John

Hugging her had probably been a bad idea, but, damn, it sure felt good.

I started out innocently enough. I really had stepped into Three Sisters Catering with the intention of begging, pleading and bartering for a party for Amora. Then she had stepped out from the back ... the sexiest brunette in a chef's coat I'd ever seen.

And the way her curves had fit snuggly against me, her head resting perectly just below my chin ... Well, let's just say my body hadn't reacted to a woman in that was since well before my wife left me.

I'd ended up stuttering and stumblinga my way out of there. I think I winked for God's sake.

What a tool.

The important thing was that she's said yes, they'd consider catering Amors's party.  I'd been trying so hard to give Amora everything she needed since Kayla had walked out of our lives. I couldn't always give her what she wanted monetarily, but she knew she was the most important thing in my life, and I really wanted to make this birthday special. It was the first one since her mother disappeared, and I needed to prove that we could do this without her, that I could do this without her.

With the help of the catering company, that is.

"Running behind, John?" Principal Wiggins called as I rushed through the entry door of the high school where I taught.

"Yeah, sorry," I called with a wave as I headed toward my classroom, pulling open the door just as the final bell rang.

"Busted," one of the students called out as I walked to my desk with a sheepish smile.

"Tardy, Mr. B," another student said.

"Yeeah, yeah," I said with a chuckle. "Calm down, take your seats."

Since my class was an Advanced English class, most of the students I had were there because they wanted to be, not just to fill a mandatory block oln their schedule. We'd been in school for a couple months now, so I knew most of the students pretty well, and they knews what kind of teacher I was. I'd never been late before, sso they had to give me shit, even though I was usually understanding when one of them was tardy.

"Car break down?"

"Alarm didn't go off?"

"Dog ate your homework?"

I let them get it all out while I placed my things on my desk and got my lesson plan. Once I walked to the center of the room, they knew I was ready for business, and the good-natured taunts died down. 

"Hamlet," I began, adjusting my glasses slightly as I surveyed the faces in the room. "Act three, scene one. Let's discuss."

It was one of those days where I was already exhausted by lunch. I was distracted, thoughts of Amora's birthday and the morning's discussion of Hamlet buzzing around in my brain, so I didn't realize that I was about to run into one of the other teachers until I was right up on her.

"Oh," Becca Weller cried, as I reached a hand out to steady her.

"Sorry," I said as I took a step back.

I caught the slight blush on the history teacher's cheeks as she replied, "That's okay."

I nodded, then walked around her into the lounge. I headed to the table, where I sat with the other two male teachers in my school. Tyson, who taught Algebra 1 and Wyatt, who taught Health and Physical Education.

They were already there, catching up on their weekend, when I sat down and started pulling out the items from my homemade lunch, which was identical to the one I'd made for my daughter that morning.

"Sup, John?" Tyson asked as he downed the soda that he'd sworn to his wife he'd given up.

"I was late today," I admitted as I opened the baggie that held my peanut butter and jelly sandwich. "you should have seen the look on Wiggins' face. It's not like I make a habit out of it or anything."

"I wouldn't worry about it," Wyatt said with a wave of his hand. "Sounds like he's pissed of about shit at home, at least that's the word on the streets. It's not personal; he knows you're one of the best around."

"Why was Mr. Perfect late anyway?" Tyson asked with a grin, so I knew he was just messing with me.

"I stopped off at that catering business on Main, the one across from Prime Rib."

"That place is hot," Wy said. "I always book a table if I have a lady I want to impress. I'm talking about Prime Rib, not the catering plae. I've never been there."

"I have , they have those delicious breakfast pastries," Tyson answered.

"Anyway, Amora wants to have a tea party for her birthday, and since I haven't the first idea how to make that happen, I though I"d give them a try."

"A tea party?" What the hell do you do at one of those?" Tyson asked.

"I don't know, eat tiny sandwiches and drink tea, I guess," I replied, then looked around to make sure no one was paying attention to our conversation before lowering my voice and adding, "The woman who works there is the hottest woman I've ever seen."

That sparked their inteest, so they both leaned in closer.

"What does she look like?" Wy asked.

"Bout five-four, five-five with perfect curves, full lips and eyes of an angel."

"Hair?" Tyson asked, causing Wyatt and I to give him matching looks. "What, you know I'm a hair man."

I shrugged. "It's dark and long, but hard to really tell because it was up in a bun. Which gave me unadorned access to her perect face ... She was nice, sweet even, and when I hugged her ..."

"Hugged her?" Tyson asked.

"Damn, John, you work fast," Wyatt added with a chuckle.

"It was an impulse, I didn't mean to attack her or anything. She said she'd see what they could do to help me with the party, and I automatically hugged her."

"And it was?"

"Perfect," I admitted. "She smelled sweet, felt even better, and tucked right in and hugged me back."

"Wow," Wyatt sasid, and I knew he and Tyson we thinking the same thing I was. This was the first time I'd even an ounce of attraction for a woman since Kayla left.

"Are you going to ask her out?" Tyson asked.

"I don't know," I admitted. It was complicated, what with my being a single dad who was technically still married. But, I'd left that store feeling something I hadn't felt in a really long time, excitement.

I looked my friends in the eye as I opened my tapioca pudding and said "You know what? I think I will."