"The Teachers' Secret"
*For the purposes of this story, Jack Bolton has been divorced from Troy's mother, Lucille, for 5 years. They share joint custody of their son and live two blocks from each other. Lucille has remarried while Jack is happy being a bachelor.
Jack Bolton and Katherine Darbus had known each other for years. They had started at East High on the same day and from the moment they met, neither one was impressed with the other. Darbus thought Bolton had a jockstrap for brains because he only cared about winning basketball games to the detriment of his players' cultural experiences. Bolton's players had no time for drama class, acting class, musicals, or working on stage crew. No Coach Bolton kept them busy in the gym every day after school.
Jack's impression of Katherine Darbus was much the same as hers about him. She was all about her musical, her theater, her drama department. Never mind that there was more to life than prancing around a stage singing (badly) and dancing (poorly).
They had a strict policy to avoid each other at all costs. There was a silent agreement that they would never cross over into the other's territory and with minor exceptions they had managed to live by that rule. Until the day, Jack Bolton's son, Troy, received detention during basketball season. That was the day the relationship between Katherine Darbus and Jack Bolton changed.
She'd stormed out of Principal Matsui's office and went back to the auditorium to try and regain some semblance of order with her drama club. However, the more she thought about the incident, the angrier Darbus became. How dare he tell her how to run her drama club! She didn't go around telling him how to run his basketball team! And she had every right to put his son in detention! After dismissing the drama students, Darbus headed to the Bolton's office to give him a piece of her mind.
He was sitting behind his desk, leaning back in his chair, his feet on the desk while reading the newspaper when Darbus came storming into his office, slamming the door behind her.
"Darbus, what are you doing here?!" he demanded as he stood up.
"We need to talk, Bolton!"
"Talk away."
"I am sick of this school's athletics taking preference over the cultural experiences of art, music, and drama."
"Well, how do you think you can afford those cultural experiences? If it weren't for my athletics and the money it brings in, you wouldn't have your precious drama department!"
She humphed and just stared him.
"What's the matter, cat got your tongue?"
"You're impossible!" she shouted.
"And you're a snob!" he replied.
"Scoundrel!"
"Drama Queen!"
"Jock!"
Darbus's ranting was silenced as Bolton grabbed hold of her arms and pulled her into a kiss. It wasn't an elegant kiss, nor was it tender or romantic, but it was meant to convey everything that Bolton wanted to say to Darbus.
Darbus pulled away and smacked Bolton hard across the cheek. She paused for a moment, just staring at him then she did the last thing in the world she thought she'd ever do. She reached over and pulled Jack Bolton into a passionate kiss.
The kiss that followed took him by surprise. Unlike the spontaneous kiss he'd just given her, this one was premeditated and deliberate. No mere brush of their lips this time, but a slow, intentional one. This kiss invited and offered and conceded all at the same time. Hands explored forbidden territories, searching for oases of delight. She turned on her heel and left a stunned coach in her wake.
Jack fell back into one of the extra chairs in his office. He'd kissed Katherine Darbus! Why in the world would he kiss Katherine Darbus?! Something inside him had snapped as she called him names, her eyes held a fire that he'd always admired, but never wanted to admit.
As she turned the corner, Katherine stopped and leaned against the wall. Her hand went to her lips which still hummed from the kiss. Jack Bolton had kissed her! And she'd kissed him back! Where was her head?! Was she losing her mind?!
"Temporary insanity," she whispered to herself. She straightened her dress and headed for the safety of her office.