The Third Date 01: Clueless of Cotham - Sex Stories

The Third Date 01: Clueless of Cotham

... though. Thanks again Kate."

"Bye, Priya."

Feeling slightly let down, which I put down to Tim waiting impatiently (oh, the gall of it!) by the door, I turned away, feeling her eyes watching me. For some reason that made me feel a little lighter. It was always nice to make a new friend, I supposed.

Tim turned out to be hard to get rid of. I had zero interest, but didn't want to be rude for Melissa's sake, so tried flattering him, expressing my admiration for his dedication to his work while making it clear I had no interest in being a work-widow. Eventually, I managed to shut the door on him with a sigh of relief.

Making my way into the kitchen-cum-dining room, I found Jenny still up, laptop open on the table and piles of books around her. She looked frazzled, her blond hair pulled back into a tight ponytail meaning the bags under her eyes were clearly visible. She and I had been in Halls together and quickly bonded over books: she was now in her first year teaching English at a local comprehensive and was often up late trying to keep afloat in all the planning and marking that came with the job. The pressure on her was relentless and I don't know how she coped. Nadine and I tried to help out as much as we could by cooking for her and making her packed lunches during the week, but she was struggling.

"Hey," she said, looking up as I came in, "how was the date?"

"Awful," I said, "except for the waitress. She was awesome."

"Oh really?"

"What are you ...

... marking?" I asked, sitting down opposite her, and grabbing a pile of books, to try and change the subject. I didn't know why, but I suddenly felt uncomfortable. I flicked the first one open.

"Oh, that's Year 11. Pride and Prejudice essays. But you don't have to..."

"What!? You know it's my favourite. You'd deny me this? Give me the mark scheme!"

"No, Priya, come on, that's lovely of you, but..." "Stop arguing Jenny. It's 10pm, you have to be up at 6:30. I get up at 8am and have a 2 minute commute. I'm helping. Hand me the mark scheme. Is it the same one as before?"

She sighed and handed me over a pile of paper. "Thank you. I've prefilled the feedback slips, you just need to highlight..."

"Green for good, red for areas to improve, I remember. Do you want final grades too?"

"No, just feedback. I'm going to give them a chance to improve their work before I grade it. Thanks Priya, this is so wonderful of you."

"Not a problem babe. Happy to help."

"Seriously, I don't know where I'd be without you and the others."

"Ok, you love me, I get it, now shut up and let me mark."

Smiling, she bent her head to whatever other task she had to mark. 30 students to a class. Teachers' workloads are crazy. I got stuck in.

Truth be told, I enjoyed it. I'd done Literature A Level and considered doing English at University, but Music was my first love. However, I still loved reading, and Austen was one of my favourites (I'd lied about Pride and Prejudice being my favourite: ...