Chapter 11

Not only does life go on but time passes by much too quickly was the thought Ted had. He was now fifty-one years of age and in four more years would be eligible for the early retirement option. If he wanted to he could easily afford to retire right now from teaching because of the funds he received from Marcia’s passing which had successfully been invested in a rising stock market. The total value of his investments had more than doubled during the time he was in Florida. Ted however didn’t have any thoughts about retiring. He honestly enjoyed what he was doing both in teaching and in coaching. Don and Diane were doing a lot of traveling in seeing the world, but Ted didn’t have the bug to do that, at least not yet.

Ted’s coaching of the basketball team had been very rewarding. His teams had won the conference title five times and won the Sectional title two times. While they had never won the State title as Don’s team had done, Ted thought that overall he had a successful coaching career. He still wanted to win the State title but that was something he could only hope if that would happen.

He wished he could also say he was successful in his social life, but he wasn’t. After Beth left to go back to where her parents lived, Ted didn’t develop any long-lasting relationships. He was not however celibate in that he did have a few encounters with women but they were all short-lived.

There was Lauren the divorced mother of one of his former players who after he bedded her it wasn’t long afterwards that she started hinting about tying the knot. While having sex with her was good, it wasn’t that good. Her acting that way was enough for him to look elsewhere for female companionship.

Another short-lived affair he had was with Dana a teacher at school. There was no question that she had the looks and the body which made her physically very attractive. The problem was that he was having a hard time communicating with her. They didn’t have much in common and when he talked to her after sex it was like she was a radio station having dead air time. Even though the sex they were having was good there was something drastically missing in communicating with her which caused him to eventually stop dating her.

His more recent involvement with a woman was with Nancy, a lady he met when he was shopping. It didn’t take long after having some small talk with her that he asked her out to dinner. She accepted his invitation even though she was married. She said her husband is a salesman who spends a considerable amount of time away from home which makes her life lonely and boring.

After taking Nancy to dinner she invited him to her home for a drink saying her husband was not due to come home for another three days. Once at her home, one thing led to another and in a short time they both were naked and in her bedroom having sex. Ted was in between her spread thighs in the bedroom when she told him the noise they just heard was the electric garage door opener. Nancy said it must be her husband coming home early. Ted literally grabbed his shoes and clothes and quickly exited the house going out the backdoor. It was dark outside which helped him in making his hastened departure.

He thanked his lucky stars that for some unexplained reason he had parked his car on the street instead of on the house’s driveway. He could now laugh about what had happened but he knew that at the time it wasn’t funny and was downright scary. He thought that because Nancy had said that her husband because of his work had a concealed carry permit. Needless to say, Ted didn’t make any effort to see Nancy after this incident.

One evening during the summer he heard his cellphone buzzing which told him there was an incoming phone call. Looking at the phone it didn’t give the identity of the caller but it showed that the call was coming from Springfield. He didn’t know anyone who lived in Springfield and was tempted not to answer it but he did answer the call.

After saying hello he heard a female voice say, “Is this Ted Larkin?”

“Yes it is, who is this?”

“I know it has been a while but I was hoping you would recognize my voice?”

There was a pause on his part as he thought about it since there was something vaguely familiar and then he said, “Emily?”

“Yes it’s me, I’m glad you kept the same phone number. How are you doing in Florida?”

“I am doing fine here in Florida. Relocating here and doing some teaching and coaching has worked out well for me. It’s nice to hear your voice again, but can I ask how did you know I am in Florida?”

“I was a little curious about what had happened to you so over time I have googled you. I discovered that you had moved to Florida and had some successful years in coaching basketball by reading articles that were posted on the net. The picture in an article on the net with you and your team winning a Sectional title confirmed that it was you.”

“Some of that was luck in winning a few games but tell me, how are you doing? Are you still with the State Police?”

Yes I am, and I currently have plans to be with them for about two more months because then I am eligible for the full retirement pension which I plan on taking.”

“Are you still on patrol?”

“Heavens no, it wasn’t that much longer after you ended our dating that I was transferred to the State Police Academy here in Springfield, Illinois where I became an instructor. I have spent all my time here till now.”

Somewhat hesitantly he asked, “Did you marry?”

“No never did, did you?”

“Like you no, never did. It’s nice talking to you but can I ask why you are calling?”

“Two reasons with the first being that I was curious about you and that I wanted to know how you are doing. I will say that it is nice to hear your voice. The second reason as I said before is that I am going to be retiring soon and I want to move to a warmer climate. The winters here in Springfield are just a little too snowy and cold for me. Because of that, I have been using my vacation time to check out warmer places that I am considering where I could move to. I do want to stay in the good old USA as opposed to going to a foreign country. I have been to California and it didn’t take me long to figure out for several reasons that it was not a place for me. Arizona seemed somewhat better, but so far my preference is for Texas. I haven’t yet been to Florida and was wondering what you would think about me living there.”

Ted basically told her what Don had told him when he asked that same question. He also added, “Central and Southern Florida are areas that because of its warm weather during the winter attract many snowbirds from all over and that at times can cause crowds and maybe some traffic problems but that is only for three months of the year. Here in St Pete, I have found it to be a nice area but there are a lot of nice areas in Florida. Are you going to do some traveling when you retire?”

“Only during the summers because I don’t plan to stop working. It turned out that I liked teaching which I was doing at work. Because of that, I have taken some education courses in my free time and have received an elementary school teaching certificate. Since I am now past the age of having my own children, I think doing this teaching will give me some joy in being with these young students. Do you think I would have any problems finding a teaching position there?”

“From what I see in the local papers as to the shortage of substitute teachers that is constantly being mentioned I would say no. I had the elementary school’s Superintendent’s son in my class. The son also played on the team which had me meet the father who seemed like a nice guy. If you want and become serious about a teaching position, I could phone him and put in a good word for you.”

“You would do that?”

“Sure, that would be no problem. You know if you want to come down and check out the area and Florida you are welcome to do that. For a place to stay my second bedroom is available for you. I would also enjoy the company.”

“Let me think about that and I will email you my flight information if I decide to do that. Do you still have the same Gmail address?”

Ted confirmed that it still was the same and the call ended shortly thereafter. The next day he received an email from Emily giving him her flight information which he acknowledged. He spent some time thinking about Emily and how quickly she decided to accept his invitation.

Five days later he was at Tampa International standing by the luggage claim carousel designated for Emily’s arriving flight. He recognized Emily walking towards him. His initial thought was that the years had been kind to her in that she hadn’t changed at all. Maybe she looked a few years older but she also looked damn good.

Emily greeted Ted with a hug and a quick kiss thanking him for the invitation to visit. He quickly saw that she still had that smile on her face which was captivating. After claiming her luggage, Ted put it in his SUV and was driving her to his home. It still was light out so he gave her a little tour of what stores or buildings were on Gulf Boulevard. He told her he would give her a more in-depth tour tomorrow. He mentioned that all the public elementary schools were in St Petersburg and none were located in St Pete Beach which he would show her tomorrow along with that area. For now, he said he would take her to his home where she can freshen up and then they will go out to dinner.

After having a cocktail at Ted’s home and some small talk they went to a restaurant in Terra Verde. It was a nice dinner and Ted learned that Emily hadn’t changed. She may have had some stronger opinions than she had in the past, but she still was a good conversationalist. He chuckled to himself in that he thought she still was “perky.”