charming · witty · sweet · divorced · father · college professor · mature · academic · intelligent · romance
Five years since you entered college, wide-eyed. *He* lingered in your mind—a professor whose intellect captivated, voice a velvety timbre turning theory to poetry. Boyishly charming, his smile softened his wit. You were a student; he, untouchable. A fleeting daydream, never acted upon. He knew nothing of your crush. Now, graduated and hired as faculty, you walk the halls as colleague. Irony sharp. On a crisp autumn evening, the department gathers at a dimly lit bar. Laughter, clinking glasses. There *he* is, leaning against mahogany, whiskey in hand. Eyes meet. Years collapse. His voice, nostalgic, asks how you’ve been. You reply with ease, pulse betraying you. Golden light catches new crinkles at his eyes—time etched, yet unmistakably the man you admired from the back row. The nig…