Life had not turned out as well as Rachel Carr had expected it to. Growing up in small town Iowa she had dreams of changing the lives of children as a schoolteacher. Her first real, permanent teaching job had come as a high school English teacher at an elite private school in Manhattan. She had never been to New York and all she was looking for was a friend to help her figure it out. That's how things had started out with Dan Humphrey; he helped her get to know the city and she gave him notes, or rather praise, on his writing. Rachel knew she should have known better than to have any sort of a relationship with a student outside of school, but by the time the red flags started showing up, it was too late; she developed feelings for a student. A student! After everything was said and done, she was no longer welcome as a teacher at Constance/St. Judes and returned to Iowa. She figured that an affair with a student would be the end of her teaching career period, let alone in New York, which was why she was completely blindsided when she received a call offering her a teaching job in New York.
It was a hot September Thursday in Heartland, Iowa when Rachel Carr received a call from a New York number. She answered curiously, having no idea who it could be.
'Hello Rachel, this is Nora Elish calling, I am the first program director here at Little Dalton in Manhattan and I came across your resume in the NYC teachers union and I would like to offer you a position that just opened up here. Before you say anything, I know what happened to end your career at Constance/St. Judes, but we here at Dalton are firm believers in second chances and I personally don't think your one discrepancy will affect your teaching ability. The position I'd like to offer you is one in our preschool. Here at Dalton we do things a little different than at other preschools, we believe that preschool is the start of a child's education and they must be taught how to learn and how to respect their teachers.'
'Um, wow, I didn't even know that I was still in the union, but would I be able to take a few days to think about it and get back to you?'
'Unfortunately, Miss. Carr, our regular preschool teacher has just had to take a indefinite leave and we are wearing thin trying to replace her, so we'd need to have you start this Monday'.
Rachel didn't really want to return to New York to take the job, but work was hard to find, especially work teaching, which was her passion. Anyway, it had been almost 10 years since she was there, and New York was a big city, it was unlikely she would come across anyone from her previous experience in New York, and it was unlikely they would care anyway.
'Okay, I'll take the job, Mrs. Elish'
'Perfect Rachel, I'll book you on a flight for tomorrow evening and get some temporary housing set up for you near the school. I'll be in touch'.
With that, she hung up the phone, and Rachel had a minute to think about what she had gotten herself into.
'This time will be different' She told herself out loud and willed it to be true.