Page 19 of Christmas in Paris
Ray had been gone so long, and without even thinking about it, Simon had been looking out the window quite frequently. It didn’t make any sense since the window looked out onto the courtyard and the lobby beyond, but it wasn’t something that he could seem to stop.
Was Ray mad at him? Had he done something? No matter how he wracked his brain, he couldn’t think of anything. Or was this just part of who Ray was? Simon had noted that the man was fiercely independent, maybe he had just needed the time alone.
Still, his thoughts pricked at his brain, refusing to let go, and logical or not, he found himself going over and over again to the window and gazing out into the darkness. And that was how, although his rational brain told him he wouldn’t, he found Ray after all.
Ray was sitting and chatting earnestly with Mandy, and Simon just stood there, watching and smiling. In a second, he would have to look away, but right now, he had to admit that he found this adorable. Ray might not be the likeliest person in the world on the surface of it, but he was good with these kids. Ashley was a lucky girl to have him as her father.
And then Mandy leaned in, and it was a good thing that the way they were sitting, Simon was able to see Ray’s face perfectly. He saw the shock on it, replaced quickly by determination. From any other angle, Simon might not have been able to see just how obvious it was that Ray hadn’t asked for it.
Simon watched as Mandy, shoulders hunched forward, sprang to her feet after being pushed away. His heart went out to her; of course, rejection was never fun. But he was worried about Ray, too. What a situation to be put in.
Still, in the very deepest parts of Simon, a shameful thought did occur to him. Ray hadn’t even hesitated. He’d pushed her right away. Was that just because she was a student? Or was it possible that Ray would have pushed anyone away?
They had never had a conversation about whether they would sleep with other people or not. It had seemed like a fairly moot point. There weren’t exactly huge lineups of people after either of them, and this relationship was time-limited to while they were in France, so what was the point?
Somewhere deep down, though, it thrilled Simon to think that maybe Ray would pick him. It was a stupid thing to hope for, and impossible even if true, but his heart was racing just as fast as his thoughts, which were trying to figure out just what might happen because of this, as he ran down to talk to Ray.
* * *
It didn’t take him too long to learn what would happen because of what Mandy had tried.
Or maybe he was being uncharitable. It could have just been a coincidence. But then, no one liked being rejected, and teenaged girls were no exception to that.
“Good news,” Mandy’s mother said over the phone the next day. Simon couldn't decipher her tone of voice. It sounded completely neutral, and that seemed to Simon to spell out trouble loud and clear in glowing letters about six feet high. “I can join you in Paris after all.”
Simon hadn’t bothered to argue with her. There was no point. Instead, he’d just hung up without a word, then called his boss, the principal, to find out what was going on. It was a nerve-wracking thing to do, but if he acted like Ray was guilty, if he acted ashamed, it was going to look worse for them.
“Look, the woman just wants to spend Christmas with her daughter. That’s all she said to me,” the principal told him, her tone of voice long-suffering in a way that suggested that she’d already spent too much time on this and had other things that she needed to do. “It’s not a big deal. I’m not sure what the actual problem is.”
Simon bit back a groan and a snarky comment. After all, this was his boss, and he should probably be professional with her. So he took a deep breath to calm himself, forcing his voice to civility.
“She tried to get the trip canceled,” he pointed out. “And she’s not needed. Ray Myers and I have been doing fine. Besides, there’s no room at the hotel for her to stay.” He was very clear on that because he and Ray had been given the only one when their old one had started leaking.
“You don’t know that she tried to do anything,” his principal replied, and of course, she would say that. Mandy’s mother was one of the biggest financial donors to the school. It wouldn’t be wise to speak against her. Like with so much, it came down to the money. No one would put that at risk. “And as of tomorrow morning, the hotel does have room for her. I understand another guest checked out today.”
Simon closed his eyes and rubbed at his temples. He had been aware that there had been a few other guests at the hotel, but that hadn’t occurred to him.
“Anyway, there has been some concern expressed about Ray Myers,” the principal continued on, and Simon’s body froze solid in the space of about five seconds. That was how it felt, anyway. What did she know? What did anyone know? “It seems that Mr. Myers is far too lenient with the children. And I’m afraid that the concern extends to you, too. Some might think that you are both too interested in being their friend to be responsible caregivers.”
Simon opened his eyes, running that over in his head. There weren’t little children, after all. They were going to be graduating high school in the spring. Was he supposed to, he wanted to demand sharply, hold them all by the hand all the time? They hadn’t been poorly behaved, and they were good kids.
Unless this was about more than just him and Ray as caregivers. What if someone had seen them together? They had been careful, but there had been, at least, very significant looks. It was probably just his guilty conscience poking its head up, but at the same time, couldn’t it be taken that way?
“There’s nothing you can do about this, Simon,” his boss said, her voice not unsympathetic but also uncompromising. “You might as well just accept it. She just wants to keep an eye on things, and I don’t think she’s wrong. Besides, it’s only for a few more weeks. You can handle it.”
She just wants to keep an eye on things.
There seemed to be an ominous tone to the way she said that. Keep an eye on what things? What had Mandy told her? For the first time, it occurred to him that if Mandy had a crush on Ray, which she clearly did, she might have seen the looks they exchanged.
Again, guilty conscience? Maybe. It was possible, though, and Simon sighed and bowed his head as he let his eyes drop closed again.
“Fine,” he said, his voice short and tight, really more rude than he should be to his boss, but he was suddenly under a lot of stress. Who were he and Ray hurting, anyway? Why should he feel guilty at all?
He hung up because it was the best thing to do and then went to find Ray. Ray, who was so awesome with these kids, who didn’t deserve anything that the principal had said about him. And, as always, Ray was talking and laughing with them, treating them like people, and that was why they all loved him. It made him suddenly not only angry but so sad that people were saying things about him that weren’t true.
And it would only get worse if anyone had any proof that he and Ray were together, or whatever they were. The rest of the day, Simon went back and forth about what he should do. About what the best thing, the safe thing, was to do, and then what he wanted. It wasn’t fair that he had to make this choice; it just wasn’t.
Mandy was there, avoiding everyone’s eyes. Once, for just a split second, Simon managed to get her to look at him, but she flushed and glanced down again. Of course, he wasn’t going to go up to a seventeen-year-old girl and demand that she tell him what she’d told her mother, what she knew. That wouldn’t only be incredibly inappropriate, but also very sketchy. But the temptation was there.
