Emmanuelle
Marissa and I nervously watched Dom through the glass window. He was put in a separate room from us for the tests. A teacher assisted him and provided him with instructions. A psychiatrist was also present and observing him from the corner of the room, scribbling away on her notepad.
"Stop biting." Marissa pulled my hand from my face. I was not even aware that I was biting my nails until she mentioned it.
"Why does she have to be here again?" I whispered.
"We always have a psychiatrist present during the tests, to observe the student's behavior. Mainly their reaction to the interaction, the tests itself and the stress that the time limit could cause. But also, their body language." The headmaster, who was watching Dom with us, answered before Marissa did.
I drew in a deep breath, giving Marissa a look, she immediately understood. "He'll be fine," her reply was reassuring.
"And time," the teacher hit the timer, "Very Good!" She clapped her hands. My son smiled and closed his workbook, like she told him to. "Okay, are you ready to see your mommy?"
"Yes, ma'am." He answered, just how I taught him. Once the teacher hit the timer it felt as if I was finally breathing normally again. He was brought over to us, after which the staff went over his work in yet, another room. After waiting for what felt like almost over an hour we were called into the headmaster's office.
"The results are positive. Dom didn't score a hundred on these, however, he did score above the average, which passes him." She laid out his paperwork in front of me, to see.
Marissa and I both showed signs of relief. "We're happy to hear that."
"This is a list of all the subjects as well as the extra-curricular activities that he will be taking and participating in. We have three school trips planned for this semester."
My eyes scanned the document that was made up really well; it concluded details about every activity, school trips, even the standard subjects and points for completion. It stated who the class teacher was, and the names of all the other teacher's that would be in charge of their class, whether it was for a particular subject or activity.
"This is very informative," I pressed my lips together, ready to ask the one question I should have asked as soon as we contacted the school, "How much is tuition? I couldn't find that information on your website."
She smiled, turning over the document. "On the back we have an overview of all costs for this year."
My eyes widened at the list. The tuition fee alone was more than my rent in New York. "Wow," I said out loud, only to immediately regret this. "Can this be done through installment payments?"
She looked at me confused, "Well, that won't be necessary, at least for this year. Mr. Mulaney has already covered all the expenses. He called in this morning and said to contact him once the results were in. Dom can start his classes today." Her smile was wide and comforting.
"What?" My mouth fell open, "He covered the tuition?" I looked at Marissa, who was as surprised as I was.
"Yes, and the expenses for every activity included have been covered too. For the entire schoolyear, which is the total amount seen here." She pointed at the digits at the bottom of the document— the total of all expenses combined.
"Huh," I gulped.
"That's," Marissa peeped at the number, "We're glad that's covered, then." She nodded.
"Can we introduce Dom to his new environment?"
"Of course," I stood up, and they did so as well. We followed her to his class, a well decorated room that looked like a child's paradise— but with educational purpose. He reacted well and was excited to join the twelve other children. I stayed until he was settled, then I slipped out of the room.
I took out my phone and searched Dimitri's name, to call him. "YOU PAID FOR EVERYTHING?" I screamed in a whisper, as soon as he answered the call.
"You're mad?"
"No, I'm—" I palmed my forehead, was I mad? "It's too much. It's so expensive. I would've looked for another school if I knew it was this expensive. But you already paid!"
"Does he like it?"
I turned around to look at Dom, "He does, he really does."
"Then, it's worth it. Isn't it?" I heard his voice behind me before it came through the phone.
"What—" my shoulder hit his chest when I looked behind me, "What are you doing here!"
"Came to see my son and get you. It's your orientation day too, remember."
There it was again. Whenever, he referred to Dom as his son or us as his family my heart did this thing; skip a beat. It still does, by the way.
"I'm here with Marissa. She's with the headmaster."
"Headmaster?" Dimitri subtly pulled me towards him by the back of my neck, placing a kiss against the side of my head, "You mean the principal? You're making it sound like we dropped our child off at boarding school." He chuckled. "Good thing Marissa's here. She can come to work too; she's had enough time to come to her senses."
My eyes dropped down, only to stop at the way his crotch bulged in his pants. I mean...
"Eyes up here, darling. You know it won't take a lot for me to fuck you in one of these empty classrooms." His voice made my legs feel weak. He spun me towards Dom's class, making my lips leave a gasp when I felt him press up against my lower back. I leaned into him; my thighs clenched at the scenario that acted out in my mind. The idea of Dimitri fucking me hard and fast behind the teacher's desk in one of the empty classrooms, with his hand covering my mouth to muffle my moans, telling me to stay quiet, because someone could walk through the door at any given time and see us like that— excited me.
"Does the thought of that excite you, Emmanuelle?" His lips brushed against my left ear. With my lower-lip tuck between my teeth, I nodded. He let out a dark chuckle, "We'll have to leave that excitement for another day, it's Dom's first day here. We can't do anything to risk his education." He gently moved my hair to the back, away from my face.
"Mr. Mulaney," the headmaster— principle, as Dimitri called her, came our way when she saw him.
"Hi," he gave her a firm handshake, his left hand never leaving my back. "I see everything went well." His eyes diverted to Dom.
"Yes," she nodded, looking at both of us. "Ms. Emmanuelle and I have discussed the classes and what this school year will be like for Dom. I did forget to mention one thing. We have strict rules when it comes to visiting the students and or picking them up from school. We would like to know beforehand who will be coming to collect them. For the safety of our students."
"Of course. We wouldn't prefer it any other way. For Dom it'll be his mom or me. His aunt, Marissa. I'll send you a list."
"Thank you, seeing as he's already settled, I'll go about my work. The class will officially start in about six minutes, so we do kindly ask you to allow them their space before then."
"Understood. We'll be on our way in just a few." He said before she left. Marissa soon joined us, as she was asked to leave as well. "Planning to return to the office?"
"I'll go in later today." Marissa was still reticent to him. "Are you driving with me?"
"I'm stuck with this one for the day," my eyes met with Dimitri's. Marissa simply smiled and whispered 'good luck' in my ears when we hugged, as if I was going into battle.
"Oh, you'll need it." Dimitri lowered down to my height. It is like he always hears everything. "Come on, I want to show you something." He showed me to the car, one I had not been in before.
"Is this new?"
"You could say that." he closed my door and walked halfway around the car to get in on the other side, "Here." He handed me a document with a thin, light-brown cover that was slightly thicker than normal paper. 'M.A.D. Business Proposal - Project L.I.H.'
"What's L.I.H.?"
"Low-income housing." The car made a turn into a narrow street that looked familiar.
"I know this place," my eyes inspected the property. I was certain that I had been there before and once I saw him— Keith. I knew I was not mistaking.
"Mattia," he wore the same friendly smile.
"You remember Emmanuelle." Dimitri held me close to him.
"I do. As beautiful as the last time I saw you," he kindly complimented. "They're at the back." His focus went back to Dimitri.
"Come on," Dimitri said with excitement as he held my hand and lead me to follow after Keith. I remembered the place like I had been there yesterday. My eyes immediately went searching for the spot Marco and I shared when he brought me here.
"Howard," Dimitri let go off my hand and held me at the small of my back, instead. "Meet Ms. Artist. She'll be representing us during this project, like we've discussed."
"What?" I spoke just loud enough for him to hear me.
"Howard," the man in front of me held his hand out to me for a handshake, introducing himself.
"Emmanuelle Artist,"
"Good to have you here. We've made a lot of progress, as you can see." He said, referring to the many, identical houses being built behind him.
"What's this?" My eyes found Dimitri again.
"The project you will be coordinating. Read the file," he winked at me, "I'll be right back. Also," his right hand grabbed into my right hip, "Sanitize your hands. Howard is a nasty fucker."
Dimitri and Howard dissapeared from my sight, off to inspect the work. I found myself a quiet place to sit, with a clear view of where my guy was. "Drink?" Keith approached me.
"No, thank you. I have homework." I showed him my reading material.
"Ah, exciting stuff," he chuckled. "But I'm sure you already know what it's about." He said, rather confidently.
"What makes you so sure?"
"Well," he sat down next to me. "Because that man right there," he pointed at Dimitri, "mostly only talks about two things; this project and the person whose idea this project was— you."
I gulped, "He's giving me too much credit for this. It was mainly a spontaneous thought, that I'd also forgotten about."
"He didn't," he smiled. "I'm glad he didn't. He's giving people a chance to get on their own feet again. That means a lot. His brother would be proud of him."
"He would."
"And he'd be proud of you too. Now, I should leave you to your reading." He stood up, about ready to leave when he turned around again, "When's the last time you picked up a brush?"
I sighed, "I don't even know." I was surprised that he even remembered that I like painting. Even I had forgotten how much I enjoyed this hobby of mine.
"Come find me in the shed when you're done."
I skimmed through the document, in awe that Dimitri managed to work out this entire project based on a singular thought I shared during that one meeting I randomly attended, unprepared too. My eyes briefly met his. He stood at a great distance of me, near one of the half-built houses. He smiled from ear to ear, his perfect white teeth flashed at me.
I waved at him and made my way to the shed— which had gotten an upgrade since my last time seeing it. A cheap canvas and brush, along with water-based paint were waiting on me on the counter. "Not the real thing, but I'm sure it'll work." Keith mentioned.
"It's perfect." I took the stuff and sat myself at one of the tables. The brush was light and sat comfortably between my fingers. Painting has always been a way for me to clear my mind— to express my thoughts and worries. But, for the first time in a long time my mind was clear. Maybe it was the aura of Keith's place, or maybe it was just the calm before the storm.
"JESUS." Dimitri's hands on my upper arms caused me to lightly jerk forward in a startle. "You startled me." I threw my head back, against his lower stomach.
His hands moved up and down, "You startle easily." He pecked me on my forehead, "You miss this place?" His eyes covered my half-done painting of my home back in England.
"Sometimes," I answered. "It just came to my mind." I shrugged.
"Say it and I'll have us on a plane tonight."
I shook my head, intrigued by his answer. "When Dom has a break."
"Okay. But then he gets to choose where we spend it." He sat down next to me, looking at his people at work on the field. "What do you think about this?"
"I can't believe you actually did this."
"I had help. Someone pitched me a good idea and I ran with it." He smiled at me, "Besides, how could I not do this when all I wanted to do was to hold onto everything that reminded me of you." His eyes softened.
"Can I ask you something?"
"Whatever you want. I'll make it happen."
His reply quieted me. Only when I studied his eyes, did I realize how serious he was.
"Did you know I moved to New York?"
"No," he took the canvas of the table, "I thought you went back home. How come you didn't?"
"I didn't want anything to do with you. That place," I breathed out. "It's still yours. And New York, it's the only other place I've been to."
"With Marco." He swallowed. "Did— Did he know. About Dom." He carefully worded.
"I found out three months after I left." My heart raced at the thought of sharing the one secret I had not told anyone before, "I went to an abortion clinic after I found out."
"What!"
I sat forward, my elbows resting on my knees and my hands folded into a fist under my chin. "I was afraid Dom would remind me too much of Marco. And that I would end up resisting him because of it."
"I'm sorry. I," his lips parted without leaving any sound, "I should've been there for you. Both of you."
"You're here for us now. That's what matters."
"Yeah," he grabbed my face, kissing me passionately. "And whatever happens, I'll always make sure you and Dom will be safe."