Rediscovering life (closed)

[silvertongue217]

Ian swallowed hard ignoring the dirty look his wife sent him as she hurried out of the courthouse. Her new younger boy friend followed shooting him the same dirty looks and even going so far as to flip him off before disappearing after her.

“Serves you both right” He murmured adjusting his navy dress blues shooting a smile at his son who was currently sitting with his mother and father. He turned keeping his face stoic as he waited for the judge to finish speaking.

“With that done” The judge said his voice clearly irritated and tired. Ian was the last of his cases and even though Ian made sure to be on his best behavior his soon to be ex-wife had not been ranting and raving as her idiot hot headed boy friend tried to kick up as much fuss as possible. There case would have been a lot more solid if they hadn’t decided to open their mouths but since Ian was about to be a veteran and they were…. Well quite frankly annoying the judge quickly granted him full custody of their five year old daughter Alexandra. Even though his soon to be ex wife even had the gall to try and claim he touched her inappropriately which Ian had countered with more than enough witnesses and backing.

“Your free to go with your daughter” The Judge said favoring him with a tired smile “thank you for your service Mr. Breyer and I wish you and your daughter good luck”

“Thank you sir”

A few months later

Ian got up groaning as his alarm sounded. He shot out on large hand slamming the snooze button down before turning into his pillow. He debated about getting a few more precious seconds of sleep before he heard his daughter calling from her bedroom. He groaned knowing sleep wouldn’t come and instead got up pulling on a simple white t shirt and pushing his long black hair back. He scratched idly at his rebellion stubble (rebelling from the military life) and yawned blinking his green eyes tiredly as he went to help his daughter get dressed. Today was her first day of school which meant that they were both learning the new schedule. He could already hear his mother calling on his phone no doubt warning him of how much time he had left.

“Your grandmother is a worrier” He told Alexandra causing her to giggle and shake her head. He ignored the call (for now) and got his daughter dressed even getting some pop tarts in a napkin for her as they rushed to the car.

Okay so he didn’t do the greatest

His phone beeped and again alerting him he had another call from his mom

“Yes mom” He said patiently pulling his Truck out and joining the traffic.

“Your out the door right? “She said worriedly cutting to business

“Of course” He said chuckling “we’re about fifteen minutes out ma”

“Good” She said her voice relieved causing him to smile a veteran just like him his mother ran every thing with as much pinpoint accuracy as possible. It was a comfort to know she was still doing it even if he wasn’t. They chatted happily for a few more minutes before Ian finally pulled up to the school and said his good bye.


He got out patting his jeans worriedly as well as his button shirt. It showed off his muscular physique and looked good on him but he was still nervous about being in civilian clothing. He tried to look as relaxed as possible as he led his daughter in ignoring the curious and nosy parents and teachers as he went to his daughters class.

“I want to meet your teacher” He told her taking her hand and stepping into the classroom searching for her.

 

[lakegirlxvi]

"Is that what you're wearing?" Jake said, unable to completely hide his sneer of disapproval.

"I think so. Why is something wrong with it?" Courtney asked.

Jake just blew through his lips and rolled his eyes, shuffling off into the bedroom of their shared apartment.

Courtney looked in the mirror again. She was petite, barely five feet tall, but had a nicely curvy figure. Her dark hair was pulled back in a ponytail that would keep it out of her face for the day. She was wearing a simple knee-length skirt and flats with a pale yellow blouse that buttoned almost to her throat. She looked presentable and professional, but she frowned as she studied herself in the mirror, searching for imaginary flaws. Was she showing too much skin? Did she look fat? Did she look too conservative? Too irresponsible?

She and Jake had been together for four years, since her first and his last year of college. He tended bar two nights a week at O'Leary's, and sold a little weed now and then. When she first met him, he had seemed like a great boyfriend, he was sexy and a little bad, and extremely low-maintenance.

When he'd graduated, nothing changed, except with no classes to bother about, he was able to devote more time to his XBox. Courtney had wondered if he was happy living like that, but the one and only time she'd asked him about it, he'd chewed her out so viciously that she still couldn't look at the gaming system without shaking with anxiety.

That one incident aside, though, things had been pretty much fine until she graduated. She had studied education and landed a job teaching kindergarten. She was so excited to start. Jake said she'd changed. She knew she had. She didn't party as much, she didn't sleep as late. She wasn't getting particularly fat or bitchy, but after a long summer, Jake had convinced her that she was.

She had been excited to start her new career. During the past week of teacher prep she had been incredible relieved to have escape Jake for a few hours. She wasn't sure if it was her imagination or not, but she couldn't help feeling like Jake was even angrier than before. Last night he had worked. The bar closed at 2AM, but he hadn't come home until 7.

From the bedroom, she heard the sound of his bong.

"Hey," she said, poking her head in. "Can you not smoke in there? It's going to make all my clothes . . . . "

He answered by blowing a long stream of sticky smoke in her face.

"... smell." She coughed and clenched her teeth. She knew better than to try to talk to him. Just get out of the house. Get through the day. Maybe tonight he'll be in a better mood. She misted her strongest perfume and stood in the cloud much longer than she should, and then drove to the school with the windows down. Then she had to fix her hair in the parking lot, so that by the time she got to her classroom, there were already two anxious-looking five-year-olds standing by the door, and a big man who was standing far too stiffly.

"Good morning, I'm Miss Lake," she said brightly to the two kids. One of them was holding the man's hand. She gave him another glance. With that hair and that posture, all he needed was dress uniform and he'd look like a drill sergeant. Just the type of guy who would love his daughter's teacher showing up late for the first day of school. She focused on getting the kids' names.

She gave him the best smile she was able to in the circumstances as she turned to open the door to the classroom. The little boy went in, with an air of deep suspicion, but the girl - Alexandra, she reminded herself - was not letting her Daddy go for love or money.

Courtney crouched down to be face to face with the girl and smiled. "Do you want your Daddy to help you find a good place?"

 

[silvertongue217]

His daughter nodded still a little timid and shy, this was her first real school experience and Ian was just as nervous as her. He had people coming by almost daily to check and see if he was performing well as a parent. His wife was tenacious and annoying at the same time always calling and trying to get him in trouble or find some thing out. Most of the people who came knew better than to believe her but it set him on edge and only furthered his desire to be the best parent he can possibly be. He would have had her in Pre School but sadly she kept her at home to continue to try and turn her against him, he was overseas at the time and didn’t know about it.

“Thank you” He said to the teacher looking her up and down. He had to resist the urge to gulp as he noticed the teacher was beautiful all soft skin and soft eyes. He could tell she was a sweetheart unlike his soon to be ex wife and that some how made her even more attractive in his eyes. He could feel his heart speeding up slightly as he gazed at her and turned helping his daughter find a seat.

“It’s her first day of school” He explained smiling at her “we haven’t been apart much so she might be a little timid and shy she’s not used to being around a bunch of other kids sadly” he said nodding at her “she’s a good girl though and she listens very well so I don’t think she will give you any trouble”

He shifted looking nervous instead of calm or stoic. He wasn’t used to openly showing his emotion like this but when it came to his daughter all of his military training seemingly went out the window. He wanted more than any thing for his daughter to do good and even more so to protect her above all.

Even if it was from her own mother

“Can I speak to you for a minute outside?” He asked trying to sound as polite as possible.

 

[lakegirlxvi]

Courtney kept her focus on the girl. Something about the father made her nervous. He was intense, which she knew wasn't really fair, since he wasn't really doing anything, but every time she looked up at him, he was watching her, and every time, she blushed a little. When the girl was seated, Courtney gave her a friendly smile and told her "There's nothing to worry about. It's my first day, too."

Then she stood up, straightened her skirt, hoping that she didn't look fat. She felt a little sick. She didn't even need Jake anymore. She could run herself down without him even being there. And it was making her feel awkward and embarrassed when she should be focusing on trying to get a good start to the day. The girls Dad was still there, and she just realized he had been talking to her.

"She's going to be fine," Courtney said, reassuringly. Then she went to her desk and grabbed a sheet with her contact information and a lot of other information for parents. She handed it to the man. "I'll send another copy home with her, but sometimes they get lost, so...."

"Outside?" she said. She didn't quite know why the idea of stepping out of the classroom made her panic, but there was no doubt her heart started beating doubletime.

"Of course." She put on the best smile she could and stepped out into the hall.

 

[silvertongue217]

“Thank you” Ian said following her and closing the door. He resisted the urge to stare at her (even though my god she was pretty!) and instead tried to give her a friendly smile. He knew he came off as… intense to a lot of people a by-product of being a military man for so long. He hadn’t meant to startle the poor girl and judging by the look on her face he had.

“Okay need to tone it down” He thought putting on his best smile and clearing his throat.

“I’m sorry I had you come out here I am sure you have a lot to deal with on the first day of school” He said trying to sound as polite as possible “I only asked you to come out here because I have to warn you about her….. mother” He said blushing a little as he felt embarrassed.

“She’s tried to take my daughter several times” He said softly trying his best to get it over with “she has no real regard for what she can and more importantly can’t do she will no doubt try to take her after school as a matter of fact she may call you to see how she’s doing and fish for information the school already knows she is not to go with anyone but me or a person I gave the passcode to which I am sure you have but I more than likely will be coming to your door to get her every day after class until I am sure she is safe I am sorry it’s embarrassing that you have to deal with the craziness in my life but I need my daughter to be safe more than any thing and I thank you for helping me with that” He said softly.

 

[lakegirlxvi]

Courtney nodded politely as the man explained his situation. She was too flustered to really process what he was saying very clearly. There was a situation with his ex-wife. So he was single? She scowled a moment. She should not be thinking about whether he was single or not. He was old, a dad, grown-up. And then it hit her. She was a teacher. She was grown up too. Which made it ok to think about dads. Except she was not single. And she was staring at him.

"Of course," she said. "I guess we'll be seeing a lot of each other then." She blushed as soon as the words were out of her mouth. She wasn't sure if there was an official policy, but she was pretty sure she shouldn't be flirting with the parents of her students. Especially not when more of them were wandering wide-eyed into her classroom.

"I, uh, I should get back," she said, waving towards the classroom. "So ... will you be picking her up today? That way I can, you know, be sure she's in the right hands."

 

[silvertongue217]

Was she flirting with him?

He didnt know for certain he was bad at figuring out this type of thing. Woman were more confusing then bombs some times to him. Some times he read things the wrong way some times he thought he had the situation well in hand and i exploded in his face and some times he just read to much into it. The teacher seemed like she was staring at him but was it in pity or interest? Most of the looks he got as of late were pity, pity at his situation and pity on his wife cheating on him. In truth he later didn't bother him their marriage was over the minute he went away and even though it sucked and hurt at first he came to terms with it pretty quickly. He knew a lot of people bemoaned and cried about it but Ian didnt care enough in truth to do either of those things. Instead he looked to the future and his daughter.

Of course he was single and he did have wants.... desires the teacher was pretty and it didnt look like she had a ring on her finger. Of course she was his daughters teacher which probably meant there was an ethical line some where but maybe it was still some thing to pursue.

"Uh yeah" Ian said clearing his throat "you and I will be seeing a lot of each other" He said attempting his best to flirt back "I will be picking her up today I'll probably be the last person to pick up in all honesty I have work as well but I dont trust her on the buss you know I am sorry if I keep you any later I am sure you have some one at home?" He said trying not to seem to prying.

 

[lakegirlxvi]

"Someone at home?" she echoed. She did have someone at home, yes. Jake. She wondered why she didn't want to tell this man. Was it just that she didn't want to think about Jake? No. It was more than that. She didn't want this man to think of her as taken. She knew he was divorced, obviously had problems with his ex. She knew that courts almost always favored mothers over fathers in custody disputes, so the ex must be a real mess.

"I guess ... sort of ..." Just thinking about Jake was enough to rob her of any confidence and give her that sick feeling again. And now she was acting like a stupid schoolgirl with a crush on an older boy.

"There's ... someone," she said. After all that stammering, he already knew. "But, you know, there's no rush. I'll be here. I'll have plenty to keep myself busy with." She had no doubt there was enough for her to do between planning and everything else that she could stay at her desk until she passed out. Even if she didn't, she was glad for any excuse to stay away from the toxic place her home had become. At nine, the custodians locked the building up, and she'd have to leave, but she was pretty sure he wasn't talking about being that late.

"My cell's on that sheet, in case there's an emergency," she said. She blushed. She knew she wasn't pointing that out as a teacher to a nervous parent. She was pointing it out to remind him that he could call her. Even though she had a boyfriend. She could hear Jake's voice in her head, telling her she was a slut, as well as being a fat, stupid bitch.

 

[silvertongue217]

Ian nodded at her words growing confused, so she was with some one but she was unhappy? He wasn’t exactly the best at reading in between the lines. Maybe he had mistook her flirting for friendly conversation. Then again she didn’t seem all that eager to get home and she made a hint that he had her cell phone number. Ian resisted the urge to growl in frustration, this was why he wasn’t a big fan of dating! Flirting, dating, that awkward in between it was all so confusing! He much preferred the direct route or at least being direct.

“Thank you” He said clearing his throat and glancing at his daughter one more time “I know how annoying this can be I’m trying to figure out away to deal with….. well with her mom thank you for giving me your cell phone number I might call later and see how she is doing” He said pausing an wondering how best to proceed.

“Maybe I can take you out for dinner as a way of thanking you for staying later for me? I feel bad you have to maybe coffee or some thing? I mean to thank you of course I know its your first day and you might want to get home but if you don’t I wouldn’t mind properly thanking you for your trouble”