by E. M. Sadler
Unfortunately, Mrs. Dalton was not in her room, and neither were the children. Instead, on the chalkboard was a note that they were in the school gymnasium visiting with the coach and that we should pick up our children there.
Trying to blend in with the other parents heading in that direction and still keeping my head low, I finally located the school gym and was immediately attacked by Mazie who was happier than I'd seen her in months.
"Mommy, Mommy!!! I made a new friend! Her name is Katie, and she said she'd be my best friend and wants to have play dates and wants to have sleepovers, and we are going to be friends FOREVER!!"
"That's so wonderful baby!" Maybe this new friend will help distract my sweet girl from the hurt her father, and I have caused.
"Come ON Mommy! You have to meet her and her twin brother John."
Dragging me impatiently, Mazie began to walk me in the direction of two little brown-haired kids with the most stunning blue eyes.
"Mommy, this is my best friend Katie and her brother John. He's ok, but he's not my best friend."
Trying to suppress my laugh, I squatted down to offer my hand in introduction just as I heard someone approach from behind.
Katie's eyes lit up before I could shake her hand and rushed to grab Mazie's instead. "Mazie, Mazie now you get to meet my daddy! Daddy, this is my new best friend Mazie, and we are going to be friends FOR-EVER!"
And as I turned around my eyes locked with the only man to ever sexually rock my world.
Dale Wilson.
Chapter 10 – Dale
As I walked towards the school gym, the stress of the day finally started to ebb from my shoulders. Parents were thankfully retreating, and I only had to deal with one irritating parent. The mayor's obnoxious son Randall had approached me about making sure that his precious angel received only the "best."
I know he shouldn't irritate me, but every one of my students deserved the best education equally, and I refused to allow him to make me feel guilty about it.
Glancing towards the utility closet in the gym, I spied Mrs. Dalton wrangling the five remaining 5-year-olds in her charge. Two of which were my twins, John and Katie. It appeared that Katie had made a new friend, a little girl her age with thick brown wavy hair.
The two girls were currently chatting with who I can only assume was the little girl's mother as I approached. As soon as Katie saw me, her face lit up, and she grabbed the little girl's hand and squealed, "Mazie, Mazie now you get to meet my daddy! Daddy, this is my new best friend Mazie, and we are going to be friends FOR-EVER!"
Just as I squatted to shake Mazie's hand, her mother turned, and it was like I'd been gut-punched.
"Kelly?" I croaked.
"Katie's Daddy, do you know my mommy?" Mazie asked quizzically.
"Yay, now maybe we can have a sleepover, Mazie! My Daddy says that I can only stay the night if he knows the daddy, " Katie announced with a matter of fact tone.
My policy regarding sleepovers was one that I strictly stuck to if there was a father in the home. Being an educator for 13 years had taught me that just because the mom was trustworthy did not guarantee that the father was as well.
"Daddy, do you know Mazie's daddy too?" Katie continued.
Nudged from the fog in my brain brought on by Kelly’s presence, I refocused my attention to Katie and her new friend.
"I don't know Mazie's daddy. Is he here?" I asked while looking to see if Kelly was wearing a wedding band.
Please don't let her be married, please don't let her married!!!
Finally finding her voice, Kelly cleared her throat and curtly said, "He, unfortunately, doesn't live in Danville and was unable to make it."
It was at this point she gave me what can only be called a "stink" eye, which meant that she knew that I was looking at her hands to see if there was indeed a husband.
Ignorant to our complicated history, the kids were thankfully too busy talking about a potential sleepover that they were oblivious to what was going on between Kelly and I. With the children lost in their conversation, I took a quick second to mouth the words, "I'm sorry" to Kelly. The last thing I wanted to do was to offend her. What I wanted was to take her to my office and have my way with her, which would have been hard to explain to the school board since the installation of the new security cameras.
My memories of her face when I had first thrusted inside of her a week ago, had me shifting awkwardly to avoid an instant hard on. Considering that I was currently at work in an elementary school. I needed to refocus.
Thinking of my grandfather's chew habit usually did the trick.
I can't count how many times I picked up one of his glass soda bottles as a kid only to find it filled with green slime instead of the refreshing flavor of Sunkist.
Yep, that did it!
Awakening once again to my surroundings, I suddenly realized that we were the only ones left in the gymnasium. Well, aside for Mrs. Dalton who was helping to occupy the kids.
Thinking quickly, I excused myself and asked Mrs. Dalton if she wouldn't mind watching John, Katie, and Mazie for another 10 min so that I could speak with Kelly in private.
"Kelly, do you mind if I have a word with you?"
"Ummm, I'm not sure. I think Mrs. Dalton would probably like to go home," she said while eyeing Mrs. Dalton with the obvious hope that she would agree with Kelly's assessment of the situation.
"Oh, I'm fine honey," the older woman said. "I like when Dale asks for favors because then I can talk him into accompanying me on field trips during the school year,” she said. Then when Kelly was turned towards Mazie telling her that she would be back in a minute, Mrs. Dalton gave me a conspiratory smile.
Laura Dalton had been a teacher at Danville Elementary for years and was not only my mother's best friend, but was also my best friend Kevin’s mom. Her loyalty was such a blessing during my divorce last year. I couldn't tell you how many times I confided in her, knowing that she wasn't prone to gossiping.
Following me into the coach's office, Kelly quickly closed the door. Unable to resist the feel of her, my mouth was on hers, and we were kissing like teenagers at a basement party.
How was it that this woman disabled my usually excellent control?
I usually had phenomenal impulse control; after all, I had gone two years without sex, one of those years I was even married. As my marriage started failing, I still had plenty of opportunities to have an affair with several of the school's moms who had always viewed me as an object to conquer.
However, I was not now nor would I ever be a cheater. That title I like to reserve for my ex-wife Maggie.
Before we could continue our kiss, I reluctantly separated from her invitingly warm lips, weaving my fingers through her hair and tilting her head back so that we could look into each other's eyes.
"How is it possible that you are here, Kelly?" I asked breathlessly.
"Well, I moved here a year ago to live with my mother when my divorce was finalized. How about you? You work here, but I thought you were from New York."
"No, I was visiting my friend Kevin for a week. He lives in New York and was the one who set me up with his cousin Shelly, who by the way, was pretty pissed when I was a no show that night." I then chuckled deeply at the craziness of this situation. "Kevin was hoping that my date with Shelly would help me ease back into dating again, but instead I found you."
"I'm sorry Shelly was disappointed. Admittedly, I was pretty shocked myself when my friend Rane told me that my date Dale said that I had stood him up. His ego may never recover," she said beaming at me like I was her Prince Charming.
"But, seriously, what are the odds of TWO Dales being in a bar. That's one of the reasons I didn't ask her to show me a picture of him beforehand. I figured a general description and his name would have been all that was needed."
"Well, though I'm sad at their losses, I'm pleased it was you, Kelly. All I thought as you walked out of the hotel room was that I wished I could see you again and for
an actual second date." The chemistry we had was undeniable.
A sobering look came over Kelly's features bursting the bubble created by our privacy. "Dale, I want to see you again, but I don't know when I'll have another night off for a date. I'm an insurance agent, and Open Enrollment is about to start. My job requires that I stay focused on my clients through the end of the year. Don't you think that would hurt any chances we have of building a new relationship?"
Though this was disappointing to my sex drive, which was ready to take her against the door, my mind told me that there was something between us that was worth delaying my own personal gratification for. Plus, I'm about to start the school year next week and would probably be almost as busy as her.
"Kelly, I'm going to be busy as well. How about this: Since the girls are crazy about each other, we could try a few play-dates with the kids until December. Since we will be present for those play dates, we can use that time to talk over coffee as they play. Then, in December, if the chemistry is still there, we'll reevaluate.
"You were the first woman I've wanted to have sex with in two years, and I have no interest in getting to know anyone else at this time."
I know that I was coming across a little intensely, but when you have a connection like ours, you don't want to throw it away.
My confession must have shocked her because I had to strain to hear her squeaking response of, "sure."
Chapter 11 – Kelly
How is it possible that he has gone two years without sex?
The man had given me nine orgasms in 11 hours.
Polly and Trish were right. Maggie was an idiot for letting him go.
Lacing his fingers through mine, he bent down to whisper into my ear, "Even though we aren't going to try dating until December, may I have one last kiss before we have to reenter the real world?"
Permitting him to continue, his lips then touched mine lightly in a soft featherlike kiss. Needing more, I deepened our connection by opening my mouth and pressing my tongue against his lips in a request for entrance. Accepting my offering, he began to ravage my mouth till we were both left gasping for breath.
Breaking away with a groan, Dale confessed, "If we don't stop now, I'll be unable to walk out of this door without scaring Mrs. Dalton."
With a knowing chuckle I then left our temporary cocoon, giving him a few moments to collect himself while I gathered Mazie to go home and ponder everything that had happened.
Dale was in Danville!
While rocking Mandy to sleep on Monday evening and reading a book with my book app, I noticed that there was a new email from Mazie's school that I must have missed from Friday.
DEAR KELLY,
I hope you don't mind that I looked up your email address. (I would have texted the # that is on file, but I didn't want to make any assumptions in regards to our play date agreement between now and December.)
Once you left Tuesday, I realized that you don't have my cell phone #.
555 – 555 – 5555.
Please feel free to contact me there at any time.
Sincerely,
Dale Wilson
Principal
Danville Elementary
PS. Katie wants to know if Mazie can come over to play on Sunday afternoon?
CRAP! HE PROBABLY thought that I was avoiding him.
After copying his number into my iPhone, I quickly checked that it was not too late before sending him a text message.
9:30 pm wasn’t too late, was it?
Kelly -
Just received your email. Feel free to text me. In this day and age, is there any other way for us to get to know each other?
Kelly -
Also, tell Katie that Mazie's mommy is very sorry that we missed a playdate opportunity. To make it up to her, we would love it if she and John would like to meet us after school tomorrow.
Dale -
Kelly, glad to hear that I haven't overstepped.
Because tomorrow is the first day of school, my ex has requested that she pick them up before she leaves for the next three months on a cruise ship.
Kelly -
What parent with 5-year-old twins takes a 3-month cruise?
Dale -
My ex and her yoga instructing fiancé. He has a job with the Cruise of Love cruise line, and she wanted to make sure that all of the single ladies aboard know that he's taken.
Kelly -
You're joking. There is no way that there is a real Love Boat out there.
Dale -
Dead serious. This year's their maiden voyage. All passengers download this dating app that allows them to choose between Sex, Love, and Fling experiences. Swipe down for no, swipe up for love, swipe right for sex, and swipe left for a fling. (I only know about this, because yoga man thinks we are besties for some odd reason.)
Dale -
Side note: They wanted to call themselves the Love Boat, but the network copyright wouldn't allow it.
Kelly -
Sounds overly complicated for me. (The app not the yoga weirdness, that's just awkward.) Dating apps scare me. I used dating sites in my twenties and didn't always have the best experiences.
Dale -
I never tried any of the dating websites, but I did go to a speed dating session on campus once during grad school. That's how I met my ex, Maggie.
Kelly -
How long were you together?
Dale -
15 years.
I'm 40 by the way. (No need to disclose your age though, my mother raised me to be a gentleman.)
Kelly -
Haha! I have no issues with letting a man know the shamefulness of my age.
I'm 38.
Dale -
No way! I would have put you closer to 30.
Dale -
Seriously, I'm not just trying to get into your pants. I did think you were in your early 30s.
Kelly -
It's one of the few good genes to come from my father's side of the family.
You start looking 30 at 12 (True story! Which sucked because kids used to ask if I was a teacher in middle school.) But then when you finally do reach 30, your facial aging slows down, and you get to ride out the smooth skin until you are over 50.
Dale -
That had to suck in middle school.
Kelly -
Oh, it did Mr. Wilson! Very much so.
It was probably why I spent the rest of middle school reading books and ignoring social situations that didn't involve band.
Dale -
Please tell me you were a band geek in H.S!
Kelly -
I was definitely a band geek in H.S! You?
Dale -
I wanted to be, but soccer season always interfered with the marching band, so I wasn't allowed to continue playing the trumpet in HS. I do still remember how to play Rise by Herb Alpert though.
Kelly -
Random factoid: Herb and his ladylove featured in the Rise video, still tour together.
Dale -
Random Dale Fact: I went to their concert last October.
Kelly -
Shut up! I'm very jealous.
Dale -
You should be. Herb is getting up there in age. You may never get the chance to see him for yourself.
Kelly -
82 years old and still touring? That's dedication. (I feel like I should reference Wikipedia for this factoid since it's not coming from my person reserve.)
Dale -
Side note: Are you guys free on Thursday after school? Maybe we can meet at the park then.
Kelly -
That shouldn't be a problem as long as you don't mind me bringing Mandy. (My 22-month-old.)
Dale -
Only if you promise not to nurse her in front of me. Knowing that your milk is being consumed within 100 feet of my person would render me utterly inappropriate for the park.
Kelly -
Flatterer! And no worries, I only nurse Mandy at night before bed and i
n the morning. Hopefully, I'll have her weaned by October.
Dale -
I say we move that wean date to December, that way I have one more shot at your milk flavored goodness.
Kelly -
Your request will be taken under consideration; however, in the meantime, I must say goodnight. Mandy is finished nursing for the night, and I need to put her in the crib before she awakens from her milk comma.
Dale -
Ugh! You're killing me!
Dale -
Goodnight, Kelly.
Kelly -
Goodnight, Dale.
Chapter 12 – Dale
As always, the first few days of school flew by. It wasn't just the busyness that presents itself in a new school year, but the fantastic energy. Kids don't have missed homework or bad grades yet, and everyone's book bags smell of fresh school supplies instead of stinky feet and rotted fruit.
It was a refreshing new year with an empty slate, and I loved it.
To the dismay of my parents, being part of the school system had been a part of my life goals since I was 16 years old. A retired judge, my father insisted that I at least obtain my Ph.D. if I were choosing to walk down such a professionally un-lucrative path.
He reasoned that I needed to make sure I would have the option for advancement, but in my 20 something mind, it was snobbery. For years I blamed him for making me feel guilty about my career.
The financial crash of 2008 put his advice into perspective. That is when I knew that his counsel was not an insult to the profession, but a desire to make assurances for my future family.
After the crash, my father who had diligently saved and worked for early retirement was forced out of retirement when he lost 60% of his supplemental income from investments crashing.
Even though by middle-class standards my mother and he could have still had a comfortable retirement, he became obsessed with guaranteeing my mother the lifestyle she was accustomed to. Thus, he withdrew his remaining investments and purchased an income-for-life annuity that would ensure that he and his spouse could rely on a regular stipend to supplement his state pension.