The Big Red Apartment

Secrets pt1

****Jared's POV****

10 more minutes until the kids began to come in to take their seats, and 15 more minutes until class officially started.

I texted Lindsey five times, and hadn't yet gotten a reply in the last 20 minutes. I guess she was busy. Hopefully, she has a much better day than yesterday. We're suppose to be seeing her parents this evening for dinner tonight and I know she's super excited for that. 

I hope everything goes well. The plan is for me to try and ask them if they know anything about the apartment that burned down years ago and what really happened, if they do. They lived here their entire lives so they have to know something.

Since Lindsey wasn't responding to my texts at the moment, I've decided to use this moment to meditate. I put on my relaxing music and took some minutes to just close my eyes at my desk and allow myself to relax. Making room for all things ahead of me today to enter my mind gently, so this day wouldn't be too hard on me. As I was getting more and more relaxed, I heard a knock at the door.

"Come in..." I paused my music as Ms. Sanchez opened my classroom door then closed it behind her. I faintly rolled my eyes, hoping she didn't notice.

"Good morning, Mr. Monroe. I hope you're doing well this morning." She said, standing there looking at me with a huge smirk on her face. "Good morning, Ms. Sanchez....how can I help you?" I began acting like I was busy and started shuffling the stack of papers on my desk. 

"I'm doing absolutely well. I was just wondering if you'd like to come to my classroom before the children comes and have a sprinkled donut and some coffee? I bought a whole dozen from the bakery this morning." She was still smiling, waiting for me to reply. "Uh...." I said, while thinking if I really wanted a donut or not. This woman gave me all sorts of suspicion vibes, but a donut didn't sound too bad.

"Sure. That sounds nice, thank you...." I got up and followed her to her classroom next door. It was like she was walking a little harder to make sure I noticed her ass. I'll admit, it was nice, but still. I wasn't the type to get caught up by scandalous women who wanted a married man. 

The donut and coffee actually hit the spot. I ate and drank inside her classroom, because she wouldn't stop talking my head off.

"So, you're married, Mr. Monroe?" she asked while sucking the sprinkled icing off her fingers. I caught myself staring at her while she did that a little harder than I needed to. 

"Oh, uh yes I'm married. We've been together for 8 years and has been married for 4." I drank the rest of my coffee. 

"Well, she's a lucky woman." Ms. Sanchez said, then winked at me.

Students were starting to come inside her classroom and I looked at my watch. It was 2 minutes until the first bell rang. "Crap, I gotta get going. Thanks again for the donuts!" She winked at me. "Anytime..." 

***LINDSEY'S POV***

The school day went by pretty quickly and Jared and I were on our way home. We had just enough time to take showers and put on our clothes for dinner this evening at my parents house. I put my braids up in a high bun and cringed at my new growth at my roots. 

"Ugh." I said out loud. "What is it?" Jared asked. "It's definitely time to take these braids out. ASAP." He chuckled and came over to me in the mirror. "Let's take them down tonight and I'll help you find an A1 stylist for an appointment tomorrow." I smiled from ear to ear. He's literally the best! 

I put on my mustard-colored fall dress and my brown knee-high boots. This was my favorite time of the year. Summer has freshly ended and the yellow leaves began to change and fall to the ground. It brings my spirits up easily.

"Come on, Jared. We're gonna be late!" I yelled to him from outside the bathroom door. "Coming!" He yelled back, opening the bathroom door almost immediately. He looked so stunning wearing his plaid shirt and dark jeans. I smelled his cologne instantly and it almost knocked me off my feet. 

"You know you're teasing me with that cologne of yours, right?" I gave him a wink. "And you being sexy already isn't making it any easier." I added. We grabbed the keys and headed out the door.

As I followed the GPS to my parents house, I felt my hands begin to sweat a little on the steering wheel. My arms got shaky and my heart thumped in my chest. I was excited to see them but I was nervous as hell. 

I didn't know what to expect and I don't know what's going to happen tonight at this dinner. I guess I was tweaking too much, because Jared grabbed my thigh and slowly rubbed it while telling me to relax. I took a deep breath and continued driving to the destination.

"Arrived." The woman on the GPS said as we pulled up to the big house with the cute black buggy parked in the driveway and the white Escalade next to it. "This is it...." I took a big breath in and out as Jared held my hand and walked to the front door. I hesitated to push the door bell. 

"You sure you don't wanna just come another time and postpone this?" I asked Jared nervously. He laughed. "We're already here, come on. It shouldn't be that bad." 

He pushed the door bell and my dad immediately opened the door, as if he was practically standing there waiting for us. It was kind of creepy. 

"Lindsey-Pooh!!!" My dad yelled while hugging me so hard, he practically lifted me off the floor. "Dad! I've missed you so much!" I smiled and hugged him harder. "Hey, Phil! How's everything going?" Jared asked after my dad finally put me back down. I drifted off to the kitchen to find my mom as Jared and my dad caught up. I smelled fresh baked chicken and I knew immediately she was in the kitchen. 

Her back was facing me as she took the big pot of chicken out of the oven. I sat there and watched her the entire time. Taking her sweet time slicing the chicken and pouring a lovely yummy sauce over it like she use to do when I was a kid watching her cook. She'd always ask me to make the table and I'd get a special treat after dinner for helping her out. I felt tears roll down my cheeks as I continued watching her. I've missed her so, so much. 

"Mommy..." I mumbled hoping she'd hear me. She stopped what she was doing and froze in place, still with her back facing me. I sniffled and wiped my eyes. She turned around with tears in her eyes just like mine. 

"Linds?" She scurried over to me and hugged me so hard. We let the tears just fall freely from our eyes and took advantage of this moment together. 

"I can't believe it's you, I can't believe you're back! I missed you so much, baby." She whispered in my ear. 

I was lost in the moment until I saw an old photo hanging up on the wall that looked like a big old apartment building. It was a framed vintage photo in brown and white without any color at all. My heart started beating heavily and I tried to keep myself content. Could that be? Nah.....it couldn't.