Illicit affairs

1

Noelle waited near the counter, exhausted and watched the sunrise from the windows as the aroma of fresh brewed coffee filled the air. She inhaled and exhaled feeling at peace. Until the sound of someone rudely taking the pitcher of coffee from the machine disrupted her peace.

Noelle looked over and saw her husband Vince pouring himself a cup of coffee and glared. Vince prepared his coffee and took a sip looking up at her, "What?" He asked as he looked through the pantry for a quick snack to pair with his drink. "Why were you late last night?" Noelle questioned. He took a quick granola bar and set his coffee on the counter, "I was working overtime."

"You've been working over time the entire week?" Noelle questioned. "Is there a problem?" Vince asked. "Do you really expect me to believe you're working overtime when you've complained that work never gives you overtime?" Noelle argued. "We have a big project we took on and we've all been working overtime, Noelle." He glared.

Their daughter Elsie entered the room. Noelle bit her tongue refraining from saying the next words that came to mind. "Hey honey." Noelle faintly smiled as her daughter grabbed a drink from the fridge. "Are you guys fighting again?" Elsie asked unsurprised. "Of course not." Noelle denied and looked to Vince to back up her words. He rolled his eyes and grabbed his keys, "I'm off to work now." He said dismissing himself from the conversation and leaving the room.

Elsie looked at her mother as she watched her husband leave with discontent. Noelle shifted her gaze back to Elsie, "Ready for school?" She asked. "Sure." Elsie unenthusiastically replied and walked away. Noelle sighed and grabbed her keys.

——

The car ride was silent. Elsie plugged herself into her earphones and stared out window. The car came to a stop at the light. Noelle looked over at Elsie, "When do progress reports come in?" She asked. Elsie shrugged. "How are your classes going?" Noelle asked as she tried to make conversation. Elsie ignored her. Noelle sighed and drove as the light turned green. She pulled up to the sidewalk near the school to avoid the traffic and let Elsie out.

"My English teacher wanted me to give you this." Elsie said as she handed Noelle a slightly crumbled piece of paper.

Parent teacher conference request

Noelle looked at the date and realized it was a request for a meeting scheduled today. "Elsie you're barely telling me this now?" Noelle glared. Elsie got out of the car, "Yeah sorry." She shrugged. "Elsie why do I-" Noelle was cut off by Elsie shutting the door and walking off. "Elsie!" Noelle shouted as she way her daughter get lost in the crowd of students heading to school. She sighed in frustration and dialed Vince.

"Hey this is Vince I can't answer the phone right-" Noelle hung up the phone and sent a text message to her husband.

We have a parent teacher conference with Elsie's English teacher today after school. -N

Sorry working overtime. -V

Noelle glared down at her phone angrily typing:

I'm sure you are you cheating son of a|

She sighed and deleted the message.

Of course you are. -N

👍🏼-V

"Oh fuck you." Noelle mumbled and tossed her phone to the passengers seat as she made her way off to work.

——

Taylor was grading papers for some of her other classes as her students worked on their assignment. She looked up from her stack of essay's and saw some of her students working and other's conversing. Her gaze fell on Elsie sitting in the back of the class plugged into her earphones once again.

Elsie had always been a student with an outstanding academic record and she started off strong in the beginning of the year. Taylor grew concerned over her change in behavior but never wanted to pry. The bell rang and students quickly gather their things and began to file out of the room. "Don't forget to do your reading assignments!" Taylor shouted. Elsie was the last to gather her things.

"Elsie can I see you for a minute?" Taylor asked. Elsie tucked her hands into the sleeves of her sweater and approached Taylor's desk. "Do your parents know about our meeting today?" She asked. Elsie shrugged, "I gave my mom the note."

Taylor nodded, "So I'll be seeing you both today after school?" She asked. "Sure." Elsie replied. Taylor wrote a quick note and handed it to Elsie, "Don't be too late to class give this to your next period teacher just in case." Elsie reached for the note and Taylor quickly pulled it back for a moment, "I mean it, get to class, this isn't a ditch out of class free card." Taylor slightly scolded. Elsie playfully rolled her eyes, "Yeah yeah." She replied and took the note. "See you later kiddo." Taylor said as Elsie left the room.