"I have a letter from Madame Athalena sir."
My secretary places an envelope on my desk. I stare at the envelope with my name. Pain. Anger. Disgust. I am flooded with mixed emotions that are hard to keep contained.
"I shall take my leave then sir."
W...
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ALENA
"Lei, you did not forget to bring your deodorant right?" I say while looking at said child through the rear view mirror. We are currently on our way to school and I always have my three angels sit together in the backseat of the sedan.
"Of course Mom." He replies as his cheeks turn a light shade of pink. "Stop embarrassing me." Laila tries to hide her giggle by coughing while patting Lei in the shoulder. Lucca, meanwhile, rolls his eyes and looks out the window.
"Well, my dear, it would be more embarrassing if I asked in front of your friends. It would be even more embarrassing if you end up smelling like a rotten tomato after practice." Lei was part of the school's baseball team while Laila is part of the softball team. Lucca on the other hand decided not to join any club, despite his natural skill in both physical and mind sports. Many clubs have tried to recruit him but he continually refuses, saying that he isn't interested. Personally, I think he declines so that he can use the extra time and energy to help me out. This is heartbreaking for me as a parent.
An 8 year old shouldn't be thinking about things like that. He should be enjoying his childhood. I clench the steering wheel trying to hold back the tears threatening to come out.
"If you prepared your bags last night Lei then you wouldn't be in this conundrum." I'm brought out of my thoughts hearing Lucca address Lei.
Really? My kid knows how to use such big words.
"I was too tired." Lei replies with a huff.
And Lei understands what it means too? Wow my kids are impressive.
"You know that's not an excuse. Laila had practice too but she was able to prepare her bags last night."
Alena you knucklehead! Stop! You're kids are about to have an argument and you're thinking how impressive their vocabularies are.
"Now now. Lucca. Lei." I say while I glare at both of them through the side mirror.
"Lucca, cut Lei some slack. Don't be too harsh on him. And you Lei, you know Lucca is right. You have to prepare your things the night before. Now, we've arrived so let's get this over with. Give your mom a kiss." I say to them as I unbuckle my seat belt. I come closer to them as they each give me a kiss in the cheek before they go down the car. They're at the age where they start finding it embarrassing to give their mom a kiss. So I give them some leeway by asking for a kiss while we're still in the car.
I go out of the car and proceed to the trunk to help pull out their bags.
"Lailaaaaa!" A high-pitched voice calls out.
"Hey Vicky!" Laila replies as she slings her back pack on one shoulder and her sports bag in her other shoulder.
"Good morning Ms. Williams!" Vicky, Laila's best friend, says as she reaches our group.
"Good morning to you as well Vicky." I say while smiling.
"Bye Mom." Lucca and Lei say one after the other as they walk towards the school entrance.
"Mom, can Vicky and I have a sleepover at home next Friday after practice? Please?" I hear Laila say.
"Please Ms. Williams?" Vicky continues. The two girls look at me pleadingly and expectantly.
"Sure. As long as your dad is okay with it." I tell Vicky. Based on Laila's many talks about her best friend, I was aware that Vicky is only being raised by her dad.
"I don't mind at all." says a man's voice from behind me.
"Yey! Thanks daddy!" "Thank you Mr. Richardson!" Laila and Vicky happily reply in unison. The two then say their goodbyes as they run towards the school entrance.
"It's a pleasure to finally meet you Ms. Williams. I'm Ryan by the way." Vicky's dad says while extending his hand.
"It's nice to meet you Ryan. I've heard a lot about you from Laila." I reply while shaking his hand."Oh and please call me Alena."
He laughs then replies "Good things I hope."
"Let's just say I can't divulge since it's girls talk." I say to which Ryan responds with another round of laughter.
"I know it's too forward of me, but would you like to have some coffee sometime? I would really love to get to know you." Ryan says with a polite smile.
As soon as I register what was said, I start to really look at Ryan. He had that boy next door charm that made it hard to dislike him. Plus based on how polite and adorable Vicky is, I could assume to some point that Ryan is a good man.
Should I start dating? Again the question rings inside my head.
Right then a tingling feeling runs throughout my body. A strange feeling of fear and danger fogs my head. I turn and look around. Someone is watching me.
"Are you alright?" Ryan asks with a slight frown.
I don't answer but continue to look around. Since classes are about to start, kids are running toward the school entrance. Some parents are in groups talking animatedly while others are going back to their cars.
"Alena?"
Not seeing anything that might warrant this feeling I try to put on a smile and reply "Yes yes apologize. I got a little lost there."
Charging my strange behaviour as hesitation, Ryan adds with a sympathetic smile "Of course if you're uncomfortable we could make it a picnic with the kids."
Making up my mind, I reply "That would be wonderful Ryan. And for the coffee, how about sometime this week?"
"Yes of course!" Ryan replies with a wide smile. We exchange phone number so that we can sort out the other details once we've finalised our schedules.
"I'll go ahead Ryan. I have to prepare for a very important meeting in ..." I pause looking at my watch "... 2 hours. It was a pleasure to meet you." I say as I extend my hand for a shake.
He shakes my hand and replies "Of course, I've kept you enough. See you soon."
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