Part Eleven: Community Engagement
Caesar salad. That made sense, I supposed. In my head, it seemed like cops would eat something with more protein. I guess you didn't keep a body like Louisa Barbour's wolfing down double quarter pounders for lunch. She was a skinny little thing. Fit, yes, but not a lot of meat on her. A shame. With a face like that, she could have broken some hearts. More of them, anyway.
Instead, it looked like the one heart she was most focused on seemed very much intact. That felt good, knowing I'd patched things up between my two lunchmates. Of course, it was only because of me that they'd had their quarrel to begin with. Nothing like ordering your bodyguard to forgive and forget to do the trick. At least when your bodyguard followed any order you gave her. Not that I'd gone full "obey my every command" level of compliance, but having her hyper-focused on making me happy had nearly the same effect. Better yet, it preserved her autonomy, obviating the need to micromanage her.
Taylor, Abbie and Cassie were well in hand, literally. Megan I'd be checking in on soon. Today, if she was available. Past time to sit down with the three adults in our arrangement and make sure everything was running smoothly.
"So how have you two been holding up?" I asked casually, cracking open my own lunchbox. Egg salad sandwich. Not my favorite, but the best-by date had insisted that I finish it off today or pitch it. I'd been so busy lately I'd been neglecting basics like laundry and grocery shopping. If I didn't take care of it tonight, tomorrow I'd be stuck eating cafeteria lunch, in which case I might have to call in sick.
"We're... good. Right?" said Isa, sharing a not-so-subtle we-fucked-last-night grin with her lover.
Candy was just as guilty. "We're good. The week got off to a rough start, but we talked, and then we... yeah. We're fine."
"Good. I can't help but feel that I put you guys in an awkward position. Which is a massive understatement for the larger situation, I know. I owe you both an apology. I don't know how much of what I did was pure me, how much of it was whatever those girls put in my head, but... I am sorry I had to involve you. Apologies may be meaningless at this stage, but... for what it's worth."
They shared an inscrutable look. "Thank you for that, Mr. Canon. That's good to hear. And it's not meaningless," said Candy.
The three of us let the sentiment settle while we ate for a while. My classroom was quiet this time of day, and unlike, Candy's, the windows by the door were covered over. Originally I'd covered it because the art room across the hall had a tendency to create distractions, but it was turning out to be a handy privacy screen of late, too. "How about you? How have you been?" Isa asked after a while.
"Me? Oh, I've been... good." It was my turn to ellipsis my way around carnal details. They understood me as easily as I had them, though.
"Yeah? So, everything between you and your neighbors is resolved?"
I nodded, pausing until I swallowed to answer. "Yeah. Cassie is coming along nicely, and Megan's being brought to heel. I'm going to hammer out the minutiae with her soon, but that's mostly just me still being pissed about the blackmail."
"Feel free to give her a little extra on our account, considering she's the whole reason we got pulled into this whole mess," Candy added.
"Will do. At least there's no more threats to -- what did you call it, Isa?"
"Hmm?" She chewed for a moment. "Oh, you mean operational security?"
"Yeah. You cops have the good jargon, I'll give you that. We have nothing to worry about there any more. Less than nothing, really. The Browns are protecting the secret, same as the rest of us."
"Good," answered the social studies teacher. "Good. Hey, speaking of Cassie, I wondered if you'd given any thought to what we talked about the other day, about... instruction. A little, erm, tutoring, between her and me." Her cheeks colored, and she couldn't make eye contact.
I looked to Isa, expecting some reaction, but she was studying her plate. "That's all right with you, Isa? I'm not looking to cause more drama."
"Hey, if it makes the two of you happy..." She shrugged.
Hmm. Curious. "Well, if it's fine with you, I guess it's fine with me. When's good for you? Tonight?" My casual tone was pure theater. Inwardly, the conflict was intense. Cassie was a sweet kid, not some hooker to pass around at a bachelor party. (Not that I'd ever been to that sort of bachelor party. Did that happen outside of the movies?) Nevertheless, I recognized that feeling guilty pimping out Cassie to her assistant volleyball coach was as hypocritical as it got. If I was going to give myself a pass (and clearly I was), it was only fair she got one, too. I hadn't programmed Cassie for such things, but if I told her it would give me pleasure, she'd be up for anything. The girl was turning out to be almost insatiable. I'd had to pretend to be asleep last night when she'd gotten home from her group project, or it would have been a repeat of the night before.
Guess we'll have to have sex another night! Probly a good thing since I haven't had time to study up any more. xxxxxxxxo! ;)
, her text had read.
"Well, the next couple nights are out. Saturday could be OK, but actually... we were hoping to have you over for that dinner we talked about," answered Candy.
Isa arched a brow. "We were?"
"Surprise! Yeah, we were. Just the three of us, for a nice intimate meal."
"Do I have to cook?"
"I said a
nice
meal, honey. Not finger sandwiches."
"Sounds good to me, then."
Candy looked back to me. "How about you?"
"Saturday would be fine." It was one of the challenges of having a broad assortment of high school girls at my beck and call -- they tended to be busy Saturday nights. I seldom was.
"Great. So then... hmm. Maybe Sunday, for Cassie? Run it by her, see if it works. I'll have a lesson written and ready this time. You're welcome to join us, if you'd like to participate in her... education."
"I... yeah. I think I could teach her a few things." Man, we really were the worst. It was telling that I was fine doing it in the privacy of my home but cringed to say it out loud. Isa's silence made it all the more pronounced.
"Great. So how about seven Saturday night, our place?"