Christmas In Seattle

Chapter 9

As Jessica was riding along in the car, she glanced over at the guy as they drove down the street in a mildly uncomfortable silence until she spoke to ease the awkwardness.

"Again, I'm sorry for being straightforward back there, but I took a notice that you needed to get somewhere and I insisted on giving you a ride to where you're going."

As Jessica accepted his apology, she asked him what was his name, which was Wesley, but his friends mostly call him Wes. Telling Wes that it was nice to meet him, she introduced herself to him to ease up most of the tension between them as she felt a bit relieved as she didn't want to feel like she was in a crime documentary where the assailant kidnaps his victim and with Simon and Natalia being like protective siblings to her, she couldn't imagine how they would react if something happened to her.

"So, Jessica, what brings you to Seattle?" Wes wondered.

"I'm a second grade reading teacher over at Greenview Elementary, which I'm apparently late for." Jessica answered.

"Well, technically, we still have time." He told her.

Jessica looked at him as she was a bit confused on why he would say that the both of them had time, which she realized that he was a teacher at the school.

"Wait, you're a teacher as well?" Jessica asked.

"As of today, which is officially my first day teaching second grade social studies." Wes replied.

"Congratulations, and I can't speak for everyone else at the school, but we're looking forward to having you part of the team." Jessica praised.

Wes thanked her as the two of them arrived at the school as he parked in the parking lot.

"Thanks for the ride, I really appreciate it even though I was a bit dubious at first." She said, unbuckling her seatbelt.

"No problem, and as far as the feeling dubious part goes, I totally understand, so no harm's done." Wes acknowledged.

Unbuckling his seatbelt, Wes had cut the engine off as he took the key out of the ignition. As he and Jessica got out of the car, they closed the car doors behind them and proceeded towards the front entrance of the school before any of the buses arrived to drop the kids off for the day.

"So, I was wondering if you would like to grab lunch later to get to know each other a bit more, but that's only if you want to as I don't want to force you into doing something or going somewhere if you're not comfortable." He suggested.

Given that they just met, Jessica grew hesitant, but she was interested in getting to know Wes more than some guy who offered to give her a ride to work, which she then responded.

"Sure, I'll love to have lunch with you." She told him, accepting his offer.

"You would?" He wondered.

"Yeah, as it would be nice to get to know you better." Jessica replied, smiling warmly at him.

Wes returned the smile as the two of them walked into the school, proceeding into the main office to sign in on the teacher attendance as one of the office secretaries greeted the two of them and told Wes to hold back as she needed to talk to him regarding his first day there while Jessica went over to her teacher's mailbox and gathered some forms that was in there. Afterwards, she told Wes that she would see him later in the day as she left the office and walked down the hallway to her classroom.

Back at home, Natalia was in her closet finding something to wear for the day as her mind was thinking about her kiss with Simon as it was the first kiss that she felt that was right compared to anyone else. While searching her closet, her phone rung as she walked over to her nightstand to answer an incoming call from Victor.

"Good morning." She greeted him.

"Natalia, I've became aware that you're not coming in today."

"Yes, I called Francesca and informed her that I won't be coming to work today, but I'll be taking advantage of this day off to work on my manuscript."

"Very well, and I'll see you tomorrow morning."

Ending the call, Natalia tossed her phone down onto the bed as she went back to get her clothes ready. Since it was going to be a bitter outside, she pulled out a pair of jeans and a sweater blouse and placed them on the bed as she got her stuff ready to take a shower.

Back at work, Jessica unlocked her classroom door as she entered her classroom, turning on the lights and propping the door opened just when she glanced in Wes's direction as she gave him a smile and a wave, prompting him to wink at her, making her blush as he was walking with one of the office secretaries down the hallway.