InHap*pily Ever After (Incidental Happenstance) (32 page)

She
snuck back into the room to look at the clock on the night table. 5:00 AM
Sydney time translated to noon in Chicago, the previous day. She’d give herself
the morning to prepare what she was going to say, and call Ned at home after
she’d had a chance to talk it over with Dylan. She knew beyond the shadow of a
doubt that he’d support her decision, but would just feel better about it
herself after having his agreement.

Tia
had no idea how long she stood there—the sun came up and bathed the waters of
the harbor in golden light, traffic increased on the roads below, and voices
echoed up from the sidewalks. Finally, Dylan awoke and came out to find her,
wrapping her in his arms, his just-woken voice scratching, “I woke up and you
weren’t there. Not a good way to start the day.” He nibbled at her neck and
slipped his hand beneath her robe, caressing her stomach. “How long have you
been up?”

“A
while,” she said simply.

Sensing
her mood, he turned her toward him and took her into his arms. “What’s wrong,
love?”

Tia
took a deep breath, holding it for a moment before exhaling slowly. “Oh Dyl,”
she began, “I’m just thinking about some things. Most of them are
amazing—marrying you, spending our lives together—but before I can move forward
with those things, there are some loose ends I need to tie up.” He raised one
eyebrow at her. “The most important of which being my job. I need to resign,
Dyl. I’ve known it for a while, but with school starting back up in a few
days…it just wouldn’t be fair to anyone if I stayed.” She hadn’t meant to cry,
but her eyes welled up and a couple tears made their way down her cheeks.

Dylan
pulled her to him. “I’m so sorry, baby girl,” he whispered into her hair.

“Don’t
be sorry,” she said. “It’s for the happiest reason in the world. I’ll miss it
sure…well, some of it, at least.” She giggled. “I won’t miss report card time,
or conferences, or meetings, or all the red tape…I’ll just miss the kids.
Teaching them; watching that light bulb come on when they understand something
that I taught them. But it is a job, and you are my life. There will be so many
happy things to take up my time, and I wouldn’t trade that for anything.”

“You’ll
find something rewarding, I promise you,” he said. “Maybe working with kids through
the charity, or with the kids that come to the ranch…”

“I
know that, I really do,” she answered. “But right now, I need to call Ned and
get this done. I’ve put it off too long already, and it’ll be easier to look
forward when I’ve dealt with the past.” 

 “Get
on with it then,” he said, wrapping his arms around her. “You’ll feel better
once it’s done.”

Dylan
gave her a supportive hug, grabbed the newspaper off the table, and went out
onto the balcony. “I’ll be here if you need me,” he said, sliding the door
shut.

Tia
punched in Ned’s number, her heart racing and her breathing ragged. She knew
she wouldn’t regret the decision in the long term, but that didn’t make it any
easier in the moment. Ned answered on the second ring.

“Hi
Ned, it’s Tia,” she said, knowing that her number would’ve come up as all zeros
on his end.

“Tia,
great to hear from you,” he said. “Happy New Year. Are you home?”

“No,
I’m still in Australia. We’re scheduled to fly back on Sunday.”

“How
is Australia?” he asked. “I’ve always wanted to go there.”

“It’s
amazing. You should make a point of it. It’s a spectacular country…Listen,
Ned,” she said, her voice shaking just the slightest bit, “I really need to
talk to you. About my job. I’m sorry to bother you at home, but I didn’t see
any other way…”

His
sigh filled her ear. “I’ve been expecting your call, Tia. I can’t say I’ve been
looking forward to this chat, but I’ve known it was coming.”

“Me
too, but I’ve been putting it off. It’s not a conversation I ever thought I’d
have to have, but now…something else has come up that adds more complication to
the whole situation. The announcement isn’t going to be public for another day
or so, but I need to let you know. Dylan asked me to marry him, and I…”

“Congratulations!”
Ned said excitedly. “I couldn’t be happier for you, Tia. After seeing the two
of you together, the way he looked at you, I thought that might be the case. I
wish you all the best—you know that, right?”

Now
it was Tia’s turn to sigh. “I do, Ned, and I appreciate it tremendously. I’ve
already called some of the girls with the news, but I know I can trust you not
to say anything until we’ve made the official announcement…”

“Of
course. My lips are sealed.”

“You
know, Ned, my years at Jefferson have been some of the best of my life…”

“But
life has a funny way of throwing curve balls, doesn’t it?” he finished for her.

“Yeah,
and this is a big one.”

“I’ll
say. But it’s the best kind, too, and you deserve to be happy. I’m so glad that
you are.”

“Thank
you,” she whispered. A few thumping heartbeats went by before she was able to
continue. “Listen Ned, this is really hard for me, but I just need to come out
and say it. When I started teaching, I totally believed I’d retire at a ripe
old age with a lot of great memories and a small pension. I thought I’d do it
for life. But with all that’s happened…I’ve got to resign my position, Ned. It
isn’t fair to anyone for me to stay. I’m so sorry.”

“You
have nothing to be sorry for, Tia—you should never apologize for finding happiness.
We’ll be sorry to lose you, that’s for sure, because you’re a great teacher.
But at the end of the day, it’s a job. Your life comes first, and you’re going
to have a really great one. Like I said, I’ve been anticipating this
conversation since you walked out the door on that Friday, and I put together a
contingency plan. I talked with the superintendent and the board…”

“I
hate that you had to do that over the holidays, Ned,” she said. “God knows you
deserve a break, too.”

“Just
part of the job,” he said. “I wanted to make sure I had some ducks in a row
just in case; and I was pretty sure how things would play out, especially after
I saw all the publicity the two of you were getting. You’ve become quite a
celebrity yourself, haven’t you?”

“By
default,” Tia agreed, “and it isn’t something I wanted to happen; it just goes
with this sparticular territory, I guess. I’m figuring it all out as I go
along. A lot of it hasn’t been easy.”

“I
imagine not—I saw what happened in Melbourne. Are you OK?”

Tia
unconsciously touched her cheek. The bruise was nearly gone; it had faded to a
sickly yellow color that was easily concealed with a bit of makeup. “I’m good,”
she said. “Almost as good as new.”

“I’m
glad to hear it. You’re strong, and you’ve got a good head on your shoulders.
You handled it perfectly.”

“Thanks
Ned.”

“You’re
going to be great, Tia. I’ll actually get to say I knew you when—a lot of us
will, and it’s kind of exciting, if you want to know the truth. But you’re
making the right decision. You wouldn’t believe the calls the Administration
Building has been fielding ever since your name went public—we’re kind of
figuring it out as we go along, too.”

“I’m
really sorry about that, Ned, it was never my intention…”

“Of
course it wasn’t, and no one blames you. Like I said, it’s been kind of fun, in
its own way. But you’re right, going back to the classroom isn’t the best thing
for anyone involved; I knew you’d see that too.”

“So
what happens next?” she asked.

Ned
went through the logistics, and Tia jotted notes. “At some point in the near
future you’ll need to clean your things out of your room and turn in your
keys…I’d suggest waiting until we make your resignation public so the media
won’t be hanging around. I guess you have a top-secret phone number now, eh? It
came up all zeros on my phone.”

“Yeah,
it’s a secure number. Weird, huh? I’ll call you when I get back, OK? I’ll try
and get in on Wednesday or Thursday. I’ll leave most of my things for the new
teacher, so it shouldn’t take too long to pack up my personal stuff.” She
thought of the two pictures of Dylan that she had in her classroom; the one of
him in disguise that was tacked to the bulletin board behind her desk, and the
‘real’ one she’d tucked into her desk drawer way back in August, when she couldn’t
tell anyone who he was. 

“Hey
Ned? I’d really like to say goodbye to the kids…I’ll call you and set something
up. I may bring Dylan with me—I think they’d be excited about that.”

“We
all would,” he said. “I think it would be a big deal for both of you to visit
the school—would you consider saying goodbye to everyone at a brief assembly?
You’ll be missed by all the kids, you know, not just the ones in your class.”

“I
think we could do that,” she said, perfectly comfortable speaking for Dylan on
that matter. She knew that he’d be more than happy to do that for her. “I’ll be
in touch early in the week to set something up. Thank you so much, Ned, for
making this easier than I thought it would be, and for your support and
guidance over the years. You are exactly where you’re supposed to be, and the
kids and teachers are lucky to have you.”

“Everything
OK?” Dylan asked, as Tia stepped out onto the balcony with a fresh cup of
coffee.

Tia
smiled and sucked in a cleansing breath, releasing it in a whoosh.
“Everything’s good. Nothing to do but move forward from here.”

“I’m
so glad to hear that,” Dylan said, pulling her into his arms and tipping her
back for a kiss. “There’s nothing I want more.”

            Speed—maybe
that was the answer. God knew nothing else was working.

            On a normal
New Year’s Eve Bo would wake up and reminisce over the previous year; proud of
what he’d accomplished and excited about the new one to come.  He’d say a
little prayer of thanks for the job he loved that allowed him to live exactly
the way he wanted to, and for the incredible people that filled his life.

            This year,
though, he hurt all over. After the punishment he’d dealt his body the night
before, his muscles screamed at him and he could barely even get out of bed to
take a piss. What the hell was he thinking, pumping iron like he did it every
day?  Then, what he
was
thinking came rushing back like a giant wave,
and a whole new kind of pain settled in and took hold. Lexi. Damn it all, he’d
behaved like a complete ass and she’d left before he could explain—before he
could tell her…tell her what? There really wasn’t a way to explain that his
feelings for her ran deeper than he’d considered; and telling her would make
her run away even faster than she was already sprinting. For a brief moment he
considered calling her to at least apologize; although he couldn’t come up with
a reason that didn’t sound like complete bullshit—
I felt a cold coming on
and didn’t want to give it to you…I was having a hot flash…I wanted to kiss you
so bad that if I didn’t move away I couldn’t guarantee that I wouldn’t make the
move… 

            He thought
about going straight home to his place in Big Sur to clear his mind and get his
head out of his ass, and strongly contemplated just pulling the covers over his
head and staying right where he was for the rest of the day. But it was New
Year’s Eve, and he’d promised his buddy Benji that he’d bang sticks for him
during his set at one of the biggest bashes in the city. Who knew, maybe some
pounding bass, the chance to beat out some of his anxiety on stage, and huge
quantities of alcohol might just get his mind to a better place. God, he hoped
he’d be able to move his arms enough to even play. 

            He threw off
the covers and dragged his tired ass to the gym again, focusing on stretch and
recovery, and was pleasantly surprised when his muscled began to loosen.  He
made a resolution that he was going to get himself into shape, and ordered
himself a veggie egg white omelet and a fruit plate for breakfast before treating
himself to another arctic shower. No way he was spending the day sitting in the
room and dwelling on the night before—he needed to point his mind in a
completely different direction, so he wrapped his head in a bandana, slid on
some shades, and headed for Malibu Beach.

            The party
delivered on all promises and then some—whiskey flowed like water, scantily
clad women with fake tits and open dance cards flitted among the locals and
mostly B-list celebrities who’d shelled out a grand or more per ticket, and the
music was just plain hot. It was the one night of the year to indulge without
limits; and judging by the amounts of blow and X he saw being passed around and
the vacant looks on a lot of faces, inhibitions were definitely out the window.

            Bo pushed the
nagging thoughts to the back of his mind and threw all his focus into the
present. He mingled with other musicians, danced with a handful of models, and
did shots with the star of some horror flick that just hit the theaters. He was
feeling pretty pumped by the time he hit the stage; a pleasant buzz in his head
and his fingers tingling the way they always did when he was about to climb
behind a drum kit.