This story is something I started a while back but got shelved when busy. Updates may be slow, because work stuff is piling up again. We'll see how it goes.
P.S. I know, I know, I got another story hanging out there. Same predicament. Work comes first.
Disclaimer: Fiction. Pictures provided for visual aid and titillation only. Not related to any real persons or story whatsoever.
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Prologue
“Mommmm.... they are calling. I need to go!” Andy groaned.
Elaine finally released our son from her embrace and gazed affectionately at him. “Make sure you call us when you get there,” she said.
“I know lar,” Andy replied, glancing at me pleadingly.
“Dear, he’s going to miss his flight,” I said.
“Fine, go, go,” Elaine replied with a sigh.
“Love you! See you in a week!” Andy said.
We watched our 16 year old son clear the gate and trot off to meet the other students who are bound for the youth camp.
“He seems... better.” I said.
“Brighter.” Elaine added.
I nodded. We held hands and looked on until the youth group disappeared into the bustle of the airport beyond.
Elaine squeezed my hand. “Shall we go for our own vacation?” She asked. “I don’t want to be late.”
I nodded again and we turned around and walked towards the exit.
I thought of how it was only two months ago that our son was a miserable antisocial wreck. Elaine and I had immediately suspected that he was being bullied in school.
This was especially surprising to us, not to mention, distressing, since Elaine and I were both teachers at Andy’s secondary school. I thought math and Elaine thought English and literature. We couldn’t fathom that someone in our school would pick on a teacher’s kid.
With our powers as teachers, it was easy to determine the responsible party. Usually, it always boils down to the handful of usual suspects. In this case, the bullies were three young hooligans who were the same age as Andy.
The bullies’ names were Brandon, Jeffery, and Desmond. At 16 years of age, they were fairly new to the gangster game. Most of their demeanors boils down to petty pranks and corridor scuffles.
It would seem they were expanding their portfolio to include bullying.
I was ready to bring the matter to the principal to get the boys suspended or transferred. No one bullies my son and gets away with it.
Elaine disagreed.
Elaine was also the school’s guidance counselor, and she was very good at it. Students absolutely adores her. She is exceptionally kind towards kids and has a way of communicating and connecting with them. She believes everyone deserves a chance to atone for their misdeeds.
In the end, it was agreed that Elaine would counsel them.
Elaine set to work on the boys like they were her pet projects. She quickly earned their trust and befriended them.
Over time, I let bullying incident go. Andy was recovering nicely and I was busy with my own work.
From time to time Elaine would bring up the boys in our conversations. She was still counseling them and had become privy to their circumstances.
Desmond came from a broken family. Jeffery’s uncle used to molest him. Brandon’s brother was killed in a gang fight. All three came from poor families. Elaine really sympathized with them.
I first met Elaine at the very school that we worked. It was on the first day I became a teacher and I fell in love with her immediately. She is graceful and driven. Quite a frank person. She’s also heart-stompingly beautiful, tall, and pixie-like.
We have a loving relationship. Even after Andy was born and I started to suffer from erectile dysfunction, we were still intimate in other ways.
I know what you must be expecting, that she was going to have an affair behind my back.
That’s where you’re wrong. Elaine is a good and straightforward person and she loves me very much. That much I know. She would never do anything behind my back...
Which was why she asked for my blessing up front.
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