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“Just the way I like it,” she says, taking another sip before setting it down. She’s a nice woman, really. Her appearance is rather round and matronly and she chooses clothes with the most horrid fabrics, but her smile is genuine when she glances across her table at me as I take a seat in a chair facing her. “So now tell me what you need.”
I fidget nervously, surprised by her direct question.
“Can’t I just bring my favorite boss a coffee every now and then?” I tease, embarrassed to find that I’ve broken out in a cold sweat.
She leans back in her chair and narrows her cool gray eyes on me. “Sure you can, but I’ve been around the block quite a few times and I know the drill. So what is it? Toddlers driving you insane? Want some help in the afternoons?”
I hurry to correct her. “No! No, that’s not it at all. I think I’m faring quite nicely in the 3s room, actually. It’s…umm…” I twiddle my fingers, trying to get my words in the proper order. “It’s a question to do with the rules in our employee handbook, actually.”
She groans like it’s the last thing she wanted to hear. “Don’t expect me to know that thing backward and forward—it was written before my tenure here. Just come out with it and tell me what you’re so worried about then I’ll see if I can ease your mind.”
I didn’t expect to cut to the chase this quickly. I thought we’d do a bit of back and forth about the weather and school lunches and whatever was on the telly last night. I was going to feign a love for The Bachelor in case she’s a big fan.
She’s still waiting for me to speak, her gaze gently goading me to get on with it.
“Okay, so it has to do with the part about no fraternizing with the parents.”
“Oh god, who did you sleep with?”
My eyes bug out of my head and my hands shoot out to stop her thoughts. “No one! I swear it!”
We just did a bit of humping in a pool. Oh dear.
“Okay…”
“It’s…um…okay…one of my students has this uncle.”
“Logan Matthews, yes. The NFL player. That’s something you’ll just have to get used to. At a prestigious school like this, we have quite a few parents and relatives who are famous in one way or another. Hell, some of our students are probably famous in their own right as well.”
“Sure, but it’s not his fame I’m worried about. It’s about whether or not it’d be okay if he and I dated?”
Without missing a beat, she replies, “Oh, I’m afraid you’d be fired. Yes, gone immediately.”
OH MY GOD.
I immediately panic. My heart starts to gallop like it wants to race right out of my chest. Fired. Axed. Gone. NO!
“Surely there’s some way to—”
Then she bursts out laughing, really having a go, slapping her hand on her desk and everything. When I don’t immediately realize what’s happening, she only starts laughing harder, having to wipe tears from her eyes. “Oh god, I’m kidding! Can you imagine?! A student’s uncle being off limits? And what about a friend of a friend? And that man down the block there? No, I choose to assume you teachers know what’s best, and I trust your judgment.”
“So it isn’t against the rules? But wait—isn’t that why the teacher who was in the 3s class before me was fired? She was sleeping with the father of one of our students, I thought.”
Mrs. Halliday finally stops laughing, and her face screws up like I’ve really confused her. “Tara? Is that what you think happened?” She snorts. “God no. Tara was fired because she was stealing school supplies from the multipurpose closet and reselling them online for a profit. She had a whole system going, probably made a small fortune before we caught on to the fact that all of our paper clips had gone missing.”
“You’re kidding.”
“No, you’d be surprised. Paper clips sell for a pretty penny if you can get your hands on enough of them.”
What?
“No. That’s…” I shake my head adamantly. “I mean, I really thought she’d had an affair and been axed for it.”
Mrs. Halliday shrugs and reaches out for her latte once again. “Well that’s school gossip for you. Can never be too sure about anything people say around here. Everyone loves a good story.”
Right. Well then.
I lean back in my seat, breathing in this new information. It seems too good to be true, so just to be sure, I decide to ask once more.
“So then it’s okay if I pursue something with Logan?”
I say it real slow like I want to be sure she hears every syllable.
Her face turns serious then, her eyes narrowing. “It’s not against school rules, though as your advisor, I’d caution you to tread lightly when it comes to dating someone in the public eye.”
