Lessons Learned

Missy's beautiful blue eyes met Kayla's for a minute, and then she looked away, her expression unreadable. She hurried to her desk and began to look through the pile of papers the student had informed her about. She flipped through them for a moment and realized that part of the stack was intended for Kayla. Nervously, feeling numb and shut off from anything but work, Melissa lifted the papers and walked over to the other teacher, a woman she was trying not to think about but who kept invading her thoughts. She looked at Kayla and felt something stir deep inside, and she wordlessly vowed to herself that she must stop feeling this twinge when she saw Kayla, that Kayla meant nothing to her save for someone she needed to mentor in teaching.

Kayla tried hard to read Missy's expression, but Missy looked away hurriedly. "These are for you," she said blandly, handing Kayla the papers. Kayla reached for the papers and closed her hand around Missy's when she took them. She felt a jolt of emotion when her skin touched Missy's. Their eyes met for a brief moment, and Kayla thought she saw love in the eyes of the woman who had been the best lover she had ever had. Then, like a shooting star seemingly falling from out of the cosmos and disappearing, the moment was gone, and Melissa was removing her hand and turning to walk away.

She's walking out of my life, Kayla told herself. But some other inner voice, some encouraging voice, said otherwise. I won't give up, Kayla told herself, and with a sudden influx of self preservation, she decided to try hard to win Melissa back. But how to do this was the question. It seemed to Kayla that she needed to be subtle and to keep her distance. She could tell at this point that an outpouring of emotion from a needy lover was not going to help. She also instinctively knew that getting angry with Melissa like she had before would not help. Kayla was hurt and she was angry, but a rough and angry seduction would not work this time.

Kayla looked at the door that Missy had just closed. Kayla could feel the pain and the longing coursing through her, but she would have to continue to summon her anger and use it to be strong. She would simply beat Melissa at her own game by ignoring her, looking like a million bucks, and trying to find ways to make Missy jealous and feel desire for Kayla. Hopefully, there's a chance, Kayla thought to herself, and she smiled for the first time since Friday.

Chapter Fourteen

Kayla did her best to not focus on her pain but to feel productive by plotting moves to make Melissa take notice. She dressed as sexily as she dared for work and made a point of going in to the shared office when she noticed the other teacher was in there. Once in the office, Kayla would root around in her desk and bend over and make sure her backside was on display for Melissa. She would go over to a bookshelf against the wall and look for something, and she could feel the other woman's eyes on her.

Kayla even found a work-related reason to sit down with Melissa and speak with her. One of her students was failing math, and the parents had called and requested a conference. As this was her first such conference, she obviously needed her mentor's help to prepare.

Sitting in their shared office, Kayla sat so close to Missy that their legs were practically touching, and if Kayla moved, her knee did brush against Missy's. She watched Missy react, her blue eyes growing wide behind her glasses, her breath catching in her throat.

Their meeting lasted for twenty five minutes, and Kayla had leaned over as she asked her mentor questions and gave the other woman a clear view of her perfect breasts through the open neckline of her blouse.

When Missy stood up after their meeting, she looked flustered as she gathered her things to leave for the day. Kayla watched her leave and was filled with such lust, such longing, she thought she would burst. Missy had clearly noticed her but had remained distant and businesslike. Kayla couldn't help but think of the intimacy and the passion they had shared. Memories came flooding back to her, and the pain was like a searing, white-hot flame. Kayla put her head down on her desk and wept, even as she told herself to stay strong and to keep trying to get Missy's attention.

Chapter Fifteen

Stay strong, stay focused, Missy told herself as she swerved the light blue BMW into a parking spot at her parents' country club on Wednesday night. Members used the valet, but she had decided to park her own car to buy her some extra time to get her nerve up. Walking into the club as a light rain fell, Missy felt more miserable than she ever had. She felt like a huge hole was in the spot her heart used to occupy, and she felt like she was following a path that was not of her choosing. And yet, she knew it was what she must do.

Inside the clubhouse, Missy quickly smoothed her hair as she gazed into a large mirror in the lobby. She took a deep breath and walked like a sleepwalker into the dining room. Missy scanned the tables of diners and then saw her mother waving to her. She made her way through the elegant dining room and approached the table where her parents and her former boyfriend/ short-term fiancé were seated. Glen's parents were there as well. The table offered a lovely view of the first tee, but it was dark and gloomy out now and light ribbons of rain streaked a slow path down the large glass window. Missy shook Glen's father's hand when he stood and offered it to her.

"We're so glad you're here, Missy. We were really hoping you and Glen could clear up your misunderstanding," Glen's father was saying.

Misunderstanding? Is that what it was Missy asked herself? Misalliance was more like it, but she had to stop thinking that. This was her life---- being around people like her parents and Glen's parents. Anything else that had recently happened was a fantasy, something not to be experienced by someone like her. She looked at Glen and smiled weakly at him, feeling nothing, and took her seat between him and her father. Dr. Martin looked at his daughter benignly. He reached over and squeezed her hand encouragingly. He had always supported her and helped her to deal with her mother's demands. Missy squeezed his hand back. As much as she craved her mother's approval, not letting her father down seemed even more important to her. She turned to Glen and asked him how his work was going.

Chapter Sixteen

On Thursday after school, Kayla was talking and laughing with another pretty teacher in the hallway. When she saw Melissa rounding the corner and heading toward them, she put her hand on the other teacher's arm, and she clearly saw Missy look and almost flinch. Kayla felt so much better as she strolled out into the parking lot. She was going to make Missy take notice, and she wasn't going to beg or plead. Her anger was still simmering below the surface, and she decided that she was going to try hard not to cry again and that maybe, just maybe, she would go out and have some fun and try to forget her former lover. Let Missy notice her and lust after her. Kayla would be busy moving on with her life. She felt determined as she drove away from the school in her red Civic, and it was a good feeling. She was tired of the tears and the pain, and she wanted and needed to feel good again.

Chapter Seventeen

Another week passed in pretty much the same fashion, and when Kayla would start to feel sad, she would force herself to get angry, which wasn't that difficult to do considering Melissa's feigned indifference. Kayla was sure her former lover's disinterest was not genuine. How could she have been in the relationship that they had been having and turn her feelings off just like that? Kayla didn't think it was possible, so obviously Missy was just fooling herself and forcing herself to pretend to not care.

Several times during the week, Kayla thought about trying to talk to Missy----having an honest heart to heart chat, but her pride and anger kept her from doing it. Somewhere deep inside, she felt that Missy would eventually come to her senses and try to work things out with her. There was another small part of her deep inside that almost didn't care, that wanted to snub Missy if she did try to reconcile. It was a feeling that was obviously born from her anger at the other woman.

One thing Kayla did know for sure was that she was sick and tired of feeling miserable. Kayla's zest for life had been impaired by this situation, but her vitality was trying to break through, and Kayla was tired of her flip-flopping emotions. She continued to nurse her anger, and she started to think about trying to do something fun for a change, maybe even having sex with someone new, which would be a great way to hurt Missy. She was going to keep her eyes open.

Chapter Eighteen

On Friday morning, Kayla walked out of her apartment and noticed that most of the brilliantly hued leaves had fallen from the trees. The few that were left on branches were brown and dead. Kayla remembered how brilliant and vibrant the leaves had been a few weeks earlier. The whole thing resonated with her like a metaphor of her relationship with Missy.

As Kayla walked to her car in the parking lot, she heard someone call her name. Turning, she saw that it was a young man who lived in the same building. He had talked to Kayla several times in the parking lot or by the mail boxes, and she sensed that he was interested in her, but she had never encouraged him due to her relationship with Missy.

"Hey, Kayla," he said. "A buddy of mine owns this small bar, and he is having a Halloween party tomorrow night. I was hoping you might want to check it out."

"Thanks, uh---Jake," Kayla said, thinking hard to recall his name.

Jake handed Kayla a flier with the information on it, and she saw his eyes flick quickly over her body. Kayla thought the party might be just what she needed to start getting on with her life. She decided that she would go shopping that night after work and buy herself a very sexy Halloween costume.

"I don't have plans for tomorrow, so I just might show up. Thanks for inviting me, Jake," Kayla said sweetly as she tossed the flier into the cart of books she had hauled home from school the night before. There was a spring in her step as she headed to her car, despite the cold wind of a later October morning.

Chapter Nineteen

Kayla walked into Jefferson Middle School, dragging her heavy cart of books behind her. As she walked, the wind was tousling her long, golden locks and her unbuttoned jacket was flapping open causing the chilly air to harden her nipples through her thin, silk blouse. Kayla's mind was on what kind of a Halloween costume she would buy and exactly how wild of an evening did she intend to have? By the time she reached her office, her hair was mussed and her cheeks flushed from the cold and the exertion of pulling the cart.

Kayla dragged the cart over to her desk and slipped out of her jacket and put it on the back of her chair. Turning finally to survey her surroundings, she saw that Missy was standing at her own desk, clearly staring at her. Missy looked uncomfortable at being caught looking, and her gaze dropped to her shoes. Kayla felt a smug feeling of satisfaction at attracting Melissa and making her uncomfortable, and she felt a little thrill that she almost didn't care, so distracted was she by her thoughts of the next night's party.

Missy turned toward her desk and began absently sorting through papers. Her face was pink and hot, and she could feel her heart beating fast. There had been something so incredible about Kayla looking all disheveled and windblown with her flushed cheeks and her protruding nipples. Missy had felt a jolt of lust that she found disturbing. It did not work for Kayla to have this effect on her. She hurriedly grabbed some books and folders and rushed toward the door to her classroom, opening the door and skirting through it as quickly as she could. Kayla's back was turned, and she didn't even notice save for the sound of the other teacher's door closing.

Chapter Twenty

On Friday evening, while Kayla was out shopping for her costume, Melissa had driven over to the country club to meet her father for an early dinner. He had called his daughter in the afternoon and told her he was going to play nine holes of golf, and then he would like for her to join him for dinner at the grill, foregoing the more formal dining room. Missy was relieved to have something to distract her for awhile as the weekend had loomed ahead like an endless road that she did not want to begin traveling. All it offered was work, pain breaking through her self-induced numb state, and too much time to think. She had absolutely no plans as her mother and Glen were both out of the picture this weekend. Her mother had flown to the West coast to do a deposition for a case, and Glen and his parents were going to be attending a relative's fiftieth anniversary party in Florida and had left town on Thursday evening.

Missy pulled her car into the oval in front of the clubhouse and let the valet take her car this time. Stepping out of the BMW, she did not even notice the young valet checking her out. Even in her conservative clothes and glasses, she was a beautiful, sexy woman, and no doubt, the erupting of her inner dormant sexuality which had taken place with Kayla, still projected an aura of sexuality about her.

She strolled into the club and stopped briefly in the ladies' room before meeting Dr. Martin in the grill. He was seated already at a comfortable table and was drinking a beer. A glass of wine sat on the table at the other place.

"Hi, Daddy," Missy said, standing on tiptoe to kiss his cheek after he stood up to greet her.

"I'm so glad you could join me, my dear," he said. "I wasn't quite sure what to do tonight with your mother away. So, a long week for you I assume? I'm sure you and all other teachers are relieved it is Friday."

Missy nodded absently as she took a sip of her wine. Dr. Martin and his daughter ordered dinner and engaged in small talk about his golf game and Missy's work week.

Missy was toying with a roll on her bread plate when her father said something that made her look up in startled surprise.

"Missy, I want to talk to you about what happened that evening when we were coming for dinner at your house. You were in a relationship with that other teacher weren't you?"

Missy turned scarlet and looked down at her hands which she was now twisting in her lap.

"Please, Missy, don't be embarrassed. I have been thinking about this, and I am certain of it. I think that you are in love with that girl---what is her name? Kayla? Isn't that what you had told us?"

Missy shook her head, "No, you're wrong...." She began but Dr. Martin interrupted her.

"I don't want you to lie to me. You have been absolutely miserable since that evening. I know you well enough to know that. When I came in the doorway after your mother, I had a good look at Kayla, and there were a lot of things written in her eyes. They seemed to speak volumes to me without her even saying a word. And then, as I said, you are just a forlorn shell of my sweet, beautiful daughter, and I hate to see you hurting like this."

"But mother and Glen and...." Missy began, only to be interrupted by her father again.

"Missy, this is your life, not theirs. What your mother and Glen want is not as important as what you want, Sweetheart," he said gently.

Missy still could not meet his eyes, and she did not know what to say next. Her father continued to talk to her, sparing her from deciding what to say.

"Missy, I have operated on people after they have had heart attacks. I have operated on people with their arteries horribly clogged. I have saved many patients, but I have seen many die too. Life is short and tenuous at best. I believe if you have a chance at happiness, you should grab it with both hands."

Missy looked up suddenly and smiled at her father---a smile so bright and radiant that it made his heart contract. Her beautiful blue eyes sparkled behind her lenses, and she felt an almost physical release of a huge burden being lifted from her.

"But, Daddy....uh.....what about me being in a relationship with another woman? What do you think about that?"

"Missy, what I think is if it makes you happy, and you love each other, then it doesn't matter."

Missy let out a huge sigh and told her father all about her relationship with Kayla and how it had made her come out of her shell and had brought her so much happiness. Naturally, she never mentioned sex or any graphic details of the relationship. Dr. Martin would have to figure that out on his own. When she was done telling him, she looked at the plate of food that she had barely touched.

"What about Mother?" she asked.

"Don't worry about her," he replied. "She is no longer the idealistic, young woman I met when she was in law school. Power and position have a tendency to change some people. That said, I still love her, and I have a way of making her see things from my point of view. Don't you worry about your mother; I will take care of her," Dr. Martin said with finality.

Missy jumped up from her chair, grabbed her purse and rushed around the table to her father's chair.

"Daddy, thank you so much. I have some things that I really need to take care of, if you don't mind. I'll be in touch," she said as she planted a light kiss on the top of his head.

Missy almost ran out of the grill and the clubhouse, so determined and full of purpose that she could think of nothing else. She smiled a radiant smile at the young valet as she handed him her ticket. Yes, there were definitely some things she needed to take care of. Her father was right----happiness should not be thrown away----life was much too short for that!

Chapter Twenty One

On Halloween night, Kayla stepped out of a taxi and walked through the parking lot toward the bar where the party was taking place. The night sky was a black velvet backdrop for a luminous, full silver moon. Kayla blinked when she entered the dim interior of the bar. The owner had decorated with small orange lights everywhere, and cobwebs, spiders, and black crows festooned posts and corners while cornstalks and jack 'o lanterns fringed a small dance floor. Kayla found the ladies' room and checked herself out in the mirror.

Kayla was sexily dressed as a pirate wench. Her golden hair hung in tousled spiral curls down her back, and the push-up bra she wore gave her nice cleavage which showed over the top of a white gauze blouse which had loose flowing sleeves and a low neckline. Kayla wore high-heeled black boots, and her thighs in fishnet thigh-high stockings showed beneath the jagged hem of her short black skirt. A black lace-up corset cinched her tiny waist, pushing her breasts up even higher. Satisfied with her reflection, Kayla made her way out of the ladies' room and through the revelers to where she saw a keg.

Beer in hand, she strolled around the room checking out the costumes that people were wearing. She saw every type of costume imaginable. There were people in the traditional witch, vampire, and monster get-ups, plenty of sexy-looking female costumes, and some utterly ridiculous costumes as well. Several people had masks covering part or all of their faces. She saw one guy dressed like a hot dog while his girlfriend was dressed like a ketchup bottle. Kayla laughed to herself and shook her head. Who would want to dress like a ketchup bottle, she wondered. She guessed all girls weren't into looking sexy like she was.

Kayla made her way back to the keg several times as she mingled and engaged in small talk with several party-goers. She noticed several men and a few women checking her out, and she thrilled at the attention. Kayla was heading back for another beer when she felt someone grab her waist from behind, and she was pressed against what she figured to be a man's body because she could feel his cock swell against her ass. His hand closed over her waist, and then he spun her around to face him. A version of Captain Jack Sparrow was standing in front of her, alas not Johnny Depp himself, Kayla thought. She peered into the man's face.