The Billionaire Band Director

Chapter 18

    Martha felt conflicted.  On one hand, the message was disappointing.  “Are you free on Saturday” had no real commentary on their date.  Martha had, at least, called the night “lovely.”  And that was her trying to be short.  “Are you free on Saturday” could mean anything.  It could mean, “I had a wonderful evening and dreamed about you all night.  Please, I must see you again, as soon as possible.  Does Saturday work for you?”  It could mean, “There’s some event going on that I thought you might like.  I won’t be there, but enjoy.”  It could even mean, “Do you have a date for Saturday?  Because I do- that hot blonde hostess from last night.  Just writing to gloat.”

    Martha knew that the last possible meaning was unlikely, but one could never be too careful.  You really can’t rule anything out when it comes to interpreting the tone of a text message.  Martha decided that the best response was to wait.  After all, Landry had made her wait for hours for a response to her text, right?  Martha didn’t want Landry to think she was waiting around for text messages from him.  No, of course she wouldn’t be doing that!  She was a very busy woman with very important things to do.  Like m**********g on her deck.

    Martha decided the mood was broken and went back inside.  Josie was still in her room, dinging away at her bells.  Martha’s mother’s ghost was sitting at the table.

    “When did you get here?” asked Martha.

    The ghost just smiled.  She did not really answer questions, but the smile made Martha think that the ghost had seen what Martha was doing on the deck.

    Martha walked past the ghost to the kitchen to get some water.

    “I don’t know why you’re thirsty,” said the ghost.  “It’s not like you got any meaningful exercise last night.”

    “I’m thirsty because I am a living human, remember?  Those of us who still have living bodies still have actual biological thirst, not just thirst after hot guys.”

    The ghost looked annoyed with Martha, as usual.

    “Honey, I know I’m dead.  Just wait and you’ll see- when you’re dead, it’s not something you can easily forget.  Constant reminders are unnecessary.”

    With that, the ghost vanished.  Good, thought Martha.  If her only reason for coming here was to tease me about not getting laid, I’m glad I pissed her off.

    Martha looked back at her phone.  As much as she wanted to seem cool and wait, that just wasn’t here.  Martha decided she needed more information to commit to a response.

    “Maybe,” she typed. “Why do you ask?”

    Aaaaaand… send.  It seemed a little flirty, she thought, but not too needy.  Martha prepared herself to wait hours for another response, but her phone vibrated again right away.

    “I want to see you again.”

     Martha lit up.  That was a much better response than she had expected.  It was direct. It was prompt.  It was exactly what Martha wanted to hear.

    Martha typed out “I want to see you too,” but then stopped.  She made herself erase the message and put her phone down.  Not permitted, remember? What was she doing?  Ten minutes ago she had convinced herself that it was best to cut ties with Landry, and here she was planning another date?

    Martha paced around the room and thought about what she should write.  Martha did not like playing mind games.  She liked the directness of his last message, and she wanted to be direct too.  She just didn’t know how to approach the topic of the employee handbook without making him think she wasn’t interested.  Because she was, absolutely and undeniably interested.  

    “I want to see you too,” Martha typed out again.  “But is that allowed, with the school?”

    It wasn’t the most eloquent text message, but it was honest.  Landry had been here longer.  He would know the rules better than she would.  Maybe he knew that the rule against romantic relationships was never enforced.  Maybe teachers hooked up here all the time.  Maybe, she thought, Landry had first hand knowledge of that.

    Martha did not like the thought of Landry hooking up with other teachers.  She had only just met him and had no claim to him, and she certainly did not expect him to have a chaste past, but something about the idea did not sit well with her.  Maybe it was the idea of walking down the hall and being surrounded by his s****l conquests.  Maybe it was the idea that it was a common practice for him, and she’d be just another s****l conquest of his roaming the halls.

    Another text message came in.  “I won’t tell if you don’t.”

    Cheeky, thought Martha.  She had not pegged him as a rule breaker.  She was thinking of how to respond when another message came in.  “I won’t let anything happen to you.  Your job is safe.”

    Less cheeky.  She liked protective Landry, although she had no idea how he could guarantee her job safety.  Was he that desirable of a music teacher that the school would bend the rules for him?

    Martha decided to trust him.  He knew the school better than she did, and he was obviously not concerned.  Plus, Martha was discreet.  She was not some lovesick teenager who would be swooning over him in the school.  Well, ok, she had been swooning, and blushing, and falling out of cars.  But that was inevitable.  In fact, Martha convinced herself, she probably needed to see him more, so that she could calibrate herself to his s****l appeal and prevent swooning at school.

    Martha wrote back.

    “I’m free on Saturday.  What did you have in mind?”