Work Text:
‘ Shitshit! Shit!’ The words echoed about Jamie Shepard’s head while she gripped the steering wheel of her car and weaved in and out of traffic.
Melina’s father was supposed to pick her up from middle school today because Jamie had an important meeting that wasn’t scheduled to end until well after Melina’s school let out for the day. But the asshole texted her in the middle of one of her coworker’s presentations telling her that it was impossible for him to get away.
“Get away, my ass. He’s probably hooking up with a dime store piece right now and couldn’t be fucked to tear himself away from.” Jamie growled under her breath. She was already fifteen minutes late picking up her daughter on her first day of sixth grade because the sad sack of shit always seemed to want nothing to do with their daughter.
With brakes squealing, Jamie snuck in between a car and a semi to pull into the parking lot of Melina’s school. When she found a spot close to the office, she jumped out of her car as fast as her pantsuit and heels would allow, grabbed her purse, and practically ran to the front office.
The room was quiet, with dark wood walls and carpet on the floor making it exceptionally quiet except for the tap tap tapping of the receptionists nails on her keyboard.
“Excuse me, has Melina Shepard come by the office yet?”
The older woman looked up at her with a smile before standing from her desk and walking over to where she was standing at the counter. “Are you her mother?”
Jamie quickly nodded her head, plopped her purse on the countertop and pulled her wallet out to show the woman her driver's license. The woman nodded and folded her hands on the wood separating them. “She’s not in the office, ma’am. Her teacher called me and told me that she wanted to stay in his classroom until her ride arrived.”
“Still 6-A, right?” The receptionist nodded and Jamie smiled at her. “Thank you so much!”
She slung her purse over her right shoulder with one smooth motion as she walked out a side door leading to the rest of the school and took a right. During her trip to Melina’s classroom, Jamie looked around and marveled how the school hadn’t changed since she had been here all those years ago. Even some of the art that the adults had used to decorate, likely when the school had been built in the fifties, was still on the walls as she passed the large library that contained the computer labs and detention room. Jamie chuckled at some of the memories that came to mind of her many times spent in the detention room.
At the top of a long hall that was more like a large indoor ramp than a hall, she hung a right and climbed two more sets of stairs to reach her target classroom.
Jamie had been here before several weeks ago when the school had had a parent-teacher conference for sixth graders before the beginning of the school year so that parents could meet the teachers. The only teacher on Melina’s schedule that she hadn’t met was her homeroom class teacher. This teacher that was watching her child for her instead of Melina’s own father.
When she reached the closed door to classroom 6-A, she paused, straightened her suit jacket and took several breaths to calm her racing heart and anger at someone she was supposed to be able to rely on; at least when it came to Melina. Jamie quickly put a smile on her lips before reaching out for the knob and opening the door.
“Mama!” Jamie’s gaze was instantly drawn to the sound of her daughter crying out for her. She chuckled as the little girl grabbed her backpack from her chair and hurried to the front of the classroom. Jamie knelt down to be Melina’s height to accept her hug.
“Hey there, Lina. I’m sorry I was late getting here to pick you up. I was in a meeting when your daddy texted me to tell me he wasn’t going to be able to pick you up from school. He got… called away by other business suddenly.”
Melina rubbed her cheek against Jamie’s and she could feel the child’s smile. “It’s ok, mama. I like it when you pick me up.”
“Where’s your teacher, baby?”
“Right here.”
Jamie froze at the sound of a low, raspy voice as it came from her left. She felt the sound wash over her and settle in her belly, warming her from the inside out. She slowly stood once more and turned to face the man, to see the person that the voice belonged to.
Before her stood one of the most handsome men she had ever met. Dark hair perfectly styled and combed back away from his face. Eyes like dark honey, warmed in the sun, chiseled jaw, thin but soft looking lips. Jamie felt her eyes grow wide and her jaw drop slightly before she could recover and finish her once over. Being in the military and then as the CEO of Alliance Armed Security had trained her to take in all the details of a situation to make quick and educated decisions.
She blinked twice before continuing her perusal. Broad shoulders, well defined torso and arms highly visible under his black and red plaid button up shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows. Said shirt was tucked into a pair of pressed khaki pants that sat intriguingly low on his hips. He must have noticed her gaze because he reached for his belt to pull up his pants to where they were supposed to be.
When he cleared his throat, it dragged Jamie out of her staring and she looked up at him with a flush of embarrassment. “I’m so sorry for staring at you like a piece of meat and for you having to stay over to watch Melina.” She straightened further, placed one hand on Melina’s shoulder and pulled her to stand in front of her then stretched out a hand to shake his. He chuckled, the sound deep in his chest and his smile easy. The sound of his chuckle had the same effect as his voice and Jamie felt the need to swallow the saliva gathering in her mouth to quench her parched throat.
“Jamie Shepard.”
He reached out and clasped her extended palm with a firm, warm grip. “Kaidan Alenko.”
“Mr. Alenko, it’s a pleasure to finally meet you. I was hoping to meet all of Melina’s teachers at the conference before the beginning of the year.”
Kaidan reached up to rub at the back of his neck as he gave her a slightly embarrassed smile. “Yeah, I’m sorry about that. I had a family emergency pop up at my parents house that I had to take care of.”
Family is important to him? That’s good to know. She thought to herself while she smiled at him. “I completely understand. Thank you for watching Melina for me this afternoon. Her father couldn’t make it so I had to leave early from a meeting, otherwise I would have been here when school let out.”
“It’s no problem, Mrs. Shepard…”
“It’s Miss, Mr. Alenko. Melina's father and I are not married.”
“I apologize. I had assumed you were married when you spoke of her father, but now I see that I have made a slight ass out of myself.” He looked flustered at his mistake and Jamie couldn’t help but think how cute he was when his cheeks flushed like they were. “Melina is one of my best students in homeroom, so I didn’t mind. She just worked on her homework from other classes while she waited.”
“That’s good. I hope it won’t become a constant thing.” The three fell into silence for several moments before Jamie spoke up. “Well, I think we should probably go home, don’t you baby?” She asked, directing the question at her daughter.
“I know this might sound a bit odd, but, um, would you like to have a parent-teacher conference sometime since I wasn’t here for the one at the beginning of the school year?”
Jamie paused when she and Melina reached the door to the classroom and turned to face him. “I’d like that.” She smiled. “Do you have a habit for doing that for all the parents?”
“No. No I don’t.” He turned to Melina and Jamie saw a wide grin form on his lips. “I’ll see you next week, kiddo. Have a good weekend!”
Melina smiled and waved as they left after exchanging phone numbers.