Page 2 of Inside Out
“It’s gotten progressively worse since his wife died. She used to temper his grouchiness by injecting positivity into his life. I’m trying to be a friend to him, but it feels like I’m losing the battle.”
“I’m truly sorry for his loss,” I said, feeling my irritation fading on the spot.
“He’s not coping well,” Irv admitted, glancing at his watch. “I must be going too. I’m taking Cindy’s kids to Kings Island for the day so she can have a day of pampering at the Curl Up and Dye salon before the big day. It was very nice meeting you, Rome.”
“It was nice meeting you too, Irv. I hope Cindy has a wonderful day.”
Once he was gone, I entered a note into my phone to seek Cindy out after the first week of school. I’d made it clear to the board and the district staff that I would have an open-door policy and they were welcome to bring issues to my attention. I wanted to foster a healthy relationship to encourage the best possible atmosphere for our district. Everyone had nodded and said the right things, but I could see in their eyes they had no intention of knocking on my door. Fine. I’d go to them, starting with Cindy.
I settled back in my chair and resumed reading the paper. I sat there grinning while I caught up on small-town gossip, learned how to get mustard stains out of my clothes, and perused the fall sports preview insert for the junior high and high school teams. Of course, the order of teams wasn’t lost on me. Football was the most popular high school sport and therefore took up the biggest portion of the preview with soccer and volleyball tied for second place in popularity, leaving only a few pages to cover the rest of the activities. It was like the kids who participated in golf, cross-country running, or tennis didn’t matter as much since they were crammed onto the same page, and the marching band and flag corps weren’t listed at all.
I’d heard the arguments time and time again in every district I’d ever worked. Football made more money for the school than almost all other sports combined, including the winter and spring sports. That’s why so much of the budget was allotted toward football equipment and advertising in the papers. I understood all about budgets and the necessity of bringing in as much revenue as we could to keep the stadium lights on and the grass trimmed. I also remembered what it was like to play sports that weren’t as respected and pouring my heart and soul into a role for the school play that hardly anyone attended. I knew there had to be a compromise that made everyone happy.
My eyes were drawn to the photo of the handsome advanced chemistry teacher who also coached the tennis team. Julius Shepherd was the most beautiful man I’d ever seen. His medium-brown skin with bronze undertones and jet black hair made a delicious contrast to his tawny hazel-brown eyes that sparkled with intelligence and good humor. The school board had hired us both on the same day in the spring. I’d introduced myself to him as the new superintendent then shook the hand he’d offered me. The engaging smile on his face made it impossible for me to look away from his lips. Butterflies took flight in my stomach the second his warm skin touched mine. It wasn’t a foreign feeling, but it had been a very long time since I’d experienced anything like it. It felt so damn good that my hand automatically tightened around his. Julius’s eyes had widened, and the smile faded from his lips, but he didn’t make a move to pull back from me. Instead, he narrowed his eyes and studied me intently, making me feel like a specimen beneath a microscope. He must not have liked what he saw because he stiffened and removed his hand from my grip.
“Um, sorry about that,” I stammered. My reaction to the younger man left me feeling unsettled. It was just as obvious how uncomfortable I’d made him.
“I need to get going,” he told me, taking steps backward to put distance between us. “I need to check out some places to rent before I return to Philly.”
“You’re not sticking around?”
“I need to finish out the school year, and then I’ll move,” he replied. “I guess I’ll see you around.”
“You will,” I assured him, hoping I didn’t sound predatory.
I expected it would be months before I saw him again, but I ran into him the next day when I got my hair cut at the same salon Irv mentioned. The adorable receptionist, Dare, turned out to be Julius’s new landlord, and he’d stopped by to finalize the paperwork so he could get on the road. Wren, the barber who cut my hair, looked like a younger, sexier version of Fabio, and he made it clear Dare was off-limits by explaining he previously rented the same apartment from Dare. It was only available for Julius to lease because the beauty and the barber had recently moved in together.
My exchange with Julius in the salon was brief and mostly one-sided, but I didn’t miss the way he nervously licked his lower lip when I approached or how his pen trembled when a deep chuckle rumbled out of me over something Dare said when I paid him for my haircut. Maybe he wasn’t as immune to me as I had first thought. I had worried about accepting a job in a small school district because returning to the closet wasn’t something I was willing to do at forty-five years old.
It turned out the newly elected school board didn’t care a bit about my personal life; they only cared about my professional credentials and whether I was the best candidate for the job. Once I accepted the position, I looked around the quaint town and realized just how happy Dolly, my five-year-old Dachshund, and I would be strolling down the picturesque streets. Then I learned there were several gay couples already living in Blissville, including the salon owner and his detective-turned-police-captain husband. While I couldn’t say that Blissville was Palm Springs, it was close enough for this guy and his four-legged best friend.
I’d only seen Julius a few times once he moved to Blissville until all the required pre-planning meetings for the school year started. Each time I was near him, I managed to stumble, spill something, or do something equally as embarrassing. I hadn’t realized he was also hired as the tennis coach because he’d only been introduced as the newest chemistry teacher. I nearly drove into a parked car when I saw him on the tennis courts. The man had sexy, toned legs that stretched for miles. Luckily, the chirping of a car alarm caught my attention before I made a fool of myself or hurt someone. Julius mostly dodged me whenever he could and spoke the least amount required when avoiding me wasn’t possible. It was frustrating as hell, but it didn’t stop me from fantasizing about the two of us tangled together, kissing, touching, and making love. I knew he was much too young for me, but I didn’t see how dreaming about something that would never happen could hurt anyone but myself.
I don’t know how long I sat there staring at his smiling photo before new voices from the table beside me caught my attention.
“Clara, calm down. It’s not Mrs. Frazier’s fault that she went into labor early. We’ll find someone else to direct the school play. We should be more worried about little Max right now. He only weighs two pounds.”
“I am worried about Max, Ellie. I can worry about more than one thing at a time. It’s called multitasking.”
“How can you guys even be excited about going back to school?” a teenaged boy asked. “You two look to join everything you can, while I look for excuses to cut class and sm—”
I lowered my paper and cleared my throat before he could finish, saving him from confessing to smoking cigarettes or weed. “Hello,” I said. The three of them reminded me of Veronica, Betty, and Jughead from the Archie comic series.
“Oh, Dr. Bradley,” the Veronica lookalike said. “I’m Clara Simpson, and these are my friends Ellie Pedersen and Curtis Langston.”
“Hiya,” Ellie said, wiggling her fingers in a wave.
“Hey,” Curtis said like he’d rather be anywhere else than talking to a boring adult.
“Guys, this is the superintendent of Blissville Schools,” Clara said, beaming. That got Curtis sitting up straighter.
“Your mom is Caitlyn Simpson, right?” I asked her. Caitlyn was the president of the school board, and Clara looked just like her.
“Yep, that’s my mom. Have you heard the news about Mrs. Frazier and little Max?”
“I have. It sounds like Max is little but mighty. So, you’re worried about the school play?” I asked her.
“Yes,” she admitted hesitantly.