"Maybe I'll see you again, Mike, before the school year's out," she says, changing the topic. "I have some grading to finish up. Have a good day, Louisa. See you tomorrow."
Then she gives me a small wave that I return, leaving me to wish I could give her a hell of a lot more.
Chapter 6
Clementine
Telling Mike to leave kills me. Literally, it slays me.
I cannot believe Louisa is his daughter.
Louisa has to be the sweetest, most charming little girl I have ever met in my life. With real spunk too. I can see now that she gets that from her father. Did I mention that they have the same dimples? And she comes to school each day with two French braids in her hair. She's told me it's her daddy who does them.
And now I know, that daddy is Mike.
Mike Malone, who took me on top of the hood of his car, popped my cherry and made me a woman.
I pack up my things, getting ready to leave work, and lock up my classroom, feeling all out of sorts. I know I'm making the right decision. Going out with Mike is all wrong.
I'm not going to forget my goals, my mission: I'm gonna get a job and go wherever the wind takes me. As long as it comes with a year-long teaching contract.
I roll down the window and let the wind rustle through my hair. Gulping, I wonder if was the wind that took me to Mike's shop yesterday. If maybe the wind has already led me to exactly where I was supposed to go.
Pushing those thoughts away, I remind myself that's not realistic. Mike is a real man, a grown-up, with a daughter and a business, and it seems like he's already been through the wringer with his ex.
He doesn't need a girl like me. Someone so inexperienced; someone just starting out. Just beginning her life.
Besides, these are the kinds of fantasies that always get me in trouble. I start thinking I need someone, that all my problems are going to be solved if some guy I am dating drops to one knee and puts a ring on my finger. But that isn't any way to live. Waiting for a man to give my life purpose. Meaning.
I need to carve that purpose out all on my own.
So, I tell myself to forget Mike. And darling Louisa. And whatever future that path would have held.
Because I'm going to Spokane in a few days and I am going to interview for my dream job. A full-time teaching position in a kindergarten class at a brand-new school building.
Perfect.
But later, as I try to go to sleep, I twist and turn for hours.
Everything about that Spokane job seems so perfect, so why am I thinking about an entirely different kind of perfection? Perfection that starts with Mike and ends with Mike.
Mike on me and in me and covering me.
It's ridiculous to keep thinking about him, but as I dip my finger into my pussy, images of his body grinding against my own run through my head. A shiver runs up my spine, covering me with a thousand pinpricks of pleasure as I picture him pressing his cock deep into me, getting us both off.
I touch myself thinking of Mike tossing my legs over his shoulders, his mouth buried against my cunt. And even though I know that, in theory, he is all wrong for me, it all feels so, so right.
I finally fall asleep, and as my eyes close, visions of him and I together fill my dreams.
* * *
A few days later, I'm strolling around the farmers market, picking out ripe peaches when someone calls my name. I turn, seeing Louisa with her aunt Millie.
"Miss Smith! Miss Smith!" Louisa is jumping up and down with excitement. "I can't believe you're here!"
"What? You think I don't know about the best place to find fresh peaches in town?"
I hand a few bills to the vendor and take my bag of peaches. Pulling it open, I offer one to Louisa. "Is it okay, Millie?" I ask.
Millie nods her okay as she walks over. Her hand is placed on her burgeoning belly and she smiles warmly at me. "Use your words, Louisa," Millie says.
"Thanks," Louisa says as she picks out a beautifully fuzzy peach and takes a big bite. "It's so delicious!"
"I know, they're my favorite," I tell her.
"Isn't this weather amazing?" Millie asks.
"I know, it makes me want to stay in the Pacific Northwest forever."
"Me too. I love it here. This city is just the right size. A good school, nice sidewalks everywhere, no massive superstores. It somehow manages to keep that small-town vibe," Millie says. "I just love it."
"Me too."
Millie frowns. "But you're applying for jobs in other cities?" The three of us walk toward the playground. I've gotten to know Millie a little bit over the last two weeks. She comes every day to get Louisa and she is just a few years older than me. We have enough in common to talk easily. We both craft, like cute clothes, and read the same sorts of books.