“I heard it's gonna be sunny tomorrow…”, Mr. Sheffield tried to make awkward small talk as Clark and he were walking down the hallways to Mr. Sheffield's office.
‘Ok now I know something's up with Mr. Sheffield’ Clark thought. ‘He's even more awkward than usual.’
“Yeah, that's… nice”, Clark said simply and cracked his neck left and right, enjoying the tension relief it brought him.
They reached in front of the principal's office door. Mr. Sheffield was about to open his office door, but his hand stalled for just a moment longer. Was that sweat on his forehead?
Mr. Sheffield glanced at Clark with a look of... excitement. Then his hand lowered the handle and he opened the door for Clark to go in first. Clark walked in suspiciously and then stopped in his tracks, his eyes opening wide. Mr. Sheffield followed suit and shut the door behind them.
“Mr. Clark. Ehm… Kessler. I mean, Mr. Clark Kessler… ehm ehm… Clark!” Fumbled Mr. Sheffield. “I’m sure you've heard by now that Meredith will be leaving us soon. We all thank her for everything she's done for this school all these years, etcetera etcetera... Ehm! Yes, so… to our business. I wanted you to meet the new teacher who'll be replacing her. I mean, not replacing her per se… actually yes, replacing… although… well, anyways! Starting next week… miss Catalina…”
“Rivera. You can call me Lina, is ok”, the woman in the office said with a calm, distinguished Hispanic accent.
Clark extended his hand slowly to meet Catalina’s, or… Lina's outstretched hand. As their hands met in a soft, respectful handshake, a jolt of warmth passed through his body.
“Hhhi, nice to meet you Lina. I'm Clark”, Clark somehow managed to say with a shocked expression.
All sorts of emotions passed through Clark at once as they were shaking hands for what felt like forever. But above all, the only word he could think of was “Wow”.
Catalina, or… Lina... she was… stunning.
Clark was a tall guy at 6’4”, but he didn’t have to look down very much to meet Lina’s large, almond-brown eyes, as they were kindly looking deep into his own. She must’ve been around 5’10”, giving her a tall, elegant overall look. She was smiling wide at Clark, showing her full set of perfect, white teeth warmly. Her skin was a shade darker than Clark's own rather pale one, looking soft and smooth. But there was something else that caught his attention.
Lina’s hair.
In an attempt to tone it down, her hazel-colored hair was drawn into a single braid along her side. However, even braided tightly, it was obvious how thick her hair was. The braid of hair had a circumference of a cargo ship’s mooring rope! Clark knew even both his large hands couldn’t fully span it. Each section of her braid, by itself, could have given a set of full, thick hair for two or three hair models. Yet Lina had three of those sections bound together.
The massive braid reached around her shoulder without thinning, swaying heavily over her chest as she tilted her head while she spoke. ‘Oh god, her chest!’
Clark caught himself accidentally leering down and quickly raised his gaze back up to meet her eyes.
“Is wonderful to meet you. Clark, sí?” she beamed at him.
She lit up the room. Her energy was just off-the-charts positive. She exuded a sort of quiet, calm confidence with her wide smile and soft eye contact. Her accent and energy actually reminded him a lot of Sofia Vergara, stretching her enunciation slowly and confidently in specific vowels. Clark felt warmth inside, mixed with nervousness. He couldn't remember the last time a girl looked at him like that.
“Sí. I mean… yes”, he said back dumbly. Lina giggled and put her hand over her mouth cutely, showing her elegant, well manicured fingernails in the process.
She couldn't have been over 30. Probably closer to 25, actually. Clark was polite enough to not check out her body like Mr. Sheffield appeared to have been doing (not)-inconspicuously, but Clark's accidental glance informed him Lina was wearing a colorful, floral dress that was showing her swan-like, graceful neck, prominent collarbones and a half inch of a tight cleavage that disappeared into her professionally fashionable dress.
Clark didn't dare to look further down but even that was enough for him to understand Lina's dress was… tightly packed. Extremely so.
They've been standing about an arm's length apart, yet somehow, the front of her dress made her front reach a lot closer to Clark's body than that. Her thick braid - instead of falling downwards, rested almost horizontally onto her hidden bosom. And despite the braid's lengthiness, only its very end tapered down beyond the curve of Lina's bust. The dress was as modest and professional as it could be, covering most of her skin and ending a few inches below the knees.
Yet, there was no hiding the fact that Lina's bust required a bra way beyond what conventional bra stores could offer. These things under her dress were no D-cups. In fact, they were not even close to F, G or even J-cup territory. He couldn’t (and didn’t want to) leer long to estimate precisely, but he knew they were off-the-charts HUGE. Despite being very loose around most of her body, the front of Lina’s dress still seemed to be struggling to contain a massive amount of boobage, concealed and contained as it may have been.
Suddenly, Clark's mind abruptly jarred him back to his angry wife back home. That pit in his stomach resumed once again. Lina's beauty, her smile, her bust - it was all irrelevant. He had issues to solve at home. Big issues. Clark tried to shake it off but his throat started choking again.
“How… ehm… how are you settling in so far?” Clark clung to something politely generic so as not to choke.
Lina had that empathetic look, like she saw him through the veil. Like she knew he was going through something painful. It was only a moment, but Clark could swear she could read his mind and knew how sad and drained he was.
“Ay, I'm very well, Clark, thank you”, she beamed at him with the kindest smile he's seen and felt in a long time. She spoke with wide hand gestures. It wasn't theatrical, but rather, her gestures felt like a natural extension of her long, calm and confident way of speaking. It was captivating to look at her. Clark couldn't help but notice some heavy jiggling and bouncing under his peripheral vision while her hands gestured her words. He shook it off as Lina kept talking:
“I'm very excited to start working here with you. Mister Cheffiled tol’ me you are very good with your estudents and really care about them, so I'm so happy to learn from you. I… I don't have moch experience, I'm a little escared, jyes”, she said with a sweet, preoccupied frown. “But I love the shildren and want to learn everything I can to be a good teacher. I think every child deserves a chance”, she said with excitement and passion in her eyes.
Clark was stunned. He couldn't help being drawn to Lina's energy. It's like she was verbalizing everything he was thinking. He remembered himself many years ago, starting his first job as a Special Education (or ‘SPED’) teacher. How afraid he’s been to accidentally screw up those precious, innocent little children, not quite knowing what he was getting himself into. But he’d also had this sense of mission, like he was going to make a difference in these children's lives, who only needed… a chance. Just like Lina said.
Mr. Sheffield looked at the two of them, puzzled. He seemed as out of place in his own office as a moose in a coffee shop.
Clark shook his stunned self. “I know that feeling very well”, he said. “But don't worry. I'm sure you'll be great. Having passion for this job and caring about the children is already 80% of the role. I'll be happy to show you the rest if you want”, he said with sincerity. That seemed to soothe Lina and she smiled widely back at him.
‘There's that feeling again’, Clark thought. ‘What's going on? Why is she smiling at me like that? Why is she so nice to me? Why is she making me feel so warm and fuzzy and nervous? So… good?’
“Thank you so moch. I appreciate it, Clark. I'm glad to know I'll have at least one kind person to talk to here. I don't know anyone in this town yet.” She said, then leaned closer to him. “And the other teachers were not very nice to me like you were”, she whispered that last part while putting a hand to the side of her mouth so Mr. Sheffield wouldn't hear her. She looked meaningfully into Clark's eyes before leaning back a moment later.
“Heh”, Clark squeaked, smiling back nervously. It was a small gesture but so powerful. To be genuinely complimented like that, and then to have Lina getting so close to him and confide in him like she and Clark were already a team… every word she said, every gesture of hers, exuded positivity and made him feel warmth. Softness. Peace. She was just so stunningly beautiful, and that beauty had been 5 inches away from his face. He wasn't used to such gorgeous women being close to him. And he now smelled her delicate but intoxicatingly wonderful, floral perfume.
Clark forced himself to regain his composure. “Oh… uh, are you new in the area?” ‘Boy, I really went for the boring small talk, didn't I?’
“Jyes, I am, I just moved here to Chicago. Is more far than I thought. I came to the US from Colombia about… 4 jyears ago, then I finish especial education stodies two months ago, and then I looked for a job and now I'm here, and that's it”, she recounted with the most charming, concentrated look Clark had ever seen. ‘Colombia… of course!’ Clark knew he recognized that accent from when his distant cousins came from Colombia for a wedding a few years ago.
“¿Oh, enserio? ¿De qué parte de Colombia tú eres, de Bogotá?” Clark asked her with a heavy American accent.
Lina's eyes opened up in excitement. “Aye! ¿Tú hablas Español??”
Clark reddened in the face at her enthusiasm. “Un poquito. Entiendo más o menos bien, pero yo hablo más menos qué más”, he said as he crossed his arms over his chest. That was the only witty line he knew in Spanish and he felt kinda dumb even saying it.
Lina, however, laughed out loud and gently squeezed his forearm in response with her slender, delicate fingers.
Clark's laughter faded a little bit and he took a deep, quiet breath without Lina hearing it. That touch… it was so brief, yet it sent a jolt of warmth through him. He found it so soothing. So… comforting. He suddenly realized he hadn't been touched in… he couldn't even remember how long. Weeks? No… months… too many months to count. So having a woman… a beautiful woman, touch him like that… so softly and affectionately… it felt more than just ‘nice’. That touch was a bottle of water given to someone who’s been walking in the desert for a long time. It made Clark realize just how starved he was for… affection. For warmth. For touch.
After a tiny moment that seemed to have lasted forever, Clark caught himself and his forearm jolted back a little. Something about what he was feeling scared him to his core. He still couldn't name that feeling yet, but he knew one thing - he was both afraid of it and excited by that feeling.
Lina sensed Clark's jolt and quickly pulled her hand back as well. Then she suddenly saw it - a thin golden ring on his finger.
This made Lina pause momentarily. She still smiled, but just a little bit less. She took an automatic, almost imperceptible small step back.
Mr. Sheffield chuckled uncomfortably. “Hehehe, what's uh… what's so funny?” He asked, trying not to seem completely out of the conversation. He knew zero Spanish, apparently. It's like his presence was unwelcomed there. In his own office!
Lina turned to Mr. Sheffield and said with an amused, courteous smile: “I'm sorry Mr. Cheffield, I was just telling Clark that I came from Colombia a few months ago”. The principal looked suspiciously at her, knowing that she'd said more than that. But Lina already turned back to Clark. “I'm not from Bogotá. I’m from Medellín, actually. And no, I don't sell drogs, don’ worry. I handed over my cartel business to my soccessor a long time ago”, she joked with a dismissive hand wave. She still smiled at Clark, but her smile was a tiny bit more reserved now.
Clark laughed nervously again, still a bit jarred by the short touch they shared. He didn't know how to take in all that concentrated positive energy she exuded. He also couldn't believe Lina dared doing a drug-joke in front of her boss.
“Ok. But I'll keep an eye on you, though”, Clark pointed a mock-accusatory index finger at her. He still laughed with her, but just a bit less now. As if his inner voice wouldn't allow him to joke around freely.
“Well, maybe you keep an eye on me teaching the children?” she asked with her big eyes open wide, her hands clutched behind her back as she subconsciously swayed from side to side. Clark really tried hard not to look down, but there was no way he could miss seeing what appeared to be a huge, heavy bosom packed tightly under her dress.
“Sounds fair, sure. And maybe you can keep an eye on my Spanish?” he retorted.
“Deal!” She said. They tried to look serious at one another, but both couldn't help naturally smile a little.
“Ehm, O… Kaaaay!!! So you two have now officially met”, said Mr. Sheffield with a single (slightly-too-strong) clap of his hands. Apparently he couldn’t stand another second of feeling like a third wheel in his own office. “Miss Rivera will start next Monday. Clark, I expect you to help her settle in.”
“Of course, Mr. Sheffield”, Clark answered him but looked at Lina with a nervous smile. She smiled back at him, blushing.
***
Clark stepped outside of Elburn’s train station and stood a moment on the sidewalk, the smile still present on his face. It was dark and cloudy outside, the parking lot was mostly empty by now and the only sound was the train getting further away from Clark to its next middle-of-nowhere town.
Today he had fun. He couldn't remember the last time he had this much fun. Laughing with Lina, connecting with her like that. He could still feel the soft-yet-brief touch of her hand on his forearm as a warm, phantom sensation. He was still trying to make sense of everything he was feeling.
Clark looked at the few remaining cars in the parking lot and his smile faltered dramatically. Reality sank in fast. He sighed, passed by the cars then started what would be a 15 minutes walk home.
Clark turned the curb to their neighborhood.
He was tired. He could have been waking up in a normal hour, driving to school and arriving within 30 minutes. Instead, however - every morning he woke up at 5:00 AM, then walked by foot to the train station for 15 minutes, then rode the train for 15 minutes to Geneva, then waited for the bus stop for half an hour (because, of course - the bus wasn't aligned with the train times) then he rode for another 25-30 minutes, sometimes more, because… morning traffic, and finally he got to school around 7:00 AM, exhausted, before the day even begun.
He would have taken their single car, but Marla always used it to show houses to potential clients. She “needed” it, even though she was home most of the day, while the houses she showed were all within a few bus stops away from their home. But yeah, Marla should be the one with the car. That makes “much more” sense…
Clark reached his street. He took the last heavy steps on the sidewalk before he turned to go up the driveway to their house. He reached the porch and took a deep breath. The pit in his stomach was stronger than ever.
‘There's the door…’ he thought. ‘Shit…’