Broken Walls ✔

Ch 10

Liam Moonhovan

"Oh, sir. Your daughter's school called to remind you that the parent-teacher conference is today at 11 a.m., and it's now 10:40 a.m." Rachel stated as she walked by my office. 

"Thank you for reminding me, I completely forgot," I remarked as I set down my pen and stood up. She nodded and walked away, leaving me to grab my things. 

"I'm off to Alexis' conference." I said standing at the door of Zach's office.

"All right, I'll see you tomorrow," Zach responded, not looking up from whatever documents he was working on.

I nodded and went out the door to my car. I arrived to school on time and was escorted to her classroom by one of the teachers, who informed me that there was someone else in the room right now and that I would have to wait.

As I glanced around at the student-made decorations on the walls, I thought it was a really cute school. I noticed one labeled first grade and went in search of Alexis, only to be surprised by the teacher's name. "Mr. Toun" was just under the grade 1 sign, and I felt my heart plummet. 

That's when I realized where I knew Enzo's surname since Alexis constantly mentioned it. My gut knotted at the prospect of hooking up with, getting close to, and hanging out with my daughter's teacher.

 Enzo has also never told me what he does for a living. Although he doesn't seem to be the teacher kind, but then if I was judging off looks. I wouldn't expect him to be as kind at heart, and sweet as he is, based on his appearance; I'd imagine him to be fierce cold, cocky and all that.

When the door opened, a lady walked out as waved goodbye before letting me know I could enter. I took a long breath, unsure if I wanted to walk in and see whether it was really him. If that was the case, I was in for one of the most embarrassing half-hours of my life.

 I inhaled deeply before entering the door and hurriedly averted my gaze to the ground, obstructing my view of the man sat behind the desk. "You must be Alexis' father. I'm Mr. Toun"

I looked up and signed relievedly at the somewhat small and slender man sat at the table with black hair and glasses. It wasn't him. "The pleasure is all mine" I said taking a seat in front of the desk.

 "Well I'd like to start off by saying. Your daughter is an absolute angel, she's nice to everyone and always helps me with clean up unasked, not to mention she's never been any trouble" he said sweetly. I nodded with a sense of pride. "She's top of the rankings in terms of behavior, but..." he said as he pushed a brightly colored folder across the table towards me.

"However, she appears to be having difficulty in the classroom. Now, it's nothing big; she just has difficulty grasping the lesson, and on spelling assessments, I've noticed that she has trouble distinguishing between the letters b and d, which are both extremely frequent in first graders "He reassured, probably seeing the panic in my face but of course I couldn't help but wonder why I never noticed, was I a bad father?

Maybe instead of trying to raise her on my own I should have just listened to Zach and got her a nanny. I pushed all my thoughts away and merely nodded as I took the folder carrying her tests. We chatted about ideas to help her improve some more until the conference was over, and I rose up heading for the door.

"Sorry for bothering you, but I have an uhh- acquaintance with the same name as you. Are you two connected in any way, Enzo Toun?" Finally, I asked. I

 had no intention of doing so, but it had been gnawing at me the entire time. He chuckled, calming my mind.  "Ahh, I see you've met my cousin." 

"Ah cousin. Okay, I'd better go leaving so I don't hold up the other parents, but thank you very much. I'll make it a point to work with Alexis on this "I smiled and walked away. Cousins huh? They were diametrically opposed.

"Liam, good to see you again," I winced, turning around to find James' mother amid a group of other mothers.

 "Nice to see you again, Mrs. Johnson," I said with a polite grin. 

"Will you go outside and check on Alexis while you're here? because the kids are playing in the field" She inquired in a condescending tone, which made me roll my eyes, but they didn't appear to notice. 

One of the lady's I didn't even know spoke "We'd just gotten back from there. As any good parent would, we're keeping an eye on our children "It seemed so backhanded.

 They all thought I was a jerk of a parent and honestly I was beginning to think so too. "I was just heading there, so I best get going," I responded quickly, and before they could react, I turned on my heels and began walking as quickly as I could without looking like I'm sprinting.

I stepped outside and groaned as I turned the curve towards the field. They appeared to be playing tag, and there were a few other parents around engaging with their children. I looked around the field for Alexis, who was running about. She came to a halt when she saw me and began racing again in my way. "Papa!" She exclaimed, leaping at me and hugging me. 

I smiled as I ruffled her hair and said, "Hey love, I see you're having a nice time."

"Mhmm I was only caught one time because I'm the fastest in the class, after Will and Andy" Alexis smiled proudly as she looked up at me.

I swear her smile was the only reason I kept mine for the last several years, since I couldn't help but smile back every time she did. We spoke about her day for a bit until the bell sounded, signaling that the kids needed to return to class and the parents needed to leave. "Hey Alexis, you know papa loves you more than anything?" I asked softly.

It was less to assure her, but more for myself. If I was being honest. Alexis grinned as she cupped my face in her hands. "I love you too papa" She grinned at me, revealing the gap in her smile where she had lost a tooth.

 As I stood up, I smiled at her, feeling much better. "I have to go now. Have a good rest of you're day" I smiled and she nodded leaving a small kiss on my cheek before running off with the other kids.

I sighed as I approached my car. 

Interacting with others was exhausting, especially with the added pressure of being polite, but it was good to see Alexis connecting with other children and making friends. My phone rang while I was driving, and I took it up and placed it on speaker. 

"Hey Liam, I was hoping you'd be up for hanging out?" Enzo asked enthusiastically. I chewed my lower lip as I considered his offer. I didn't have to go back to the office, and I had three hours until Alexis's school pick-up. All I'd planned to do during that time was get in some work. So I thought 'why not?'

"Sure. I'm free for the next two and a half hours" I said smiling as he cheered.

 "Perfect. I was thinking about taking you out, but I know how much you hate public places. So, do you mind if I come over?" When he asked, my heart began to race a little quicker, and a smile grew over my face. 

He remembered. 

"Sure, I'll meet you there. I'm on my way home anyway."