As soon as I entered the main office, Mrs. Lorenza stood there pacing behind her desk, putting down and picking up the phone each time it rang. Scattered around her were a tornado of brochures, notes, and miscellaneous papers everywhere along the counters. Her usual tight bun on her head and pressed button-up shirt were unkempt and in disarray, like the rest of her.
She doesn't notice me at first, despite the loud thud the heavy door makes each time someone enters or exits the room. Her concentration stayed on the phone. "Stephanie Martinez is not here!" She would yell each time and end the call.
I step closer to the edge of the counter and press the small silver service bell. "One minute, ma'am," she says, frantically sliding papers around her. She finds the parent sign-in sheet and hands the clipboard to me. "Please sign and mark the time you would like to pick up your-"
She pauses mid-sentence and gasps in disbelief. "Ms. Martinez." She drops the phone in her hand and quickly picks it up. The caller on the phone overhears her and goes ballistic at the mention of my last name. In the background, the sounds of clicking cameras intensify, and more voices enter as the phone is stolen by the initial caller. I take the phone from her hand and end the call. Mrs. Lorenza doesn't object and keeps her focus on my face.
She has given me several looks, dirty ones, judgmental ones, but never that of revelation.
"You're here. It's really you." She reaches out to touch me as though I would disappear into thin air. I slap her arm and with complete offense, angling my hips away from the counter.
"Where is Mr. Sticks?" I cordially ask. Anything else would give her a passage way to start a conversation.
"You mean Mr. Schricks?"
Dang you, Tortuga.
I clear my throat and affirm to her. She points behind the counter and in the direction of his office. His door was closed, and the assistant principals were wide open. I had a strong feeling I was about to walk into yet another wall of disappointment.
I walk over to the entrance away from Mrs. Lorenza and into the back office, where I expect the termination of my job would likely be presented. As I approached the principal's office, I spotted the two from the small door window, speaking with one another, and what I recognized as Superintendent Reyholds. I sucked in a deep breath and knocked on the door. Their reaction was that of Mrs. Lorenza. Principal Schricks and Assistant Principal Moe signal me with their fallen smiles as though they are silently apologizing for what is coming.
I close the door behind me, and as I sit across from them, over the table, Superintendent Reyholds slides a packet with the words Termination Notice lined and bolded at the top.
"While this won't be an easy conversation, we wanted to thank you for your time here, Ms. Martinez."