by C. S Luis
“Oh, busy disciplining?” Ms. Stephens said, glaring at me as I innocently sat back on the seat.
“Disciplining?” Mr. Slater snarled back at Ms. Stephens, who looked surprised. “I'm catching up with my old friends,” he angrily corrected her.
“Friends?” She asked, glaring over at me. “But, John, it’s me. You know we can get together later tonight if you’d like. Get a couple of drinks and head back to your place or mine.” She winked, and I could feel she wanted to make me jealous. I lowered my head as she smiled.
“Sorry, Karen, I can’t. I have other plans,” Mr. Slater said as I peeked up at them from the place on my seat.
“Other plans? What other plans? Come on, John,” she said, trying to keep her sense of humor, but Mr. Slater appeared to be very serious.
“Karen, I already have plans with Dr. McClellan and Miss Belle to have dinner at their house, so I can’t,” Mr. Slater said, and when he said that, I looked up and he winked at me.
Ms. Stephens was glaring slightly over at me and caught me smiling. That must have pissed her off; when I noticed her catch me, I looked back down.
“Well, then let me take you out to lunch, or better, let’s get some breakfast so we can catch up,” she said.
“I already told you, I’m busy. I need to talk to Claudia; we have plans,” he very immediately said. I was surprised and delighted by his words, and Ms. Stephens looked confused.
“Oh, okay well…” She tried to say. “Then I’ll see you around?” She asked, but Mr. Slater had already lost interest in her, and she seemed surprised by his behavior. I guess this had been the first time a man like Mr. Slater had ignored her, and I bet she didn’t like it.
“Of course,” he only replied, but he wasn’t the least interested in her as he looked back over at me. God, he had completely ignored her. Ms. Stephens stepped over to the entrance of Mr. Slater’s office. I smiled, blushing as she stared wickedly back at me.
But she said nothing as she looked back in hopes that Mr. Slater would say something to her to stop her from leaving, but he didn’t because he was now taking a seat at the edge of his desk again, turning to talk to me. Angrily, Ms. Stephens walked out.
“Sorry for the interruption,” Mr. Slater said to me. I smiled.
“Well, you were greatly missed,” I told him, and when I found his eyes paralyzing, I couldn’t hide from them.
“Perhaps,” he said. “But all I want is to spend time catching up with you.” I blinked up at him as he then added, “And Michael, of course.”
I smiled; he was a bad liar.
“Let’s have breakfast,” Mr. Slater offered, the big grin still on his handsome face.
“Only if you let me buy,” I said, and he wrinkled an eyebrow at me. I could already hear him starting to lecture me. And as he put a finger up to do so, I smiled and started laughing.
“I know, I know,” I began, grabbing a hold of his finger before he started wagging it at me. “You’ve never let a woman pay when in your company,” I said very nonchalantly in my best Mr. Slater voice.
Mr. Slater burst into laughter, wrapping the rest of his fingers around my hand and holding onto it tightly. I didn’t want to let go of his hand, and he smiled, lifting mine up and kissing it.
There was a mere moment between us, and I felt strange looking into his very handsome face. He must have turned bright red as I gave in and looked down. His hand was on my cheek again, and his fingers ran down to my chin. He lifted my face to his.
“God, I really missed you,” he whispered, folding his lip back into that gorgeous grin I loved so much.
I smiled back and leaned against his hand, putting my hand over it. I felt him tremble before he very slowly pulled back his hand. There was a short pause as he sat there, and then he clapped his hands together, trying to drown out the silence that so suddenly had taken us both by surprise.
“So.” He tried to say. “What would you like for breakfast?” He asked. I made a slight frown, realizing I had eaten breakfast just before arriving at school.
“What’s wrong, Claudia?” He asked, noticing the look on my face. I looked up at him suddenly as his face filled with concern. God, he was so attentive. I loved it.
“Well…I kinda had an omelet before I got here. Michael’s idea of a good breakfast. He never wants me to walk out without having breakfast. His words, not mine.”
I rolled my eyes, and Mr. Slater smiled, almost laughing at the expression on my face.
“That’s alright,” he said. “Perhaps we can get some lunch instead.”
But of course I didn’t want to end our reunion so quickly. I looked troubled, and he noticed and again lifted my chin up.
“What’s wrong now?” He asked with a warm smile.
“I guess I have to go back to class now, huh?”
Mr. Slater curved a single lip, walking around to his desk and taking a seat on his chair. “Says who?” He asked. “You forget I’m the principal!” And then he blinked and corrected himself. “I mean, assistant principal, but it also comes with its perks.”
He came forward on his desk as I came closer to the desk, sitting at the very edge of my seat.
“Why don’t we spend the day together, you and I?” He asked, and I blinked up at him, surprised by his offer.
5
John Slater
“I want to buy you something,” I said, and Claudia smiled. I liked when she smiled like that at me.
“Buy me something?” Claudia softly replied. I hope I wasn’t making her uncomfortable, but I think she deserved something nice, something from John, something from The Man in Blue. He wanted her to have something special. After all, she had given me so much.
“Yes,” I smiled. I exhaled, watching her from the other end of the desk as I dropped my head on my hand.
John, you’re looking at her like that again. Stop, you’re making her uncomfortable.
I could see she was looking up at me; even though she’d shied away from me a few times, she always looked up at me eventually. I wasn’t making her unconformable, but the connection I had felt before was resurfacing and I couldn’t ignore it no matter what I tried to do.
“Buy me what?” She made herself say again; perhaps she didn’t know what to say.
“Anything you want,” I simply said.
“You don’t have to buy anything, Mr. Slater,” Claudia said. God, she was so polite and so sweet.
“I want to,” I merely said. I exhaled, my heart pounding in my head. I couldn’t breathe; I was overwhelmed with feelings. I took a quick breath.
“But don’t you have to work?”
I grinned as she looked down at me with a smile. She was enjoying this attention from me, and I could see that just as much as I was enjoying her company.
“Not today, Miss Belle,” I said. “Today is our day.” I grinned big. “I think I’m allowed one day to be bad,” I added, and she looked up at me and smiled.
“So, what do you say? Will you be my date for the day?”
John, you didn’t?
Yes, I did, and I did it smiling.
“Where should we go?” Claudia asked. I figured that was the yes I was hoping for.
“Anywhere you want,” I said, and she looked away, perhaps trying to figure out what to do, and then she looked back at me. I didn’t care where we went. I just wanted to be with her.
“Can we go to the art store?” She sweetly asked.
“Anywhere you want,” I repeated. “But first, I want to get you something.”
She blushed and said, “Mr. Slater, you don’t have to.”
“Miss Belle, don’t argue with me. I want to…you deserve it,” I very firmly said and then smiled, and she nodded with a grin and didn’t say any more about it.
“But what about Michael?” Claudia asked, looking over at me. “What about class?”
“He won’t mind,” I said. “We’ll leave him a little note with Ms. Erickson.”
How strange that at that ver
y moment, I thought of walking out as I looked back at her from the other end of the desk, I felt guilt suddenly. A strong sense of guilt I couldn’t shake.
But I also knew that if I said we’re going to New York, she wouldn’t object to it. She would gladly just walk out the door with me. She would come away with me as she had said.
“So, it’s a date,” I merely said, grabbing my keys from the drawer and rising and coming around the desk. I extended my arm out for her.
“Shall we, Miss Belle?” I asked.
Claudia nodded and put her slim arm around my manly arm, and we walked to the entrance of my office. She stood aside as I closed the door. Ms. Erickson was looking over at me. I was trying to avoid her, but I realized I had to leave a note with her for Michael.
Claudia waited by the side for me as I came to stand in front of Ms. Erickson’s desk.
“Yes, Mr. Slater?” She looked up at me, ready to give me her full attention, and even Claudia blinked over at her immediate response.
“Ms. Erickson,” I began.
“Janet,” she corrected.
“Janet, right. Can you do me a favor?” I asked very politely, and she looked eager to please me.
“Anything you need, Mr. Slater.”
Claudia seemed to smile at this, and I caught the smirk on her face as she looked away. “I’m stepping out for a moment,” I said. “Can you give Dr. McClellan a note for me?”
“Yes, sir. Anything,” Janet said.
“Tell Dr. McClellan I’m taking Claudia out for a bit, and if he needs me, give him my cell phone number.”
Janet blinked up at me with a smile. “Well, you can tell him by radio if you prefer, sir,” she politely said, lifting a radio. Claudia leaned forward as she saw the curiosity on my face as to what she meant, until I realized what it was.
“Mr. Vasquez and Claypool use it all the time. I think Michael has one in his office,” Claudia offered; it was only when she said that, that I realized it.
“That’s alright,” I said to Janet. “Just relay the message to him; we’re in a hurry.” I motioned Claudia over towards the door with me.
“Sir?” Janet again said, and I stopped, looking back. Claudia was halfway out the door, waiting for me as I stood holding the door open and looking back at Ms. Erickson.
“Okay, but what is your cell phone, sir?” She asked.
Claudia was getting a real kick out of all this. I grinned over at her as she caught me looking back at her.
I took out my wallet and presented Janet with a single white card that had my name on it with my cell phone number. She took it from my hand and looked at it. The letters read, ‘John Slater’ in baby blue with the single number in black bold on the other side. It was my own personal calling card. I had others made that had the Man in Blue in blue lettering with my number on the opposite side as well.
Janet looked pleased, like I had given it to her personally; you’d think someone of the opposite sex had never offered her a number.
With that, I walked out before she said anything else. In the hallway, Claudia smiled over at me.
“What?”
Claudia came closer and took hold of my arm. I was happy she was so comfortable with me that she didn’t need an invitation from me anymore to come closer.
“Nothing,” Claudia said with a smile and then started laughing as we began to walk down the hall.
“I think she likes you,” she giggled.
“Oh,” I simply said in response. “I didn’t notice.” And I glanced down at her with a big grin.
We walked out the metal doors, glancing momentarily into the cafeteria where I could see a few students lined up, and we noticed the backs of both Mr. Vasquez and Mr. Claypool. Oh, so that’s detention, I thought.
Outside, we walked through a few parked cars until we stopped by my baby Shelby. I unlocked the door for Claudia, and as I did, she turned to me and said, “You know, Mr. Slater, you can park over there by Michael’s SUV; that’s the designated space for the assistant principals.” She pointed to the location near the side doors of the cafeteria, far closer than where I was parked now.
I smiled big at her and tapped a finger playfully at her nose. “Miss Belle, what would I do without you?”
She grinned and climbed into the car as I closed the door behind her and hurried to the driver’s side to get in. I wanted to drive away and head to the airport, leave it all behind and take her with me. And when she looked back at me with those beautiful brown eyes, it made me feel she felt the same, that we were thinking the very same thing as we sat in the car together.
Caught in the moment for a few seconds, I finally turned the car engine, we drove out of the parking lot and onto the street. Claudia was quiet for a moment; I looked over at her as we drove into the River Oaks area. It looked like she was just enjoying the ride. I exhaled happily, and as a habit, I almost found myself reaching over to caress her leg, but I stopped myself just before I did.
John, watch yourself.
“What are you thinking about, sweetheart?” I very softly asked her as we stopped at a red light.
Claudia looked over at me with a sweet grin. “How I don’t ever want this day to end,” she very simply said, and that just did it for me. I felt the same.
I pulled into the parking lot of a high-end jewelry store and parked. Claudia looked back at me as I was now staring right over at her. She blushed, finding my eyes already on her as the engine stopped.
“Why are we here?” Claudia softly asked.
“I told you.” I grinned big again. “I want to get you something. Come on, let’s go inside and see what we can find.”
Claudia looked confused as I got out of the car and came around to help her out. She wasn’t used to having doors opened for her, and I was the kind of man that couldn’t break such a habit.
I extended my hand to her, and she took it. I helped her out, closing the door behind her as she stood aside waiting for me. I put my hand over her shoulder and pulled her close to me, leading her up to the store with me.
“What would you like to eat later?” I asked her, leaning slightly over her. Claudia looked at me bashfully. She was very uncertain of my attention; maybe she had never had the attention of a man or someone like me. I did that to women, made them feel special. But this was different; she was different. I wanted her to feel important because she was very important to me.
“I’m not sure,” she very sweetly said. I guess she had never been asked such things. The choices had always been made for her. I wanted her to choose; although, I would’ve very gladly made a choice if she couldn’t.
We walked inside, and I led her to the counter. The store attendant looked very oddly at us. I guess it was the way I was protectively holding Claudia very close to me. Perhaps he had gotten the wrong idea.
“Can I help you with something, sir?” He asked me, very politely giving Claudia a curious greeting, and she shyly looked away. She was shy by nature and merely stood beside me, hiding from the attendant as I held my arm wrapped around her shoulder.
“Are you interested in our engagement bands?” The clerk right away asked. I curiously looked up at him, not fully understanding what he’d meant by that. He blinked.
“Perhaps wedding bands then?” He offered.
“No,” I said embarrassed. “I’m not looking to get married, pal,” I politely replied. “I’m actually—”
But then he said, “Oh, I apologize. I thought, well, when I saw you and your lady friend, I thought that perhaps you were here interested in—” He stopped short from insulting himself.
Claudia blushed, lowering her head as I immediately stepped forward to the counter, trying to change the subject. “Is Jarrell in?” I asked, and he nodded. “Can you get him?” I snarled, and the clerk walked to the back.
I looked over at Claudia. “How can they think we are…I mean, really?” I tried to smile with difficultly, trying to not to be so obvious about blushing.
She looked far
more embarrassed than me, and it bothered my ego. Perhaps that’s why she wandered to the other end to look at some rings; perhaps she was too embarrassed. I ran a hand over my head, tugging at my hair when she wasn’t looking, and feeling like an idiot.
Then a man much older stepped out from the other end of the counter from the back, and he looked happy to see me. I immediately recognized him; he was the owner.
“John? John Slater?” I looked back at Claudia as she turned to look at both of us. I lifted a finger and instructed her to wait there for a moment as I stepped over to the older gentleman who immediately reached and shook my hand from the other end of the counter.
“What brings you here?” Jarrell asked. He was Indian with salt and pepper hair; he was slightly lighter than most Indians.
“I should be asking you that, Jarrell, you son of a bitch. I guess you decided to move after all.”
“Well, business is great down here, John. I can’t complain. And what are you up to? Who’s the pretty lady friend?” He said, pointing over at Claudia at the far end. She was busy looking at the rings behind the counter.
He smiled and winked. “She’s young.”
“She’s a friend,” I very firmly said.
“Sure,” he quickly responded. I frowned as he smiled.
“You have something for me back there, Jarrell?” I asked him, and he grinned; he understood what I meant. I had in the past made several purchases from him. We had history, and he had often seen me with a variety of different women. I liked buying women jewelry, but only on rare occasions, and they usually didn’t work in a brothel. But sometimes I broke my rules.
Nevertheless, Jarrell had moved his store from New York; although, I had never believed he would. Seeing was believing.
“This one, she’s special I take it.”
I shook my head, folding my lip in regards to his idea that Claudia and I were an item. Although I very much wanted that to be the truth; unfortunately, it wasn’t.