THE TEACHER

Chapter five

The days following their heated dinner, Abigail and Melissa spent the whole time together, sleeping in the same house – one on the bed and one on the couch – and going to school in the latter's car. Even at school people were starting to wonder how Abigail had been able to win Melissa's unreachable heart, with various rumors about them already traveling through the hallways.

"Hello darling, are you ready to go?" asked Melissa, without even glancing at Abigail.

The youngest of the two teachers was sitting down at her desk when – as usual – Melissa knocked on the door of her classroom to tell her that she was ready to go.

Hearing no response, Melissa's eyes looked up to see a very embarrassed Abigail with a couple of teachers from some other departments in front of her.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt," she smiled. "Abby, I'll be waiting for you in my car."

The door closed behind Melissa, as Abigail awkwardly turned to her colleagues, that were amusingly staring at her waiting for an explanation.

"She just loves nicknames, it's no big deal," she played it cool, or at least tried.

"You've been getting along pretty well, haven't you?" Renée smirked.

"She doesn't let people in easily, you really must be something," added Marta. "You're either great or a witch."

"I promise, nothing is going on. We just happen to be close from my times as student, and it stuck."

"Well, you should get going. We wouldn't want to keep Ms. Bennett waiting, darling," chuckled one last time the French teacher.

"I still have a fiancée, shall I remind you," rolled her eyes Abigail, grabbing her coat. "I'll see you tomorrow."

Dale was going to come back that night, but Melissa still had the time to take a quick shower before heading back home once and for all.

"I'll be out in a second," she smiled at the house owner, before disappearing in the bathroom.

"I'll be waiting in the living room, then."

The water kept running for a few minutes, while from the bathroom could be heard a voice singing along to some very 80s songs. Even though she wasn't the best at it, Melissa's singing really brought joy and peace to Abby, reminding her how welcome her presence was in the house.

Once the water was shut off, Melissa quickly grabbed a towel to hug her body with, and made her way to the bedroom to put on some clothes. As she was picking out the t-shirt to wear, the door opened, and before Abigail's eyes appeared the most enchanting sight she had ever seen.

"Sorry!" she exclaimed, turning around.

"You can see me. I'm just a woman in her underwear."

"You're not just any woman. To me, you're the most beautiful woman I could have ever encountered."

"You could do much better than these soggy old arms and these wrinkles. You could get anyone you wanted, but still you chose me."

Softly chuckling, Abigail put her arms around Melissa's waist, and gently placed her head on her shoulder.

"No one makes me feel the way you do," she sighed. "And who cares about wrinkles? You're still very beautiful to me."

"Am I still as pretty as the day you saw me for the first time?" she asked, with a bit of nostalgia in her voice.

"Yes. As pretty, or even more," nodded Abby. "And if anyone dares to say otherwise, don't listen to them. They don't know shit about beauty if they can't recognize it even in someone who's not twenty anymore."

The door suddenly opened, and revealed the man and his suitcase. He was nervously smiling, trying to recognize his home after being away from it and his fiancée.

"Hi," said Abigail, getting up from the comfortable couch to greet him with a hug. "How was your trip?"

"All good," quickly replied Dale. "If you don't mind, I'll just go wash up a bit. I'm devastated from the flight."

"Okay."

He immediately got in the shower, already sensing that something was very wrong. For some unknown reason she hadn't kissed him when he walked through the door, and seemed too upbeat for someone who had been home alone for the past five days.

In the shower, he found a loofah that wasn't there before; after drying, he even found a comb in Abigail's drawer that he had never seen before. The realization, though, actually hit once he opened the closet and found some t-shirts that Abigail didn't have before his departure, and definitely weren't his. With all that evidence in his hands, the only thing left to do was to finally confront Abigail about it.

"Since when do we have a loofah? I thought you didn't want to get one," he asked, subtly.

"I found it at the market, and it was too cheap to not buy it."

"What about the new comb in your bathroom drawer, or the new t-shirts in your closet? Were they cheap as well?" he significantly raised his voice, pounding on the kitchen counter with his hands. "I swear to god Abigail, if you've cheated on me, you'll pay the consequences."

"I haven't!" exclaimed Abigail, terrified of what he could possibly do.

"Then what is all this shit laying around in our house?!"

"Melissa came by a few times because I was alone, but nothing happened!"

Just hearing the name made Dale go berserk. His eyes were full of repressed rage, and he was staring at Abigail in disgust, as if he was looking at a whore. Out of all the times they had fought because of his jealousy, she had never seen him act like that, and was starting to feel scared.

"Of course it's Melissa! It's always her, isn't it?" he hissed. "Well, guess what. I'm fucking tired of her!"

"Cut it out Dale, she's my friend."

"Then unfriend her, okay? I don't want to hear about that bitch another time, or I won't be able to stop myself."

"Don't call her that! Look at you! You've got no control whatsoever!"

"That bitch is manipulating you into feeling something for her!"

"She's not manipulating me into anything, everything I feel for her is my fault and only mine," she defended her friend, not realizing that she had made the biggest mistake of her life.

"What the fuck did you just say?" he stopped for a second, staring at the woman. "I said, WHAT THE FUCK DID YOU JUST SAY! ANSWER ME, WHORE!"

Terrified, Abigail didn't know what to do. Every road she could take would have led her to the inevitable violent side of him, the one that not even she had tried to tame.

"I said that I have feelings for her," she repeated, with a low voice. "Nothing has happened though; I can assure you of it. I wanted to end this before doing anything at all with her."

"You whore!" he shouted.

"I can't help it if I love her more than you! I'm sorry, but this is how things are, and you'll learn to live with it," raised her voice Abigail, as well. "I hope you'll live a very long and happy life, just not with me."

Before she could flee the house, Dale's enormous body blocked the door and locked it, leaving Abby with no route to escape.

"Not so fast, whore."