“The lock’s broke, so it wasn’t locked.”
I heard him turn the water off. “I’m going to bed. I’ll be by your place to fix your shower tomorrow after you get home. Night,” he said.
The door shut, and he was gone. “Good night, Luke,” I whispered.
I stepped out of the shower, dried off, threw my clothes on, grabbed my things, and headed towards the door. Sam was cleaning up the mess that was left in the kitchen.
“Lily, before you go,” he said as he walked towards me. “I’m sorry for tonight, and for the things you saw.”
“Don’t be sorry, Sam. What you and Luke do is your business, not mine. You have nothing to apologize for.” I smiled.
He leaned over and kissed the top of my head. “Sleep tight. I’m going to give Gretchen a call tomorrow. Could you please not mention what you saw here tonight?” he said with a twisted face.
“Don’t worry; I won’t tell her a thing.” I smiled and walked out the door.
***
I jolted out of bed at the sound of my alarm buzzing. I quickly turned off the irritating sound and looked at the time. It was 5:30 a.m. I didn’t fall asleep until 3:30 a.m., and I was exhausted. I made my way to the bathroom and splashed cold water on my face to try and wake myself up. I stumbled into the kitchen, and made a pot of coffee. As the coffee brewed, I put on my makeup, straightened my blonde hair, and put on my clothes. I poured some coffee in my travel mug, grabbed my purse and school bag, and opened the door to leave. As I was locking my door, Luke’s door opened, and he came walking out. Our eyes met.
“Morning,” he said.
“Good morning,” I replied. “You’re up early.”
“I told you last night that you weren’t the only one who had to be up,” he said as he locked his door.
“Have a good day!” I smiled.
“Yeah, you too,” Luke said as he walked up the stairs.
On the way to the school, I couldn’t help but wonder why he was up so early, and why he was going upstairs. He said he didn’t have a girlfriend. Well, he said she wasn’t his girlfriend. I shook my head. He’s no different than every other guy out there, except he was the hottest looking man that I’d ever seen. I couldn’t stop thinking about the scar I saw on him, and I wondered where it came from. Why was I thinking about Luke so much? I can’t do this. I’m starting over, and I can’t have any distractions. I pulled into the school parking lot and headed to my classroom. I walked through the door and stared around the room. This was going to be my second home for the next ten months. I smiled at that thought, and I set my things on my desk. My main focus has to be my students, not Luke.
I heard a soft knock on the door. As I turned to look, Chris Channing, Gretchen and Giselle’s aunt, and the principal of the school, was walking towards me.
“Lily, it’s been way too long. How are you?” she asked as she hugged me.
“I’m good, Chris. Thank you again for hiring me.”
“You’re welcome, and you were the perfect candidate. Not only have I known you for the past twenty years, but I know how much you love children. Gretchen told me about your situation, and I just want to tell you that I’m sorry.”
I looked away and started rearranging things on my desk. “Don’t be sorry, Chris. I’m moving on and starting over. Things worked out for the best.”
“They sure did,” she said as she hugged me again. “Your students will be here any minute. If you need anything at all, call me.”
“I will,” I smiled as the bell rang, and a flock of children entered the classroom.
***
I spent most of the day getting to know the children and having them get to know me. We all had lunch together in the classroom, which they thought was cool. I wanted them, not only to like me, but to trust me as well. I wanted them to feel safe every time they walked into the classroom. The end of the day approached, and the bell rang. In a matter of minutes, the classroom was empty again. I walked around the room and straightened the desks. I grabbed my things, turned off the light, and headed home. Once I arrived at the apartment building, I unlocked and opened the door, threw my bags onto the chair, and kicked off my heels. I sat down on the couch for a minute to relax when I heard a knock on the door. I got up, looked through the peephole, and saw Luke standing there. I opened it and motioned for him to come in.
“Hi,” I said.
“Hey,” he said without even looking at me and just walked down the hall.
I rolled my eyes. I was extremely tired, and I was in no mood for his attitude.
I put the kettle on the stove for some tea. All I wanted right now was the comfort of my plush bed. As I was waiting for the water to heat up, I heard Luke yell from the bathroom.
“Shit!” he yelled.
It sounded like a yell of pain, so I walked to the bathroom to see what had happened. He stood there holding his hand.
“Are you ok? What happened?” I asked.
“Nothing, just go!” he spat.
“Excuse me, mister, but this is my f**king bathroom, and I’ll be in here if I want to be.”
He looked up at me. “Do you always use that kind of language?”
“Yes, I do. Now let me take a look at your hand,” I said as I lightly touched it.
He pulled away quickly. “No, it’s fine. I don’t need your help.”
“Maybe you do or maybe you don’t. You’re hurt, and I need to see how bad it is. Now sit your goddamn ass on that toilet so I can take a look.”
He looked at me with anger in his eyes. “You can come off as being really mean.”
“Good, I’m glad you noticed. Now, give me your hand.”
He held out his hand, and I removed the blood-soaked tissue. I grabbed a washcloth from under the sink and wrapped it around his hand. “Put pressure on that while I get the antiseptic and a Band-Aid. It doesn’t look like it needs stitches.”
I reached into the cabinet and got out the antiseptic and some cotton balls. I could see him staring at me out of the corner of my eye. I soaked the cotton ball with antiseptic and set it on the edge of the counter. I turned to him and took his hand. I didn’t want to look at him because he had the most amazing brown eyes.
“Where are you from?” he asked out of nowhere.
“Why do you care?” I replied.
“I don’t. I’m just trying to make small talk.”
“Seattle.”
“Is your family still there?”
“I don’t have any family. They’re dead.”
I removed the washcloth and took a cotton ball from the edge of the counter. “This is going to sting, but I know that you’re a big boy, and you can handle it.” I dabbed his cut on the side of his hand with the antiseptic soaked cotton ball.
“Fuck!” he screamed and tried to pull his hand away.
“Do you always use that kind of language?” I asked.
“Only when someone’s hurting me!” he exclaimed.
“Stop being a baby and man up.”
“Don’t tell me to man up!”
“Fine,” I said.
I put the Band-Aid on his hand. “There, all better. Now get back to fixing my shower.”
He looked at me and got up from the toilet. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome,” I said as I walked out of the bathroom.
I took a teabag from the cupboard and made some tea. I took my cup and sat down at the table. About thirty minutes later, Luke emerged from the bathroom.
“You’re all set,” he said.
“Great. Thank you. Can I offer you a beer?” I asked, not sure why those words escaped my lips.
“No, I need to go. Enjoy the rest of your evening,” he said as he walked out of my apartment.
5
Luke
I opened the door to my apartment and set my tool box by the closet. I looked at my watch, and it was almost time for Mrs. Clements to bring Charley home. I walked outside to wait for her. Charley takes a dance class after school with her best friend, Allie. Allie’s mom picks the girls up from school, takes them to dance class, and then drops Charley off at my place. When Maddie works the day shift at the bar, she usually doesn’t get off work until 6:00 p.m. She doesn’t work many nights, but when she does, Charley spends the night at my place.
“Hey, peanut, how was your first day of school?” I asked her as I carried her backpack inside.
“It was great, but I’m hungry,” she pouted.
“What do you want to eat?” I asked.
“Grilled cheese,” she smiled.
“One grilled cheese sandwich coming right up,” I said as I got out the pan. “Tell me about your day.”
“I love my new teacher. She’s so nice and super pretty.”
“Is that so?” I asked. “What’s her name?”
“Miss Gilmore.”
I made Charley her grilled cheese sandwich and listened to her as she told me all about her day.
“Uncle Luke, what happened to your hand?” she asked as she looked at the Band-Aid.
“Yeah, Uncle Luke, what happened to your hand?” Sam asked as he walked through the door smiling.
“It’s just a cut from fixing the shower next door. It’s nothing to worry about.”
“Do you have homework, Charley?” I asked.
“Nope. Miss Gilmore said we would all be too tired from our first day to concentrate on homework, so she didn’t give us any.”
“She sounds like a cool teacher,” I smiled.
“She’s really cool, and you would like her.”
I walked out of the kitchen as she said that and sat down on the couch. Sam opened a beer, handed it to me, and sat on the chair across from me.
“How did it go at Lily’s?”
“It went fine, except I cut myself,” I said.
“I invited Gretchen to go with us to the beach this weekend, and I think you should invite Lily.”
I looked at Sam and sighed. “Your hang up with me and Lily is getting old. I’m not interested. If you want her to join us at the beach this weekend, ask her yourself.”
“Fine, I will,” he said as he pulled out his phone.
Charley came over and sat next to me. “Can I watch SpongeBob Squarepants?”
I put my arm around her, and she snuggled up against me. I turned on her show, and looked over at Sam as he started laughing.
“What is so funny?” I asked.
“Lily asked if you were going to the beach, and when I told her yes, she said no. You two are going to kill me.”
I rolled my eyes. I couldn’t stop thinking about how Lily told me that her family was dead. I couldn’t imagine not having my family. I haven’t seen any guys coming around, so I’m pretty sure she doesn’t have a boyfriend. Not that it matters, I’m just surprised that someone as beautiful as her doesn’t have one.
The door opened, and Maddie walked in.
“Mommy!” Charley exclaimed as she jumped up from the couch.
“Baby, how was school?” she asked as Charley jumped in her arms.
“Hey, Maddie,” I said as I kissed her on the cheek. “How was work?”