Her Royal Highness, Leonor: The Years Later

The Old Flame

Time always tells, people say. But having to live through a long period of it without the very same thing that's keeping you looking forward to spending the rest of your version of it is a whole different story.

As the shrill ring of the bell clouded my ears, I turn around from facing the blackboard where I was writing some notes moments earlier–and face the class, and watched the students close their notebooks in time with the bell stopping its sound. After a few more seconds, I hear myself bidding them goodbye, telling them to have a good one.

 
"Tiene un buen dia tambien, Professora." (TL: You have a good day, too, Professor.) One of the timid students by the name of Juliana said out to me with a wave.
"Muchas gracias." I replied. "I'll see you next week."

I wave back and continue to watch as the once-crowded room goes empty in just a matter of minutes. The empty feeling of the area filled me with ease, and I walked towards the window, looking down at the university's grounds, and watching more of them from below go on with their usual Tuesday afternoon. From afar, Madrid looks incredibly serene with the early autumn slipping in.

 
I took off my eyeglass and blinked a couple of times, the blurry sensation from the act kept me breathing still for a few seconds. At the top of my mind, I tried to reassess what I have on the schedule for the rest of the afternoon and was somehow glad my schedule was not uptight. I figured I could go out and grab an afternoon tea or milkshake somewhere.

 
I picked up my things and starts heading toward the faculty room of the Universidad Internacional De Andulusia, and upon doing so, I greeted a couple of people I'd get to become friends with during my one-year stay here working as a part-time English teacher. The memory of my first day comes back to my mind, and I can't help but smile—as I got mistaken as a student rather than a professor in one of those first few classes I was assigned to. I guess, the short hair and the short-sleeved shirt along with the backpack I was wearing at that time didn't help with the image, as I just got off from graduation a few weeks prior to that first day. The feeling of being a student may still seem visible to me.

 
I reached the faculty room and went straight to get my timecard for the day, and the friendly staff by the name of Jorge greeted me inside. I've let him know that I won't be staying for long, in which he told me I should take the rest of the day resting.

 
"Si es tomar leche o té en algún lugar, y estar en casa antes de las cinco, entonces así es como veo que descansar," (TL; If it's getting a milk or tea somewhere, and being home before five, then that's how I see resting is,") I told him with a faint smile. After saying goodbye to him, he walked with me outside and as I turned around the corner heading to the exit, I waved him a hand.
I gave the watching security officer at the exit a nod and just as I was about to completely disappear from inside the university, a familiar voice called out to me, making me turn.
Mrs. Agaffeta, the University's literature and language department headmaster, asked me if I could spare a few minutes in her office to talk about something.
"Por supuesto, Senora." I replied.

Yet before Mrs. Agafetta responds, a few of her co-headmasters called out her name, and it seems urgent to me, so much, so that she told me she would send me an e-mail about what she'd like to discuss with me. I nodded in assuring her, and I watch her get distracted and coerced by the other headmasters into walking inside the campus.
I ran a hand through my hair as I walk out, wondering what could be it.

 
I took a bus to get to my apartment, but before I went straight home, I stopped by a nearby cafe and ordered myself a milkshake and sat at one of the tables available, and contemplated the day and the present situation I am in. It was one of those moments I've missed doing—just being completely alone in a cafe full of people, alone with my thoughts, alone with myself.