The One I Love

by Mia Ford

  The older man from the table walks out into the parking lot. He's smoking a cigarette and flicks it at my feet as he walks towards me. I ignore this disrespectful gesture because I'm curious what he has to say.

  "You'll have to forgive my boys. Especially Jimmy. They have a hard time controlling their temper when it comes to your dad."

  "Well, I'm not my dad or his keeper. I certainly had nothing to do with you getting fired."

  "That's the thing. My daughter isn't my keeper either but if someone did something to her I'd be hurt. It would feel personal, you feel me?"

  "I doubt my dad would care, man. We aren't exactly close." I say that with the venom I feel for both my father and this man.

  "It's all we got sport. Nothing personal." He lights another cigarette and smiles at me. He's probably in his later forties early fifties. He's taller than me with broad shoulders and salt and pepper hair. He wears a thick mustache and well-trimmed beard. He's still wearing a Maxwell work shirt, jeans, and boots.

  "Dude just work this shit out with my father. I'm not involved."

  "Watch your back, Charlie. We're coming for you."

  He speaks very calmly but in a way that's unnerving. He walks back in the bar and the bouncer grins at me.

  Man, I just want to get out of here. It will be a cold day in hell when I ever come back to Rascals.

  I climb into my truck thankful for only having the one very weak mixed drink. I punch the accelerator aim my truck toward my house.

  I do not need the police coming around, not with my career about to take off. Bad boy street cred is fine for getting in girl’s panties, it is not cool for a man trying to make it in the music business. The last thing I need is to get busted for possession with the intent to distribute. Not in Nashville, they crack down on shit like that. Maybe if I was in Atlanta.

  Well, maybe I’m looking at it wrong. Maybe since I need something to make me relevant, being a bad boy can be the backup plan if Addy decides not to go for it. I’ll have to discuss my back up plan with Thomas to see what he thinks.

  Driving home I think about the date I’ll have with Addy Springfield tomorrow night. I wonder if she’ll be as nervous and unsure as she was in high school. It would be nice if she surprised me and had turned into a complete sex kitten. Yeah right, I just can’t see that being the case from our short encounter tonight. In fact, she strikes me as the direct opposite, and somehow, that makes it all that much more appealing.

  My face is pulsing and I hope I have something frozen to put on it in the freezer. After that, I might as well just go to bed to ensure I stay out of more trouble.

  It had been an okay night until those jackasses blamed me for something my dad did to them. I’ll have to call him in the morning and see what’s going on with the company. He shouldn’t have to lay anyone off with the success he’s been having. Or I hope it’s successful. I haven’t heard anything different and as far as I know, dad still pays for the apartment and everything else every month.

  Chapter Six

  Ada

  Monday, all day at school people come up to tell me how great I did and how much they loved my performance. People seemed surprised at how well I could sing. I shouldn’t be upset because I never sang in front of them before, but I was the music teacher. It shouldn’t have been that shocking. My job is literally to teach others about music.

  I walk into the teacher’s lounge to find the English teachers sneering at me. Today just keeps getting better. Madeline Smith, who I consider the mean teacher leader, walks forward and smiles cat-like at me. I brace myself inwardly as she approaches. Her heels click-clacking over the polished tiles. Ugh, she irritates the crap out of me.

  “So, we didn’t know you were such a star.” Her words sound nothing like a compliment. Madeline tucks a bleached blonde piece of hair behind her ear. Her diamond earrings catch the light which is probably her intended purpose when she moved the hair. Her husband is a lawyer and always gives her the flashiest gifts she loves to show off.

  She is one of those women who loves to tell people she works because she’s bored. It shows too because she doesn’t care in the least about the students. I wouldn’t be surprised to find her on her phone behind her desk while her students do on their own reading. What I never understood was if her life was so perfect why did she have to tear other down?

  The other two English teachers flank Madeline. Penny’s husband works for the police department and Hallie’s husband works with my father at the Maxwell plant on the edge of town. And when they aren’t torturing their students they are sharpening their claws on unsuspecting people like me.

  I wonder, briefly if Charlie works there with his father as well. I’d never thought to ask Dad about it. I guess I can ask him tonight. Goosebumps pop up when I start thinking about meeting Charlie tonight. I have to pull my thoughts away from Charlie to focus on what the hateful three are saying to me.

  “We would have never known you could sing like that if you wouldn’t have done the charity concert last night. You are always such a wallflower most of the time we forget you even work here. But now we know you’re a star.” Madeline flips her hair again and the others nod their heads next to her. I know she’s being nasty, but her passive-aggressive little word punches are just sad coming from an adult.

  “I don’t think I’m quite a star Madeline,” I say. “Those are lovely earrings.” I hope giving her a compliment will get her and her gang to back off some.

  She beams and touches one delicately, “Thanks, Lance gave them to me just because. I’m just saying it’s amazing someone with your talent would be happy being a little ole music teacher.”

  There it is, the condescending little push I was waiting for all the other stuff was just a setup. Even though she’s also a teacher at the same high school, it’s obvious she thinks she’s better. She sees English as a far more sophisticated career when compared with music, and she has a husband with money. She’s told me these things repeatedly in her underhanded way for the past four years. When I’ve been the lucky one to substitute for her class, which seems far more often than someone should be out, she always criticizes whatever I’ve done with them. And now that she knows I keep the fact that I can actually sing under wraps, she had more ammunition. Somehow, I feel like this should give me some respect, not another reason to be mean to me. These women have a backward way of thinking about things.

  I give her the sweetest smile I can muster. “Well, what can I say? I am perfectly content with my little ole music room. Good talking to you,” I lie. I walk out with my head held high because no matter what that vapid little wench has to say to me, she can’t bring me down today. I have a date with Charlie Maxwell. So, suck on that English bitches.

  “Miss Springfield?” One of my quieter students Jacklyn comes up to me while they’re reading a chapter in musical history. I have them do work in between singing because most of them are with me for four years and I need to feel like I’m teaching them. I want them to feel like they didn’t waste their time with me.

  “Yes, Jacklyn. What is it? Do you have a question about the reading?”

  “No, I just want to know what will happen if you go sing with that Charlie guy. Will you still be our teacher?” She twisted her shoe on the tile not meeting my eyes.

  “I don’t know exactly. I’d like to be.” I tell her honestly. “You do know that I would rather be here teaching you as long as I can, but I owe Mr. Maxwell a chance to state his case.”

  “Good, I don’t want another teacher and I’m here three more years.” She smiles and goes back to her seat. It warms my heart a bit that they care about me as much as as I do for them. Madeline and the witches can have their English classes, I’ve got the best students.

  The rest of the day flies by. I finish up with my students early and have to field more questions about the possibility of me becoming famous. Some of the students are excited about the possibility of knowing someone who was on the radio, while the others like
Jacklyn are scared at the possibility of change.

  I do my best to calm their nerves, telling them it’s just a meeting, no one is becoming famous. Charlie hasn’t even gotten a foot in the door yet, this is all speculative. There’s no way I’m making a decision like this right away and certainly not based on how famous I might be. I was being honest when I told Charlie I never had aspirations of fame. I wave at them and make my way to my car looking back to smile and get in like I don’t have a care in the world.

  A few minutes later, I’m in full panic mode at my apartment. My stomach is stuck in my throat and I can’t seem to get it back in place. What the hell was I thinking?

  I flutter around my apartment in a tizzy, tossing clothes this way and that out of my closet. When did my closet swallow all my good clothes? I have nothing to wear. I can’t make a decision to save my life. "This isn't happening, should I wear sexy underwear? Do I need to wear a matching bra? Why does this matter? We are having a business dinner. What should I do?" I ask Lila as I rush around to get ready. I hear her amused chuckle as I balance the phone against my head frantically pulling out lingerie and granny panties.

  "Well that depends, is this just a business meeting or are you expecting more? And if more what exactly? Are you giving it up?"

  "I don't know.”

  “So, you have a crush on him. He’s hot I don’t blame you. Just go and see where it takes you.”

  “I don’t know why I’m overthinking this. I need to just go in and listen to him and take it from there.”

  “Then what’s got your matching panties in a knot?”

  “I don't want him to know I'm still a virgin.” I blurt out. “It sounds stupid but I want him to be entranced by me. I want him to feel bad for treating me the way he did, and then feel worse when I tell him I really don’t want to be in the spotlight.”

  “But you’re so good, honey. You deserve to be in the spotlight. Don’t shut him down immediately. Listen to what he has to offer. Thomas has a good feeling about the two of you.” Her voice had a pleading tone to it.

  “I’ll listen to him.”

  “Yay!”

  “But only because I love you, and you set this up.”

  “And you’re not letting him see your matching panties?”

  “Of course, I'm not just giving it up.” At least I don’t think I am. I think to myself. Am I? How bad could it be to have sex with Charlie Maxwell? I mean, it’s not like I hadn’t fantasized about it for years. And he knows what he is doing. A virgin could do worse.

  “Well you could do worse,” Lila says in that old movie star voice she likes to throw on reading my mind.

  “Stop it. I’m not the girl who throws herself at someone who didn't want me in high school. Why are we even discussing this? We are talking about music.” I say holding up a sexy red bra and panty set as I speak. Why do I care what’s underneath my clothes if I’m not going to let him see?

  “That's exactly what you're doing, and it’s okay to throw yourself at him. And you can not only talk music you can make sweet sweet music too,” she says and hangs up. Lila has a flair for the dramatic so I'm not surprised. I don't have time to worry because he'll be here soon and I still have to shower and shave. There's so much to do.

  In the shower, I picture being sexy and cool when he comes in. I can be the opposite of who I was in high school. I play out how the evening is going to go.

  Charlie will be stunned at how sexy I look. He'll stammer out we can leave anytime. I'll say, what's your hurry, Sparky. I laugh at that ridiculous nickname as I lather up my legs. I've been in the shower too long and the hot water has abandoned me. Shaving too fast so I don’t freeze, I nick my thigh and curse the gods of hair removal.

  I choose a body wash I think makes me smell great and quickly wash off. Getting out of the shower I wonder if I should have washed my hair. I told myself there was no time but there had been excessive sweat on my part from my performance and I'd just fallen into bed last night and gone through my work day with it piled up. Now I worry my imagined evening is already falling to pieces.

  A glance at the clock tells me I better just spray in some dry shampoo and call it good. I put on what I imagine is the right amount of makeup for such a date, lotion everywhere, and slide into the lingerie set my nerves pushed to the back as I rush around.

  I look in my mirror and let out a whistle. Not too shabby. The doorbell rings and I panic, tripping over the shoes I laid out and l land on the floor with a loud thud. I bite my tongue and smack the side of my face on the carpet, my perfect smooth new personality vanishing. The fall itself didn't hurt too badly, but I can taste the blood in my mouth and my ego is painfully bruised. I tell myself, at least I didn't fall in front of Charlie.

  I’m a hot mess it feels like I’ve been transported right back to high school. Looking at the clock I realize he's at least a half hour early. “What on earth? What guy is half a friggin hour early for a date? Seriously?” I mutter around my swollen tongue.

  “It's me,” I hear Lila’s voice on the other side of the door. I'm both relieved and confused as I throw on a robe and run to the door.

  “Hey, what are you doing here,” my tongue is swelling and the words come out more mumbled than I want them to. And when I’m going to be discussing music with a sexy blast from my past.

  “Why is your face so red?”

  I sigh as I test my tongue with my finger to see how bad it is. “Because I tripped on my shadow, got my feet tangled together, bit my tongue, slammed my face on the carpet and there ya go. And it’s your fault because you made me think you were him.” I put a hand on my cheek and hope it doesn’t look too bad.

  “Okay, go ice your tongue it's probably not as bad as it feels and I'll find you something to wear. I’m sorry I made you panic more than you already were.”

  “Why are you here?” I ask as I obediently go into the kitchen to fetch some ice.

  “You sounded terrified on the phone and I didn’t want you to ruin your chances of popping your cherry before it even started. I'm here to help you get ready and quickly.” She looks at her watch and flies off to my bedroom while I ice my tongue.

  “Don’t be gross Lila,” I call behind her.

  I look at it in the bathroom mirror after five minutes and realize she's right it looks a lot better. I can't kiss with a tongue the size of my head. I need to stop thinking about kissing Charlie. This is what got me in this predicament in the first place.

  “Come in here.”

  I go in to see two dresses lying on the bed. One of them is definitely not mine.

  “I brought it from my closet in case you were out of options.”

  The dress she picked that belongs to me is blue with a low-cut neckline and a wraparound style. It's cute but not a dress I ever wear. The other is her dress, of course. It's a very pretty dress but it looks more like Lila than something I would wear. It's a red shift that hangs low with a scoop neck in the front and it's short. It’s really, really short.

  “I don't think I can show that much leg.” I reach toward the blue dress going for comfort.

  “You’ve got amazing legs. Why not show them off? You’re the only one who doesn’t think you can handle this dress. Why not go bold?” Lila picks it up and holds it against her.

  “B-because, I just can’t.”

  Lila laughs. “That’s an awesome reason. What were you thinking of going with?”

  I pull out my little black dress. It's simple and covers up everything while still being fitted. “This little number.” I wiggle it a bit in front of her.

  “You're not going to a funeral Ada. You’re going to have a dinner with a sexy man you are thinking about giving your virginity to.”

  “Well, then it would be my virginity's funeral.”

  “Ada you are crazy.” She says it but she's laughing at my comment.

  “I know that's why I was pairing it with these bright yellow pumps and cardigan.” I point to the shoes I tripped over earlier.


  “Oh, a cardigan.” She mocks me. “How hot. It’s 2018, not 1800. You’re a modern day single woman that’s a brilliant teacher and fantastic singer. Not a spinster schoolmarm.”

  I frown at the image that conjures in my head. “I have to be comfortable Lila or I’ll be miserable,” I tell her grabbing the item in question from the closet. “I think it pulls it all together. I don’t look like I’m Amish.”

  “Your words, not mine. I never said Amish.”

  “Come on, I like this. Be my friend.”

  Okay, you can lead a horse to water and all that,” Lila holds up her hands as if she’s giving up.

  I smirk at her knowing she disapproves of the outfit. “Look, I look okay right. Not trying too hard, which is also important to me for tonight.”

  “What exactly is your goal here? Revenge for a jerk who never called? Living out some high school fantasy you always had? Or a business dinner?”

  “I don’t really know what I’m doing if I’m being honest. Thanks for your input.” I point to my back to get her to help me zip up not feeling bad for my sarcasm at all.

  “I just don’t want you to get hurt again. I didn’t realize you were still hung up on Charlie or I might not have suggested this whole thing to Thomas. It was so long ago.”