Don't Dwell in the Past

Okay, so today is the day that the new guy is coming.

I really do want to meet the guy, but why do I have the feeling he is gonna be an arrogant jackass?

Because maybe he is?

Alright, I know I shouldn't judge a book by its cover, especially if it's a book you haven't even seen.

I guess I'll just have to wait until lunch to meet him, because Krantz specifically said that I wasn't to meet him until we all went out for lunch. Why that is, I do not know. Krantz is getting weirder by the minute - and way more suspicious.

So here I am in my office filing some paperwork for some case that I was supposed to be working on. I wasn't really paying attention to what I was doing, so when Kara burst through the door, I dropped everything.

"Oh, my god!" she screamed.

I stared at her in confusion. I was friends with her for five years, but whenever she did that, I still didn't know what was going on.

"Uh, what?" I asked.

"Jess! The new guy is here! I just met him and he is a major HOTTIE!" she screeched.

A major hottie? Yeah, I guess that means he probably is going to be an arrogant jerk.

"What's his name?" I heard myself ask.

She hesitated a minute, but then said, "I don't know, I forgot to ask."

"Bullshit, Kara, I know when you're lying," I replied.

She sighed, "Fine, Jess, you're right. But Krantz said I couldn't tell you his name or else I'd get fired," she said.

That's when I got really mad. What the HELL is going on? Is everyone conspiring against me or somehting? I mean really? Why doesn't Krantz want me to know who he is?

"Jess?" Kara said timidly, "Jess, please don't get mad at me. You'll meet him in an hour anyway. It's not that long. Steph, you, and me are going together. Krantz said we were meeting them at Hallaway. Its that new restaurant on 12th and 5th," she babbled.

I just rolled my eyes. "Fine," I said, "and I'm not mad at you. I'm mad at Krantz."

"Okay," she tittered nervously, "well, come to my car in 45 minutes and we'll go." And she left, leaving me alone again.

When we went there, I was going to kill Krantz. What the hell was he up to? Why didn't he want me to know who the new transfer was?

(ยง)

The clock struck 12:30 and I fled my office. I went up to the fifth floor where the daycare center was and went to visit my kids.

Krantz was there too.

He looked up and smiled.

I marched up to him. "What the HELL are you doing, Dr. K?" I shrilled.

He put a hand on my shoulder and said, "Jessica, don't be mad. Trust me, this is for the best."

"For the BEST? This is for the BEST? It sure as hell better be!" I yelled.

Then I looked around the room for my kids. They were in the corner staring at me with wide eyes. Oops.

I went over to them and said I was sorry for yelling. They were pretty weirded out that I could yell like that. Then I said I was going out for lunch and would be back in a little while.

Then I went down to Kara's car. Her ans Steph were already there, waiting for me, I guess. I got in the car and we went off. It took around fifteen minutes to get there, but we were actually pretty early. I guess we had a reservation or something.

We sat down at our table and looked at the menus.

Then Steph said, "Look, there he is, Jess," she said and pointed to someone behind me. I didn't care to look, actually. I'd just wait until he introduced himself.

About a minute later Krantz came over with a wavy-haired guy who was obviously well-built. I just rolled my eyes and looked at my menu. The guy sat across from me and his knees bumped against mine as he did so.

I put my menu down to look at the guy. He was talking to Krantz, who was sitting next to him, and his face was turned. I knew that face, though.

Then he turned around to look at me.

That's when I gasped. I was looking in the face of someone I hadn't seen in five years. Someone who had hurt me so much. And now he was sitting right in front of me.

I looked to Krantz and he was biting his bottom lip. He wanted to see how I reacted to seeing a certain someone again. I could kill him for this. For bringing up so many unwanted emotions.

I looked back at him and said, "Rob."

"Mastriani."

That's when I tore myself from my seat and fled - to the bathroom.

Disclaimer: All of the characters you recognize belong to Meg Cabot, the ultimate writer of our time. All of the other characters you don't recognize - and the plot - belong to me.