The Canary (Completed)

Chapter 1

This book has not been fully edited, so please excuse mistakes! Name pronunciations are in the description. Enjoy!

Chapter 1

***
As Joe looked out of the window of his second-floor classroom, he silently admonished himself for scheduling a parent-teacher conference after school. It was a beautiful day in Miami and not one cloud was in the sky. He knew Miami Beach was already full of scantily-clothed women, and the waves of the Atlantic Ocean were primed for a surfing session. However, instead of being in the midst of paradise, he was waiting on the mother of one of his students, who was already ten minutes late.
Joe Anoa'i, a biology teacher at Miami-Dade High School, hailed from the beautiful island of Samoa. He had come to the states to attend graduate school in Miami, Florida, and was now working on his doctorate degree. With his career moving forward, his life was going just as he had planned it. The only thing lacking was that special woman he had been patiently waiting for to complete him.
"Where the hell is this lady?" Joe asked, looking at his gold wristwatch.

No sooner than he had asked himself the question, KenLeigh N'Diaye walked into his classroom. The irritation he was feeling earlier quickly dissipated at the sight of his student's mother. She wasn't at all what he was expecting, and for once, he was glad that he'd scheduled an afterschool conference.

"Mrs. N'Diaye?" he asked, meeting her in the middle of the room.

"I'm sorry I'm late," KenLeigh said, shaking his outreached hand.

"It's OK. Have a seat."

As Joe discussed his student's progress with KenLeigh, he found it hard to keep his focus on their conversation, instead of his desire to know who she was. She had to be the most intriguing and beautiful woman he'd laid eyes on. At this point, nothing but getting to know her was important to him. Her smile almost made him forget the reason for their conference until she spoke.

"Thank you for all the extra help you've been giving Dakarai."

"It's my job. Dakarai's a good kid, and I'd hate to see him miss graduation, because of my class."

She offered him a second, but seemingly forced, smile. Something about that smile made him believe that she was trying to hide something. It made him a bit uneasy and curious, but he continued with the conference, trying not to put a spotlight on her discomfort.

"I appreciate that," KenLeigh replied.

Their meeting lasted a few minutes more before KenLeigh excused herself from the classroom. Joe didn't know what it was, but KenLeigh N'Diaye had ignited a curiosity in him that he had to extinguish. She was intelligent, beautiful, and very unhappy.

Joe worked on grading a stack of papers to take his mind off of KenLeigh but failed miserably.

"She's a married woman, Joe," he said aloud, pushing the stack of papers aside.

He looked up when he heard his classroom door open. His best friend's girlfriend and Miami-Dade communications teacher Renee Young pointed to the clock on the wall.

"It's Friday, and class is over. Whatever you got going can wait 'til Monday."

Joe looked at the papers once again and then shook his head in disgust. He grabbed the stack and shoved it into his desk.

"Let's get the hell outta here."

***

KenLeigh took a deep breath to compose herself before driving off the parking lot of her son's high school. It had taken everything in her to stay focused on Mr. Anoa'i's words and not his gray eyes, cocoa butter-colored skin, and bulging biceps. The sight of him turned something on in her that she'd lost a long time ago for her much older husband Dr. Adamu N'Diaye. The Senegalese-Swahili born pediatric surgeon was fifteen years her senior, and in his later years, he had become almost tyrannical. Their once happy home had become more and more of a dictatorship as the years passed, pushing KenLeigh almost to the point of a nervous breakdown.