Hard to Feel Free ~ Sample

Chapter Four

Chapter Four

“Abbie! Have you seen my college sweater?” Jake called from the bedroom.

“It’s in the laundry pile. I washed it yesterday!” I took a sip of my third coffee of the day. The nerves of my job interview this afternoon providing another extra early morning wakeup. Still in my pajamas; I’d propped up the kitchen table since the sun made an appearance at around 5:30 a.m. with only the newspaper for company.

“Couldn’t you sleep baby?” Jake strolled into the kitchen fresh from the shower, pulling his arms through the sleeves of his freshly laundered hoodie. He placed a hand to the back of my head and leaned in for a kiss before reaching for the coffee pot. The scent of him lingered in my nostrils as he took a seat across from me at the retro kitchen table we’d found at a local charity shop last year.

“Nope…I must have played over my interview about a hundred times already. Talk about strung out,” I said rolling my eyes, “I’m so tired I could sleep for a month. Fuck knows how I’m going to concentrate later.”

“You’ll be great…tomorrow afternoon you’ll be knocking back the drinks in the student bar enjoying your last day at college. The job’s in the bag baby, you’ll see. Then next week…vacation! It’s perfect timing,” he said, winking as he bit into a piece of toast from the loaded rack in the middle of the table.

I smiled at his confidence in me, but I wasn’t too convinced. A good majority of the people on my course had already secured a position for the next semester. Among my immediate circle of friends, I was the only one without a job. It had a lot to do with me wanting an easy commute from home, whereas most of my friends were happy to travel out of their preferred area for the sake of getting something.

I’d spent weeks in the library trawling the teaching vacancies online. The advertised position at Clifford Elementary school had jumped off the screen at me. As well as shared responsibility for a grade one class it also asked for someone with an interest in taking over the responsibility for coordinating the Physical Education program.

“Hope so,” I whispered.

“I know so. This one has your name on it…Miss James…Sports Teacher Extraordinaire,” he said, gesturing with his hand in emphasis.

“Stop it,” I said, giggling and slapped him in the chest, “It’s just, it’s cutting it a bit fine. Friday being the last day and all.”

“Have a bit of faith Abbie. You…are a talented…newly qualified teacher with ten times the energy of most established teachers. They’ll be glad to have you,” he said, smiling warmly as he placed his coffee mug on the drainer and then wrapped his arms around me from behind, “I know you can do it baby.”

“Thanks Jake,” I said, curling my fingers around his forearm savoring the delicious sensation at my neck where he held his lips.

“It’s true, you just have to believe in yourself and everything you desire will come to you,” Jake whispered against the flesh of my shoulder causing a shudder to ripple through me.

“Cold baby?” he smirked.

“Don’t you have a lecture to get to?” I asked as my fingers began to tighten around his arm.

“Huh?”

“A lecture? At college? This morning? Don’t you have to be there before nine?”

“Yeah, I guess,” Jake said, dropping one last kiss to my cheek as he squeezed my arms and eased away from me with exaggerated reluctance.

“What time will you be home?” I asked.

I needed to think of something for dinner.

“I’m not sure. What time will your interview be finished?”