Roman. Wave at your daddy.”
Roman was waving like a six-year-old would,
while increasing the speed of his walk in order to get to his
father faster.
“Daddy! Daddy! Mrs. Smith showed me how to
make a big sandcastle!”
“She did, huh?”
“Yeah, and we cowected seashells. See.”
Roman opened his little hand, revealing two small seashells.
“That’s nice, son. Come on in and rinse off
and get ready for dinner. Okay?”
“Okay, Daddy.”
I walked into the house behind Roman, went
upstairs to Sean’s room, and joined him on the balcony. Since that
night in the kitchen, we hadn’t talked face-to-face, just on the
phone, and I wanted to make things right between us.
“Sean, I want to apologize for those bad things I
said to you.” It took a lot of pride swallowing to do that, but one
of us had to be the bigger person. I mean, after all, I am living
in the man’s house. “I don’t know you, and I’m sorry for the things
I said about you. I was wrong.”
“I’m sorry, too,” he said, then stuck out
his hand as if he wanted to shake and call it even. “Maybe we can
be civil with each other from here on out.”
Thinking he was too arrogant to apologize, I
wasn’t expecting that response from him. I smiled but refused his
handshake, wanting a hug instead. I wasn’t about to let the first
opportunity to feel the ripple effect of his muscles up against my
body pass me by, so I hugged him. No, I squeezed him, firmly
pressing my body up against his, laying my head against his oiled
chest.
“Amber Romance,” Sean said, equally gripping
me.
“What?”
“You’re wearing Victoria’s Secret Amber
Romance, right?”
“Yeah. How did you know that?” I asked, as
Sean inhaled the scent of my body mist.
“I just know.”
I was ready to pull away from our hug, but
Sean held on to me, and for that moment, I felt like I was his.
“We’ve been spending so much time angry at
each other that we haven’t had a chance to get to know one
another,” he said when he let me go and started staring at me
with his darling green eyes. “I really need to get to know the
woman that my son is so crazy over.”
He held my hands and we just stood there on
the balcony, staring at each other. Actually, he was staring at me
and I had no idea why. The awkward silence was killing me and he
seemed to have lost himself in my eyes. Then, out of the blue, he
smiled. I smiled, too. It was the first time I’d seen him so
sincere.
He broke the silence. “Besides the fact that
you’re a teacher and you like to cook, I don’t know much about you.
So why don’t you tell me about yourself.”
“Depends on what you want to know?”
“Well, where are you from?”
“ I’ve been living in
Milwaukee all my life.”
“Oh, word?”
“Yeah. My apartment is near Appleton &
Hampton.”
“Oh, okay. I know the area. I own a few
houses over there. So have you always been a teacher?”
“Yep, since I graduated from the University
of Wisconsin. I’ve only been actively teaching for about ten
months.”
“So you’re pretty much new to the game,
huh?”
“Yeah, I guess you can say that.”
“Well, you’re doing a good job with
Roman.”
If I was doing such a good job with
Roman, why did you take him out of my class, is what I thought,
but didn’t bother to ask. I shifted the focus of the conversation
on him. “How long have you been in real estate?”
“ For about eight years. I
used to work at one of the more popular real estate agencies in the
greater Milwaukee area. Then, after a while, potential homebuyers
and sellers began requesting me by name.”
“ Oh, so er’body started
sweatin’ you after a while?”
Sean grinned. “Yep. So, after eight years of
working for the firm, I opened my own real estate agency with a few
associates, Beauvais Real Estate Agency.”
“I bet you have a lot of requests from
women.”
“Why you say that?”
“Because of your looks. While you’re showing
them around the
Roman was waving like a six-year-old would,
while increasing the speed of his walk in order to get to his
father faster.
“Daddy! Daddy! Mrs. Smith showed me how to
make a big sandcastle!”
“She did, huh?”
“Yeah, and we cowected seashells. See.”
Roman opened his little hand, revealing two small seashells.
“That’s nice, son. Come on in and rinse off
and get ready for dinner. Okay?”
“Okay, Daddy.”
I walked into the house behind Roman, went
upstairs to Sean’s room, and joined him on the balcony. Since that
night in the kitchen, we hadn’t talked face-to-face, just on the
phone, and I wanted to make things right between us.
“Sean, I want to apologize for those bad things I
said to you.” It took a lot of pride swallowing to do that, but one
of us had to be the bigger person. I mean, after all, I am living
in the man’s house. “I don’t know you, and I’m sorry for the things
I said about you. I was wrong.”
“I’m sorry, too,” he said, then stuck out
his hand as if he wanted to shake and call it even. “Maybe we can
be civil with each other from here on out.”
Thinking he was too arrogant to apologize, I
wasn’t expecting that response from him. I smiled but refused his
handshake, wanting a hug instead. I wasn’t about to let the first
opportunity to feel the ripple effect of his muscles up against my
body pass me by, so I hugged him. No, I squeezed him, firmly
pressing my body up against his, laying my head against his oiled
chest.
“Amber Romance,” Sean said, equally gripping
me.
“What?”
“You’re wearing Victoria’s Secret Amber
Romance, right?”
“Yeah. How did you know that?” I asked, as
Sean inhaled the scent of my body mist.
“I just know.”
I was ready to pull away from our hug, but
Sean held on to me, and for that moment, I felt like I was his.
“We’ve been spending so much time angry at
each other that we haven’t had a chance to get to know one
another,” he said when he let me go and started staring at me
with his darling green eyes. “I really need to get to know the
woman that my son is so crazy over.”
He held my hands and we just stood there on
the balcony, staring at each other. Actually, he was staring at me
and I had no idea why. The awkward silence was killing me and he
seemed to have lost himself in my eyes. Then, out of the blue, he
smiled. I smiled, too. It was the first time I’d seen him so
sincere.
He broke the silence. “Besides the fact that
you’re a teacher and you like to cook, I don’t know much about you.
So why don’t you tell me about yourself.”
“Depends on what you want to know?”
“Well, where are you from?”
“ I’ve been living in
Milwaukee all my life.”
“Oh, word?”
“Yeah. My apartment is near Appleton &
Hampton.”
“Oh, okay. I know the area. I own a few
houses over there. So have you always been a teacher?”
“Yep, since I graduated from the University
of Wisconsin. I’ve only been actively teaching for about ten
months.”
“So you’re pretty much new to the game,
huh?”
“Yeah, I guess you can say that.”
“Well, you’re doing a good job with
Roman.”
If I was doing such a good job with
Roman, why did you take him out of my class, is what I thought,
but didn’t bother to ask. I shifted the focus of the conversation
on him. “How long have you been in real estate?”
“ For about eight years. I
used to work at one of the more popular real estate agencies in the
greater Milwaukee area. Then, after a while, potential homebuyers
and sellers began requesting me by name.”
“ Oh, so er’body started
sweatin’ you after a while?”
Sean grinned. “Yep. So, after eight years of
working for the firm, I opened my own real estate agency with a few
associates, Beauvais Real Estate Agency.”
“I bet you have a lot of requests from
women.”
“Why you say that?”
“Because of your looks. While you’re showing
them around the
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