Page 36 of After Him, There Was You
“But it’s true, Mom. I know you want Raegan and me to act like nothing happened, but he hurt you. I hate him for that, and even before he cheated with Amber, he was never nice to you. He never treated you like you tell me to treat girls.”
Speechless.
If I was nothing else in the moment, I was speechless.
There I was thinking I was giving my kids the ideal upbringing, when the entire time I was living in a glass house.
“Jaedan… I—”
“You don’t have to apologize for him, Mom. I know you were doing what you thought was best, and if Coach Simmons was at our house because he likes you, that’s okay with me, as long as he treats you better than Dad did.”
“How did I get so lucky with you?” I asked, truly amazed at the young man before me.
“I ask myself the same thing,” he stated, making me burst into laughter.
Grabbing his hand to bless our food, I was sure to say a special thank you for the gift I was blessed to call my son.
Chapter 16: Incapable – Tara
A Couple of Days Later
“This is Ms. Morgan. How may I help you?” I spoke into my classroom phone.
“Ms. Morgan, you have a visitor at the front desk,” the attendance office receptionist Pam stated, utilizing an unreadable, surprisingly formal tone unlike the one she typically used when we interacted with each other.
“Is it a parent?” I asked, automatically running through my class roster, thinking about which parent would be the most likely to engage in an unplanned visit.
Mentally coming up empty handed, I didn’t know what was to become of the planning period I’d been looking forward to since the first bell rang indicating the school day had begun.
“No, Ms. Morgan. It’s a personal visit. Verypersonal.” I knew Pam was throwing me a clue, and I felt bad for not catching it. “I’ll sendhimback.”
Still attempting to process the cryptic nature of her warning, I ended the call and cleared the papers from my desk which I had been grading. I was more than halfway through analyzing the spelling pop quiz I’d given my students the day before and found myself being hopeful my unexpected guest wouldn’t keep me too long and I could finish before I left for the day.
Grading assignments was one of the few aspects of being a teacher I tried to put off, and it was only because it took a certain mental space to get through two hundred copies of the same thing, but I had a love for teaching, and I did my best to translate my enjoyment to my students. For me, pop quizzes were one of the best ways to keep my students on their toes while ensuring they were grasping the beauty of the English language.
A knock on the frame of my classroom door gained my attention. Since the door was open, Jason didn’t have anything stopping him from boldly barging into my space as if he’d been granted permission.
Sucking my teeth in response, it amazed me how I had spent the better half of my life being blindly loyal to a man who as of late, I couldn’t stand to share the same space with.
“Jason, if you’re going to make a habit out of showing up unannounced and uninvited, please let me know so that I can head to the police department and get a much-necessary restraining order.”
Taking in his appearance, he was dressed in casual clothing, and if I had to guess, I would say the red bruise across the bottom half of his face had stopped him from being in attendance at this firm.
Missing a Monday at work was something he rarely if ever did, but to save his ego, I knew he would put up the front of working from home for as long as the bruise staked claim on his light pigmented skin.
Jason had always put me in the mind of Michael Ealy with the exception of his blue eyes. One of the minor distinctions between the two was Jason had fuller lips and his eyes were several shades darker than my previous celebrity crush.
“Tara, you would never get a restraining order placed against me,” he stated as a smirk rested on his face.
“Is that what you think, Jason?”
“No, Tara. It’s what I know.”
“There was once a time where I thought you would never disrespect me, and you proved me wrong. For my safety and my sanity, I won’t hesitate to go down to the courthouse and tell them how I rightfully fear for my wellbeing when I’m around you.”
“Is that what made your little bodyguard attack me? If it’s anyone who should be at the courthouse in search of a restraining order, it should be me getting one against him! Why was he even there in the first place? For God’s sake, look at what he did to my face,” he cried, pointing to his mark of shame.
“Jason, you are at my place of employment. Please lower your voice,” I stated, rushing to the door before a crowd of staff members came by with buckets of popcorn in tow. My heels clicking away against the linoleum tiles in my classroom, were reminiscent of the dance my nerves were doing.
