when I found Senna still at the front desk.
She slammed her laptop shut.
What was that all about?
“Um, yes. Yes, I am.” She waved someone over.
“Patti, I need to head out. Who’s replacing me?” she asked.
Patti, who must have been the boss, looked me up and down with a smile. “Oh, go ahead, Senna,” she said, practically melting over the counter. “I’ll cover for you until Jaden arrives.”
Senna looked surprised. “Oh. Okay. Well, thanks.” She stuffed her laptop into her bag, and we headed out.
The afternoon sun was blinding, and the temperature was perfect. Small groups of students were camped out all over the campus’s perfectly manicured lawns.
This was what I loved about university life. The mellow socializing, talking about classes, sharing, learning.
Not the crap the administrators rained down on our heads. Took nearly all the joy out of it.
But I wasn’t going to let it ruin my day today. I had the beautiful Senna right next to me, and I was going to get to know her better.
She might not know that yet, but it was okay.
“Hey, Senna, let’s catch a little shade over here,” I said, leading her onto the grass next to a tree.
She sat opposite me and crossed her legs. “How was yoga?”
“Pretty good. Pretty good,” I said, nodding.
Nothing like what I’d experienced in India, but I wasn’t going to let her know I was a yoga snob.
“Ever practiced yoga?” I asked.
“No. But I’d like to.”
I couldn’t lie. I loved a yoga chick.
She leaned back on her elbows, turning her face to the sun, which brightened her smooth skin. She let her eyes fall closed, which was fine with me. That way I could stare without being a fucking creep.
“So tell me, Senna,” I started. “How’s French class going for you? I know it’s a lot of work—memorization and that sort of thing when you’re just starting out. It can be kind of overwhelming.”
Her eyes popped open. “That’s the perfect word. Overwhelming. I guess I’m not sure where to start.”
Of course, I was happy to offer any direction I could.
And more…
“Okay. First, we have vocabulary. You should get some index cards and put the French word on one side and the English translation on the other. Quiz yourself every time you have a few spare moments.”
She nodded. “Oh, I like that idea.”
“Just keep going over them. Eventually, you won’t even have to think about the words. They’ll be embedded in your brain. Do the same with the verbs we’re learning.”
I droned on about language learning best practices while Senna wrote down a few notes. I had to hand it to her. She was motivated.
“It seems like a lot of the other students have studied languages before.”
She was right.
“Yup. By the time most people get to college, they’ve taken some Spanish or French. It’s really hard to be a first timer at the college level. The pace is intense. But I’ve seen it done before. You’ll be fine if you stick with it. And let me know when you need help.”
She sat back up, squinting from the bright sun. “Thank you. I appreciate the suggestions. How’d you get interested in French?”
In a convoluted manner, just like everything in my life happened.
“I grew up in foster care but managed to get my undergrad degree—against all odds. After college, I didn’t know what else to do, so I joined the Peace Corps. I was sent to the Democratic Republic of Congo and got to learn French. When I came back, there were a lot of graduate school programs giving financial aid to former Corps volunteers, so I stuck with it.”
Her eyes widened. “Wow. You were in Africa.”
I nodded. Those were crazy days, doing good volunteer work while dodging dangerous characters and diseases like malaria. But I’d made it through unscathed. I was glad I’d done it. Proud, even. But once was enough. Even for a minimalist like me, that level of roughing it was bearable for only so long.
I leaned back on the grass, enjoying the sun baking my skin. But I couldn’t lie there all day, and I was sure Senna couldn’t either. Even though I would have loved to.
I had to get cleaned up and meet the guys at the faculty club.
I popped to my feet and extended a hand to help Senna up.
When she was standing again, I took a little too long to let her hand go. “See you in class tomorrow?” I asked.
She smiled shyly. A beautiful woman who was modest. Wow.
“Yes. See you tomorrow,”