Chapter Two
Harriet and Diana moved to an apartment complex in Manhattan. She was living in 'the city that never sleeps' and experiencing it full throttle. Back in Huntsville, it was always quiet and everybody went to sleep at the same time. New York was different. Diana felt more protected there, because she knew that people were awake in case anything happened. She also liked knowing that even though she was asleep, something productive was happening.
After moving to New York, Diana started a new school. She was enrolled into a private school for the exceptionally gifted. On her first day at A.G.C, Academy for Gifted Children, she made many friends.
"Hi! My name is Diana, what's yours?"
"My name is Meagan and this is my twin brother, Scott," Meagan said.
"What? Oh, Hi," Scott said, not sure at first why he had heard his name. "Yes, my name is Scott Livingston, Meagan's my twin sister. Our birthday is May 4th. We live in the Upper East Side. We-"
"You do realize that your rambling on don't you," Meagan asked knowing that this would embarrass Scott, he always rambled on when he got nervous, and he always got nervous around girls, except for Meagan of course.
"I'm not rambling I'm merely stating random, but important, facts about myself."
"Last time I looked in the dictionary, the definition of rambling was somewhere along those lines," Diana laughed flashing her killer smile. They both laughed with her.
Scott and Meagan became her two best friends. Meagan, in Diana's opinion was a real-life Barbie. She had straight platinum blonde hair that fell over her shoulders, and the coolest eyes, they were ocean color. Sometimes Diana envied Meagan for her looks. Diana had light brown hair, with a few streaks of blonde and hazel eyes. Diana knew she was pretty, but she wanted to be blonde and blue eyed so badly. Scott was an adorable first grade boy. Everything about him was adorable; you could just tell he was going to be a gorgeous teenager. He had dirty blonde hair that curled perfectly around his little face, and brown eyes that were the color of melted chocolate.
Even as a six-year old, his looks were not ignored. Diana definitely realized how cute Scott was; she even had a little crush on him. That was why she had wanted to become his friend. Soon after her first days at A.G.C, Diana became the most-liked girl in her grade. It stayed that way throughout elementary, middle, and high school.
Many other things happened when they moved to New York too. When Diana was in third grade, she had a young teacher, Mr. Learner. Diana happened to excel tremendously in his class; therefore, he wanted to have a parent-teacher conference with her mother. He did not know that Diana's father had passed away, so he had actually told her that he wanted to meet both her parents. After he asked her to tell her parents, she started to cry.
"Mr. Learner?" she cried.
"Yes?" he said finally looking up from his papers and seeing that Diana was crying, "What's wrong, Diana?"
"You asked me to tell my parents that you wanted to see them."
"Yes?"
"Well, well, a couple of of years ago um…"
"What a couple of years ago?"
"Well um um my father died a couple of years ago," Diana said and then she started sobbing.
"Oh, I'm so sorry I did not know I would have been more careful if I had known. Okay so just tell your mother to come. Okay."
"Okay," Diana nodded, she started to calm down once Meagan and Scott had come to her side to give her their special hug. They called a Di sandwich, because they were like the bread and they squished her in between them.
That was not the most drastic thing that happened to Diana- well technically it happened to Harriet, but whatever- not by a long shot. The crazy thing that happened was that her mom fell in love with someone. That someone was Mr. Learner. It all happened so fast that Diana was not sure if it really happened. It all started after Diana's outburst. That day Diana came home to tell her mother about the parent-teacher conference.
"Mom?" Diana called to her apartment.
"I'm in the kitchen, honey." Her mom answered back.
"Oh okay, I just have something to tell you about school."
"What is it? Is your junior-high level math, too hard? Math was always my worst subject."
"No mom, it's about my advanced English class."
"Oh what's wrong? I thought you loved writing?"
"Nothings wrong, and I do love writing, and English is my favorite class."
"Oh so what did you want to tell me then?"
"The thing is, that Mr. Learner, my teacher, he thinks that I'm the best in his class, maybe even too good for my class. But I'm in the highest English class."
"And?"
"And he wants to meet you and talk to you about it I guess. He just said to tell you that he wants to have a parent-teacher conference; all you have to do is call the school. He's extension 455 and then you can leave a message."
"What would I say in the message?"
"Oh, he just wants you to call and set up a time for the meeting."
"Okay I'll call right now." Harriet said while dialing the phone number. "455?"
"Yes."
The phone rang three times, the operator asked for the extension. After that, the phone rang two more times, but did not go to a voice mail. That meant someone had picked up the phone, she assumed it was Diana's teacher.
"Hello this is Mrs. Rellik, Diana's mother; she said you wanted to set up a time for a meeting."
"Oh yes, Diana's mother. I wanted to have a meeting with you to talk about Diana. She is very gifted you know. You must be such a good mother to have a raised a child like her on your own." Mr. Learner said, not realizing that he made a slip.
"Oh, Diana told her about her father then."
"Oh, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to say it like that, it just slipped out, I feel awful," he apologized.
"Oh don't worry its fine, you would have probably found out anyway, but we want to keep that as private as possible so…"
"Sure, I completely understand I'm so sorry."
"You do?"
"What, Oh yeah, I mean my husband didn't die," he laughed, and surprisingly so did Harriet, "but my brother was bi-polar, and a part of him liked taking risks, so he jumped off the Brooklyn bridge."
"Oh! I'm so sorry I didn't mean to bring it up."
"You didn't bring it up, I did, and I just wanted to let you know that there are people who you can talk to if you want, just know you're not alone."
"Thanks. So about the meeting?"
"How about tonight, at my house? I have all of my student's addresses and it just so happens that I live in the same complex as you."
"Oh really, that's very convenient."
"It is. I'm in apartment 2B."
"Oh wow, that's really convenient. We live in 2D, right next door."
"Funny to think that we've been neighbors, and not properly introduced."
"That is funny. So how about I drop by around seven."
"It's a date."
"What?"
"Oh sorry, I just always say that, it's a force of habit."
"That's fine. I'm looking forward to meeting you."
"The feeling's mutual."
"So long," and with that they hung up.
"Wow mom, you were on the phone for a long time. How long does it take to plan a time for a meeting?"
"Sweetie," her mother said, "we just got off topic, and started talking about something unrelated to the meeting."
"Like what?"
"Oh well your teacher mentioned your father."
"Oh, yes, I told him about daddy, well not everything, just that that, you know..."
"Yes, I know it's hard to talk about it but maybe it would be good to get it out into the open, get all your feelings off your chest."
"I don't like that idea. Maybe I could talk about it a little but I am not ready to delve into my emotions, it's just too hard and too soon."
"I understand, I just wanted to let you know that there are people you can talk to if you want, just know you're not alone, you can talk to me anytime you're ready."
After she said that, she realized that those were Mr. Learner's exact words to her-minus the ending, but it was implied- on the phone. It took a very sincere person to say that, especially to someone that he didn't even know. Harriet suddenly had a great appreciation for him. She decided to take him up on his offer and she called him back.
"Hello Mr. Learner, this is Mrs. Rellik again."
"Oh, yes, by the way, call me John."
"Okay, John, I want to take you up on your offer."
"What?"
"I want to talk to someone, to help get over it, and make it better."
"Okay. How about after we talk about Diana, we could talk about you?"
"That would be great thanks so much; you don't know how much I appreciate what you are doing for me. Diana says you are her favorite teacher, and I don't blame her, you seem like a really nice and sincere guy."
"I wouldn't go that far," John said with a smile.
"You're smiling aren't you?" Harriet asked.
"How did you know?"
"I could hear your smile from the way you talk."
"And?"
"I'm sure you have one of those smiles that can make a woman weak in the knees." Harriet could not believe that she had just blurted that out, but it did seem like the right thing to say, when she thought about it.
"Why? Is it working on you?"
"I'm sitting down, so I don't know, but I'm sure it would have the right effect on me."
"Right, so I'll see you soon? It's six-thirty"
"I guess it is. I might come a little before seven, you don't mind do you?"
"Not at all, come right over, you do have a pretty far walk," he joked.
"Yeah, two feet is pretty far, I don't know if I can make it."
"Well I think we should hang up now, so we'll actually get to meet in person."
"Okay. See you soon."
For some reason Diana's mother felt like changing into her best outfit that night. She wasn't so sure why, but she soon realized that even before meeting Mr. Learner, she was attracted to him. In the apartment next door, John was doing the same thing, for the same reason. He unbuttoned his oxford shirt so that she would see his six-pack. Just speaking to her on the phone gave John this strange sensation, he couldn't imagine what seeing her in person would do to him. He heard a knock on the door and knew that he was about to find out.
"Hi," Harriet said in awe, as he opened the door. John was the most gorgeous man she had ever seen. He had a six-pack, but that was not even his most striking feature. He also had these amazing piercing blues eyes, and Harriet could not stop staring. She knew it was a stupid thing to do, every time people who were attracted to each other- and she could tell John was attracted to her- looked into each other's eyes, they would start feeling a tingling sensation. With the two of them though it was different, it was more intense, they were not just attracted but they were in love. It was love at first sight.
"So," John said nervously. She was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen, and John was nervous enough around ugly women, how was he going to stay in the same room as her for a minute, without having a seizure. Not only did she have a killer body, but she also had the most amazing eyes. They were hazel, just like her daughter's, and for some reason he needed to keep their eyes locked, and she agreed. He could tell because she didn't shy away from him, and look down, not at all, she kept his stare, and at that moment, he never wanted to blink again.
"Do you want to talk about Diana first, or do you want to be my personal psychologist first?" The way Harriet had asked him the question made John think that there was a hidden implication to her words, but he thought that was just his mind playing tricks on him.
"What?" He asked flustered by Harriet.
"You called me for a parent-teacher conference, so let's begin there and work our way to the harder part." There it was again. The way she said it made his hands start to sweat and he had to rub them against his pants.
"Yes, sure, that's a good place to start."
"So?"
"Oh right that's my cue. I just wanted to let you know that Diana is ready for college-level writing."
"That's what I thought, is that all?"
"Yep. That just about sums it all up."
"Okay. Before I tell you anything else, you need to promise me something."
"Sure, anything, as long as it does not involve me paying you a million dollars."
"Aw shucks, how'd you know?" They both couldn't contain their laughter, they felt so open with one another, they knew that no matter what the other would still love and care about them. Love. It was the right feeling; they were both thinking the same thing. They both knew that they loved each other, and they didn't even have to say a word.
"So what did you want me to promise you?"
"Confidentiality. Whatever is said and done tonight during our little 'session'."
"Yeah?"
"It stays between the two of us."
"I can handle that."
"Okay, so three years ago my husband died. He committed suicide."
"You were that bad of a wife?" John said as a joke but it was too late.
"Actually I think I was."
After that came the water works, Harriet started sobbing, she leaned her head on John's shoulder and cried.
"Oh, Harriet, please stop crying," John begged on the verge of tears. When she cried like that, it made John feel like a saw was cutting up his heart. "I'm so sorry. It's just my stupid huge mouth."
"It's okay," Harriet said in between sobs.
"No, you know what it's not okay, and I am a big idiot, its just I get nervous when I'm around people I love. I feel like I always need to say the right thing and I end up saying the wrong thing."
"Did you just say you loved me?"
"Well, I guess I did, and it's true, I love you like I never loved anyone else," John blurted.
"I think I love you too."
"You do?"
"Uh huh." and with that, John cupped her cheek in his hand, and gave her the most amazing kiss of his life. It was a kiss that he felt from his head to his toes, he felt like he was floating in the air. John did not want this kiss to end. It was perfect. After a while, they had to get up for air.
"That that that was," John stuttered, looking at Harriet's face and leaning in to kiss her again.
"Stop, I I I can't do this, its wrong." Diana's mother said feeling stupid.
"What, I don't understand?" John asked perplexed.
"It's too soon, we just met, and Joe, what would-"
"My name is John."
"I know. Oh Joe what did I do, I feel horrible."
"What? Who is Joe?"
"No," she said, pushing her face against his sofa. "Joe was my husband, Diana's father, you know he he-"
"I know, oh I'm the biggest imbecile on the face of the earth, I should've known, why am I so insensitive and blunt? Why? Why? Why?" John said smacking his hand against his forehead with each word.
"Don't blame yourself, it's not your fault," Harriet said with a laugh, as she stroked his arm to comfort him, "I had a bad past, don't hurt yourself because of me."
"I know, okay, so how about we pretend like none of this happened and I go back to being your personal psychiatrist."
"Sure, but doctor," she said jokingly, "If you're diagnosing me with amnesia, can I at least remember the good part of tonight."
"Yes, and what would that be?"
"Falling in love. With you." Harriet sang, and then just as if he was her psychiatrist, she talked about all her emotions out in the open. And it felt good, she was happy to get it off her chest.
"Honey I'm home," Harriet called, assuming that Diana was still awake.
"Yeah Mom?"
Harriet instantly felt bad, she realized she had woken Diana up because she never said "yeah," unless she was only half-conscious or something was wrong. She looked at the clock on the wall. It read nine o' clock. Diana never went to bed past eight fifteen. Had she really been next door for two whole hours? After the fact, Harriet figured that it was possible
"I'm so sorry I woke you up, I guess I lost track of time."
"I guess so too." She said groggily, "How was your meeting? You do realize that you made a two minute meeting into a two hour meeting."
"I'm aware of that."
"So what do you have to say for coming home one hour, fifty eight minutes, and twenty seven seconds late?"
"I had a very nice time and it was a very productive meeting."