been
cornered into yet another ‘date’, but this was the fifth time this
had happened in the past month. She was even dressed up like it was
a date: fancy black silk dress with white polka-dots and ruffled
skirt, topped with a red sweater and belt, finished with black high
heels. What was worse was he hated to entertain the idea that
Tamiko, of all the women he knew, would ever resort to such tricks.
“What happened to that sweet girl that I met not long ago?” he
thought to himself. But he suspected he might know the answer to
that question.
Davis knew that Tamiko liked him – really
liked him – as in romantically speaking. From his personal
experience, he knew that when a woman wanted a particular man, she
could lose her personality as she got caught up in the chase. The
only reason why Davis was willing to go along with the game was
because, despite everything, he knew the real Tamiko. That girl was
still his friend and he didn’t want to hurt her feelings. Davis
waved over a waitress who promptly took their order. When she left,
Davis decided to inquire about what had been on his mind.
“ Still no word from
Tim?”
“ I’ll check my phone,” said
Tamiko as she took it out of her purse and turned it on. She
perused the screen for a few seconds.
“ I hope he’s
okay.”
“ Looks like he sent a text
just as we were going into the theatre,” said Tamiko, “He said he
had stuff to work on at home, so he’d have to skip the
movie.”
“ What else is
new?”
“ I know. Lately it seems
like Tim is always busy. But that doesn’t mean we can’t have fun,
right?”
“ Yeah, I guess.”
“ You are having a good time,
aren’t you?” said Tamiko, as she eyed him curiously. It seemed as
if she were trying to read his thoughts.
“ I’m okay. Just a little
tired, that’s all.”
“ Worked hard
today?”
“ Yeah. It’s a big hotel.
People are always in and out and you know they gotta break
something before they leave. Today it seemed like everyone was
killin’ the showers. I think I re-installed about a hundred shower
heads.”
“ That does sound like a lot
of work. But maybe a good hot meal with a friend will make you feel
better.”
“ Yeah.” said Davis as he
slumped forward and leaned his head against his fist.
There was a moment of silence between them as
Davis tried to think of something to say. He would rather not say
anything because he didn’t know how Tamiko would interpret, or,
rather misinterpret it. He thought he had been clear months ago
when he said he thought they should just be friends, but it seemed
every time they were together like this, he couldn’t help but feel
pressured.
“So how’s things going on your job?” asked
Davis. He thought talking about work would be a safe topic.
“It’s insane as usual. There’s a new
evaluation system that’s about to be rolled out, and principal
Stone is like a raving lunatic now, but I’m handling things.”
“Do they still come in your classroom to spy
on you?”
“Technically, it’s not spying. They’re
supposed to be evaluating me. I still get observed. They come more
often now, but at least it’s not for a whole 45 minutes like
before. Stone still hates my guts for whatever reason, but this new
system is even more work for her. I’m sure she’d love to pick me
apart, but she just doesn’t have the time.”
“Well that’s something to thank God about.
Now you can teach the kids the way you know how and not worry about
it.”
“Oh, I wish. The curriculum has been totally
teacher proofed. Everything has to be according to the Department
of Education guidelines. Then there’s all of the paper work that
eats up so much of my time - like the six page lesson plans I write
every day.”
“But I know you’ve got some extra time, now
that you’ve finished your masters and everything. At least you
don’t have to worry about papers and classes anymore.”
“True. And I’m thankful for that. But now I
have