My Dad's Boss(12)

This seemed to galvanize Nick out of his shocked state. "In the  teacher's lounge. Right now, Robert." He moved around the table and took  my father's arm. Dad jerked back as if burned, and for one horrifying  second I thought they were going to fight each other. But then Dad took a  deep breath and seemed to steady himself. Finally, he nodded.

Nick walked down the hallway and Dad followed. Mom murmured something to  a woman nearby, and the woman came to stand behind the booth as Mom  headed in the direction the men had gone.

I stayed where I was, too stunned to move, too stunned to make my muscles obey.

Then Brad touched my arm. "I'm sorry," he said, looking me in the eye.  "I really am. I saw you all together, and I thought they knew." I stared  at him in disbelief. He'd been my first love and then he'd stomped on  my heart. Cheated on me. And he'd never apologized for that. But this?  This he apologized for.

And the stupid thing was, I believed him. He hadn't been trying to spill the beans on our relationship.

"I know." I didn't forgive him for everything, but I did for this. He hadn't meant to, and what's done was done.

Now I had to find out how bad the fallout was going to be.





Chapter Ten





MOM WAS PACING in front of the door to the teacher's lounge. Angry  voices echoed inside it. She grabbed my hand when I reached for the door  knob.

"Just give them a few minutes, Cassie."

I withdrew my hand and nodded. If I went in there now, I might have to  choose between them, and I couldn't do that. I didn't want to-and I  shouldn't have to.

Leaning against a row of lockers, I folded my hands over my chest to  keep from biting my nails. Mom resumed her pacing, but she kept throwing  me concerned glances.

"What?" I finally said, not sure I wanted to hear her questions but knowing she wanted to ask them.

But instead of asking anything, she said, "This is all my fault."

What? "Why?" Surprise forced the syllable out of my mouth.

"I pushed you into going to work for him. None of this would've happened if I hadn't done that."

"Mom, it's not your fault. We met at the coffeehouse the week before the party."

Instant relief showed on her face. "Oh good. Then it's really not my  fault. I told you not to spend so much of your summer there."

Her abrupt mood swing almost made me smile, but she was operating under  the assumption that my being with Nick was a bad thing. It wasn't.

"Why does it have to be anyone's fault? We're very happy together."

"Oh honey, of course you are. He's-Nick seems like a great man. But he's  almost twice your age. You need to be with a man you can build a future  with. Someone closer to your age."

"Brad was exactly my age, and look how that turned out."

"I know. And I know how much he hurt you. But that doesn't mean you  should give up. There are plenty of guys out there your age."

"Yes, I know. I go to a university full of them. Yet I had a miserable, lonely year. Until I met Nick."

"But he's-" she trailed off, as we both realized that the teacher's lounge was silent.

I looked at her hesitantly. "Should we-?"

At that moment, the door opened and my father stormed out. "We're going home. Right now," he said as he passed me.

I hesitated by the door, looking inside, wanting to go to Nick.

"Come on, Cassie," Mom whispered, grabbing my arm. "Please."

Tears rolled down my face as I followed my parents out of the building.





* * *





Things were awful after that. It turned out that my misery after Brad  cheated on me last year was just a warmup for this. I hadn't seen Nick  since the craft fair last week, and my dad wasn't speaking to me. Most  days he could barely look at me.

Technically, I wasn't speaking to him, either. I was an adult. I could  date whomever I wanted to. He had no right to pass judgment on us. But I  could feel waves of disdain and disappointment rolling off him whenever  we were in the same room-which wasn't often.

I took to spending most of my days at the coffeehouse, just so I could  be away from everyone. I didn't want to add fuel to the fire by going  over to Nick's place. I still wanted to finish the video and archiving  project I'd started for him, but I knew that my parents wouldn't believe  me if I told them that's why I was going over there. But I'd scanned a  lot of his family pictures and documents, so for a while, I could work  on his stuff from my laptop.         

     



 

Nick was throwing himself into work. Since my dad wasn't teaching summer  school, it was a good place for him to be. We'd texted a few times. He  said over and over that he never meant any disrespect to our family, and  that he never wanted this to happen. He asked me if I was all right and  encouraged me to give it time. He said if I needed him he'd be there,  but for now, we should wait before we resumed seeing each other.

And then a week after the craft fair, he asked to meet with me.

It was a Friday afternoon, and I'd just gotten home from the  coffeehouse. Quickly, I changed into jeans and a nicer shirt-not enough  to make my parents suspicious, but nicer than what I had been wearing.  As he'd suggested, I walked to an intersection three blocks away.

He pushed his car door open when I got there. Normally, he'd get out and  open it for me, but I guess we were in stealth mode now. It was  depressing.

Nick leaned over and gave me a quick kiss, and we didn't say much as he  drove. He asked how I was doing. I asked about the summer semester and  updated him about his photos and other family mementos.

It was torturous being next to him in the car yet feeling so distant.  Like there was this huge gulf between us that no bridges could cross.  But maybe he was right. Maybe time was the only bridge we'd be able to  get. Surely someday my dad would see that this was a good thing for me?  The right thing for me?

But Nick sighed as he drove, and soon we were headed toward the  causeway. The skies were dark as we crossed the narrow strip of land  that bisected the bay. The dark water was choppy, and the skies had  storm clouds. Exactly like my mood.

Nick drove on in silence until we reached the other side. The he drove  down increasingly smaller roads until we were parked overlooking an  empty stretch of sand. Waves hit the gray rocks, and I focused on that  because Nick's silence was scaring me.

We stayed in the car, each of us watching the water. With the engine  off, it was just possible to hear the sounds of the tide and the call of  the seagulls. Finally, Nick spoke.

"Your father came to the school today."

Alarmed, I turned to him. "What did he say? Did he …  was it awful?"

"He turned in his letter of resignation."

My mouth dropped open as I stared at Nick. Dad couldn't have done that. He loved teaching. He loved that school. "But why?"

Nick's face was grim, his hazel eyes that were usually so bright  reflecting the darkness from the water. "He's never wanted me to be  principal. Now it's clear he also doesn't want me to have anything to do  with his little girl. I think it's safe to say that your father's never  going to approve of me in any capacity."

Several responses rose to my lips. First off, I wasn't a little girl,  but I knew what Nick meant. In my dad's eyes, I was and probably always  would be. But Dad had disliked Nick even before he started seeing me. "I  swear, he's usually a reasonable man. I don't know why he's acting this  way with you."

"I've corrupted his daughter," Nick said, bitterness in his voice.

"You know that's not true. But even before that …  he wasn't fair to you."

"He doesn't respect me because I didn't start out as a teacher like him."

"He respected you," I protested, but Nick glanced over, and now his  light eyes were piercing again. "Well, okay, maybe he didn't, but he  should have."

Nick sighed. "I've done everything I can to lead that school. And I  think most teachers see that. But a few, like your father, are just  never going to accept me. And now your dad has even more reason not to."

I hated this. I hated that I'd given Dad extra reason to shun Nick when  his dislike was so unfair to begin with. "So-so what do we do? How do we  fix this?"

Nick's hand closed around mine, and I grasped at his long fingers. I  wish I could be in his arms, but for now, I'd take any contact with him I  could get. "We stop seeing each other."

What? "No-you can't mean that …  you can't be serious, Nick. I … " Could I  say I loved him? Because I did. But did he feel the same way? Clearly  not if he wanted us to break up. "Please, Nick, we'll work it out."

"There's nothing to work out. If we stay together, then a man who's  devoted his life to that school is going to walk out its doors forever.  Lose his job, disrupt his family. I can't let him do that. Not because  of me."

"No! It's because of him. He's the one who can't accept what we have. He's the one in the wrong, not us."