Mr. Bailey

by Taylor DeBolt

  "Hey, you don't do that for us," exclaimed Anne.

  "No one ever asked."

  "So, if I asked you when you get back, you'd do it?"

  "As long as everyone can get at least a C."

  "I'll make sure to do that then.” Anne now sat up and said, “Anyways, I should probably get going before my parents start calling me.”

  "All right. I'll probably just take the rest of the week off, but if you still want me to tutor you, I should be back home by Thursday."

  "Okay. I'll let Mrs. Fisher know you're going to be out then."

  "Thanks. I'll see you soon."

  After getting out of the hospital, Mr. Bailey continued his recovery over the next couple months. During this time, he and Anne returned to their tutoring as well as building their relationship together.

  Just a week before Christmas, Mr. Bailey went out of state to visit his family. And when he got back, Anne was so eager to see him again that her mother found it a little odd. Mrs. Hartford spoke with her husband about it, but it was eventually dismissed.

  Now, just a week from exams, Anne began spending more time with Mr. Bailey as he helped her prepare. After finishing her studying for the evening, Anne said, "What can I expect for your exam?"

  Mr. Bailey shuffled through a few papers before he took out a study list and handed it to her. "If you want to start working on this now you can. I plan to focus on the skeletal system and the muscles the most, and everything else on this list will only have one or two questions associated with it. I'm also letting you use this on the test for the last ten minutes, so make sure you're thorough."

  Anne gave a nod, then said, “Hey, I never got to ask, how are you feeling?"

  "My ribs are still a little achy, but that should clear up soon."

  "I'm glad," she said as she leaned in and gave him a quick kiss. She then grabbed her backpack and left with a giddy smile.

  Following the exams, Mr. Bailey told his class they would be having a game day because everyone passed with at least a C. He then announced the three students that had perfect scores, one of which was Anne. After hearing this, a few students rolled their eyes, while a few more whispered to their friends about Anne being the teacher’s pet. However, there were several students that believed there was a bit more going on between Anne and Mr. Bailey.

  The following day, Anne was called down to the principal's office. After being shown in by a secretary, Anne waited nervously for the principal to arrive. During this time, she glanced around the room to see a few of Mrs. Fisher’s family photos and some athletic posters. Besides that, the room was relatively bland and uninviting. And unlike anywhere else in the school, icy cold air filled the room, making even the shortest of visits uncomfortable.

  Shortly after the first bell rang, Mrs. Fisher entered the room and greeted Anne. It was then that Anne said, "Am I in trouble?"

  "No, I just wanted to ask you a few questions," replied Mrs. Fisher in a calm manner. She then placed Anne’s anatomy exam on her desk and said, "Some other students believe you may have gotten help on your exam, so I'm trying to figure this out. I know you're Mr. Bailey's T.A., so did you happen to see any of the test material in advance?"

  "No, he doesn't let me grade tests or see the keys," Anne answered quickly.

  "Okay. And did you receive any information that would have given you an unfair advantage?"

  "No, he told me the same thing he told everyone else."

  "And what was that?"

  "To focus on the skeletal system and the muscles the most and to be thorough with our study lists."

  "All right, thank you. You can go to class now." Anne nodded, then hurried out. Mrs. Fisher then called Mr. Bailey and asked him to come talk with her.

  When he arrived, Mr. Bailey was rubbing his temples, causing Mrs. Fisher to say, “Everything all right?”

  Wincing slightly, he said, “Yeah, just a bad headache.”

  Giving a solemn look, Mrs. Fisher replied, “Unfortunately, it’s about to get worse.” Mr. Bailey raised his brow at her comment. She then went on to say, “I had a few students come to me yesterday and accuse you of helping Anne Hartford with her exam.”

  “W-what?” he exclaimed in confusion.

  Raising a hand, Mrs. Fisher said, “Relax, I know it isn’t true. However, it’s very troubling to have multiple students come forward and make accusations like that.”

  Mr. Bailey gave a heavy sigh as he said, “I completely agree.”

  “But it’s even more troubling when students think there’s some kind of relationship going on between you two.”

  Glancing down, Mr. Bailey said, “Yeah, I’ve heard my fair share of comments in the last couple weeks.”

  Mrs. Fisher now leaned forward and spoke in much more serious tone as she said, “Jeff, I’ve known you for a while now, and I absolutely do not believe any of these rumors; but, I need to hear it from you. Is there anything going on that I should be aware of?”

  Mr. Bailey thought for a moment, then glanced up at Mrs. Fisher and spoke in calm fashion as he said, “Not in regard to any of the rumors.” He then took a deep breath as he continued to say, “I don’t know if you know this, but she’s actually my neighbor.”

  “No, I wasn’t aware,” she replied as she listened intently to him.

  “That’s how I got to know her and why we get along so well. I’m friends with her parents, so we see each other a lot. And in the last few months, I’ve been tutoring her after school. Needless to say, we spend a lot of time together.”

  After hearing everything Mr. Bailey had to say, Mrs. Fisher said, “Listen, I don’t have any problems with you two being friends, but these rumors are starting to get out of hand. So, I need you to talk with Anne about toning down your friendliness with each other when you’re here at school.” Mr. Bailey nodded in agreement, then spoke with Mrs. Fisher for a few more minutes before returning to his class.

  Once it was third period, Mr. Bailey started class with a hand pressed to his head as he said, "I know I said we'd have a game day today, but I have a really bad headache, so we'll put it off until next class. Today we'll be watching a documentary. It's pretty entertaining, and there's no assignment that goes with it, so today's still going to be an easy day. I don't care if you talk, but please be quiet about it. That's all I have to say. I'll be laying down in the back of the room if anyone needs me."

  After finishing her work for the day, Anne made her way over to Mr. Bailey and said, "I finished grading papers, and I don't have any homework. Is there anything you want me to do?"

  Mr. Bailey took out his wallet and handed her two dollars as he said, "Can you go down to the teachers' lounge and get two cans of pop. A Coke for me and whatever you want."

  “Sure thing,” she replied as she hurried off. When she came back from the teacher's lounge, Mr. Bailey was resting his head in his hands and looking absolutely miserable. "Here's your pop," she said as she handed it to him.

  "Thanks," he replied as he kept holding his head.

  "If it hurts that bad, then why don't you go home?"

  "During lunch, I'll run up to the store and pick up some aspirin. Hopefully, that'll fix it."

  Anne now placed a hand on his shoulder as she said, "I hope you feel better."

  "So, do I,” he replied before leaning back and closing his eyes. Anne now sat with him for the remainder class.

  Later that day, when Anne stopped over for her tutoring, the first thing she did was ask, "Are you feeling any better?"

  "Way better. I guess all I needed was a little sleep," replied Mr. Bailey.

  "That's good because I wanted to show you something." The two of them then went and sat on the couch together, where Anne handed him her report card and said, "Before you open it, I want you to guess how I did."

  "I'm guessing all A's and an A-minus in math."

  "You're close; go ahead and look."

  "Straight A's! Anne, I'm so proud of you," he said as he leaned over and hugged her.
"Did you show this to your parents yet?"

  "No, I wanted you to be the first one to see it," she replied with a grin.

  "If you keep this up, you'll be valedictorian in no time."

  "You really think so?"

  "You're a smart girl; I know you can do it if you set your mind to it."

  Anne now rested her head on his shoulder as she looked up at him and flirtatiously asked, "Do you think we could skip tutoring tonight and do something a little more fun?"

  Mr. Bailey cracked a smile at her request as he said, "How about we still do the tutoring, but I'll cut it short so we can spend some time together." Anne happily agreed, then the two of them spent a little under an hour studying before returning to the couch.

  As they were laying in one another's arms, exchanging a kiss here and there, Anne started to unbutton Mr. Bailey's shirt. Once he realized it, he sat up a little and said, "Hey, what are you doing?"

  Anne looked at him with her soft eyes and innocent smile as she replied, "I was hoping we could try something new."

  "Anne, your parents are two houses over from me; and you've already been here for an hour. If they were to come over, that'd be the end of it."

  "It's not fair,” she exclaimed in frustration, “why can't we just be together?"

  "I get where you're coming from; and I agree, it isn't fair, but it's just the way things are." Seeing how saddened she was by what he had said, Mr. Bailey pulled her in and held her for a little while longer.

  Back at Anne's house, Mr. and Mrs. Hartford were busy speaking with a private investigator, who works for their law firm. Mrs. Hartford started by talking about the behavior Anne was displaying and how much time she and Mr. Bailey were spending together. She then elaborated on it all starting after the robbery.

  After hearing everything, the detective thought for a moment before saying, "Bailey, he teaches at Davidson, right?"

  "Yeah, why?" asked Mrs. Hartford.

  "I remember him. My senior year I had him in his first year of teaching. He was probably the best teacher I've ever had. So, what do you think's going on?"

  Giving a sigh, Mrs. Hartford replied, "I'm not really sure, and I may just be paranoid, but I'd rather be safe than sorry."

  "I understand. When do you want me to start?"

  "Can you have everything ready by Friday?"

  "No problem. I'll watch over them for a week, then show you whatever footage I obtain."

  “Thanks, Kyle.” The detective nodded, then proceeded to leave just as Anne was arriving home.

  After coming inside and setting down her bag, Anne turned to her parents and asked, "Who was that?"

  "Just a friend from work," replied Mr. Hartford.

  "Oh. Well, I'm going to bed."

  "Already?"

  "I've had a long day. My report card's on the table. Night."

  "Goodnight." Mr. Hartford now walked over and looked at Anne's grades before saying, "I think this whole detective thing is going a bit too far."

  Mrs. Hartford, who was glancing down the hall after Anne, spoke in a low voice as she said, "I'd rather take things a little too far and find out I was overreacting than to brush it off like it's nothing." Not having another word to say on the matter, Mr. and Mrs. Hartford decided to turn in early as well.

  Chapter 5

  Friday afternoon, before Anne was supposed to come over for tutoring, Mr. Hartford stopped by to talk with Mr. Bailey. Once the small talk was out of the way, Mr. Hartford said, "I hate to ask you this, but Linda and I are celebrating our anniversary tomorrow and…"

  "Oh, how long have you two been together?" interjected Mr. Bailey.

  "As of tomorrow, eighteen years."

  "Congratulations."

  "Thanks, but I wanted to know if you could watch Anne for us while we're gone."

  "Sure,” said Mr. Bailey with a shrug. “So, what do you have planned for the missus?"

  "Well, we're going out to eat at that new French restaurant, the Chéri, then we're going back to a hotel afterward."

  "Sounds nice. So, do you just want me to check in on her like before?"

  "Actually, because of what happened last time, we'd prefer she stay with you if it's not too much trouble, that is."

  "I don't have anything going, so it's no trouble at all."

  "Here, this should cover dinner," said Mr. Hartford as he handed Mr. Bailey fifty dollars.

  "You don't have to…"

  "Jeff, you always pay for everything. Just let me pay for you this one time."

  With a sigh, Mr. Bailey said, "Fine, but just this once."

  After thanking him again, Mr. Hartford returned home just as Anne was on her way over. When she arrived, Mr. Bailey told her the news, which immediately started a conversation about what they would do, but it also gave Anne an idea.

  By the following evening, Anne and Mr. Bailey started the night with a movie that Anne had suggested. It was a romance, but it kept both interested with its occasional jokes. Towards the end of the movie, there was a light sex scene, which caused Anne to fidget around a bit until Mr. Bailey asked, "Is everything all right?"

  There was a slight nervousness to her voice as she replied, "Well, there's something I wanted to ask you, but I'm a little worried about what you might say."

  "Go ahead and ask."

  Anne now laid on top of him and spoke in her most seductive voice as she said, "Well, with my parents being gone and all, what would you say to the idea of us making our own love scene?"

  He had a feeling that's what she was going to ask and hesitated for a moment before saying, "I don't think that's a good idea."

  Although she was a little upset with his answer, she believed she could change his mind if she acted quickly. "Why not? You said you were worried about my parents finding out, but there's no way they could know, and there's no way anyone else could find out either."

  "I know, but…"

  "Wait,” interjected Anne. She now chose her words carefully as she said, “I want you to know that I've been thinking about this a lot; and I've decided that if I was going to do this with anyone, I want it to be you."

  After hearing her say that, Mr. Bailey let out a heavy sigh as he thought for a moment. He then glanced up at her and said, "Anne…" She knew just by the way he said her name that her attempts to change his mind had failed. As she turned away in frustration, Mr. Bailey pulled her into his arms and said, "Please don't be mad at me. I'm not trying to dash your hopes, and I'm not saying no; I'm just saying, not right now."

  Despite what he said, Anne was still disappointed. Without saying a word, she laid back down and watch the last part of the movie. During that time, Mr. Bailey could see just how heartbroken she was. Wanting to put the thought out of his mind, he asked her if she wanted to go get something to eat. She gave a quick nod, then climbed off him and went to grab her coat.

  On their way to the restaurant, neither of them couldn't think of anything to say, so they let the radio drown out the awkwardness. During their meal, Anne seemed to lighten up a bit, but their conversations didn't last, and they soon found themselves back to awkward silence. And despite his best efforts, Mr. Bailey continued to think about what she had said.

  Once they got back home, Anne said she was going to lay down, so Mr. Bailey decided to do the same. After climbing into bed and cuddling up to one another, Mr. Bailey started rubbing Anne’s leg. Enjoying the sensation, she pulled herself even closer to him; then a few minutes later, she felt his hand drifting towards her inner thigh. Anne now placed her hand on his as she quietly spoke his name and asked, "What are you doing?"

  Mr. Bailey took a deep breath before saying, "I've been thinking about what you said, and I guess I didn't realize just how much this relationship means to you. Don't get me wrong; I still have my reservations, but, if you still want to, I'm not opposed to your love scene idea."

  Anne now stared at him in astonishment as she asked, "Do you really mean that?"

  The second he said yes, Anne
jumped up and locked lips with him. As they were kissing, Mr. Bailey slid his hands up her back and unhooked her bra, causing her to giggle as she sat up. Now that he had her attention, he said, "Before we start, I have one ground rule. If at any time something doesn’t feel right, you let me know, okay?" Anne nodded eagerly, then Mr. Bailey went on to say

  "All right, lay back and I'll get things started."

  Lying flat on her back with one of Mr. Bailey's arms under her, Anne rested her head against him as he began caressing her. He started at her sides, then worked his way up to her chest. His hands were smooth and gentle as he ran them across her breasts for a moment, giving an occasional squeeze that caused Anne to whimper with pleasure. As he continued to caress her with one hand, he let his other slip down between her legs. After merely brushing his hand against her, she let out a light gasp as her body shivered from the new sensation. She then relaxed into his massaging touch, giving an occasional moan of delight whenever he hit a sweet spot.

  Wishing to speed things up a little, Mr. Bailey gave her a quick prod. Her hips jerked back almost instantly; then she grinned at him before leaning over and kissing him. While they were still kissing, he gave another prod, which made her pull back and squeal, "Quit teasing me!" At her request, he let his finger slip into her one more time. As he started picking up speed, he took Anne's hand and guided her thumb back and forth between her folds. The added stimulation was now starting to overwhelm her. She could feel the heat building across her face. Faster and more forcefully, the pleasure grew and grew until Anne couldn't hold back any longer. As she moaned out loudly, Mr. Bailey locked lips with her, muting her moan and causing her whole body to shudder. He then leaned in and softly asked, "Was that enough of a warm-up for you?"

  It took her a few seconds to catch her breath before she could say, "Can we do this just a little longer?"

  "Sure. Let me know when you're ready." After a few more minutes of him pleasuring her, Anne climbed on top him and made herself comfortable. She then listened to him say, "All right, we'll go nice and slow." Her smile grew as he positioned himself, then began to gently thrust into her.