blazer and a pair of jeans. The jeans were dark wash, and seemed to fall on him in all the right places.
“Hey Sam,” said Otto. His hair was styled in an old-timey fashion. It was parted and gelled down. It was as if he was taking her on a date to a steakhouse restaurant instead of walking down to town hall with her.
Sam couldn’t help but grin at him. Even though Layla stood between them eyeing both parties.
“Hey,” she said.
“You guys hitting the town?” said Layla in an overly friendly manner. She swished the red wine in her long stemmed glass.
Sam shot her a look.
Layla replied by giving Sam a long once over. The façade of casual cuteness didn’t get past Layla.
“I guess in a way we are. We’re actually hitting the school board meeting,” said Otto, oblivious to Layla’s prying questions.
Layla nodded. She now clearly understood what was going on.
“You look nice Otto,” she said, taking a sip of wine.
Before Layla could utter another word, Sam grabbed Otto by the elbow and led him back outside.
Layla stood in the doorway waggling her fingers good-bye.
“Tell the board to give me a raise,” she said to them. Her husky voice traveled through the night air.
Sam ignored her.
“Layla really lets her hair down when she’s home, literally and metaphorically,” Otto said.
Sam decided to ignore him for a beat. She may have once had long talks with Otto in the corner of Zelda’s about Jane Austen and Marc Rothko, but she wasn’t ready to discuss her best friend’s dueling inner school teacher and femme fatale complex. Otto was still Layla’s boss for the long term and Sam’s boss for the short term. Sam simply laughed at his observation.
“She’s allowed to be both,” said Sam.
Otto nodded thoughtfully.
“You’re right. It’s just interesting. Being the high school principal the past few years, I’ve started to notice the inner workings of people more, how complex they are. It’s much more interesting than being caught up in my own complexities,” he said.
“Complexities?” said Sam. She’d dated many aspiring intellectuals during graduate school who could’ve been described as complex. They’d always been incredibly boring once the front of tortured genius had fallen. Sam was no longer interested in men who had long explanations for abstract concepts when they had trouble with things like commitment, courtesy, and loyalty. She'd thought she'd wanted deep, hours-long conversations on truth and meaning. Really, she just wanted a guy to not suggest they split the check on the first date.
The nice thing was Otto could be as complex as he wanted. She was just going to have fun with Otto, on this walk, being his secretary. It was so easy, and Sam wasn’t going to lose any sleep over it.
Otto let out a laugh. It was tinged with embarrassment.
“Oh you know the usual bullshit, like, am I living a life my father would be proud of? Stuff like that,” he said.
“It’s not bullshit if it bothers you,” said Sam. She was surprised to find herself humoring Otto. She didn’t care if Otto had daddy issues. Really, she didn’t. She did like walking through a crisp fall night, cursing with Otto after hours.
Otto shrugged.
“I think the feeling may always linger a little. You know coming here to teach, and then becoming principal was all it took. One day I realized it wasn’t about me. It was about getting the kids of Grover ready for the world. It was about doing what was right, not what sounded nice when I was at one of my parents’ cocktail parties,” he said.
“I think most people find what you do incredibly respectable,” said Sam. If she’d been reminded of anything in the past two days, it was Otto was as hard working as they came. He’d been the same way when he’d worked at Zelda’s. Just because he'd grown up rich didn't mean he wouldn't clean the pizzeria's bathrooms and humor rude comments from tourist customers. Sam couldn’t help but like this about
“Hey Sam,” said Otto. His hair was styled in an old-timey fashion. It was parted and gelled down. It was as if he was taking her on a date to a steakhouse restaurant instead of walking down to town hall with her.
Sam couldn’t help but grin at him. Even though Layla stood between them eyeing both parties.
“Hey,” she said.
“You guys hitting the town?” said Layla in an overly friendly manner. She swished the red wine in her long stemmed glass.
Sam shot her a look.
Layla replied by giving Sam a long once over. The façade of casual cuteness didn’t get past Layla.
“I guess in a way we are. We’re actually hitting the school board meeting,” said Otto, oblivious to Layla’s prying questions.
Layla nodded. She now clearly understood what was going on.
“You look nice Otto,” she said, taking a sip of wine.
Before Layla could utter another word, Sam grabbed Otto by the elbow and led him back outside.
Layla stood in the doorway waggling her fingers good-bye.
“Tell the board to give me a raise,” she said to them. Her husky voice traveled through the night air.
Sam ignored her.
“Layla really lets her hair down when she’s home, literally and metaphorically,” Otto said.
Sam decided to ignore him for a beat. She may have once had long talks with Otto in the corner of Zelda’s about Jane Austen and Marc Rothko, but she wasn’t ready to discuss her best friend’s dueling inner school teacher and femme fatale complex. Otto was still Layla’s boss for the long term and Sam’s boss for the short term. Sam simply laughed at his observation.
“She’s allowed to be both,” said Sam.
Otto nodded thoughtfully.
“You’re right. It’s just interesting. Being the high school principal the past few years, I’ve started to notice the inner workings of people more, how complex they are. It’s much more interesting than being caught up in my own complexities,” he said.
“Complexities?” said Sam. She’d dated many aspiring intellectuals during graduate school who could’ve been described as complex. They’d always been incredibly boring once the front of tortured genius had fallen. Sam was no longer interested in men who had long explanations for abstract concepts when they had trouble with things like commitment, courtesy, and loyalty. She'd thought she'd wanted deep, hours-long conversations on truth and meaning. Really, she just wanted a guy to not suggest they split the check on the first date.
The nice thing was Otto could be as complex as he wanted. She was just going to have fun with Otto, on this walk, being his secretary. It was so easy, and Sam wasn’t going to lose any sleep over it.
Otto let out a laugh. It was tinged with embarrassment.
“Oh you know the usual bullshit, like, am I living a life my father would be proud of? Stuff like that,” he said.
“It’s not bullshit if it bothers you,” said Sam. She was surprised to find herself humoring Otto. She didn’t care if Otto had daddy issues. Really, she didn’t. She did like walking through a crisp fall night, cursing with Otto after hours.
Otto shrugged.
“I think the feeling may always linger a little. You know coming here to teach, and then becoming principal was all it took. One day I realized it wasn’t about me. It was about getting the kids of Grover ready for the world. It was about doing what was right, not what sounded nice when I was at one of my parents’ cocktail parties,” he said.
“I think most people find what you do incredibly respectable,” said Sam. If she’d been reminded of anything in the past two days, it was Otto was as hard working as they came. He’d been the same way when he’d worked at Zelda’s. Just because he'd grown up rich didn't mean he wouldn't clean the pizzeria's bathrooms and humor rude comments from tourist customers. Sam couldn’t help but like this about
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