Leila“I mean, he had his moments, but honestly, I didn’t spend that much time with him. I often ask myself if I’m seeing all the crankiness because I’m not working and I’m with him a lot more. Maybe he’s always been like this and I just never noticed. Carlie must have been dealing with a lot.”I offered a smile. “I once read that kids were little terrors when they were around their moms. They’d be little angels at daycare or school and then get home and act like something out of the Exorcist. They acted out with their moms because that’s where they felt safe. They knew their mothers would always love them. They trusted their mom to help them get through all their ugly emotions and feelings. In Olin’s case, he doesn’t have a mom. He has you. You are his safe space.”He chuckled. “I feel like I’m his hell. Coming through the door and seeing me waiting for him is his own version of hell.”“I don’t think so. I think he needs you more than he realizes. He’s lost and confused.”He let out
ChristopherI stepped out of the shower and wrapped a towel around my waist. Usually, a shower made me feel alive. It was like getting an infusion of the strongest coffee. Not today. I had thought long and hard about skipping class. I didn’t want to get out of bed. I didn’t want to face life. I just wanted to stay in bed with the blankets pulled up to my chin.The world felt darker today than it had in a really long time. The way I was feeling was very reminiscent of how I had felt in the weeks after Carlie’s death. I had felt so empty and alone. I didn’t realize how much I had come to count on the little texts from Leila before we went to bed each night or how good it felt to have another adult to talk to.In many ways, saying goodbye to Leila was a lot like losing another person I cared about. I wasn’t sure if it was better or worse that I would be able to see her on occasion. It would be like rubbing salt in a wound. I couldn’t have her. I couldn’t pop over to her classroom and tal
ChristopherI finished the coffee and checked the time. I frowned when I realized it was about ten minutes later than my normal time. I must have missed Olin coming downstairs I thought. I had been so lost in thought I didn’t hear the usual door slams or the stomping through the kitchen. I went back inside and noticed there was nothing in the kitchen to indicate he’d even come down to grab his usual frozen waffles.I shook my head. “Dad fail number one thousand and one,” I muttered under my breath. I grabbed my keys, phone and books and headed for the garage.I opened the door and frowned. Olin’s car was still in the driveway. It explained why I hadn’t heard him come down or leave. “Shit,” I muttered, realizing he had overslept.I left my briefcase with my books by the door and jogged upstairs and knocked on his bedroom door. “Olin! Olin, you’re going to be late,” I hollered.I waited a minute before knocking again. “Olin, come on. You need to get up and get a move on. I’ll go get you
LeilaMy phone vibrated on the desk in my office for the third time. The first two calls had been from Kami. One call to ask if I got out of bed and the second to ask if I wanted to get dinner later. The woman woke up at four every morning and assumed the rest of the world did as well. She was usually very good about not calling me until at least six, but she’d broken her rule today.She had called me and woken me up on a morning I really, really didn’t want to be up early. The wine had left me feeling a little icky. I had planned to sleep in, but after the second phone call, I knew it was never going to happen. I stared at my phone, knowing it was her.I sighed, snatching it off the corner and instead of a huge cupcake that I used as Kami’s caller ID, it was Christopher’s number. “Oh no, I don’t think so,” I whispered.He didn’t get to have a change of heart. I had been hurt and felt miserable, but a night of wine and thinking led me to the conclusion he was right to end things. I di
Leila“I have to make a call,” I said, using my real phone to do a quick search for a phone number.“Why not use your phone? Is this some kind of teenage prank?”I looked at her. “Kind of.”I found the number and dialed it on the prepaid phone. The nerves were threatening to get the best of me. I held the phone in my shaking hand, not pushing the button.“Stop, Leila, tell me what’s happening,” Kami said, touching my wrist.I shook my head. “I have to do it.”“What do you have to do?”I bit my lip, drew a deep breath and pushed the send button. I held my finger to my lips, telling Kami to be quiet. I listened to the phone on the other end ringing. When a man answered, I did my thing.“There’s a bomb. It goes off in thirty minutes.”Kami was staring at me. Her eyes wide as saucers. I dropped the phone on the ground and stomped on it, over and over until it was nothing more than a pile of broken black plastic. I picked up the pieces and moved down the alley. I dropped some in one of the
ChristopherI parked in short-term parking and attempted to make my way to the doors but was turned away by police. That was when I noticed the flood of people pouring out every exit. Mothers were dragging little kids behind them; businessmen and women were rolling small suitcases as they all rushed in my direction.“What’s going on?” I asked one harried man.“Bomb.”“What?” I asked fear spiraling through me. I ran over to the security guard. “Can you tell me what’s happening?”“There’s been a bomb threat,” he said with no real concern. “It happens. I doubt it’s anything to worry about, but we have to evacuate and search the airport. All outgoing flights are grounded and inbound are being diverted.”“My son is in there!”“Sir, relax. There’s no reason to panic.”I took a deep breath. “I’m not panicking, but I need to find my son. Where do I go?”“Everyone waiting for a flight has been asked to go to the long-term parking. It’s a safe distance just in case.”“Just in case!” I practical
Christopher“Because we can’t go back,” I answered. “We can never go back to the way it was before she died. We are forced to make a new normal for ourselves. Minnesota was stifling us. Everywhere we looked, there she was. The dry cleaners, her favorite restaurants, her very essence. I will never forget her and I’m not asking you to forget her. I’m asking you to pick up the pieces of your life and put them together in a way that works.”“Is that what you’re doing?”“Yes,” I answered immediately. “I know it’s easier to stay where you know and feel comfortable, but easy wasn’t getting us anywhere. We were stuck. I felt like I was drowning. And, I know you don’t want to hear it, but it wasn’t doing you any favors either. You were making some decisions that would have ultimately led you down a very dangerous path.”He rolled his eyes. “It wasn’t a dangerous path.”“I’m not trying to get into all of that,” I said, not wanting to be distracted. “We’re here because this is a chance to start
LeilaI was hiding. I could admit it. I had been waiting for the police or the secret service or whoever it was that arrested people for calling in bomb threats to an airport. I was terrified to leave my house, even if that would be the first place they would look for me.The blinds were closed and both doors locked. Again, I wasn’t exactly fooling anyone with my car in the driveway, but I had to pretend I was doing something to avoid being hauled off to prison. I had a class, but not until later. Instead of going in to work in my office, I was working from home. It seemed safer.A knock on the door nearly sent me into a panic attack. I couldn’t move from the kitchen table. Could I escape? I looked down at my thick thighs and realized my ass was not going to be squeezing through the small window in the kitchen that faced the backyard. The back door would certainly be guarded.“You’re being ridiculous,” I whispered.“Leila!” Kami’s voice boomed. “Open the damn door. I know you’re in th
LeilaHe looked at me and smiled but didn’t answer me. He parked the truck in the empty parking lot of the bar not far from the house. It was the same bar we had met up at on New Year’s Eve. Since moving in, we had become regulars at the bar, getting to know the staff very well.“Come on,” he said jumping out of the truck.“I don’t understand,” I said climbing out. “Isn’t everyone going to be waiting for us? You were the one who said we were going to be late. I don’t think we have time for a drink.”“Will you just come on,” he said. He grabbed my hand and pulled me towards the door. I noticed all the lights were off.“Christopher, they’re closed.”He pushed open the unlocked door, which seemed very odd to me. We walked into the bar. There was a flash of lights and a cacophony of surprises echoing around me. I clapped my free hand over my mouth, taking in the huge banner that said congratulations, and the hundreds of twinkle lights hanging from the ceiling.“Oh my God,” I gasped.“Surp
LeilaOne year laterI reviewed the admissions essay for another potential student. I loved reading the essays—most of the time. Some were absolute garbage, but the majority warmed my heart. I loved reading about the struggles and triumphs of the young people who wanted to attend our school for their educational needs. I always felt like we were the ones being interviewed.Students had thousands of options and when they applied to our school, I felt like we should be proud they had chosen us from the thousands. It had been a long year and the university was still recovering from the scandal that the dean’s extortion had brought on. I felt like we were making headway. It was being talked about less and less and I was hoping by this time next year, it would be a distant memory.My position as associate dean was implemented as a prevention method. Dean Johnson had been allowed to run unchecked, which made him feel invincible. Now, our new dean had me. It was a system of checks and balanc
Leila“You’re going to kill me if you keep doing that,” I told him with a shaky voice.“I love watching you come apart in my arms,” he said before angling his hips and pushing the head of his cock into my opening.I closed my eyes. Two orgasms and no penetration had left me slick and swollen. He pushed, gently probing my opening with his cock. “You’re tight and swollen,” he breathed out the words on a painful breath.“I’m ready,” I told him, looking directly into his eyes.He pushed himself a little deeper inside. Both of us sucked in a breath as powerful sensations rocked through our bodies. He held himself up on shaking arms before sliding inside a little bit at a time. I couldn’t breathe. I felt like our souls were joining. I could feel his essence merging with mine. We stared into each other’s eyes, the joining nearly complete.The last inch of his thick cock filled me. My eyes dropped closed, wanting to lock in all the sensations I was feeling right then. I felt a tear slide down
LeilaHis sweet kiss sparked a hot fire within. He loved me. I had probably repeated the phrase in my head a hundred times since he said it. He loved me. A sexy, beautiful, kind man loved me. I didn’t think it was possible. I was convinced I wasn’t worthy for so long. I never imagined I could ever experience true love with a man that checked all the boxes.“Maybe we should go upstairs?” I whispered against his lips.“I think that sounds like a very good idea. Go ahead and go up while I lock up down here.”I headed upstairs, running my hand along the banister and imagined us going up to bed together every night. We hadn’t talked about any of that, but I realized in that moment, I was ready for the real deal. I went into his room, turned on the fireplace and shut off the lights. I stripped out of the clothes I wore for our night out and crawled onto the bed naked as the day I was born. I did my best to pose in a seductive fashion, waiting for him to come in.I heard his footsteps on the
ChristopherLeila nodded, still sipping the wine. I knew the look on her face. She was in deep thought about something. I waited for her to say what it was.“And you?” she finally asked. “Will you be picking up where you left off with your classes?”I sighed. It was something I had been thinking about quite a bit. I had to do a lot of introspection into my life and what I wanted. “No.”She turned to look at me. “Really? You can’t let one bad dean ruin your idea of a good education. I promise, he does not represent the entire school. The rest of the professors are great—most of them.”I smiled. “It has nothing to do with the dean. It’s about me.”“You don’t want to go to college?”I shook my head. “Not anymore. I don’t need to. I was looking for something. I found it. There are other things I would prefer to do with my time.”“What were you looking for?” she asked.“I was looking for understanding. I needed assurance that things were okay for Carlie.”She looked confused. “I’m not sure
ChristopherI grabbed Leila’s hand and pulled her towards the mini Ferris wheel. She was giggling, resisting at first but eventually following along. We climbed in the seat and were quickly buckled in before the car started to move forward while the next couple boarded.“I don’t know if I like heights,” she told me.“I guess we’re about to find out,” I answered.She was smiling big. “This is nuts.”“This is fun. Look, there’s Olin!”“Olin!” she shouted his name, waving her arms.Olin looked up at us and grinned, waving back as the car went up a little higher. It wasn’t long before the ride began to move, taking us high above the fair. We had done dinner and happened to see the rides and tents set up. It was irresistible. Even Olin had been on board to come along.Once the ride was over, we made our way over to the bumper cars where we were supposed to meet Olin. “He looks like he is having a good time,” Leila commented.I watched Olin laughing as he rammed a young woman in another car
LeilaChristopher nodded. “Yes. He never wanted to get another degree. His wife made him go undercover. There is a camera in the dean’s office. He knew it was there, so all the video they’ve obtained will be legal to use against him.”“Why would he commit a felony on camera?”He grinned. “Because he thought it didn’t work. I have a feeling he purposely broke it. It was fixed and the police have been monitoring him. Today when I went in there, he asked me again for money.”I let out a breath. “Holy shit. I don’t even know what to say. This is the craziest thing I’ve ever heard.”He laughed. “I know. I was in shock. I wasn’t sure if I was going to get arrested.”“I can’t believe Alan never told us!” I said a little irritated.“He couldn’t. He didn’t want to risk me acting different or saying the wrong thing. They had to let it play out.”I shook my head. “I almost quit. If they hadn’t busted him when they did, I would have quit for nothing. Wait, the police know it was me?”“Alan knows
LeilaI tossed another file folder into the box. I was taking everything that was my personal property. My lesson plans and my research were mine. I wasn’t about to leave them behind for someone else to poach. I had put in the time and energy into creating my lectures and tests. They were my personal property and if the dean tried to stop me, I’d give him hell.I threw in the answer sheet to the multiple-choice test as well. My replacement would have to grade the tests sitting on my desks without the answer sheet. It was my way of thumbing my nose at the institution. I found myself angry. I wasn’t even sad. I was pissed.I had come back to campus thinking I could just pick up where I had left off. I couldn’t. I realized I would never feel secure in my job. I would always be looking over my shoulder, waiting for the dean to surprise me with an accusation or an insinuation.I thought about how he had tried to blackmail Christopher and realized he was not the kind of man I wanted to work
ChristopherThe detective left, leaving me and Alan alone in the office. I stared at Alan, absolutely dumbfounded. “What the hell?”Alan laughed. “Sorry I had to keep you in the dark, but we needed this all to play out just right.”“We? Who is we?”“The cops. My wife. Me.”I studied him carefully. “Who are you?”“I am who I say I am, but I did not sign up for more classes because I’m interested in pursuing any more education. The last thing I want to do in my golden years is study and take tests while hanging out with a bunch of kids. My wife made me do it.”“Made you do what?” I asked feeling like I had skipped several chapters in a book and was missing the bulk of the story.“Go undercover,” he said with a grin.“As an old guy in college?”“I’ve been talking to students and trying to get information on the dean. Almost a year ago, a young man from an affluent family came to my wife and asked for help. As it turns out, the dean had been extorting him for months. He pulled the same sh