Page 28 of The Teacher

One of the students, a girl named Annie in the front row, puts her hand up.

FINALLY! Some enthusiasm.

“Yes, Annie?” I ask, happy that one of my students is actively taking an interest in English.

“There’s a man at the door,” Annie says.

Right.

We all turn our heads to the classroom door, and I see that Annie’s right. A man is indeed peering into the door’s window.

I gulp.

I know who that man is.

Skipper Deep.

Fucking hell.

Skipper opens the door and steps inside.

Inside my classroom.

He’s wearing another suit from the one at the fundraiser the other night. This one seems equally expensive. Nice and tailored. The man definitely knows how to wear clothes. He’s freshly shaved. His perfect jawline shouldn’t be real.

Why does he have to saunter in like this, into my classroom, looking as handsome as he does? Why can’t he just disappear from my life and not add any more problems to my full plate?

Why doesn’t he just buzz off?

“Sorry for interrupting, Miss Finn,” he says, raising his hands up in mock surrender. My students just gawk at him, speechless. “Don’t mind me everyone, I’m just watching.”

Just watching?

I don’t think so.

“Excuse me, Skipper,” I start to say, but he immediately cuts me off.

“Sorry, it’s Mr. Deep at school.”

Why…

I bristle at him in rage. I think my students can see my face go suddenly red in anger. “Okay, Mr. Deep. This is a private class, what are you doing in here?”

Skipper pulls out a pen and notepad from his jacket and flashes them exaggeratedly to the class and me. “I’m just taking some notes.”

“Taking notes?”

“Really, don’t mind me, I’m just here to observe like we spoke about the other night.” He nods at me like everything is normal. Like this intrusion is normal.

It really isn’t.

He’s not welcome here.

The other night? Obviously, he’s talking about the fundraiser. He’s talking about how he’s here to inspect the school.

I thought I told him never to inspect my classroom.

I thought I made that pretty clear.