Chapter 203: The Watcher
Moana
A little while after I caught the bodyguard that Edrick sent with me watching me through the window with binoculars, I calmed down a bit and didn’t feel quite as mad about it. I decided against talking to Edrick about it later, and figured that I should just give it some time before I started any arguments. After all, Edrick was just trying to keep me safe by sending the bodyguard with me. The fact alone that he was even okay with me returning to work and with Ella returning to school was already a miracle. I didn’t want to accidentally rock the boat and make Edrick change his mind, because I knew that the Alpha billionaire would be too stubborn if he suddenly decided that it was a bad idea for either of us to return to our normal lives.
However, on my lunch break I started to notice that something was off when one of the other teachers came in and knocked on my door with a somewhat angry expression on her face.
“Hi,” I said, setting down my sandwich with surprise, seeing as how no one ever came to my classroom during my break. “Can I help you with anything?”
The teacher, a young woman about my age who was one of the kindergarten teachers, stood in my doorway and folded her arms across her chest. Like me, she also had long red hair. “Some man has been staring through my window, and I know it has something to do with you,” she growled. One of my kids said that he was staring through your window earlier, and she’s very upset about it.”
I felt my face go pale and my blood run cold. “I-I’m so sorry,” I replied nervously, standing and wringing my hands. “He’s not bad or anything of the sort, it’s just that—”
“I don’t care what your excuse is,” the teacher interrupted, her voice sharp and grating. “You either need to take care of it, or I’m going to tell the headmistress. It’s already bad enough that we have to deal with your bad luck, and now you’re bringing strange, intimidating men on school property? What the hell is wrong with you?”
As the teacher spoke, I felt as though my body had officially drained itself of all blood, leaving me standing there as nothing but a cold, empty husk of the woman who I once was. I opened my mouth to speak, but before I could stammer anything out, she whirled around and stormed off.
I felt sick. The bodyguard must have mistaken her for me. He probably saw her red hair through the window and was watching her, not realizing that he was watching entirely the wrong person. She was right, though, despite the fact that she felt the need to get a little dig in about my supposed “bad luck” as a late bloomer; he needed to be taken care of. He was making children and teachers alike uncomfortable.
Grumbling to myself under my breath, I stormed out of my classroom with my fists clenched and ran down the hallway. I ran past teachers, students, and classrooms, past the confused elderly security guard, and stormed out of the building and into the sunshine.
Just as I suspected, the bodyguard was leaning against the side of his car with a pair of binoculars in his hand. As I stormed up to him, I saw him push a button on his headset and say something before he straightened himself and put the binoculars behind his back.
“Afternoon, Miss,” he said politely, his sharp jawline jutting out as he towered over me. “Is everything alright?”
“Alright?” I asked. “Alright? You’re practically terrorizing the students and the teachers at this school!”
The security guard furrowed his brow and looked down at me through his dark sunglasses. “Um… I’m not sure what you’re referring to, Miss,” he said. “I’m just doing my job.”
Suddenly, I lurched forward and reached around his back. I grabbed the binoculars that were in his hand and yanked them away before he had a chance to stop me, then waved them in his face. “Binoculars?” I growled. “For goodness’ sake, this is ridiculous! Your job was to drive me here, keep an eye on the property in case anyone suspicious shows up, and drive me home. That’s it. And now you’re acting like the suspicious one, looking through windows with bloody BINOCULARS!”
After I finished speaking, the air fell silent. Through his dark sunglasses, I could see that his eyes were wide. My own eyes were wide, too, because without realizing it I had raised my voice and was now shouting at him. Even passersby were giving us odd looks, and some of the children on the playground were standing by the fence and staring at us with open mouths while the recess attendants were trying — and failing — to usher them away.
“Miss, I’m just doing what Mr. Morgan—”
“You’re my employee, too,” I said, lowering my voice so as not to be heard. “And I’m telling you to tone it back, or… or… I’ll call the police and have you escorted off of the school’s property.”
The security guard looked at me for a moment in a state of shock before he finally nodded and hung his head slightly. “Yes, ma’am,” he said, sounding rather much like one of the children who I had to scold for being unruly in the classroom. “I’ll tone it back.”
“Thank you,” I muttered. I watched with my arms folded across my chest as he circled around the car and got into the driver’s seat. Then, whirling around, I stormed past the playground, ignoring the shocked students and recess attendants, and ran back inside. I walked past the still-confused security guard, past the classrooms and students and teachers, and back into my classroom. Once I was inside, I closed the door behind me as calmly as I could.
And once I was concealed inside of my classroom, I angrily chucked the binoculars as hard as I could into the trash can by my desk. I relished in the sound of the plastic and glass breaking for a moment before I dusted my hands off and sat back down to finish my sandwich.
Thankfully, the bodyguard wasn’t an issue for the remainder of the day. However, it seemed as though everyone saw my little display earlier, and by the end of the day I felt as though even more people were staring at me and whispering as I locked up my classroom and headed out.
I kept my head down, ignoring the nasty whispers from fellow teachers as I passed by their classrooms.
But when I passed by the headmistress’s office, I felt my face flush red as I saw her annoyed expression looking up at me from behind her desk through the open door. Swallowing, I bowed my head and scurried past.
Hopefully, I thought to myself as I rushed out and down the pathway, then climbed into the back of the car, tomorrow would be better.
And if not, Edrick was going to have to settle for an alternative to the bodyguard.
