Outcasts

Private Lessons

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

ALMA

The unexpectedness of his presence was welcomed, but still the sight of him clad in a presentable manner managed to knock the air out her lungs as if having been punched in the gut.

He wasn't wearing a suit anymore, but he wasn't wearing his usual party attire either.

His hair had remained partially combed, the unruliness of it made her heart to summersault.

But he was still the same Will she'd kissed last night and this morning in a small closet at school.

And he also happened to be her new English teacher, and by the looks of it, he was going to be her private tutor.

"What are you doing here? Are you stalking me?" Alma ushered him, while taking his leather jacket and hanging it in the small closet next to the door, where a partially hidden mudroom was.

It smelled of cig smoke, of leather and of him.

Will was at loss of words, obviously confounded by her being there as well.

Adam entered the massive property with small steps, taking in the lush décor of it. He could almost smell the fanciness. It was as if stepping into another dimension, one he obviously didn't belong in.

"I'm not stalking you, Angel. The principal called me to his office just before I left and said an student needed private tutoring with Math and English. I have a Master's degree in English and I'm pretty good at Math. I need the money so I accepted the extra job, never in my life did I guess it was going to be you."

She stood there, with a sober nude pleated skirt and a matching blouse, not a single drop of makeup.

She  looked just like an angel.

Without giving it much of a thought, Will caressed her cheek with his thumb.

How was it even possible to miss someone he barely knew?

Alma leaned into his touch, closing her eyes and relishing the small gesture.

"How's Lola doing? Is she alright? Oh shit, Jake said he was going to visit her. I think Adam will accompany him, too, you know to see Ramona. So I suppose they'll be here at any minute…Want to start the lessons?"

Alma nodded, considering to take him upstairs to her bedroom but decided against it.

And then she remembered Adrian. "What if Adrian sees you here? I don't even want to think about it."

Will's eyes widened with alarm, it was true, if Alma's uncle discovered he was the man kissing his niece, he would call the school for certain.

"I can't lose my job, but I do need the money."

Alma racked her brain thinking for a quick solution. "Adrian is never home, he arrives after we go to sleep and departs before we wake up. It's on rare occasions like today that he comes to check up on us, but it's only because of Lola. If you come here after 5 and leave before 10, he won't even know you come here, the maid doesn't know you so I guess we'll be fine.

Will was grinding his teeth the way he always did when at unease.

Would he risk his job?

Just because he desperately wanted to say yes so he could be with her on a daily basis.