“That’s fine, go ahead. Oh, wait. Can I get a copy of your lesson plans for the next two weeks?”
“Oh, I only have this week laid out.” she frowned.
“Oh, that’s fine I guess. Do you typically plan out only a week in advance?” I asked as I jotted a few reminders of things I wanted to accomplish before I finished up today.
“No, I typically am more organized than that, but this week has been terrible for me.” she sighed.
“Oh?” I looked up with piqued interest.
“Yeah, downright terrible and…” Emily started to explain before the bell rang, ruining the first moment she let her guard down around me since running into her this morning. She headed back towards her desk to prep for the children to start trickling back into the classroom with renewed vigor.
Morgan Emily Tucker. There were so many words and thoughts floating around in my head that I wanted to say to her, but I couldn’t quite grasp any specific ones to clearly describe what I was feeling right now. I couldn’t grasp any because I was afraid of what would come out and I refused to go back to that place where things were really heated, in both senses of the word.
I started the day like any other with meeting a client for the first day of a new project. I started the day not knowing that I’d run into her but looking at her sitting there right now focused on her lesson plan for the day, I didn’t know what to think. She certainly was as beautiful as she’d always been, I just couldn’t let her femininity get to me. I had a job to do.
I never imagined her looks would take precedent over my morality and sense of responsibility so easily. There was no way I could let that happen without regretting it, and I wasn’t going to make that mistake again.
Chapter Three
MORGAN
A few hours later, the midday bell rang signaling it was time for their hour-long lunch break and the children quickly packed up all their belongings and shoved them into their desk as fast as humanly possible and grabbed their lunch bags and backpacks before exiting the room. One by one they rushed out anxious to leave and head towards the cafeteria to take up whatever conversations they wanted to have.
If I didn’t know any better, I’d probably take their rushed behavior as an insult, but I was a kid once. I always watched the clock in my fifth-grade classroom waiting patiently as I could for the minute hand to reach two significant time periods – lunch break and clock hands reached three o’clock when it was time to go home. At either time, I would pack up my things and head out of there so fast, I couldn’t wait to goof off and do whatever I wanted to do. I valued my freedom.
When I was with my friends, we would gossip over who the latest cute boy was. “Alright, everyone have a great lunch break. When you get back, we are going to get started early on your book reports because tomorrow all of you are going to read them out loud in front of everyone.” I announced as the kids grumbled about the book report I warned them about three weeks ago. By the looks of their faces and sounds of their grumbling, they probably hoped I had forgotten all about it. Typical.
As the children emptied the room, I walked over to where Patrick sat precariously on one of the wooden stools in the back.
“So, that’s about it. That’s my typical morning.” I said as I walked over to him. He just sat there, jotting down notes in the leather portfolio pad.
A part of me was curious as to what he was writing and what new recommendations he was going to make for me. Was he going to lecture me about considering the idea of following a Montessori style of curriculum or why I didn’t cover specific topics? I didn’t know, but my gut feeling told me that I was about to find out.
“Great,” Patrick answered, still not looking up.
“So, where did Mr. Williams go? I thought he was going to stick around for the entire morning.”
He exhaled deeply, closed his leather pad and looked up before answering, “Uh, he had things to attend to I’d imagine.”
“I see.” I stood there struggling to find things to say. The only topics I could think of was the past, the pain and a few other choice words.
Patrick looked around the classroom before exhaling again, “Well, I think I have everything I need here. I doubt I’ll need to sit in again, but we will see how things go. If it comes to that, I’ll give you notice.”
“That’s it? Just one morning? It wasn’t even a complete day.” I asked.
“Did you want more sit-ins?” Patrick asked with interest.
“No, no that’s not necessary, I don’t think. I just assumed it would have lasted longer than this or more would occur. At least that’s what we were led to believe.” I shrugged.
Patrick stood up and took a couple of steps forward, “Well, I’ll be sitting in multiple classrooms at all grade levels including the fifth-grade. I’m trying to perform as much observations and assessments as I can in such a short period of time.”
“I see.” I didn’t know what to say after that. I imagined he was going to react differently towards me today. I expected him to bring up the past, beg or be an asshole, anything but how he was acting now. I didn’t expect him to behave as if he had moved on and changed.
“Did you need anything else or do you have any remaining questions?” he asked with eyebrows raised, waking me from my thoughts.
“No, I don’t,” I mumbled under my breath. “I guess this is it then, as far as all of this is concerned.”
“Sounds good. Oh wait, I do have some final questions.” Patrick asked.
I was starting to get annoyed at his professionalism. Don’t get me wrong, I appreciated the fact that our little reunion of sorts didn’t turn out to be that awkward, but I at least expected him to make references to past incidents or at least one of us would. Neither one of us did, and this probably would be the last time I’d have a chance to talk to him. I’m sure I’d see him around, however.
“I wanted to ask what your typical afternoon was regarding lesson plans with the students.”
“Oh, it depends on the day and what we’re learning that week or month, but I like to have them do the immersive type of activities. I’ve learned that it helps them retain the information better and despite any grumbling coming out of them, I try to make things fun, so they enjoy it and work harder at it. Once the end of day bell rings, I’m usually here longer reviewing my lesson plan or prepping for the next day if I haven’t already.”
“Okay, got it. I think I’ve got everything I need. Thank you again for allowing me to sit in today. As I’ve said, if there’s anything else I need, I’ll notify you and Mr. Williams ahead of time.”
“Thank you,” I said.
“Well, I’ll see you around, Emily.” Patrick smiled one last time before he exited the room.
“Bye.” I waved him off. He didn’t look back, not once.
The school day passed very quickly, and after the children went home at the end of the day, I took the time to wrap up some much needed prepping. I left the school sometime after that, making sure I stopped at the obligatory offices and classrooms to see if there were any lingering comments about Patrick from the other faculty members before I headed home.
No one had anything bad or anything interesting to say about him, but for the most part, he was well liked. They praised about how easy the process was for them, and a part of me was a tiny bit disappointed no one seemed to share my annoyance and hatred that was slowly making its way to the surface.
Everyone was more worried about their jobs being at stake and were relieved when they finally realized it wasn’t in jeopardy. They weren’t even thinking about how the children were the ones that were going to be affected by any potential changes. I wondered how long it would take for them to care about someone other than themselves. I can’t believe these were the kind of people Mr. Williams hired.
On my drive home, I decided to give my mom a call. She was still back in Chicago with her new boyfriend. I was glad that she found love again, I was worried that she would be grieving for a lon
g time, but she explained to me one night that my father would have wanted her to find happiness again. Unfortunately, I wasn’t as strong as her. After what Patrick did, I lost all my trust in men. So much so, I hadn’t gone on a single day since our split.
It wasn’t as if I haven’t been hit on or asked out, but every time it happened, all it did was annoy me. It didn’t matter if the guy was a perfect gentleman or a great guy, all it did was annoy me and furthering my new found hatred to all mankind.
“Hey, ma. How are you?” I asked through the Bluetooth lodged in my right ear.
“Hi dear, how are you and Kennedy doing over there? When are you coming to visit?”
“Ma, you know it’s in the middle of the school year. You know I’ll be there for Thanksgiving and Christmas break. I can’t come any sooner than that.”
“Alright, dear don’t get your panties in a twist.” I nearly choked on the bottled water I had been drinking. I never expected that to come out of my mother’s mouth.
“What in the hell was that, ma?”
“Oh, it’s something Gary has me saying all the time now. It’s quite catchy and funny actually.”
“Geezus, Ma. Don’t start using slang from Urban Dictionary on me. I almost choked.”
“I’m sorry, I don’t plan these things, they just slip out.”
“It’s okay, it just surprised me is all. Hey, ma, I saw Patrick today. You know my ex-boyfriend?”
“You did? In San Francisco? What’s he doing there? I thought he moved to Los Angeles.”
“He did, but he’s in town because apparently, my boss hired him for that thing I told you about. He’s the company Mr. Williams hired.”
“Oh, dear, that sounds like a mess. Is he doing a good job? Have you seen him yet?” she asked.
“I don’t know if he’s doing a good job yet, ma. He just started this morning, but he seems to be from what I can tell. He sat in on my classroom today just for a couple of hours and took some notes, and that’s it.”
“Did the two of you get to talk and hash everything out?” My mom was pretty forgiving as a person but was more forgiving with Patrick. It didn’t mean what he did was okay in her eyes, but she believed that there was a bigger issue at hand and often suggested that I talk to him about it calmly, but I was too hurt and wanted nothing to do with him.
“Ma, no we didn’t talk about our relationship. We didn’t really get much of an opportunity to talk, he’s here to work, and that’s it.”
“Well, that’s a shame. How long will he be in town?”
“I don’t know, ma, a month I think.”
“Well, you know what that means. That means you have a month to fix things with him.”
“Ma, I’m not trying to get back with him…look, I have to go, Kennedy is calling me.”
“Okay dear. I’ll talk to you soon. I love you.”
“Love you too. Say hi to Gary and everyone for me.”
“I will, dear. Don’t forget what I said.”
“I’m hanging up now, Ma,” I lamented as I hung up and immediately picked up Kennedy’s incoming call.
“Hey girl, what are you up to?” Kennedy asked.
“Just heading home right now, how was rehearsal?” I said as I turned onto the highway.
“It went perfectly. I managed to impress the director with my improvisations today.” Kennedy was an actress at the local theatre house downtown. They were putting on a showcase for Sound of Music, and Kennedy won the role of Maria Von Trapp.
“See, I knew he would. You worry too much, you know. You’ll be great.” She was a better actress than she gave herself credit for.
“I know I will. It’s just this is the first time I was picked for a lead role, and I want to make sure I do great. You never know who is watching. How did everything go today?”
“Fantastic,” I answered with sarcasm.
“So, was he a jerk after all? People who try and justify their actions by saying they are just doing their ‘job’ but don’t think about what they are actually doing are selfish assholes.”
“Well, that part of it was okay. He wasn’t too bad.” I admitted.
“Then what’s the problem?” she asked.
“It was Patrick. He was the guy Mr. Williams hired.”
“Shit really?” Kennedy gasped.
“Yes, really. It’s definitely him. He must own the company or something.”
“Talk about awkward, how was it? Did he even try to talk to you?” she asked.
“Surprisingly very easy. What shocked me the most was how normal he acted. He did not bring up the past at all, not even once. He was completely professional.”
“Why does it sound like you’re disappointed that he wasn't an asshole in person?” Kennedy was good at reading my mind, and I always found it hard to lie to her, forcing me to be open even when I didn’t want to be.
“I don’t know. I mean it’s been a long time since I last saw or spoke to him. In my head, I knew what I was going to say if I ever ran into him again. I mean this whole time I have had a whole speech prepared, and I planned on yelling and screaming at him if it came to it. Maybe shed a few tears for dramatic effect, you know to show how much he broke me and well I didn’t get to do that today.”
“Did you honestly want to get into it with him and do all of those things today?” Kennedy asked. She always asked the tough questions, and I sensed her disapproval, but she was right. I was in no mood to do any of those things.
“No, but if it occurred, I’d want the opportunity to rip him to shreds. I wanted him to feel what I felt when he just tossed everything away like it never even mattered to him. I never got the chance to have my say about everything that happened. At the time, it was about what he wanted to confess and what he felt, and that was it.”
“Oh, honey. You’ll get your chance if you go for it. How long is he going to be there again?”
“Probably a month at most, I’m not sure what he has on his agenda. I imagine once he gets all of the info he wants to get, then he’ll return back to compile everything he’s gathered.”
“Well, that gives you a month to bite the bullet and grab your chance now. Just pull him aside sometime soon and tell him exactly how you feel. It’s the only chance you have honestly.”
“Maybe you’re right, I’ll think of something. Hey, I’ve got to go. I’m almost at the apartment.”
“See you in a bit.”
Chapter Four
MORGAN
A few minutes later, I pulled into one of the carport parking spaces assigned to Kennedy and me. As soon as I walked inside, Kennedy rushed over to me with giddiness suggesting that we have a girl’s night out that included her boyfriend, Craig.
She argued that we both needed to get dolled up, go to our favorite bar, Red Velvet, and get drunk. Anything to get me feeling better. She said I could even use the opportunity to hit on a cute guy and maybe take him home.
I made Kate promise to not force me to hit on men or take them home and if she could keep her promise, I would agree. Reluctantly, but I’d agree nonetheless. I wasn’t ready to deal with men again or anything like that. Men still annoyed me at this point.
An hour later, we were dressed to the nines and on our way to Red Velvet. I was in my sleek, go to black dress and stilettos, and Kennedy opted for her tight, red one that I would never be able to pull off in a million years. It showed more skin than covered it. I admired her body, she looked good in anything she wore, and she had the confidence to match.
We waited for Craig to come and pick us up and despite dreading feeling like a third wheel, I was happy he was joining us. I didn’t particularly feel safe getting drunk in a bar without anyone to look out for us. Craig was probably the only guy I knew that I trusted, and he was always up for a fun time. He was such a nice guy, and I was glad he made Kennedy happy.
“Alright ladies, the first round is on me. What shall I order for the both of you?” Craig wiggled his eyebrows.
“Hmm, how
about some tequila shots!” Kennedy suggested.
“Ugh, gross no.” I made a weird face.
“Don’t look at me like that. The whole point was to get bombed as quickly as possible, so we could lift your spirits. How about some Kamikaze shots instead?”
“Ugh, I guess that’ll do. Just as bad but at least somewhat better tasting.” I frowned.
“Girl, you need to get out more and learn to hold your own. I can’t believe after all of these years you are such a lightweight still.” Kennedy playfully slapped my arm as Craig ordered a round of shots from the bartender.
“It’s called, being an elementary school teacher. I can’t go around bar hopping like I used to, I have to be an example to the students. Plus, what if I run into one of the parents here. They’d have a field day with the school.”
“Then I’d ask them what they were doing at the bar when they had children at home. What if we ran into one of the parents and they were here with someone other than their spouse.” Craig winked.
“What if one of the hot dads hit on you, would you go home with him?” Kennedy asked. She had this devilish gleam in her eye.
“Ugh, no. I wouldn’t be some married guy’s mistress. Even if he was a single dad, I don’t believe in mixing my work with my personal life. You two have some weird imaginations.” I laughed.
“You are such a party pooper.” Kennedy laughed along with me.
I glanced over to my right mid-laugh, and I noticed a man that looked awfully like Patrick sitting at the end of the bar, scrolling through something on his phone. It had to be him. I hadn’t even had a drink yet, so it was impossible for me to imagine him being there.
“Hey guys, I’ll be right back.” I announced suddenly.
“Where are you going?” Craig asked downing his first of many shots that evening.
“I just saw someone I know, and I want to say hi,” I said. “I won’t be too long, keep drinking without me.”
One Little Lie_An Enemies to Lovers, Second Chance Romance Page 3
