Scream For me

“HOW COME ONLY my daddy is late? Did-did he forget me?” Daisy pooches out her lower lip, and it quivers a little as she tries not to break out into a full-blown cry.

“Oh, sweetie, he’s just a really busy and important man is all. It’s not because he forgot.” I crouch down in front of her, lifting her chin up so she can see me. “You are his entire world. I promise you he’s going to be here any minute.” I offer up a huge smile to reassure her, but the truth is, I have no idea if he’s even on his way yet. He left a message with the school’s administrative assistant, letting her know that he’d be just a few minutes late today.

“Come on,” I say, reaching for her hand and I stand back up. The classroom is empty. I walk over to grab my bag and turn off the lights and shut the door. “We’ll go wait down by the front entrance. I’ll show you my new paint by numbers picture if you want to see it?”

“Yeah!” she says, tugging my hand in excitement, her frown instantly turning into a smile.

My first week of teaching here has flown by and it’s been so fulfilling already. I’m not sure if it’s irony or what, considering her father doesn’t seem too fond of me, but Daisy has become my little shadow at school. She’s developed a keen interest in my hobby of crafting random things I find off the internet. This month my obsession has been paint by number photos and she loves looking at photos of all the ones I’ve completed.

We head down to the front lobby where I let the admin know we are waiting for Mr. Vaughn. The parents waiting room is large, complete with fancy coffee machines and ergonomic chairs that probably cost more than my rent. Nothing like the schools I’ve taught at previously.

“Let’s sit down here.” I motion toward the floor next to a large coffee table so that I can pull out my iPad and show her the picture. “Do you like horses?”

“I love horses,” she says dramatically, emphasizing the statement by fanning out her little arms.

“Well then, you are going to love this picture.” I slide open the screen and show her the painting of two horses surrounded by a majestic forest filled with fairies and woodland creatures.

“Glitter!” she shouts enthusiastically. “Glitter is like my favorite color.”

“Mine too!” I smile as she fawns over the painting. I used glitter paints for the fairies and the horses’ manes, bringing a more whimsical approach to the photo.

“Can I see the butterfly one again?” she asks, referring to a photo I did in all neon paint a few weeks back that I’d previously shown her.

“Of course.” I flip through until I find it when I hear the sound of someone clearing their throat behind us.

“Daddy!” She jumps up, running over to where Mr. Vaughn is standing.

He leans down, scooping her up into his arms.

“There’s my girl. How was school?”

“Fun. We learned catipols today.”

“Catipols?” he asks, confused and it makes me chuckle.

“Capitals. We learned about capital letters today.” He looks over Daisy’s shoulder, almost as if he’s just noticing me standing here.

“Ah, capital letters.”

“Daisy has a big D,” she says, pointing to herself, “’cause, ’cause it’s my name.”

“Yes, it does.” He smiles, kissing her cheek and making her squirm.

“Oh, Mr. Vaughn, pleasure to see you, sir. I wasn’t expecting to see you here,” our administrator, Mr. Fein, interrupts.

Mr. Vaughn puts Daisy back down on her feet as he reaches out to shake Mr. Fein’s hand.

“Miss Flowers, I assume you’ve met Mr. Weston Vaughn before?” he says, gesturing toward him as if he’s some important dignitary that I should bow to.

“Yes.” I nod, reaching for my bag as Daisy runs back over to grab hers as well. “We’ve met a few times and his daughter is one of my students.” I smile nervously at the way Mr. Vaughn’s eyes find mine but look away quickly. I clutch the straps of my bag, holding it on my shoulder tightly.

“Mr. Vaughn is our most important parent and supporter here at Crestwood.”

I glance up at Mr. Vaughn who’s staring right at me, past Mr. Fein like he isn’t even there.

“You know my brother actually worked for one of your companies; he was in the finance department.”

“Is that so?” Mr. Vaughn says, his eyes still trained on mine like they’re slowly undressing me.

“Yes, doesn’t anymore unfortunately…” Mr. Fein’s voice trails off as Mr. Vaughn turns his attention away from me and toward him. “Anyway, can I just say, sir, we were all just overwhelmed with joy and gratitude when you decided to continue on with Daisy’s education here after kindergarten.”

Weston smiles but it doesn’t seem genuine, but rather more hollow. The only time I’ve seen a genuine display of anything remotely human is when he’s with his daughter.

“My pleasure, Rick. I need to get going. Daisy,” he calls to her and she comes running over as Mr. Fein excuses himself and apologizes profusely for interrupting.

It’s kind of pathetic the way he’s pandering to Weston. I wanted to interrupt and say aren’t all of our parents important? Especially the ones who actually care about their kid’s school. But I know with people this wealthy, it’s the politics you have to play.Content bel0ngs to Nôvel(D)r/a/ma.Org.

“You didn’t want to tell him where we met before?” Weston asks, his voice lower as he takes a step closer to me.

“Uh, no. I didn’t think it was pertinent to the conversation.” I clutch the straps of my bag tighter as Daisy preoccupies herself by playing with a toy from her backpack at her father’s feet. My eyes slowly drift up his body, clad completely in black. His black button-down stretches across his chest as he slides his hands into his pockets.

“Thank you for sitting with her. I am very sorry for being so late.” “Again,” I say, causing a slow grin to tug at his lips.

Wow, guess there is a human inside there after all.

“Yes, again. I can’t promise you it won’t happen again, but I will try to make sure that it doesn’t.”

“It really upset her. She was crying because she was the only student whose parent didn’t pick them up on time.” I try to keep my voice level as he stares down at me.

“Am I being lectured again, Miss Flowers?”

“You know, Mr. Vaughn, someone once told me that time management was a valuable skill. Maybe you too can learn to develop it with a little discipline,” I repeat his words from earlier this week back to him.

His head falls back, a loud laugh erupting from his chest. He pulls one hand from his pocket, bringing it up to run through his thick hair that flops right back into place. “At least you were listening.”

“Yeah.” I smirk. “Although I think when the guy who told it to me said it, he was being a bit of a condescending prick.” I mouth the word so Daisy doesn’t hear it. “But with me, it comes from a place of sincerity and selfreflection.”

He takes a step closer, only a few inches between us now as his smile disappears just as quickly as it appeared. He tilts his head to look down at me, an almost menacing look on his face. “You’ve got a smart little mouth on you, don’t you? I bet that too could be taken care of with a little discipline as well.”

Where the hell did that come from?

I don’t know if he’s threatening me or coming on to me, but my body goes into full-blown panic mode. I feel sweat break out on my forehead. My stomach flips, and my mouth goes completely dry. I know without seeing my reflection that my cheeks are probably glowing red.

“Daisy, time to go,” he says, keeping his eyes on mine for another lingering second.

“Bye, Miss Flowers,” she says as she follows her dad out of the room and around the corner.

“Bye,” I say in a dry croak, lifting my hand slowly to raise it. My hand lowers, resting my fingertips gently against my lips as my body calms down. However, he meant those words, my body only interpreted them one way.

I might have just gotten myself in way over my head by going toe to toe with a man like Weston Vaughn.