Page 25 of Mr. Principal

Chapter Five

I didn’t feel like being alone. But I was grateful Meredith wasn’t home to see me in such a disaster state. For once, I was actually glad that she was at her father’s house.

On a whim, I decided to head over to Piper’s place. She worked from home so I figured she would be around to lend a sympathetic ear.

I knocked on her door and sniffled a little, trying not to cry. As the door open, I arranged my face into a sad smile.

My face went from smiling to surprise. Instead of Piper, Carter was standing there. He had on no shoes and no shirt. He was just wearing a pair of low-slung shorts. I’d been right. He had filled out a lot since college. His body was chiseled, all wiry muscle in all the right places.

“What are you doing here?” I said as he stood back and gestured for me to come in.

“Well, I was working out...”

“You know what I mean. Where’s Piper?”

“New York. She said something about meeting up with her translation partner. She’s going to be gone all weekend. She asked me to housesit.”

I pouted. “Why did she ask you and not me?”

He shrugged. It was a simple movement, but a sexy one... one that emphasized his beautiful shoulders. He crossed his arms across his chest, “I don’t know... maybe because you have a kid and you work weekends.”

I plopped down on the couch and sighed deeply. “It’s Tom’s weekend and I’m no longer employed. Not that Piper knows that since I was just fired like ten minutes ago.”

“Fired?” he asked, sitting down next to me.

I nodded, and the tears started to flow freely then. Carter pulled me into his arms and just let me cry. I wasn’t good with change and I felt overwhelmed by all the topsy-turvy ups and downs I was enduring lately. Life was being so cruel. Just when I thought I’d my footing, I would slip up and fail again. I was sick of it.

“I feel like such a failure,” I mumbled into his shoulder.

“You’re not a failure. Tell me what happened.”

I told him everything. He listened while I kept my head pressed against his chest.

“Your boss, sorry former boss, is just a terrible person. That wasn’t something you could control.”

I pulled my head up and sniffled. “I know. But still, I feel like I’m failing Meredith. I want so much more for her than just this—” I gestured aimlessly. “You know?”

He shook his head. “No. I don’t know what you mean. She’s happy. One of the happiest kids I’ve ever met.”

“She’s resilient that’s all.”

“Stop underestimating your parenting skills. Yeah, some people are just naturally resilient, but you played a pretty important role in making her feel loved and secure. And you shouldn’t underestimate that.”

I shook my head, unconvinced.

“You don’t understand.”

“Really?” his reply was sharp, and I wanted to bite my tongue. Carter had also been a child of divorced parents.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean that.”

He shrugged. “It’s okay. Divorce sucks, no matter how old you are, but trust me when I say Meredith is fine. She’s thriving.”

“Thanks for that,” I said, suddenly feeling a little uncomfortable being so close to Carter. I could smell him. He smelled so nice.

He reached out and slowly touched my face. “You’re too hard on yourself.”

I nodded. “I know. I just feel all this pressure to get everything right. I just don’t want to think that I’m ruining her life.”