Secrets On Lake Drive (4 page)

“I’m sorry you feel that way.” I admit I was
a little choked up and didn’t know what else to say. All I know is
that I didn’t want to lose my favorite student. “Tell Roman I said
goodbye at least. Can you do that?”

“Yeah, whatever.”

“Okay. Thanks.”

Never have I been in a situation like this before
where a parent didn’t like me and even went as far as to remove
their child from my class. I’m harmless. Everybody likes me. Well,
that is up until now.

Chapter 5 -
Visit to His
Crib

With school out for the summer, I got the
much-needed break I’d been longing for. No more getting up at five
o’clock in the morning, roaming around like a zombie until I
received my first dose of caffeine. No more screaming kids and
rush-hour traffic. I finally had a break from all the madness. It
was just me and my apartment.

Now that I think about it, being cooped up all alone
in my apartment for the summer sounds depressing. Trust me, I
thought about dating. I had the desire to get out and find Mr.
Right, but I didn’t have time for that. Besides, no one could be
more perfect for me than Cornelius was, and if I were to find a man
worth dating, he would have some big shoes to fill.

While at home alone, I thought about Roman a lot,
wondering how he was doing and what school he would be going to
next school year. I thought about him even more when I received
those extra classroom portraits I ordered in the mail. That’s
another nice thing I used to do. Whenever we took class portraits,
I made sure to order extra copies in case my kids’ parents couldn’t
afford to buy some or if they forgot to order them. I remember
sending an order form home with Roman back in March, but his father
never took the time to order any pictures. He probably never even
looked at the form.

For as long as I can remember, I’d always admired
photography, partly due to the fact that my father used to enjoy
the same hobby. He used to take me to the lake as a child and take
pictures of me playing near the rocks. Using the beautiful,
shimmering lake as a backdrop, he would make my cute little face
glow like the sun, while the relaxing sound of water crashed
against the rocks.

Those were the days – the days when I didn’t have a
care in the world. Now I find myself sitting at home thinking about
a man that left me heartbroken, a child that was no relation to me,
and getting in verbal altercations with a man that I hardly even
knew. How pathetic is that?

I missed Roman for the few weeks that school
was out. I wanted to undo what was already done and apologize to
Sean. After all, I
was
rude to him. Brainstorming for a
moment, I thought of the perfect idea. Since Roman’s father didn’t
order any of the class portraits, I would just take him a copy.
That way, I would have an excuse to go over to his house.
Good
idea, Monica
, I thought to myself.

I put one of the 8x10 photos in an envelope
and I hopped in the car. On the spur of the moment, I was on my way
to Sean’s home. There were a couple of times when I thought about
turning around, but I pushed through and was willing to accept
whatever Sean came at me with.

When I arrived, I parked behind his Escalade
in the driveway. After nervously walking to the door, I rang the
doorbell, which sounded more like a world-class symphony orchestra.
In a house that huge, apparently that’s what it took for residents
to realize someone was at the door. After a few seconds of standing
there with sweaty palms and a nervous belly ache, Sean came to the
door shirtless, with a well-sculptured frame, a rippled six-pack, a
bare chest, and muscles that looked like a miniature replica of the
Rocky Mountains.

To say I was impressed is an understatement. I’ve
seen models that can’t stand up to a frame that perfect. I couldn’t
keep my eyes off of his body. I wanted to touch him. No, I wanted
to slather him with lotion, rub him up and down, and get a good
feel of that six-pack.
Focus, Monica,
I told myself.
You’re here for a purpose.

“Hi.” I had a slight smile on my face,
trying to be as friendly as possible. I wasn’t sure what would come
next or if he would even say hello back. All I knew was that it was
too late for me to turn back now.

“Hi,” Sean responded, and that’s all he
said.

I thought maybe I would be yelled at or have a door
slammed in my face, but that didn’t happen, which was definitely a
good sign. Still, I didn’t know where I stood with him.
Is he
mad at me or not
? Not knowing made me more uneasy.

“Ah, I just wanted to give, ah…ah…uh.” I just
couldn’t get Roman’s name out of my mouth. Not only was I still
jumpy, but I was also distracted by the beauty of this sexy beast
standing in front of me like a mound of coconut maroons piled on a
serving dish just for me to enjoy. Those good looks of his were
throwing me off track.
Focus, Monica,
I chastised myself
again.

“Roman.” Sean helped me along, sensing I’d
temporarily forgotten his son’s name.

But I hadn’t. And in my defense, Sean’s body was
enough to make any woman stutter. I swear I was beginning to smell
macaroons baking – the vanilla, the coconut, and condensed milk all
slammed together to create this man standing in front of me.

“Ah…uhm…yeah…” I took a deep breath. “Roman. I
wanted to give him and you a…ah…class portrait.” I handed the
brown, letter-sized envelope to Sean, who took and opened it
immediately.

“Very nice,” he said, as he looked at it
briefly and put it back into the envelope. “Thank you. I’m sure
Roman would love this.”

“Ah…where is Roman, if you don’t mind me
asking?”

“He’s at his grandmother’s house.” Sean
propped his arm up on the door just enough so that I could see the
shadow of hair underneath his armpit. “Do you want to come in?”

He opened the door a little wider, but there
was no way I was about to step a foot into his house. He already
didn’t have a shirt on, and those navy blue cotton shorts were so
revealing, they left nothing to the imagination. On top of that, I
heard some soft reggae music playing in the background.

“Oh, no, I don’t want to intrude.”

“No intrusion. Come in. We’ll have coffee
and biscotti.” He bit his bottom lip and shifted his body to the
right so I could enter.

The invitation seemed innocent enough, with
the exception of the seductive lip biting, but I didn’t know Sean
well enough to go and sit in his house like we were old
friends.

“Thanks for the offer, but really, I just
wanted to give you this picture.”

“You sure?”

He was persistent, and my first thought was
to just go with it, but I fought off the persuasion and stood
firm.

“No, really, I should be going.”

I was preparing to walk away when I noticed
him smiling.
Why is he smiling at me?
After all, we hadn’t
officially apologized for our behavior to each other. On the way
over there, I had prepared myself for the worst, expecting Sean to
be belligerent, but he wasn’t. And along with his glowing demeanor,
he looked good. In my opinion, he was wasting his true talent by
being a realtor when he should’ve been a model. He looked like one
of those guys that could do an entire calendar – a calendar I
surely wouldn’t mind hanging on the back of my bedroom door.

I walked as fast as I could toward my car. I
knew Sean was staring at me because I could feel the heat of his
eyes beaming down my back. I turned around halfway to the car and
sure enough, he was standing there looking.

“Could you tell Roman I said hi?”

“Will do,” he said, then shut the door.

I drove off, smacking myself in the head, saying
over and over, “How can I be so stupid?” I was straight up checking
the brother out and I know he saw me studying him. I know he did.
But it’s all good.

Any woman would’ve looked.

Chapter 6 -
Summer Job

A week later, I was wandering around alone on
opening weekend of Summerfest, the world’s largest annual music
festival held in Milwaukee. I would normally be kicking it with
Keisha, but Keisha was too busy kicking it with her man. I could’ve
asked a few people to join me at Maier Festival Park, but I was
selfishly independent. I was one of those women who would go to a
romantic restaurant and have a candlelight dinner alone. I didn’t
need anyone else, really. And I didn’t need a man to define me – I
define myself. Besides, Milwaukee isn’t called the City of
Festivals for nothing. There was a festival popping off just about
every weekend during the summer months. So, I had plenty to keep
myself occupied.

Granted, being single was tough at times, especially
during this time of year. I hated being the third wheel whenever I
went anywhere with Keisha and Daryl, but I wasn’t going to be
depressed over it. Summer days in Milwaukee were too beautiful to
be wasted on spending time cooped up in my apartment with a pint of
rocky-road Häagen-Dazs, watching reruns of
Girlfriends
. I
usually waited for cold, rainy days to be stuck at home. And when
summer finally arrived at the end of an interminable Milwaukee
winter, I made sure to make the most of every day because another
one of those long winters was right around the corner.

I had just purchased a banana-flavored SnoCone, when
I saw Roman Beauvais eating some cheese fries at a brick-red picnic
table by the Briggs and Stratton Big Backyard stage. Sean was
sitting next to him.
So, he does spend time with his son, or
maybe I brought the guilt out of him. Who knows?

My eyes met Roman’s and he came running towards me,
leaving Sean, who was calling him back, sitting there. I’m sure he
was frantic that Roman just took off like that, until he looked up
and saw who Roman was heading to. Roman stretched his arms open as
wide as they could go and wrapped them around me. I hugged him back
and it wasn’t one of those petty hugs. It was an all-out bear hug,
a hug that said I love and miss you. Seeing him made my day. After
releasing him, I wiped some cheese from the corner of his mouth
with a napkin.

“Hey, sweetheart. How are you?”

“Fine,” Roman responded in his little-boy
voice.

Sean came walking over to us, wearing a pair
of stonewash Levis shorts, a sleeveless, sky-blue Armani hoodie
that showed off those biceps, and a pair of white Air Force Ones. I
was still bent over to Roman’s level, but as Sean got closer, I
stood straight up to greet him.

“Hi, again,” I said, looking at him.

I couldn’t see his eyes through the black
Gucci shades. He looked good and smelled good, and I knew the scent
because Keisha’s boyfriend, Daryl, wears that same cologne – Hugo
Boss. It was irresistible. Nothing makes a good-looking man look
even better like a bangin’ outfit and the perfect cologne.

“Hi,” he simply said and nothing more.

I took that as a hint to get to steppin’.
Besides, I didn’t want to encroach on valuable father and son
time.

“Well, I should be going. I’ll see you
around, Roman,” I said, while walking away.

It would’ve been nice to talk with them a
little longer, but I enjoyed the time I spent alone by myself. It
was refreshing and the day was beyond perfection, if you can
imagine that. The conditions were ideal for Summerfest – clear
skies, eighty-five degrees at the lakefront, with the smell of
grilled bratwursts, roasted corn, pizza, nachos, Italian beef,
Usinger sausages and barbeque pork cooking for the masses. To add
to the excitement was the loud music pouring out from various
stages and all the Miller Lite a person could stand. I loved the
atmosphere – the rumbling motorcycles, the fireworks, the kiddie
fountain, the Hawaiian shaved ice, and of course, the martinis at
Jojo’s Martini Lounge – my personal favorite being the
Margaritatini. Summer doesn’t get any better than that.

I was getting tired, though, and the noise
of out-of-control kids made me think I was back in school. After
about four hours of hanging out, I listened to some local poets
read their work and then I got out of there. I walked through the
main gate, and headed back to my car, which was parked about five
blocks away. During my hike to the car, I heard someone call to me
from behind.

“Monica!” I knew it was Sean. I could
recognize that sexy voice anywhere. I pretended not to hear him so
I could have the satisfaction of hearing him say my name again.

“Monica!” He called my name again, this time
louder than before. Before turning around, I wiped the grin off of
my face.

“Hey. What’s up?” I had no idea what he
wanted with me, but I guess I was about to find out.

“I have a proposition for you,” he said,
like we were having an impromptu business meeting right there in
the parking lot.

“Oh yeah? What’s that?”

“You like my boy, right?”

Now how is he going to ask me a dumb
question like that right in front of Roman? I thought my adoration
of Roman was obvious.
“Ah, yeah. He is…I mean, he
was
one of my favorite students,” I said, rubbing my hand across
Roman’s head.

“Well, I need a sitter for the summer and you need a
summer job while school is out, right?”

“I wasn’t planning on working this summer. I have
enough to get by.”

“Well, Roman is already crazy about you, so I
thought I’d ask if you wanted to watch him over the summer for me.
I’ll pay you thirty dollars an hour for ten hours a day, even on
weekends. What do you say?”

Thirty dollars an hour?
That caught my
attention, and I cleared my throat.

“Ah…hmm, I don’t know. I’ll have to think about
it.”

“Pwease, Ms. Smith. I don’t want another
babysitter,” Roman said, as he pounced up and down, similar to the
movements of a child that had to pee really, really bad.