Page 13 of Capacity
I was a nervous mess by the time I walked into Lakeview High. I wrung my hands each time I took a step toward the main office. The first person to notice me was Rosie. Her warm smile and kind eyes took some of the edge off.
“Ms. Foster, right this way, Principal Cunningham is waiting for you in his office. This portion is the one on one interview. I told him how well you did yesterday and he’s looking forward to interviewing you.” She placed a hand on my back and gave me a quick pat as she showed me down the hall to the open door of Mr. Cunningham.
“Principal Cunningham, Ms. Foster is here for her interview,” Rosie poked her head inside the office while I waited in the hall with my hands clasped in front of me.
Were my pants okay?
Did the cardigan hang down enough to cover my ass?
“Go on in, sweetheart,” Rosie said, pulling me away from the comfort of my uncertainty.
“Thank you, Miss Rosie.”
“Oh my goodness, your accent is adorable. I could just eat you up with a spoon,” she giggled and gave my shoulders a squeeze. I’d forgotten that I stuck out like a sore thumb in Connecticut. My Texan twang wasn’t the norm here. Knowing that made me more uncomfortable. What if the principal thought I sounded stupid?
I walked into the office and stopped dead in my tracks. Sitting behind the desk was the golden boy. The hot blond guy from the wine bar.
What the hell?
“You’re Mr. Cunningham?” I blurted, aiming my outstretched finger as if it would make him morph into the image of the principal I had in my mind. I wanted the round-bellied, balding guy with glasses. He would be much easier to talk to.
Mr. Cunningham’s face didn’t look any less shocked than mine. His lips were parted but no words came out. I looked over my shoulder at the closed office door wondering where the hidden camera was.
“Ms. Foster?” He blinked. His blue eyes dropped to the file in front of him then jerked up to meet my gaze.
“Yes…” I swallowed, nodding my head.
“Please, have a seat. Forgive me for not knowing what to say right now.” He stood up and shot over my head by several inches. He was so tall enough I had to tip my head back to meet his eyes. He held his hand out for mine and we shook.
Something hot crackled in the inches between us. Something that turned my stomach into dense knots piling up until they pressed against my throat. Neither of us let the handshake go. Something invisible and magnetic held our palms in that position while we studied each other’s eyes.
Now that I was right in front of the golden boy, I saw all the different shades of blue twisting together in his sparkling eyes. I saw the sky and the ocean. I saw gems and starflowers.
I saw something broken too.
I moved my stare from his eyes to where our hands were connected and looked at the way his sleeves were rolled up to his elbows. That really wasn’t better. It wasn’t like looking down at his tanned, sculpted arms shifted my mind from thinking about how hot he was. It only solidified what my brain was screaming at me.
God, this man is fine.
Shut up, brain.
After a few lingering moments of holding each other’s hand in place, I pulled mine away and let out an unsteady chuckle. “Small world,” I said, sitting.
“Yeah. Crazy, huh?” He sat down after I did and straightened the papers on his desk that were already in neat piles. In fact, not one thing on his desk was out of place.
Pens and pencils sat in a black mug that readChaos Managerin white block letters. Framed photographs sat in an artfully arranged cluster near his nameplate. Pictures of a beautiful brown-eyed woman in front of a rose bush. Every shot was perfect. It was like looking at a magazine.
“Is this your wife?” I quizzed. I couldn’t help scanning his ring finger.
“Yes.” His voice was tight and I noticed the sadness in his eyes jumped to life like a flickering flame. “She died a couple of years ago.” A sour note played off-tune in my mind.
“I’m so sorry, Mr. Cunningham. I didn’t know.”
“It’s fine. I like to keep these pictures here to remind me of better days,” he said, clearing his throat. I thought instantly of Kaiden’s Hot Wheels and nodded my understanding.
“Now, I’ve been going over your resume, which is superb by the way, and I see here that you have fifteen years of nursing experience.” He scoffed a little and lifted his sapphire eyes to mine. Something buzzed and popped between us again. The current in the air raised goosebumps on my arms. I was glad they were covered by the blouse and cardigan. “Did you start when you were fifteen? Because I don’t understand how you have fifteen years of experience.”
I could tell he was genuinely stumped. He tousled his golden locks and scanned my resume again.
