Chapter thirteen
“She's pretty,” Deborah commented as she handed me a glass.
“Her who?” I played dumb.
“The woman you were talking to.”
“Ah! She's just a cheeky little teacher.” I took a sip.
“Teacher?” My sister seemed even more curious, and I realized what a dangerous path I could have taken.
“This is a bad place to talk.”
“Don't run away from me, Thom...” She came up behind me and grabbed my shoulder, making me turn to face her again, and I realized that agreeing to go out with my sister had been a bad idea. I should have been at home, enjoying time with my daughters and not having my ears blasted by loud electronic music.
“I'm not running away.”
“I know him very well.”
“She's the twins' teacher and responsible for the hide-and-seek scare. If she had kept an eye on my little girls as she is paid to do, this wouldn't have happened.”
“Hmm...” She bit her lower lip.
“What?”
“Nothing!” He shrugged.
I was too used to dealing with games of lies, half-truths, and manipulation to fall for it.
“Deby?” I narrowed my eyes.
“And you went to save her?”
“I only realized that the idiot wasn't taking no for an answer.”
“For those who say Thomas Lennox isn't a gentleman, take a look...”
“It was no big deal.”
“If you're talking.”
“I think I'd better go.”
“But we've only just arrived.” She twisted her lips, showing her dissatisfaction.
“If I go now, I can put my daughters to bed.”
“You know they'll be fine with the nanny, don't you?”
“I'm all they have.”
“You're wrong, Thom. I and the rest of the family are here for you and for them.”
“Everyone has commitments.”
“Don't you realize that you're the one who's keeping us apart?”
I was going to argue with her; the words were on the tip of my tongue, but I had to swallow them because, deep down, I knew my sister was right.
“Would you like me to give you a lift?” I changed the subject.
“Are you kidding? I'm not leaving now. I'll take a cab later.”
“Okay.”
Before I could turn my back, my sister called me again:
“Tell my nieces I'll be spending the day with them on Sunday.”
“But...” I stopped my protest. “All right, then.”
I nodded to her, left the glass on a table, and left.
My car was in a parking space at the nightclub, and the valet handed me the key. That brief experience had shown that environments like that weren't for me, as my temples were throbbing when I settled into the leather seat. Going home and staying with my girls was the best thing I could do for myself.
What was that teacher doing there? It was inevitable not to think about her as I left the building. I hadn't expected a kindergarten teacher to be able to go to places like that. But what she did outside of work was none of my business as long as she didn't influence my daughters or the other students.
Despite the cheap and somewhat crumpled clothes, she looked different from what I remembered, more beautiful. It wasn't a justification, but it might have attracted the idiot who didn't know how to accept rejection.
I had to turn on the windshield wipers because I was surprised by the rain. When I left the house, I didn't even think it would happen, but passing rainstorms were common.
I pushed the thoughts aside and focused on driving until I had to stop at a traffic light near the corner of the establishment. I turned on the window defogger and looked out.
It was her!
I should have just continued on my way without doing anything, but it was raining, and the woman had no umbrella and was getting wet.
It's not your problem, Thomas.
I pressed on the accelerator when the light opened, but the rain got heavier and I gave the arrow, pulling the car over near the curb.
I opened the door, and she was startled.
“Get in!”
“Mr. Lennox!” He widened his eyes.
“Get in.”
She tilted her head and alternated her gaze between me and the leather seat.
“You'll get your car wet.”
“It's already getting wet while the door is open, and I can't stand here, or I'll end up getting a fine.”
“But...”
“Are you going in or not?” I gave an ultimatum when someone honked behind me.
She looked at the other driver impatiently and eventually got in. She closed the door and cringed, shivering as the icy wind touched her wet skin. I turned off the air conditioning and left only the window defogger on.
“Thank you.”
“Where are you going?”
“I'm going back home.”
“Okay.”
“I was trying to get to the metro station. Can you drop me off?”
“I'll take her home.”
“It's far...”
“How far?”
“I live in Queens.”
I just wanted to get home soon and be with my daughters, which is probably why I didn't leave their teacher at the nearest place. Despite the air conditioning being switched off, the woman was still shivering and flapping her jaws. I turned it on again, increasing the temperature as hot as I could feel in my blazer.
“Put the address here.” I opened the GPS panel on the media monitor for her to type.
“You don't have to take me.”
“Would you rather I opened the door and threw you back out into the rain?”
“No.” She swallowed, becoming even more disconcerted.
“I imagined it.”
I didn't need to speak again for her to register the address and let the system calculate the best route.
We sat in silence, but every now and then, I turned my attention away from the traffic to look at her. Her makeup was smudged by the rain, but it wasn't enough to stop me from realizing how beautiful she was, especially when we weren't arguing.
It was possible that she was about ten years younger than me. Her delicate hands wrapped around her slender arms, and her nails were painted with a light, peeling polish on some of her fingers.
I had already been involved with younger women; usually, the pink books were full of them. The sex was easy, no questions asked, and the next thing I knew, my eyes were on her thighs. She closed her leg by reflex, and I looked away.
The young woman was my daughters' teacher, and I was supposed to avoid any involvement with them so as not to get into any trouble. But no, it was just the man who was hitting on her, and I thought little of it that day.
Soon, the GPS indicated that we had arrived at the address; it was the entrance to a small residential building without any luxury or ostentatious facade like the one I lived in.
“This is it. Thanks for the ride.”
“Hold on.” I grabbed her hand before she opened her belt and left.
“What's wrong?” I noticed his breathing quicken, but he didn't look away from me.
“How much do you want?”
“What?” He frowned.
“To spend a night with me.”
“You're not serious.”
“Hello. Just give me a price.”
She shook her head no and gritted her teeth, showing all her fury, pulled her hand back and hit my cheek. I wasn't expecting the slap when it echoed inside the vehicle.
“I can't believe you can be such an asshole.” She opened the car door and jumped out.
“Everyone has a price.”
She growled, as if I had set off a rabid dog, and slammed the door as hard as she could. My thousand-dollar imported car wasn't a refrigerator, but I didn't have time to complain because she ran inside the building.
I realized it wasn't a good idea to go after it.