Incidental Happenstance (41 page)

            Tia instantly thought of Jace, and didn’t want to go anywhere near the club. “Maybe here, but not on my time clock,” she sighed. “I’m still on Europe time.” She yawned as if to prove her point. “I’m exhausted already, and the last thing I need is a drink. Not tonight,” she said yawning again. “I’ll call them when I get home and meet them for lunch tomorrow or something. I have to get over to school for at least a little while tomorrow—I’m already a few days behind schedule.”

            “OK,” Lexi said. “I’ll just take you home, then.”

            “Thanks. Speaking of the club, what’s going on with Jace—is he still with Ditzy?” She wanted to know up front if she should expect any problems with him.

            “Yeah same as always, but I have to tell you, he was incredibly interested in my little trip this summer and what you’ve been up to. He’s been asking about you constantly, according to Ryan. He keeps asking hen you’re coming back.”

            Tia shook her head. “Shit. Listen, if he asks again, tell him I became a gypsy and ran off to Poland, or something, OK?          “

            Lexi laughed. “A gypsy, eh? Now there’s a picture,” she said sarcastically. “I’m sure no one’ll have any trouble believing that.”

            “I just don’t want him getting any ideas, especially if he finds out that I won’t be seeing Dylan for such a long time.” Lexi’s eyes dropped, and she looked at Tia apologetically.

            “Oh crap, he already knows that?” Tia asked, her voice tense.

            “It just came up in conversation,” Lexi said. “I didn’t think it was a secret. He would’ve found out eventually, anyway.”

            Tia shook her head. “Shit, I guess you’re right,” she conceded. “Did you at least happen to mention that I’m completely in love?”

             “I did tell Ryan that you two were completely in love, so I imagine he passed on the message. Maybe that’ll be enough of a hint for him.”

            “God, I hope so,” Tia said, “I definitely don’t need to deal with that right now.”

            “OK—don’t be pissed, but I have to ask,” Lexi said. “Can I tell people now? You guys professed your love at the top of Eiffel Tower, so it’s official, right? That’d shut Jace up real quick—even he’s not full of himself enough to think he’d be able to compete with Dylan Miller.”

            Tia sighed and shook her head, and told Lexi about what happened at the airport in Florence.

            “Seriously?” Lexi exclaimed. “Some total stranger in the airport asked you to have Dylan call his sister? That takes some serious balls, if you ask me. What was he thinking?”

            “I know—I couldn’t believe it either! And if that’s how complete strangers reacted, I don’t even want to know how people who actually know me will take it. We’re going public after the movie—it’s just easier to present ourselves as a couple when we actually are one, you know? I decided that I’m still keeping him to myself, for now.”

            “Damn it!” she said. “You can’t keep doing this to me! Do you have any idea how hard it’s been not to tell everyone about the incredible experiences I’ve had?”

            “Believe me,” Tia said sadly, “I know it all too well.” Irritation crept into her voice.  “Don’t you think I want to tell the whole world who I’m in love with? I had some pretty incredible experiences too, you know. I have about a thousand pictures and videos of them—including the song he wrote just for me—and I want to share them with everyone, but I can’t! I want to put it on the fucking news, but I can’t! Dylan said the paparazzi would be all over me, and after seeing what telling just a few people in the airport did, I don’t doubt it for a second. Sorry Lex, but no one’s going to be suffering more than me. I’m going to have to deal with it, and so will you.”

            Lexi softened immediately. “Oh Tia, I’m so sorry; you’re absolutely right. Of course this is going to be hardest on you.” She reached across the console and took Tia’s hand. “I’ll do whatever I have to—don’t worry about anything.”

            Tia rolled out of bed at four the next morning; jet lag holding a firm grip on her senses. She dragged herself to school at five and sat at the desk in her classroom looking around at the empty bulletin boards and bland walls. It would be just a week before the room was filled with students again, and she would start another year of working to get them to love reading and writing, and helping them to find their own individual strengths. Usually she loved this time of the year—the anticipation of meeting her students and getting to know them, the sounds of children’s laughter, the unabashed love and trust they eagerly and freely gave. She’d missed her friends here too, and was looking forward to hearing how they’d spent their summers; even though she was seriously bummed out that she couldn’t share all of hers. The halls were still quiet, but she knew that in just a couple hours, the building would be bustling with teachers, moving from room to room to catch up on everyone’s summer adventures and getting reacquainted.

            It felt completely different this year, as she knew it would. There was a whole different kind of anticipation running through her veins, and she worried that she wouldn’t be able to get back to a normal level of functioning after the excitement of the past few months. The summer had changed her—she was no longer a simple school teacher in a small town outside Chicago, and she’d come to accept that she never would be. She’d toured practically the entire continent of Europe, stayed in some of the world’s most luxurious hotels, had shopped in the most exclusive stores, partied with celebrities, sung on stage at Wembley Stadium and had her picture in the tabloids—thank goodness the photos weren’t clear enough for her to be recognized at home—and in six months or so she’d be announcing to the world that she was paired with one of the world’s most eligible bachelors. The tour would have been enough in itself to throw her off-kilter, but toss in falling madly and deeply in love, and kick in the fact that her new guy was mega famous, mega rich, and the sexiest man on Earth, and that just pushed it into overdrive. She realized that she was going to have to be an actress, too, pretending that she was the same old Tia who’d just had a wonderful summer with her new guy. It was going to be exhausting, she thought.

            When the clock hit 7:00 AM, she wandered toward the office to see Lilly, who had just arrived to take up her place at the front line of the school. As soon as she saw Tia, her face lit up in a huge grin and she put out her arms for a hug.

            “Whoo whee!” she said. “I was hopin’ you’d be in, girl!” She held Tia at arm’s length and looked her up and down, nodding. “I can tell by the look on your face that you had a good summer—tell me, is that smile still from the same guy?”

            “It is,” Tia announced. “And we had the most amazing summer.” She looked around secretively before blurting out, “I’m in love!”

            Lilly hugged her again. “That-a-girl!” she said, genuinely happy for her. “Have a seat and tll the juicy details!”

            Tia plopped onto the bench that spanned the office and crossed her legs. “Well,” she began, “he had a lot of business in Europe, and he took me with him…”

            “Europe!” she exclaimed. “You know I was jealous when I heard you were going. What cities did you see?”

            “We were all over, actually—I got to see a bunch of them.” Lilly kept nodding, encouraging her to continue. “My favorites were Munich, London, Paris and Tuscany,” she continued, “but I was in a few others, too. It was so awesome—every place is so different, and there’s so much to see!”

            “Wow,” Lilly exhaled on a long breath, “my friend, the world traveler! Now what kind of business is that boy of yours in that he gets to visit all those places? I want a job like that!”

            “Tell me about it,” Tia agreed. “Part of the reason he was there was that his band was doing a tour, and he was taking care of other business in between. I got to see the best shows!” Tia opened the manila envelope she’d carried in with her and said slyly, “Actually, I brought you a little present.”

            Lilly waggled her fingers in anticipation. “Ooh, a present for me? Well, give it over; you know how I love presents!”

            “First, a little background,” Tia teased, pulling the envelope just out of her grasp. “Like I said, his band played some dates over there, in lots of different places. You know the Aid Tour for Africa? It’s one of those huge festivals?”

            Lilly nodded. “I saw some of it on TV—InHap was playing, so of course I TiVo’d that part.” She stopped, and her eyes widened.  “Don’t tell me you were there!”

            “Not only was I there,” Tia said slyly, “but my Dylan’s band played on one of the stages and we had all access passes…we actually got to hang out with a lot of the other bands.”

            Lilly held her hand to her ample bosom and looked at Tia, wide-eyed. “You didn’t. Tell me you didn’t meet my real husband live and in person, or I might just die of envy!”

            Tia smiled. “I did,” she said, handing her the picture of Dylan. She’d taken it just as he’d turned to look at her during a pre-show meeting—it was the perfect image of him, all smiling and happy, slumped casually on a couch. “We got to hang out with them a lot during the three days of the festival, and I just knew you had to have this exact picture.”

            Lilly fanned her flushed face with the photo. “Oh my God, you met my real husband!” she breathed. “Damn, that man is fine!” she held the picture against her breasts before holding it out to look at it again. “Oh, you have to tell me. What’s he like?”

            Tia couldn’t control the grin that took over her face every time she talked about Dylan. “He’s so nice, Lilly. Down to earth, friendly—everything you’d want him to be.”
Everything she wanted him to be, that was certain.
“He’s just an amazing person—talking to him; you’d never know he was so famous. He’s got a great sense of humor, too—kind of sarcastic.”

            “I just knew it! Sometimes you can just tell about a person, even if you never met them. But you did meet him, and I am so incredibly jealous! Your Dylan had to be beside himself worryin’ that you’d run off with this one. I know I’d run off with him—in a heartbeat! And you got me his picture!”

            “Look on the back,” Tia prodded.

            Lilly looked at the message scrawled on the back, made out to her, with Dylan’s autograph. After his signature he’d put, ‘RH?’

            “What’s this ‘RH’ mean?”

            “Real husband, of course!” Tia smiled.

            “Oh my,” she panted, catching her breath. “You actually mentioned me to him?”

            “I told him that I couldn’t possibly show my face to you and tell you I’d met him without having something to give you. He insisted he sign the picture for you.”

            Lilly fanned herself with the photo again, catching her breath. “Hot damn, this is a treasure, Tia, thank you! I can’t believe you met him! And what about the rest of the band? Are they amazing too?”

            “They’re all great guys, but besides Dylan—who is positively dreamy of course—I have to say I just fell in love with Bo—you know, the drummer? He’s just awesome. Actually, he reminded me of you a little. He’s got a big heart, he’s a shameless flirt and he’s always smiling.”

            “Me, a flirt?” she said smiling coyly. “Well, if it wasn’t me who met him, it couldn’t have happened to a nicer person.” She pulled Tia into another hug. “Thank you so much—you know I love it! And I’m so glad to see the real you back, Tia. I missed you, you know. We all did. I’d like to thank that man for bringing you back—you tell him that for me, OK?”

            “I know, and I will. And I love you guys for all the help and support you gave me last year—I couldn’t have made it without you. It feels great to be happy again, except for the fact that my Dylan is still working overseas. I won’t see him until Christmas.”

            “That’s not so far away,” she soothed. “It’ll be here before you know it.”

            “That’s what everyone keeps telling me, but I want it to be here yesterday,” Tia said.

            “But you’re in love, and love conquers everything! Tell me how that happened!” she said, carefully tacking the picture of Dylan to a place of honor on the bulletin board alongside her desk.

            “Wow, it was so romantic Lilly! He told me he loved me in Paris,” she exhaled on breath as light as air, “at the top of the Eiffel Tower.”

            Lilly swooned. “Now that is a man I’d like to meet. You gotta have a picture of him, right? Let’s see.” She held out her hand and waggled her fingers.

            “I’ll bring it down later,” Tia said. “I was too excited to give you your picture first.” The official photo of her and Dylan that she would share was a picture of him in disguise, the punk rock getup. He didn’t look obnoxious, but she didn’t think anyone would recognize him in the photo. It was from a bit of a distance, and there were enough shadows to cast a doubt as to his true identity.

            “Oh, honey, you just made my day. No, my month. Maybe even my year, judging from the number of parents already calling about classes and such. It’s gonna be busy.” She turned back to her desk and indicated the mound of paperwork already piling up.