This is a story of pure fiction intended only for those who are mature enough to handle it. If you don't fall into that category, buzz off! Stop reading. Go somewhere else.
Sitting in the teacher's lounge during her morning planning period is what Lisa's always done. It gives her a chance to have non-student interactions and drink coffee. So there she was...springtime Thursday morning correcting her latest test. This new unit would be the last to be completed before review for finals. Lisa always liked to multi-task. She SO enjoyed the teacher's lounge when it was only her. And then her silence was broken by the turn of the latch on the door. She looked up and smiled, as was her custom and was met by the somber look of a woman she'd never met.
"Hi there," Lisa said.
"Oh, hello. I'm Lori Beth. I'm in for 10th grade History."
Lisa was concerned as always, for the mental state of other teachers. She voiced her concern by saying, "So, are the 10th graders putting you through the paces too?"
Thinking there was something she didn't know about these kids, Lori Beth's ears perked up. She said, "So, they do this to all the subs?"
"I'm afraid so. By the way, I'm Lisa. I teach English." Lori Beth walked over and stretched out her hand in true Spartan style. Lisa stood up and shook her hand.
In her welcoming way Lisa invited her to join her by saying, "You know what? Let me get you a cup of coffee. Have a seat." Lori Beth sat right down at the oval table. "Now, why don't you tell me a couple things. First, how do you take your coffee? And second, what have they done to you today?"
Feeling welcomed by this new acquaintance, Lori Beth replied, "Oh, I like it with one sugar and two shots of cream, thanks. They've been awful, just awful. The teacher left an assignment to be done in class and counted as a quiz. First, they stole all the chalk and every pen from his desk. So, I tried to get them to own up to it. That was a lost cause. Almost no one had any of their books with them. So, I said they could go to their lockers to get them. Then, they didn't come back. It was just awful. I don't think I can handle these kids. They're such little shits. I don't even know their names to turn them in."
Lisa smiled and put her hand on Lori Beth's and said, "Listen, they do this to subs all the time. What you need to do is quit second-guessing yourself. Then, compose yourself and get a box of chalk and a box of pens from the office. Then, you get to have some fun. See, if they've done this to you today, word's going to travel fast that they can fuck with the history sub---and they will. You'll have to take a stand next period. Make an example of the first student who ducks out of line. Come down hard and fast and don't back down. It's the only chance at credibility that you have."
Almost reduced to tears, Lori Beth looked up into Lisa's eyes and smiled. Taking her hand from Lori Beth's, Lisa sipped her coffee, smiled, and commented, "Ya know what? Let me make this up to you. Are you free this afternoon for happy hour? I'll buy you a drink."
Somehow reassured, Lori Beth smiled and said, "Oh, that's not necessary. I'll be fine." Packing up her things, Lisa said, "No, I insist. Meet me at The Bell at 4. Got it?" Finally seeing a silver lining in the darkness of the day, Lori Beth smiled and said, "Sure, sounds great." Checking her watch and showing a need to go quickly, Lisa said, "Ok great, I'll see you then," and with that, she left the lounge.
Lisa stayed at school grading the tests she didn't have a chance to grade earlier. In enough time, she left school for The Bell and was seated first. Lori Beth arrived a few minutes later. As was her custom, Lisa stood up when Lori Beth arrived and asked how the remainder of the day went. Sitting down and beckoning for the waiter, Lori Beth smiled and motioned for Lisa to hold that thought. As the waiter approached, Lori Beth looked at Lisa and said, "What's your pleasure?"
"Oh, I'll have a Mich Ultra Lite, please," she said, looking at the waiter.
Lori Beth spoke up and said, "And I'll have a Corona Ultra, thanks."
"Coming right up, ladies," said the waiter. Lisa watched as he walked away, enjoying the wiggle of his ass in his black pants. She smiled at Lori Beth and commented, "Not bad, you missed it."
Feeling the need to set the tone from the beginning of the evening, Lori Beth sat forward and put on her most serious face. She looked into Lisa's eyes and Lisa realized something was wrong. After all, it was a harmless comment. Lisa sat forward and used her eyes to ask what was wrong. Lori Beth looked down at the smooth-topped table and got her nerve back. Looking back into Lisa's eyes, Lori Beth said, "Actually, I don't think I was missing much." Confused, Lisa inquired, "Why? He's nice-looking, our age, no wedding ring."
Finding the situation increasingly awkward, Lori Beth dropped the bomb without further delay. She said, "You're right. He's nice-looking, our age, and isn't wearing a wedding ring. I'm not interested though. See, I'm gay."
Lisa smiled a warm, inviting smile and the waiter arrived with the drinks. Looking up, she thanked the waiter and he walked away. "Well, great! Then we won't be competing on each other's territory. Are you involved with anyone?"
Taken aback by her response, Lori Beth looked at Lisa shocked and said, "Well, no actually. I figured I'd keep all this under my hat until I got a teaching position and achieved tenure." Lisa smiled warmly and said, "Well, that doesn't have to mean you can't get involved with anyone. And if you're trying to keep this under your hat, why tell me? We're not exactly old friends."
Lori Beth looked onto the conversation and pondered a response. After a moment, she said, "Well, I thought you were a member of the team."
Letting out a chuckle, Lisa said, "Well, no, I'm not a member of the team. I quit the team long ago. I didn't like the other players. For your benefit though, you can count on me to keep this under my hat as well. So, now that that's out of the way, why don't you tell me about your day and then about yourself?"
Lori Beth felt welcomed and surprised and shocked all at the same time. Attempting to recover the situation without completely embarrassing herself, Lori Beth Smiled and took a moment to think. "So nonchalant! I like that. My day went fine. I turned in every single name on my roster for first period. If they want to fuck with me, they'll pay the price. Once I told the next class what I did, no one stepped out. Thanks for picking up the pieces."
"No problem. I've been there myself," Lisa responded.
Lori Beth continued, "I'm 25. I have my bachelor's in Second Ed. for chemistry. Right now, I'm subbing while taking full-time Master's credit. I'm new to the area and admit up-front that you're the first person I've met outside of work."
Lisa smiled. "Well thanks for the career update. Now, why don't you tell me about you? You know, likes, dislikes, why you can control one class of monsters with a degree in teaching?"
"Ah, this morning. Honestly, today was destined to be a terrible day. I shouldn't have gotten out of bed. My mother called and couldn't resist bringing up the fact that they live 30 minutes away and never see me, all while nearly making me late for work. Then, my car almost wouldn't start. There was nothing on the radio on the way in, and I got lost once I got here. I ended up on the wrong floor of the building on the opposite side. And then, to top it all off, those little shits pulled that stunt first period. I normally would have handled it fine but I'm not doing so well since Jess and I split. I hate thinking it but I wonder if I should move back in with my folks to look after them. And part of me knows that doing that is almost like giving up. But, you saw what happened today. When a little bit of stress popped up, I couldn't take it. And now that that I've blurted out an immense load of information to a nearly complete stranger and made a complete idiot of myself, I'll stop talking for a few moments."
Lisa giggled the cutest giggle Lori Beth had heard in a long time and smiled. They each sipped their drink and looked around the room. Then Lisa leaned forward onto the table, barely exposing the soft skin on her chest. She unfolded her arms and cupped the condensing glass in her hands. She took another sweep of the room with her eyes and then returned her gaze to Lori Beth's deep brown stare. "Ya know, it sounds like you're only thinking about moving back in with your folks because life on your own without Jess is too hard. And if you don't mind me saying so, we're about the same age and I live alone."
Lori Beth smiled and said, "Well, it's hard. How do you wake up every morning alone and go home every night to an empty house? I'm having a rough time of it...and frankly, you seem so well put together that there may be no better person to ask."
Lisa couldn't help but feel awakened inside by this new friend. It had been so long since Lisa had met anyone of either sex that even tempted her. She sat back from her glass, put her hands in her pockets and said, "Well, I don't claim that it's easy to live alone. After all, sometimes all of us just need to be held. The loneliness is something one just learns to live with over time. And it really sounds like you just need a few friends to occupy your time."
Knowing she was busted, Lori Beth affirmed Lisa's theory with a nod and said, "Well, I won't turn new friends down, if that's what you mean."
"Well good. Listen, I have a thing that I have to run to. Would you consider having dinner with me tomorrow night? It'll give us more of a chance to get to know each other."
"I don't want to be any more trouble than I've been. You've already taken time out of your busy..."
"Hey," Lisa interrupted with a smile, "you said you wouldn't refuse a friend. Tomorrow at 7? I'll pick you up?" Flattered, Lori Beth agreed saying, "Sure, I'd love to. Here's my address."
"Excellent. It's a date. Until tomorrow then," and Lisa walked up to the bar. She picked up the tab and swayed her way out of the bar. Lori Bath sat in her chair and replayed the things that had happened throughout the day. She couldn't help but feel like her day had ended much better than it had started.
Friday morning arrived and Lisa went through the day on Cloud 9. Even her students asked why she was in such a good mood. She whistled in the halls, smiled at other teachers, and even ended class a few minutes early. Her day was stress-free. As she drove home, she couldn't help but think of what to wear for the evening portion of the day. She wanted her clothes to say, "Hi, can we talk?" She drove up her driveway, ran into the house, and picked up everything her morning routine left hanging around the house. She checked her watch and decided to grab a quick shower.
At the same time across town, Lori Beth was just coming home from a long day at another district. Running into the house with her groceries and teacher's bag, she absently and quickly put everything into the refrigerator, including the new salt and pepper shakers she bought. She kicked off her shoes and stopped for a brief second to pet the cat. Her idle purr put a smile on her face; a much-needed smile. She sighed in relief that the week was finally over and had to quickly get ready for her evening out. She walked into her closet and thought, "I want comfortable shoes. I'm wearing pants."' She picked out some black Dockers and a cute herringbone style belt to go with them. Then, she had to find a shirt. She browsed her collection and found a button-down powder blue shirt that would go perfect with the black Dockers.
Lori Beth and Lisa didn't know it but they were in the shower at the same time. Each had hot steamy water cascading down their bodies. Each took a few moments to relax. Each thought about the other, feeling the warm wet heat relax away the day's troubles. Lori Beth got out of the sauna-like shower and put on her well-suited outfit. Lisa finished her shower, threw on her robe and went off to her closet to find the perfect outfit. She settled on some navy blue pinstripe pants and a nice white blouse. By the time Lisa was ready and on her way to Lori Beth's house, Lori Beth was just starting to fix her hair. She had decided on a tossled naturally wavy look. She was just putting her earrings on and scrambling for shoes when the bell rang. Knowing who it was at the door; Lori Beth took one last look in the mirror, smiled at her results and bolted down the stairs to the door. On the last step, she stumbled and ended up catching herself on the front door. As the door opened, Lori Beth noticed Lisa's wide-eyed expression and chuckled. Lisa smiled and said, "Quite the entrance. These are for you." She handed Lori Beth a bouquet of flowers and looked around awkwardly. Lori Beth recovered from her embarrassment, remembered her manners and asked "Won't you come in?" Lisa smiled and took a step forward saying,"Thanks. You look great, by the way." Lori Beth blushed and replied, "Oh, thanks. So do you. I'll just put these in some water and we'll be on our way." Lori Beth walked confidently into the kitchen. She looked for a tall something or other to put the flowers in. A water glass would do! She opened the cellophane wrapping and the fragrance of the flowers had her heart pounding in her ears. She just loved getting flowers! She inhaled deeply and closed her eyes imagining fragrant fields of flowers all around her. Standing against the side of the doorframe, Lisa smiled and remarked coyly, "If I'd known giving you flowers would put you in such a good mood, I'd have done it yesterday." Shocked that she wasn't alone during her imaginary trip into Flowerland, she opened her startled eyes and stammered, "Well, uh...sorry, I just love to smell fresh flowers. They're beautiful. Thank you." Lisa was still enjoying the slight embarrassment that Lori Beth was going through. She wanted to prolong that and said with a giggle, "That shade of red looks lovely on you." As Lori Beth blushed a deeper shade of red, she recovered and remarked, "Not as good as your ass in those pants." Lisa was shocked that this sweet woman who seemed so vulnerable could be so brazen, never mind that she'd looked at her ass. It only made her seem more appealing. In reply she said, "Well, uh, thank you. Shall we go?" "Yes, let's...by the way, you're wearing a lovely shade of red too," Lori Beth said and walked toward the door and the stairs from a few minutes ago. She called down the hall, "I just need to get my purse." Regaining her composure from the ass comment, she followed Lori Beth toward the door and said, "We have reservations at Blondie's." Opening the door and motioning for Lori Beth to go first. "Excellent." Lori Beth said, "I love that restaurant. I hope we can be on the outside terrace." Thinking she'd save her response to that for the restaurant, Lisa said, "You have a lovely home."' Going along with the topic change, Lori Beth remarked, "Well, it's not mine yet but I like it." Going down the well-lit sidewalk side by side, one of Lori Beth's older neighbors was walking by. "Good evening girls," the elderly woman said. "Good evening, Mrs. Robins. How are you today?" Lori Beth said with sincere interest. "Oh, I'm fine...just out for my walk. Dr.'s orders." The ladies smiled at the elderly woman and Lori Beth spoke up, "Well, I'm glad to know you are following them...it's important." "Oh, I know dear. Now, you girls have fun tonight." "Thank you Mrs. Robbins. You have a good night too." With a good-natured chuckle in her voice, Mrs. Robins said with a wink, "Well, not as much fun as you all...but I'll be sure to do that." By now, Lori Beth and Lisa made it down the sidewalk, each beautiful and blushing at the knowing wink from Mrs. Robins. Lisa got the door for Lori Beth and smiled at Mrs. Robins. Lori Beth got in and said, "Thank you." "You're welcome," Lori Beth said, and they were off.
Want more? Tell me. Beccalynn1982@hotmail.com