The Coffee Spill |Demi Lovato|

Chapter 47

Written 2015
Revised April 2021

*Ellies POV*
I caught myself glancing up at my partially open classroom door every hour on the hour today, keeping my eye out for
Andrea. It's not that I particularly want to see her, but I know if I crossed paths with her I'd have a hard time keeping my composure. Dismissal is in thirty minutes. I can get through the rest of the day without ruining into her. I'm almost there. I am cleaning up from a post Valentine's Day craft I had the students do when there is a knock on the classroom door. The assistant principal enters the classroom, hands behind his back. He scans the room, observing each child's artwork. A big lump in the back of my throat begins to form. I notices he has a piece of paper in his hand. He doesn't say a word, just continues to scan the room.

I swallow hard. This is it. I'm about to get fired for going against some sexual harassment policy. My heart begins to beat faster as he slowly approaches me, still not making eye contact with me.

"Miss Welch." He greats me with little to no emotion. I feel my eyes begin to swell up with tears. "Ms. Sanchez wants to see you in her office. I was instructed to escort your students to their designated buses and parents during dismissal." He says just above a whisper to not disturb the students. I open my mouth to object, but I immediately close my mouth. I can't back talk to either of my bosses. I nod my head before gathering my belongings. I scan the room one last time, capturing my classroom and my first class of students as one last memory before making my way to Andrea's office.

The entire walk to the office is slow and antagonizing. I begin to make a mental list of things I can do to protect myself and my job. I can apologize for leading her on, even if I don't believe I did. I can threaten to sue her for sexual harassment. And worse case scenario, I can get down on my knees and beg her to not fire me. Whatever it took, I was ready. I took one final deep breath before knocking on her door.

"Please come in." She says behind the door. I open the door and step into her office. It smells like tangerine grapefruit. I notice a candle burning on her desk. When she notices its me, her posture becomes a little rigid. She sits up straight, adjusting the collar on her shirt. For once, I've never seen her wear a button down shirt where the first two buttons were undone. It's like she's trying to be modest. I stand against her closed door, wanting this to be as quick as possible. She notices my uncomfortableness. "Please, sit down." She says, motioning to the empty chair across from her. I take a seat and wait for her to speak first. "Thank you for agreeing to meet with me, Ellie." She says, with a soft smile.

"It's Miss Welch." I correct her. "I don't think I had much of a choice." I say with a slight chuckle.

"Right... Miss. Welch." She corrects herself. "I wanted to apologize about the miscommunication that occurred on Friday." She says.

I lean back in my seat, taken aback by her apology. This is not what I expected walking into this office.

"It was more than just a miscommunication, Ms. Sanchez. You kissed me without consent." I say, slightly annoyed by her interpretation about the situation.

"You're right. I'm sorry. It was unprofessional." She says looking me in the eyes. Her apology seems... sincere. I relax a bit in my chair, realizing the likely hood of this conversation ending with me getting fired is now slim.

"Thank you for apologizing but unfortunately an apology doesn't help fix my relationship with Demi." I say, taking a big sigh remembering that we're still on bad terms.

"Why didn't you tell me you were dating Demi? I would have never made a move on you if I knew." She says, leaning forward in her chair, folding her hands and placing them on her desk in front of her.