so that you could meet in person and decide if your personalities are compatible enough to progress to next steps.
Please let me know if you are interested in this candidate, as I believe you would be an excellent match.
Best,
Sophia
Rori’s eyes flicked up to the part mentioning the man’s age. Forties. A good age. She would have doubted if any younger man were really serious about getting married. Not every man was Luke Foster.
It took her only a few moments to compose a response to Sophia, agreeing to a meet-up in August and thanking the woman for her quick work. Having that taken care of was one less thing to worry about.
Rori kept her eyes on her class as she moved through the rest of her emails. No students seemed to be looking to her for assistance, so she continued through her inbox until she only had one unread email in her inbox—the one that read, Mike Cannon wants to be friends on Facebook. Ignoring it, Rori shut her laptop and took a turn about the room.
Her students were all in the zone, which meant they weren’t trying anything new. That meant she hadn’t appropriately inspired them to think outside of their usual box. As the Americans would say, her bad. But the lesson would come when she presented the final work in the framework of the assignment. Only then would her artists see—or not see—how much comfort they took in routine.
When no one asked her a question, Rori returned to her desk and pulled out her own sketch pad. She meant to do her own version of the still life, but found her mind straying to the one email she hadn’t responded to.
Mike Cannon wants to be friends on Facebook.
Such a benign-sounding request. It shouldn’t be a stumper. It wasn’t like she would ever really see Mike Cannon again in her life, so there was really no harm in adding him. Then again, if she wasn’t going to see him again for the rest of her life, why should she add him other than to cyber stalk him?
She should just decline the request. It was the smart thing to do.
Opening her computer again, Rori logged into Facebook and clicked on the friend request. She was just about to decline when she saw that he’d attached a message.
Hi Rori. I was wondering if you have a videographer for your exhibit this Fall. I would happy to do the event for free. I have no doubt that it would be a great addition to my resume. Let me know if you’re interested.
It was quite an offer—one Rori should definitely refuse. The museum would no doubt have something arranged. Maybe not a videographer, but something adequate for the occasion. A newspaper reporter, maybe, or maybe a student from the school… Actually, it was probably best not to think about that too hard. Just as it was best not to imagine what it would take from Mike to stay a few extra days and model for her. Now that the whole dynamic with Luke was a non-issue he might agree to some well-paid modeling time.
It was worth a try.
Clicking Accept, Rori sent back a brief message stating that she was sure she could find him accommodations if he would like to come to the event.
Business language. Nothing personal to it. And the fact that she stayed on his home page and browsed through his photos? Well, she told herself that was for professional reasons as well. Even though he posted his professional work on a separate page and she was currently looking at pictures taken on a lake with a group of his friends.
The guy was photogenic. She’d give him that. Luke wasn’t nearly as blessed in that department—at least not in comparison. It was amazing how many pictures the two guys were in together, and more often than not Kris was right in there with them. Why that made Rori’s heart ache a bit, she wasn’t sure. So much naked happiness. The smiles in the pictures were never coaxed. Never posed. They were truly, authentically happy.
Pulling out her sketch pad, Rori focused on drawing the eyes that stared back at her from her computer screen until a second pair of Mike’s eyes gazed back at her in black and white from her sketch pad.
Well, at least she could draw what she was seeing. The eyes on her paper were as bright and alive as the ones on the screen. Rori should have been