Love, Teacher Diana

Chapter 3

"Daddy! You are frightening my teacher!!", a little girl yelled as she saw Diana Norese and her dad in the other room.

"I'm sorry, I really am.", Diana Norese let go of the man's hand as she realized she was still holding his hand.

"Rosie! Why didn't you tell the teacher that the study room is on the left side?", the man yells at the old lady.

"I did, Jackson.", said the old lady, defending herself. "Didn't I tell you that the study room is on the left side, dear?", she asked Diana Norese in her calm voice.

"I'm sorry. I might have been mistaken.", Diana Norese is ashamed of what she has done. She may have been forgotten what Rosie had told her downstairs as she is astonished by the beauty of the house. She is so ashamed of what is happening, she wanted to back out and just go home. But because she wanted to have extra money for her school bills, she just accepted her mistake.

"Are you sure you can teach my daughter? You don't even know which is right or left!", the man on the towel shouts.

"Oh, dear. The young lady might have not heard me downstairs.", Rosie explained. "Just go inside and put some clothes on. Your daughter is looking at you.", she continued.

The man just slammed the door leaving Diana Norese, Rosie, and the little girl in the hallway.

Rosie held Diana Norese's hand and squeezed it a little. She led the young woman to the other side of the hallway.

"This is the study room, dear.", Rosie leads Diana Norese to the door on the left side.

As they entered the study room, Rosie lit up the lights and Diana Norese is stunned by what she is seeing.

A minimalist room with dark curtains draped to the floor. There is a shelf on the right side filled with books of different genres. On the shelf are some Classic and Contemporary Literature books organized nicely. There are also books about Engineering, Interior Design, and Construction. On the white desk is a Macbook with a white lampshade that is neatly placed. There is also a mini organizer of pens and some office supplies on the left side of the desk. A black swiveling chair is tucked in which makes it cleaner to look at.

On the other side of the room is a small table, perfect for a little child, who, at the moment, is looking at her intently. It has some old scribbles on the desk, a pen holder that is filled with pens and pencils, and a little wooden chair that has a faux fur seat cover. In its walls hangs a family picture. The people in the picture show a family who might be having a family vacation in the mountains. The guy is that man whom she saw a while ago in the towel. "Jackson Alonzo", she thought. Then a little girl, probably their daughter, and her student, and a beautiful woman who has a beautiful smile as well. She can't see the woman's eyes as she is wearing a sunglass. She hasn't seen the woman in the picture at the house yet. "She must have been at work", Diana Norese thought.

"Diana Norese, dear. This is Olivia Alonzo, your student.", Rosie says smilingly.

"Hello there, little girl. I will be your teacher and you can call me Teacher Diana.", Diana Norese introduced herself to the child.

"Teacher!" Olivia hugged Diana Norese immediately.

"Oh! That was the sweetest welcome I have ever experienced!", Diana Norese chuckles.

"I will leave you two here.", Rosie interrupted the moment. "I will just be at the kitchen and will prepare you both some drinks and snacks.", she continued.

"Thank you, Rosie. Thank you for earlier. I owe you one.", Diana Norese mentions.

"That's nothing dear. I know that was an honest mistake.", Rosie assures the tutor by holding her hand.

"So, shall we start, Olivia?", Diana Norese asks the little girl.

"Yes, teacher!", Olivia says giddily.

Rosie closed the door and left Olivia and Diana Norese in the study room. Diana Norese pulled the swivel chair towards the small table and sat beside Olivia who is taking her things out from her pink unicorn bag. She takes out some of her books - Early Mathematics, Learning in Reading, and her Writing worksheets. She takes her cute pencil case, a pink pouch with a unicorn keychain.

"I see you like unicorns, Olivia.", Diana Norese told the little girl.

"I don't like them. I looooove them!', Olivia says happily. "If you come to my room you'll see a lot of my unicorn stuff toys, a unicorn pillow, a pink unicorn blanket, and mooore unicorn stuff!", her eyes glistened as she tells her teacher.

Diana Norese chuckles at the thought.

"Okay, let's start with Math first, shall we?", Diana Norese smilingly asks her student.

"Teacher, I am pretty good in Math.", Olivia says confidently.

"Really? Let's see. I wonder why your dad says you need tutoring with it.", Diana Norese wonders.

As they answer some pages of Olivia's books, Diana Norese thought that she is indeed a smart girl. She barely asks questions to her. She only asked a question when one of the numbers isn't clearly printed. Aside from that, she answered her assignments on her own.

After about an hour, they finished their first subject. Rosie also just got them drinks and some snacks. "Here, so you can think and answer better, dear.", she told Olivia. "And this is for you, young lady.", she gives Diana Norese a glass of fresh orange juice.

"Thank you, Rosie.", Diana Norese smiles back at the old woman.

"Continue with whatever you're doing, I will just get back to the kitchen. I am preparing dinner. Jackson says you should join us for dinner.", Rosie continues.

"Oh, thank you for the offer, but I don't think I can join you for today. I still have...", Diana Norese stops when someone came into the study room.

"I insist.", Jackson says.

"Daddy!", Olivia jumps out of excitement as she saw her daddy by the door.

"How long has he been standing there?", Diana Norese thought.

"I am sorry, sir. I wish I have the time but I still have a lot of things to do.", Diana Norese says politely. She is trying to hide her red face from the man who is staring at him intently.

"Please, teacher. I want to spend more time with you.", Olivia mentions and suddenly holds her hands. Her eyes are like that of a kitten wanting to be pampered.

"Well, I guess... I can join you later then.", Diana Norese answers. She is smitten by the little girl's eye and cannot reject her cuteness.

"Daddy, Rosie, Teacher Diana and I will have to get back to studying. Teacher Diana is really good. She explains everything to me. Right, teacher?", Olivia looks to Diana Norese with a smirk.

"Oh.", Diana Norese is a little surprised by what the little girl says. She hasn't really done anything so far aside from sitting beside her while she answers and seeing if she answers the question correctly. And Olivia has been doing a great job in answering the Math questions. Also, she hasn't explained anything to the girl from what she can remember.

"Yeah, because you're a smart girl.", Diana Norese continues. She raised an eyebrow while she smiles back at Olivia.

"Okay. I will just call you later if the dinner's ready.", Rosie says.

Jackson, in his serious face, looks at Diana Norese and the young lady smiles awkwardly. She can still feel some tension between them because of what happened earlier.

Rosie closes the door in the study room and Diana Norese and Olivia are left together. Olivia continues to answer her Writing worksheet when Diana Norese asks her.

"Olivia?", she asks.

"Yeah, teacher?", Olivia answers while still writing.

"I see you are doing well. Are you having a hard time with your lessons?", she curiously asks.

"I have been looking at you while you're answering your Math assignment. Now you're confidently answering your worksheets. I don't think your dad needs to hire me as a tutor.", she continues. Diana Norese thought that the little girl doesn't really need a tutor and she might lose her part-time job immediately. She suddenly thought of her school expenses. She thought of posting on the f*******: group for a new client. A lot of things ran on Diana Norese's mind.

"I just need someone to sit down with me while I answer.", Olivia answers her teacher while she continues to write.

"Why? Sorry, I just don't understand.", Diana Norese continues to ask the little girl.

Olivia suddenly let go of her pencil. "Ever since mum passed away, I lost my will to study. Dad seemed to be aloof. He would always go home drunk. He would just bury himself with a lot of work. He doesn't go home sometimes. He forgot that he still has a daughter.", she says.

Diana Norese is surprised by what she heard. She couldn't imagine how a little girl longs the attention of someone. She suddenly felt angry towards her boss. "Oh dear, how long have you been feeling this?", she thought to herself.

She didn't hold herself back and hugged the little girl. To her surprise, the little girl is silently sobbing as she hugged her teacher back.

"I am sorry, teacher. I suddenly missed mum.", she continues to sob silently. Olivia also doesn't want to cry loudly thinking her dad might hear her.

"Oh dear, I am sorry if I have to ask. It's okay now. Ssshh... Teacher Diana is here.", Diana Norese tries to console her student as she pats her hair up and down.

"And you know what, Teacher?", the child let go of her teacher's hug and wiped her tears on her face. She looked up at her teacher and smiles sweetly.

"What is that Olivia?", Diana Norese asks.

"You look like mum", Olivia says.