Page 12 of The One You Chose

“Right, Ms. Lina. How are you?”

I grabbed the sign in binder off the top of the cubbies. “I’m good. Kylie’s dad didn’t mention that you’d be picking up today.”

“Oh, yeah, Tom got held up at work. He asked me to grab the little monster.”

Pursing my lips, I groaned inwardly. This is why I should have never agreed to go out with the guy. I knew I’d be annoyed when I saw him again. “You’ll need to sign her out here. First and last name and time.”

As he was signing, he talked to me. “How have you been? I still want that rain check on the date.”

I pretended I didn’t hear him. “We were about to have an afternoon snack, so she’s going to be hungry soon.”

“Okay, I can feed her, now about that da...”

“She has a few coats in her cubby, you’ll want to grab those.” I bent down and gave Kylie a hug goodbye. “Have a good night Ky. We’ll see you on Monday, okay?” Ignoring Chad, I turned away, settling myself at the table between the block builder and the pompom artist. Taking the glue bottle from the girl, I handed her a paintbrush and modeled how to spread the glue over the paper. My back to the door I waited until the door clicked shut.

A few minutes later my co-teacher, Juniper reappeared. “I saw Kylie’s hot uncle was here.”

Rolling my eyes, I shook my head. “He isn’t that hot.”

Juniper settled down next to the block builder. “If you say so.” Turning to the little boy she smiled. “I think Kylie’s uncle looks like a very nice man, don’t you think, Cody?”

The little boy reached over his head to set the last block on the tower. I watched as the wooden structure shifted, leaning to one side before crashing to the floor. The boy began to cry and Juniper scooped him up in her arms. I turned back to the pompom artist, helping her slide the heavily glued paper onto a tray where it would need to dry for a week.

Juniper was right, Chad was an attractive man. He seemed like a good uncle to Kylie. I didn’t know too much about him, but he was probably fine. He even had a good excuse for canceling their date weeks before. But after meeting Fitz, I had no interest in dating Chad, Diego Luna, Alexander Calvert, or anyone. Any hope of being attracted to another person was demolished.

I wasn’t mad at Chad for canceling our date. He was the catalyst for the night. He was the symptom. It was easier to be mad at Chad than to admit how crazed I was feeling over not seeing Fitz. I was mad that I allowed myself to be so taken in by this man that I knew nothing about. That I was now stuck here, feeling foolishly moony over a complete stranger. Three orgasms was not love. So why did I feel so sick for him?

nine

Ringing in the New

Fitz

Afterloadingthelastof my belongings into my car, the affectionately named “Boobaru”, after the many dings and dents it withstood over the years, I stopped by the front desk. “Hey, I left a note up here for someone, Lina? I was wondering if you could tell me if she picked it up? It was a few days ago.”

The young woman glanced up at me, her expression bored. “Lina? You said, Lina?”

“Yeah, Lina.”

The women sigh loudly and shuffled things around the desk before holding up an envelope and scanning the front. “There’s an envelope for a Regina.”

I considered the envelope. It was possible the man had heard me wrong and wrote Regina. Or it could have been a different person all together. If Lina picked it up, then what did that mean? I would not be desperate for a girl who didn’t want me. My self-worth was higher than that. Maybe. I thought back to how Lina asked me if I believed in signs. While I wasn’t sure then, this felt like a big sign saying,You’re wasting your time, dude.

“Thanks, um...” I glanced at her name tag. “Sandy.”

“Sure thing Mr. Deir.” She glanced away, looking back at the tablet in front of her which seemed to be playing a popular true crime show.

Despite her not looking at me anymore, I nodded my goodbye and left, making my way to work. At lunch, I would get the keys to my new rental. The movers were meeting me there after work and I planned on a big night of unpacking, pizza and beer from the brewery next door. Just not the rhubarb.

To: [email protected]

From: [email protected]

Subject: re: cute pictures

Ms. McConnell,

I’m assuming you are a Ms. or a Mrs. Please correct I’m if I’m wrong, I hate to gender stereotype preschool teachers. I know the feeling of leaving a pet home. My cat, Hank, is living faithfully at my mother’s home. I’m still adjusting to living in town, but once I’ve settled in, I’m going to get a pet. Good thing I have the first crack at the animals here. It’s nice to be the adoption director sometimes. You sound like you’ve lived in the area for a while. Could you tell me where the best pizza is? I’m coming from Seattle, where there are a lot more options.

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