CHAPTER 8
Tobias
My speech to the business and entrepreneurship students at Hullen Prep had gone far better than I could have ever imagined, and so had my overall visit.
“Please, Tobias, don’t be a stranger,” Headmaster Greene said as he walked me out of the school building, shaking my hand.
“I won’t. I promise I’ll keep in touch,” I said, with intentions to stay true to my word.
Headmaster Greene smiled. “Good. I’ll hold you to it. And don’t forget to bring Anderson with you next time!”
“Will do,” I said, and then headed to the Uber driver waiting for me.
As my driver headed down the road, my thoughts inevitably returned to Scarlet, wondering if she was still at the hotel waiting for me.
Hoping she was still there waiting for me…
All right, don’t get in over your head, I warned myself.
Yet, I couldn’t shake Scarlet from my mind, especially after the sketchy comment the Headmaster had made about her. The more I thought about it, the more unsettled I felt. I knew Headmaster Greene well enough to know that he wasn’t the type to criticize someone just for the hell of it. And although he could certainly be tough on his students, it had never been with malicious intent. Headmaster Greene’s strictness was always due to wanting what was best for his students.
So what could have made him judge Scarlet Kale so harshly?
I’d been tempted to question him further on the matter, but he had seemed so uncomfortable, I’d found myself unable to go through with it.
All I knew was that from what little time I’d spent with Scarlet, she had seemed like a pretty amazing woman. Not to mention she was a lot of fun. Questionable history aside, I wasn’t ready to part ways with her just yet. I wanted to know more about her, and I wanted to spend more time with her, if only for a little while.
Thinking about the night we had spent together, my patience waned thin. Waiting to get back to the hotel to find out if she was still there suddenly felt like more than I could stand.
I pulled out my cell phone and began scrolling through my contacts. While I certainly remembered a good portion of the previous night, some parts of it had grown fuzzy. Consequently, I wasn’t sure whether Scarlet and I had actually exchanged numbers. But then her name appeared toward the end of my contacts list. I breathed a sigh of relief.
I stared down at my phone, trying to figure out what I wanted to say. The uncertainty made me feel like an adolescent all over again. Conflicted, I wanted to hear her voice, but I also felt nervous about calling her for some reason. Deciding to text her instead, I finally typed: Hi Scarlet. How are you? I’m done at Hullen, and I was wondering if you’d like to join me for dinner tonight?
I pressed send, and then stared at the phone, a tightness forming in my chest with each passing second. It was taking her forever to respond, and I started to think that perhaps she wouldn’t respond at all.
Maybe this isn’t even her real number, I thought in dismay.
But then my phone buzzed from her incoming message. I hastily opened it. It read: Sure. What time and where?
I stared out the window, debating where I’d like to take her.
“Excuse me,” I said, leaning forward in the backseat toward the driver.
He glanced at me through the rearview mirror. “Yeah?”
“What’s one of the nicest restaurants you know of in this area?”
His brow puckered for a moment. “There’s a new joint a few miles from here. Can’t think of the name of it. It’s a real fancy place though. Kind of pricey, from what I’ve heard about it. The food is supposed to be good though.”
We reached a stop light and he quickly typed something into his phone, finding the name of the place.
“Sounds perfect,” I said. “Would you mind dropping me off there? Thanks!”
I texted the name and address of the place to Scarlet, requesting that she met me there in an hour.
The driver huffed. “Now I have to turn and go in the opposite direction.”
“Don’t worry, I’ll tip you well,” I said, as I looked up the phone number to the restaurant so that I could make a last-minute reservation. “Hi,” I said, once someone answered. “I’d like to reserve a table for two, in the name of Tobias Gentry. Do you have anything available for the next hour or so?”
After pulling a few strings, the restaurant made reservations for me. When I arrived, a waiter politely showed me to my table, where I ordered a drink and proceeded to await Scarlet’s arrival.
I sipped my drink, thinking once more about Headmaster Greene’s comment about her, trying unsuccessfully again to figure out what he could have possibly meant. And while I was excited to see Scarlet again, a part of me had grown nervous, contemplating whether I should ask her about the Headmaster. On one hand, I was wondering what she would say. On the other hand, the last thing I wanted was to make things awkward for her if she’d had some kind of unfortunate run-in with him at some point during her time at Hullen Prep.
Maybe it’s none of my business anyway, I thought as I took another sip of my drink.
Besides, I had to keep in mind that there was no guarantee whatsoever that I would even see Scarlet again after this dinner, so maybe there was no need to concern myself about her reputation.