I sighed. “Yeah, the kids are depending on us.”
Cass beamed. “Appreciate it, you two. Now, sit tight and let me gather all of Amy’s work and hand it over.”
“We can grab it in the morning,” Stephen answered.
“Won’t take more than a minute,” Cass replied. He pushed his chair back, staggered to his feet, and began rummaging about the office. He sifted through actual piles of paperwork, finding this and that on his desk, the bookshelf, printer, filing cabinet, and slowly created a brand-new pile out of it all. A minute turned into several, and yet Cass kept pawing through everything at the pace of a snail. At one point he sat in front of the computer, muttering something about printing off some emails for us. I don’t think he knew how to filter and search by name or keyword, and instead Cass clicked through each email, reading the contents in full before moving on to the next.
I glanced at Stephen. The way he’d reclined into the seat and seemed to have settled in for the long haul told me this was normal behavior. When Cass turned his back, I spared a quick look at my watch.
Jesus! It was already after five!
Without even looking at me, Stephen quickly reached out and put a hand on mine, forcing my arm down as Cass turned, so he didn’t catch me checking the time.
“I swear I’m forgetting something,” Cass finally said to us, shoving a mountain of miscellaneous papers our way.
“Oh, I’m sure it’s not important,” Stephen suggested as he took the pile into his arms. “Bowen and I will go through this and let you know if we have any questions.”
“Very good,” Cass answered. “Now one last important thing—” His phone rang suddenly and Cass paused to answer it. “Hello? Oh sure, put him through! Bill? Hey, buddy!”
I felt my eye twitch a little. What was the last important thing?
Stephen was poised on the edge of his seat, ready to bolt at the first chance.
But Cass was a talker and subject-meanderer. I swear to Christ, he talked about nothing for near twenty minutes, totally ignoring the fact he had two teachers sitting in front of him, waiting to be dismissed, and it was now—
I peeked at my watch again.
Five thirty!
“Yeah, let’s get together next weekend. Bring Rebecca too. Oh, is she?”
Is she what? God, Imustknow.
“You don’t say?”
Oh, Billtotallysaid.
“Does she still have that dog?”
What kind of dog is it?
“No, it was a little one. The one that threw up on your shoes at the bowling alley.”
God save me.I almost smacked my own face.Cass, for the love of everything good and pure in this world, please dismiss us so I at least have time to put cologne on before my date.
“All right. Nice talking to you, Bill. Yeah, okay, bye now.” Cass hung up.
Stephen smiled, but even he was struggling for sincerity at that point. “What was the important thing you wanted to tell us before we head out?”
Cass made a face and rubbed his temple. “Well, shit. Now I’ve forgotten. I guess it wasn’t that important after all. Have a good night, gentlemen.”
Stephen was on his feet and out the door. I practically ran after him. He reached the front door near the reception counter and opened it, motioning me to quickly follow. I grabbed my crap and all but threw myself into the hallway.
“Cass has a habit of following from his office and then cornering you into another thirty-minute discussion,” Stephen explained.
“That was awful.”
“That was mild,” Stephen corrected. “Give him an inch and Cass will talk until you’re dead.”
