3
Chance
“And I’d like everyone to welcome our new teacher. Ms. Tanner. Everyone say hello.”
The kids break into an adorable unified greeting. Their high pitched voices speak as if by rote. “Hello Ms. Tanner.”
It’s my first morning here at Springbok Elementary and I made it here by the skin of my teeth.
My car may have permanently died when I pulled up into the car park. There was a giant noise and a loud bang. I didn’t have time to stop and check, I ran into the building and Susan, the receptionist, pointed me in the direction of the school gym. Principle Ellen Voores does a school assembly every Monday morning, and I was this close to missing my first one.
I clamber onto the stage and take a seat with the other teachers who are seated behind the Principle while she addresses the kids. She turns to introduce me just as I sit down. Some of the kids giggle. I look over their sea of faces and wave politely. The other teachers are looking at me as well.
Great way to make a first impression Chance.
The bell rings and the kids all stand onto their feet, before filing out of the gym one by one. The teachers around me break into a gaggle of gossip, while introducing themselves, grabbing their boxes of work, sipping at mugs of coffee.
“Hi, I’m Lisa.” A small girl the same age as me holds out her hand and smiles. She has curly blond hair and big blue eyes.
“Chance.” I say back while shaking her hand. “Are you the Lisa that is…”
“Leaving? Yes. You’re my replacement. I’m going to miss it so much working here. But you know… life calls.”
Lisa looks down to her belly and smooths a hand over the bump there.
“Are you coming back after?” I ask.
Lisa pulls her lips tight. “I love this job, but I’m probably going to focus on being a mom and…” She holds up a finger and shows off a giant rock, “Being a wife!”
“Oh, congratulations!” I do my best impression of someone who is enthusiastic. Another person to get married and make me feel like the last single girl alive.
“Thanks!” Lisa chimes back. Her eye catches her watch and she jumps. “Crumbs, I’ve got to head to class. I think Ellen wants to show you around first. See you later?”
“Sure. Bye!”
One by one the teachers peel off to their respective rooms. I turn around confused about what I’m suppose to do now and see Principle Ellen walking straight at me. She stops an inch from my face and holds out a hand. I take it and brush a rogue hair out of my eyes.
“We were starting to worry you weren’t going to turn up Ms. Tanner. Come on. Follow me.”
The Principle shows me around the school and then takes me to my class. We stand outside the door and look in at Lisa who is currently teaching the class. “As mentioned on the phone, you’ll be working with Lisa this week while she hands the class over to you. After that it’s all you. I know you haven’t got much experience…”
Her eyes drift off for a second as if she’s reconsidering giving me the job. “But your credentials are great. We need a bit more young blood in this school. I’m sure you’ll fit in well.”
Ellen knocks on the door and Lisa waves her in. We enter and all the kids go quiet at the sight of their Principle.
“Hello children. As you all know Mrs. Farmer will be leaving us at the end of this week.”
The kids break into a collective groan. “I know, I know - but the good news is is that Ms. Tanner here will be taking over, starting from next week. This week Mrs. Farmer and Ms. Tanner will be working together, so you get two teachers. Isn’t that great?!”
Ellen’s enthusiasm is contagious and makes the room full of sad children burst into excitable cheer. Lisa and I can’t help but smile along.
“That’s what I thought! Now I’ll leave Ms. Tanner with you Mrs. Farmer.” Ellen turns to me. “Best of luck!”
I waste no time getting in head first and getting to know the kids that I’ll be teaching. When I work with kids I’m in my element, and I have an absolute blast from the moment Ellen says goodbye. Lisa goes over some of her personal processes with me when the kids are doing quiet work, and when the kids go out for recess she talks me through the broader strokes of working at the school.
The rest of the day whizzes by in a blur and when the final bell goes I find myself a little stunned that it’s already done.
“Catches you off guard doesn’t it?” Lisa says after seeing me look at the clock in disbelief. “It’s one of the perks of working with kids. It’s such a blast, the work week goes by in the blink of an eye.”
We sit and talk for a while as Lisa goes through some of the kids’ work. “Most of the teachers normally hang around an hour or two after the bell to get marking done. I stay until five usually.”
I nod my head. “That’s how it was at my old school. I’m fine with staying here until five.” I look up at the clock, only one more hour to go. “Is there a good department store around here? I had a dryer disaster last night and I need to get some new clothes.”
Lisa points me in the direction of a good mall, then she stops mid-sentence. “Oh god.”
“What’s wrong?”
She looks up from the papers on her desk and stares at me. “Ashlee. I’m just marking her homework now and it reminded me. Her father called this morning. He wanted to have an emergency meeting with her new teacher tonight at five.”
My soul rolls it’s eyes, but I do my best effort of not showing that the news bothers me. “Well… that’s okay. It’s understandable that parents might want to meet their children’s new teacher. Parent teacher night is only next week though right? Couldn’t he wait until then?”
Lisa laughs to herself. “Ashlee’s father isn’t the type of man who waits, he’s a big deal. He’s practically the reason the school is still running.”
I feel my throat going dry and take a sip of water. “Well that’s… jeez. This all sounds a bit much for my first day. Is there anyway we can push it back?”
Lisa shakes her head. “If he wants a meeting he gets one. He’s given enough money to the school to practically get whatever he wants. I’m sorry Chance. You’re stuck in this one.”
“It’s okay.” I say with hesitant reluctance. “It’s not your fault anyway. This guy must be wound pretty tight. He sounds like it.”
“A little.” Lisa says. “But lucky for you he’s hot as fuck!” Lisa bursts into a fit of laugher and I can’t help but join in.
“Lisa! You can’t talk that way about your student’s parents.”
“Why not?” Lisa shrugs. “I’m leaving this week anyway and it’s true. He is hot as…”
“I get it.” I roll my eyes. “Let’s mark the rest of this homework. I want to get ready for my meeting with Mr. Important.”
*
Lisa and I end up finishing the work a couple of minutes before Ashlee’s father is due to arrive. At five on the dot the phone in Lisa’s classroom rings. She picks it up and answers.
“Mrs. Farmer’s room. Uh huh. Sure. Send him in. We’re both in my room.”
She puts the phone down and stands up, nervously brushing the creases out of her dress. “God. He’s here. Do I look okay?”
“I thought you were married?” I raise an eyebrow and stand too.
“Well I am, and I love Brian, but… Mr. Gold is like really hot!”
“Wait a second.” I pause at the name. “Ashlee’s last name is Gold? What’s her father’s first name?”
My heart starts thundering in my chest. There’s no way it’s the same guy. Right?
“Rogan!” Lisa cries out and I look up to see Rogan Gold standing in the doorway. He’s wearing suit pants and a tailored grey shirt which is rolled up to his elbows. His hands are in his pockets and everything about him oozes confidence. Lisa runs toward Rogan and practically throws herself onto him. I stand firmly still by her desk, with my arms crossed over my body. Rogan’s eyes are locked on me all the while.
“Please Mrs. Farmer, it’s Mr. Gold.” Rogan pushes his way past Lisa and stops a couple of paces in front of me. He holds his hand out again and stares at me while smirking.
“You must be Ms. Tanner.”
I take his hand reluctantly and fight the urge to squeal once more when I realize how good his skin feels on my own. “And you must be Mr. Gold.” I smirk back and decide to play along with his game.
“Please. Call me Rogan.”
We keep our hands held for far too long. Lisa swans back over and looks down at them.
“Uh… is everything alright Mr. Gold?”
Rogan holds my gaze while looking at her. “Everything is fine Mrs. Farmer. If you don’t mind I have a private meeting with Ms. Tanner to attend to. Thank you for your time.”
“Oh but I…”
“Thank you for you time.” He says firmly.
I glance over at Lisa and nod my head. I don’t know what the hell Rogan is playing at, but he’s intent on us being alone. Lisa laughs to herself awkwardly and gathers up her things. Half a minute later she’s lingering in the doorway with her hand on the doorknob.
Rogan stands completely still the whole time, refusing to let my hand go.
“Well… I’ll just be off then. I’ll see you tomorrow Chance.”
“Bye Lisa. Thanks for everything today.”
Lisa nods at me one last time and then closes the door behind her. We stand in silence looking at each other, listening as her heels clack down the hall until all is silent. Finally Rogan talks again.
“God. I thought she’d never leave. Did you?”
I go to pull my hand away from his. Rogan responds to the gesture immediately and wraps his other hand around my arm. He steps towards me and holds me there, practically erasing the space between us. I stare into his sharp gray eyes and try to keep myself from trembling. I feel the raw masculine heat rolling off his body. His shirt grazes against my chest. He seems so calm, so composed. This isn’t bothering him at all.
“Did you come here to hold my hand or talk?” I say coldly.
A smile tugs at the corner of his lips and he bursts into laughter. His whole chest rumbles as he laughs. I hate how much I love the sound. Rogan finally lets go of my hand and drops both of his hands to his side. He doesn’t step back.
“I like you Chance. That’s why I came here to see you. I wanted to talk to you about Ashlee.”
“Did you? Because it seems like all you’ve done so far is talk about yourself.”
He smiles once more and bites his lip gently.
I don’t know why, but there’s something about the gesture that sends me absolutely wild. I struggle to keep my breath at a normal human pace and I feel my panties starting to flood. Just standing in front of this guy is driving me wild. I don’t know what is wrong with me, but this feels grossly inappropriate. I step back from him and try to remember to breath. I walk over to the other side of Lisa’s desk, sit down and gesture for Rogan to do the same.
“So let’s talk then. What is it you wanted to know?”
*
Once we get down to it, the meeting about Ashlee is actually pretty nice, and Rogan is pretty sweet. When he first walked into the room I got the impression he was just trying to impress me and assert his irresistible masculine control over me. I can’t lie that a part of me wanted to give in, but I’m glad I didn’t. He’s surprisingly professional for the rest of the meeting and when we part ways I actually feel pretty good about myself
Rogan clearly cares about his daughter a lot and he just wanted to make sure that I had her best interests at heart too. Judging by Ashlee’s grades, she’s clearly one of the brightest girls in the school. After saying goodbye to Rogan at the door, I pack up my things and head for my car.
It’s dark by the time I get outside, and the rest of the teachers have gone home. My rust heap is the only car left in the staff car park. There’s only one other car by the school and it’s in the parent’s car park across the way. I glance at the giant four by four briefly, but I’m unable to see inside the dark windows.
I get into the rust bucket and put the key in the ignition. “Alright car. Come on. Don’t let me down now. Just survive until my next payday and I’ll give you a proper send off.”
I turn the key in the ignition. The engine splutters and nothing happens. I try it again and again, and again. No dice. I let out a cry of frustration and slap the wheel. I try the key once more and this time something does happen. The engine responds with a horrible grinding noise and then -
“Ah!”
The hood of the car flies up with a bang and slams back down again. A plume of thick black smoke starts pouring up from the car and I jump out faster than a wild turkey. I put a good distance between myself and the car, standing on the walkway by the school entrance as the rust bucket smokes on. I don’t know if it’s going to explode or anything, but something is certainly clear - it’s not getting me home tonight.
“Having a little car trouble Ms. Tanner?”
I jump at the familiar velvet voice and see Rogan standing there in his stupid sexy business attire.
“My car is just having a smoke break. That’s all.”
Rogan laughs and nods his head at the four by four over the road. “Come on, we’re both going in the same direction anyway. Let me give you a ride.”
I half consider protesting and think about calling a taxi, but it’s starting to get cold and I’m tired.
“Alright.” I concede. “But this is just a parent helping out a teacher.”
“Of course.” Rogan smirks. “What else could it possibly be?”