Damaged Ch. 03-04

Thanks for all the comments and emails for the first two chapters. I hope many of the readers are interested enough to follow the story through to the end and continue to send me their thoughts."

Chapter 3

16 years ago

Alan sat in the classroom by himself waiting. He hated feeling anxious but he was just that. Only for her, though. He'd never feel that way for anybody else, he determined.

Ms.Jennings entered the classroom smiling warmly. She didn't go behind her desk but instead took a seat beside Alan.

She looked at him like she was contemplating a cloud, gently and wistfully. Clasping her hands together on her lap, she leaned forward and said, "Alan? I'm a little concerned. You seem a bit distracted in class."

Alan's eyes shifted around her face. Her wavy light brunette hair glowed from the afternoon sunlight as it settled around her shoulders.

"I know you're very smart," the teacher continued, "You're extremely creative. Someone that good with his hands is just flowing with talent and intelligence. You're just not focused."

His eyes drifted below her chin to her neck.

"Alan? The poetry and the wonderful drawings that you do," she said carefully, "I want to thank you for them."

They were stupid, Alan thought. Overtly ham-fisted clumsy attempts to express himself to this woman. There was no depth to them, no sense of how desperate he was for her. They were stunted displays that couldn't begin to demonstrate the lengths he would go for her.

"But I can't accept them," Ms.Jennings said.

Of course she wouldn't. What kind of woman would accept gifts like that? It made his chest hurt knowing how imbecilic he was behaving. He bit his inner lip until he drew blood.

"Where did you get that? It's very nice," he said, his steady voice betraying little of the wretched turmoil within.

"What?" Ms.Jennings blinked. She followed his lowered gaze to the top of her chest. She picked up a locket-pendant hanging around her neck, silver engraved with her initials: 'S' and 'J' for Sheryl Jennings. The letters were separated in the middle by a treble clef. Ms.Jennings loved classical music. "Thank you. It was a gift from a friend," she said.

Alan looked back up and into her eyes. His gaze was suddenly unwavering.

"It's not because I don't like your poetry or drawings, Alan," she continued, "It's because you don't need to give them to me. I think you're so special already. As my student, you and everyone else in this class are special to me."

Alan rose from his chair. He looked out the window, the western sun casting an orange glow on his face. "So that means none of us are special," he said.

Then he turned and walked out of the classroom.

Ms.Jennings called out to him in a soft, pleading voice but he continued to walk away from her. Every step stabbed at his heart like a knife.

**********

Alan worked on the outside of the shack the following morning after the school picnic and the night at Duffy's. He was there at the crack of dawn putting up siding on the outer walls and tarp on the roof.

He was supposed to go over to Teri's house at some point and work on her roof, but he figured he would give her a late morning start after the night she had with Greg. He paused to think about that, how things turned out, his slight miscalculation with Greg. In a way, he had underestimated the guy. Still, it worked out okay. He never entered the house, never showed his face. There was no need.

He went back to working on the shack. There was a thought nagging him at the back of his mind as to why he needed to fix up the little shack so much. A few 2-by-4's and some nails would have been enough. Maybe it was just a distracting project for him to restore it a bit, make it presentable...usable.

He made his way around to the side and examined one of the windows he had installed earlier. He peeked in through the window. Standing still, his eyes relaxed. In his mind's eye, the shack wasn't empty. There were shifting images inside. His gaze became blurred but his mind filled in the blanks all too clearly. A stark vision flashed through his mind: bodies in a desperate, illicit embrace. He could hear their swollen passion.

Alan suddenly stepped back away from the window, breathing deeply. He looked around in a mild daze before he settled back down.

He had to get away from the shack.

*********

Teri was up early that morning which was a bit surprising to herself. The morning sunlight spilling through the windows, she shuffled around her house in her robe forcing herself to go through in her mind the bewildering events from the previous night.

In the living room, she sat down on the couch and breathed deeply. She massaged her sore wrist.

She remembered how Greg had shifted his weight off of her for one brief moment to yank off his shirt and fumble with his belt buckle. In that moment, she was able to slip her leg between his thighs and drive her knee hard into his crotch.

Greg's face had instantly gone red and purple as his eyes rolled up into his head and he tumbled over the side of the couch like a felled tree, groaning in agony and cupping his crotch. He coughed, tears streaming down his face as he squeezed his eyes tight.

As he writhed on the floor, Teri was able to keep it together long enough to grab a sweater to cover herself and button up her pants. Then she pulled Greg to his feet. The man was deflated mentally and physically and he had offered as much resistance as a feather in the wind as she guided him to the door.

"Sorry. I'm sorry, Teri," he croaked, still unable to regain his breath, as he stumbled ahead doubled-over.

"Shut up. Shut up," she just muttered over and over, trying to shut him out of her head.

Both of them just repeated their abbreviated lines as she led him to his car and dumped him in. Then she went back into the house without looking back and slammed the door shut.

Eventually she had heard his car pull away and she went to her bed and hid under her covers until she fell asleep.

Now in the morning, sitting there quietly, she could see several of her buttons from her blouse scattered on the rug. She slipped off from her seat on the couch and knelt on the floor to pick them up. Looking at them in her hand, she felt like crying but wouldn't allow it. She hadn't done so at all since the incident.

"Stupid!" she spat as she flung the buttons across the floor. Why did he have to go and do that? "Stupid! Stupid!"

Climbing to her feet, she walked into the kitchen. There was a message on the answering machine.

"Hi Teri," a ragged voice eked softly"It's Greg. I, uh, made it home last night..."

She hit the 'stop' button then 'erase'. As far as she was concerned, the only thing she needed to hear was that he didn't splatter himself all over the highway after she had sent him home in that condition.

Anything else he had to say, he could say it in hell.

Turning to her fridge, she suddenly stopped when she heard an engine pull up on her driveway. She went to the living room window and looked outside.

Alan was unloading his gear from the back of his truck when he noticed Teri step out onto her porch. He was surprised to see her up already.

"Good morning Alan," she said softly.

"Morning," he replied, "Going to do the roof."

Teri nodded once.

"Not a good time? Should I come back?"

She gazed at him quietly, not quite sure what she wanted. She managed to shake her head slightly.

Alan picked up some of his tools, walked up the steps, and joined her on the porch. "Everything okay?" he asked.

That was the first time he ever asked her how she was feeling. The moment he spoke, she suddenly felt like crying, barely stopping herself. She curled in her lips and nodded quickly.

Alan held out a plastic bag.

Teri felt like she was moving in slow motion as she took it from his hand. "What's this?" she asked.

"Meatballs and some tomato sauce and some noodles -- all homemade," he replied, "I keep my fridge stocked with this stuff. Just warm it up and throw it together."

Teri stared blankly. "For me?"

"Just like a five star restaurant," he said then walked into the house leaving Teri on the porch, gazing into the bag.

*********

It was a hot day. Indian Summer had really kicked in. The warm air and a bright sun helped to build up a good sweat covering Alan as he worked on the roof of the house. He took off his shirt and wrapped it around his waist, a shiny gleam of perspiration on his well-defined, ripped muscles.

It took him a moment while he was hammering to hear Teri calling him from the backyard. He stopped and peered over the edge towards her.

"Alan?" she said looking up, her hands blocking the sun, "I'm going for a run. I left some ice water on the patio here."

Alan wiped down the neck of his hammer. "I'll show you those forest paths sometime."

"Sure." Teri started to step towards the house but paused. She looked up again and said, "Oh and Alan? Thanks for the food. I really appreciate it."

He nodded his head then he said, "I didn't see Greg this morning. He must have left early?"

The woman stopped and said nothing for a moment. The she replied, "He went home after he dropped me off."

"Too bad," Alan replied, moving some shingles around, "I didn't get to properly say good-bye. Seemed like a good guy."

Teri looked down chewing her bottom lip. "Yeah. Yeah he did," she said softly as she walked into the house.

Alan hammered away quickly despite the heat from the sun.

**********

Teri surprised herself again by actually attending classes the Monday morning. On Saturday night, as she lay under the covers in bed, she had thought for sure she would still likely be hiding at home for a few days. Maybe it was the exhausting run she did or maybe it was the delicious Italian food she had later on for dinner. She knew Greg hadn't killed himself which was a relief. She also now had a shower that worked and a solid roof over her head which brought some immediate normalcy back into her life.

Whatever reason, come Monday morning, she was there at school teaching the grade 5 class like she always did. She focused all of her attention on the kids...almost all of it.

It had taken her time to register it in her weary mind, but Alan working on her roof without his shirt hadn't gone completely unnoticed by her the previous day. Skin glistening under the sun, he had a lean, sleek body that was well honed by his many laborious jobs.

Teri rolled her eyes. After all that had happened she couldn't believe she could still have those type of thoughts and so soon.

While the students stood up one at a time to recite a passage from a poem, Teri leaned up against the window sill, sort of following along in her book. Out of the corner of her eye, she caught a glimpse of a woman with long gold-spun blonde hair and sunglasses make her way into the building.

She tilted her head and thought for a moment. The students continued to recite the poem then, when they were done, Teri assigned 15 minutes of quiet reading time while she left the classroom to check on something.

Dean watched her exit the room.

She walked through the empty hallways quietly, first the upper floor, then the lower one, scanning the premises and listening carefully. At the end of the hall, away from the classrooms, she approached the custodian's office and the boiler room entrance, the door swung open and she stepped back, startled.

A tall blonde woman appeared and turned towards her, smiling.

"Hello?" Teri said.

"Oh hello there," the woman chirped.

Teri recognized her from Duffy's: the alluring woman she had noticed sitting and talking with Alan at the bar.

Alan emerged through the door and stood beside the woman. "Hi Teri," he said, "This is Sophia Locke. Sophia this is Teri."

"Ms.Yao," the teacher added, her attention pulled between the woman and the custodian.

Sophia smiled and nodded. She looked at Teri as if she was already familiar with the teacher.

"Locke as in Locke Distribution and Warehousing?" Teri asked referring to the largest supplies and distribution company in the region.

"And I thought I was known to everyone in this town," Sophia declared, "Yes, my husband, Turner, owns the company. I'm just here today going over some supply requisitions for the school with...Mr.Rosetti."

"You do know that all visitors have to sign in at the office?" Teri said to both of them.

"Oh, I did, Ms.Yao," Sophia replied with an exaggerated nod of her head.

"And I don't believe anyone but the custodians are allowed in the boiler room area," she looked at Alan hoping more for an explanation from him than actually trying to berate him.

Alan remained passive during their exchange.

Sophia looked at Teri, scoffing subtly. All of her facial features --green eyes, nose, chin, and lips-- pointed sharply towards the teacher like the face of a fox. After a moment, the older blonde said, "Don't you worry Ms.Yao. I couldn't hurt a fly."

Teri tried hard to look like she believed her.

Sophia chuckled, turned away, and strolled towards the exit. "Bye Ms.Yao! Bye Mr.Rosetti!" she called back to them.

Teri watched her leave then she blinked and noticed Alan still standing there as well, looking at her. Immediately she turned around and headed back to her class trying to pat away the sudden blush she felt in her cheeks.

*********

In the early evening, Teri dragged herself into the house feeling wasted from the day. Maybe she had pushed herself too hard. She tossed her bags onto the sofa and walked into the kitchen. There were a half dozen messages on her answering machine, the same number left on her cell-phone voice mail.

They all started off similarly with "Hi Teri, It's me, Greg..." and then they all got flushed into digital oblivion before the next sentence.

She opened the fridge and pulled out a glass container of leftover spaghetti and meatballs. Her tummy rumbled just looking at it.

As the container spun around slowly in the microwave, she stared at it, mesmerized. She shouldn't have been thinking so much about Alan. Any thoughts about him should have been about his improper and unprofessional behaviour in school today. He was lucky she didn't report him. What was he doing with that woman in the boiler room anyway?

Sophia Locke. Teri had exchanged two dozen words with her and already she had no patience for her. There's no way Alan would...

Teri winced and caught herself. There she went again, in spite of telling herself not to do so.

The microwave beeped. Dinner was served.

With a glum pout on her lips, she removed the container, brought it to the table and dug in.

It was delicious.

*********

"Oh she's quite keen on you," Sophia said as she lay nude on her bed, stroking the sheets with her fingertips.

She watched admiringly as Alan unbuttoned his shirt and pants. She never got tired of watching her stud strip in front of her. His V-shaped torso funnelled perfectly into his tight, bare buttocks.

"It's funny in a way," Sophia went on blithely, "A teacher developing a 'classroom crush' for the janitor. Kind of pathetic, really."

Alan said nothing. It was easier that way when Sophia was like this. He just quietly slipped on a condom. Sometimes she honestly wished he'd forgo that little detail.

The woman rolled onto her stomach, the cool bedding cushioning her smooth belly and curvy breasts. She laughed, "What is it with these virginal teachers and you Joe-job labourers?"

Alan flinched slightly but she didn't notice. Naked, he settled into the bed beside her. Sophia lifted herself up and prowled over Alan, straddling his torso. She ran her fingers through the curls in his chest then massaged her hands upwards to his face. Holding him by his scruffy cheeks, she bent down, rubbing her ample breasts along his chest, and planted a deep kiss on his mouth. Then she sat up again and reached behind her, taking his stiffening shaft in her hand, stroking it lovingly, and then positioning it under her.

With a wriggle of her hips, she settled onto him, her head lolling backwards as he filled her. She bucked her pelvis, slowly, seductively.

"Ahh, but you like me best, don't you Alan?" she purred between breaths, "Mmm! You like me because I'm sexy and I know how to use my body. I make you feel good when we fuck. Uhn! You like me because I'm smart. I know how to take precautions and make a plan...uhn...unlike that stupid, grubbing little bimbo who had that kid of yours, right?"

Alan closed his eyes and breathed steadily as he rolled his hips in rhythm with Sophia. Her supple breasts swayed and bounced with increasing vigour.

She groaned as she felt him swell deep within her. "Uhn!" she gasped then breathed, "You like me because we're so alike, right lover? Ahh! You and I know how to make things happen. Ohh, yeah! We'll always take care of each other, won't we? We both share the same dirty secrets. Uh-mmm!"

Alan grabbed her by the waist and flipped her off of him. He moved her body into position on all fours then knelt behind her and drove his cock into her backside with a brutal thrust. Sophia cried out sharply. Tangling his fingers in her hair and rearing her back, he slammed hard into her, tanning her bottom a patchy red. He banged her hard over and over and she cried out in delirious delight with each rigid thrust.

It was the only way he could get her to shut up.

*********

Chapter 4

The following weekend, Saturday morning, Teri drove up to a small cottage house on the outskirts of town. She parked on the driveway behind the pick-up truck and got out of her car.

She stood on the driveway, and leaned back stretching and inhaling the fresh morning air. She looked at the house. It was quaint, smaller even than her home, but obviously better maintained.

She was about to walk up to the door when Alan stepped out onto the small porch. He was dressed like her: jogging pants, running shoes and a t-shirt.

"Good-morning, Alan!"

Alan trotted down the steps and joined her on the driveway.

"Ready to go?" he asked.

Teri nodded and looked past him, around to the house. "Is Dean up?" she asked.

"He's in the backyard."

"Doesn't he get lonely always playing by himself?"

"He's okay," Alan replied. He handed her a bottle of water and she stuffed it into her fanny pack. "Want to walk a bit first? Get warmed up?"

The two set off down the road at a brisk walk, swinging and stretching their arms as they went.

"This will be good," Teri breathed, "Burn off some of those calories you put into me during the week with all of that amazing food. Thank you again, by the way."

Alan had left some lunch on her desk a few times that week.

"It's only amazing because you don't make enough fresh food of your own," he remarked flatly.

"True...but it was still very good," Teri said. She grinned knowingly. She was quite used to Alan's emotionally detached, blunt statements now. He didn't need to frown or smile or whatever. He said what was on his mind.

After a few minutes of walking, they started their jog. They made their way along the paved road and then turned down another road following the train tracks. Leaves on the trees were just beginning to show their autumn colours as summer had taken its time to relinquish its hold on the weather. It was still unusually warm.

They continued to chat as they ran. Teri said, "It's nice to have somebody to run along with. I usually just jog alone with my MP3 player keeping me company."

"Not that many joggers in the community," Alan said.

"I wonder how a person like Sophia keeps so fit?" Teri remarked. Just as quickly she wanted to retract her words.

Alan said nothing for a moment then replied, "A woman like her can probably pay to keep herself fit."