Torrie ran out of the house, and the next sound was that of her tires screeching.
Finally unleashing the tears I’d been holding back, I said, “What do we do now?”
“I’m not gonna let her go the school. I need to go over there tonight and explain everything.”
“I’ll lose my job, Mack. St. Matthew’s has a strict anti-fraternization policy that prohibits any kind of relationship between faculty and parents. She goes to them, and I’m toast. But honestly, I’m more concerned about Jonah finding out about this than anything else.”
“I’ll talk to him, too. He already knows we knew each other. But I want him to the know the full truth.” He pulled me into his chest. His heart was pounding against mine when he spoke into my hair, “I’m gonna fix this, Frankie. I promise.”
The evening only got worse as I returned to Victor’s brownstone. Not that I should have expected anything to the contrary, considering I hadn’t even contacted him all day, and it was now nightfall. I knew I would be breaking up with him tonight and suspected he already knew that. In an effort to avoid the inevitable confrontation, I’d driven around for hours.
As soon as I walked in the door, he took one look at me and nipped any plans I had of explaining myself in the bud. Feeling like a teenager who’d gotten caught sneaking out of the house, I was sure I reeked of sex and guilt.
“You don’t have to say it, Francesca. I know you. I know what’s happening here. Just spare me the agony, okay?”
“I’m so sorry, Victor.”
Without looking at me, he said, “You can stay as long as you need to find a new place and figure out how to move your things. I’ve made up the guest room upstairs for you. There’s plenty of room here to give us space from each other.”
“Victor…”
He cut me off. “Please…there really is nothing left to explain. I don’t want to hear how you’ll always love me, how you never expected this, how you never meant to hurt me. It is what it is. I’ve been hurt before, and I survived. I’ll be okay. I’d like to end this with some dignity. Maybe I can at least convince myself I had some control over it.”
Fair enough.
“Okay…”
Choosing to respect his wishes, I had no energy to argue with him on that anyway—not after this day. His letting me stay in his house was beyond gracious.
Sleep evaded me that night. As I tossed and turned, a text from Mack came in shortly after midnight. I reached for my phone on the nightstand.
Mack: Are you awake?
Francesca: What happened? I’ve been waiting to hear from you.
Mack: I’m sorry. I’ve been at Torrie’s all night. I told her everything.
Francesca: What do you mean by everything?
Mack: Can I call you?
Francesca: Yes.
My phone buzzed, and I answered it.
“Hi.”
“So, I was brutally honest,” he said. “I told her that I’ve been in love with you for years. She needed to know that I didn’t risk my son’s well-being for some tawdry affair. I’m done living a dishonest life. Fucking done, Frankie.”
“Did Jonah overhear any of this?”
“I’m pretty sure he might have, even though he was in his room playing with his videogames. I have to have another talk with him separately. I promised her I wouldn’t mention anything to him about you yet.”
“What now? Where do we go from here?”
“Where are you?”
“I’m at Victor’s. He ended it.”
“He ended it?”
“I was going to tell him everything as soon as I got home. But he already deduced what I was going to say. Not to mention, I’m pretty sure what happened between us was written all over my face. He’s set me up in a bedroom on the second floor until I can find another place. It seriously feels surreal.”
“You’re not staying there. Come home. I want you to live with me.”
“It’s really late. And honestly, I don’t think that’s a good idea because of Jonah. I can’t move in with you yet.”
He sighed into the phone. “I guess you’re right, but I really don’t want you with Victor. I’ll pay for a hotel if you leave sooner.”
“I promise it will be soon. I’ll start looking for a place tomorrow.”
He changed topics. “Listen, I got her to agree not to go to school officials.”
“How did you do that?”
“She’s pulling him out of St. Matthew’s. It was either that, or she was going to report you. Agreeing to take him out of your school was the lesser of the evils.”
I felt so badly for Jonah.
“That’s not in his best interest.”
“I realize that, but Frankie, he’ll be fine. You need that job, and you’re damn good at what you do. It’s the only choice right now. She’s pissed and capable of making serious trouble for you.”
“Where’s he gonna go to school?”
“I’m not sure yet. He might be home for a couple of weeks. But I’ll make it my priority to find a good placement for him. Don’t worry about that.”
“This is like the worst day of my life,” I muttered.
“Really? Because I’m still certain it was the best day of mine.”
“How can you still mean that after what happened?”
“Because I’m free. I don’t have to hide anything anymore. I don’t have to pretend that the woman who matters to me more than any other doesn’t exist. But mostly, it was the best day of my life because I finally made love to the girl of my dreams.”
“That really happened, didn’t it?”
“It did. Nothing and no one can take that away from us. It was fucking amazing. I can still practically taste you. I need more, Frankie. I’m sitting here in bed like a fucking animal in heat. Please let me come get you. I want you in my bed tonight.”
“Believe me, I want to, but I can’t. I think I need to face Victor in the morning and try to talk it out a little, even though he told me he’d rather not.”
“Okay. I guess you owe him that. I should try to be more understanding, but I’m selfish when it comes to you. Promise me I’ll get to see you tomorrow night.”
“I promise.”
“Seriously, I should be so upset after everything that went down today, but I just can’t be. I’m delirious. I can still smell you all over my sheets. It’s heaven.”
“I can still feel you between my legs.”
“That was what you wanted.”
“It was way better than I ever imagined, though.”
“Things are gonna be shitty for a while, Frankie, but there’s nothing that can wipe this damn smile off my face.”
I should’ve known she wasn’t going to let me off that easy. Being happy without my entire world turning upside down soon after was apparently too much to ask.
A few days after Torrie caught Frankie and me together, I showed up at my ex’s place to find her standing outside with a realtor. A vinyl sign had been planted into her front lawn.
Jonah was out of school. He was supposed to be starting in the public school system the following week until we could find him a suitable private school fairly close to her house. At least, I’d thought that was supposed to be the plan.
“What’s going on, Torrie? Where’s Jonah?”
“The sitter took him to Target.” She spoke to the agent, “Can you excuse us?”
As soon as we stepped inside of the house for privacy, Torrie dropped her bomb. “I’m putting my house on the market.”
“Why?”
“I’ve requested to be let out of my contract.”
“I don’t understand.”
“Okay, let me spell it out for you. My life has been miserable ever since moving to Boston. And after what I discovered about you, it’s even worse. I don’t want to be here anymore. So, we’re moving back to D.C.”
“When exactly were you gonna tell me that you’re planning on leaving with my son?” I yelled it, not giving a shit i
f the realtor overheard.
“It’s in his best interest. He was never happy here. And quite honestly, you didn’t show me any respect when you started fucking his teacher, so why should I consult you on this? You clearly don’t have his best interests in mind.”
Fisting my hands, I tried to compose myself before I did something stupid— like trash her house. Taking a deep breath, I said, “I get that you’re upset that I never told you about her, but you can’t take it out on our son.”
“I’m doing what’s best for Jonah. He doesn’t need to see you with her. Now I know why you were so gung ho about moving to Boston. I should’ve known it had nothing to do with us.”
“Seeing me with her is not going to disturb him. Jonah knows about my friendship with Frankie. I’ll explain it to him properly. She won’t even be his teacher anymore.”
“That doesn’t matter. She’s the entire reason for the demise of his parents’ relationship.”
“That’s not true.”
“You told me yourself that you were in love with her even as far back as when Jonah was conceived. I never stood a chance. You were probably thinking of her while you were fucking me back then.”
Now was definitely not the time to admit that she was right about that.
“She’s not the cause of the demise of our relationship, and you know it. If it weren’t for Jonah, we wouldn’t have lasted as long as we did. We tried, Torrie, but it was never going to work out between us.”
“I tried. You didn’t.”
“I did try...for over seven years.”
“The seven-year itch. Just wonderful. You’d told me once that you never really loved me. Now, I know why.” Her stare was icy. “If you’ll excuse me, I need to get back to the realtor.”
Following her out the door, I shouted, “You’re not going anywhere until we settle this. This is a reckless decision. Do you even have a job lined up?”
“I’ll be working for your father again.”
I should’ve known.
I stopped in my tracks. “You told him about this?”
“Yes. I told him everything.”
“It’s none of his fucking business, Torrie.”
“You are his business. And I needed to know I had a position lined up before leaving this one. I had to tell him why I felt the need to come home to D.C. It made no sense otherwise. Needless to say, he’s not happy.”
“Please don’t do this.”
“Why? Because you don’t want to leave your girlfriend? Stay here, then. No one is stopping you.”
“You know I can’t live away from Jonah. That’s why you’re doing this. You’re doing it to spite me because you’re blaming her for what happened with us.”
“I’m moving home with my son. If you have a problem with that, I suggest you get a lawyer.”
Feeling completely deflated, I drove straight over to St. Matthew’s. I remembered that Frankie mentioned she’d be working late.
When I showed up to her room, she looked concerned to see me there at that time of day. “What are you doing here?”
“I needed to see you.”
“Is everything okay?”
“No. No, it’s not.”
She pulled me into the room. “Come. I don’t want anyone to see you.” She then led me into a supply closet that was right off of her classroom before locking the door. “What happened?”
“She’s taking him back to Virginia.”
“What?”
“Yeah. She’s taking her old job back…working for my father. They’ll be gone in a matter of days.”
“Can you stop her?”
“No. Unfortunately, I can’t do anything legally to stop her.” I took both of her hands in mine. “I always knew that this would happen eventually…that she would move back and that I would have to go, but I expected a couple of years here at the very least.”
Fear filled her eyes. “What does this mean?”
“It means I have to leave, too.”
“I don’t get it. She pulled a total one-eighty. I thought you said Jonah was enrolling in the Newton Public Schools.”
“She basically lied about that, probably so I would let my guard down. Now she doesn’t even want him to start school until they get back down to Virginia. She’s not waiting until the house here sells. She’s leaving with him in the next week.”
Frankie looked like she was starting to panic. “What about your house?”
“I’ll have to put it on the market, even though it pains me to do it.”
“Oh, my God.” She squeezed my hands, which were still enveloping hers. “How is Jonah taking it?”
“Well, that’s the thing. He’s happy. Jonah never wanted to be here. He’s close to Torrie’s mother and my sister, and I don’t have any doubt that he’ll actually be much happier there.”
She nodded silently. Lost in thought, Frankie looked down for a moment then said, “We can still make it work.”
“You mean that?”
“Virginia is not that far away. We’ll figure something out.”
Squeezing her hands tighter, I said, “I don’t want to be away from you again. This fucking feels like déjà vu.”
“It does.”
“Tell me what to do, and I’ll do it, Frankie. Tell me how we can make this work.”
“I want to finish out the school year here, but maybe I can start looking into my teaching certification out there in the meantime.”
Hope seemed to rise from the ashes inside of me.
“You’d do that? You’d really move for me?”
“How else are we gonna be together?”
She’d said it as if long-term separation wasn’t even an option. The fact that she would not only relocate for me, but that she would accept me with all of my baggage made me love her even more. Even though it should have been obvious, it was the first time it really hit me that she’d made her choice.
She’d chosen me.
I took her face in my hands and kissed her so hard before whispering over her lips, “I don’t want to leave you.”
“I’m here now,” she whispered back before wrapping her arms around my neck and pressing her body into me.
It was as if a switch went off inside of me, one that made me forget where I even was. We became lost in our kiss. Neither of us seemed to care that we were technically still in her classroom, albeit locked in a closet.
Lifting her skirt, I flipped her around and unzipped my pants. My cock was fully erect and throbbing. I slid her panties down and couldn’t enter her quickly enough. I sunk into her, marveling at how wet and ready for me she was.
Slow movements in and out quickly turned fast and frantic.
I lowered my hands to her waist and fucked her desperately, unsure if this would be the last chance I would have to be inside of her for a while. Her pussy wrapped around my dick felt hotter and wetter with each thrust.
I could have come anytime but willed myself to hold off because it felt so damn good. Her low whimpers of pleasure only egged me on even more. There was also that slight thrill of possibly getting caught, although I sure as hell hoped that wouldn’t actually happen.
Lifting her skirt up farther, I focused on the blue lotus flower on her lower back, which ignited a feeling of possession. My gaze then travelled down even lower. There was nothing hotter than this view, being able to watch myself moving in and out of her.
The sight of her wet arousal all over my dick caused me to lose control fast.
She moved her ass faster until I could feel her orgasm shudder against me. “Shit.” I slammed into her harder, tightly shutting my eyes as I shot my load and filled her with my cum until there was nothing left.
My movements slowed to a halt as I softly kissed her neck. My greatest desire was just to be able to end every single day this way. I knew it would be a while before that wish was granted.
Tucking my shirt back in, I grabbed some paper towels and handed them to her. She turned around to face me. Frankie
’s hair was all messed up, and her face was pink. She looked thoroughly fucked, and the fact that I was the one who caused it was enough to make me want to fuck her all over again.
Needing to taste her lips one more time, I bore my mouth down onto hers before saying, “The next few weeks aren’t going to be easy.”
“We’ll get through it.”
“I need to be down in Virginia, making sure she’s not manipulating things or feeding him false information. Not to mention, I have to once again find a place to live.”
“We both need to work on getting our lives in order. You do what you need to for Jonah. That’s the priority. In the meantime, I’ll focus on moving out of Victor’s and finding a place of my own.”
“I hate the idea of you still living with him. It seriously drives me mad.”
“It’s been okay. We’ve been cordial. I really don’t see him much, since he’s mostly on a totally different floor. I’ll be out soon.”
“If I wasn’t leaving, I would be moving your shit into my house myself.”
“I’m a big girl. I can handle things.”
Those words would come back to haunt her.
I couldn’t shake the bad feeling that followed me all the way back to Virginia. Soon, I’d realize it was warranted.
It shouldn’t have surprised me that my father would be at the root of it all.
Two weeks later, I was moving into an apartment I’d rented in Alexandria just outside of D.C.
It was small and cold, but it would have to do, because I didn’t plan on buying a new house until the property in Massachusetts sold. Winter was tough for the housing market. Patience was going to be necessary until it picked up in the spring.
One of the hardest parts of leaving the Boston area was having to move away from Mrs. Migillicutty. She’d come to depend on me for certain things, and I’d come to depend on her sound advice. We made a pact to keep in touch over the phone, and I promised to visit her whenever I came back to see Frankie. But saying goodbye sucked. I would have lived in that house next to her forever if I could have.
Now, surrounded by boxes in my new place, I cracked open a bottle of beer and sat down for the first time in hours after a long day of moving.
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