Note: You can change font size, font face, and turn on dark mode by clicking the "A" icon tab in the Story Info Box. Please consider leaving feedback on issues you experience or suggest improvements. Mark responded with an eager head nod.
It was only pm and he was already on his third glass. The others at the table all responded to the Catalan waitress in a similar manner. There were eight of them, all teachers from the Mid-Atlantic part of the US. They were there on a chaperone training tour -- learning all the ins and outs of how to be responsible chaperones for teenagers travelling abroad on spring and summer breaks.
Of course, drinking all the sangria Barcelona had to offer was not an official part of the training, but teachers tend to make the worst students. Mark had signed up to take a group of students to Costa Rica the following spring, which would be his first trip abroad as a chaperone. About half of the other teachers were also first timers, while a few were experienced chaperones cashing in some rewards points and providing some teacher-to-teacher wisdom beyond what the official training staff had to offer.
Bridgette, like Mark, was a first-time chaperone. She would be taking a group of talented art students on a Renaissance tour of Italy and France the following summer. She certainly looked the part when the group met at the airport earlier in the weekend -- long blonde hair, braided into two sections, a cute nose ring, and overalls over top of a tight white t shirt. She was quite the sight, and Mark took almost immediate notice. He introduced himself as they waited for their official trainer to pick the group up from the airport.
After a red-eye across the Atlantic, he was not feeling very confident, but figured they were all in the same situation anyway. They made small talk about their teaching positions, lamenting the effort it took to plan for a 3-day absence and arrange for substitute coverage for their classes.
