I Want You Back | Completed |

Reunion

"Suppose the curve y=1/x is rotated around the x axis generating a funnel called Gabriel's horn or Torcelli's trumpet. Is the volume of this funnel from x=1 to infinity finite or infinite. And if infinite, compute the volume."

Janice put down the felt pen and turned from the whiteboard to her class. The seven heads were turned down typing or scribbling in silence. She waited patiently for them to look up. She looked expectantly at each in turn and after receiving no queries, she said "Well, that's all for today."

"Excuse me Ms. Adam's." The name despite being hers for most of her life still felt foreign to her ears.
"Yes Clark?"
When he left his chair to stand in front of the curve created by the lecture chairs, she left her position behind the teacher's desk and sat where he had been sitting.

Clark James was a contradiction. He was a tall man and thickly muscled, still in whip-cord shape due to his former military training and perpetually dressed in tees, jeans and steel toed boots. He was the last person one would expect to be taking Stochastic Calculus in Non-linear Filtering but beneath the perpetually buzzed black hair shot through with grey and the rimless spectacles they liked teasing him for, he had a scarily intelligent mind.

"So my daughter is finally getting married..."
The class erupted in claps and cheering. Mercy, the red-haired stay-at-home asked "Did he finally propose or did you threaten him with cruel and unusual torture?" The rest of the class snickered.
"No, the young buck pumped some steel in his spine and came to ask for the permission to marry my little girl."
"That is such a sexist tradition." Tanya the class feminist exclaimed, throwing her blond dreadlocks over her shoulder.
"Did he at least leave his gun at home?" Janice chimed in.

James smiled at her. "Yes, he did. He shook so bad, his bones nearly clattered out of his boots." he said to the hilarity of the class.
Tanya, however, remained unimpressed. "Your daughter is old enough to make her own decisions. She should be able to choose a husband with or without the approval of an overbearing patriarch."

"It isn't about imposing his will on her," the voice of Benjamin Westcliffe cut into what had been gearing up to a long winded stick-it-to-the-man speech from Tanya. The rest of the class turned to the white haired patriarch. His serenity was borne from soul-deep contentment rather than a long life. "Cathy is always going to be his little girl, even if she is married with ten children a continent away." Clark nodded in agreement. "Her husband needs to show his commitment to taking care of her. Show he can protect her from all comers."

Janice smiled softly, but she couldn't help an envious pang at the show of love and protection from a caring father.
"Besides," he continued "it's fun watching him squirm." Benjamin smiled and winked at Clark who threw his head back and laughed. The rest of the class grinned and rolled their eyes.

Clark continued, "They're having an engagement party next weekend and I'd like you to come. The wife is making me put on a monkey suit and eat amuse bouches so I want to spread the pain."
"Thanks, James."
"Do we get to dress up too?"
"Yes, you do" Clark answered. "I can't be the only one forced to prance around in formal wear. Here are your invitations." He handed them to the nearest person who passed them along the curve. "Hopefully, we will see you there."
"Oh definitely." Mercy said with sass. " Any chance to show up looking fabulous."
" I would be honored, Mr. James." Benjamin agreed.

The rest of the class also expressed their acceptance and with a pleased smile, Clark moved to his desk.
They gathered their things and walked out into the cool hallways talking among themselves. Janice trailed behind checking her phone. '?!?!'  The wordless warning slammed into her head as she tripped over something and her center of gravity pitched forward faster than she could control. However, before she hit the brick walkway flat on her face, she was caught by a pair of strong hands and pulled into a startlingly hard chest.