Chapter 3 of Preschool Confessions

August 21.      

“Jessica Swanson! It’s so wonderful to finally meet you! I feel like we’ve known each other for ages since we’ve had so much back and forth with your emails and phone calls.

This one’s thorough, I tell you--”  Mason DeRae gestured towards me with his right thumb and spoke out of the side of his mouth, although no one was actually in the hall but the two of us.

He looked in person just the way he did on TV. He was in his mid-sixties (well, 67. I had googled him), and wore his silver hair in short spikes. In commercials he always had on white linen pants and a bright Hawaiian short-sleeved button shirt, and evidently that’s the norm, because that’s what he was wearing today, along with fancy man sandals with no socks.

Mason pulled me in for a big bear hug, and held on a bit too long for my comfort level. He also was one of those back strokers—he rubbed his hand up and down my spine during the forced embrace, as if he was hunting for a bra strap. I felt immediately tense and on guard.

“Let’s show you around and get you situated, shall we? You can put your stuff in my office.” Mason pointed a fat finger towards a dark wood door on the other side of the front entry with the words “owner” etched in the glass window.

“So let’s see. You have two little ones, right? Where they at today?”

“I left them home with grandma. I wanted to get settled and fill out paperwork today without distraction. I spoke to Donna, and we agreed that they’ll begin sometime next week.”

“Excellent. Donna knows her stuff.” Mason jolted, and patted down his pants. “Excuse me, my pants are talking.” He removed a tiny cell phone from his back pocket, and unfolded it.

“DeRae here. Yes, let’s do that. Okay. On my way.”

“Jess? I’m going to need for you to stay here, and I’ll send Donna down to show you around the school. I need to go to our McDonnell site. We’ll catch up before the end of the day.”

He grasped my hand in a firm handshake, sandwiching it between both hands. I noticed that he had a ring on both pinkies, but was not wearing a wedding band.