I head straight to the garage. No time to pack.
Chapter Two
Ava
The job is yours.
Four simple words that represent a new opportunity.
I walk across the chic, modern lobby at the hotel and step into the waiting elevator to my room on the seventh floor. The school’s paying; I would never spend this much on lodging. They’re also paying for my flight back to Osaka.
My phone rings with a call from Bennie. I answer and slip into my room.
“Hey,” I say. “Sorry I couldn’t talk earlier. I was still at the school.”
“Don’t worry about it. I just couldn’t wait, and forgot you’re two hours behind. How did it go?”
I kick off my pumps and flex my toes on the cool, smooth floor. Ahh. So much better. “Got the job! Mr. Liu offered on the spot.”
Bennie’s whoop is ear-splitting. “I knew it! I knew it the minute he offered to fly you to Chiang Mai and put you up in that swanky hotel. You know it isn’t normal for them to do that.”
That’s true. Most schools aren’t that generous with recruiting, and usually they expect potential hires to pay a lot of the expenses. But the school owner is very interested in having me work for him.
“Bet he thinks you walk on water,” Bennie says.
I chuckle. Bennie’s my roommate and my best friend, and always has my back. “Not quite.”
“Sure he does. His son was a total psycho when he first arrived and didn’t want to speak any English. Then a semester with you, and voila! He improved so much I almost didn’t recognize him. I mean, before, he would barely say hi.”
“He was just shy.” And rebellious. And angry that his father got a new wife. Nicky didn’t care that his mother was dead or his father had a right to be happy. The second marriage was a betrayal as far as the boy was concerned. It took me six weeks to make him see that it wasn’t. He returned to his family after the exchange program, but he kept in touch.
“Nicky adores you. He never liked English much and had behavioral issues, but those seem to have been resolved,” the Chinese billionaire from Hong Kong had said in lightly accented but otherwise impeccable English when we met for the interview. “I think it speaks to your ability as a teacher.”
“I’m very flattered, Mr. Liu.”
“I believe our school would benefit from having a teacher such as you.”
I merely smiled. It’s one thing to receive praise, but quite another to agree with it. Asians and their modesty.
“This interview isn’t just about you trying to impress us, Ms. Huss, but also for us to impress you. I understand you are happy at your current school.”
“It’s a great place.”
A middle school—which means my students aren’t under pressure to take college entrance exams. So many Japanese high school kids seem ready to crumble under the expectations imposed upon them by themselves and their parents. Every time I see them rushing from club activities to cram schools, my heart squeezes a bit.
“You should take the job,” Bennie says, interrupting my reveries. “Unless the pay’s bad.”
“Seriously? And leave a troublemaker like you behind in Osaka?”
He scoffs. “This is probably going to be my last contract. I’m thinking about going back to the States next year.”
“You are?” I sit down, slightly stunned. “What about Drew?”
He’s Bennie’s boyfriend of two years. He comes by almost every day and never forgets a birthday or anniversary. In addition, he brings gifts just because, and from the sounds they make in Bennie’s room, Drew’s great in bed. Bennie and I have dubbed him Mr. Perfect.
“I have to go,” Bennie says abruptly. “I forgot I have to submit my grades by tonight.”
“Grades?”