She Doesn't Belong...

A part of Chapter One of Maid for More, book three of the Sapodilla Resort & Spa standalone series

As she stepped through the gate, the uniformed woman felt the difference in the air, and with each step she took, she felt it push against her. It was as though the very air in the confines of St. Anthony’s Academy knew who and what Rhianna Alexander was and it reacted accordingly.

Still, she plowed on, even when the Caribbean sun that had warmed her honey-brown skin just moments ago, now pelted down on her. Rhianna’s brow sprung beads of sweat and she felt her Sapodilla Resort & Spa uniform start to cling to her body.

She wanted to turn back, every fiber in her being said to scurry back to the other side of St. Paul’s Town to where she belonged. It wasn’t here at the academy where the best education in Redonda could be bought.

Or earned, Rhianna affirmed, taking another grounding step. Sure, she could hop on the bus and return to the capital, then take another one to Gloria’s Supermarket and Baker’s Supplies. She could pretend that she hadn’t gotten the letter from a Mr. Chamberlain concerning Olivia. She could grab a shopping cart and pick up supplies for Teri-Anne’s baby shower. Rhianna didn’t though.

She kept walking along the concrete path that cut the manicured lawn stretching up the hill to the classrooms. Rhianna followed the directions given to her by the security guard. The older man with a ‘you are one of us’ smile had stepped out of his booth and told her, “Go up the path, then turn East and take the steps down. It’s the third classroom on the West.”

He had stepped inside and waved her in, one uniformed person assisting another. In that instant, the anxiety that had been building up in Rhianna since leaving the Sapodilla had eased. That is until she stepped through the gate.

Halfway up the gentle slope, she caught sight of a woman stepping onto the path. Unlike Rhianna, the bronze-skinned woman, thoughtlessly flicked a lock of her blonde hair over her shoulder. Her slender body glided along the path and Rhianna ducked her head, her pinstripe uniform felt like it glowed neon and she dared not catch the woman’s eye.

This woman belonged here. Hell, she paid for here, just like she paid for her Gucci bag. With what she paid each term, the blonde paid for the fully equipped science lab and the history teacher with a Masters. Her money paid for the clear pathways that cut through the school which were good enough to eat off of. She and parents like her paid to walk through the academy like they owned it.

Yet, there is more than one way to get into the exclusive institution, Rhianna tried to remind herself as she passed the woman. Her nose was tickled with the cloud of expensive perfume.

Looking up, she thought of those nights when she would go over lessons with Olivia. Rhianna smiled to herself, grateful that at times, it was her daughter who was teaching her a lesson. She deserves to be here, she affirmed as she reached the top of the path.

And with an academy education, Olivia will have a life nothing like mine, Rhianna nodded her head. She will go on to university and then… Rhianna’s imagination urged her on to classroom D3.

At the door, she looked in but no one was inside. She was sure this was the classroom. She had read the letter enough times to have the important information locked in her mind. Rhianna was about to settle in for a wait outside the classroom when she caught sight of a poster on a far wall. She looked about, soon feeling ridiculous, Rhianna went inside.

Stepping in, she quickly went to the poster. Taking in the illustration and then reading the text, Rhianna was reminded of Ms. Otto’s classroom at Lyndsey Primary School.

The Junior Three teacher had educational posters covering the walls of the classroom. “Even when a child looks away from the front of the classroom, they will end up looking at something educational,” Rhianna had heard the woman who must have been in her fifties tell another teacher.

With a sigh, she went on to another poster. She had loved school so much at that time. Each of the teachers in the small village school took their time and showed interest in their students. When Rhianna had graduated and gone on to Freemont Secondary School, she had expected the same level of interest.

The disappointment felt as real now as it had back then when she had started the secondary school that not only educated students from Freemont and Lyndsey but also New Village and Hamilton. Rhianna turned around to look at the classroom that had, what? Twenty something desks. Her class at FSS had twice that and three classes made up the form.

Whatever it was Mr. Chamberlain had to see her about, Rhianna renewed her vow that this was where her daughter belonged. She will get what I expected, she turned back and continued to look at the posters lining the walls.

Hearing footsteps approaching, she steeled herself and looked toward the door in time to see a man come through it. Rhianna froze as he did, taking in the tall man with a powerful build. His vibrant green eyes locked with hers and in them, she saw something she had never seen before, and yet at a gut level, she knew it.

With a shake of his head, he managed a smile as he entered the room and closed the space between them. He shuffled a stack of papers into one hand as he extended the other towards Rhianna.

“Mrs. Alexander?” he broached, his voice lowered, sending vibrations through her, but it was what he said that sent whatever fortifications she had built to fall, crashing Rhianna down to reality.

Looking down at his hand, she stood in a place between nodding to confirm and shaking her head at the title he used. In the end, Rhianna said, “Miss.”

She took his hand, not looking up to see that look given to single mothers. A look not given to the fathers of the very same children. But when his hand closed around hers, so warm and strong, he didn’t let go until she looked up.

When she did, those green eyes held hers with compassion, “It’s nice to meet you, I’m Mr. Chamberlain.” Then he released her hand, “I hope between the two of us, we can keep Olivia at the academy.”

We? A chill was chased by hellfire but Rhianna was too focused on where this statement was coming from to try to figure out what the heat represented.

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Photo by Liliana Drew