Page 5 of The Teacher

I know where he’s going, but I don’t have time to react or to get away.

He’s heading in one direction. He’s heading straight for me.

2

SKIPPER

There she is.

Sandy Finn.

She’s right there, standing just across the room from me. She’s staring at me with those irresistible light blue eyes of hers, looking like she hasn’t aged a day since I last saw her eight years ago.

Eight long years ago.

It’s definitely Sandy Finn. She hasn’t changed at all, not one bit since the last time I saw her.

And now, there she is, not that far away from me across the hotel conference room, and she’s staring at me.

She’s spotted me, and I, for sure, have spotted her.

I take a step forward towards her, and then another, and then another.

I knew I’d find her here.

Her brother’s wedding.

Of course, she’d have to be here. It was too easy.

I have to admit, I’ve been pretty nervous about seeing her again. Even last night, sitting in my private jet flying over from Los Angeles to New Water, I couldn’t still my restless head. She tumbled through my thoughts as reliably as the sun rising every morning, thoughts about what would happen when we meet again have haunted my dreams every night since I received the wedding invitation, and her face has haunted me the entire flight over from America. I haven’t even been able to sleep properly the whole of last week like I’ve been some giddy schoolgirl anxiously waiting for prom. I’ve actually been nervous about meeting her again.

And I never get nervous.

But the possibility of seeing Sandy Finn again has made me act so unnatural, so unlike my usual self. Eight years later and she still has that power over me, that power to make me go weak at the knees with a single word. That power to devastate my soul with just one glance.

The same glance she’s giving me right here, in this conference room, as I walk towards her.

It only makes me want her more.

Oh, that I do. I want her so much.

When I got the invitation to Cove’s wedding in the post, I was shocked at first. Sitting there, in my high-rise luxury apartment in Los Angeles, I’d thought that Cove Finn had made a mistake in sending me an invite to his wedding happening all the way over in New Water. But he hadn’t.

It was no mistake. I’ve been invited on behalf of Cove and Sandy’s father, Michael Finn. Owner of Finn Companies. My own family’s company had many business dealings with them right back to before I was born, and I have closely dealt with the American side of the Finn business empire since I’ve moved to America a year ago.

Of course, Sandy would never have known that. I know she would’ve freaked out if she saw that her dad and his business had invited me to her brother’s wedding. She’s never wanted any part of her father’s business, never taken any interest in it. Instead, she’s become a teacher or something, that was the last thing I’ve heard. And, of course, Michael Finn didn’t know what had gone down between Sandy and me eight years ago when he sent me that wedding invitation in the post. He probably thought of me as one of the family’s friends, someone who’d also grown up in New Water along with Cove and Sandy. A prominent locally-born-and-bred businessman who should be invited to the wedding of the town’s most famous surfer.

Nobody out of the ordinary at all to Michael Finn.

So, it wasn’t exactly unusual to get a wedding invitation. And, normally, when it came to weddings, I tend to skip them without a second’s thought. I don’t have time for drinking and partying or the awful sentimentality that traditionally comes with the ceremony. No, not for me. Not for Skipper Deep.

But the prospect of seeing Sandy again spiked my curiosity. I replied positively to the wedding invitation without even thinking about it. And now, a few months later, here I am, back in my old hometown after eight long years walking across the room towards Sandy Finn.

The twists and turns of life.

All the money I have, all the high-end properties I own around the world, all the business deals I’ve made, and all the staff that work for me in 5 different time zones. All of that means nothing when it comes to Sandy Finn. Eight years later and she still has control over my dreams and my heart. No amount of money can solve a problem like Sandy Finn. I knew the only thing I had to do when I received that invitation in the post, the only way to still my restless mind, was to fly back to New Water and see her again. I knew the wedding of her brother was my chance, the one time I knew where she’d be for certain.

The one time she would have to speak to me.