As he sat down, Mr Lee already found a part of himself regretting that he came here. Still, a larger part of himself was glad he came. He set his legal pad out on the table before him and got out the printed course plan as well. The spot he’d found –the last one left available– consisted of a small round table with two opposing thickly cushioned fabric chairs.

It was very cozy inside of the patisserie, the warm temperature and smell of pastries was a welcome change from their short walk in the evening breeze. Mr Lee sat in his chair for a few moments, just enjoying the sound of ambient conversation around him, and just when he had begun wondering what was taking Skyler so long– he saw two cups get set down on the table. Looking up, Mr Lee saw Skyler turn around again before either had said anything as he returned towards the counter. Lifting the cup set before him, Mr Lee took off the lid and smelled the chocolatey black liquid. Coffee, clearly, and damn good coffee at that. Taking a sip, Mr Lee was delightfully surprised at how good it tasted.

“Mmph, Skyler you didn’t have to get me this, thank you.” Mr Lee smiled at him as Skyler returned to the table, but that smile was replaced by widened eyes when he saw the tray of pastries set down on the table.

“Of course,” Skyler smiled, “Here, these are to share.” He said as he took his seat. “How’s the coffee?”

“It’s good, thanks, but you– you didn’t have to do all of this. Here, how much was everything?” Mr Lee said picking his bag up from the floor as he began to rummage.

“No no, you’re helping me with my course plan. That’s more than enough payment for a few pasteries.” Skyler smiled, “Try a macaron, I ate one as I carried the tray over, they are really good.” Skyler took a sip of his drink.

“These pasteries couldn’t have been cheap… seriously, how much was it all?” Mr Lee asked, setting his coffee cup down and not grabbing any pastries.

“Mr Lee, I won’t take any money from you. Eat them with me or I’ll feel bad for wasting food. I have more than enough money from pompous art collectors.” Skyler smiled as he set his drink on the table and pointed to the macaron on the tray. “I won’t listen to any of your notes until you try it, and I’m sure there are alot of good notes I need to hear.” His smile was childish, but sweet too. 

Mr Lee sighed as he reached forward and took a bite. It was good, nutty and sweet, sweeter than what he usually had. Skyler’s smile grew as Mr Lee grabbed the plate it’d been on and set the other half down to eat later. ‘This boy,’ Mr Lee thought to himself as he sighed.  He took a swig of the coffee to wash the pastry down before grabbing the course pack and flipping it to page one.

“Okay, so the first note I had…”

✧⚞✦⚟✧

“I quite like your car actually,” Skyler said as he held the door open for Mr Lee while they left the bakery. The sun was still up even though it was almost seven now, late spring was like that. They’d spent quite a while in that bakery, Skyler asking far more questions about Mr Lee’s notes than he likely needed to, but at least the ceramics class would be well planned for with a clear syllabus next year. 

“Yeah? What about it,” Mr Lee asked while they walked, he crossed his arms around his body as soon as they walked out of the bakery. 

The way Skyler’s eyes looked to Mr Lee’s shoulder, anyone watching from afar could have seen how he wanted to hold that man, but he didn’t yet dare. “It’s size, it’s probably easy to spot in the parking lot.”

“Yeah, it is quite big. Why, is your car too small you lose it alot?” Mr Lee’s voice was cheerful. He’d drank down his whole coffee before buying himself another –he had refused to let Skyler pay the second time– and he’d had his fair share of the pastries.

“No, I usually remember where I park, but it’ll be nice to know if your car is in the lot or not each morning,”

Mr Lee didn’t look at Skyler when he spoke next, “And why will you be looking for my car each morning?”

“To know if I need to go up to your classroom, or just stake out the faculty lounge coffee spot to say ‘goodmorning’ to you.” Skyler answered brightly.

“You really like unnecessary things, don’t you?” Mr Lee replied, his voice a little colder now– or was that just the weather?

“Maybe, but those are the things that give life meaning, aren’t they?” Skyler asked.

“That’s a nice outlook to have. Where in town do you live, I’ll be dropping you off right?” It was definitely Mr Lee’s voice that was colder now.

“My apartment is up on the north side, in the building at 273 Plaza Street.” Skyler answered, his voice too was less bubbly now. 

Skyler had noticed the change in Mr Lee’s voice for sure. ‘Hopefully he doesn’t think it’s about him,’ Mr Lee thought to himself as they walked towards the lot. ‘Maybe he’ll hear the story one day.’ “That’s the fancy black building right?”

“Yeah, how do you know it?”

“I had a– a close friend who worked across the street sometime back.” Mr Lee rolled his shoulders back while tightening the cross in his arms. 

“In the Plaza building? Those offices are mostly for that one marketing firm, right?” Skyler asked, his mom had commented on that company when he told her where he got his first apartment. It was her way of complimenting her son for getting an apartment in such a deluxe area of the city.

“Ahem, ...Yeah. Jewels and Stars Marketing,” Mr Lee said after clearing his throat. His voice took on an acidic tone as he named the company.

“Oh yeah, JSM, my parents have done some business with them in the past.” Skyler said, but before he could ask ‘How do you know where JSM is located?’, the question Mr Lee dreaded, the question that would have unavoidably brought up Jason– Mr Lee cut in;

“What line of work are your parents in?” Mr Lee wanted to talk about anything besides JSM right now, how he knew the company or why he hated the fact he knew how to get to that building from any edge of town.

“They are both in business. My dad is a President at some insurance group right now, and my mom is the CFO for an international bank out of Singapore.” Skyler honestly wasn’t sure if his dad was President, or a V.P. or maybe even some C-something or other role. His parents moved around their jobs so quickly and that world– business and all, had never interested him.

“Impressive.” Mr Lee didn’t ask any more about them. To be honest, he wasn’t curious then, he just wanted to not talk about Jason. Guilty as he felt even thinking that, Skyler had been so nice to him today, buying food and being so kind in conversation– but after a day at school and then hours reviewing notes, Mr Lee was tired. Even if he hadn’t been tired, however, Mr Lee wouldn’t have talked about Jason. Still, he felt guilty shutting down Skyler like that…

“So, any plans for working on your classroom over the summer?” Mr Lee asked, soothing the guilt that pricked his heart.

“Our classroom you mean,” Skyler ‘corrected’. “And yes, I do have plans. It has to be cleaned of course, and then tools and the wheels have to be brought in and organised. The room should have new shelving, and a large cart for moving pots to and from the kiln. Glazes will need to be set up as well as a supply closet– a whole bunch of stuff. You’ll help over the summer, right?” Skyler asked, his eyes seemed to twinkle with starlight even though the sky was too bright for any at this hour.

“Maybe some… the windows in that room also need to be replaced, there was a draft in there that would be bothersome come winter.” Mr Lee added he’d once again incidentally committed himself to helping Skyler over the summer. As much as he could hope Chloe would forget her silly ideas, Mr Lee could tell already that Skyler wouldn’t.

“Oh! Speaking of summer plans, that reminds me, we should exchange numbers. For ease in planning the class and such,”

‘And such,’ was the part Mr Lee wasn’t enthused for. Even still; “Sure, do you use WhatsApp? That’s easier for me.”

“Yeah I have an account, my parents prefer Whatsapp too, international travel and all.” Skyler said pulling his phone out and handing it to Mr Lee. “Here, you can put your number in.”

Mr Lee carefully punched his phone number in, and when he saw his profile he clicked on it. He didn’t say anything as he handed his phone back to Skyler, and Skyler too was silent. Quickly, Mr Lee felt a buzz in his pocket and pulling his phone out he saw a message from a new number on WhatsApp.

Cute profile picture!

“It’s a photo of plum blossoms,” Mr Lee said as he and Skyler continued walking.

“It’s a pretty flower for sure,” Skyler smiled as he looked at Mr Lee’s profile on the app. “What are those two characters next to your name, is that Chinese?”

“Yeah, MuXing, it’s my Chinese name.” Mr Lee said.

“Ahh, and then Mark is your English name?”

“Yeah, my parents gave it to me to make things easier when we moved. You can call me Mark now if you’d like, I’m no longer your teacher after all.”

“Mark,” Skyler said, “It’ll take some getting used to, won’t it?” He laughed.

It was weird hearing his name from Skyler’s mouth for some reason. Even if he told Skyler that he wasn’t the boy’s teacher anymore, to Mr Lee that wasn’t true. He’d just spent three hours teaching him how to teach after all. Years might have passed by for the rest of the world, but for Mr Lee, these last few years all felt fuzzy after what happened over winter break. Somedays he felt like memories from five years ago were yesterday, then other days he’d feel as if what happened over the break had occurred a decade ago rather than just a few months.

When they got back into Mr Lee’s car, Skyler hummed happily while he plugged his phone into aux again and the Sia they had been listening to picked up right where it left off. “Thank you for coming with me today, and for the notes.” Skyler smiled, turning to Mr Lee as he spoke. “I’ll be in your care while I learn how to teach, won’t I?”

“Alright,” Mr Lee replied, smiling weakly back as he started the loud car. Was he really in the position to teach someone else about teaching, when he’d fallen so far in that profession?

Their drive to Skyler’s apartment was silent. Besides Sia, Mr Lee, and Skyler were both lost in thought—though vastly different thoughts.

Mr Lee was a little surprised Skyler didn’t talk during that ride; it was a relief in some ways but not entirely.

“I’ll see you soon then Mr Le– Mark!” Skyler said, smiling as he said the man’s name. It was hard to see his face now, the setting sun hidden behind buildings and the street behind Skyler while he waved– but Mr Lee could still see that twinkle in the boy’s eyes. 

“Have a nice evening,” Mr Lee said back while waving. He didn’t linger in the street long, driving away while Skyler still waved. Looking in his rearview mirror, Mr Lee could see the JSM building. Only a few offices were illuminated, but he tried not to wonder who. Looking to the other side of the street, Mr Lee saw Skyler still standing there, looking at his phone now. Somehow, even from this distance, he could see the twinkle in Skyler’s eyes.

Bzzt, Mr Lee looked down at his phone, without looking at it he knew who it was from. He didn’t check it at the next stop sign, or at the red light he paused at. By the time he made it all the way through his front door, Mr Lee still hadn’t checked it. It was only when he’d set his bag down, slid his shoes off, washed his hands and had a glass of water that Mr Lee opened the message on WhatsApp;

Drive home safe ♥!

Mr Lee didn’t smile as he read it. It left a bitter taste of guilt in his mouth and a sour aftertaste of a memory he once thought he would never want to forget.