Page 48 of Legal

“He’s feeling something for you. Why don’t you just ask him about the dress?”

“It’s just meaningless sex, and I’m giving the dress back.” I opened the freezer to grab a few ice cubes to dump into my now tepid coffee.

“Like hell it is, and like hell you should.”

“I’m relieved to know you weren’t involved, Perry, but you—”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah. I don’t understand. Give me a break, Jills. I probably understand better than both you and Stephen rolled together. Look, we’ll talk about this later, okay? Your brother’s trying to get up, and we need to get in a quickie first. But in the meantime, don’t do anything stupid.”

“My stupid or your stupid?”

“Something-you’ll-regret stupid.”

Several hours passed, and I must have picked up my phone and set it back down a hundred times. I wasn’t sure what to do. I wanted to call him, but I couldn’t bring myself to actually do it. It’d be easier to text, but I didn’t think that would solve anything. The box sat at my feet, and every so often, I’d open it up and peek at the dress. I even had it in my hands once, ready to dash off and try it on, but luckily came to my senses. If I hadn’t, something crazy might have happened. I might have decided to keep it.

I leaned my head back on the chair. My regular, productive day was sucking into a black hole. My mind could not focus worth shit.

The dress needed to go back to him, that much was clear. It was way too personal. His role was to remove my clothing, not add to it. I tapped my fingers against my chin. I knew he lived on the east side, and I could probably find an address, but I didn’t want to go there and deal with his roommates. I could take it to school. He taught on Fridays.

I righted forward and grabbed the box. That’s what I’d do. I couldn’t keep it there any longer or else I’d try it on. I was sure of it. I would drive up there and either give it to him personally or secure it with the office staff. I arranged the dress nicely amongst all the paper, leaving it exactly how I’d found it.

It was time to take a break anyway, disregarding the fact that the entire day had been one long waste session. I went down to the garage, convincing myself that this was absolutely the right thing to do. I needed to return it graciously and then lay some ground rules.

And I really hoped he accepted them, because if not, I was sure going to miss that hard body of his.

Ipulled into the school’s small parking lot, next to the front door. There were two kids out on the steps banging erasers together, puffing chalk dust into the air. I smiled. When was the last time I saw something like that? Most schools didn’t even have blackboards anymore.

They said hello as I walked past, and I went through the small lobby and into the main hallway. I felt strange bursting in, as if I were coming into a home uninvited. Maybe I should have made arrangements first? I had a bag hanging from my hand with the box inside. The bright purple color could never be considered inconspicuous, and I didn’t want to draw any undue attention.

There were a few people and kids milling about, but overall, it was just as deserted as the last time I was there. I wondered if Cassie was lurking in the shadows. Having a run-in with her wasn’t on my to-do list for the day.

I walked past the seemingly unoccupied office when that tiny peanut of a woman popped up like a frickin’ jack-in-the-box. I clutched my chest and yelped. She really should wear a bell around her neck.

“Sorry, hon. Jillian, right?” I nodded.Wow, good memory.“You here for Mr. Nolan again?”

“Yes, but I don’t want to disturb his class. I just have something for him. I can also leave it with you if I have to?”

She looked behind her at the clock. “Great timing. Just head on down, hon. Same room as before. The kids have snack break in five minutes.”

“Oh, okay. Thank you… I’m sorry, I never got your name.”

“Call me, Sue, hon.”

“Thank you, Sue.”

I took a few more steps when I noticed a familiar little girl coming toward me. “Hello, Hazel. I’m Jillian. Do you remember me? I met you during your guitar lesson.”

She smiled. “I remember you. You’re Mr. N’s girlfriend.”

“Ah, no, sweetie. We’re just—”

“I hafta go to the doctor. My grandma’s waiting for me outside.”

I looked her over. I hoped everything was fine. Her cheeks did look a lot less rosy than before, but that could have been the mother in me being overly worrisome.

“Are you feeling okay?” I asked as I walked with her toward the main doors.

She shrugged. “Just a check.”

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