Читать книгу Tabloid Teacher - Dominique Butler - Страница 14

The following day Sam seemed to float along. The memory of Jake Jameson in her apartment fueled her. She taught with an energy she hadn’t had in years. Whenever she had a moment she replayed the memory in her head. The awkward moment as they danced around each other when she tried to get into the kitchen; the brief eye contact while they sipped their drinks in the living room; the kiss on her cheek as he walked out the door. She saw it all with a new glow. It was too good to be true.

That’s because it’s not true. She reminded herself. The guy made a juvenile bet and made a fool of himself on national TV. Now if anyone asks, you’re supposed to play along to cover his ass. Get your head on straight and don’t turn this thing into anything more than what it is. She tried to speak to herself harshly as a reality check, but other thoughts intruded. Your life is pretty boring. This is exciting; enjoy the moment. Other more disturbing thoughts crowded her mind. This could be your chance Sam. You can be just as pretty and just as charming as any actress that guy has dated. Stop! This isn’t real you are not dating him and you never will be. Her internal debate continued and each time she replayed the prior evening in her mind she tried to deduce whether or not there had been an actual spark, a connection, a glimmer of hope or was she so desperate for change she imagined any of those things. She felt nervous and ill at ease though equally ecstatic.

***

Jake woke up and began to finally return phone calls. He chose to start with people who were not as close to him. He found it easier to lie to them than to lie to those who were closer to him. The easiest phone calls were to his buddies in Los Angeles. They were more interested in giving him a hard time than asking questions and getting information. After calling the “guys” he called a gal pal whose friendship went back to his first film. The conversation was difficult as he was trying to lie within the truth.

“Becky?” he asked when the female voice answered the phone.

“Jake! Congratulations!” she shrieked. “What is going on? I was so surprised when I saw you on T.V.” Jake laughed nervously as Becky continued. “I want to know everything. How did the two of you meet? What’s she like? Everything.” If anyone could test how well Jake could lie, it would be Becky. He met Becky on the set of his first film. She had been his make-up artist. She was able to give him helpful tips on how to fit in, in Hollywood and had endeared herself as a true friend. Every film he had worked on since, he tried to bring her on as his make-up artist. Sometimes he was successful and sometimes he wasn’t, but he felt his performance was improved when Becky was around. She was very down to earth, never shy to offer an opinion, and not at all attracted to him. He always felt comfortable sharing the most intimate details of his life with her. He had even gotten some tips on proper bedroom behavior to satisfy the most demanding partner. Now, after fifteen years of friendship he couldn’t bear to tell her the truth. For one thing, Becky was too well connected in Hollywood; if she let the secret slip accidentally it would spread like wildfire. Another reason was just the sheer embarrassment of admitting his stupidity. The final reason was that if he could lie to her it would be good practice for the conversation with his mother.

“I don’t know where to begin.” He admitted honestly.

“Well, where did you meet her?”

“My aunt introduced us.” Technically that was the truth. He decided to keep his answers short and stay as close to the truth as possible.

“Okay, that was informative.” Becky said slowly. “How long have you known her?”

“Oh, we go way back, but mostly it’s been a long distance thing.” He felt proud of himself for getting this far.

“What are you hiding Jake?” Becky asked bluntly.

“Nothing, why do you ask?” His pride quickly faded into defeat. Becky could always see right through him even over the phone. There was no way he could succeed with his mother.

“I know you well enough by now Jake. Something’s going on. Who is she? Is she pregnant?” Becky’s accusing tone tore through him.

“She’s not pregnant.” He retorted. At least I hope not. He thought.

“Then why aren’t you talking? You’re not being yourself. You’re a celebrity, Jake; whatever you’re hiding is going to come out in the open sooner or later.”

Jake sighed. “I know, Becky. It’s just she’s not a celebrity. She’s a schoolteacher. She has two girls and she just floats along as if no one can see her. I’m about to change all that.” The words tumbled out of his mouth and he repeated them again softly. “I’m about to change all of that.” That was the reality of it. Real or make belief everyone was about to meet Sam whether she wanted that or not.

“I didn’t mean to jump down your throat.” Becky said. “It’s not easy. You managed to keep her secret for quite some time. Now everything is going to change. Are you afraid of how she’ll react?”

“A little.” He was once again being honest. So far he had managed to have a completely honest conversation based on a fabrication.

“If she said yes then she must be aware of the consequences also. Right?”

“You know it’s not that easy. We all think being a celebrity is going to be wonderful. It sets us aside from everyone else. We travel, make money, go to parties, yadda, yadda. Then you start seeing your life documented in the grocery stores, on TV, and on the Internet. It gets to be disconcerting.” It was so easy talking about his feelings with Becky.

“So you’re worried about it going to her head?” Becky asked.

“No, not really.” Even from the little he knew about Sam he found it hard to imagine her ever becoming diva-like. “I’m more afraid of her getting hurt.”

“Sounds like you really are in love, Jake. I’m happy for you.” Becky had been happily married ever since he’d known her. She married her high school sweetheart. They were the kind of couple that kept others believing in true love.

“Thanks.” He mumbled.

“I have to go, but we’ll talk more later. I can’t wait to meet her.” The two friends exchanged good-byes and hung up.

Jake sat back and thought about what he had said. He truly was afraid of Sam getting hurt and the girls as well. He was surprised of himself. He had not thought of how this affected him all morning. All he could worry about was Sam and the girls. She didn’t ask for this. She didn’t even hit on me like other women probably would have in her position. She seems perfectly content living her quiet life. I should definitely get her a real ring that she can keep when this is all over. It’s the least I can do after causing this trouble. He made up his mind and went shopping right away.

***

Sam could hear her cell phone vibrating in her desk, but with administrators spot-checking classrooms today she didn’t dare reach for it. So far she had not told anyone about Jake. To begin with, she didn’t want to come across as a lunatic. Secondly, she was still trying not to get her hopes up and third she didn’t really have anyone to tell. Her mom would be suspicious, her brother already knew, and her friends were not only scarce, but would think she was pathetic to hope anything could come of this. Another reason was because Jake was a celebrity anyone who knew the truth might be too willing to sell the story. So it was her little secret for now.

By lunchtime she had missed five calls all from Jake. He obviously rethought the situation she thought and wants to call it off. She quickly dropped her class off in the cafeteria and literally ran back to her room to return the calls. As she reached for the phone it vibrated again.

“Hello.” She answered breathlessly.

“Sam?” Jake asked.

“Uh yeah, hi.” Sam quickly took her chicken sandwich out of her lunch bag and took a bite. She only had 15 minutes to eat so she tried to do so while on the phone.

“Hi, I’ve been trying to call you.”

“Well, I can’t answer the phone while I’m teaching.” She took a bite of her sandwich.

“Right, I forgot you’re a teacher.” Jake admitted sheepishly. He had convinced himself that she was avoiding his calls that led to a brief period of obsession where he had come up with five reasons why she wasn’t answering. Number one, she freaked out and changed her mind. Number two, she forgot her phone at home. Number three, she didn’t hear it. (This one led him to call multiple times.) Number four, she thinks he was joking again. Number five, something happened to her like a car accident. (This fueled his desire to continue calling her.) He never once remembered she was a teacher.

“I don’t think I ever mentioned it.” Sam took another bite.

“Right. Anyway, I wanted to talk to you, because I need to know your ring size.”

“Huh?” Sam mumbled as she choked on her sandwich.

“Well, if it’s going to look real you’ll need a ring and I need to know your ring size. You can keep the ring when it’s over as a thank you.” His knuckles turned white as he gripped the phone through the unnerving silence.

“Thanks, um, I wear a size seven.” Sam gulped and put the rest of her sandwich down. Her heart skipped a beat and her palms began to sweat. She stared down at her ring finger. After her last divorce she wore a band inscribed with mom to deter men from speaking to her when she went out. However, it had been over two years since any ring had adorned that particular finger and apparently men had not needed any additional need for determent. Then the practicality of wearing a ring surfaced. “Not to seem picky or anything but I prefer white gold not yellow and I don’t like rings with prongs because they can catch on things or scratch up the kids.”

“Ok.” Jake jotted down the notes so the jeweler could see her requests. “Anything else?”

“Well,” Sam paused, how do I approach this? I don’t like big flashy jewelry but I could be getting a nice ring that I can keep or sell later if necessary. I’d rather have a nice ring I can keep. “I don’t like anything really big or gaudy. Something plain and tasteful is more my style.”

“Ok.” Jake smiled at the jeweler who had just pulled out a ring that would definitely suit Sam. “Can we get together later so I can give it to you?”

“I guess. I’m not done working until 9 though.”

“Do you want me to just bring it over tonight? I can pick up some dinner on my way. What would you like?”

“Okay, I guess.” She hesitated. “I like Italian food.” Sam felt as though she had entered the Twilight Zone. Jake Jameson was about to come over to her apartment for a second time. He was buying her dinner and bringing her a ring. She looked down at what she was wearing. Oh no, khaki pants and a polo shirt with the school logo. I don’t have time to change before I get home. Don’t panic you have about eight hours to come up with a plan.

“I’ll see you around nine, then, at your place. Ciao!”

“Ciao!” The phone went silent in Sam’s hand. She looked at the time. She had just spent five minutes talking to Jake Jameson on her cell phone. She did a quick recap of the recent events in her head. Jake proposed to her on national TV. Then he came to her apartment, had a drink with her and asked her to pretend to be his fiancé. Now he was coming over again, bringing her dinner, and buying her a ring she could keep. Sam felt giddy inside. The one thing she hadn’t done was tell anyone about this. What good is it to have an exciting life if you couldn’t blab about it? She looked at the clock. There was no time left in her lunch break, but later on the kids would go to music class and she would have an hour. Technically, it wasn’t a break it was the time she needed to do paperwork. However, it did overlap with another teacher friend’s P.E. time, which meant they had thirty minutes to talk.

Her afternoon math lesson dragged on, Sam was pretty sure she was talking in circles. The kids were definitely confused and she wasn’t helping. She couldn’t focus and neither could they. Why was time such a difficult concept for kids to understand? Of course, it finally made sense to me when I was about twelve and these kids are just eight. In the end, she succumbed to handing out a worksheet on addition. She hated worksheets and preferred hands on activities but all the Judy clocks in the world couldn’t help these kids in all their confusion. So she collected the clocks and passed out the worksheets and waited for the next fifteen minutes while the relieved children quietly completed their work. Finally, the time came for them to line up and proceed to music class. Sam quickly dropped them off and sought out her friend Tina who was one of the few coworkers who was also a friend. She found her where she always found her, waiting anxiously outside the faculty restroom.

“Tina, I need to talk to you.” Sam half whispered.

“I know I saw the paper. Don’t move.” She disappeared into the restroom. Sam paced anxiously outside the door.

Could she have recognized me? If she knew it was me who else knew. Sam heard the toilet flush and the sink water flow. Then Tina came out once again.

“Let’s walk.” Tina said. “So who do you think she is?”

“What do you mean?” Sam asked.

“I saw the picture of your man, Jake Jameson, in the paper. He proposed to some bimbo on Sunday. Isn’t that what you wanted to talk about?”

Sam laughed. The two of them had imaginary boyfriends. Sam’s was Jake Jameson and Tina’s was a gorgeous football player Taylor Jackson. “That is exactly what I wanted to talk about.”

They approached Tina’s classroom. “I cut out the picture for you from the paper.” She entered the room and rummaged through papers on her desk while Sam contemplated how much she should actually tell her. Tina could definitely be trusted, but what if she told someone who couldn’t be trusted. Tina held out the picture to Sam who took it form her hand. She hadn’t seen it yet.

Suddenly, Sam was staring at her smiling face as she hugged Jake Jameson. She was definitely not recognizable in the grainy black and white photo. “Tina, remember that shirt you gave me because you didn’t like the way it fit you?”

“Yeah.” Tina was still rummaging through the papers on her desk. Apparently, there was something else she needed. She stopped and looked up while Sam pointed to the shirt in the picture. Tina walked over slowly and took the picture from Sam. She looked at the picture then at Sam. Sam rearranged her hair with her fingers so it fell over her face the way she had worn it that day. “No way.” She gasped in disbelief.

“Way.” Sam smiled.

“How?” Tina whispered.

“It’s a long story actually.”

“Let me see the ring.”

“He’s bringing it over tonight.”

Tina sat back in her chair. “I can’t believe you weren’t kidding. This whole time we were talking about our imaginary boyfriends I thought you were kidding. How did you keep such a secret? How long has it been?”

Sam just smiled and shook her head. “I don’t know where to begin. It’s kind of a shock.” The two stared at each other a moment.

“I don’t know what to say.” Tina finally said.

“Just don’t tell anyone it’s me yet, okay. I don’t know if I’m ready for that.” She stared at Tina. This was a test of her loyalty if Tina didn’t say anything then she might be able to let her in on the rest of the secret. The truth was Sam was dying to tell someone. It was a pretty funny story, but she didn’t think she could trust anyone especially when money could be made off of it. Jake also felt his career was on the line and so far he had not given her a reason to turn against him.

“I still don’t believe it. I can’t believe it’s you.” Tina sat flabbergasted.

“Yep! I better go. I’ll show you the ring tomorrow.” Sam turned and walked out the door. That was so weird. She thought. I can’t do this. I can’t pull this off. I don’t have that type of self-control to stay quiet for a whole month and let people think I’m actually engaged to a movie star. Sam took a deep breath. The next problem to conquer was changing clothes before tonight. There was no time to go home and no time to go shopping. Sam had to come up with a plan. She thought about her dilemma for the remainder of the evening. First things first, she didn’t want her kids to be home tonight. She placed a phone call to her mom.

“Hi, mom.” She said.

“Hi, I had to stop by your apartment this morning to pick up some clothes for the kids and I thought the towels smelled a little musty so I took them home to clean them.” Her mom started.

Sam cringed. She washed the towels yesterday. “Okay.” She answered. “I can’t talk long, but could you take the girls to school tomorrow. I was just told I have a workshop to go to tomorrow.” It wasn’t a lie exactly. She did have a workshop to go to, but it was down the street from her school so originally she had planned to drop off the girls and continue.

“Oh, alright so do you want them to just spend the night.” Her mom suggested.

“That sounds good. I’ll stop by to kiss them goodnight after work.” Again Sam cringed. Why did I say that? If I stop by she’s going to wonder why I’m rushing off. “Actually, I’ll call first in case they’re already asleep.”

“MmmmHmmmm.” Her mom sounded busy doing something else. She was most likely shopping.

“Okay, bye.”

“Bye.”

The conversation ended leaving Sam feeling once again conflicted. On the one hand she hated lying to her mother almost as much as she hated her mother getting in her business. Then she also hated placing her children on the back burner for a man. How often will I have a movie star in my apartment? How often will I even be around a millionaire? Or even a man I’m remotely attracted to? She tried desperately to rationalize away the guilt she was already feeling.