She gave a sad smile and brushed the backs of her fingers across his face. “Thank you for saying that, John. But I’m just venting. Not everything can be remedied with your skilled hands or tongue.”

“I have skillful ears too.” He tried not to close his eyes in response to her soft touch. “Let’s just start at the beginning with your students. While I don’t have any teaching experience, I can say that you can’t reach everyone. Focus on those who want to be there, those who are having trouble, and let the rest go, okay?”

Victoria nodded. “Sure.”

“You have no reason to feel anxiety around the parents of a lacrosse player. Use your pull to join forces with his coach. If he can’t play anymore, I guarantee you he’ll get his shit together.”

She raised a brow as her gaze slid away from his. “True. I suppose that could work.”

“There you go,” John said, satisfied with his efforts. “Everything is manageable.”

But something shifted in Victoria’s expression that made him doubt his words. She cleared her throat and sat up in her chair. “Do you have a final draft of the duties you’d like to give me?”

Still balanced on the balls of his feet, John froze. There was a definite shift in the air. His lover had quickly made the switch to Professional Victoria, a throwback to their first meeting. He stared at her as he slowly straightened up to his full height. “Sure,” he said.

“Great,” she said with a smile that wasn’t hers. “That would make me happy.”

That would make her happy? John returned to his side of the desk and sifted through the remaining papers. He hadn’t exactly finished his cleaning task before she’d arrived and his office didn’t look any better than the other times she’d visited. As John flipped through the papers, he frowned. “Now where is that paper?” he murmured under his breath.

It wasn’t in his multiple stacks so he checked the drawer where he last stuffed folders in. While balancing unorganized folders on his lap, John went through sheets of paper. Invoices, order forms, budgets, book lists, random reviews. No paper regarding the library internship existed in the mess. “Wait, let me check my bag,” he said. Victoria remained silent, watching him with disappointment, he was sure that’s what her eyes read. He got up and crossed the room to his coat rack and dug around the compartments of his satchel. Just a couple of picture books, a notepad, and a half-empty Gatorade bottle that he should probably throw away.

“You can’t find it?” Victoria asked twisting in her seat.

He scratched his head. “It’s definitely here.”

“Do you need help?” she asked. “I can check those papers again.”