Chapter Five
Vivienne
I watched through the window as Everett walked out of his house, holding little Jane's hand as she waddled along beside him. He seemed to be such a caring and loving father – far more so than many of the parents I had to deal with at my daycare. I couldn't help wondering what had happened to her mother.
Across the road, they got into Everett's truck and headed out. I was about to get ready to head out myself when I decided I should probably check on Mrs. Dobbins after she’d scared the crap out of me the night before, thinking she’d seen someone trying to break into my car. She felt terrible when I told her how badly she’d scared me. I looked over, but her car was already gone.
Truth was, I needed to be gone as well. My assistant, Graciela, would have opened the daycare up by now, as the kids would already be arriving. I got my packed lunch and other things together, locked up the house, and then headed over to work.
I got there in 15 minutes, only just managing to beat the morning traffic. Graciela was waiting at the gate of the daycare, which was a converted townhouse.
“Morning, Viv,” she said with a smile as I walked in. “We've got six kids here already; you better go check in on them while I do the gate.”
“Will do, Graciela.”
I hurried into the indoor play area, and was relieved to see the six kids, all aged between two and four, playing peacefully on the play mats on the floor.
“Hey, guys,” I said with a cheery smile. “How are all of you this morning?”
“I'm happy,” replied one toddler with a big grin. “Daddy got me a new toy.”
“I got a new toy too, Miss Andrews!” exclaimed another one.
“And me, and me! I got one too, I got a toy too!” piped up a little girl with her hair in piggy tails.
I just smiled and sat down cross-legged on the mat with them, ready to hear all their exuberant tales of the toys, real or imaginary, they had received from their parents in recent days. As much as a handful as they could be, I really loved these kids and treasured the time I got to spend with them. And, of course, I did my very best to instill good values, polite manners, and solid morals in them, as was my duty as an educator.
At this moment, I couldn't help thinking of Everett. Did he also do his best to instill the same kind of values in the children under his care? I imagined that he was big on discipline and old-fashioned values; it was just the kind of vibe I got from him. And those were the sorts of things that kids needed these days, certainly now more than ever. I wondered how his first day at JFK was going. I knew the kids didn't go back for another few days, but it had to be pretty stressful getting everything ready for the new academic year, especially as the principal. I briefly considered messaging him to see how things were going, and even got my phone out... but then decided not to. I didn't want to be seen as coming on too strong or anything.
The morning went by uneventfully, and some of the kids got picked up by the parents who worked half days. After this, a bunch of older kids, who had just gotten out of kindergarten for the day got dropped off. These ones were a bit tougher to deal with; having been stuck with the rules and regulations imposed on them in kindergarten all morning, they just wanted to run wild, with all the pent-up energy and frustration they had built up inside them. It took a bit of effort to keep them all in line. It was good that we had a nice large playground area out back, with plenty of jungle gyms and other things for them to climb on and lots of space to run around.
At the end of day, between four and five, they all got picked up, and Graciela and I could finally close up shop and head home for the day.
“Have a good evening, Graciela,” I said to her.
“You too, Viv. Oh, by the way, it's my birthday tomorrow.”
“Well happy birthday! Would you like to take the day off? I don't mind.”
“That's very kind of you, but no, it's okay. But later this evening my husband and some friends of mine are going out for a drink or two. Nothing crazy, of course. You're welcome to come along and have a drink if you want.”
“Hmm, that actually sounds good. Where and when?”
“There's that little Irish pub just two blocks away from here. It's good for quiet, relaxed drinks; they have that pretty outdoor seating area.”
“Ah yes, MacFey's. What time?”
“Eight or so. You in?”
“Sure. So tomorrow you'll be... 22?” I asked with a wink and smile.
“Twenty-two indeed! Plus 16! Ha!”
I laughed. “You still look great. And even though you're close to the big four-zero, they do say that 40 is the new 30.”
“Ha, I'll remember that, Viv. See you later.”
Later That Evening
I was surprised about how busy MacFey's was, considering it was a Tuesday night. I pushed my way through the crowd, got myself a beer at the bar, and then headed out to the outside seating area where Graciela, her husband Miguel, and a couple other people were sitting.
“Hey, Viv!” said Graciela with a big, broad smile as she saw me. “Come on over!”
I headed to the table and took a seat next to Graciela. She handed me a glass already filled with wine and clinked her glass against mine then we both had a sip of our drinks.
“Everyone, this is my boss, Vivienne,” said Graciela to the dozen or so people who were seated around the table. “And she's awesome!”
I blushed as everyone greeted me warmly, and exchanged smiles with people around the table. I felt that I had to speak as well, though.
“And this, everyone, even though you already know her in a personal capacity, is one of the most dedicated and hard-working people I've ever met! Thank you for being such a wonderful asset to Peter Pan Daycare, Graciela. I don't know what I'd do without you.”
Everyone gave her a hand, and I could see that there were tears rimming her eyes.
“Thank you so much, Viv,” she said as she took my hand in hers. “It really means a lot to me to know that I'm appreciated.”
“You really are, Gracie, you really are.”
We chatted and drank some more, and then eventually I had to go to the bathroom. On my way back to the table, I was weaving my way through the crowd gathered by the bar when a single word caused my blood to freeze instantly in my veins.
“Alicia!”
I stopped dead in my tracks. I hadn't heard that name for two years now – but it had been my name for the first 25 years of my life.
“Alicia Ray, it is you, isn't it?”
I turned around slowly, dread and fear running cold through my veins. I saw a familiar face looking at me, smiling, from where she was seated at the bar.
“Angie Wells,” I said, relief rushing through me. “We were in English class together senior year.”
“And biology,” she said. “Wow, I can't believe it's already been 10 years since graduation. What are you doing down here in Irvine? You don't live in San Francisco anymore?”
“No, I moved down here two years ago. I own a daycare here.”
“A daycare, huh? Well, you always did like kids. I don't think I could do that myself; they drive me crazy.”
“So, what are you doing down here?”
“I just moved here from San Francisco, too. I got a job working in software engineering here. It's growing in this part of the state.”
“Ah, good to hear.”
“Hey, come sit down with me, Alicia! We've got a lot to catch up on. I mean, it's been 10 years after all. You still with Simon? I always thought you'd marry that guy. Did you?”
The mention of his name sent shivers of dread and revulsion running down my spine.
“No, no, I'm not with him anymore. We broke up a long while ago.”
“Oh, I'm sorry to hear that. I'm single, too, actually. Maybe one night we go out; I'll be your wingman, you be mine, as the guys would say.”
“Yeah, maybe. Uh, look, about Simon and me, things really didn't end well. And actually, my name isn't Alicia anymore.”
“Huh? What do you mean?”
“My name is Vivienne now.”
I didn't tell her my last name – I had to really trust people before I ever told them my last name.
“Vivienne? What?”
“I had to change my legal name to get away from Simon. He, uh, he turned out to be kinda psycho. As in I’ve practically changed my identity to get away from him psycho.”
“Shut up! Seriously?”
I nodded.
“Yeah, seriously. So, look, please, I have to ask you, please don't mention to anyone from the old days that you saw me, okay? I've gone to a lot of trouble to make sure that he doesn't find me. I really, really don't want him to come looking for me, and believe me, he's psycho enough to stalk the social media accounts of everyone in our senior year just to see if there's any hint of where I am. So please keep it a secret, okay?”
She nodded.
“Wow, I didn't realize it was that serious. Alright, sure... Vivienne. I won't say a word. But seriously, let's go out for drinks sometime.”
“We can do that. I'm here with friends so I can't sit with you now, but give me your number and I'll give you a call sometime, alright? It'd be good to connect with someone from my, er, my old life.”
“Sure.”
She scribbled down a number on a bar napkin and handed it to me.
“That's it. And hey, if you lose that, just look me up on Facebook. My profile picture is me in an orange bikini on a beach.”
“Alright, I'll look you up. Nice running into you, Angie.”
“Yeah, great running into you Alic-, I mean, Vivienne.”
I smiled, waved a polite goodbye and then headed back to table with Graciela, where I finished off my beer.
It was around an hour later when I left, and I headed straight home. It was late, but not super late; around 10. As I pulled into my driveway, I had to sneak a glance across the road at Everett's place, and I saw that his garage door was open and the light was on, and he was inside setting up power tools. Feeling a little emboldened by the wine I'd had, I parked my car and walked across the road and up his driveway. He saw me coming and smiled.
“Good evening, Viv,” he said. “Nice night, huh?”
“Sure is,” I replied. “I hope you're not going to be starting up any of these power tools right now. It's a little late to make noise like that in this neighborhood. Not too many night owls.”
“Actually, I was planning on cranking up my chainsaw, maybe saw through a couple two-by-fours, see how tolerant my new neighbors are of loud and annoying noises late at night.”
I laughed.
“You do that; we'll see what Mrs. Dobbins across the road has to say about it!”
“Is she gonna come out with a double-barreled shotgun pointed at me? With an army of cats trailing behind her?” he asked with a cheeky grin and a wink.
“Everett!” I exclaimed with mock shock. “She isn't a crazy old cat lady! I can’t make any promises about the shotgun, though!”
He chuckled.
“You know I'm just kidding.”
“I know, I know. How was your first full day at JFK?”
“Ah, there was a lot to do. It's always crazy busy at the beginning of the academic year. But I think I'm gonna enjoy it there. The staff is fantastic and the deputy principal is a real great guy. Yeah, it's gonna be good.”
“Good to hear! Well, I saw your garage light on and I just wanted to come over and say hi.”
“Oh, where were you?”
“Just at this little Irish pub called MacFey's. It's a great spot. My coworker, Graciela, it's her birthday tomorrow, so we just had a quiet birthday drink to celebrate.”
“Oh, so you were slamming tequila shots and chugging beers through a funnel, huh?” he said with a playful smile.
“Yeah, as you can see, I'm totally wasted right now,” I replied with a laugh. “Well anyway, I better get back to my house. Another early start tomorrow morning, and a long day of work lies ahead.”
“Yeah, I've got an early start too,” he said. “So, I guess this is where we say good night.”
I looked at him, and our eyes locked for a while, and an intense look passed between us.
“Yeah... This is where we say good night.”
I smiled, and so did he, maintaining eye contact all the while, and I could feel a powerful sense of attraction crackling in the air between us.
“Good night then, Everett,” I said as I turned and walked off.
As I got to the street, though, I heard him jogging up behind me.
“Wait, Vivienne,” he said as I turned around.
“Yeah?”
“There's something I forgot to ask you.”
“Okay, what is it?”
A look of sudden shyness, almost, came across his face, and he looked down at the ground.
“Would you, uh, would you like to go out with me, say, for dinner and a movie on Friday night?”
I smiled.
“That sounds lovely. Sure... it's a date.”