New York Love Affair

"Hey Ray-Baby!" shouted the worst of the bunch, Daniel. He was sitting on top of the teacher's desk, and when he spoke everyone quieted down to hear what he had to say.

"It's Reina or Ms. Guadalupe," I tried to say in my calmest voice, not letting them get to me.

"Mmmm, that dress fits you in all of the right places," he said, using his hands to gesture the outline of my body. His partner-in-crime Emmanuel laughed and gave him a high five. Wow, these boys start growing into perverted men earlier and earlier.

"Sit down in your desk now!" I ignored his comment. "Everyone take a seat in your own seat." Most of the students took one glance at me and rolled their eyes.

"Or what?" Rebecca, one of the sassier girls, started to challenge.

"I've tried warnings with this class, but they don't normally work, so today I decided to try something new," I kept my voice steady and monotone. "Today, your disobedience will gain you all a demerit."

The class got loud and most of the students began complain.

"Yo! I can't get any more demerits this semester!" Emmanuel began to puff.

"Then sit down, and you don't have to worry about getting one," I suggested.

All of the kids looked back at Daniel for his approval. He nodded his head. Everyone moved back to their seats. I sighed in relief. As I walked to sit at the desk the class began to snicker. When I looked up, I noticed Daniel's bottom plastered to the seat behind the teacher's desk.

"Daniel, go to your seat now!" My anger began to show.

"I am in my seat! This ain't yo' damn classroom, it's mine! So why don't you sit at that desk in the corner," he smirked. Like I said, he was a master at knowing how to get under people's skin.

I took a deep breath, and while I was at it, began to pray to silently to myself. God please give me the strength. I grabbed his arm. He was about to swing at me, but I saw that he was weighing in his mind whether he would of get away with it.

I leaned down to his face, and stated in a snarl, "I'm going to get one of the administrators, and I don't want to hear another word from you." Then I began to weigh my chances of getting away with this. Of course this kid could swing at me and I had no doubt he wanted to. I couldn't let the fact that they were in middle school fool you. Give them another year or two, and a lot of them will be taller than me. Daniel was one of the ones that would likely be taller than me in three months, and seeing him at his worst in all of the school fights he'd been in, I had no doubt that I may not be a match for his gallant fist.

The room was quiet, which was very rare for me, and for the first time, I was able to hear the intercom. Beep! "Mrs. Guadalupe, we have a call for you on line 6!" The whole class began to say their Ooooooo's .

"Thank you, and excuse me, can I get an administrator down to room 219, also," if I was in trouble, there was no way I was going to do down without bringing him with me. The lady on the intercom hesitated, before finally agreeing.

******

John

When I dropped that beautiful woman off the night before, I couldn't even think straight. I was like a love struck teenager; the last thing I could do was sleep. I kept rolling her name off of my tongue. Damn! If she only knew how much she was beginning to have me wrapped around her finger! I kept thinking of the night and the eventsthat had transpired. Her delicious pouty lips, the way her eyes made my blood boil, and especial the way that tight dress fitted her curvy body all made my exhausted body too anxious to go to sleep. Then I remembered that sexy cleavage. It was so hot the way her breast bounced when she got into the car or the way they moved with her every breath.

I was no virgin. I'd had my way with quite a few women, and being wealthy, you'd be surprised how many women throw themselves at you in hope of getting some of the wealth, but her—she was different. I could tell by those eyes. I could read her eyes like a book. I could tell she didn't like being at the social night before, and even more, that she wasn't impressed by me. She hadn't really checked me out, and when she didn't even so much as gasp at my car, I knew for sure that she didn't care.

I eventually went to sleep that night, my dreams centered on her, and they were anything but innocent. I woke up in sweats. I took one glance down to see the biggest morning wood I've seen since my high school days. Fuck, that means one of two things; I could jerk off real quick, or take a cold shower. Wait a second! Where's my alarm! Every day, I woke up to the alarm on my phone, and even more so, to the call I always got from the office temp asking if I wanted her to pick me up any breakfast or a black coffee. Where the hell is my phone? This had never happened before.

Before I could even think to destroy my apartment looking for my life in an electrical box, I had an epiphany. It was in my jacket pocket. Where the hell was my jacket? It wasn't in my closet. The valet confirmed it was not in my car. Wait; I didn't have time for this! I was just going to have to get a temporary replacement.

My strides were large and quick as I made my way to my car. I wasted no time when getting ready to head to the office. Being late is not a good sign when I was trying to get the promotion I badly wanted. I had to tie my tie on the elevator. I just don't get it; my tie, shirt, and pants from last night were all in a pile in my bathroom, but not the jacket.

"Hey, Mr. Kent. I left you a black fresh brew on your desk and a blueberry muffin."

"God Laura! You know I fucking hate muffins!" I didn't mean to take my frustrations out on her. I could be surly in the office at times, but never to women, especially not Laura, because she was pregnant, and the last thing she needed was to be yelled at.

"I tried calling, but this old Spanish woman picked up, and I didn't understand a word that was coming out of her mouth," she explained. Then it hit me. I had given my jacket to Reina the night before. She still had it.

"Call that number back, and connect me to it through my office phone," I demanded of Laura.

"Well, yes I can, but right now Bridges called. He wanted for you to be in the conference room almost ten minutes ago," Laura's reminded me. I was confused. Fuck! I had put all of my meetings in my phone, but there was no way to remember them without it.

"Okay that's fine," I sighed ", but when I get out, I need you to make that call ASAP!"

When the conference was over, Phillip asked me to stay behind.

"Well John, it's not like you to be late. Compared to everyone in the whole building you're always early, including even compared to the custodians. What's going on?"

"I'm sorry Mr. Bridges, I just lost track of time this morning." I was ashamed.

"Ha, I thought we were already past this phase. My name is Phillip; just call me Phillip," he laughed to himself, " and don't think I'm stupid. I saw you walk out with that slut last night. Hell, if she hadn't thrown that drink on my son I may have hit it myself. Tell me John... did you show that little bitch?"

My teeth clenched. I wanted to cringe when he called her a slut, and punch him when he called her a bitch. This man had no respect.

"Huh, John? Did she keep you up all night?" Phillip kept laughing to himself.

I had to smile to myself. If only he knew the half of it.

"That's what I thought you dirty rascal! That little friend of hers was quite the lay too, from what I was told by Mickey!" He praised me and patted my shoulder. "You know what? I've only said this to my son, but don't make the same mistake I did with getting married. The first wife I had tried to take me for all I had when she divorced me, and I don't doubt Elena will try to do the same, not to mention they try to ride your dick about being committed, as if that 21 caraet diamond ring wasn't enough. Hell I envy the two of you, no kids, still pretty young, and getting pussy for free. When I was your age I was married and had to pay for her to go shopping just to get a blowjob."

I bit my tongue. Even though I hated being compared to Phillip, I hated it even more when I was compared to his son. People always say the apple doesn't fall far from the tree, but Phillip's son Michael was even worse than his old man. He thrived off his father's fame and wealth, and it frustrated me knowing that he was also top of the list for possible candidates for president, just because of his father.

"I'm not going to hold you up, John, but don't make this tardiness a habit. I'd hate for you to miss out on any great opportunities because of it."

I nodded my head and left.

*******

Reina

After school I made sure I headed straight home, not that I wanted to linger at the school longer than my normal sentence. At first when I got the call from the office, I assumed that maybe some way or another someone had reported that the class was being disruptive, and sadly even though it's the children's behavior that is inappropriate, I was the one that couldn't get fired for not knowing how to handle them and not handling situations appropriately. 'Lucky' me it was just Abuela calling. It's always funny in a way when she called for me. She didn't speak English very well. Even when she was speaking the English she did know was always confused for Spanish or misunderstood, because of her thick accent.

The office had to get the school Spanish teacher to translate what my grandmother wanted, and finally they understood that she wanted to speak to me. Also, the Daniel situation was handled for the moment. I was happy, because without the fear of thinking my job was at jeopardy I might not have had the courage to go on with my bluff of not tolerating bad behavior.

When an administrator finally came to the classroom to take out the kids deemed as misbehaving, I picked up the phone glued to the wall, and dialed line six. My grandmother explained that she had found a man's jacket on the floor, and it wasn't my late grandfather's. A phone had been inside of the pocket ringing all day. The first time she answered, it was a woman, but the next time she answered it was a man. She hadn't understood too much of what he was saying, and came to the conclusion that maybe he was trying to make a move on her that or that it was a prank call. However, he kept repeating my name, so she knew that the call was for her. She'd also understood that the man was supposed to come by this day to get it. I then told her that I'd be home after three o'clock, and explained that she should tell the man that.

I felt butterflies flying everywhere in my stomach when I rode the subway a portion of the way home and then got onto the local bus to ride the rest of the way. I knew the jacket belonged to the man from last night. I tried to think about what he looked like, but all I could remember was his stunning eyes. When my bus stopped, I jogged up the stairs of my home and swiftly unlocked the door.

No one was there. Then my Grandmother came from around the corner of the hall with the jacket.

"¿Ha encontrado a un marido?" Have you found a husband? She handed the jacket to me.

My grandmother was proud that I had an education, but never shied away from telling me she would have preferred if I was just married with a family.

"No Ama. Él sólo es un tío que conocí anoche," I tried to explain. No Ama. He's just some guy I met for the night.

"El mejor no han tocado o me aseguraré de que contrae matrimonio contigo," she shot back. He better not have touched you, or I'll make sure he marries you.

"No, no es así. Él simplemente me dio un aventón," I assured her. No, it's not like that. He simply just gave me a lift.

"Mmmhmm," she replied sarcastically, and walked back to the kitchen to finish cooking what she was working on for dinner.

The doorbell rang. My heart was about to beat its way out of my chest as I looked at it. My abuela complained all the way to the door as she went to answer it.

"Hello madam, is there a Reina Guadalupe here?" I recognized his voice, yet I scurried into the kitchen, so I wouldn't be noticed.

"Reina, consegue su culata de aquí, y no ser grosero," she commanded me. Reina, get your butt inside of here, and don't be rude!

I looked at the stove and grabbed some empanadas that Ama made earlier and wrapped them in a paper towel in my fist folding the jacket over my arm, so that it blacked the view.

I walked into the TV room from the kitchen as my grandmother was passing me to do the opposite direction.

"¡Que` guapo! Él hará a niños hermosos." She commented before she left. How sexy. He'll make beautiful children.

"¡Silencio Ama!" I tried to hush her.

But my grandmother wasn't lying. Besides at his eyes, I didn't look at the man too much last night. He was handsome. His thicke dark hair was gelled and neatly cobed out of his face. He had dark thick eye brows that shadowed his eyes and gave him a bad boy type look. His chin was squared and his face perfectly chiseled. He wasn't freakishly buff nor tooth pick thin, but reasonably trim and lean.

The man looked from me to her confused.

"What did she say? He asked noticing my discomfort.

"Here, she just wanted me to return your jacket," I lied.

"I see."

"Look, I'm sorry for the inconvenience, and making you have to travel out of your way twice in less than twenty-four hours," I apologized.

"It's fine," he said sniffing the air, "What's that cooking? It smells good."

"That's my grandmother. She's making dinner. I'd invite you to stay, but I'll be leaving for work in a minute," I said ", unless you just want to eat here with her."

"No thank you," he said.

I noticed he looked as if he might not trust our food, and although I wanted to get angry, I couldn't blame him. We kept our flat neat and tidy, but it still nothing was compared to the place where the party we met at was hosted in, and I had no doubt his place was just as nice.

"I mean the presentation is nothing artistic, but it taste really good," I looked at the apartment as if it were the first time I noticed it. We didn't have much furniture, and our TV was small and old, although we did make an effort to keep any dust from forming on it. The coffee table looked like it was brought with my grandmother when she came to this country, and looked even older than her. People en Español magazines that were spread neatly across it, but it couldn't hide its age.

I remembered the empanadas I had in the paper towel, and begun to unwrap them in my hand.

"What are thos—" I placed my finger on his lips.

"Sshh. Abuelita doesn't like when I spoil my supper," I whispered. I broke a piece off and positioned it to go against his mouth. At first he hesitated, and I was sure he would not eat it, but to my surprise he opened his mouth. Because I wasn't expecting him to eat it, my finger slipped inside his mouth along with the food. We both looked as awkward as the two dogs from Lady and the Tramp, when they kissed after eating the spaghetti. I quickly slipped my finger out, and he started chewing like nothing had happened.

"Yeah, you were right, it's mouthwatering," he uttered. "I'd love some more."

I decided he was just talking about the food and not me.

"Well, I have to change and leave pretty soon. John was it?" I closed our briefing ", and it was great seeing you again." I gave him the paper towel that was in my hand filled with the rest of the empanadas.

I turned to walk away, but he grabbed me by the wrist and pulled me back to him. I like standing next to people like Melanie, because I'm 5'6 and she's 5'2, and I did look tall in comparison, but once again compared to many guys I felt short and vulnerable. Unlike Daniel, John had to be at least six feet tall. Well.. maybe not six feet, but close, probably five-eleven or five-ten.

"Okay, but can we at least catch a ride together when you go to work?" he inquired. His grip on me was firm, but it wasn't hurting me, and I could break free whenever I chose.

"¡Reina! El Sr. Perez viene esta noche para la comida, entonces, por qué no hacen usted también sale," Ama shouted from the kitchen. Reina! Mr. Perez is coming over for dinner tonight. Maybe you should go out too. At this point I was persuaded. The last time Mr. Perez came over for dinner I caught a sight of something no one should ever have to see.

"You're going to have to wait for me to change," I said caved in once again. Do I always let people dictate my life?

*****

John

I didn't want to come so strongly onto her, but I couldn't stand her to refuse me. I waited on the couch. I know I'm tall compared to a lot of people but I felt like the iron giant sitting on their couch. Hell this made me feel how ill proportioned Alice from Alice and Wonderland must have felt when she drank the magic elixir. I finished munching on the empanadas. Normally I'm not an ethnic food person, but when she placed her finger on my lip there was no way I could say no, and when she let me taste that sweet skin of hers, there was no turning back.

"Okay, I'm ready," she declared while hopping on one foot to place her shoe on.

I looked at her. She had on a fitted black pencil skirt and a white button down and a lacey ruffled top. It may have been something appropriate to wear and not get stares like a Hooter's waitress, and she did have on a tank top on underneath, but for me... I wanted to rip it off then and there.

Reina snapped in front of my face to regain my attention. She now had on both of her black high heels.

"Are you ready?"

"Yeah, let's go." I grabbed my jacket, and made sure I had the phone in the pocket, and after confirming that it was there, I turned it off. Normally I work long five-to-nine like hours, but today I didn't think anyone would miss me.

When we got outside she looked confused.

"Where's your car?"

"Oh, I hauled in a cab today. No need to draw any attention to myself."

The ride was going to be a silent one...minus the assertive cab driver of course. This was the type of cab driver who's true occupation was to instigate road rage. I smiled to myself. I remember when I first came to stay in New York.

I was a few years older than what I assume Reina's age is, but not nearly as comfortable as she is with the lively city. I couldn't take it anymore. My mind was on the last straw with my parents' lifestyle. My father was a business man like me, but I always felt that was his excuse to get out of our mansion.

In Ireland my family has been quite wealthy for generations as far back as the Royal Family themselves, and for just as long we've been living like our shit is gold. No woman in our family has ever had to work, and the only one who has ever lifted a freshly manicured finger is my aunt, Samantha.sh never fit in too well in our high class society, and as soon as she was of age joined the Peace Corps. Grandfather was so upset he cut her off altogether, but her heart was so golden, that that didn't keep her from visiting. No matter how much the family protested her actions I always loved her the most. When Aunt Samantha did visit she made it her goal to surprise us with gifts from the places she lived, mostly from countries in Africa and the Caribbean. Her stories were better than anything the tele could ever broadcast and Samantha's passion and love was always greater than anything my parents could display.

I was twenty-four and graduating from university. Aunt Samantha was supposed to be catching a flight back home from her current location within Africa two days before the ceremony, but instead we just got a call.

Her flight never landed.

Two weeks later at her memorial my bastard of a family didn't even shed a tear besides me. My father made an extra effort to ensure his 'days at the office' became lengthier and my mom evolved from being just a bitch to becoming the Omega.