23. Nadia
23
NADIA
“How are you feeling?” Amos asked as I joined him at the corner table in the teachers’ lounge. He was looking particularly dashing in his Monday sweater vest, which was red.
“Good, yeah, fine, good.” I’d been out the entire last week due to my Phlegm Diaries, and today was my first day back.
I set my tote bag on an empty seat, pulled out my travel mug, and lowered down in the seat across from my work hubby. Even though I knew he was none the wiser about my sleepover on Saturday night, I sort of felt like a teenager who had snuck out and gotten away with it.
The last thing I needed was for everyone in town to know that I’d slept with Callum again, especially since I was pretty sure it didn’t mean anything. He was gone when I got up yesterday morning. He could have left because he was being considerate since he knew I had to go into the city for the day for a conference, and he didn’t want to make me late, or he wanted to avoid some sort of awkward morning-after talk. I wasn’t sure if he left for either of those reasons since I hadn’t had a chance to talk to him.
I took a sip of my matcha and could feel his stare boring into me. All I needed to do was act totally natural, as if nothing had happened. I did my best to ignore it, but it just became impossible.
“What?” I asked, suddenly feeling exposed beneath his scrutiny.
“You look different,” he observed.
I reached up and touched my hair, even though I knew I hadn’t done a single thing different with it.
“How did it go at the conference?” The question itself might sound innocent, but I knew Amos too well. He was going on a fishing expedition to see if he could figure out what might have happened to make me appear different.
Yesterday was an all-day early childhood education conference on the use of AI in the classroom and its effects on emotional intelligence in children. I’d done my best to entice Amos to join me, even resorting to bribery in the form of tickets to Wicked, but he was two years out from retirement, and the last thing he wanted to do was, and I quote, waste a Sunday in a hotel ballroom learning about how computers were going to take over the world , end quote.
“Fine, yeah, fine, good.” I took another sip of my matcha.
“I’ve counted three fines and three goods since you came in.” Amos tilted his head to the side. “Did you break one of your resolutions? Specifically, the third resolution.”
“What?” I scrunched my face as if I had no idea what he could be talking about. “Why would you…that’s so…what?”
“Mmm, hmm.” He nodded as his eyes narrowed in a knowing glint. “You’re glowing. You got that dicked-down glow.”
The door opened, and several other teachers walked in, saving me from either admitting my transgression, lying, or pleading the fifth, which was basically the same as an admission of guilt.
There was no reason for me not to tell Amos about my night with Callum.
He was always privy to my dating exploits. I’d never been one of those people who didn’t kiss and tell; I proudly dicked and divulged. But, for some reason, I didn’t want anyone to know about my night with Callum. Not only because I didn’t know what it was or meant. That might be part of it, but it wasn’t the only reason. It was also because it was special.
Being with Callum wasn’t just a hookup. All the feelings that had been lying dormant, just below the surface for years, were alive again. It was like no time had passed at all. We’d fallen right back in step with one another, not just physically, although that was even better than I remembered it being. Emotionally, it was like we were us again. I couldn’t explain it. All the years we’d been apart just disappeared, and we were us. Everything was perfect…until it wasn’t.
I fell asleep in his arms, but when I woke up, he was gone, and I hadn’t had a chance to speak to him since. I overslept yesterday morning since I was up half the night with Callum, which was totally worth it. It was a four-hour drive both ways and an eight-hour conference. By the time I got home last night, it was after ten. I had a few missed calls from him, but when I tried to call him back, he didn’t answer. I assumed he was already asleep since I knew he got up at five to go to work. But whatever the reasons were, the fact remained; I hadn’t spoken to him, and it was making me feel…unsettled.
The bell rang, and Amos and I stood from our chairs. I grabbed my tote and my travel mug.
“I know there’s something you’re not telling me,” Amos whispered as we made our way out of the teachers’ lounge. “When you’re ready to spill, I want all the details.”
I smiled, neither confirming nor denying his suspicions.
As I walked down the hall, logically, I knew nothing had fundamentally changed since the last time I’d walked this hallway, but I felt different on a cellular level. Maybe I was, and that’s what Amos had picked up on.
Yesterday, it was so difficult to concentrate on the speakers at the conference. My mind constantly wandered back to being with Callum. It was surreal. Being with him was familiar yet unknown at the same time. We were discovering each other for the first time but also coming home again. I didn’t know how to explain it. All I knew was that it felt right.
After dropping off my tote at my desk and setting up the kids’ tables, I stood at the door, greeting each kiddo as they came inside the room with either a high-five, fist bump, dance, handshake, wave, or hug, depending on which they chose.
“Morning, Miss Nadia.” Kenny Robles smiled as he elbowed the fist bump laminated sign. “I’m glad you’re back.”
“Morning, Kenny.” I tapped my knuckles against his. “Thanks.”
“Morning, Miss Nadia.” T.J. Rhodes slapped the laminated high-five. “I missed you last week.”
It was so nice that the kids missed me when I was gone. I remember being ecstatic when we had subs because it meant we could watch TV and not do work.
“Morning T.J.” Our hands nearly missed but managed to make contact. “I missed you guys, too.”
“Morning, Miss Nadia.” Rena Birch selected the hug. “I hope you are feeling better.”
“Morning, Rena. I am, thank you.” She wrapped her arms around my waist before heading into the room.
Typically, the kiddos all chose the same greeting, but a few liked to mix it up. Bruno Wallace was one of those kids. He never selected the same greeting two days in a row. He was one of my most bright and creative kids. He’d challenged me as a teacher to bring my A-game to keep him engaged in class.
“Morning, Bruno!”
“Hi, Miss Nadia.” He slapped the laminated card with two hands, shaking.
Of course, since it was Bruno, it wasn’t a regular handshake. Our handshake was special. It was side-five, fist bump, double pound, handshake, thumb touch and twist, palm slide, fingertip grip, pull, and snap throw.
I smiled as I watched Bruno head into the classroom. Instead of shoving his backpack into the cubby like everyone else did, he kept it on and then backed it into the cubby like someone backing a car into a drivewa y and slipped his arms out of the straps, so they were hanging outside the cubby. When class was over, he would walk over and slip his arms back in and be off. He was a very out-of-the-box thinker. I was excited to see what he did in the world.
I turned back to the hallway and saw Matty wearing clothes I hadn’t seen him in before. He had on a black Burberry tracksuit and Dior sneakers. I knew it was Burberry because of the square plaid logo on the left side of the sweatshirt and sweatpants. And I knew how expensive it was because I’d seen it discussed on one of the trash reality TV shows I watched when one of the kids wanted it. The mom bought it behind the dad’s back and hid the receipt. It wasn’t just his clothes and shoes. He also had a Dolce it was as if she was walking around with a filter in real life. Her eyes were iridescent, surrounded by thick, dark lashes. Her shiny chestnut hair fell to her waist. She could be shooting a Pantene commercial right now. Her lips were plump. Her nose was cute and upturned. She looked like a young Angelina Jolie, but even hotter.
She held her hand out further, and I took it. “Hi, I’m Nadia.”
“I know who you are.”
The gleam in her eye and the firm grip she had on my hand as she squeezed it made me wonder exactly what she’d heard. She was definitely giving back-off vibes. It was very territorial. If she were a dog, her hind leg would be in the air, and she would be pissing to mark her territory.
“I just wanted to come and introduce myself now that I’m in town and back with my family.”
“Nice to meet you.”
My heart sank. Was this why Callum hadn’t picked up the phone last night? He couldn’t because he was in bed with his ex. It had to be.
I only had myself to blame for this. I jumped back into bed with him before even finding out just how single and available he actually was, which it turned out to be, not very.