All of Me

Karen’s mind traveled back to dancing in the club, climbing the falls and snuggling in Damian’s arms. “No, not at all.” She waved a hand. “Enough of that. What’s going on?”

“I know you heard about Priscilla. It’s such a shame about her husband.” Priscilla Mitchell, the school principal, had been absent the two days before Karen left for Janae’s wedding, and suddenly retired the following week after her husband’s involvement in a head-on collision. He would need full-time care for the foreseeable future.

“I heard, and it is. I’m going to miss her. She took me under her wing when I first came here.” Karen had a special place in her heart for the woman who had mentored her when Karen started teaching eight years ago. They had developed a natural rapport, and the woman became a surrogate mother to Karen.

Melissa angled her head thoughtfully and wagged a finger at Karen. “You should think about applying for the position. They’re going to fill it pretty quickly, I’m sure. Until then, we’re sharing a vice principal from one of the middle schools.”

“What? I don’t know,” Karen said skeptically.

“Why not? You have your master’s, and your concentration is in administration. You also have your counseling certificate. I think you’d be great.”

“Hmm. Maybe.” She had been thinking about going the administrative route. This might be the opportunity she was looking for. She unlocked a drawer, pulled out her purse, slung it over her shoulder and stood. “I’ll think about it. Right now I’m going home. It’s been a long day.”

“I hear you. I’ll be right behind you. Oh, I almost forgot, you and I will be going to a safety training next month.”

“Is this something new?” Karen asked as they walked toward the front office.

“It’s a two-day train-the-trainer type of thing. With all the shootings and mess going on in the schools, Priscilla wanted to make sure we have the best emergency preparedness program available. Plus, a lot of our stuff is really outdated. She heard about the company from her sister, who lives in Georgia. So she asked the superintendent about it, and he approved it. There’ll be two people from each school in the district to serve as first responders or points of contact.” She leaned closer and lowered her voice to a whisper. “Nikki was not happy when she wasn’t chosen. She was even more pissed when Priscilla chose you, especially since you were on the cruise.”

Karen shook her head. “I don’t know why that woman has it in for me. I’ve never done anything to her.”

“Except be a great teacher,” Melissa said.

Karen rolled her eyes. “Isn’t that supposed to be the goal of all teachers?”

“One would think so.”

Not wanting to discuss Nikki Fleming further, Karen returned to their previous conversation. “When is the training again?”

“Monday and Tuesday of the week before Thanksgiving. But they’ll be coming back to spend about a week here doing assemblies for the kids and parents, checking out our current plan and helping to revamp it if necessary. You and I will work with them.”

“What about my class?”

“From what I understand, most of the meetings will be before or after school.”

“Great. There goes my free time.”

“Hey, if we’re lucky, at least one of the trainers from DKT Safety Consultants will be fine and sexy, as opposed to old and wrinkled and smelling like Bengay.” Melissa wrinkled her nose.

Karen laughed. “Only you, Melissa. Only you.” In her mind, old was safer. She didn’t need fine and sexy.

“What? I need some male stimulation in my life. It’s been too long. And you never know, one of them might help you get over your cruise-ship fling.”

She grunted. “No, thanks. I’ll pass.” Besides, it would take some man to help her get over Damian.

* * *

Damian sat in his office staring out the window. He had been back to work a week, and memories of Karen plagued him day and night. No matter who he was talking to or what he was doing, visions of her danced around the edges of his mind. At night when he closed his eyes, he could see her face and hear her laughter. And sometimes he’d swear he could smell her intoxicating fragrance. He tried working out at the gym—pushing himself far beyond his limits—thinking if he were tired enough, he’d be able to sleep. Damian’s old sleeping patterns had returned, and he found himself up prowling half the night.