The last of the students were pulling away from the school as the teachers began making their way through the office, checking their mailboxes, turning in lesson plans and picking up paychecks.
"Why is it the week seems so much longer when you had a holiday on Monday," one teacher complains. Daphne just smirks to herself thinking about how this week has seemed infinitely longer to her for completely different reasons.
"Daphne!" She stops mid way down the hall as she hears the secretary call out to her. "Yes ma'am," she calls out. "Can you fill out these forms for me from your leave of absence? I need them on Monday."
She plasters a smile on her face, grinning through the pain she is in, "sure thing! I'll head down to my room and get them done now. I'll leave them in your box on my way out." Hobbling down the hall Daphne heads back to her classroom.
Back in her classroom she plops down at her desk and pulls her leg up onto a chair in effort to relieve some pressure. Grabbing her purse she decides it's time to take her next dose of ibuprofen. She gulps down 800 mg with a bottle of water and leans back. Turning on her Amazon playlist from her phone she decides to rest her eyes for a moment, giving herself a few moments to just breathe.
About five minutes into Daphne's "meditation" (really a cat nap but should administration walk in she was prepared to respond with meditation) there was a knock on her classroom door. She sat up quickly, startled. Before she could get to her feet the door opened slowly and in walked Mr. Tall, Dark and Handsome. (Remember she missed out on his introduction)
"Uh, hi. Can I help you?" she asked while getting out of her chair.
Chris walked further through the door into the classroom. "Please, don't get up on my account. I, um, well we, uh, Hayden and I forgot to give your class their honorary medic stickers today." 'Why am I a stuttering mess right now. Get it together, Chris' he thought.
Daphne sat back down at his urging. "That was really sweet of y'all to bring them. I'm sure the kids didn't think anything of it."
Neither of them realized that the other knew they were a part of the accident on August 10. How could this subject be approached? Who should say something first?
"Well, I also wanted to introduce myself directly to you, Ms. Jeffries," Chris started. "You probably don't know this but I was at the scene of your accident." He looked her directly in the eyes while he spoke. Her eyes looked very different today than the day of the accident. That day he saw fear and agony. Today he found them to be full of life and a strange spark light up when he told her that he'd been there that day.
Daphne had only hoped to eventually meet each person from the scene but had only been given last names. "Well," she began. "Don't think I'm crazy, but I realized it when the kids had me up in the ambulance. Once the child asked how do you keep someone calm and you started speaking...I recognized your calming voice." She began to feel herself tearing up, unsure of it being over meeting the man the voice belonged to or feeling overwhelmed by the pain in her leg. Or maybe because it's the end of a long week and she is feeling very self conscious with a gorgeous man in front of her. Blinking back her tears, she stands fully and walks over to Chris. She holds her hand out. "Hi. I'm Daphne Jeffries. It's nice to meet you." She'd like to hug him in thanks but doesn't want to scare the man.
Chris smiles warmly at her as he extends his hand. "Chris Evans. It's nice to meet you as well...in much better circumstances," he chuckles. They don't immediately let go of each other.
Finally, breaking the awkward moment, Daphne mentions how she saw him at the game last week. "Hang on. You're Oliver's sister?" Chris realizes.
"Guilty," she says while holding up both hands in front of her. "Don't hold it against me," she laughs.
That smile. That laugh. It's like hearing the most beautiful sound in the world. Pulling himself back out of his thoughts, "Nope. No harm I suppose, but really I didn't get to know him well that night either. I do remember seeing you though. You really get into high school football," he chuckles.
Feeling slightly mortified Daphne hides her face with her hands. "Again, guilty," she smiles. "I blame my dad and brothers. No, that's not entirely true. My mom is a sports freak too. Guess it just runs in the family."
"It was cute," Chris said suddenly feeling a little bold. His gaze holds Daphne's as her cheeks tinge pink. "Are you, uh, going to the game tonight?" he asks while scratching the back of his neck. It's a nervous tic he's dealt with for years.
She sighs. "Originally I had hoped to but my leg is giving me a bit of a fit. I've been up on it way more than I should've been but that's the life of a teacher. Kindergartners need a lot of 'hand holding' especially at this point in the school year."
Chris tries to hide his disappointment behind a sweet smile. "They seem to really like you. You're good with them."
"They can try my patience but I love them. They make my heart smile," she tells him. "Are you and Hayden working the game again tonight?"
Chris crosses his arms and leans back against the cubbies. "Not this week. Our shift ended right before we came here in fact. We just volunteered to come."
"You worked on your time off?" she asked in disbelief. "I thought only teachers did that." She giggled behind her hand that covered her mouth. "Sorry," she said quietly.
"Nothing to apologize for. I know how crazy things can be for a teacher. My mom was a teacher when I was a kid. But yeah, we really like getting out in the community as much as we can. Well, truthfully I'm still getting use to being in such a close knit community. It's very different than where I'm from," he confided.
Just as Daphne is about to probe him about his last sentence the intercom buzzes. "Faculty and staff we will be locking the doors in five minutes. All personnel please make your way to your vehicles at this time."
"So much for getting my paperwork done," Daphne complains. "Oh, I am so sorry to have kept you,"
Chris said genuinely feeling bad for keeping her occupied in conversation. "No, no! I enjoyed the time with you. I think it was much better than our first conversation. I think that one was pretty one sided," she chuckled.
Chris returned her smile with his own. "Can I help you to your car?" Daphne glances around the room, "sure. Just let me grab my bag and lock up."
By the time the two got to the parking lot Daphne's car and the ambulance were the only two vehicles left, thankfully the parking lot is not gated. Suddenly Daphne stops and turns to Chris. "Wait, is Hayden still here too?" "Actually no, he left on the fire truck after the last class," he replied. "I really wanted to formally introduce myself." Now it was his turn to be nervous as he shuffles his boots across the gravel. "This may be too forward of me but would you like to grab dinner tonight?"
Daphne's heart pounded in her chest. Mentally she feels the battle wage between her head and her heart. Her head is screaming PAIN! But her heart is being pulled in a way she's not felt in a long time. Chris notices the look of conflict etched across her face. "It's okay! You don't have to say yes. I mean, guy you just officially met asks you out to dinner may scream odd and it's okay to say no," he quickly assured her. "Oh gosh, no! It's nothing like that. It's just been a long week, with my leg and all. Raincheck?" She sounds hopeful. "What about tomorrow night?" she asks.
Chris wants desperately to say yes but he starts a shift at three in the afternoon. Come on. Nothing says it has to be dinner, right? "How about brunch tomorrow? I can pick you up around ten?"
"Sure that sounds great. Here's my cell number. Just shoot me a text when you get a chance, no rush, and I'll send you the address," she hands him a slip of paper with her number jotted on it.
He takes the paper from her hand and folds it to fit in his pocket. In the process he notices a thin gold band on Daphne's left ring finger. "So, I'll talk to you soon," she says as she climbs carefully into the driver seat of her car. "Uh, yeah. I'll be in touch," Chris replies while backing up towards the rig.
Chris only knows that thin gold band to mean one thing. She's married.