Chapter 03

The week had rolled in pretty quickly. It was already time for schools to reopen. Adrian and Aaron had spent the week very well with his son. They visited hell lot of attractions in the city and made friends with their neighbors. Aaron was pretty much active than he was in their old place. But, he was yet to make friends around his age to play.

On Monday morning, Adrian got up early to prepare breakfast for Aaron and himself. He could never miss having breakfast with his son. And also he was expecting the nanny he had hired for his son to arrive. The lady seemed nice on the phone so Adrian had decided to choose her.

Aaron came out of his room still wearing last night’s PJs. Adrian got him to freshen up and sat him on his high chair and served him breakfast. Thankfully, Aaron wasn’t a picky eater. They ate while having small talks.

When they were almost done, there was a knock on the front door.

“I will see it,” Adrian said and Aaron gave a nod as yes.

There was a woman on the other side. She looked like she was in her late 30s or early 40s. And she had a warm smile plastered on her face.

“I’m Beatrice,” she said to him.

“Oh! The nanny right?” He gets a nod from her.

“Please come in,” Adrian said to her and walked inside. She followed him behind.

“I’m Adrian Marcel,” he tried to fill in the silence as they walked to the dining area.

“I know,” she blurted.

“Umm… I was just…” he trailed off.

“I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to,” she intoned. She looked nervous and Adrian just laughed it off.

“That’s okay,” Adrian said. She smiles at him nervously.

When they reached the dining table, he introduced his son.

“This is my son Aaron and he is a little over 2yrs.”

The little boy makes bubbles in his milk bottle and smiles at her and waves his hand.

“He’s a little naughty. Please don’t mind.” He said to her.

“That is what he is supposed to be at this age. He’s cute though,” she says and smiles at Aaron.

“It’s my first day at work. I’ll have to leave now. I don’t want to be late,” Adrian said to her and got his work bag.

“Yeah, sure. Don’t worry about him,” she assured him.

“Feel free to walk around the house except for my room. And everything is set in the kitchen and he eats normal food, if he throws tantrums to not eat then you can give him the baby food. It’s in the upper cabinet.” he instructed her.

“Okay,” she nods.

“Other than that, he’ll be fine, I guess. You can call me if anything-” he walks towards his son.

“Okay,” she says.

“Papa is off to work. I’ll be back in the evening. Be a good boy ok?” he spoke to his son. Aaron hugs his father and they exchanged goodbye kisses.

Withing time, Adrian reached the school and parked his car. He glanced at the side mirror for a moment and felt like he saw someone familiar. But he ignored it and head towards the office. He has to concentrate on his agenda.

He went to the receptionist's desk. The lady at the desk looks up from her computer. She looked average and wore heavy makeup. She wore a skirt and blouse, upper buttons opened. Is it okay to dress bold on the school premises, he thought.

“Hi, I’m Adrian Marcel, and it’s my appointment letter and I am supposed to start work today.”

“Oh! Right!” she gave him a broad smile which he returned.

“Please come this way.” She guided him towards the staff room.

“The principal had notified me about your arrival. You can start working and I will get your schedule soon,” she said to him as they reached the staffroom.

“Okay. Thanks,” he replied politely.

“I’m Linda by the way,” her late introductions.

“Right, I forgot to ask your name,” He told her smiling.

She nods and says, “That’s okay.”

By that time, a tall with good built, guy walks to the staffroom. Linda looks at him and smiles.

“Good morning, Mr. Robinson,” she greets him.

“Good morning Linda,” he said to her and looked at Adrian, he was standing opposite to her.

“He’s the new math teacher,” she informs him.

“Oh! Hello there, I’m Matthew Robinson and I teach English,” he introduces himself with hands out.

Adrian took his hand without hesitation. “Adrian Marcel. And maths, I teach.”

Linda got Adrian’s timetable for classes and he got carried with his work. He had the first hour with the final year students.

He was searching for the right classroom when a student bumped into him.

“Aw! That hurt,’ the boy whined.

“You should’ve walked properly,” Adrian said.

“I did Mister!” the boy hissed.

“Oh really! Is that why you bumped into me?” Adrian questioned him.

“Whatever. I have a class to attend,” he exits from there.

“As if I don’t,” Adrian resumed his mission to search for the classroom.

And he found it at the corner of the top floor of the building. As he entered the classroom, all the students stood up, staring at him. They must have sensed him being their new teacher, not the subject of course.

Adrian was quick to spot the boy from earlier and the bigger shock was the girl sitting next to him. Jordan.

Never in his dreams did he think Jordan would be his student. It is not like he would have something with her if she wasn’t his student. He had thought to keep a distance from her if he ever met her again. The girl had caught his attention, a different kind, since the supermarket. He composed himself and greeted the students.

“Hello, guys. I’m Mr. Marcel, your new math teacher.”

“Where is Mrs. Frank?” a front bench student questioned.

“I don’t know about that but I will be taking maths for you all this year. Anything else?” he answered her.

The student shook her head and sat back in her seat. Adrian soon began the class.

It wasn’t just Adrian who was shocked. But Jordan and the guy from earlier were too. Absolute shock. They both kept talking in between the class and murmured a lot. He sat very close to her.

He could be her boyfriend. Gosh! Why do I keep thinking about every boy that is close to her as her boyfriend? He could be just a friend too. Adrian's voice kept running inside his head without any breaks.

At the end of the class, all the students left the class for their next one. Except for two. Jordan and the guy. They both walked near the podium. The guy nudges Jordan and whispers, “What are you waiting for?”

“Why do you need that?” she asks him in annoyance.

Adrian looked at them bickering. “Who wants to go first?” He asked them.

The guy looks at Jordan and actions her to speak first. She replies a no with her head. And he glares at her. Adrian noticed that.

“What is it, Mr. Whitaker?” He asked the guy. He had noted his name while taking attendance.

“I’m sorry for earlier Mr. Marcel.” The guy says hesitantly.

Adrian nodded and said, “I hope that doesn’t repeat, not with me, not with anyone else.”

The guy nods his head as yes. And Adrian tells him to leave. The guy runs off from the class.

Adrian now looked at Jordan. She looked nervous and shy, unlike the other day. She looked beautiful even in uniform. Maybe, she is also dazed to know that Adrian is her teacher.

“Why do you look nervous?” He asked her.

She looks up at him and said, “I didn’t know you would be my maths teacher.”

“Neither did I. It’s nothing to worry about Ms. Bright.” He fought with himself not to do but ended up giving her a warm smile. She smiled back at him and that warmed his heart unintentionally. At that moment, their eyes caught each other. They stood there for a few moments staring into each other’s eyes.

Adrian got back to his senses when a cool breeze passed by them and Jordan shuddered in response to the cool air. He cleared his throat and said, “Then see you later, Ms. Bright.”

“Yes, Mr. Marcel.”