Pick Your Poison

1

Author POV

"Okay everyone, well done for today. Go and find your parents, I'll see you all tomorrow."
"But Miss Chankimha the paint hasn't dried yet!" one of the children shouts from the back of the classroom.
"It's okay Henry, I'll keep it safe so the paint can dry and you can take it home tomorrow." Miss Chankimha says as she starts to gather paint supplies from all the tables.
"Okay, thank you!" Henry shouts as he skips happily out of the classroom.
"See you tomorrow"
"Bye"
"Thank you, Miss"
"Bye guys" Miss Chankimha says as the final few children to leave the classroom.

Quiet.

Miss Chankimha has always loved working children, but that doesn't mean she doesn't sometimes wish the children were a bit quieter. Now that she has the classroom to herself, she pulls a Kool Fever strip from her desk and presses it onto her forehead. Kool Fever strips may look silly, but if that's the cost for preventing a migraine, Miss Chankhima is willing to pay the price.
She slowly works her way around the classroom putting paint supplies back in their cupboards and carefully moving Henry's painting onto the drying rack.
Once the room is tidy she sits at her desk to start marking the children's work from the day. She loves doing the art afterschool club for the children, especially as it gives some of the less educationally gifted children a chance to shine, but it does mean she has to work much longer hours than other teachers.
After about an hour of marking, Miss Chankimha decides to finish up for the day and heads to the staff room to gather her belongings and head for home.
On her way to the staff room Miss Chankimha hears a familiar voice from around the corner.
"Well, thank you both for your time. I'm very grateful that you are taking this case." Nam's voice echo's down the hall.
Nam is the headteacher at the school, but is also one of her good friends.
As Miss Chankimha approaches the group, Nam turns to her, giving a cheeky smile.
"Oh Freen, this is Rachel Jones" Nam says gesturing to the taller woman of the two stood with her "and her associate Rebecca Armstrong, from Diversity law firm. And this is one of our finest teachers, Miss Chankimha"
As Freen reaches to shake Rachel's hand, she says "It's a pleasure to meet you" then turning to Rebecca to greet her as well.
Rebecca was a pretty woman, just a couple of inches shorter than Freen, with brown hair that is pulled back into a low bun. She is wearing a black suit, which Freen can't help but notice she looks incredibly attractive in.
Rebecca stretched her hand to meet Freen's with a firm handshake "Nice to meet you Miss Chankimha, you can call me Becky"
Still looking at Becky's strong hands, Freen has to compose herself before replying "Please, call me Freen" with a nervous smile.
She internally chastises herself for having inappropriate thoughts about the young lawyer. She can't help but find the woman incredibly attractive, the way her suit is perfectly tailored to fit her slim frame, how her eyes glisten when she smiles, how her pulled back hair exposes her long neck, the way her long fingers flexed around Freens hand.
Becky's voice suddenly rips from her thoughts "Do you have a headache?" pointing towards Freens forehead. She feels her cheeks instantly redden, not only because of the way she was just thinking about Becky, but she realises she still has the Kool Fever stuck to her forehead.
"Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry. I completely forgot I had this on" Freen replies, fumbling to pull it off her head. "The children were particularly noisy today so I put this thing on once they had left to prevent a migraine."
Nam gently nudged Freen, trying to suppress a giggle at her clear nervousness in front of the younger lawyer. "Freen does an art club after school every Wednesday for the students, so today was an extra long day with the little rascals." This comment from Nam made both of the lawyers chuckle. "Freen is actually an incredible artist herself, you should see some of her work." This again made Freen blush, from the compliment and Nams clear effort to be her wingwoman.
Becky looks at Freen and smiles, "Oh wow, do you do any commissioned work?" Freen meets her gaze and can't help but smile back, "No, I don't. I think Nam is being far too generous with her compliment." Becky chuckles again and Freen can't seem to drag her eyes away from Becky's smile. It's one of the most beautiful smiles Freen has ever seen.
Noticing the very obvious tension, Rachel clears her throat, "Well, Rebecca and I will get back to you soon in regards to the case. They seem to be making some baseless claims, so I think it'll be a fairly straightforward motion to dismiss."
After saying a final goodbye, Freen heads to the staff room to collect her belongings. As she zips up her bag, she hears footsteps coming along the corridor towards the staff room and she knows exactly who it'll be.
"Sooooo, those lawyers seemed very nice. They were very helpful with the case." Nam says as she walks through the door. "I'm glad to hear it. You can stop stressing about it now." Freen replies, knowing how concerned her friend has been, "I still can't believe Joes parents are trying to sue the school just because Joe tripped over his shoelace."
Nam nods her head in agreement, "I know, it's ridiculous. But I think we both know that's not what I'm here to talk about." She says with a smirk. Freen sighs "Look, if you're gonna start teasing me about Becky, I don't want to hear it." Nam looks at her and promptly bursts out laughing. "Oh come on you were blushing so much, you could barely take your eyes off her. How do you expect me not to tease you?" Freen rolls her eyes at her, turning her back to Nam to finish packing her bag, but also so that Nam wouldn't see her blushing again. "I was doing nothing of the sort" Freen lied, "I was simply admiring how well tailored her suit was, that's all." This only made Nam laugh harder "You can't fool me Freen Sarocha. I know you too well" she says as she leaves the staff room, her laughter echoing through the halls.
Freen sat down to try and process the events of the afternoon and to try and get thoughts of Becky out of her head. Shit. She had just embarrassed herself in front of a very pretty young woman and her boss, and to make matters worse she can't seem to get that very pretty young woman out of her head. She wonders if Becky is currently laughing about her with her boss. Oh well. At least she can go home now.