Page 15 of The Sunny Side (Rojo 2nd Generation: Rojo Police Department #3)

B RAWLEY

I pulled my phone out to make sure I hadn’t missed Marcus’ call and then checked the volume to make sure it was up.

Last night, I’d managed to get into my house without being accosted by the crazy woman who was now stalking me.

Okay, maybe it wasn’t stalking yet, but it could definitely be called persistent attempts at unwanted communication which was the precursor to a stalking charge.

As I was walking out to my unit this morning, I heard a small dog yapping, and Max uncharacteristically tried to pull me down the driveway rather than jump into the vehicle like he’d been trained to do. I reprimanded him and got him inside only to have him give me the side-eye for the next hour.

People who said dogs didn’t feel emotion were full of shit.

Max was pissed, and I thought I might know why.

He’d fallen for the little high-maintenance dog while she stayed with us, and now he recognized her bark and was frustrated when I didn’t let him seek her out.

Talk about a weird situation - the one woman I needed to avoid had the one thing that would make my partner happy.

Fortunately, Max got over his snit by the time we got to the school, which probably had more to do with the pup cup Sunny Conner gave me for him when I stopped at Parking Latte, the coffee truck she owned with her sister, May.

I was careful to make sure that Max followed a healthy diet, but this time, I gave him the cup of whipped cream because I was sick of listening to him sigh from the back seat where he was making it known just how unhappy he was with me.

Once all of the kids were settled in class, I made my rounds and then went to my office to check my email.

I was alerted by a reminder that we started our two-week stint of being on call this evening, meaning we had to be available when any of the patrol officers needed a drug search.

I’d have a difficult time trying to figure out how to escape my house at all hours of the day and night if I didn’t get this mess with Clarisse settled.

I was torn. On one hand, I really wanted to talk to her again because I’d thought about her more times than was probably healthy over the years, but on the other hand, I was still pissed that she’d done such an about-face and filed a protective order against me.

I had often wondered if that was her parents’ doing more so than Clarisse’s, but then I remembered the shitty things her mom said and got mad all over again.

The look of disgust on that woman’s face when she saw me and Orson waiting outside Clarisse’s hospital room was so dramatic that we were both taken aback, but when she started in with the bullshit about how her daughter didn’t want to have anything to do with ‘boys like you,’ we got pissed.

Luckily, our parents had taught us to respect our elders.

Otherwise, I’d have given that woman an earful, something that I almost wished my mom had been allowed to do.

But cooler heads prevailed. We left the hospital and waited in the parking lot until we saw her parents leave in their expensive car before we went back upstairs.

Since Clarisse was sleeping, we just made sure she was okay and then went home.

When I went back up to check on her the next day, the shit really hit the fan.

Even though I was mad as hell, I still wondered about the pretty young woman I’d met.

For years, I had dreams she starred in, although they had nothing to do with the car accident or her rescue.

A few years after that night, I asked Orson if he ever wondered how she was doing and admitted that I still thought about her on occasion.

Orson was already deep into the computer world, much deeper than my occasional searches on social media for Clarisse, and he discovered she was enrolled in college and seemed to be living well in Colorado, probably never giving me another thought.

I would ask him for an update every now and again, but that tapered off until a few days ago when I called him about her.

Now the asshole kept sending me memes of hearts and flowers, giving me shit because he knew I’d never really stopped thinking about her.

On a whim, I sent my friend Amalia, Orson’s cousin, a text asking her to walk into his office and slap him for me. A few minutes later, I received a video from Amalia showing her doing just that.

I was still chuckling over it when a muffled shout from the hallway caught my attention. I jumped up and grabbed Max’s leash before I rushed out and saw two students sprinting down the hall toward my office.

“It’s Mrs. Proctor! She passed out and fell on the floor!” the young woman yelled as she skidded to a stop in front of me. “We called already.”

Luckily, their classroom wasn’t far. I went as fast as the brace on my leg would allow with Max trotting beside me.

When I got to the room, I found Mrs. Proctor on her back with kids crowded around her.

I dropped to one knee and felt for her pulse before I hit my mic and, once again, reported an unconscious woman in front of me and gave all of the details I had so far.

“I know this sucks, guys, but we’re gonna need some space. Everyone needs to take their seat,” I ordered as I looked around the room. I saw two kids I knew, Dayton and Marcelino, and called them by name before I ordered, “Go hold the doors open for the paramedics and then lead them back here.”

The boys took off, and I focused on Mrs. Proctor until I heard more commotion in the hall. I hurried to move out of the way so the paramedics had room to work and tried to calm the kids down as other teachers poked their heads in to see what was happening.

One of them offered to call the principal at home to see if she could find a last-minute substitute or come up here herself to talk to the kids and finish out the day and then left me to deal with the fallout of this morning’s excitement.

“Do you think she’s going to be okay?” one of the young women asked.

“She’s in good hands. They’ll get her to the hospital within just a few minutes, and the doctors will be able to help,” I reassured her.

“Can we go home?” a young man asked.

I smirked at him before I asked, “What do you think?”

“Are you going to teach us or what?” he retorted.

“I guess I will,” I said as I sat on the corner of Mrs. Proctor’s desk and looked around the room.

“I’m not gonna lie and say I know enough about social studies to really teach you anything, but there’s something I do think we should go over after what just happened.

Raise your hand if you know the first thing you should do if someone collapses. ”

◆◆◆

CLANCY

I put my hands on my hips and took a minute to take everything in.

It took everything in me not to dance around and celebrate my win.

I had successfully finished my dining room, complete with gorgeous floral wallpaper from the ceiling down to the chair rail where I’d installed the paneling that the kind gentleman at the hardware store had suggested.

The paint I’d chosen for the other three walls was a perfect match with the muted greenery on the wallpaper, and the wainscotting I’d cut, painted, and installed added the perfect touch.

Thank God for putty because I hadn’t quite learned the lesson that you should measure twice and cut once, something the YouTubers I watched always preached about.

But unless someone got up onto a ladder to inspect my work, they’d have no idea how many mistakes I’d made.

And if they were willing to do that, then they better be ready to kiss my ass when they stepped off the ladder because I was proud of my work.

I stood in the center of the empty room and slowly turned around as I took a video to share with my sisters, cousins, and Aunt Steph.

I nearly jumped out of my skin when my phone rang in my hand.

It was a local number, but it wasn’t programmed in my phone, so I answered it in my most professional voice just in case it was about a job opportunity.

“This is Clarisse Middleton.”

“Ms. Middleton! This is Marjorie Weathers, the principal at Bowie Middle School.”

“How nice to hear from you, Mrs. Weathers,” I said as I tried hard to keep my voice calm. “What can I do for you?”

“I’m hoping that you might be available to substitute for us.

One of our social studies teachers has fallen ill, and I need someone who can take over her class immediately.

I’m not exactly sure when she will be able to come back to work yet, but my guess would be that the job will last through the summer term. ”

“I’d love to take the position!” I said eagerly. “When would you like me to start?”

“If you can meet me in the office tomorrow morning at seven, I’ll have you sign some paperwork and then we’ll get your badge issued along with a set of keys.

Class starts at eight, but the doors open and the students usually start trickling in at seven thirty.

Before I leave today, I’ll text you the address and make sure that you have all of the information you’ll need to begin teaching tomorrow. ”

“I’ll be there, Mrs. Weathers. I can’t wait!”

She seemed relieved. I managed to contain myself until I was sure that the call was disconnected, but then I started jumping up and down while I whooped and laughed.

I finally had a foot in the door. Hopefully, that would bring me closer to getting a permanent position in the district.

I loved history, geography, and social studies and just adored teaching, so this opportunity was perfect!

I sent a text to my sisters and smiled when I read their responses, which were encouraging and congratulatory, and then I sat down in the middle of the empty room and burst into tears.

The last few months had been stressful, between hiding my plans from my father and stepmother, to packing up my entire life and moving to a new state. So far, I’d been able to distract myself by focusing on my new home, but now the events of the last few weeks came rushing in.

Because of the inheritance I received from my grandmother, I knew I wouldn’t have to worry about money if I was careful with it and watched my investment portfolio, but I wasn’t one to spend my time doing nothing.

I needed to be busy, and I knew it was important for me to get out and meet people.

Unfortunately, I wasn’t one to willingly socialize, but going to school every day would make me do just that.

Yes, I’d spend the majority of my day with teenagers who would rather be anywhere but inside a classroom, but I would also meet the other teachers and even some of the parents.

That would certainly count as my being social, and I wouldn’t have to deal with awkward situations like meeting someone in a bar or hoping to run into someone cute at the grocery store.

Which reminded me - I needed to go grocery shopping today so I had something to take for lunch tomorrow.

I took one more look at my dining room and then went to shower and get dressed. I had things to do and a limited amount of time in which to do them. Groceries would come first, and then I needed to go through the boxes of clothes I hadn’t unpacked yet so I could decide what I was going to wear.

Obviously, leggings and an old T-shirt wouldn’t do. That had been my uniform since I’d started working on my home.

Cupcake sensed my excitement and pranced beside me as I walked down the hall. I swept her up for a few kisses and snuggles before I put her down so I could turn on the shower.

“Mama got a job, sweetheart! Aren’t you proud of me?

” Of course she didn’t answer, but she wiggled around, and I pretended that joy was for me.

She’d been sullen and mopey since I picked her up the other night, and I’d started to wonder if I should take her to the vet, but she seemed better now. I hoped she was finally back to normal.

I would finally be able to mark off one of the tasks on my list. If I could just get Brawley to answer the door so I could talk to him in person, I’d be able to check another one off.

But that would have to wait for another day. Right now, I had a lot to do.