Speaking Privately

Chapter 36

Speaking Privately.

Lyla Atelo.

The next morning was filled with the excited and bubbly chatter of students along the hallways.

"What has gotten them so excited?" I asked Ria who was walking beside me.

"Don't you know?" She smiled at me. "The Principal announced the camp trip today in assembly. Some students are happy while some are sad."

"I guess the happy ones are the classes that will be going, right?"

Ria giggled and shook her head. "Quite the contrary. The finalists are sad. They want to go to parties and the likes. They don't want to bother themselves about making strong connections with their friends, unlike the students in other classes."

My mind darted back to Sage. Was he feeling the same way too? That didn't seem like it... Sage didn't look like the kind of person that would go for parties and the likes. Then again, he didn't entirely look like the kind of person that smoked.

Maybe he did if one looked at him from the perspective of—

"Lyla? Are you okay? You've zoned out." Ria tugged me.

"Yeah. Yeah.. sorry about that. I'm just remembering that I haven't had anything for breakfast. And— oh, sorry!" I apologized after bumping into someone.

"Sa... Erm, Mr. Dominic. It's good to see you back in school again." I smiled tersely, unconsciously squeezing Ria's hand in my grip. Why did the presence of Sage make me so jittery and nervous?

He looked dashing this morning in his black blazers and his bag casually slung on his shoulders. He stared at me for a few seconds before walking past me like he hadn't heard me.

"That was terrifying." Ria whispered beside me. "I thought I was about to lose my job."

As we made our way towards my office, a student came up beside me with a package in hand.

"Good morning, Mrs. Lyla. Here, this is for you." He respectfully handed the bag to me.

Already curious, I peeked into the bag to see the contents, surprised to see different breakfast assortments.

"Are you sure this is for me?" I was confused.

The boy nodded. "From Mr. Dominic." Then he walked away.

My heart skipped a beat as I turned to look at Ria in shock.

"I think it's time for you to tell me what is going on between you and our golden boy!" She gripped my shoulders tightly, dragging me into my office and closing the door behind her. "You can't tell me that it's just a teacher and student relationship anymore. I mean, he just heard you casually talking about breakfast. How many minutes ago? Not even up to five, but he somehow has breakfast already packaged for you?"

I was beginning to have a headache and I had to massage my temples and keep myself still.

"Ria... I swear to you... I am confused as you are. I don't know what is going on myself. If I knew..."

If I knew, I would still shut up.

"Are you sure he didn't bully students out of their breakfast just for you to have something to eat?"

"Do you think he would go that low?" I began to worry.

*

"Mrs. Lyla, how do you do?"

I stood in front of Michelle's door as she beckoned me to step into her office.

"How do you do?" I answered politely.

"I'm sure you're aware that your assignment is back." She went straight to the point without cutting corners.

Today, she was dressed in a purple gown with minimalistic makeup on. She looked gorgeous and well put together as usual. My mind came back to the current conversation at hand.

By assignment, I'm sure she meant Sage.

"Yes, Sage is back. And I hope you know that you're going to be tailing him all through today so that he can donate a good amount of money to our cause? It's for his own good too, you know."

I smiled tersely. "There will be no need for that, ma'am."

Her expression changed drastically. The pleasant smile on her face was replaced with a deep scowl.

"Come again? I don't think I heard you clearly." She stood up from her chair. "Are you about to drop in your resignation letter, or.... Am I missing something?"

How did she jump into conclusions this fast.

My fake smile widened further. "No, ma'am. I said it wouldn't be necessary because Mr. Dominic has already agreed to donate for the camp trip."

She was taken aback for a moment, not understanding me. "I'm sorry?"

"I said..." I was about to repeat myself when she waved me off.

"Yes, Yes, I heard that part." She nodded. "I'm curious though... When did he say this? How did you speak to him about this? Other teachers may learn one or two things from the tactics you used."

"I... uh... I just asked him straight up. I didn't mince words."

Her mouth fell open, and for the first time, I saw the fear in her eyes. "You told him that I sent you to get him to pay for the camp trip?"

"Pretty much yes." I affirmed.

"You—"

"Am I interrupting something?"

I almost jumped in my skin when I heard his voice behind me. How was he everywhere? My head turned mechanically to face him, but because he was tall, I had to crane my neck a little to look at his face.

"Lyla... You're here too." His eyes softened when they landed on me, and I could feel a roaring amount of butterflies in my tummy at that expression. "Did you enjoy your breakfast?" He asked softly as his fingers went for my mouth.

I almost passed out on the spot. What was he doing? Didn't he see that we were in the presence of the principal.

The look on his face told me he didn't rate her at all. He wiped the side of lips and showed me a salad that was there.

"You had this on your face." He flashed me a small smile. "Can you excuse us for a second? I want to speak to Michelle privately."

"If it's about what she told you, I can assure you that..." Michelle had already begun defending herself when Sage's voice chilled.

"What part of 'privately' don't you understand, Michelle?"