Funny How Love Is (Maylor AU)

Chapter 49

Chrissie closed the door behind Brian as he reluctantly left the room, regretting that he still hadn't told Roger how he truly felt. Now his confession seemed more needed than ever, especially after what happened to him, but before he could even get a word in, the woman—who, as Roger so lovely put it, had his balls in a vice—robbed him of the chance to do so, ushering him out of the room like it was her own.

The headmistress turned towards the music instructor who leaned against the piano—having picked himself up off the ground but still unable to stand on his own—and crossed her arms. For a long while, neither of them said anything. They just stared at one another, betting on who would speak first. Chrissie's eyes narrowed in an attempt to intimidate the blonde into caving, and had it not been for the past weekend, he wouldn't have even thought about it, but his fears of what he believed was inevitable overcame him, and he found himself clearing his throat and asking, "So, what did—"

"My husband and I got a call from your friend," she cut him short, her words zipping Roger's lips shut. She didn't need to explain who the call was from, because the music instructor already knew.

On Sunday, he found the list Tim had extracted from the box, tarnished with check marks and scribbles that weren't there when he stashed it away with the other remnants of the past he intended to leave behind. He knew he should've gotten rid of it, burned it up, and shred it to pieces when he decided to call it quits, but for some reason he couldn't. A small part of him was afraid that the endeavor the headmistress had bestowed him with might not work out, and so he felt like he needed a backup plan. After all, he'd never been in a position like this before—something so professional, so highly regarded. He feared not being able to acclimate to his new situation, and having that list gave him a sense of comfort as something to fall back on. However, after spending a few weeks at the university, but more specifically after meeting Brian, Roger felt as though he didn't need it anymore. He was ready to put it all behind him, but Tim made it very clear that he wasn't, and neither were his clients.

The blonde scratched behind his head, figuring it was safer to play it cool and act like he wasn't aware of what she was talking about as he responded, "Oh, really? That's strange, I-I swore I got rid of his number."

"Well, clearly you didn't," she snapped under her breath, crossing the room in a blurry haste that pushed Roger further back into the piano. Memories of the past weekend flashed before Roger's eyes as the headmistress stuck her finger in his face, causing him to flinch. "I thought our deal was that if I gave you this job, you'd stop seeing my husband."

"I did!" he cried out.

"Obviously you haven't because your man called, asking if my husband was interested in setting up another 'appointment' with you," Chrissie growled through clenched teeth, her extended finger folding into her hand with the rest of them and forming a fist. She pounded the piano beside the blonde, making him jump and extracting a single tear from his eyes. "Goddammit, Roger," she muttered, meeting his terrified gaze. "I thought we were trying to help each other out, here!"

"We are, Chris—"

"Headmistress Mullen," she corrected him.

The music instructor gulped. "We are, Headmistress Mullen."

Chrissie glared at Roger before pulling herself away from the instrument and returning to the other side of the room, where she began to push the papers on his desk around, picking up certain pieces and looking them over before tossing them carelessly to the side and exchanging it for another one to do the same with. "You're on very thin ice, Roger," she warned, keeping her back to the blonde whose heart pounded against his chest and whose breathing became strained. "If I had half a mind, you'd be out of a job right now. After all, that call made it seem like you're having a hard time adjusting to your new position and would much rather go back to what you were doing before."

Hearing the headmistress threaten to take away his only chance of escape caused Roger more pain than everything Tim and Sid had done to him this past weekend. He needed this opportunity more than she knew, and she dangled it in front of him like it meant nothing. After all, the job she'd offered him didn't exist before, and she could dissolve it just as easily as she established it. It wasn't like the school was known for its music, and the program hadn't received as much attention as she would've liked it to in order to make the additional—albeit small—department not as suspicious in her colleague's eyes. So, who was to say she wouldn't just take it away and send Roger back to the life he couldn't stand another day in?

"That wasn't me, Chrissie," he murmured innocently.

"Headmistress—"

"Oh, for fuck's sake, I'm not going to call you that!" Roger shouted, pulling away from the piano in a wobbling stagger and using all his strength to stay upright. Her narrowed eyes snapped over to him, the blonde instantly realizing the error in his sudden burst of confidence as his cheeks turned a bright shade of red. "Please, just...just don't punish me for something Tim did," he begged, "He doesn't understand. H-He thinks he's doing what's right for me, but I've changed."

"Oh, have you now?" the headmistress replied lowly, throwing the papers she clutched tightly in her hands—so much so that the pages began to crinkle—back onto the desk and crossing her arms over her chest. "Look, Roger, I don't care about what Tim does or not, you just stay away from my husband, okay? Because if I get another call or see you anywhere near my house again, I will fire you, and you'll have no choice but to dress up like a stupid schoolgirl for the rest of your pathetic existence. Is that what you want?" He frantically shook his head no. "I didn't think so."

Leaving the blonde with her warning, Chrissie headed for the door, her words lingering in the air and ringing in Roger's ears. With each step she took, his heart beat faster and faster, and his breathing became more and more erratic. He was losing her, and by losing her, he'd lose his chance to escape. So, he did the only thing he could think of in such a dire moment.

"Does your husband know about Brian?"