Sweet Caroline

#65 Am I someone?

Telling Rose. Easier said than done, mostly because Elise seems to have a sixth sense that lets her know that today is the day that I go from being Rose's teacher to her father's girlfriend. And Elise is not on board with that. Hell, she's not even remotely on board with me dating Nathan. She's the one who told Gracie's mother, knowing fully well that the bitch would start spreading the news immediately. It's almost funny how hard we worked to keep Annabel from doing just that. If we had known all this, we would have just let it go.

Then again, that would mean that Annabel and Aston never would have met. And that would be a shame. Because I may not spend all that much time at my own apartment aside from the days that Nathan has Rose, but those few days are enough to know that Aston is still a frequent visitor. And a loud one. For some reason, they leave the windows open more often than not, which allows their voices – and their moans – to travel across the gardens. Mr. Galf asked me a few days ago if I had any idea what those noises were, but I didn't have the heart to tell him that it was Annabel getting fucked into oblivion by a 28-year-old guy I had introduced her to.

Go Annabel.

And go Aston, I guess, because the few times I spotted him in the street or in the market he looked even more smug than usual. I can't help but wonder if their relationship is solely loud sex of if there's something more there. Dshawn and Shaughna think it's hilarious and I have a feeling that Dshawn knows more than he lets on, but he doesn't want to sell out his mate. It's only a matter of time before Shaughna cracks him – I hope – and then she will surely call me to tell me all about it. I'm just so damn curious.

Nathan is a little appalled at the whole Annabel thing, which is hilarious since he is older than Annabel and I am younger than Aston. He just keeps repeating that Annabel is his friend and that he can't imagine her having loud sex with anyone, let alone Aston. I taped the sounds for him so he could hear for himself, but he refuses to listen to it. I get a kick out of pretending to hit play, which causes him to cover his ears like he's a 4-year-old afraid of thunder.

When there are just two days left of the break, Elise finally runs out of excuses to keep Rose a day longer than she's supposed to. Normally, Nathan would fight her harder and keep her to the custody agreement, but no one wants to keep the peace more than he does. So, on Saturday morning, Nathan picks up Rose while I wait in his living room anxiously, praying that this won't blow up in my face.

Finally, after what feels like eons, I hear the front door open.

"Can I go in?" Rose asks, sounding excited.

"Yes," Nathan replies. "You can go in."

She rushes in, freezing three steps from the doorway, looking at me with wide eyes. I raise a hand to greet her and she reluctantly waves back before turning on her heels to shout at Nathan.

"Daddy!" she says indignantly. "You said I was going to meet someone very important to you! Someone new. This isn't someone new! This is Miss Collins. I already know her."

He laughs, but the sound is strained. "Yes, you already know her, but... she's not just Miss Collins. When she is not teaching you, Miss Collins and I sometimes..."

"Hang out," I finish for him when he remains silent. "Your dad and I are..."

"Oh!" Rose realizes, nodding. "Gracie told me that you're dating someone's dad." She looks at me searchingly and frowns. "Am I someone?"

"Yeah, I'm the dad," Nathan says, shrugging at me with a smile.

"Okay, cool. Can I have a cookie?" Rose asks, batting her long eyelashes at her father and pouting.