by Ali Parker
“Do you live here or in Houston?” Olin asked me, deftly changing the subject.
“Houston. Just outside of the city in an old neighborhood.”
“Are you from here?” he asked, and I got the feeling the interrogation part of the interview was just getting started.
“I’ve lived here or in the area for most of my life,” I told him, dreading what was likely to come next.
“Is your family here?” he questioned.
I felt Christopher’s tension. “Olin, why don’t you grab some plates for the pizza,” he suggested.
“It’s okay,” I said in a soft voice. His eyes were full of concern as he looked back at me. I gave him a small nod before turning to look at Olin. “I don’t have family,” I told him. “I was raised in foster care.”
Olin’s eyes went wide. “Oh. I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be,” I assured him. “It’s fine. You were only asking. That’s fine.”
“Wow. So, you don’t have a mom or a dad?”
I slowly shook my head. “Not that I know of.”
That seemed to resonate with him. He got off the stool and grabbed the plates. I hoped I didn’t scare him away. I knew people tended to avoid subjects that made them uncomfortable or touched a little too close to home.
Olin seemed to recover quickly. We sat down to eat the frozen pizza. Our conversation was very lively as we talked about the many things to do around the area. Olin was trying to convince his father to buy a boat. I loved watching the two of them interact. It gave me a new insight into Christopher. Everything I thought about him was confirmed. He was a good, good man just trying to make the best out of the cards he’d been dealt.
After a while, I said my goodbyes to Olin and followed Christopher back to the garage. I got in the truck and let out the breath I had been holding since Christopher asked me to meet his son.
“You okay?” Christopher asked as he backed out of the garage.
I nodded. “I’m good.”
“That went well,” he commented. “Really well. Thank you for being open to meeting him and answering all his questions.”
“I didn’t mind. I’m glad he had questions. He should have questions. He really is a good kid and very smart. I don’t think you have anything to worry about with him.”
He smirked. “We’ll see. We’ve had these really great days before and then a day later, it’s like a little demon possessed his body.”
I laughed. “Pretty sure that’s typical. You’re doing all right with him.”
“Thank you,” he said. “I do appreciate you taking the time to hang out.”
“Of course. After all, I got a free pizza dinner.”
He laughed. “Frozen pizza is not a pizza dinner.”
“It was good. Thank you for inviting me to meet him and of course, everything else. I had an awesome weekend. It makes it very difficult to go back to my boring life.”
He reached over and touched my hand. “I had a good time as well. It felt good to get away. It felt even better to get away with you.”
It wasn’t long before he pulled up in front of my house. I didn’t want the weekend to end. “I’ll see you tomorrow?” I asked.
He nodded. “I’ll stop by your class—if that’s okay?”
“Yes, please do. Thank you again.”
He leaned over and kissed me. It was the kind of kiss that said so much more than goodnight or goodbye. It lingered, both of us reluctant for it to end. I was the one who pulled away. My heart was fluttering. Touching him stirred up feelings I couldn’t quite explain.
“I’ll see you tomorrow,” I said again and got out of the truck.
I made it inside and leaned against the door. I had so many feelings. My heart felt warm. It was a strange, but delicious feeling. I was pretty sure Olin liked me, which meant he would be okay with Christopher and I dating. It felt like we had just cleared a major hurdle.
I was very hopeful for a bright future with him.
Chapter 58
Christopher
I got up early, hoping to accidentally on purpose get Olin up early as well. When I had gotten home last night, he’d already gone to his room with the door closed. I didn’t want to push my luck and bug him. I had left it alone, but now I was anxious to know what he thought about Leila.
I was seeking his approval. I knew it. I knew it was probably not necessary, but I wanted to know that he was okay with me continuing to see her. If he didn’t like her or wasn’t comfortable with me having a relationship, it would make it very difficult for me to see her without suffering some kind of guilty conscience.
It would tear me apart to lose her, but it would kill me to lose him and his respect. I wanted to buy into the idea that I had to be happy to make him happy. I could fake it. I was confident I could put on a smile and pretend I was okay to make sure Olin was okay, even though I felt a physical pain in my heart at the thought of living the next few years alone.
If he didn’t like Leila, I couldn’t imagine him letting anyone into our lives. I would truly be alone. I would never have someone to call at night when he was out with friends and I was all alone. I wouldn’t have anyone to enjoy a leisurely weekend away with or sit by the dock with. I had gotten through the last year alone and told myself I could do it if necessary, but damn, I didn’t want to live like that.
I sent up another prayer to whoever it was up there listening to me. I didn’t want to be alone. I felt very insecure. Vulnerable, almost. I never imagined myself as needy, but thinking about a life completely alone made me feel that way.
I flipped the sausage links in the pan, distracting myself from the dark thoughts as I waited for Olin to get up. I was hoping the scent of the sausage would pull him from bed a little earlier than usual. I had no problem luring him into my trap with food. I checked the time and realized I only had about ten extra minutes. I needed to talk to him.
Music flooded the house as I flipped on the surround sound. It was a Luke Bryan song, heavy on the guitar. Olin hated country music. If the sausage didn’t get him, the music would. I hummed along. I had been on a new journey into the country music world and was getting more familiar with the sound. I wasn’t sure it would ever be my favorite, but I did love southern rock.
It wasn’t long before I heard the footsteps on the stairs. I couldn’t help but grin. “Good morning,” I greeted, pretending nothing was different about the morning.
“What in the hell are you listening to?” he complained.
I turned the music down before handing him the plate of food I had piled up. “Just a little music,” I said innocently.
“You made breakfast?” he asked staring at the plate of food. “On a Monday?”
I chuckled. “I was up early and craving something more than toast.”
He took a bite of a sausage link. “Oh. That works for me. Thank you.”
“What’d you think of Leila?” I asked diving right into the heart of the matter. We both had to get going and I didn’t want to miss an opportunity to talk to him. I couldn’t wrestle with the not knowing for the rest of the day. It would drive me crazy.
He shrugged. “She’s all right.”
“All right?” I asked with disappointment.
“I don’t know, Dad. She seems nice. She’s smart. I don’t know. I mean, she’s okay.”
It wasn’t exactly a resounding approval, but in teen speak, I was going to take what I could get. He wasn’t flat out rejecting her, which was about as good as I was going to get for now. He wasn’t the kind of kid who wore his heart on his sleeve. I rarely knew what he was thinking or feeling. Even after Carlie died, I had struggled to read him. He kept his emotions locked deep inside.
Except anger. He had no problem showing his anger, frustration, or disgust.
I nodded. “Yes, she is,” I agreed. “I wanted you to meet her because I need you to know I am not sleeping around with random women. Leila and I met and immediately hit it off. She’s the only woman I have even given
a second look at.”
He shrugged. “That’s fine. That’s your business. I don’t need to know the details of your sex life.”
I frowned. “I’m not talking about sex.”
“Sounds like it,” he mumbled. “Seriously, Dad, date her. I’m fine with it. She seems all right. Kind of subdued and nothing like Mom.”
He didn’t say it like it was a bad thing, but I wanted to clarify it. “Is that good or bad that she isn’t like Mom?”
“Good. It would be creepy if you got into bed with a mom two point oh.”
His attitude was a complete change from what it had been a week ago. “Is it fine? I want you to understand I’m not making my way through a parade of women. I’ve never been like that and I won’t ever be like that. She isn’t Mom and I don’t think I necessarily sought her out, but I do like her.”
“Why her?” he asked. “I mean, what is it that made you choose her? You said she was the first.”
It took me less than a second to come up with an answer. “Because she is all those things you said and beautiful. I like that I can talk to her. I know you might not understand it now, but as you get older, you come to realize people can be very shallow. You’ll have a lot of relationships in your life, but they are the kind of relationships that are all on the surface. There’s no real deep connection. Leila is different. She’s the first person in a very long time that I felt like I could actually talk to. It isn’t just an acquaintance.”
Olin seemed to be listening. “I get it. Maybe not like a wise old man understanding, but I get it. She’s a good friend.”
I smiled, relieved to know he understood where I was coming from. “She’s a very good friend.”
“Maybe you should bring her around more often,” he suggested. “She seems to make you happy.”
I nodded. “She does make me happy. I’d like to have her come over more often. Maybe we can do something together this weekend. Her job keeps her pretty busy, but the good thing about being a professor means she has weekends off.”
“We’ll see,” he said, hopping off the barstool. “I might go out with a couple of guys.”
“Oh?” I asked, surprised by the news.
“Don’t act like it’s a big deal. Just because Jen is gone doesn’t mean I can’t still hang out with my guy friends.”
I wasn’t thinking that, but I wasn’t going to argue with him either. Not when things were going so well between us. “All right, let me know. I will talk to her today and see if she’s got any ideas about what to do.”
“Bye, Dad,” he said without really answering me and headed for the door.
I quickly put the dirty dishes in the sink before grabbing my keys and heading out. I was hoping to get to campus a little early and catch Leila before her first class. The feeling of being high, like high on life, felt good. I was crediting it all to Leila. Her entrance into my life had been a light shining in a dark place. It was no surprise I naturally gravitated towards her.
I thought about picking up some flowers to give to Leila before quickly reminding myself I couldn’t. Maybe I could get her an apple, I mused. I parked my truck, checked the time, and guessed I had a good fifteen minutes before her class.
“You look like you’re in a hurry,” Alan said falling into step beside me.
I wished I could tell him why, but held back. “You’re here early,” I commented. “Did you pick up another class?”
He shrugged. “I just like hanging out here, you know, picking up on all the gossip and whatnot.”
I laughed. “Is it entertaining?”
“It makes me glad I’m a grown-up and I don’t have to deal with this crazy nonsense. The latest scandal is a video of some couple getting hot and heavy. I have a feeling it’s going to go viral. Kids these days have no idea how to protect their privacy. They just lay it all out there. Hell, they put it all out there.”
“The selfie pics?” I asked as we walked.
“And the nearly naked pics,” he groaned. “I can’t tell you how many conversations I have had with my kids about that subject.”
I grimaced, realizing I had never actually talked to Olin about it. I just assumed he knew better. Realizing in that moment it was a culture and he might not understand it wasn’t okay was an eye-opener. I made a mental note to have yet another awkward conversation with him.
“I’m going this way,” I said, hoping he didn’t ask why. “I’ll see you around.”
“See ya,” he said and continued walking. I noticed he was heading to the library. I couldn’t imagine that was a hotbed of gossip, but maybe it was his thing.
I pulled open the door to Leila’s class and froze. There was a dark-haired woman sitting at her desk. I immediately went on the defensive, assuming it was some cocky student trying to look for test answers. “Looking for something?” I snapped.
The woman looked up at me, surprise on her face. She looked vaguely familiar, but I couldn’t quite place her. I assumed I had seen her on campus. “I’m not looking for anything. Are you in this class?”
“No. I stopped by to see Le—Professor Bell.”
“She isn’t here,” she answered.
That wasn’t what I expected. “Oh, is she sick?” I asked then realized I sounded too concerned. “I was supposed to meet her here to go over some notes,” I lied.
“No,” she said getting up from the desk. “I’m her assistant. I’ll be taking over her class while she meets with the dean.”
“Oh,” I said, immediately worried for her. “I see. Do you expect her to be back for her other classes?”
She shrugged. “I don’t know.”
I nodded, not wanting to stick around and potentially cause problems. “All right, thanks.”
“Do you want to leave a message for her? I’ll see her later I’m sure.”
“No thanks,” I said and quickly left before she could ask who I was.
I knew the meeting wasn’t planned. She would have told me if it was. That meant it was a sneak attack. That could not be good. For the dean to pull her away from a class told me it was something big. I resisted the urge to call or text her to check on her. I wouldn’t compromise her any further.
My gut was in knots, wondering what was happening. I reminded myself she was more confident and could handle whatever it was the dean threw at her. I prayed she would be okay. I would never forgive myself if she had somehow been found out. Hell, maybe there had been a spy at Niagara Falls.
Chapter 59
Leila
I wondered if I was having an out of body experience. It felt unreal. Christopher had mentioned a roller coaster. I was convinced he had pulled me along for the ride. Yesterday had definitely been an up. The whole weekend was up.
And this morning, I felt like the car dumped me out from the highest point of the ride and I had fallen face-first onto the ground. I could almost feel the skinned knees and palms from my fall to the hard pavement. The moment the dean had hollered at me from across the courtyard, I had started tumbling.
I had seen the look on his face and knew it wasn’t good. It was like a sixth sense. I felt like a dead man walking, except I was a fired professor walking. As if to draw out my suffering, he refused to tell me what he so urgently needed to talk to me about. Then, there was some emergency he had to take care of when we got to his office. I was convinced it was a ploy. He was trying to make me sweat.
I lifted one arm and sniffed, making sure my sweat didn’t stink. I refused to be stinky while being fired. I had some dignity left. At least I hoped I did. What I had wasn’t much and I intended on holding onto it with all my might.
“Professor Bell,” the dean’s voice startled me out of my daydream.
“Ready for me?” I asked hoping he would say no.
“Yes, please, come in.”
I followed him into his office, refusing to show fear. I thought of him as a predator and I was the prey. He would smell my fear. I took a seat without waiting for him to ask.
“I have a class,” I said, hoping to somehow get out of the coming conversation.
“I’ve had your assistant step in.”
My heart fell. I couldn’t believe it. I was actually getting fired. All those weeks and months of worrying about it didn’t come close to the real thing. The real thing was terrifying. And irritating. And maddening!
“Why would you have my assistant step in?” I asked through pursed lips. “Isn’t that something I should have been made aware of?”
“I’m sorry. This is important and I didn’t want to wait until you were free. I didn’t think you’d mind.”
I bit my tongue. “It’s fine. What’s going on?”
He looked very uncomfortable. “There’s a video that’s been brought to my attention.”
“A video?”
“Of an encounter. A rather distasteful encounter in the library.”
I felt the blood drain from my face. “Oh?” I squeaked. “Encounter?”
“Of a sexual nature.”
I licked my suddenly dry lips. “I see.”
“The woman in the video is difficult to identify but we have some clear images of the male. It’s only a matter of time before we find out his name.”
“Where did this encounter take place?” I asked, hoping I sounded totally casual.
He curled his lip. “In the alcove above the library.”
If it was possible to have one’s life flash before their eyes, it was what happened. My mind flashed through my college days and the day I found out I had landed the job. I remembered the first day on the job and how excited and terrified I was. All of that work just to end up being fired for a quick romp. I was so much more practical than that.
“You have a video of this?”
“Yes. I’d like to show you something.”
“I don’t want to see the video!”
He smiled. “I would not subject anyone else to that, although, I’ve heard rumors someone leaked it.”