Principal Daddy Page 3

  Rick though didn't seem fussed by anything. He was filled with confidence as he floated around the party saying hello to the people he knew and taking an especially long time saying hello to Sara. I didn't want to admit it to myself, but I felt jealous and impatient of Sara. Why did she have to talk to him for so long? I could tell from Rick's body language when he was talking to her that as much as he was interested in what she had to say, his mind had already pushed him towards talking to me. He was already half way out of the conversation, his body facing me already.

  I tried to be cool and aloof, just chatting to Sara's soon to be ex house mate Karen. Karen was from America originally and was the one who took the ranger exchange opportunity when she came to Australia and worked at Melbourne Zoo, where she met Sara and her new partner Jasper.

  As a couple, Karen and Jasper were very cute together. Their relationship seemed to be one that dreams were made of. They had worked together before falling in love so knew exactly what they were getting themselves into. They had a chance to see one another over a longer period of time and to get to like one another naturally. It wasn't a simple, 'we met at a bar, hooked up, then decided to make a relationship of it' sort of deal.

  As we chatted, I realized how much I envied them their happiness. If only Chris's father and I had worked out.

  But, to my relief I realized, Rick approached me while I was chatting to them and gave me an excuse to get away.

  "Hey!" Rick said, sweeping over to give me a kiss on the cheek.

  "Hey yourself." I managed to say without too much excitement and to sound chill, even as I was trying not to swoon.

  Jasper and Karen exchanged a look and Karen asked Jasper, "would you like another drink?"

  Smiling and sneaking in a little wink to me he told her, "sure thing, they're over here." He started to lead her away and Karen shot me a cheeky grin before disappearing among the party goers. Smooth, I thought. I wished I could be that smooth.

  "Busy party." Rick observed.

  Making a point of looking around myself, I took a second to collect my thoughts before telling him, "yeah it is. It's got a good vibe though."

  Rick grinned, "it has!" He told me, "as far as parties go, this one seems very friendly. Or, at least that's what I thought when I walked in."

  "Yeah." I agreed, "Sara engineered it that way. Made sure she invited people who all knew one another so she could relax a bit, I think. But also so we could all get on that much better."

  "Oh, nice." Rick said, in a voice that didn't really sound like him. I tried to resist it, but a second later I was giggling like a school girl.

  "What?" Rick asked, his eyes a little too wide.

  "Nothing, it's just, funny is all." I told him.

  "What's funny?" He asked.

  "How you're trying to be cool, and you're not. I do that too, and feel like everyone can see through it." I told him, knowing in myself that I was trying to do it right now and feeling sure he could tell.

  Rick looked a little startled at my words then regaining his composure he told me, "yeah, that sounds familiar."

  "You do it too?" I said, sensing that he was a kindred spirit before telling him in a light hearted way, "It's nice to be around a kindred spirit!"

  Rick let out a laugh of recognition. "Yeah, there's that..." He said, trailing away as Sara approached. She was a hive of activity with two or three of her friends hanging around her.

  "Yasmin, we're out of the little canapes on Chinese spoons. Do you have more?" She asked.

  "I knew they'd be a hit!" I declared, "I have some more of those ones, but not of the little sandwiches. Do we have enough sandwiches?" I asked.

  Sara nodded, a smile on her face. "You were right, no-one wants the little sandwiches with their crusts cut off, but I love them and it's my party!" She told me.

  "Yeah, I know." I told her. "It's your party, and you'll have little sandwiches with their crusts cut off if you want to!"

  "Exactly!" She told me, "but where are the other canapes?"

  "I'll just go get-" I started, but she cut me off.

  "-No, no. I'll get them! You've done so much today, you don't need to!" She told me, and just then I realized that Sara wasn't completely steady on her feet. The party had been going for a few hours I reasoned and she had been drinking and partying that whole time. I was sure she'd be okay though, as the tray the canapes were on was made of plastic, plus, more time with Rick if I didn't leave this conversation just yet.

  "Yeah, that's fine. They're on top of the back fridge." I told her, "they didn't need any more refrigeration."

  "Cool! Cool - I'll go get 'em!" Sara said as she charged on through everyone on the way to her back fridge.

  "She's a ham, isn't she!?" Rick said.

  "A, what sorry?" I asked

  Rick was chuckling as he told me, "her personality, she's just funny is all. Sort of like a little kid, but in an adult body."

  You have no idea, I thought as I looked at Rick, exactly what it's like to have someone who is like a kid in an adult body.

  I nodded none the less and let the conversation flow. We chatted for a while before Rick was pulled away by one of the school mums who had a few questions about the school on behalf of her child. Some of the mum's took mothering so seriously I thought, annoyed, as I saw Rick being pulled away before one of the other mums started chatting to me.

  Throughout the party, it felt as though Rick and I were circling around one another, often without talking. We would chat a little bit here and there but mostly I felt comfortable. Like he was the tower around which I orbited, and I was that to him. It was great to be so comfortable, it had been a long time since I had been this sort of comfortable at a party or social occasion.

  When it was time to leave, I gathered up my things and circulated around, saying goodbye to everyone as I went. I didn't say a proper goodbye to Sara because I was seeing her between now and the time she left, but still went over to say my goodbyes. She could hardly stand up after all the celebrating of that night.

  "Girl! It was so great, all the work you did for this thing! Thank you so much!" She cried, launching herself at me and into a hug. I hugged her right back and we both laughed, her laughter far more drunken than mine.

  "It was great to be a part of it." I said graciously as I put Sara back on her feet.

  "Oh my god! It is great, isn't it!?" She was saying.

  Then out of nowhere, Rick appeared. "Are you alright to get home?" He asked me, holding my eyes for a little too long. I had been clubbing as a teenager and knew that look, it was the same one bouncers at night clubs gave you when they were trying to work out if you were too drunk to let in or not. I just smiled at him. "I only had two, Rick."

  "Only two?" He said, raising his eyebrows in surprise as he asked the question.

  "I drink slowly, so it looks like I always have a drink in my hand, but I don't drink much." I said by way of explanation.

  While I was talking to Jasper, Sara had wondered away and was making high-pitched declarations of love to some of her workmates who were also leaving.

  "Oh my! It's so good to see you!" She told them. "Thank you for coming - and for the wine!"

  I laughed as I looked over at Rick. He smiled right back before offering, "if you want, I can drive you home. I haven't had anything to drink."

  "Oh no, I was just, going to -" I started to say before cutting myself short. I was going to walk home, as I only lived two streets away, but then I realized that he was offering to drive me. Rick was offering to drive me home. Alone, the two of us, in his car alone. He would know how close by I lived, surely, as my son did go to his school.

  I smiled at him, "sure you can drive me!" I said, feeling euphoric, despite having only had the two drinks.

  I turned to finish saying goodbye to Sara then seeing the state she was in decided it was better to just go and talk to her tomorrow when she had sobered up a bit. I was sure she wouldn't remember anything I said to her now.

  Rick started walking out the front door and I followed in his wake. When the door opened to a quiet street I breathed a sigh of relief for being outside in the open air after being inside for so long. It was still nice to be in there with everyone and the party had been fun. I hadn't realized how much I needed to leave though until I was outside.

  "You alright?" Rick asked and I shot him a smile.

  "Why wouldn't I be?" I asked.

  "I don't know. I guess you just seemed a little happy to be out of there." He told me.

  "Yeah, it's good to be out of there after so much socializing." I told him, "it's like going to work. I love all the cool and interesting people I get to talk to, but I get so tired at the end of the day."

  "It takes it out of you, having to be 'on' and making everyone else happy." Rick said as we walked up the street side-by-side.

  "Yeah, absolutely." I agreed, "people are great, but they're tiring, too."

  There was a comfortable silence between us for a short while before I turned to him and asked, "where is your car? I feel like you could almost walk me home at this point!"

  Rick let out a chuckle before telling me, "well, I can if you prefer. It's a good night for it."

  I looked up and saw the stars in the clear night sky. It was a cool evening, but the stars were all out to say hello, keeping us company through the cold. That made me smile a wide grin.

  "Yeah, let's walk." I told him after my short reflection.

  Rick offered me his arm as we walked and I took it, tucking my hand above the crook of his elbow and smiling as we walked along together. It felt very old-world gentlemanly and warmed my heart, this simple gesture.

  "Did you enjoy the party?" Rick asked me.

  "I did." I told him, realizing that he should know I
had enjoyed the party, considering how we had spent the whole party orbiting one another. "Did you?" I asked.

  "I did. It was a good crowd." He told me, "I hope she has fun over there!"

  "She's going for work." I told him.

  "I know, but it doesn't mean she can't have fun too. Karen had fun." He told me.

  I grinned at the mention of Karen having fun before telling Rick in a more serious tone, "I know she did. I don't want Sara to have this kind of fun though."

  "What do you mean?" He asked.

  "I don't want her to find a partner over there, oh no." I told him.

  "So what if she does?" Rick asked.

  I was taken off guard a bit by his question, it took me a long moment to respond in kind. "But, if she found someone, she would probably want to live there permanently, and I don't want to lose my friend."

  "There are plenty of ways for people to keep in touch now." He told me, "it's not like it used to be, and besides, if she found a partner, they'd probably move here anyway."

  "Do you think?" I asked, hearing the hopefulness in my own tone.

  "Yes, I think." He told me, his tone a little snappy. "Would you choose to live over there if you could live here instead?" He asked.

  I thought about it for a moment before telling him, "I think everyone would say that about their own country. That they'd rather live where they were born than move away from their homeland." I told him.

  "Maybe." He told me, "but we do have more people coming here than they have going there, on a per capita basis, or something." He said. I was sure the casual tone Rick was employing was masking just how much he knew about the subject. He would know the statistics.

  "Do we?" I asked, trying to keep my own tone casual.

  "We sure do." He said, his tone authoritative now. I was taken aback for a long moment before suppressing a smile. I kind of liked the idea of him telling me off for something. For anything, for treating me like I was being naughty.

  But he wasn't doing that. He just grinned at me before asking, "are we far now?"

  I looked around, a bit surprised. My legs had been carrying me in the right direction, I was happy to see. I had also been leading us to my house at a steady pace, which meant that we were almost there.

  We would arrive, and this conversation would end. I didn't want it to end.

  I took a deep breath and opted for the truth - even as I wanted to wander around lost - "yeah, we're almost there." I told him, "just up here." I said, and I could already see my house. The small three-bedroom house I had got as part of my divorce settlement. Most of the houses around here were small as the area was old, but I liked that. I didn't like the huge houses they were building now with five bedrooms and a home theater room. The ones that would take a whole weekend to clean and most of my meager income to heat and cool. No, this was the perfect house for me and my little boy, so close to town and so comfortable.

  But, perhaps a little too close to Sara's house on nights where a gorgeous man was offering to walk me home.

  We were in front of my house now and I turned to Rick to thank him for walking me home.

  "My pleasure!" He told me and his smile showed how true those words were.

  Unsure what to do, I offered him a hug goodbye.

  He wrapped his arms around me, and made me feel so small. It was wonderful to be in those big arms and to feel the strength of him, I felt my knees go weak and was happy he was there to hold me up.

  After a long moment, I took a half step back and gazed into his eyes. In those eyes was the worlds worth of happiness, and the grin upon my face was one I couldn't remove even if I wanted to.

  Moments later, we were sharing a kiss. His lips felt warm and soft on my own and I breathed him in. He felt amazing, but a part of my brain really couldn't believe this was actually happening. How could this man - this sexy, intelligent, confident man - be here with me, making out with me outside the front of my house?

  He made me feel so small, yet so desired with the way he touched me, with the way his big manly hands ran over my body. I wanted him so badly, and right now. I felt like I couldn't wait as our tentative goodnight kiss hotted up into a much more frenzied kiss, as my need enveloped me and any other thought beyond the thought of him taking me here and now was pushed from my mind.

  I stopped myself though as my hands found their way to his shirt and started to lift it, almost of their own accord.

  "Oh shit!" I said, taking a half step back again. "I'm sorry, I wasn't thinking. Just caught in the moment!"

  "No, it's okay." Rick told me, and it was. I wondered how far I could have taken this, how far he wanted it to go then. "I was a little caught up in the moment too." He said, sparing me any embarrassment. Even if he had been caught up, he hadn't tried to strip me bare in the middle of the street. That was something I loved about Rick, was how willing he was to take the hit when it was the other person who was in the wrong, just because he didn't want you to feel uncomfortable. Not even for a moment, not even when it was you who was being inappropriate.

  "You should let me take you out sometime." He told me.

  If it had been any other night, if the moon had been in the sky in just a slightly different position, if I'd had three drinks instead of two, I might have said no. The part of my brain that knew what was and wasn't appropriate with the school principal might have stepped in, but it wasn't any other night. It was the night of Sara's party and Rick had walked me home after just two drinks, kissed me out the front and made me remember how much I wanted him.

  So of course I said yes.

  CHAPTER FIVE

  The day after Rick kissed me for the first time, I swung wildly between floating on air, excited about what had happened and feelings of dread for the upcoming date. The date, too, was going to be lunch. A pragmatic date as I would need to pick my son up from my parents place Sunday evening after dinner and Rick wanted to take advantage of this child-free time to get to know me a little better.

  He chose a restaurant and offered to pick me up, but I knew the place - it was a ten minute walk from my house - so I told him not to worry, that I would meet him there.

  I spent the morning when I should have been cleaning the house, instead worrying about how I looked. I needed to do my hair, put my make up on - not too much, this was only a lunch date - and find clothes that were both clean and pretty enough to wear out for a date, while also being clothes I could wear to pick my son up later and not rouse suspicion from my parents, who were always excited at any romantic prospect I had. Their excitement was nice, but sometimes a bit overbearing. I needed my space, especially when something was as new as this.

  When I was finally ready - after trying on what felt like every outfit in my closet - I walked out the front door and down the street, feeling confident and sexy. I had this.

  The ten minute walk passed so quickly, I am sure because my apprehension and excitement about the date were both egging me forward.

  I walked into the restaurant - the local Indian place, and one of my favorites - and found Rick already seated.

  I wouldn't normally think of Indian food as a first date go-to, but this was one of the best restaurants in town, and as I didn't want to go outside of Emerald Creek, we only had a few places to choose from.

  When I approached the table, Rick stood up and swept over to me, kissing my cheek. Where I had felt nervous before, I felt more at ease now with that simple kiss on the cheek. His touch calmed me down.

  "You're gorgeous!" I told him, my eye lashes fluttering without my meaning them to. I felt awkward for the words coming out of my mouth right away, and for the fluttering eyelashes, but I couldn't do anything about either feeling.

  He did something though. He let out a little chuckle and leaned in closer to me, telling me, "so are you!" Before he moved away from me and motioned for me to sit down.

  I sat down facing Rick without opening my menu. Neither of us needed to open the menus. We just chatted animatedly and I forgot any reservations I had had about whether this was a good idea or not as we spoke. Of course it was a good idea, spending time with Rick.

  When the waiter came over to ask ask if we knew what we wanted to drink, we both ordered lassis, and Rick asked if we could order food. There was a comfort here, in the familiar. That we were both in one of our favorite places and knew exactly what we wanted to order.