Unsuitable by Malek Doreen Owens

Author:Malek, Doreen Owens [Malek, Doreen Owens]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Gypsy Autumn Publications
Published: 2013-01-27T23:00:00+00:00

Chapter 7

During the following week Jason arranged for a new tutor to take over Carrie’s duties. He sent a glowing report on her handling of the case to Mr. Dunphy, lest the principal think he requested the change out of dissatisfaction with Carrie’s performance. He merely said that he wanted Johnny to be tutored during the day, since he was often tired by the time Carrie was able to get to the house after work. Everyone seemed to accept this explanation, except Lois Bonner, who had witnessed Jason’s dramatic arrival the day he came to the school to see Carrie. Lois’ curiosity remained unsatisfied, however, because Carrie would tell her nothing. To do so would have been the equivalent of taking out an ad in the classified section of the local newspaper.

Gloria called from Bridgeport, where her troupe had a three evening engagement. She was disappointed that she hadn’t met Jason, but pleased that Carrie had used her tickets to good advantage. She promised to return before Thanksgiving and catch up on the romance report.

A few days before the formal Carrie searched out her only evening dress, encased in plastic and stashed at the back of her closet with the odds and ends she rarely wore. She wanted to make sure that it hadn’t grown moss, gone out of style, or otherwise become unsuitable. It was a simple Grecian style crepe in pale peach with a high neck, but backless. Most of the fancy clothes designed for petites made her look and feel like Miss Muffet, so she had been ecstatic to find this one and had kept it for several years. She tried it on with the high-heeled shoes she planned to wear to check the length and all was well. She made a mental note to take it to the cleaners and hung it on the closet door so she wouldn’t forget.

The rest of the week passed in a flurry of counseling forms and mid-term progress reports. The night of the formal arrived and she was ready for it, fifteen minutes early, in fact. She had swept her hair into what she hoped was a sophisticated chignon and wore the only real jewelry she owned. It was a necklace and earrings in coral inlaid with tiny diamond chips, left to her by her mother. She fastened the clasp of the necklace at her nape and stepped over to the wall mirror in her bedroom. She was satisfied. Not much by comparison with the celebrated Louise, perhaps, but pretty good for Carrie Maxwell.

Her confidence in her appearance was justified by the look on Jason’s face when she opened her door to admit him.

“You’re beautiful,” he said, surveying her thirstily from her piled dark hair to her dainty leather pumps.

“Thank you,” Carrie replied, reacting to the sight of him in formal clothes. He was wearing a charcoal gray tuxedo with an off-white pleated shirt and a bow tie. A navy topcoat sat carelessly on his shoulders. He watched her as she went to the hall closet and took out a heavy, handknit wool shawl.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.