This November

Chapter 7

Her feet were planted in place frozen. She could not move.

Carter and Malik, together.

Yes, she was in a relationship with her boss, the Principal of the school. Yet another reason to keep it all secret.

She never expected things would turn out the way they had. After all, he was the Principal when she was a student there. He never made any moves on her, though she always thought the young, hot, Principal looked too good to be in such a boring job. He never noticed her as a student, she was just one of many teenagers out of control.

After learning that her favorite teacher, the drama teacher Mrs. Martin, needed some assistance, she came back to St. Louis to work with her while she earned a teaching certificate. And right on time, she retired soon after. The job was not handed to her, she did a round of interviews, including with Dr. Carter Foster.

She remembered being so nervous sitting on the other side of the table as her other high school crush. But he was so cool, said he remembered her and that she was one of the best actresses he had seen come from the school. That even though she was inexperienced in teaching, her abilities and knowledge of the subject, with additional training, were a perfect fit. She got the job.

But things still did not kick off then. Over the summer, she told herself to treat him like any boss. Then the first day of school she saw him and melted all over the place. She was so in awe of him, tall, blond curls, blue eyes, not looking his age of forty-five. She was eighteen years younger than him.

And he was her boss.

And he was married.

So, she stayed away.

But the attraction to him could not be denied. Even other female teachers talked about his good looks. Not only his looks, but he was also smart, caring, and a good boss to have. Not one teacher at the school complained about him and even the students loved him. The school was a racial mix, and he got along with all of the cultures.

She loved everything about him.

Except, he was married. With his wife for twenty-four years now. Met her right after college and married her within a year. They had two children together, one twenty-two and the other twenty, and they both were out of the house. She had not met his children, and why would she? What was he going to introduce her as? His employee?

Things took a turn one day when she stayed after school to do some work in the theater. The kids left a mess on the stage, even though they were supposed to tidy up after they finished building the set. She was in there late, all alone, putting things away when he came into the theater.

"I heard all this noise and look who I find in here."

"Sorry Dr. Foster," she said, immediately dropping the big piece of plank wood she held making a loud crash.

He rushed over to her and grabbed the wood up.

"Why are you doing this all by yourself? Where are the students? Don't they get credit for this?"

"Yes, they all bailed."

"Ms. Washington, you have to be a little more assertive with them." He leaned the wood against the wall. "Leave this, let the students clean it in the morning. Extra credit or something."

He gave her a smirk and that man did not know what he was doing to her. She was speechless. Why was she acting like she was still a teenager with a crush? Because she had little experience with this. Dating was not her thing. If she was honest, she never really had a boyfriend. There were guys, in college, just doing things with them because she was curious what the fuss was over sex.