“I’m home.”
“Daddy!!” little Emily ran to hug her dad. Clark closed his eyes and savored the rare moment of warmth he did get in his home from his 7-year old daughter.
“Em!! I'm so happy to see you! How was school?” He asked while hugging her tightly, working hard to ignore the pit already welling from his stomach up to his throat.
“Fine”, she said simply and ran off to her room to keep watching TV. Clark sighed heavily.
He found his 11-year old son, Benji playing on the tablet on the kitchen counter.
“Hey Benji”, Clark said, trying to win his son's attention over the screen.
“Oh, hi dad”, Benji said back, not averting his eyes from the game in front of him. Clark sighed.
“How was your day?” Clark tried again and put his hand on Benji’s shoulder.
“Huh? Yeah, sure”, Benji answered a completely different question, too focused on the game to notice.
Clark rolled his eyes. He patted his son’s shoulder and kissed him on the top of his head, before he walked into the poorly lit living room. The only light source was the TV, and the traces of light from the kitchen.
“Hey”, Clark called out to Marla.
Marla didn’t respond. She didn’t even look at him. ‘Of course not. Why should you be a decent human being and say hi to your husband…?’
She was sitting on the couch, watching one of her trash TV shows, curled up with the same purple blanket she’d slept in last night. Clark didn’t miss noticing her pillow as well, still there. The pain he felt was so great he became physically nauseous. He tried again.
“Are we gonna talk about…” he started.
“Not now, Clark. The kids”, Marla spat back without removing her eyes from the TV. Clark was really close to throwing up. Not from disgust, but from pain. This was such a burden on his soul. There was no worse feeling in the world for him than pressing a ‘Pause’ button on a fight, and playing “happy father-happy husband” for his kids’ sake. And it’s not like sunshine and rainbows were waiting for him after the kids went to sleep. He knew exactly how bad tonight’s argument was gonna go.
*
It was at least 2 excruciating hours later before Emily and Benji finally fell asleep. Clark gently closed Emily’s door behind him and returned back to the living room to find Marla, still there, after having gone through a few more episodes of trash TV.
“Now can we talk?” he asked, and for the first time today - Marla looked at him. He almost wished she didn’t.
“You wanna talk - talk”, she said indifferently, crossed armed. The TV show still ran in the background. Clark sighed heavily and took a long moment before he spoke.
“Ok, I get that you’re upset. I understand. Really. I wish my mom wouldn’t have said what she said. She shouldn’t meddle with your parenthood...”
“Our parenthood, Clark!” Marla corrected him sharply.
“Our parenthood, fine”, he relented.
“No, not fine. Not fine, Clark!” She raised her voice.
“Marla, please. I'm losing my thread of thought. Just… let me finish first, please”, he said. “Look, I’d be upset too if…”
“You should be upset, Clark”, she cut him off again. “That’s the whole point. You were sitting there, silent, like this was my issue. Like you have nothing to do with raising our children.”
“I wasn’t ‘sitting there, silent’. You saw I talked back to my mom about it.”
“Oh, you ‘talked back’”, she snarled at him. “Wow, a truck full of golden medals is coming your way to award you ‘husband of the year’ for ‘talking back’ to your mother”, she said viciously. Clark felt his blood boiling. He tried his best to stay calm and not to be sucked into another raging blame-game. This whole conversation was pointless, he knew it before he'd even first opened his mouth.
“Marla! Can we just… talk about this like two adults?” He tried calming both her and himself down.
“I don’t know what there’s to talk about, Clark. She called me a bad mother and you didn’t defend me”, Marla said, changing the trash TV show to another trash show.
“Can you not, please?” Clark asked as he pointed at the TV. Marla huffed and finally shut the TV, then looked away from him.
“Marla, I can't talk with you like that. Can you please look at me? It's important”, he asked as calmly as he could. Slowly, Marla twisted her head and looked at him, her arms crossed and with a look that told him she'd already decided he was wrong about everything.
“Ok”, Clark said, trying to focus on his thread of thought. “Now. My mom didn’t call you a ‘bad mother’. All she said is that you give our kids too much screen time”, he said as quietly and as calmly as he could.
He saw Marla opening her mouth to respond, so he quickly held his hand up and kept his sentence:
“Now, I know. I know. It ticks you off, and I understand why. Honestly - I didn’t appreciate her saying that either myself. My mom always talks in a way that antagonizes people and doesn't really know how to communicate well. However, I did tell my mom that this was our business and that we only give them more screen time on the weekends and less during the week.”
Marla could hold herself no more:
“So you started justifying ourselves to her? Why is this any of her business?” Marla snapped and yelled.
“Marla please, the kids just fell asleep”, Clark hushed her, annoyed that she didn't understand it herself. “I wasn’t trying to justify ourselves. I just explained to my mom the full picture, because I also wanted to give her a full response and not shut her down cold. She’s my mom after all, she deserves at least that much respect”, he said.
“Oh and I don’t deserve respect?” Marla retorted with a slam-dunk expected response. Clark felt the argument spiralling out of control fast.
“It’s not… ughh… of course you deserve respect, Marla, come on. Work with me here, please. I didn't try to offend you or to make you feel bad. Can't you at least try to understand my difficult position here? I’m torn between being a husband to you, a father to our kids and a son to my mom, while trying to make everybody happy.”
“Well, nice job making me happy”, Marla snarked unnecessarily.
‘God, she can be so mean sometimes’, Clark thought. Marla kept going:
“Say, what about the trip to Rome I wanted? And Paris? Barcelona? We don't go anywhere!” She snapped.
“What? What's that got to do with anything we're talking about?” Clark furrowed his brows. Marla was a very skillful argumentator and knew just how to rattle Clark's thought process. She'd open branches upon branches to their fight-tree, conjure up old arguments that Clark thought they were done talking about, and leave him overall confused, as he's being bombarded on 17 different fronts simultaneously.
“You said you're trying to make me happy”, Marla said. “I wanna go to these places to be happy”, she said and crossed her arms again.
Clark took a deep breath. There was a very simple answer to this argument: if Marla hadn't kept buying shit she didn't need online all year long, they'd be able to save enough money to travel. But he knew better than to open another unnecessary fight-branch right now.
“Marla, that’s not fair. You know we don't have the money right now. You know how hard I work just so you and the kids can have a decent life”, he said as composed as he could.
“Yeah, life’s real decent with an annual 47,000$ salary. How’s that raise request going, by the way?” She said. Clark swore there was a vicious smile on her face.
There was a long pause. Clark felt his eyes welling up, but he didn’t want to give Marla the satisfaction of seeing him cry.
“What’s your end game, Marla? Huh?” he said with a croaked voice, red faced. “You wanna tear down your husband? You wanna feel good at my expense? Because congratulations, you succeeded. Big time. You married a Special Education teacher. That's not exactly a job with an exciting financial prospect. You knew it from the start. I do it for the kids, not for the big bucks”, he said, hurt.
“Yeah? Well, you clearly don't try hard enough to be more…”
“YOU HAVEN'T TOUCHED ME IN ALMOST A YEAR!” Clark suddenly snapped back at her. He didn't mean to. It just came out. This finally shut her up. Marla clearly didn't expect this to come up.
Clark's eyes watered and his voice cracked. “What… are you surprised? Did sex even cross your mind? Do you think I'm just ok with not having sex with my wife? What motivation do you want me to have to succeed, when my own wife won't touch me? How many ‘headaches’ can a woman have? Jesus Christ. What, you're NEVER EVER EVER in the mood for sex? Did you think this was meant to be platonic marriage? Or do you just find me, specifically, repulsing? What did I do that was so horrible to deserve this cold shoulder?”
Clark was panting. It was like his mind did the talking for him. Marla's mouth was partially opened. There was a sliver of emotion there. Clark kept going:
“On my birthday I had to remind you that you promised me that we'll have sex, only to get an eye roll. Like this was an annoying chore you had to get over with. As if I'm asking for something so unreasonable, to have sex with my wife, one time. Do you have any idea… just how humiliating it is to remind my own wife to touch me??” Clark said and shed a tear. Marla's eyes showed… something. Did he actually get to her? Clark started pacing back and forth then stopped as if remembering something else.
“Heck, forget sex. Would it kill you to come and hug me from behind once while I'm doing the dishes? To say something softly and sweetly to me every now and then? To appreciate what I do for this family? And why do I even have to ask for intimacy? You should want to be intimate with me. Yeah, not all the time, of course. But, you know, to have sex with your husband every once in a while. You used to touch me back when we were dating. I know you remember that. I can understand if you had a bad week, really. Heck, even a bad month where you just don't feel like it. It's all good. You know very well that I'll give you your space. But Jesus Christ, Marla, it's been close to a year. Without sex, with barely any hugs, kisses, warmth, love. Almost a year of cold shoulders. And you know very well that before that one time sex it wasn't much better for the past few years. Seriously, how much rejection do you think a man can bear?”
Marla was quiet, listening as Clark was unloading more anger and shame and pain than he knew he even stored within. He knew this was the closest thing to empathy that he was gonna get from her. He realized he was crying now. ‘Screw it, let her see me cry…’ Clark sat down on the couch and took a moment to calm down a little. He lowered his tone now:
“You think I'm a broke loser, Marla. You're mad at everything that I'm doing because it's never just the exact way you want me to do it, you won't touch me, you're disappointed in me, no matter how hard I try to make things right, you're not happy with me. If I’m such a bad husband, Marla - what are you still doing with me?” He said with raised shoulders and open arms, defeated. Another tear fell down his cheek, but he didn't care at this point.
This actually caught Marla off-guard. She was fine fighting a “friendly” match with her husband, but shit got real, real fast all of a sudden. Clark saw that glimmer of fear in her eyes at the unspoken “D” word. He felt like he might have actually reached her. Swept by his emotions, his mouth kept talking for him automatically.
“And you know what? My mom was right. Our kids do have too much screen time. And yes, it’s on you, because you’re the one at home with them while I’m at work, but it’s too tempting for you to let them have their TV so you can rest from the one client you showed a house to for 15 minutes, instead of actually engaging with your kids.”
Clark knew it was a mistake before he even finished his sentence, but he just couldn't stop himself. Idiot. He was going to regret it. He should've stopped talking, but the brakes on his hurt-mind were too weak to stop this loaded truck of emotions.
Marla's expression changed immediately to the most venomous he’d even seen her.
“You’re sleeping on the couch tonight”, she spat at him.
*
The bus station near school was the next stop. Clark pressed the ‘Stop’ button and grunted heavily as he got up. He looked around. The gorgeous blonde who's been eyeing him the entire ride averted her gaze shyly. She gave him signals in the hopes he'd walk up to her and start a conversation. But Clark's mind couldn't even think about that right now.
Even though she really was incredibly beautiful and sexy. And busty. Despite everything happening in Clark's life, he still couldn't stop himself from briefly glancing a few times throughout the bus ride at that incredible curve in her shirt. That blonde's breasts were close to the size of her own head! Clark automatically compared her size to Marla's B-cups, realizing that this girl's breasts were 4 or 5 times bigger than his own wife's, and still looked perky somehow.
Clark sighed heavily. It didn't matter. Nothing mattered. Almost a week has passed since their big fight and not much has changed since. Clark was still sleeping on the couch and Marla was still giving him the cold shoulder. The suppressed tears he had inside everyday were wrecking his soul. They had fights before, but this one was really doing its emotional damage on him.
He got off the bus, sighed heavily and started walking towards the school entrance.
Having to keep being a father, taking care of their kids, fake smiling to them and trying to shield them from the shit-storm that's going on between mom and dad, having to find the energy to somehow keep going to work and give the kids at school the attention and care they deserved… It was mentally and physically draining. Work was draining, and home was a battlefield. He had no sanctuary.
As Clark entered the hallways, he said a few lifeless “hey”s to some teachers he saw. The number ‘109’ hung near the door to his class. He took a deep breath and mentally tried to put everything he had going aside before he met the children of his class.
“Hhhhi”, he stammered, surprised to find Lina already in class as he entered.
Lina turned around to greet him.
“Bueeeeenas, Clark, good morning!” Lina beamed up at him. She was about to hug him, but she stopped herself and instead clasped her hands together over her chest in excitement. Wearing heels, her long legs were closed together.
Clark was speechless. He remembered she was pretty when he met her at Mr. Sheffield's office. But she was truly… stunning.
Standing tall, Lina's face was just gorgeously beautiful. Those big, brown eyes, that smooth, olive skin, that mane of hair tied in her ultra-thick braid which still couldn't conceal how incredibly long, thick and voluminous it was. But her smile… she was just oozing a positive, feminine, peaceful energy. She lit up the room in an instant.
Lina walked up to Clark and stood… close to him. Like, a lot closer than he was used to. It was less than an arm's length. Was this a Colombian thing, standing so close? Or a ‘Lina thing’? Whatever it was, it felt… nice. Really nice.
Clark couldn't help looking down for just a tiny tiny moment, but it was enough to make his eyes pop. No conservative dress could hide her figure. She tried, but failed. Miserably.
Lina was wearing a different, colorful floral dress with long sleeves. The dress ended below her knees. It was cinched around her slim waist by a thin, stylish brown belt, then it immediately exploded above it all the way up to her neckline. Clark's mind returned to the blonde on the bus and suddenly realized that, as big as the blonde girl had been, Lina's size actually made that blonde almost seem insignificant in comparison!
Clark gulped. It was obvious Lina was doing everything she could to minimize the effect of her bosom, trying to dress professionally, yet there was no hiding that giant bosom. Despite its loose fit on the rest of her body, the dress was packed to a bursting point at the front. All the buttons were closed up to her neckline, yet the dress still failed to hide a small portion of her cleavage above the upper hemline.
Clark's eyes inevitably darted lower. Lina's breasts occupied the entirety of her torso, projected sideways about 6 inches and forward by about a foot and a half!! In fact, because of how close she was standing, the fronts of her breasts were mere inches away from his own torso. With every twist, gesture or move of her body they threatened to collide with him!
But the craziest part was - Lina's breasts barely jiggled when she turned around. They seemed to be held tightly by what must have been a very constricting, very large bra.
Clark looked back up from his little detour from below Lina's face. Did she notice? He couldn't tell, she kept smiling warmly at him. He shook his head.
“Uhhh… buenas, I mean, hey, good morning, Lina”, he said. She giggled in response, loving his Spanish shimmers. “So, first day, huh? How are you doing so far?” he asked.
“I'm good, a little escared but also excited, thank you”, Lina said and gestured with her hands calmly. “I love this classroom. Is so beautiful and colorful”, she gestured around her and kept beaming with endless energy. Clark smiled understandingly.
“I'm glad. It does need some touch ups, I guess”, he said while looking at the peeled paint on the walls.
“Ah jyes, I wanted to ask you”, Lina said. “What do the kids learn on Thursday and Friday? I was just looking at the schedule and it was torn in those days.”
Clark sighed, as she touched a worn out nerve. “Yeah, sorry about that. I've been trying to get Mr. Sheffield to buy a new cardboard but he keeps postponing it. The missing classes on Thursday are Math then Arts. On Friday it's a shorter day, so one hour of English, then they finish with a class of their choice and go home afterwards.”
“Class of their choice?” Lina asked, raising her eyebrows. Clark smiled.
“Yyyyeah… something fun to close the week. You know, it can be watching a movie, free playtime, dancing, where we play some music and they just ‘let it all out on the floor’. Whatever the kids vote on that week. Democracy”, Clark said with a chuckle.
“That's so sweet!!! I love it.” Lina smiled widely with her beautiful teeth showing. Then her smile focused cutely on Clark. “So, when they choose dancing - do you dance with them?” Lina asked.
Clark was caught off guard by that question and felt himself blushing profusely. That strange warmth and excited feeling returned to him.
“Uhh… well… not… not really, but I mean, it's more for them. Plus, I don’t really know how to dance, so…”, he stammered. Lina's smile widened. She pierced his eyes with her own big, beautiful ones and moved her torso from side to side excitedly while her straight arms pressed her chest from either side. Clark didn't miss that enormous mass of boobage swaying as a single unit from side to side under her dress, nor how her ultra thick braid of hair was bouncing on top of one breast to another.
“Ohhh, that's a shame. But you know, I can teach you!!” She exclaimed excitedly. Clark blushed profusely.
“Do… Do you dance?” He stammered.
“Do you know a Colombian who doesn't know how to dance?” She cocked her brow.
“I… I didn't want to assume… that… uh… um…” Clark trailed off at what he saw. Lina started swaying her hips hypnotically in perfect gyrating motion, lifting her arms in the air while also doing a slow 360 turn with her body. He suddenly became very aware of her… well… her ass. It was like watching two moons orbiting around a planet that’s also rotating around itself.
Clark tried not to stare. He really did. But she was just too sexy. Lina's ass cheeks were perfectly round, big and juicy, and her wide hips finished off the best looking Latina ass he's ever seen. Despite how loose her dress was, her big, round, beautiful, sexy ass was still plenty obvious even hidden by it.
Before she finished her 360 turn Clark shook his head, forcing himself to stop staring. This was wrong on every level imaginable. ‘Creep! She's your coworker. It's her first day and you're checking out her ass. And you're married!’ He scolded himself.
“Soooo… what do you think? Do you want me to teach you how to dance?” Lina finished her turn and smiled widely at him with her perfect teeth showing.
“Um… maybe… we'll see… sorry I… I just didn't sleep that well last night, still trying to wake up fully, heh”, he mumbled, and realized he was still blushing.
“Ohh, I'm sorry to hear that”, Lina's smile changed to empathetic concern.
“It's… it's ok, thanks”, he said, praying she wouldn't pry more. Lina looked at him a moment longer. Again, Clark felt like she knew what was going on with him at home. But thankfully, she redirected the conversation:
“So Clark, I wanted to ask - how will class go today? Do you have any tips or suggestions?” She asked and looked up at him with expectant eyes of a diligent apprentice. Clark took a second to regain his composure. It was crazy how beautiful Lina was. It was like having a supermodel teach with him in the same class. And she was waiting for him to guide her. That was a lot to take in.
“Well… um…” he tried to think but kept being distracted by her exotic beauty and piercing gaze. However, Lina waited patiently with a small, hesitant smile. Her hands were held together under the mountainous boobs in her dress, making them bulge dangerously close to Clark's chest.
“So… ehm… how the day goes… yes”, Clark started. “So, the kids are gonna come through that door in about… 15 minutes. We have 50 minutes of what's called Station Teaching, have you heard of this term?”
“Ahhh jyes, I remember from my stodies!” Lina's eyes lit up. “It's when each of us teaches half the class, then the children switch places and we teach the other half”, Lina capped proudly.
“Yes! Very good!” Clark said, excited to see her knowledge and enthusiasm. “So I'll be teaching Math today. What about you?”
“For me I'm teaching Social Skills. But I'm a little anxious”, she added with trepidation, biting her nail.
“Ok, that's great! Don't worry, I'll help you with anything you might need during class. We'll get through this together,” said Clark, trying to soothe her anxiety. “So, um… ok - the class will usually look like the following,” he said, then walked Lina through today's flow: Clark's opening frame, Lina's introduction, split into two groups, a quiet mid-class signal across the partition to prepare for the swap, and a closing frame.
Lina followed his every word, nodding along his explanations. She was standing with her body fully open to him, and Clark really found it difficult to concentrate while her boobs burst forth in her dress, their fronts mere 5 inches away from his abdomen.
Plus, it just felt so good, so peaceful and warm, to have Lina’s full, undivided attention. To feel her following his lead without resistance or nagging.
Clark couldn’t remember the last time he was able to lead peacefully. With Marla, his every initiative or decision came with… something. Whether it be an eye roll, a “why did you do this and not that?” interrogation, or just an audible sigh by Marla that turned into an argument hours later.
Clark’s mind wandered to a few weeks ago, when Marla and he had spent two hours fighting over how he loaded the dishwasher. Marla demanded he prove to her that his way was more efficient. Clark really couldn’t care less which way was better. He just wanted to do it quietly without being nagged. But she pressed on until he finally proved beyond a doubt that his way was truly more efficient. When he did, Marla shut down and didn’t speak to him for two days. That was fun.
“Clark?” Lina asked, trying to gently look through his daydream. Clark jolted back to reality.
“Sorry, I guess I drifted off somewhere”, he said with embarrassment.
However, Lina smiled kindly at him. “Is ok. I also drift sometimes”, she said warmly. Clark breathed in her positivity like he was a free diver given an oxygen mask. He looked at Lina again and saw she was still a bit hesitant.
“Hey, listen”, he said. “Honestly, I’ve seen many SPED teachers in my career, and I got a sense of who might be good at it. You can 100% do this, Lina, I know it. Plus, I’m here for everything you might need”, he said reassuringly. Lina smiled weakly but was still a bit uncertain. Clark had an idea -
“Hey, you know what? I have an idea. Let’s not do Station Teaching today. I’ll assign you with the easier kids for today. The more verbal and cooperative ones. We'll do a full class instead of half and half. This way you’ll have a softer landing. You can teach the other half tomorrow”, he said. Lina’s eyes lit up a little.
Clark’s mind reeled as he thought out loud about who to assign for her. “Ok, we have Evan, he looks distracted but he hears everything. Then we have Maya. Just make sure to have eye contact with her before giving her instructions so she listens, Jake and Raquel will both be easy. And… Liam, yeah. If you ask him how he’s doing you’ll get a monologue, but he’ll be cooperative for the most part. And if you see them losing focus just say out loud - “Focus Time, everyone”. They know to come back to the desk.”
Lina listened to every bit of advice he had to give her, trying to make sure she remembers everything. Clark was just mesmerized by her every gesture, her concentration on his words, her enthusiasm.
But above all - it was the peace she gave him. Just peace and positivity. It’s so, so goddamn simple. Instead of nagging - she… wasn’t nagging. Instead of yelling or criticizing him - she just… didn’t. How simple was it to provide peace. For the first time since… god… a good few years - Clark’s mind didn’t chatter endlessly with worry and exhaustion. It was so quiet in his mind. He’s gotten so used to his anxiety over the next impending fight that he almost forgot what serenity felt like.
*
“... so we all remember - like in every class, if we have a question, we raise our hand, we use kind words and we ask for help. Ok, everyone?” Clark said while 11 children sat around him and Lina in a half circle. Some children hummed in agreement, others nodded.
Lina's body was facing the class, but she was looking to her side. She was inevitably drawn to Clark's energy. She was almost hypnotized at how skillful he was with the children, getting them to listen to him and assert his quiet control of the class without raising his voice. She felt like a sponge as she gobbled up his words, his body language, taking mental notes for herself on the correct ways to handle a class.
Clark didn’t look at her while he was speaking to the class, but he could certainly feel her looking up at him. It was all just… so nice. He was still trying to grasp the unfamiliar feelings of peace and warmth Lina was stirring up within himself.
“Now, before we start our lesson…”, Clark said, and now looked at Lina. She smiled shyly at him, and he couldn’t stop himself from smiling from ear to ear before he turned back to the students. “I want to introduce you to a wonderful teacher - Miss Catalina Rivera. She came all the way from a beautiful, far away country called Colombia, just to teach you guys. She is an excellent teacher, and she is very very nice”, he said and looked at her again.
Lina was blushing profusely as she looked up into Clark’s eyes. He kept his introduction: “I expect you all to listen to her, exactly like you listen to me. Ok? Now, let’s give Miss Rivera the warm welcome we give to someone new. 1… 2… 3…”
“Hello, Miss Rivera”, chanted the few verbal children in class. The others waved or nodded in their own special way.
Lina was red faced but couldn’t stop smiling. Clark moved his chair a bit back and gently gestured to Lina to introduce herself.
Moving back as he did, Clark now had a clear line of sight at her back and side. He cursed himself for checking out her body for just a tiny moment. He honestly didn't mean to leer, but really, he was only human.
Those glorious, gigantic breasts of hers were so big they rested on her lap! The more he looked at them, the more Clark realized just how huge they truly were. They were in a size category of their own. Even online Clark had never seen a girl even close to Lina’s size. Her breasts almost reached her knees! They protruded generously beyond either side of her shapely thighs.
And her ass… Lina’s perfect, Latina-ass was bulging beyond the edges of the chair by several inches on either side, and was so round and enticing, it was almost obscene. She put J.Lo to shame! Seeing her from a bit behind gave Clark an opportunity to realize just how slim her waist was. It was very tough to understand at first glance, with how baggy the dress was (in some parts of her body...), but her skinny waist stood in stark contrast to her tits and ass, and gave her an overall exaggerated, ultra-womanly hourglass figure.
Clark felt his mouth going dry before half a second later - he shook his head, scolded himself mentally and focused back on the class.
Lina was a bit shy but she smiled at the 11 children in front of her and said: “Hello everyone, thank you all for the wonderful welcome. I am so happy to be here, and I can’t wait to meet each and every one of you”, she gestured and made sure to address the whole half-circle of kids. She momentarily looked at Clark for validation, and he gave her an encouraging nod which put her mind at ease. She continued:
“Today I’ll be teaching you Social Skills. I have a very nice class planned for you and I want us all to have fun, ok?” she said with a charming smile.
“Ok, Miss Rivera”, they chanted slowly back. Lina’s heart filled instantly. This was her first class, ever. Hearing the kids already accepting her as their teacher filled her heart. Clark looked at her face and saw her turning her head to the side while wiping away a little tear. He caught her eyes and smiled at her. She smiled back with gratitude in her eyes.
The class went almost completely smoothly without hiccups. Lina was sitting on one end of the class on a chair in front of a C-shaped desk, while 5 children sat around the “C”. About 10 feet beyond the low, wooden partition Clark sat in a similar fashion with 6 kids surrounding him.
Lina was tall enough that her head popped a few inches above the partition, so she had a clear sight at Clark throughout the class. Every now and then she’d look at him. She just soaked up his teaching style, mesmerized with how effortless he made it seem. Every now and then he caught her gaze and smiled at her. She blushed like a tomato and smiled back, before returning to class.
Clark made sure to check on her every now and then to see how she’s doing. He’d quietly mouthed a “you ok?” from time to time, and got a thumbs up signal with a smile from Lina. She actually seemed - great. The kids listened to her, they mostly sat in their chairs and were attentive and quiet during class.
At some point little Jaden wandered off from Clark’s desk and traveled to Lina’s side before Clark could catch him. He fought the urge to step in and bring back Jaden himself. He didn’t want to step on Lina’s toes. It was important to Clark to let Lina know he trusted her. Anxious, Clark watched Jaden barge into Lina’s side. Lina, however, handled little Jaden so gracefully, greeting him warmly, then with a kind smile redirected him back to Clark’s side.
“Sorry”, Clark mutely mouthed at her. Lina waved it off with a “no problem” quiet signal.
About 30 minutes into the lesson, Lina suddenly got up. Clark noticed and perked up his gaze at her. She quietly walked around the partition over to his side, while her students were busy with their chores around the desk. Clark watched Lina walking up to him and his heart started beating. She had an apologetic look on her face, like she felt bad interrupting him. Clark saw his own students were busy with their exercises, and gestured to Lina that she’s welcomed to come to him.
Lina walked around the desk and entered the “C” where Clark was sitting. She leaned on the desk next to where Clark was sitting and got her face very close to his own. She cupped her hand both around her mouth and Clark’s ear, then spoke quietly:
“I’m so sorry to interrupt, Clark”, she whispered hesitantly into his ear. “I just had a question about Maya”.
Clark shivered. Her voice was so sweet. So gentle and kind and warm, like it was tickling his brain. He could feel her warm breath caressing his face softly. He smelled her intoxicating, floral perfume that activated sensory organs in his nose. Lina’s thick braid fell down between them and swung like a pendulum, touching his arm over and over again. He kept looking at his students but spoke quietly back at her:
“Yyyyyeah… nnnnno, no problem… what uh… what did you… want to ask about her?” he said quietly.
Lina cupped her hand again around her mouth and Clark’s ear and got close to whisper: “Maya is very sweet, but she tends to lose focus quite often. How do I get her attention on the assignments?”
Clark took a deep breath. The reason being that he suddenly felt something quite soft bumping against his elbow. There was only one option as to what that “something” was. And it felt really good. Lina didn’t seem like she noticed, though.
“Ummm, ehm… she… yeah… Maya, well…”, Clark stammered. The bumps were very light but they were there, simply due to the proximity and angle of Lina to his body, coupled with the immense size of her breasts. He did his best to stay focused.
“Yeah, for Maya you can use one of these visual prompts”, he said and pulled out a ‘Visual tasks card’ from his drawer. The card showed common classroom commands (‘Look’, ‘Listen’, ‘Stand Up’, ‘Sit Down’, ‘Read’, ‘Solve’) using simple icons to cue students on what they’re expected to do. “This helps students follow instructions without needing to say them out loud. Maya responds better to these. Just point to what you want her to do and she’ll follow it”.
He handed the card to Lina. She reviewed it and her eyes lit up. “Aye, this is just what I needed. Thank you so moch, Clark! This will help me a lot!” she said and caressed her soft palm on his shoulder a few times.
“That’s… yeah… sure, my pleasure”, he fumbled. Lina’s hand only stayed on his shoulder for two seconds before she returned to her desk, but that feeling of her soft, warm hand lasted long afterwards.
When the class was about to end, Clark gave her their agreed upon “5 minutes left” quiet signal, and Lina started to wrap things up on her side, while Clark gathered up his own students.
The whole class gathered in the middle for Clark’s and Lina’s closing frame, then a minute later - the bell rang. Another teacher opened the door, waiting for the students before taking them to their next class.
And just like that, the class ended and Clark and Lina were left alone.
“You made it!” Clark exclaimed with a smile. “I saw you, you were so good! I’m really proud of you, Lina! How do you feel?” He said.
Lina was beaming brighter than the sun. Her eyes were wet with happy tears, getting really emotional after the class. She couldn’t believe she actually passed her first lesson, and that it went so well. She was smiling from ear to ear.
“Aye Clark it was wonderful!!! Thank you so moch! It was all because of you. And that card really helped me with Maya. She listened and participated so well afterwards. Everyone listened, and we had fun. I would have never made it through class without all your guidance and help. I appreciate it so moch! Thank you!” she said while wiping another tear from her eye.
“Oh, I barely did anything”, Clark said shyly. “Just some pointers I thought would help you, that’s all. But it’s obvious you’re a natural. I saw how you handled naughty Jaden so well”, he said with a smile and Lina giggled back. Clark continued: “You care about them and you do it with a smile and dedication and patience. That’s what these kids need. They’re lucky to have you as their teacher”, he said genuinely and gestured at Lina with open palms.
Lina must’ve misread his open palms gesture for an invite, because the next thing Clark felt was Lina walking up to him and giving him the warmest hug he’s ever felt in his life.
“Thank you so moch, Clark…”, she sniffed into his chest, overcome with emotions as her arms wrapped tightly around his waist.
Clark's eyebrows perked up in utter surprise. He wasn't prepared for that. This never happened in all of his career. A moment later, he felt his body automatically easing into the hug. His muscles relaxed and his eyes shut naturally.
Clark let out an involuntary, quiet groan. There was no way he’d be able to suppress it. This was the most warmth he’s felt in years from a woman. He relished the feeling of having Lina’s ultra-feminine body hug him. Her head rested just underneath his chin and he could smell the intoxicating smell of her hair and floral perfume. But above all - those breasts… they crushed his entire torso and just smothered it all around. They were soft, though less than what he expected. He now felt thick fabric underneath her dress.
For a moment - everything went quiet in Clark’s head. He literally thought of nothing. Only feeling. Like his brain shutting down all rational thought. For a moment, there was no school, no Marla, no fight, no sleeping on the couch. Nothing. Just peace. Lina asserted complete serenity over him. She just made everything easier in his life to handle.
Clark didn’t know how long the hug went on, but he didn’t want it to end. It was like a source of light in a sea of darkness for him. Lina relished feeling Clark’s torso and his comforting embrace as well. Without realizing it, Clark’s hands naturally rested onto Lina’s back as they hugged, and she snuggled closer to him in response, smiling to herself.
As the hug went beyond reasonable hug time, something happened. Clark's serenity evolved into something unknown. A new, uncharted territory of emotions. This was too nice. Too good. He felt an invisible shift in the status quo between him and Lina. Like they crossed some sort of one-way threshold together, and now they can't go back.
Clark panicked. He gently withdrew from the hug. Lina seemed to have also just realized what she’s done and withdrew as well. She was blushing like crazy, looking at the floor.
“I’m sorry… I didn’t mean to…”, she mumbled.
“It’s… it’s ok, it’s fine… I… um… heh… yeah, don’t uh… don’t worry about uh…”, Clark stammered, also looking away. “We should… uh… I should get to my next class”, he said hastily.
“Jyes, jyes, no problem, me too”, Lina said and kept looking at the floor. ‘What am I thinking?’, she thought to herself. ‘He’s a married man. And a coworker. This is completely inappropriate.’
“Well, um, see you around, Lina”, Clark stammered and finally looked at her. She looked back. They shared a long look that… Clark couldn’t fully decipher it. But it was electric.
“See you, Clark. Muchas gracias por hoy”, she thanked him with a smile.
“Muchas de-nadas”, Clark said back with a smile. Lina giggled.
“Jyou are very funny, Mister Kessler. And in Spanish, that’s not easy!” she complimented him.
“Gracias”, Clark smiled back before he took his suitcase and headed out the door.
Lina watched his back until he was gone, not realizing she was biting her lower lip.