddling with the remote.
“Let me help you, Dad.” I sit on the ottoman in front of him and hold my hand out.
“Thanks, son.” He hands me the remote, and I spin toward the TV.
Within seconds, I have his favorite news channel back on for him.
“There you go. Now stop messing with all these other buttons. You only need to press the red one to turn it off and the green one to turn it on.” I hand him the remote. He shrugs.
“I’ll try.” He waves his arm for me to move out of his way. He’ll sit all day long on his days off, watching the same news over and over. I don’t understand how he isn’t bored stiff.
I stand and pat his shoulder as I pass him to go back to the kitchen.
“Is there any coffee left?” I ask my mom.
“Just enough for you.” She grabs a mug and pours me a cup.
“Thanks, Mom.” I take it and sit at the small kitchen table.
Sitting next to me, she pats my hand.
“How’s your college classes going?”
“They’re going great.” I take a drink of my coffee, hoping she doesn’t ask about my culinary class.
“And do you like your culinary instructor?” She dips her head toward me.
“Yeah. She’s cool. And it’s a small class of only eight.” I smile. Standing, I take my mug to the sink and place it there.
“I need to grab my stuff for class from my bedroom.” I kiss my mom’s cheek when I pass her to head upstairs and gather my backpack. I can’t wait to see Blaire again.
Sitting at the metal table beside Bob, we all wait for Blaire to enter the classroom. I check my watch. It’s eight-fifteen. Class starts at eight. I begin to worry she’s asked to be removed from this class.
I stand and walk toward the door. Before I get there, the door opens, and a tired eyed Blaire almost walks into me. Our hands touch as I reach for her, and she puts her hand up.
“I’m sorry.” Our eyes meet and I smile.
“No worries. Everything okay?” I ask.
“Everything is fine. You should take your seat, Jaden. I’m going to begin class in a minute.” She turns and walks toward her desk, dropping her bag on it and sliding into the chair.
I return to my seat and clasp my hands on the table, staring at her. I want to be sure she’s okay. I don’t think she is, but I can’t talk to her now. I’ll wait until everyone leaves, and we can be alone.
“Okay, class. We’ve gone through the basics of mise en place, and you’ve all gotten that down very well. Each of you has done a great job of learning how to fabricate poultry. I think some of you were taught by your parents.” Blaire’s eyes shift in my direction, and I smile. She continues her lecture, “The technique of making pan sauce proved a bit challenging. Remember class, to be quick with this one. It’s not a simmering temperature. That pan is hot, so continuous stirring is crucial to prevent burning. We’ll go over this again later. And finally, I’m really impressed with all of your knife skills. I’m sure you’ve watched your parents closely or maybe watched videos online. That’s totally fine. We’ll work on perfecting your already impressive skills.” She pushes back her chair and stands behind her desk.
“Okay, after making the pie crusts yesterday, today we’re making the pie filling for your no-bake lemon pies. This is fairly simple to do. It requires a slow hand while combining the ingredients.” Blaire comes out from behind the desk.
“Let’s go to the prepping stations and begin.”
We all stand and follow her to the back of the classroom. We each take the same tables as yesterday.
While at the stations, I’m partnered with Bob. Candace and Samantha are just to my left. When I turn to observe Blaire’s demonstration of folding ingredients in slowly, Candace clears her throat and I look at her.
She licks her lips and winks at me. I smile, then turn my attention back to Blaire. I have no interest in any other woman in this classroom or in life. Just Blaire. No matter how long I have to wait for her to come around, I’ll fucking wait.
Now’s my chance to touch her. I know how to fold ingredients. I’ve been making dishes that require this technique since I was in elementary school. My mom was very good at making desserts and was an excellent teacher.
After mixing the freshly squeezed lemon juice slowly into the sweetened condensed milk, I raise my arm, waving it until Blaire finally acknowledges me.
“Yes, Jaden.” She looks at me, then averts her eyes from mine.
“Miss Turner, will you please help me? I’m not sure I’m folding the ingredients the right way.” I stand tall and smile at her.
She draws in a deep breath and comes out from behind her table. Walking toward me, she brushes her hands down the front of her apron. She stands on the opposite side of the steel table and looks at my bowl.
“Okay, I’ll watch you, Jaden. Go ahead and slowly fold the fresh whipped cream into the mixture.”
This isn’t how I wanted her to help me, so I scoop too much cream and plop it into the bowl.
“No, that’s not correct. Let me show you close up.” Blaire walks around the table and stands between Bob and me. Holding her hand out, and without looking up at me, she says, “Please give me the spoon and watch me.”
“Yes, Miss Turner,” I say and step back so she can stand between me and the table. I make sure no one can see me when I graze her hip with my hand.
She doesn’t flinch. She says, “Jaden, pay attention to me. Watch me carefully so you can do this on your own. It’s very simple. You must go slowly. No plopping the whipped cream into the mixture. It’s important to fold it in so the pie will set properly. If you mix everything too fast, the pie won’t set up. No matter how long you leave it in the refrigerator.”
I step closer, slightly nudging her body with mine. Her chest fills as she draws in a deep breath. Showing no emotion, she turns her head toward me. Her eyes meet mine with a blank fury. I didn’t want to anger her. I wanted to let her know I care about her, and I won’t let her go.
Turning back to the bowls on the table, she takes my hand in hers and directs it in the correct manner on how to fold the ingredients together. Her hands are the softest I’ve ever felt. My heart races, feeling her smooth skin again. My cock responds, stiffening in my slacks. Thank god for the apron I’m wearing.
Without looking at me, she asks, “Do you think you’ve got the feel of folding the whipped cream into the pie mixture now, Jaden?”
“Yes, I do. Thank you, Miss Turner.” I manage to gently pinch her fingers before she lets go of my hand.
The corners of her lips tug up slightly as she glances at me.
“Good. Now, let’s all try this again.” Blaire turns and watches as Bob easily folds the mixture. Then she walks to each of the other three tables. Returning to stand behind her table, she picks up the mixing spoon and finishes her pie, then leads all of us to the large refrigerators so we can place our pies inside them.
Once we’ve each finished cleaning our prep stations, we take our seats back at the tables at the front of the classroom.
Blaire sits behind her desk, opening her laptop, then glancing around at each one of us.
“This lesson was an easy one. Let’s hope everyone’s pie is delicious. We’ll taste them during our next class. That’s all for today.” She smiles, then begins typing on her laptop.
I pretend to flip through my backpack, looking for something as my fellow students all exit the classroom.
“Jaden, are you coming?” Candace asks as she holds the door open.
“In a minute. I’ll catch up with you.” I wave, then zip up my bag.
Two years is a fucking long time to not be with Blaire physically, sexually. I know I said she was fun, and that’s what I wanted, but something changed for me. She’s worth waiting for. She really is, but I don’t know if this is going to work. We need to talk and figure it out, or one of us will need to change classes, and it’ll be me.
Standing, I swing my backpack over my shoulder and walk toward her. She doesn’t look up; her laptop is open along with other notebooks. She’s typing and glancing at papers to her left.
Clearing my throat, I stop at her desk and tap my finger on her stack of papers.
“Hey,” I say softly.
She taps on the keyboard, then picks up one of the papers from the pile. More tapping as she keeps working instead of acknowledging me.
I cough loudly and knock on her desk.
“Blaire,” I whisper.
Her eyes glare at me when she lifts her head.
“Jaden, this is your only warning. Please don’t do what you did in class again. It’s highly inappropriate.”
“But Blaire?—”
Her fist pounds the desk.
“No, Jaden.” She stands tall.
“It’s Miss Turner.” She picks up the papers and straightens them.
“We’re over. End of story. Now please go on to your next class.” She closes her laptop and walks to the far side of the classroom, away from me.
Hanging my head, I trudge toward the door. Glancing back before I exit, I open my mouth to say something, but my words catch on the lump in my throat. I raise my hand to try to give myself time to figure out what, if anything, I can say to her.
Blaire turns and walks to the back of the classroom without saying a word.
My eyes trail after her.
“I’m sorry,” I whisper.
“I’m never giving up on us.” I turn and walk out of the door, nearly bumping into Candace.