Shadow Storm

Chapter 3

Chapter 3“SO YOU WANTED to tell me something?” Ashley asked as they crossed the parking lot.

“We had visitors on Saturday, George and Lois.” Fritz pulled on his jacket. “Lois wondered if Sandy is leaving because she's pregnant.”

“She's not.”

“We know. George actually asked her. Can you imagine? She told him to calm down. But she's not happy she had to do it. She's also confused. When Linda and I told you that she seemed to be getting serious and that you should tell her if you weren't equally committed, we'd didn't mean that you should be abrupt and leave her with no explanation. She's wondering now if she did something to piss you off. And she was so upset when George talked to her that she gave him too much information. So he asked me why you had behaved so strangely. His words. He talked about firing you.”

“What!” Heads in the parking lot twisted toward them. “Does he think I'm gay and that he can fire me. That's nuts. He should know me better. Or at least Lois should. I am now prepared to say I'm gay just to give the old bigot a court case. He should also know, or Lois should, that he can't fire someone for being gay. Or for not having slept with his girlfriend. I wouldn't even have to take it to federal courts as a civil rights case. This is one of the states that says he can't, and…”

“Calm down, Ash. I told George that it wasn't any of his business and that you just have a history of being unable to get serious.”

“Do you remember the French teacher from when I first started here? Andrea Porter?”

“Yeah. Your first run-in with George.”

“Right. He was an i***t. He didn't oppose it on reasonable grounds, like pressure from a senior staff member on a newer one. Though it probably never occurred to him that a woman could be a senior anything. He fussed about school morale because she was so unhappy, which she would have been no matter whom she'd been dating. Yes, whom. No eyebrow raising. I'm an English teacher. But after that, I never dated another teacher from Riverboro. Until Sandy. Sandy was different. I could kill George right now.”

“I get it, Ash. It just would have made things easier on Sandy if you had attributed your cutting things off to your having a character flaw. But that's what I can't figure out. Not being kind about a breakup isn't like you. Not being kind about anything isn't like you. You're doing lots of things that aren't you. Like walking into combat when you couldn't see what you'd be facing. Like buying a custom-made suit. Like missing the first football game. Even like Sandy. When did you ever date the same woman for six months? Like getting your hair styled.” Fritz paused. “Ash, maybe the portal is changing you.”

Ashley looked like a dog that had stopped charging and turned home at a trot. “Last week, you said George was changing. Now me. Maybe you're right. We need to think about this some more.”

“Want to come for dinner?”

“Not tonight. I need sleep. I didn't get home until two.”