Proceed With Caution

Chapter 5

Mr Harrison's POV

I sat in the cold, empty classroom and decided to mark my students' essays. Anything would be better than going home, after all. Because I knew in my heart that if I went home now, I would have to face Anna, and that was the very last thing I wanted.

Anna was my girlfriend of four years. I remember when I first met her in a Starbucks when I moved to America from London. She was outgoing, flirtatious, and she had the most melodious laugh. I was instantly spellbound by her beauty and personality. We had had the most enchanting times together, and she made me think that the world was not such a bad place after all.

But then it all changed about a year ago. Anna became very possessive and jealous, screaming at me even when I talked to my own sister or mother. She felt that no other woman in the world should get my attention, so she went through my phone and cleared my contact list of all the numbers I had that belonged to women. Whenever I went out with my friends, she would accuse me of cheating on her. She even killed my dreams. And somehow, I let her.

"There is no way in hell you're going to be an actor!" Anna shrieked hysterically. "I can't have you on set kissing other women like a gigolo!"

"Who says you get to decide what I do?" I yelled back furiously.

"I'm not deciding what you do, it's just that I love you too much and I'm afraid to lose you!" she wailed, tears forming in her eyes. I rolled my eyes and walked away from her. I was sick and tired of her emotionally-manipulative bullshit.

"No! Don't leave me! I love you!" she cried, running towards me and putting her hand on my shoulder. I spun around, and she walked into my arms and gave me a hug, crying into my chest. I unwillingly wrapped my arms around her and felt her body shake with sobs.

"This doesn't change anything. I'm still going to pursue acting." I said. She looked up into my eyes. Fresh tears escaped hers and they ran down her cheeks, leaving behind a tragic trail of wetness.

"Please don't. You'll hurt me badly. I beg you." she said softly. A look of pain washed across her face. My heart softened.

"Then what should I be?" I asked, stroking her back to comfort her. She paused, mentally searching for a job that lawfully disallowed me to have affairs with the women I encountered.

"Be a teacher," she whispered finally. My body tensed slightly with irritation, but I was so afraid to lose her that I sighed and nodded.

I shook the poisonous memory out of my mind. That was the moment when my life descended into the hell it was now. If only I had had the courage to fight back, if only I had not been so stupid to cave in to her every demand, things would have been different. I went to apply for a teaching job at a local school. Due to the shortage of teachers, the principal gladly accepted me as one of the teachers, and she was doubly enthusiastic when she found out that I had a master's in English. But a few weeks ago, I was notified that I would transfer to Bromeliad High School temporarily to substitute for a teacher on maternity leave.

And now here I was, alone in this depressing classroom. Deafening silence surrounded me. I glanced at my watch. It was already 5.45 pm. Great, I thought. The longer I'm here, the better.

I took the stack of essays and counted them. Eighteen scripts. I wished there were more. I grabbed the first one from the stack. It was Jessica Monet's, who stayed back after school to finish hers. I scanned through her paragraph, my red pen hovering over the paper.