Mexico was only but a restful sleep with pleasant dreams for Hadley. Unfortunately the last week of Mexico was the alarm clock blaring in Hadley’s ears signaling for him to wake up. It was hard leaving Chloe behind without a word to her. She really was a charming girl, a girl that he could only dream of having by his side. The reality, however, was that he already had another by his side, another that he had chosen nearly two decades ago. Chloe could be nothing but a wistful desire in a vacation that was nothing but an alternate reality that would never collide to the one he lived in. 

Or at least he’d thought. 

Going back to his life as a husband and professor was like waking up with only a few hours of sleep, groggy and needing some substance to kick him back into gear. The cheerfulness and attention from his wife after being gone for so long did nothing to excite him. He knew her excitement of him being home would dwindle and she would return to her own life of luxury. Which quite honestly he detested. He wish she would slow down to his level but that was not in the forecast of their relationship anytime soon. 


The first morning back to the University was more of a fresh breath of air than he had expected it to be. He had new faces in his class and some he didn’t recognize but he was quickly greeted by a crowd he had had the pleasure of educating before. They crowded him, asking him about the course, excited about the overview of the syllabus and the controversy around such subjects the literature they would be reading contained. 

Before he had a moment to finish conversations he had to begin class, telling the students to get settled in. Once everyone was quiet and settled their full attention on Hadley he greeted the class. 

“Good morning everyone, I hope you all have had an exciting summer.” He said as he was beginning to write out his name on the board at the center of the class room. “For those of you who don’t know me, my name is Hadley Foster. I prefer you address me as Professor or Mr. Foster.” 


“I’m fairly laid back but I do expect the closest we humans can achieve to perfection. So, if you’re thinking on taking the challenge of writing an essay for me the night before, well quite frankly you’re not going to make it far in this class.” 

At that point he went on to discuss the syllabus for that semester, trying to keep it mildly entertaining. “Please take the time to actually look over it, because if you ask me a question that you already have the answer to in front of you, I’m going to tell you to refer to your syllabus.” 

“Or I’m going to start wearing the shirt my wife got me that says “it’s in the syllabus” if I get tired of repeating myself.” He said rather casually that made a couple chuckle and some sigh because they knew it to be true from previous classes.