A Valentine Surprise

Copyright © 2012 Lisa Page.

All rights reserved.

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“Miss Hart, I don't think I'm doing this right,” sighed Allie, a first grader who was struggling with the art project that the class was working on.

Kendra Hart put her hand on Allie's shoulder. “You are doing great! There is no right way to do it, Allie, just use your creativity.”

The class was busy working on transforming boxes that once contained shoes or oatmeal into festive pink and red heart covered mailboxes to hold cards and candy for their Valentine's Day party.

As Kendra walked through the rows of desks looking over their work, she found it interesting how the boys in the class just seemed to slap their boxes haphazardly together, not really caring too much about the finished product. The girls, however, were putting a lot of care into those boxes that would be holding messages of love.

It all starts so young, she thought, the notion of romance and finding that Prince Charming who will sweep you off your feet and treat you like a princess. Valentine's Day was just another way to reinforce unrealistic expectations of love. Once, she thought she had found her own Prince Charming, but in the end, Mark Woodward turned out to be anything but charming.

Oh, he started out as a perfect gentleman, holding open doors and pulling out chairs, sending her flowers for no reason and buying her expensive gifts. He spoiled her and made her truly feel like a princess. She had been so looking forward to their first Valentine's Day together. She could only imagine the wonderful things he'd surprise her with on the most romantic of holidays. Unfortunately, the surprise that Mark had planned was to start the new year by breaking off the relationship. She felt like she'd been hit by a truck with the news, completely taken by surprise. They had never even fought, everything was going great. So she thought. It turned out he had been cheating on her. Prince Charming had moved on to a new princess and her name was Ashley.

“Miss Hart,” a little voice shook her out of her thoughts.

“Yes, Ashley?”

The little girl crinkled her nose in confusion. “Who's Ashley? My name is Allie.”

“Oh, of course it is, sweetie, I'm sorry. Did you need help with something?” Kendra felt her cheeks flush.

“Isn't it time to go to gym?”

Kendra looked at the clock as a feeling of panic came over her. Thank goodness some her students could tell time as it seemed she lost track of it way more than a teacher should.

“Oh dear, yes it is! Boys and girls, please leave your projects on your desks and line up for gym. We'll have time to finish your boxes after lunch at the end of the day.”

She hustled the class quickly down the hall to meet Mr. Bennett who was standing outside of the gym, waiting for them. She and Josh Bennett had been hired the same day, two weeks before school had started and they became quick friends, leaning on each other as they learned the ropes at their new school. She knew Josh had her back. She also knew that every time she was late bringing her kids down to him, he'd have some wisecrack comment for her. And she kind of looked foreward to it.

As they got closer to the gym, Kendra could see the twinkle in his eye. “I know, I know,” she said with a smile on her face.

“Only seven minutes late, I'm impressed! I think that must be a new record. So who reminded you today?”

Little Allie jumped up and down, her face lit up with a proud grin. “It was me!”

Kendra laughed as the students ran into the gym. “One of these days, I will remember on my own, mark my words!”

*

Later that afternoon, after bringing her students to the cafeteria, Kendra entered the teachers' lounge where she found her friend, Libby, grading a stack of papers while eating a sandwich. “I have news for you,” she told Kendra. “News you probably won't like.”

“Please don't tell me they are engaged!  Anything else, I think I can handle,” Kendra said as she grabbed her lunch out of the fridge and popped it in the microwave.

Libby was Kendra's inside scoop to Mark and Ashley because her roommate, Jess, worked with Ashley. Apparently Ashley was as self-centered and cold as she was beautiful and Jess had no problem keeping tabs on her and getting the dirt that she'd report back to Libby who reported Kendra.

It was because of this inside information that Kendra found out about Ashley in the first place. Mark had let her know that there was indeed “someone else” in the picture but wouldn't give out any other information. It was through Jess that Kendra soon learned that Ashley was the “someone else” and that it had been going on for a lot longer than she had imagined. That made the already painful breakup sting even more.

“
They aren't engaged, yet. But maybe they will be after Valentine's Day. He's taking her to Chez Michel.”

Kendra's sat down and plopped her microwaved lunch down on the table in front of her. She felt her heart drop into her stomach. “Chez Michel? Really?”

Chez Michel was not where you went on a casual date. Chez Michel was the most romantic restaurant in the tri-state area. It is where you went to celebrate love. Engagements, anniversaries, the special times in your life. Though she'd never been there before, it was where Kendra had hoped Mark would take her for their first Valentine's Day together.

Libby looked at her friend, her hazel eyes full of sympathy. “I almost didn't want to tell you, and I have to say, I think I'm done with any Ashley updates. It's been almost a month and I hate seeing your heart break over and over. You need to push both of those low life snakes out of your mind and get on with your life. You deserve so much better, Ken.”

“Wiser words were never spoken by a first grade teacher,” came a voice behind them. Kendra knew even without turning around that it was Josh. He sat down and smiled at them. “I assume you're talking about Mark again, am I right? Don't even waste your time thinking about him. There are tons of men out there who would do anything for a date with you, ones who I'm sure would treat you much better than that jerk.”

Kendra smiled at her friend. “Thanks, Josh, I appreciate the pep talk. I don't even want to think about dating again, not right now, anyways. And I
am
trying to forget about him, but it is so hard. Everything that I see reminds me of him. It was just a hard breakup, I thought everything was so perfect, and while I was a swooning lovesick puppy, he and Ashley were laughing at me behind my back the whole time.” She put her head into her hands. “How could I have been such a fool?”

Then she looked up suddenly, her eyes twinkling as an idea began to form in her mind. “You know what I should do, what would really show them that I'm not a fool who is still in love?”

Libby looked puzzled. “But you are. Still in love, I mean, not a fool.”

“
Thanks, Lib. I just want to show them that they didn't hurt me and that I've moved on without a second thought.”

“
How are you going to show them that?” Libby asked, still puzzled.

“
I'm going to be at Chez Michel with a hot date who will be all over me. Mark will see exactly what he lost and realize that
he
is the fool.”

Libby raised an eyebrow. “Um, I don't think that's a good idea AT ALL. First of all, Valentine's Day is only a week away, there's no way you could even get a reservation there if you wanted to.”

Kendra smiled at her, eyes twinkling. “Not if I already have a reservation.”

“
What? How did you get a reservation there?”

“
Well, I made one a long time ago, thinking that I would be there for a romantic dinner with Mark. And then he broke up with me. But, I just didn't have the heart to cancel it yet. I guess I was thinking maybe things would change...”

“
Oh, Ken, that's so sad.” Libby was shaking her head. “Anyways, even if you do have a reservation, I think you're missing another big part of this plan. The hot date. You just said yourself that you don't feel like jumping into the dating pool again, yet you think you can find a boyfriend by next week?”

“
Well, not a real boyfriend, anyways. I just need to find someone to pretend to be my boyfriend.”

Josh cleared his throat, but Kendra was too lost in thought to notice. She went on with her plan, “Someone to play the part, a guy who is better looking than Mark and who can act like he's crazy about me. Do you have any good looking guy friends or relatives, Libby? What about that guy who lives across the hall from you, he was pretty cute. What's his name again? Tell him I will pay him ”

“His name is Derek and he moved out last month. Really, though, this is completely crazy, you know that don't you?”

Kendra didn't answer, she just picked at her lunch while brainstorming ideas for who could play her pretend lover.

“What about your cousin Jeff? He is super hot!” Libby had stars in her eyes every time she mentioned the name of Kendra's cousin. She met him the summer before at Kendra's birthday party and kept hinting to Kendra that she wanted to see him again.

“
My cousin? Are you kidding? That's just gross! How can I pretend that I'm in love with my cousin? Not going to happen! Well, that is unless I get desperate, I suppose. But I'd prefer someone not related to me. Someone who I could really pretend that I'm falling in love with.” Kendra was interrupted by the sound of Josh clearing his throat again. They both turned to look at him.

“
Are you okay?” Libby asked him. “I know there's something going around in my class, I have six kids out, you better stock up on Vitamin C.”

“
Um, no, I'm not sick,” Josh said, “I just think I know someone who would be perfect for the job.”

“
Who?” Libby and Kendra asked him at the same time.

“
Me, of course!”

“
You?” They both answered in surprise. Kendra looked him over, closely. The wavy hair that was too long and hung around his face, the five o'clock shadow and the baggy sweats did not scream sex appeal. She bit her lip trying to think of a nice way to tell him he probably wasn't right for the role without hurting his feelings. He was still her friend after all. Before she could say anything, he started pleading his case.

“
I'd love to help you, especially after all these days of listening to what this jerk put you through. Seriously, you don't even have to pay me, you're my friend and I want to help. Who else are you going to get?”

His last statement made her give him a second look. She had never really looked closely at him before. He did have amazing blue eyes, why didn't she ever notice how blue they were? Great skin under that shadow. And he had the kind of infectious smile that no one could resist, even as only a friend, she'd noticed that smile on the first day she met him.

Hmmm...
she thought, maybe if I could get him to cut his hair and lose the five o'clock shadow, get him a nice suit...it just might work. And he was right, with V-day only a week away, what if she couldn't find anyone else?

“
You are so sweet to want to help me, Josh, but do you think we could pull it off?”

As if reading her mind, he answered, “If by 'pulling it off' you really mean do I have anything in my closet besides sweatshirts with sports team logos, then yes, I think you will be surprised by what I have hiding in my closet.”

“Ok, great! Wait, is that a metaphor for something that I'm not getting?”

Josh laughed. Kendra thought he had a great laugh, it was like his smile, very infectious. “Yes, laugh like that when we're at dinner, I want Mark to think that you think I'm witty and funny.”

“And, if you need further convincing that I'm your man, I have a secret weapon that can ensure us that we'll be seated close enough to Mark that he will definitely notice you.”