Slow Burn - Part 4 (My Original Short Stories) by ezzy

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story · @ezzy · (edited)
$39.98
Slow Burn - Part 4 (My Original Short Stories)
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<h2>Reichart squinted hard at the computer monitor in his office. Sunlight filtered in through the blinds dousing the screen with several bright horizontal strips of light. After quickly weighing up having a darkened room or reading his e-mails without ruining his eyesight, he chose the latter. Glancing up at the large, Pacific Lifestyle&nbsp;clock in the corner of the room, he readied himself for the upcoming meeting with Mrs. Bailey. She was characteristically a very punctual lady and the distress in her voice when they spoke on the phone earlier proved a legitimate cause for concern.</h2>
<p>Returning to his seat after turning the blinds down, he read through the newly drafted letter for a fifth time. Reichart was a pragmatic man, yet had an attention to detail few others had the patience for. His wife, Debbie, had grown accustomed to his meticulous nature over the years and now in a way actually admired him for it. The consummate professional if ever there was one and a husband to be proud of.</p>
<p>The fine-tuning finally out of the way, he took a second to check over&nbsp;his handy work. Although essentially condemning the career of Dwayne Shoeman through the use of a well-structured, carefully constructed document, he couldn’t help but feel a modicum of sympathy for the man. Clearly he wasn’t the trouble making sort and Reichart was only too aware of his current financial failings heard “through the grapevine”, so to speak. But he could not let Dwayne in on his being privy to this secret knowledge, of course. &nbsp;</p>
<p>With a deep sigh, he saved the completed document onto his desktop and relaxed back into his high-back leather recliner, hands clasped behind his head. “Well, Dwayne, you made your bed. I suppose you’ve gotta lie in it now.” he muttered softly with a slight hint of pity behind it. He did realise the letter was just as much to clear his own name as well as indict Dwayne of all wrongdoings.&nbsp;</p>
<p><em>“You can never be too careful these days.” </em>was just one of Reichart’s famous mottos.</p>
<p>A sudden knock on the office door startled him from his lazy repose. “One moment please.” he called out. Hurrying to the mirror hanging on the wall to his left, he straightened his tie as well as brush off any dust particles that had gathered on his tailor-made suede jacket.&nbsp;</p>
<p>He took one last look at himself from either side before heading for the door. Upon opening it, he was greeted by Mrs. Bailey, a slender woman approaching her late thirties. She wore a long dress patterned with light blue flowers on a white background. Her long, jet black hair was tied back in a ponytail and flowed all the way down to her lower back as she made her way into the office. Reichart always displayed a certain charm when around ladies and made no exceptions to the attractive looking Mrs. Bailey.</p>
<p>He gestured his hand to invite her to take a seat. “Please come in. Hope you didn’t meet much traffic on the way up here.” said with a friendly smile and subtle flash of glistening white teeth.</p>
<p>She returned a smile of her own. “The usual as always. Nothing I couldn’t handle. But I must say, beautiful as the day is, the heat outside is just physical draining. Makes you really look forward to the evenings when temperatures are just perfect.”</p>
<p>“Couldn’t agree more, Mrs. Bailey.” he said making his way back to the comfort of his recliner. The nervousness he had felt previously was subsiding fast due to the fact she was much more accommodating than he had anticipated her to be. A much unexpected turn of events, he thought with an air of confusion.</p>
<p>“Oh please, call me Grace.” She said. “No need to be so formal.”</p>
<p>“Likewise, Grace, please call me Nathan. It’s great being able to finally meet up to speak with you about Gina, though sadly not under the circumstances I would have preferred it to be. I was of course going to call you for arranging a time this week to discuss the whole debacle of what happened with Gina yesterday.”&nbsp;</p>
<p>The smile from Grace faded as she nodded in agreement to his words. “That's fine, Nathan. Well, thank you for seeing me at such short notice. I rang this morning to meet you as some new information on this matter has come to my attention from last night. Gina and I had a long chat about yesterday’s events as you can imagine. I mean, our lives have been thrown into turmoil over this for the last 24 hours or so.”&nbsp;</p>
<p>Nathan listened very carefully wondering where this conversation was leading. “Sure, totally understandable given the gravity of the situation.” he chimed in.</p>
<p>“Yes, well, it seems that my Gina and Mr. Shoeman have been having problems with each other since way before the assault yesterday. She told me she felt bullied and singled out from the rest of the class so unfortunately the pot has been simmering for a while now. Remember, I only found out about all this last night. Anyways, we’ve been having personal issues at home lately too and this has all been building up over time within her. She’s not the most well behaved girl at the best of times, I realise that. But yesterday evening, she did make a confession to me that I thought&nbsp;you ought to know about.”</p>
<p>Intrigued, Nathan politely urged her to continue only guessing as to what he might hear from Grace’s mouth next.&nbsp;</p>
<p><strong>“Well, this is really awkward for me. The thing is… She made up the sexual assault allegation. Yes, it’s simply not true. She really feels awful about the whole affair but at least she has owned up to it now before it goes any further.”</strong></p>
<p>Nathan was taken aback by this new revelation, however remained composed and professional in his role as Principal of Scottsdale High. “Wow, I find this is, erm… astounding to say the least. Why spin such a yarn surely knowing full well the severity and implications of such charges. I mean, I did meet briefly with Mr. Shoeman in my office yesterday and witnessed the outburst of a, not to sound too dramatic, a broken man, so to speak. Any idea as to why Gina had such a change of heart to come clean now? I mean, she is old enough to clearly understand right from wrong.”</p>
<p>Grace was now getting visibly emotional as she started to speak. Nathan offered up some tissues from his office desk before the tears started to flow, but was respectfully declined. “Well, some of her friends did come over late last night to offer moral support I suppose. They must have found out the truth and convinced her of not ruining a man’s life and career over trivial differences from the past. This is very embarrassing for me to admit that my daughter is capable of making up such damaging lies over something as simple as a personality clash, Nathan. But as I mentioned, she feels just dreadful about the sordid affair and if possible, wants to just put the whole thing behind her now.” &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>
<p>Nathan caressed his chin with long artistic&nbsp;fingers, mulling over a number of different options for him to consider in the light of this new information. “Right, well, this poses a real dilemma for me, Grace.” he said assuredly. “On the one hand, a most serious false allegation has been made against an admittedly good teacher with a near perfect track record here at Scottsdale. But on the other hand, the incident in the classroom yesterday which is a crime unto itself and also to be taken extremely seriously indeed.” He gazed at the clock in the corner of the office for several seconds, lost in thought.</p>
<p>Grace spoke up, breaking his concentration. “Well, Nathan, as I mentioned previously, no formal charges have been made as of yet. So any implications pertaining to&nbsp;either Gina’s allegation or yesterday’s altercation have yet to be registered in a legal sense. So, we are quite happy to put everything behind us and just move forward from here on. Would that be possible? We don’t want Mr. Shoeman’s career destroyed over this and, strictly between us, Gina has actually admitted to provoking him into lashing out yesterday. Not to condone what Mr. Shoeman did was right in any way, shape or form. But all she wants is to do right from now on. A clean slate, if you will.”</p>
<p>Nathan felt he was put in a very difficult predicament. He weighed up the two events in his mind considering each one cautiously. He was a decisive person by nature (partly the reason why he was the selected candidate when applying for the position of Scottsdale High principal seven years ago). Therefore it didn’t take long for him to conditionally choose a preferable course of action though he firstly needed to be absolutely sure of all the facts and so required a day or two to confirm his choice.</p>
<p>He leaned over and rested his arms on the desk, speaking at a notably lowered volume now. “I think we can come to some arrangement. I can’t promise you anything at this stage as I must take into consideration that there were witnesses present when&nbsp;the incident occurred in the classroom. However, as I say, leave it with me for now. When do you think Gina will be ready to come back to school?”</p>
<p>“Tomorrow she will start regular attendance again.” Grace said. “Thank you ever so much for this. Don’t get me wrong, Mr. Shoeman. I make no pretences to the fact that Gina was viciously assaulted yesterday and I am fuming over this still. She is my daughter after all. But after long deliberations with her and the rest of the family last night, we would like the matter resolved as we have discussed today. Given the bigger picture regarding Mr. Shoeman and all.”</p>
<p>Nathan was still deep in thought, figuring out the best course of action. “Leave it with me, Grace.” he said a few moments later. “I’ll move the cogs into place and start the wheels turning. It’s a very delicate situation which merits being handled with the utmost care. But, I will have an answer for you by tomorrow afternoon at the very latest. Is that OK with you, Grace?”</p>
<p>“Marvellous, Nathan. At least this will lessen the pressure we've all been under.”, Grace said seemingly almost relieved. Nathan did find this slightly peculiar but just put it down to a family not wanting to go through the ordeal of court cases and legal battles, especially given that the underlying allegation itself was untrue. They both got up out of their seats simultaneously. Nathan approached Grace and shook her hand.</p>
<p>“Well, thank you for coming in and seeing me today. Again, please don’t stress too much over this. I’ll do my best to sort something out, you have my word. Are there any further questions for have for me?” Nation inquired.</p>
<p>Grace made her way to office door. “Thank you, Nathan, that’ll be all for today. You’ve been such a great help. Likewise, if you need to contact me, you have my number. Please don’t hesitate to call anytime if you need to.”</p>
<p>With that, they bid each other farewell for now and Nathan returned back to his comforting recliner. He ran fingers through his slick, gelled hair closing his eyes at the same time.&nbsp;</p>
<p><em>“Shoeman, you lucky son-of-a-bitch.” he muttered breaking out into a sly grin.&nbsp;</em></p>
<p>The revelation of a few moments ago produced a whirlwind of assorted jigsaw pieces in his head. It was just a case of assembling them into a sequential order and building an image that was compatible with the one he was working towards. &nbsp;</p>
<p>He picked a pen from the glass jar at the corner of his desk and twirled it around in his left hand. Constant choices, decisions, puzzling solving, repairing, organising, instructing, helping, coordinating. At times, his job role here at Scottsdale High felt more like police work than educational work. He let out a half-hearted snort. Nathan quite liked the sound of that as playing the part of someone from a law enforcement agency was one of his secret fantasies. The respect and authority associated in that&nbsp;field of work was at the pinnacle of the public social ladder, as far as he was concerned.</p>
<p>In the middle of his pleasurable daydream, he heard a soft knock of the office door. "No rest for the wicked." he sighed as he paced quickly up to the door. Standing before him was Dwayne, looking dishevelled and exhausted. Nathan took one step back. "Dwayne, what are you doing here?" he asked, looking confused and apprehensive. &nbsp;&nbsp;</p>
<p><em>"I need to speak with you. Can I come in please. It'll only take a few moments of your time."&nbsp;</em></p>
<p>Nathan looked him over from head to toe. He was visibly shocked at his crude appearance but needed to talk to him anyway and tried&nbsp;hard to mask his feelings. "Well, you've actually caught me at a good time. Come in, Dwayne."</p>
<h2>Dwayne walked slowly into the office. As Nathan returned to his chair, he adjusted the gun tucked into his back belt strap as he quietly closed the door behind him.&nbsp;&nbsp;</h2>
<h2><em>(To be continued...)</em></h2>
<p>http://i.imgur.com/9APmDxR.jpg</p>
<h2>Hope you enjoyed this short story, please look out for more on the way... (author: @ezzy)&nbsp;</h2>
<h2><a href="https://steemit.com/story/@ezzy/slow-burn-part-1-my-original-short-stories">Slow Burn - Part 1 (My Original Short Stories)</a></h2>
<h2><a href="https://steemit.com/story/@ezzy/slow-burn-part-2-my-original-short-stories">Slow Burn - Part 2 (My Original Short Stories)</a></h2>
<h2><a href="https://steemit.com/story/@ezzy/slow-burn-part-3-my-original-stort-stories">Slow Burn - Part 3 (My Original Short Stories)</a></h2>
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vote details (186)
@brianmurray · 
This is very creative. If you cite the picture at the end, it could qualify for one of the projects here I bet.
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@rea · 
Wow, things are getting very tense! I remember you mentioned this was the last part but it looks like there's more to come.

As always, very interesting and intriguing read. Really wondering where this is going next. All I know is that Nathan is in a whole heap of trouble!

Fantastic story telling and writing skills! Will be watching eagerly for the next part! Well done! :)
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@ezzy · (edited)
Heya, @rea! Thanks for the fantastic comments as always.

Yes, I'm really sorry, I needed to flesh out the characters a little more so definitely the next one is the final part of the story.

Again, really loved writing this and your support is appreciated absolutely no end! 

All the best and thank you so much, @rea.
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@getonthetrain · 
Wonderful writing @ezzy! Top class stuff here man, really. This is right up there with the best short stories I have read in my life. You got me anxious for the next part!
👍  
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@ezzy · 
Too kind, @getonthetrain. The next one is definitely the last part.

Support like yours is so encouraging for me to keep on writing so I thank you from the bottom of my heart for that. :)

Loving your latest post too and as always, can't wait for anything new from you. :)
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@seljalex77 · 
Very good post!
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@ezzy · 
Thank you very much, @seljalex77 :)
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@thecryptofiend · 
Great writing:)
👍  
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@ezzy · 
Thank you so much, my friend! Trying hard to build a portfolio and establish myself here. Your support is very much appreciated!
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@thecryptofiend · 
It is well deserved:)
👍  
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@lapilipinas · 
very creative...
👍  
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@ezzy · 
Bless, @lapilipinas. I try to change things up and experiment with new ideas to see how they turn out. 

Thank you!
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