Page 37 of Under His Sheets
“But I want to stay here. I love my job.”
“What? Of course you do, Randall. This isn’t…no, you’re not in any trouble here.” She gave me a quick hug. I probably looked as distraught as I felt.
“I will discuss with my commander and we will determine what is best. I am not willing to put Randall…er, señor Sutter, in any danger.”
So what was the scowl about then? Was he angry with me? Angry at Lara or Ferrer? Had I overstepped?
“If he goes to the gathering, perhaps he may hear something?”
Alonso’s scowl deepened.
“Did he say anything else?”
I shook my head. “No. I was kind of in shock about the guitar. I can’t believe he brought it. He said he knew what happened, about us getting robbed in Barcelona? How would he know that?”
“It’s probably been on the news, and on social media.” Lara shrugged. “Maybe he heard it from someone? Did you tell your students?”
“No,” I said, trying to think. “No, not even the older kids. All I’ve said is that I was in an American indie rock band for a while before I decided to take this job. I haven’t even told them the name of the band, although I guess they could have Googled me. But would they?”
Lara smiled. “I’m sure they did. All kids are nosy and curious. Okay, let’s wait for Alonso to speak to his commander to decide what to do. I want you to be confident, Randall, that whatever you are asked to do, it is your decision, and that none of this will negatively impact your job. You seem to have gained the Ferrers’ trust and might be in a unique position to help us. We’ve had some complaints in our community of powerful people using intimidation to try to sway public favor about the separatist movement. Some of our parents are feeling unsafe with their children here, and I don’t want to lose students because of this, nor do I want anyone to be put in danger.”
I looked to Alonso, who had gone quiet, and wondered if I would get a chance to speak to him.
“Well, we won’t keep you,” Lara said, seeming to catch on to the tension between us. “I’d still love to see you tonight at Friday Social. I think we could all use a drink after this week. Alonso, why don’t you join us? Maybe some of the other teachers will have some news to share?”
He nodded. “Sí. I will come. I want to be sure Randall gets home safely.”
I hoped my relief wasn’t too obvious. I desperately needed to ask all the whats: what the fuck was going on? What the hell did he expect me to do? And what about poor Pere? One what seemed obvious, though. This issue of separatists wasapparently the why he was there, the why behind his actions, avoiding me, etc.
“Excellent. Pack up. Let’s get out of here for a much-needed weekend.”
Lara turned and left the room, leaving me alone with Alonso.
“Amor, I don’t like this,” he whispered. Apparently he had a monitoring device in my classroom and perhaps others were listening. “Let’s go,” he said a little louder.
“What about that?” I asked him, pointing to the guitar.
He shook his head and gestured for me to leave it.
I grabbed my messenger bag and slipped my laptop in it before pulling the strap over my head. Alonso reached over and tugged my hair out from under the strap.
“¿Estás listo?”
I nodded and walked out the door ahead of him, his hand on my lower back grounding me so I didn’t lose my shit.
We got out to the parking lot and I stopped near the bike rack.
“Why don’t you leave it? I will drive you.”
“You mean you get to be seen with me now?”
His lip turned up. “Get in the car.”
He led me to an ancient-looking Saab convertible and unlocked my door with the key, holding it open. I thanked him and climbed in. The car was spotless inside, but there were small cracks in the dash and the leather. It smelled really good inside. Like Alonso’s cologne, which was subtle but made my mouth water.
He climbed in and shut the door, taking a deep breath before he looked at me.
“This is what you meant by things happening soon?”
