Elle: Hi Archer, It’s Elle. You said to text you, I’m on fall break all this week so I am pretty much free to meet when you are.
I click send before I can second guess myself. “Didthat sound desperate?”
“Well, a little bit but it also sounded flexible and we know how much we teachers pride ourselves on being flexible!” Sadie smirks.
I groan and then see the three little bubbles pop up indicating that he is typing. “Shit! He’s responding!”
Man Giant: Does coffee work tomorrow around 10:15? I’ll have a break between strength training and drills.
Elle: yeah! I have a cute local place I go to often. It won’t be crowded at that time since it’s not quite lunch. I’ll send you the location.
I drop the location pin to Archer before taking a look at Sadie, “I’m having coffee with Archer Bell.” Panic starts to creep in as I utter those words out loud.
“What are you going to wear? You cannot wear yoga pants and a t-shirt.” She states as she looks me up and down. “And you can’t wear your typical teacher clothes either.”
“I was going to say I was going to wear something cute and fall-like.”
“Ah yes, the uniform of all white women in the ‘ber’ months.” She nods sagely. “Okay,” she continues, “What do you plan on wearing that is cute and fall-like?”
“I was thinking of my favorite mustard yellow sweater and my comfy light wash jeans.” I wince as I realize I will match Arthur from the book series. “Maybe I shouldn’t channel my inner aardvark.”
Sadie snickers at that comment. “We’re going to the boutique next door.” She gets up knowing I will follow. “Now I agree jeans and a sweater are the way to go, it’s casual but not too casual, just the Arthur vibe is probably not what we want to give off.” She tosses her cup in the trash before heading out the door and to the next shop down. Luckily for me Sadie and I were able to find something that was cute for coffee and versatile enough to wear to work after, the only difference would be the shoes that I wore. Cute boots for coffee and comfy white sneakers for work. I have runners in my kindergarten class.
“Should we make talking points? What do I have in common with an NFL player?”
“Regale him with tales of your kindergarten classroom, you could tell him about the chicken.”
“Uhm, you know I have PTSD from that chicken, no way in hell am I sharing that story.” I say shuddering from the memory of the baby chick that was pancaked by a student who got overly excited. “I gagged through the whole ordeal; I don’t even know if I could tell it without gagging.”
“I meant the Lt. Dan story.” Sadie retorts referencing the baby chick I fostered whose leg did not develop properly. He had to be kept separate from the other chicks, so he stayed with me and I raised him until he was ready to go home with one of my students.
“Or I could stay away from school stories all together. They don’t seem to get me very far on my regular dates. I don’t think they will do well for me here either.” I say as Iput my bag into my car.
“I don’t know! You said you would let him talk about whatever is bothering him, just do that instead of talking. Keep true to your offer.” Sadie looks at her watch. “Shit, I need to head to the gym, I have my training session in about 25 minutes, you message me the instant something happens. Understand?!”
“Yes, ma’am.” I salute as she gets into her car and drives off. I continue to stand in the parking lot watching her drive away as I wonder how the hell this spiraled so quickly.
Chapter 2
Archer
Sweat beads on my forehead as I finish my final rep. “You’re seriously going on a date with some random chick so soon after you call it quits with your fiancée?” Tyson asks as he grabs the bar and racks it for me.
“It’s been eight months.” I pause. “She’s not some random chick; I knew her in college.”
“And she just reached out to you? You don’t think that is suspicious?”
I can’t deny that it is. Jersey chasers are constantly coming on to most of the players on the team. “I mean she had my number, so I know it’s at least her right?”
“It still doesn’t change the fact that it seems sus. I just don’t want you in another Cassie situation.” Tyson gives me a knowing look. He knows how messed up my head has been and I know he’s just looking out for me, but I am a grown ass man, I can make my own decisions. I just hope this coffee chat with Elle ends up a good decision. “Do you know anything about her besides that you two had a class together back when you were at State?”
“Her bio says she teaches, and her Instagram has photos of a black cat with snaggle teeth and just a bunch of random photos with her and other women who I assume are her friends.” I pause and run my hand through my hair. “Is it too obvious if I show up in a team hat and sunglasses? Like I don’t want to advertise it’s me. But is the hat too on the nose?”
“Hidden in plain sight.” Tyson nods. “Solid plan.” He wipes his hands and reracks “You know if she is fishing for information, feed her fake information that no one else would have so if a story leaks you would be able to trace it back to her.”
I think about what he says and I agree it would be good to have something like that ready to go so I wouldn’t have to think on the fly. I glance at my watch. “I need to get going soon. If I’m going to make it on time to the coffee shop Ellie, I mean Elle sent me.”
“Text me if you need an out.” He says as he goes back to finishing his workout.
