She was the more talkative of the two girls. Crystal lifted her face and looked straight into Raina’s eyes. Her senses grew alert when she saw the dull look in her nieces’ eyes. She looked at her sister. Chantal appeared her normal composed self.
“What is it, sweetheart?” Raina said softly.
“We have a father’s day at school next week. We’re supposed to bring our dads to school with us.” She hung her head.
Raina felt sick, her mouth suddenly tasted bitter and she fought to breathe easily. She closed her eyes. How had she not foreseen this? These types of dates always crept up on her. Maybe because she did her best to forget them, hoping that maybe the kids would do the same.
Suddenly, she felt overwhelmed by everything. She felt like dropping her head on the table and bawling like a three-year-old. She missed her sister more than anything in the world.
Instead, she put on a brave smile.
“Don’t you worry about that, we’ll figure out something by then.” Raina said with a confidence that she did not feel.
Where would she get a man to go to the school with them? If only she had a brother. As it was, it had just been her sister and herself born to her parents. Her father had been a truck driver and her mother a teacher. They had both passed on within a year of each other. Her mother from kidney problems and her father from a broken heart, or at least that’s how Raina saw it.
But losing her sister and brother-in-law last year when they’d been hit by a drunk driver was the final blow. It had just been too much tragedy all at once. But she hadn’t had the luxury to fall apart. There were three kids with no one else in the world and they needed her.
Gripping the edge of the table with her fingers, Raina wrenched her thoughts from those painful memories. She inhaled deeply and let her hands relax and fall to her lap. She looked at Chantal, who was sitting and eating calmly.
“Does it bother you too, sweetheart?” Raina said. Chantal looked at her and shrugged.
“I just told my teacher that my daddy passed away. He’s in heaven now so he can’t come to the father’s day thing to school.” she explained.
Raina licked her dry lips. Why did life have to be so unfair to sweet children such as these ones? No matter how hard she tried, Raina could never make up for the absence of their parents. The kids had started in a new school and their teachers were not aware that they were orphans. Raina had not volunteered the information, thinking that she was protecting them from having to relive that memory with everyone they spoke with.
Now she wondered if it might have been wiser to tell the teachers.
“Did she ask you anything else?” Raina said.
“No, she just said not to worry, that my guardian would figure out something.”
“She was right. I will.” Raina said.
Over the next couple of days, Raina was distracted at work, her mind going over all the possibilities, which to be honest, were none. She couldn’t let the girls down. She had asked them casually if a lady could go in place of the dad and the answer had been an emphatic and almost hysterical no. “All the kids will make fun of us!” they had exclaimed in unison.
In an unguarded moment, Raina sat on her desk and let her face drop to her hands. She only had a couple more days to go and she still had not come up with any creative answers. Perhaps she would just take the day off of work and pull them out of school during that celebration. She could take them to the zoo or an amusement park to make up for it.
Yeah, Raina. A trip to the zoo will definitely make up for not having parents, the voice inside her head mocked her.
For once, even thoughts of Christopher did not distract her. To make things worse, Roger chose that moment to walk into her office without knocking.
“Is it all getting to be too much?” he drawled.
Raina’s head shot up and she almost groaned out aloud when she saw him. She smiled widely and sat up straighter.
“Good afternoon, Sir.” she said.
“Call me Roger. You look beat.” he said squinting his eyes at her.
“I’m not actually; just a slight headache that I’m sure will be gone in a couple of minutes.”
Before she realized what happened, Roger had come around her desk and placed his hands on the sides of her head and begun to massage her temples. Raina felt trapped. The feeling of his hands on her face made her skin crawl.
“I can make all of this better for you. I’ll keep you like the queen that you are and surround you with beauty. Anything you want can be yours. Cars? Jewelry? Your headaches will be a thing of the past … I can promise you that.…” He said in a low, lascivious murmur, his lips on her ear, his fetid breath making her want to retch.
Raina was horrified by his words. Did she look like the type to be kept as a mistress, her only job being to look pretty?
“You only have to look good for me and make yourself available when I want you, which I assure you will be a lot. I have a lot of energy and it will take all of your imagination to satisfy me.”
Raina jumped and pushed her chair back not caring if she broke his legs. He swore loudly and clutched his shin.
Sweating profusely, she rushed out of her office without a second look, wanting to get as far away from him as she could. The only place she could seek refuge was the washroom. Luckily, there was no one in there and she headed for the sinks. As soon as she saw her reflection, Raina burst into tears.
Roger had humiliated her and made her feel smaller than a pea. What was it in her that made him view her as no better than a prostitute? Tears rolled down her cheeks and loud sobs erupted from her throat. Just then, the door to the washroom swung open. Raina darted her hands under the sink taps and doused her skin in water. She felt dirty somehow, as though just Roger’s words had tainted her.
“I thought I saw you rush this way. What’s up Raina?”
It was Kelly, and though Raina would have preferred that no one had seen her like this, her friend was discreet. She looked up at Kelly.
“Oh Raina, you’ve been crying!” Kelly exclaimed. “What is it?”
Raina haltingly told her about her escapade with Pervy Roger.
“Look hon, I know he’s a gross jerk, but he’s no reason to get yourself all worked up. He’ll move on to someone else at the next hotel he visits.” Kelly said and stroked her arm.
Raina nodded, knowing it was true, even if it didn’t make things better … but then, feeling overwhelmed, began sobbing and was unable to stop. It all came spilling out of her and in a jumble she proceeded to confide in Kelly the trouble she was having with money, with scheduling conflicts, and with getting a man to take the girls to school during the father’s day event.
“That is tricky.” Kelly said thoughtfully. “What about my brother Michael? Should I ask him?” Raina smiled gratefully but shook her head.
“Maybe. It’s not until next week and if I haven’t found someone or figured out some solution by then, I’ll let you know. They just want someone—anyone—so they don’t have to stick out. I even called my great-uncle that I haven’t seen since I was eight to see if he could do it, but he’s in a nursing home.”
“OK. Well, I’m sure my brother would be more than happy to go. He has a soft spot for you and the kids, you know.” Kelly said.