Chapter 5

"Ah, Mrs. Tolan, getting in a little last minute cramming," said Professor Paul Terrance, noting Rhonda deeply immersed in a book as she sat munching on a salad in the college grill.

He had noticed her the first day of class. Unlike the usual undergraduates who tended to talk before thinking, this young woman was thoughtful and analytical, giving studied responses to his probing questions. Her first research papers had borne out his initial assessment that she was not only intelligent, but insightful as well.He had also connected with her on another level, their eyes meeting the moment she walked in the classroom and took her seat. Yes, she was beautiful and perhaps the fact that she was Black while he was White also enhanced her mystique, but there was an instant connection between the two, an indefinable attraction that silently bound them in a mutual admiration, each for the other.

Rhonda had been just as taken with the attractive graying professor as he had been with her. Most of her classes had been the usual routine of boring lectures, copious notes, cramming and, finally, regurgitating pet facts and phrases come test time. But Paul Terrance was different. In his philosophy class, he almost encouraged them NOT to take notes, but rather to connect with the ideas and trains of thoughts as he moved from one fascinating topic to another, often pausing to ask a pointed question and solicit student opinion rather than being satisfied with having them simply rephrase what he had just said. His classes were more discussion than lecture and Rhonda came away from each feeling she was truly learning to see broader issues and come to more comprehensive understandings than in any of her previous classes.

He was not an imposing man by any means, she thought to herself. Distinguished rather than handsome, his graying temples and glasses certainly betrayed his 55 years. His dress was casual, however, slacks and open shirts as opposed to the suits and ties which most of her male professors wore. His waist was not as slim as it had once been, perhaps, but he was by no means overweight. His smile was easy, his manner relaxed and despite the fact that he demanded the very best from his students, he remained a person, not an aloof professor. He was a man one could get to know, admire, respect and with whom she could feel comfortable conversing.

She had stopped after class one day to ask for clarification on one of the points he had made in class. Each recognized at the same moment the special attraction between them for they, simultaneously, deflected their glances, after eyes met for a brief moment and the mutual feeling of admiration and... what? attraction? swept through them both. Usually articulate, she had stammered and he too, seemed a bit unnerved in her presence. Both realized in that moment that there was more than mutual respect, there was a very real physical and emotional attraction between them.

Thoughts of that day flashed in her mind and Rhonda's heart beat just a bit faster as she looked up into his steel gray eyes.

"Oh, Hi Professor Terrance. Just catching up on an English assignment."

He looked over her shoulder.

"Emmmm, Heller's "Catch 22"."

"Yes, we have to do a paper on a work characteristic of dark, satiric humor."

"Well, that one surely fits the bill. It has you laughing out loud one moment and crying in despair the next."

"Isn't that the way life is?" she asked. "Isn't life itself filled with both joy and sadness and do we sometimes not even have time to savor the joy before the sorrow closes in on us?"

"Well put. Perhaps the existentialists have something there after all," he smiled.

"Would... you care to sit down?" asked Rhonda, determined not to act like a flustered school girl as she had done that day after class.

"I would love to, but unfortunately I have a class coming up shortly. Perhaps we can discuss the existential movement another time, say over dinner."

"I... I'd love to, but do you think..."

"It appropriate for a professor to take a student to dinner? Only if she wants to."

He smiled again and her heart melted.

"Yes, dinner would be wonderful."

Tomorrow evening? Say seven o'clock?"

Rhonda's heart was beating wildly now.

"Yes, seven."

"Where shall I pick you up?"

"I'm in Henderson Hall, 311, but I think I'd better meet you in the parking lot out back."

"Why?"

"Some students and the administration might not appreciate you dating a student in your class."

"I really don't care."

"You should, and I probably should say no, at least until I'm no longer in your class."

"You really want to wait an entire semester?" he asked.

"... No." she replied quiety.

"Then the parking lot it is. Say about seven?"