SHARIECE
I was sitting in my office milling over essays from my 11:15 freshman composition class, but I could barely concentrate on the task at hand for staring at my cell phone. I picked it up and strolled along a list of text messages that were from Emjay mostly, a few from Leandra, but nothing recent. It’s fucked up how we went from laughing over Chinese mall food to her throwing her hands around my throat wanting to kill me. I’ve been thinking, and the truth is, I don’t blame her for how she reacted when she found out about Emjay and me. I can’t sit here and say that I wouldn’t have gone ape shit-crazy too had I caught my best friend in bed with my own son, but damn, it’s not like I planned to fall in love with Emjay. Leandra and I have always been able to talk about anything and everything. This silent treatment shit is a fate worse than death. I supposed I could call her, but why couldn’t she pick the phone up and call me? Ma Bell runs both ways. Leandra had always been like a sister to me, and I love her like a sister, but damn, I wasn’t going to beg her to forgive me. I didn’t plan on crawling on my knees to her doorstep anytime soon. Most people would think that I robbed the cradle; well, I’m here to tell you I don’t give two shits about most people. Emjay is a grown man who is perfectly capable of making his own decisions. My head is still swimming over the fact that he told me that he loves me, that he’s in love with me.
I was about to get my head back in the game of grading when my phone rang. Emjay’s name appeared in big, white letters on the flat screen of my phone.
“Wow, you must be able to read minds,” I said when I answered.
“Why do you say that?”
“I was just thinking about you.”
“Oh really? Am I wearing clothes in these thoughts of yours?” I asked.
“You so silly. So what’s up?”
“What are you doing right now?”
I could sense a hint of excitement in Emjay’s tone.
“I was catching up on some grading. Why? Is everything okay?”
“It’s better than okay. I just got off the phone with the manager at Capital City Movie Theatre. He wants me to come in for an interview tomorrow.”
“Baby, that’s fantastic, congratulations.”
“I’m hoping I get it. I really need this job. I don’t care what kind of job it is.”
“That’s the right attitude to have. Baby, I’m so proud of you.”
“And you know how much I love movies.”
“When you get the job, we’ll go out and celebrate, have a special dinner.”
“Don’t you mean if I get it?”
“No, just like I said, when you get it. You just need to stay positive.”
“Baby, you should do a tea reading or something,” Emjay said, laughing.
“Let’s call it a hunch.”
“So you want to have dinner at my place tonight?” Emjay asked.
“I don’t know. We need to be careful, especially now.”
“I know, but I’m feeling too good over this job interview right now. Besides, I miss you.”
“I miss you too, but we need to keep a low profile. We can’t risk getting caught.”
“There’s something else I want to talk to you about,” Emjay said.
“Have dinner with me tonight and I’ll tell you.”
“Emjay, you know I’m not the biggest fan of surprises.”
“Have dinner with me and I’ll tell you what’s up.”
I knew Emjay was not going to take no for an answer. “What time?”
“Around seven.”
“Okay. I have a class at six, but I should be done before seven.”
“Cool. I’ll pick up some take-out from El Jalisco.”
“Sounds good. I need to finish grading and answering some emails before my next class. I’ll see you tonight for dinner then.”
“I love you.”
Damn, he said it again. “I love you too.”
After I hung up the phone, the first question that came to mind was, woman, what the hell did you just say?
I was going through the rest of my emails, most of them junk, until I came across one that had Teacher’s Pet as the title in the subject line. I opened the email to find that there was an attachment enclosed. I was hesitant about opening it, thinking that it might be some kind of computer virus someone had sent, but my curiosity had gotten the best of me. When I opened the attachment, my heart sank to my ass. It was a video of Emjay and I having sex in my office. “What the hell is this?” Someone had seen us. We had not only been seen, but fucking videotaped. I looked at the email, but didn’t recognize it. “Damn it!” Who would think to do this? More importantly, is this shit on the Internet? As I tried to figure out who may have sent the video, I got a knock on my office door. Startled, I slammed the monitor of my laptop shut. It was Rochelle.
“Hey, am I disturbing you?”
What the hell do you want now? “No, not at all. What’s up?”
Rochelle walked into my office wearing a black-and-white tweed Chanel suit. The only person who loves tweed more is Leandra. The two of them would have fun raiding each other’s closets.
“Where are you going all dressed up?”
Rochelle looked down at herself, studying the suit that probably cost more than my rent. “Oh, this old thing? It was just something I had sitting in the back of my closet.”
Yeah, right, I thought.
“Would you believe that the price tag was still on this suit? Girl, I almost forgot that it was in my closet.”
Rochelle’s words were going into one ear and coming out of the other. I was sitting there watching her chatty lips move as I thought about the video, wondering who could have taken it.
“Some girlfriends and I are going to the Mockingbird for drinks later; would you like to join us?”
“I really wish I could, Rochelle, but I still have a ton of work I need to catch up on. And I have my six o’clock class, and then I have dinner plans with a friend after, but how about a rain check?”
“I’m going to hold you to that.”
“Oh, I know.”
“So how have you been doing? I haven’t seen you much around the office,” Rochelle said.
“I’ve just been busy with classes and grading, trying to finish up some things before the Thanksgiving break.”
“Girl, if you keep this up, you might have my job,” Rochelle said, grinning.
I glanced out of the window thinking of the pervert who had caught Emjay and I fucking on camera. It could have been anyone.
“After the faculty/student horror stories you’ve shared with me, I highly doubt it.” I figured if Rochelle knew about the video, it would have been the first thing she would’ve blurted out, and I would be packing all of my things in a filing box by now. I wondered if the same email was sent to Emjay or worse: Leandra. I had a million questions, obviously, and the last thing I wanted to do was sit with Rochelle talking my ear off about trivial shit. Here she was the director of the English Department, and she had nothing better to do but waste my valuable office time. I was sure she had a stack of paper work on her desk that required her attention, but she was running her mouth to me.
“Earth to Shariece.”
“Huh, what? Girl, I’m sorry. My mind is on a million things right now. What were you saying?”
“I was asking if you have any plans for Thanksgiving.”
“I haven’t made any plans yet, really. I may go to Orlando to see my sister and her kids.”
“That sounds nice. How old is your sister?”
“She’s thirty-six, four years younger than me.”
“So it’s just her and her kids down there?”
What is this, Twenty Questions? “She’s married. Her husband works in real estate.”
“Are ya’ll close?”
“As close as sisters could ever be,” I said, wishing Rochelle would get out of my office.
“That’s nice. I wish my brother and I were like that. He and I go together like oil and water.”
“The best way to deal with family sometimes is to love them from a distance.”
“I can definitely relate.”
“Well, Rochelle, I hate to rush you off, but I have to get back to work.”
“Oh, girl, no problem. I’ll let you go. We’ll talk later in the week.”
“And we’ll get together for a drink one night when things are not so crazy,” I said.
I thought Rochelle would never leave. How in the hell could I have been so stupid and careless? I knew this with Emjay and me was a mistake, yet my selfish ass allowed it to go on. Of all the men to fall for, I had to fall for a student, my best friend’s son. I had to stop this before it got out of hand. That’s if it hadn’t already.