Deirdre O’Brien had briefly met Jesse Tinley, an art
instructor at the Baxter Academy of Arts, one Sunday afternoon in November. After
returning to classes at Vassar, Deirdre could not stop thinking about him. When
spring break arrives, she knows exactly who she wants to spend it with.
Jesse Tinley was immediately attracted to Deirdre O’Brien,
but they only had an afternoon together. Even though he’d like for there to be
more, he knows it’s not possible. Deidre’s still in college and he has two jobs
and a son. When Deidre shows up in his studio the first day of Spring break, he
begins to hope for more.
Unfortunately, any romance could be snuffed out before it
has a chance to begin. All because of a babysitter named Larry.
Casting
Doubt
Copyright
© 2015 by Jane Charles
DEIRDRE
Taking a deep breath and
wiping my sweaty palms on my jeans, I round the corner and step onto the
square. I don’t want to seem obvious so I pretend I’m out for a stroll and
doing a little window shopping, just in case I happen run into him. Not that I expect to, but I’m still
nervous.
It’s crazy, I know.
Nobody is paying attention to me. A few of the shops hold my interest and if I
wasn’t intent on my main goal, I would have probably gone inside. It’s a beautiful spring day and a number of
people are out and about. Especially teenagers, enjoying their first day of Spring
Break. It’s odd that the first day is a Wednesday, but from what I understand,
the public schools in the district only used two snow days of the seven
planned, plus they begin the school year two weeks earlier than everyone else
because they’ve always gone over in snow days. Now they’re ahead of schedule.
Since ending school early would mess with end of school year activities, like
award banquets, prom, spring musical and graduation, they extended Spring Break
by three days to give the kids, and teachers, a longer vacation before the
final push.
My Spring Break began
yesterday at exactly three o’clock when I learned that my Wednesday morning
classes were cancelled because both professors were sick. There’s a nasty flu
on campus and I was ready to get out of there before I got sick too. As for my
Thursday classes, one professor has been sick, another offered up homework in
exchange for not attending class, and a third had already cancelled because
they had an early flight to Jamaica. It’s been a long, tough semester, with
half of the student body and a good number of the professors coming down with
the flu in the last few weeks, some developing pneumonia, that we all just need
to go somewhere else not so germ-filled. And, since I don’t have any classes on
Friday, I packed and came home last night.
My friends are headed to
the beach. I could go, but I’m really not in the mood for a week of partying.
Okay, I could be in the mood, but I don’t exactly have the money. I’m probably
the poorest student attending Vassar. Not that I care all that much, but a
number of my friends and roommates just don’t get that I can’t just charge
whatever I want, whenever I want, simply because it’s something I want.
Besides, since this past
winter, I’ve been waiting for the moment when I can run into Jesse Tinley. I met him last November and we spent a pleasant
afternoon before Thanksgiving at Sullivan’s Pub. Something clicked that day,
and I’m not sure what it was or if I was the only one who felt an immediate
connection between us. I did come by his studio during winter break, but by the
time I got to town he’d already closed down and wouldn’t be opening back up
until after the first of the year. I considered trying to find out his home
address, but that seemed rather stalkerish. And, it isn’t like we made plans to
see each other ever again.
I did try to find him on
one of the many social media sites, but he isn’t anywhere to be found. I
thought there would at least be a website or Facebook page for his studio, but
nothing. If Alexia, the art teacher who works with Jesse and lives with my
brother, Kian, hadn’t mentioned him in passing, I’d wonder if I imagined
meeting Jesse. But, I had, and it’s an afternoon that has stayed with me. I
can’t stop thinking about him and I need to know if there really was a
connection, for lack of better description, or if I simply imagined it.
Not that I intend on
getting involved with anyone at this point in my life. I’ve still got two years
and six weeks of school left. That’s hard enough without being in a
relationship. Yet, I can’t ignore what I feel and until I talk to Jesse again,
it’s going to bug me and I’ll always wonder what
if.
His gallery door is open
and my heartbeat increases. I was only in here for a minute last time, when Jesse
stopped in to let his employee know that the two of us would be at
Sullivan’s. The teenage girl had given
me a nasty look. I remember working retail and wanting to get out of the store
as soon as possible. Especially when there were no customers. She probably
wasn’t happy about being stuck there while the owner went off for a beer.
Taking another deep
breath, I step inside and glance around. Paintings cover the walls. Those had
not been there before. It adds a cheeriness to the place. On different stands
are various ceramic work and sculptures. These are Jesse’s. Or, at least I
assume they are. He is a potter and sculptor and teaches ceramics at Baxter
Academy of Art in the afternoon. Baxter is not a public school, but privately
run. The school year runs from the first Monday after July 4th to
May 31st, with a one week break in September, December and March or April,
only because they try to have the same mid-year breaks as the public school.
They will go through Friday though because Baxter doesn’t concern themselves
with snow days since they easily meet the state requirement of school days.
“May I help you?”
The same girl who was
here last November is standing by the counter. Her break from high school just
started and already she’s working. That must suck.
At least I know Jesse
isn’t around. He should be at school and as much as I’m hoping to run into him,
I don’t expect to and consider this more of a practice of how I’m going to
“bump” into him unexpectedly. “I’m just looking.”
“Well, let me know if you
need anything.” She steps forward and frowns. “Do I know you?”
“I was in here last year,
right before Thanksgiving.”
Her eyes harden. “With
Jesse.”
“Yeah.”
“Well, I hope you don’t
want to see him now because he’s too busy.”
I hadn’t even planned on
asking. I was nervous enough coming in here. I’m certainly not bold enough to
ask to about him. That is the whole point of hoping to run into him. Though not well planned, I was going to
look over the displays and think about purchasing something then come back Friday
when I assume Jesse will be around. Or, maybe later this afternoon, after school
has been released.
“Larry?” Jesse’s voice
calls from the back.
Shit! What’s he doing
here now?
The young woman grits her
teeth before answering. “Just a minute, Jesse.” Her tone is all sweetness and
light despite the quick irritation that swept across her face.
“Do you know where we put
the new glazes?” His voice is louder, like he’s coming nearer. My palms begin
to sweat all over again.
“I’ll get them,” she
calls back before turning an indulgent smile on me. “Jesse would be lost
without me.”
“Oh, I didn’t know we had
a customer.” His eyes meet mine as he steps from the back and a smile comes to
his face. “Deirdre?”
He remembers me. Yes!
“What are you doing
here?” He wipes his hands on a towel as he saunters forward.
Damn, he’s just as hot as
he was back at Thanksgiving. Straight, light brown hair, longer than most guys
wear it, with a smile full of promise and hypnotizing green eyes.
I shrug, trying to act
nonchalant and praying he can’t read my mind. “Just out and about, shopping
along the square.”
“I’m glad you stopped
in.” He hitches his hip against a display counter, completely comfortable with
himself. “How’s school going?”
“I couldn’t wait for Spring
Break if that tells you anything.”
He laughs, revealing
straight white teeth. Brown hair falls over his eyes and with a slight jerk of
his head, it’s gone again. “Want a cup of coffee?”
“Oh, no. I’m sure you’re
busy.” At least that’s what Larry had said. Really, her name is Larry?
“Not at all. Just
organizing the back. Larry can keep an eye on the place.”
He turns toward the back
and gestures.
“Laurentia,” she corrects
him in a teasing tone then looks at me. “Larry was fine when I was little, but Laurentia,
suits me much better now that I’m no longer a child.”
“Sorry. I keep
forgetting.” Jesse rolls his eyes behind Larry’s back.
Laurentia simply giggles.
“Just don’t forget again.” There is a teasing tone in her voice that is better
suited for someone much older.
“Take care of the shop,
will ya?”
“Of course.” She smiles
lovingly at him “Just don’t be long.” The hair stands up on the back of my
neck.
“Let me know when you
want to go to lunch.” Jesse barely looks at her as he gestures to the back of
his shop. “I need to be out of here by twelve-thirty.”
Does Jesse even realize
Larry has a major crush on him?
JESSE
I was wondering if I’d
ever see Deirdre O’Brien again. I’ve wanted to, but she is way out of my
league—a Vassar student working on her cognitive science degree. I’m not even
sure what you do with a degree like that. She’s also only twenty. Not that
that’s too young. But, I’ll be twenty-five in a few months. I’m done with
school and have a nine-month-old son. She doesn’t know that and I was careful
not to let it slip during our one conversation. Nothing sends a pretty, single girl running
quicker than a guy with a baby. At least that’s been my experience.
I grab two cups and pour
the coffee. “Shopping for anything special?”
She shrugs. “Not really.
Wandering around is more like it.”
“Staying with your
brother?” Kian, her brother, is a deputy and liaison to the school I teach at.
He lives with the other art teacher, Alexia.
“Yep.” She takes the cup
of coffee. “Thanks.”
“Do you need cream,
sugar?” Shit, I hope she doesn’t want cream. I only have milk and that’s
upstairs.
“Just black.”
Whew.
“I didn’t think you’d be
here. Alexia already went to school.”
Damn. I hoped she’d
stopped in to see me. Guess not. Still, I’m glad I was here. “I’m only
part-time,” I explain. “Alexia has taken on more of the administrative duties
for the department, which I’m glad, because I don’t need to close the gallery
in the morning to take care of paperwork at Baxter.”
Her light-brown eyebrows
draw together. “Part-time?”
Shit, now she’s going to
think I’m a looser. An artist with a shop that does mediocre business with a part-time
teaching position. “Academics are in the morning at Baxter. Art classes in the
afternoon. I teach from one until school is out. Three classes each day.”
“So, you need to close
shop every afternoon?”
“Usually,” I answer. “I
don’t get much traffic in the hours between lunch and supper anyway, so it’s
not that big of deal.”
Deirdre’s frowning now. I
wish I knew what she was thinking.
“That’s a shame that you
can’t be open all the time.”
I shrug. “Maybe someday
I’ll hire someone older than Larry who can be here. Until then, I do what I
can.” Besides, it’s not just the shop and teaching I need to worry about. Not
that I tell Deirdre about my other obligations. Nor is it a hardship, but I
kind of like how my schedule is because it does free me for the more important
things in my life. “Besides, I can work back here when I don’t have customers,
so it’s a win-win situation.” Between teaching, the gallery and everything
else, I have little time for ceramics and sculpting these days. As much as I
wish the gallery was bustling in the morning, the quietness gives me time to do
what I really love. Otherwise, I wouldn’t be sitting down with the clay until
eight at night and by that time I just want to veg in front of the television
until I haul my ass off to bed a ten.
Sometimes I feel more
like I’m seventy than twenty-four, but since I get woken every morning around
five, I need to get to bed early. At least, I’m back to sleeping through the
night without interruption, so there is that. Thank goodness.
”So, is this your break
week?”
“No.” Deirdre grins.
Is she skipping school in
the middle of the week? Why else would she be in town? “It’s not until next
week but the teachers are either sick or giving us a break, and I got out of
there as soon as I could. I don’t have to be back until a week from Monday.”
I grin at her. If she’s
going to be in town, my Spring Break may be better than I anticipated. Though
I’d planned on spending it working to replace some of the pieces I’ve sold and
to fill the empty spots on the shelves in the gallery, spending time with
Deirdre would be a lot more fun.
What the hell am I
thinking? She’s just out wandering around and wasn’t expecting to see me. She
probably went into other shops on the square but I’m the only one who offered
her coffee.
I open my mouth to see if
she wants to get dinner tonight or maybe lunch tomorrow, since Larry is already
working, when a cry comes from upstairs. I wince and all hope of seeing Deirdre
again all but disappears.
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