Perception

Part 5: Wayne Turner

"You look like you're lost in thought." Wayne said to me.  I'd finally decided to take him up on having drinks one Sunday evening. "How are you?" "I'm fine." I lied. He leaned in to kiss me but I bobbed out of the way. "What's going on with you?" he asked. "Seriously, I mean, ever since we met you don't hold my hand, you won't kiss me, I've never been to your place and you've never been to mine. I'm starting to think you don't really like me." I felt horrible because he was absolutely right. If I were him I would think I didn't like me too. He just had no idea that I was getting over a monster and I was in no mood to tell him. "I'm very sorry you feel like that...I do like you, a lot. It's just..." Don't tell him my mind said. He won't understand. "It's just?" he tried urging me. "Never mind." "Listen Kelly, I like you and I know we all have a past. But if you won't open up to me, let me in your world, a little, I will never get to know you the way I deserve to know you." I nodded trying to fight back the tears that were welling up behind my brown eyes. I thought I had masked the fight well but he saw. "Kelly, baby what's wrong?" he asked me pleading now. "Nothing Wayne." I answered flatly holding my voice steady. "Nothing that I can talk about right now anyway. But if you like me the way you say you do, then you'll be patient." "You're right." he said after a minute. "Love is patient." Instead of trying to kiss me, he kissed my hand instead. 

Monday came quickly and I was glad that I had gone for drinks. It was certainly a nice change of pace from the crazy I was used to. "Ms. York?" "Yes, how can I help you?" I asked. "Uh, hi, well I'm Jackie Blake. First of all nice to finally meet you." she said coming to my desk to shake my hand. She smiled and I just gave a firm nod of the head. "I just needed you to sign off on these test. We have three students who missed the SAT testing and they will have to come in Saturday morning to make it up." "Will you be here with them on Saturday?" "Oh, yes, I am the administrator." "Alright then." I signed the papers, she thanked me and she was out the door. I wanted to give a no nonsense vibe but not scare them. Maybe I could think about lightening up.

Just a little. 

The rest of the day was surprisingly smooth. We had a 2:00 pm meeting in the auditorium so I could introduce myself to the students and the rest of the staff. At 3:00 pm the last bell rang and everyone was dismissed. A few teachers stopped in to say goodnight and tell me they thought the first day was great. By 3:30 it was just me and the janitor. I went over some things in my email, verified the lease on my new car was ready to be signed and was ready to go by 4:00. I waved goodbye to Mr. Phillips the janitor who was nice enough to see me out. As soon as I closed the car door my cell phone rang. It was Wayne. "Hi Wayne." "Hi Kelly, I'm just calling to see how you'd feel about dinner tonight? You can tell me all about your first day as principal." "Well actually I was on my way to pick up my new car." "You didn't tell me you were getting a new ride!" he said all excited. "Well it's really no big deal, it's just my lease is up so I'm just trading." "Well I can meet you there, you can do your business and then we can eat." I know that he was just being nice, but it felt too much like he was trying to tell me what to do so I said no. I would never be made to feel like I had to be told what to do, by anyone, again. "Okay, well if you change your mind, give me a call. I'll be home with Netflix and a t.v. dinner." 

The truth of it all was I had to trade my lease every time it was up because I had to stay one step ahead of Devon. He was convicted of menacing, rape, kidnapping,  and tampering with a witness. But he only ended up serving six months of his two year sentence. The 'judge' let him out on good behavior and as long as he reported to his probation officer, held a job and permanent residence, oh and stayed away from me, he was a free man. I'd like to think that he didn't want to go back to prison. But then again he wouldn't face any real consequences there. I hoped he would go on with his life and fixate on someone else. But still I had to stay ten steps ahead of him. The new car pick up was faster than I thought. After I thought about it, I didn't really want to be alone. So I did call Wayne to see if he was still interested in hearing about my day. He was. "Do you want to meet at this really nice place called Layla's?" he asked me. "Or, if you prefer, I can pick you up." I knew that I wanted a nice big drink of something so I thought he should drive. "Alright, I'll be there in twenty." he told me. I didn't bother to change my suit. Instead, I just freshened up.

Like Wayne said, he was right on time, twenty minutes later. "You look gorgeous." I smiled. "Thanks. This is what I wore to work today." "Well you can be my principle anytime." he tried his hand at flirting. I wasn't really in the mood for that kind of talk. I think he took the hint and quickly changed the subject. "Layla's is a nice place, you'll love it." he said. "Tonight, they'll have a live jazz band and all the shrimp you can eat. Do you like shrimp?" "Yes as a matter of fact I do." I told him. As we drove he felt the need to give me the history on everything we passed. "This park is where I used to play basketball with my friends when I was a kid. I remember when we used to go to that ice cream parlor over there. Freed's ice cream." he smiled at the memory. He continued talking and I reluctantly continued listening. If he really knew me, he'd know that one thing I hated was droning on about nothing. Useless information and unnecessary conversations. I preferred quiet. But Wayne was trying and I guess that was all I could ask. 

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^Wayne seems like he is ready to get to know Kelly! She's afraid to try with him because all she knows is hurt from Devon. Can he be what she needs in this time in her life?^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^