Prodigal Son (Jensen Family #1) (23 page)

“Michael, we will only be
down the hall a little way and Miss Scott did say she’d bring him to us, let
him help her with the desks.” Monica cajoled.

“Very well,” Michael conceded
“Paul, make sure you behave.”

“I will,” he replied as he
came to stand next to his lover “I always do.” he shot a smirk at his father.

Michael huffed but opened the
door for his wife saying as he did so “What an exceptionally lovely looking
lady.”
His comment causing Paul to scowl after him.

Carmen made sure the door was
shut on the Jensen family “You’re grounded?” she asked.

“Yeah and sore, my backside
looks like it has stripes.” He stepped closer “God I’ve missed you.” He reached
for her then surprised when she allowed him to kiss her.

“I’ve missed you.” She
answered easing herself from his grasp “I take it I won’t be seeing you this
week?”

“Not unless I can persuade
Mum to let me off the hook. At the moment Dad is going to pick me up from my
last job and take me home every night for the foreseeable future.”

“That’s a pity. The bath tub
is far too big for one person.” She shot him a sly smile.

“I’m very tempted to bend you
over the desk and have my wicked way with you right here and now.”

“I’m very tempted to let you
but we both know it’s too risky.” She answered “Come on, help me with these
desks.” She moved away. “If you have any local jobs, I could always pop out at
lunchtime to see you.” She casually dropped the temptation into his
consciousness.

Paul put the end of the desk
down that he had been manoeuvring and reached into the back pocket of his jeans
to retrieve his battered but up to date work diary and quickly flicked to that
week’s work. “I’m not close by until Friday but I could slip away at lunch
time. Do you want to meet me in the park, same place as last time?”

With the time and date agreed
and the science room once again looking presentable, Carmen walked Paul to the
English block. To the outside observer, it looked and sounded as though they
were deep in conversation, discussing the things that Carmen wanted done to her
garden with Paul suggesting alternatives to the usual winter planting regime,
only Matt knew better as he watched his brother, he saw the way Paul’s hand
softly traced down her back as he held the door open and allowed her through
ahead of him.

“I’d be interested in you
giving me a quote.” Carmen said within earshot of his parents.

Paul dug a business card out
of his pocket “Take my card.” He told her “Give me a call or let Matt know when
you are available and I’ll pop over.”

Matt stopped by her desk
before taking his seat on Thursday that week, handing her a note from Paul. The
note told her that he couldn’t make their arranged Friday meeting and as
Michael was still escorting him home from work, he didn’t know when he would
see her again. As the end of the lesson approached, she told Matt to remain
behind after class, asking him to pass a message to his brother that she would
be home Saturday afternoon if he was free to come and give her a quote.

“Make sure you tell him in
front of your parents.” She told him.

Early Saturday afternoon,
Carmen opened her front door to a beaming Paul, his face turned away from
Michael who was standing just behind him.

“Hi Miss
Scott.”
He grinned “I’m a bit
dirty, shall I let myself in through the side gate?” he asked.

Carmen let her eyes travel
down the length of his mud caked clothes “That would be the best idea.” She
replied.

“Paul, I’m going to run a few
errands, how long do you think you’ll be?” Michael stepped back as Paul brushed
past him.

“Oh, it should take about
half an hour. Are you sure you can trust me enough to leave me? Don’t you want
to wait in the car like you usually do?” Paul smirked; he had succeeded in
making his father look like a fool.

“As Miss Scott is one of your
former teachers, I am sure she is more than adept at keeping you in line boy. I
will be back in thirty minutes.” Michael replied.

By the time Carmen had closed
the door and gone through to the back of the house, Paul had stripped off his
top and had started on his jeans.

 “I know it’s been a
while.” Carmen smiled “But don’t you think you are being a little forward?”

“Huh?” he looked up from
unlacing his work boots “Oh, no, I’m not stripping ready for action honest,” he
laughed “I haven’t worked this morning, I only put these clothes on to piss Dad
off, they have left mud and dust all over his white leather seats, I didn’t
want to bring the dirt into the house.”

“I was only kidding, get
naked and get in here.”
Her answer which had Paul nearly
falling over himself in haste.

Sweating and breathless, Paul
glanced at his watch as he snuggled closer to the curvaceous woman at his side
and softly stroked her flushed cheek.

“You do know I’m with you for
more than just the mind blowing sex, don’t you?” He asked.

“That’s a nice sentiment but
it’s a little hard to believe in the circumstances.” she replied.

He propped himself up on one
elbow, looking down at her. “I’m serious, maybe this is the wrong time to be
saying this but with my watch dog due to return in the next few minutes, if I
don’t say this now, I don’t know when I’ll get another chance. Sex with you is
out of this world, there’s no denying that and in all honesty, I was beginning
to question my motives about being with you but this enforced separation has
made me realise how much I enjoy spending time with you, how good you make me
feel. You treat me like an adult for the most part; you listen to me and
discuss things with me as well as take care of me. I like the way you do
things, silly things like turning the bed down before we get into it and the
way you turn your teddy bear to face the wall when we get busy just cracks me
up. I love you Carmen, I’m in love with you and I like who I am when I’m with
you, being apart and not even able to speak to you is killing me, I can’t
concentrate, I’m making stupid mistakes, I can’t eat or sleep, all I do is
think about you and when I might be able to see you again,” he looked up as he
heard a car horn. “Shit, Dad is here. I have to go.”

Carmen reached for him and
pulled him into a kiss “I love you.” She whispered. “Try to get some time away
from your parents if you can, we need to talk about this.”

“Ok,” he slid from the bed
and pulled on his shorts “I’ll try to ring you.” He told her shortly before
jogging down the stairs and throwing on his dirty
clothes,
he hated leaving her and was quiet on the journey home, pretending to make
notes on his quotes pad.

“Don’t think you’ve got a
free afternoon.” Michael told him, reaching for the Hoover, “You can get all
that muck out of my car before you come in for lunch.”

Carmen returned to school as
usual on Monday morning, she hadn’t heard from Paul and found herself thinking
about him constantly, his admittance of his feelings for her had touched a
nerve and everything she had repressed until then came washing over her, she
knew she felt every bit as strongly about him as he did her and that her
actions from here on in had the potential of shaping his young life whether
that was good or bad she was yet to decide.

A cold wind had got up as she
walked to her car a few nights later and she pulled her jacket closed only to
find that it would no longer fasten over her chest. Knowing that the
contentment her young lover bought her had caused her to put on a few pounds,
the shock that this particular jacket, bought large to accommodate a jumper,
wouldn’t do up over her blouse had her frowning and contemplating the snide
remarks she had encountered in the staff room over her expanding chest. Sitting
in the drivers’ seat, she paused before starting the engine and looked down at
her chest, unbuttoning her blouse slightly she saw them spilling out of her bra
and noticed for the first time the blue veins crisscrossing the smooth skin.
Almost as if a light bulb had switched on in her head, she scrabbled in her bag
for her diary, counting back the days since her last cycle, closing the book slowly
and dropping it back into her bag when she realised how long it had been.

It was over a week later when
Paul appeared on her doorstep, finally released from his parents grounding
punishment. During the week, Carmen had made several calls to her best friend
Helen to discuss her predicament. Helen advised her to seek an abortion,
spelling out in no uncertain terms what this would do to her career and calling
into question her morals for continuing her affair with a teenage boy. Helen
went on to explain that being a single parent was horrible, her husband had
left one evening on the pretence of going to buy cigarettes and never returned
leaving her and her almost three year old son Luke on their own with Helen
struggling to earn enough money to keep their house let alone feed her fast
growing son.

“Dad’s away for a few days.”
Paul explained as he helped her prepare dinner “And Mum’s a push over. I can
stay if you want me to.”

“Ok.” She replied.

“Are you alright? You’ve hardly
said a word since I’ve been here.” He stroked her arm.

Carmen looked into those
beautiful dark brown eyes filled with concern and confusion “I’m fine, I had a
tough day at school that’s all.” She smiled “I’d love you to stay.”

She woke in the early hours
of the morning, unable to sleep or lead him on anymore; she shook him awake,
turning on the bedside light, making him squint.

“What’s wrong?” he
asked,
his voice thick with sleep.

“Paul, I can’t do this
anymore,” she started “We have to end this.”

“What?” He sat up “What’s
brought this on?”

“My career is taking off and
we are playing a very dangerous game, I can’t afford to be caught with you and
it’s only a matter of time before one of us slips up. I’m so sorry, I feel like
I’ve led you on. We’re finished, you should go home.”

“I don’t understand,” he
turned around, crouching on his knees “What have I done that’s upset you so
much?”

“You haven’t done anything;
you are such a sweet boy. I have just come to my senses.” She stroked his sleep
messed hair away from his face

“I still don’t get it,” he
brushed her hand away “You cook me dinner and tell me you’d love me to stay
then you milk me dry when we come to bed only to have an epiphany during the
night that makes you want to end everything?”

“It sounds strange but that’s
about it, I know you feel angry and hurt but you’re young, you will find
someone your own age that can make you happy.”

“You make me happy, I don’t
want anyone else. Do you really think I would have kept coming over if I wasn’t
happy or if I didn’t want to be with you?” He was standing now and unbelievably
angry, his anger fuelled by the pain in his chest as her words cut him “If I
wasn’t
happy,
I’d fuck you and leave and wouldn’t give
you or your feelings a second thought.”

“I know and I’m sorry Paul
but I have made my decision, I can’t be with you anymore.”

“Don’t I get a say in this?”
He asked
,
Carmen shook her head “Please don’t do
this.” He begged.

“I’m not going to change my
mind, I never wanted to hurt you Paul but you do have to leave.”

It was getting light by the
time he got home. He tried his key to no avail as Monica had deadlocked door,
she hadn’t expected him home that night. The side gate was also locked and with
the heavily laden trellis on top of it, climbing over was out of the question.
Hurt and still angry, Paul surveyed the front garden for small stones to throw
against his mothers’ window in an effort to wake her knowing as he searched
that there were no stones, he had made sure of that. Sighing, he lent against
Monica’s car, his hand groping for the handle, hoping that she had forgotten to
lock it; he would spend the rest of the night in the car.

“Bollocks.” He spat as the
door refused to budge; he turned to look at the vehicle, an idea forming.
Placing both hands on the side of the vehicle, he lent his weight onto his arms
and pushed repeatedly causing the car to rock and the alarm to sound. Monica’s
light came on within seconds of hearing the obnoxious noise.

Muttering about the bloody
faulty car alarm, Monica grabbed the spare set of keys she kept in the bedroom
and threw open her curtains, aiming the keys at the car, she jumped when she
saw a man by the car, not instantly recognising her son until he looked up and
waved. She switched off the alarm then hurried down the stairs to let him in,
realising she had locked him out.

“I didn’t think you were
coming home tonight.” She said, re-locking the door behind him

“I hadn’t planned on it,” he
replied “Sorry I woke you.”

“Are you alright?” Monica caught
his arm before he reached the stairs; he looked haggard and older than his
fifteen years.

“I’d rather not talk about it
Mum.”