MORGAN
I was running late again and it was the worst possible day to do so because today was the day SP & Associates would be invading our school to interview everyone, take a look at the budget, sit in all of the classes and activities to review and critique our teaching methods. Their goal was to not only identify the black hole crushing the life out of our school but also to assist in determining the proper strategy to bring in the rest of the demographic of children Mr. Williams wanted and to fix the other problems he created because of his greedy decision making.
Most of all, the individual that would be performing most of the assessments and recommendations was a complete jerk. I didn’t sign up for this, and I definitely didn’t sign up to deal with that asshole. The month from hell hadn’t even officially started yet, and he’d already gotten under my skin.
I don’t mind being interviewed, and I’m completely okay with being watched, but I’ve never appreciated it when some cocky son-of-a-bitch who didn’t know one ounce about the education system. Including the audacity he had when he made condescending remarks during my phone interview with him about how he thought I handled my own classroom. I may have not been at this school very long compared to the other faculty here, but I’m not new to being an educator. He didn’t have the slightest clue what proper education was.
He seemed to think that after asking a few questions, he knew everything there was to know about me and probably projected how my teaching methods affected future enrollment. I didn’t think his assessment was competent, but it wasn’t as if his evaluation was set in stone because these were early thoughts he had but I was determined to change his mind over the next month. I’ll be damned if some incompetent stranger affected my financial stability, job and city I’ve now come to love.
Thank goodness, I’ve only dealt with him over the phone and could have hung up on him at any point during the interview, but once he arrived today, I wouldn’t be able to make him disappear using the magical powers I obviously didn’t have. I could give him a piece of my mind though and shove his assessments up where the sun didn’t shine.
First, I needed coffee and lots of it. I also needed to find a way for my leg to go through this pant leg faster. I hopped on one foot trying to manage such a simple act of putting on a pair of slacks. Instead, I missed the hole completely and toppled over.
“Ouch! Son of a bitch!” I cursed out loud that included several other profanities after I landed face first on the wooden floor.
My bedroom door opened with gusto and my roommate Kennedy stood in the doorway, giving me a puzzled look as I rubbed my sore knees. “Why in the hell are you on the floor with half of your clothes on? Aren’t you late for work?” she asked.
“Yes, I am late for work again,” I grunted as I slowly stood up, trying to pull the rest of my clothes on. “I don’t want to hear another word.”
“Whoa, I wasn’t going to say anything.” Kennedy held her hands up in defense.
“I know you, and I know what you were thinking or at least what you were about to think.” I eyed her as I stared at my reflection in the mirror before I put on any makeup. Unfortunately, I wasn’t the kind of woman who could walk outside without it.
Kennedy, however, was everything I wasn’t. She was my complete opposite. In fact, she was everything I’ve always wanted to be. She was a blonde hair, blue eyed goddess. I was a frumpy brunette. She was a hit with men while I was always nominated as the best friend. I was the person men asked if they could be introduced to my female friends. She was also the early bird, but as you can see, I definitely wasn’t. While Kennedy had her life in order, I chose to run away from mine.
“I think you need some coffee ASAP, that’s why I came in here to see if you wanted any. It’ll do you some good and would help get rid of that morning crankiness of yours. Have you had any yet?”
“No, I haven’t. I don’t have the time, I’m already late as it is.”
“Don’t worry, I made a pot. I’ll put it in a thermos for you while you finish getting ready.” She smiled as she shouted ‘you’re welcome’ down the hall.
That’s what I loved about Kennedy, nothing seemed to bother her much. I’m sure plenty of things did, but she never let it show. Except once when Brett, the guy she dated in college, cheated on her with one of her sorority sisters. The situation called for weeks of vodka, pints of rocky road ice cream and a medium pizza with the works.
Several minutes later, I rushed out of my bedroom towards the smell of French Roast wafting through the air and into the open area of the kitchen – dining room combo. The apartment couldn’t have been no more than 900 square feet, but I loved our little apartment. It was quaint, cozy and definitely quiet. A nice way of saying small but I didn’t care.
“You are such a lifesaver.” I grabbed the thermos and a half-eaten strawberry flavored pop tart out of her hands.
“Hey, I was eating that!” Kennedy’s voice called out as I made a dash for the door.
“Thanks again!” I gave her a wink.
“Good luck!” she waved me goodbye as I shut the front door.
Thirty minutes later, I arrived at John Hill Academy and parked my rundown VW Bug, a hand me down from my father before he passed away. It was one of the main reasons why I haven’t upgraded to something newer. It was the last precious thing of his that I owned besides pictures of him. I’d rather spend twice as much keeping that car going than using it for a down payment on a new one.
I rushed down the hallway carrying my lesson plans, academic planner, and other miscellaneous paperwork haphazardly until I stumbled slightly on an uprooted piece of linoleum causing everything I struggled to hold onto, to fly away and land on the floor in front of me.
“Great, just my luck. Happy Monday to me.” I sighed as I grabbed paper after paper before they flew away from me.
“I happen to like Mondays.” a familiar and deep baritone answered above me. I looked up from the pair of black oxfords before me to find a well-dressed man smiling down before he knelt to help me pick up the disarray all over my little corner of the hallway. “In fact, it’s one of my favorite days of the week. There’s something about having that natural feeling of ambition that I love. It’s never as great as it is at the start of a work week.”
“Patrick? What are you doing here?” It was the first time I’ve seen him since our split, many moons ago. He still had the most magnetic brown eyes I’ve ever seen and a killer grin that gave me goosebumps but this time around he adorned a 5 o’clock shadow. He used to stay clean cut, but I guess everyone changes at some point. After a while, I realized he still hadn’t responded to my earlier comment before I cleared my throat. “What are you doing here?”
“I’m here to see someone. What about you? What are you doing in San Francisco? In fact, what are you doing here?”
“Oh, I…uh…live here. I teach at this school, I’m one of the fifth-grade teachers. Who are you here to see? Are you here to see me?” Ugh, why did I say that?
“No, no, no.” he gave an endearing smile. “I’m here to see Phil Williams, he’s the administrator here. He gave me directions but for the life of me…I…uh…I think I’m lost. I’m so embarrassed, I’m normally not directionally challenged.” he opened the leather portfolio he held and scanned the papers inside. It looked like he used it for everything. God forbid it gets lost. Otherwise, he’d be shit out of luck. This definitely wasn’t the Patrick I remembered.
The Patrick I knew was disorganized in his life, obsessed with his looks and his charm centered on the fact that he knew what women wanted deep down and used it to his advantage. He said and did all of the right things until he ditched them. So unless this was some random stranger that looked like Patrick and was named Patrick, then he changed a lot and grew up a little.
“Uh, yeah. Just go down the hallway, turn right at the corner and it’s the first door on your left.” I pointed behind me.
“Great, thank you so much. So you teach fifth-grade now? Last I heard, you were teaching at a community college back in Chicago. Don’t they require additional credentials to teach at the elementary school level?”
“Yes, they do, and I’ve got them all done just in case. Never imagined I’d actually use them as I was content with teaching college students but things happen for a reason I guess.”
“Well, it’s good to see you Emily.” he smiled again.
“It’s Morgan now.” I corrected.
“I’m sorry, what?”
“I go by Morgan Tucker now. I figured if I was going to move across the country for a fresh start, I might as well do it right.” I shrugged and gave an awkward chuckle.
“Morgan Tucker. So you went back to using your first name. Hmm.” he eyed me a little.
“What? What’s wrong with using the name I was given.”
“I don’t know. I don’t think I could ever get used to calling you anything but Emily. It suits you better. I’ll see you around.” Patrick winked before heading towards the direction of the Administration office.
He really did change, or at least he was putting on a front, but I don’t think he was. I’d like to think he finally grew up and learned the error of his ways but only time would answer that question. Hearing how he admitted how he didn’t think he could get used to the idea that I have changed to was something Patrick would say now.
It’s apparent that despite the fact that Patrick was as charming as ever and probably even more so now, he was organized, well-dressed and doing well for himself. Cocky too. Realizing the fact that he was the pompous ass that interviewed me was no surprise. It looked like everything worked out for Patrick and was proud of what he must have accomplished.
As far as calling me Emily, my dad was the only person in my family besides Patrick who called me that or some version thereof while the rest of the world called me Morgan, my actual first name. I guess that was why Patrick used to mean so much to me, he was the only guy my father actually liked and Patrick reminded me so much of him. They were close and got along well, and my dad treated Patrick like the son he never had. They often debated over various athletes and the most recent games on television. When my father passed away, I expected Patrick to be there, but he wasn’t.
That was the straw that broke the camel’s back. It was one thing to not get married or make some excuse about not wanting to be with me, but he was the one person I expected to be there for me besides my sister Corrine and my mother, but he wasn’t. He went off the grid and disappeared for months.
When he finally made an appearance, he didn’t bother explaining where he was. The only thing he bothered to say was that ‘we’ weren’t working out and he didn’t see a future with me.
Now here he was, looking as good as ever. In fact, he looked better than when I saw him last. His hair was cut and trimmed neatly pearly white teeth, he looked more athletic and built and damn good in that sharp black suit he wore. He looked like he embodied the definition of power and even his dark purple tie made him look like he was royalty.
I sighed with emotion, and I needed to get out of there. I felt a sense of panic and stress rise in my chest quickly to the same heights they were at when he and I split, and I just didn’t want to go there again. I was at a good place in my life, and I refused to let Patrick ruin everything I worked hard to fix.