Monday mornings were hectic at the elementary school. There was one child in particular who simply refused to let her parents go when they dropped her off. She didn't necessarily hate the school - after some time she'd calm down and get along normally with the other kids. It was only the excruciating twenty minutes during and after her parents departure that riled her up.
She'd throw a fit every time her mother said goodbye to her, crying big crocodile tears that rolled down her cheeks and fell to the ground with an almost audible 'plop'.
Today was no different. I was standing behind Charlie with my hand on her shoulder, as her mother, Margaret, talked to her.
At one point Margaret stood up and gave me an apologetic smile, picking up Charlie and handing her to me.
"Hey Charlie." I said, making sure the toy I had stashed in my pocket could be easily reached.
Right on cue, Charlie began wailing again as her mother moved away tentatively.
"Charlie look!" I said quickly, shifting her from one arm to the other and pulling out the colourful barbie doll.
Charlie - who had been thrashing wildly in my arms, threw her head back, casting the barbie doll a glance as she continued screaming, before finding an appeal in the doll and righting herself.
With half-hearted whimpers she took the barbie from me and began inspecting it.
I dried her tears, peering over my shoulder to see Margaret send me a grateful wave before leaving the gates of the school.
Charlie babbled something, her eyelashes still damp from crying, before exclaiming that she would like to be set down.
When her small feet hit the ground she took off running, holding out the barbie doll in front of her.
I blew out a relieved breath as I tied back my hair and entered the school.
*
I was on break when my phone vibrated. I set my salad down and stood up from one of the small tables I had been sitting at, retrieving the buzzing device from my desk.
I didn't bother looking at the caller ID, hitting the accept button right away and wedging the phone between my shoulder and chin.
"Hello?" I asked, bending down to retrieve scraps of paper from the morning's crafting activities.
"Is this Marnie?" A deep voice asked.
I frowned. The voice sounded familiar.
"This is she. And you might be?" I asked taking the phone back into my hand and leaning against the door frame as I watched the kids play outside.
"It's Gabriel."
My lips parted as I stood frozen with the phone against my ear.
"Gabe- Gabriel Fox?" I finally managed to string together.
"Yeah. I got your number from Eve."
I had a full-blown smile on my face as I listened to him.
"Yeah, she mentioned it a couple of days ago. Is there something I can do for you?" I asked, trying to sound nonchalant. A strand of paint covered hair fell into my face as I listened for his response.
I scrunched my nose as I tried plucking the paint out, resigning eventually and tucking it into the mess of a bun on my head.
His soothing voice poured into my head again, "I'll be in Brook Bay again soon for business. I was wondering if you wanted to meet up a coffee maybe. I didn't really get the chance to say goodbye at the wedding."
My heart stammered in my chest, thumping almost painfully against my ribs.
"Oh." I breathed, "Sure, I'd love to." I added quickly, nibbling on my bottom lip.
"I'll text you the -"
"Ms. Foster! Alex took my stuffed toy!" Lisa lisped, tumbling in through the door with Alex in tow.
"I did not!" he exclaimed, looking outright appalled of being accused of such a thing.
"Did too!"
I winced as I pulled the phone from my ear.
"Alex do you have Mr. Scruffy?" I asked the young boy, crouching down to his level.
He looked at me with wide innocent eyes for a beat, blinking once, before caving in and pulling the teddy bear from the inside of his jacket.
"I told you he took it!" Lisa cried, clutching the bear to her chest.
"Alex, I told you not to take your friends' toys." I chided the young boy softly.
"I wanted her to talk to me. I'm sorry." He said, folding his hands together and looking to the floor.
I almost cooed at how sweet he was.
"Then talk to me. It's not so hard. Look we're doing it right now". Lisa said, taking Alex's hand in hers and leading him outside while lecturing him on how easy it was to talk to someone.
I grinned as I watched the two stroll through the small garden, looking serious like adults, at their ripe age of ... six.
"Mr. Scruffy huh." Gabriel said in an amused voice
"Very serious matters I tell you. No one messes with Mr. Scruffy."
I heard his deep chuckle on the other end of the line - the sound sending shivers of pleasure down my spine.
"You sound like you've had some practice in settling these disputes."
"You could say that." I laughed softly, smiling stupidly at nothing in particular.
"I'll text you the details of my trip. Whenever you're free we'll arrange something."
"Okay. I'm looking forward to it". I said, tracing the small etches in the wooden frame with my finger tip.
"Bye Marnie." he said after a beat.
"Bye Gabriel."
YOU ARE READING
Paper Hearts
Romance"You want to know what I think!" "Yes I want to know what you think!" I yelled back at him. "I think you're afraid of commitment, afraid that you'll get hurt! But damn it Marnie sometimes its worth the risk!" He shouted, raw emotion on his face...
