Valentine's Day Curse

"Valentine's Day, again," I grumbled into my beer from my corner barstool. "Somebody please shoot me and put me out of my misery."

It's not that I hate the day...well, actually I do. In fact, I pretty much always have, at least since I was old enough to know how it made people act. The only saving grace this year was that I wasn't dating anyone. That made it more bearable.

"It's good for business," the bartender shrugged. I looked at him and shook my head. Franky's comment was so Franky.

"What's wrong with Valentine's day?" The question came from Ray. He was a regular and was sitting three stools down eating a burger and drinking his beer. Ray was a couple of inches below average height, but seemed bigger. There was something about muscles that did that for a guy. "I like it. Women always seem friendlier."

Ray was probably fifteen or twenty years older than my own twenty nine years, but he didn't act like it. He had a full head of salt and pepper hair and typically had a couple days of stubble on his face. Of course, on him it looked good. He was a mechanic by trade and came in for lunch three or four days a week.

"Sure, if you're into psychos," I snorted. He opened his mouth to protest, but I cut him off. "And all women are psychos on Valentine's Day!"

Alice, another regular looked at me and frowned from across the bar. She was dressed in an expensive business suit and her hair and makeup were perfect as always. She was sort of plain, but took care of herself. She was also personable and funny. I liked her. Hell, if Alice weren't ten years older than me I might have asked her out.

She was a sales rep for a pharmaceutical company and spent most of her time on the road. I doubt our little town gave her much business, but she stopped by for lunch every week or so. I figured she came by to take a break from the rat race. I sometimes teased her about her need to 'slum it'.

"Speaking for my entire sex," Alice said, calmly sipping her drink. "Fuck you." I snorted in laughter. It always surprised me when she cursed. Alice just didn't seem the type and probably wasn't usually in public, but the atmosphere of the pub lent itself toward letting people say what they really thought without it ending up in a brawl. It was one of my favorite things about the place.

"Hey, it's not really your fault," I explained. "I blame the dumb bastard who decided to plant a holiday geared toward love right in the middle of the most depressing time of the year. Now there's someone who should be shot! It's downright cruel."

"Man, someone must have ripped out your heart on Valentine's Day and stomped on it pretty hard somewhere in the past for you to hate it this much," Ray guessed.

"Definitely," Alice agreed, smiling at him from her seat. The two exchanged a look and something clicked between them. I could almost feel it. I couldn't help roll my eyes. They were oblivious to my reaction as she continued. "It's a shame really. Valentine's Day can be a lot of fun."

"If you share it with the right person." Ray offered, causing Alice's smile to grow. "It's a great time to make new friends, or get to know some old ones better."

"Seriously?" I groaned, interrupting their wordplay. ""This is a perfect example of what I'm talking about. Valentine's Day is a curse! It makes people act crazy."

"What?" Alice asked with a frown as if just remembering I was here.

"Please!" I snorted. "You two have almost nothing in common except this pub and you've both been coming here for years, yet suddenly you're attracted to each other? Come on! It's the Valentine's Day Curse!"

"Whoa! Slow down sailor!" Alice retorted, clearly embarrassed. "Who says Ray and I are attracted to each other?"

"I do," Franky interjected bluntly, getting everyone's attention. He shrugged and added, "It's pretty obvious."

"He's not wrong," Ray admitted. "At least on my part." His words drew Alice's eyes back to him and she smiled once again despite her embarrassment.

"Oh brother!" I snapped in annoyance. "You two better be carefully. Valentine's Day will be over in less than twelve hours and then what? I tell you what..."

I was ready to wax philosophical on the dangers of a Valentine's Day romance, but was interrupted when Ginny, the one and only daytime server for the entire room of tables in the back of the pub came out of the kitchen and interrupted us. We seldom got a big crowd at lunch time and most of our regulars liked to eat at the bar.

"Hey boss, there's a phone call for you," she said without preamble. "It's your sister Emily. She's stuck showing a house and wants you to pick up the kids again."

"Great," I grumbled, pushing my glass back. Thankfully, it was only my second beer of the day and it was still half filled. I was in good enough shape to drive. "Tell her I'm on my way."

"Got it," Ginny smiled and turned back to the kitchen with just a touch too much excitement. She had a thing for Juan, one of the cooks and I was sure the Curse was working hard at screwing up their lives today as well.

"Franky, I'll be back as soon as I can," I sighed, standing.

"No rush boss," the bartender replied. "In fact, take your time. Your mood is bad for business."

"You know, I think you worry more about my business than I do," I laughed. Franky gave one of his rare smiles and shifted to the other side of the bar.

I checked my pockets and realized I had left my keys in my office. I frowned in annoyance, but my coat was in the back anyway and it was far too cold to go out without it. I went to grab them. Juan and Ginny were laughing together at something as I passed them. I shook my head, taking my coat off its hook and grabbed my keys off my desk. Ginny and Juan were still at it when I went back out.

"Damn Curse," I mumbled to myself as I passed. It had better not mess up my plans for Ginny. She was relatively new to waiting tables, but she was learning fast. I had hopes of moving her to nights soon. One of the servers there was barely pulling her weight. I didn't need a bad romance between her and Juan. I didn't want her to leave, or him for that matter. "Damn Curse."

I caught sight of Ray sitting next to Alice on her side of the bar as I walked out. I muttered something unkind under my breath, but left them to their folly.

The trip to my nephews' school was uneventful and thankfully short. I parked the car, got out and made my way to the section of the parking lot where the kids would be let out. It was cold, but not as bad as I feared. At least the wind had died down from this morning.

Our town was less than an hour from the big city. We were one of those small middleclass communities that existed just past the suburbs. I hear that in some places if you travel an hour outside one of a big cities you end up in some seriously rural areas. That wasn't us. We had plenty of neighbors on our block. We also had decent size yards that kids could actually play in, unlike most of the suburbs I knew.

My nephews went to the smaller of our two grammar schools and because our town was less than a square mile very few kids were bussed in. I looked around and nodded politely at the parents waiting for their kids. I knew most of them.

"Hey Mike, how's it going?" It was an innocent enough question, but I knew better. The speaker was Carol Hendricks, a newly divorced mother of three and it was pretty obvious from her expression that the Curse had taken hold of her.

"Not well," I replied succinctly. Carol and I grew up not far from each other. We were friends up until high school. I guess we were friends after that as well, but it wasn't the same. She blossomed that year and her newly acquired curves drew the attention of a bunch of upper classman. One in particularly was very persistent. He was a complete asshole in my opinion, but she ended up dating him on and off again for the next five years before agreeing to marry him.

"Valentine's Day, right?" Carol asked with a grin. "I can't believe you still hate this day after all these years."

"No comment," I grumbled, noticing that quite a few people were now paying attention to our conversation. It was embarrassing.

"You really have to let it go," she said, laughing at my expression.

"Let what go?" The question came from Britney Jansen. She was a good friend of my sister's. Her husband Henry was a great guy. We always hung out whenever my sister threw one of her parties.

"Mike got dumped on Valentine's Day in eighth grade by Cynthia Beretta," Carol explained. "He's hated the day ever since."

"Seriously?" Britney asked me.

"It was the first time I had my heart broken," I shrugged. "But that was just the first in a long line of bad experiences I had on Valentine's Day. I'm telling you, the holiday is cursed!"

"Oh my God, you are serious!" Britney cried. It was her turn to laugh. Honestly, she wasn't the only one. The entire group of mothers standing around tittered. My embarrassment was quickly turning to annoyance.

"Hey, Cynthia Beretta was a big deal in eighth grade," Carol put in helpfully. "It was quite a coup for Mike to get her to date him in the first place."

"And then she dumped me on Valentine's Day for of all people, Johnny Deats," I snorted. "Johnny Deats for Christ's sake!"

"It's your own fault," Carol said, laughing once more. "Everyone knew she was using you just to make him jealous. And don't you dare say you didn't know! I remember telling you specifically that the day she agreed to date you."

"You did, didn't you?" I grimaced, rubbing the bridge of my nose. "I guess I should have listened to you."

"You should have done more than that," Carol sighed somewhat cryptically, at least until she explained. "I had the biggest crush on you back then."

"Really?" I asked in surprise. "I had no idea."

"You were the only one," she said, shaking her head and looking at me again in that way. Carol had long brown hair and dark eyes. Her curves had only gotten better as she aged. I found myself tempted to...no! That was the curse trying to take hold of me. No way!

"It's a good thing I didn't know," I replied, not meeting her eyes. "Because you would have dumped me the next year when you met Gary anyway."

"Maybe not," she sighed. "Maybe you would have saved me from making the biggest mistake of my life."

"Everything happens for a reason," Britney interjected kindly. "Maybe Gary was a mistake, but if you didn't marry him you would never have had Jill, Kim and Barry."

"True," Carol said agreeably. "I'm just glad he's gone. Of course, it does get lonely at times."

Thankfully, the kids were let out right at that point. The mothers hovered around us began dispersing. Jason and Nicolas spotted me right off. They weren't really surprised. I typically ended up picking them up for my sister at least once or twice a month.

"Well, I'll see you ladies later," I offered as the boys made their way over.

"You might at that," Carol said meaningfully. "My parents are watching the kids tonight and I'm going out with a couple of friends. We'll probably stop by your place somewhere along the night."

"Just be careful," I said. "And remember what I said. The Valentine's Day Curse is dangerous!"

"Maybe you can explain it to me better tonight," the brunette smiled before moving away toward her own children.

"Oh my," Britney teased once Carol was out of earshot. "She seems pretty intent on you. I guess that crush she had on you in eighth grade never fully disappeared."

"Of course it did," I argued. "This is just the Curse working its evil magic."

"You really are something else!" she laughed. "I'll talk to you later." I said goodbye as she left.

"Hello Uncle Mike," Jason, the older of my two nephews said in greeting. He was in fourth grade. His brother Nicolaus was in second. "Can we play with our friends for a few minutes?" There was a large lawn next to the school. It was currently covered in snow and some boys were already throwing snowballs.

"I really should get back to the pub," I began, but then saw their expressions and relented. "Oh go ahead, but only for a few minutes!"

"Thanks Uncle Mike!" Jason cried.

"Yeah, thanks!" Nicolaus added. "Mom never lets us play in the snow after school."

Jason frowned, grabbed his brother's arm and pulled him away before I could change my mind. I groaned at the news, knowing I'd hear from my sister. The boys would probably be snow covered and soaking wet by the time we made it to Emily's house, but so be it. If it bothered my sister too much she could find someone else to pick up the boys. I liked being the cool uncle who let them get away with things.

"Mike, long time no see." I turned and smiled. It was Ted Bonski. I didn't see him earlier or I would have hung out with him while I waited for the boys.

"Hey Ted," I said as he walked up and we shook hands. His sons were playing with Jason, Nicolaus and a few other boys in the snow. "I see Beth conned you into picking up the boys today."

"Conned? Not really," he smiled. "I volunteered. I don't often get the chance. I took off work today and figured I'd pick the boys up and treat them to an early dinner. Beth and I are going out later and they'll be asleep before we get home."

"You're going out for dinner tonight? Are you crazy! Every place will be packed and the service always sucks on Valentine's Day."

"Hmm, so I guess we won't be coming to your place tonight after all," he teased in reply. I snorted and then broke out into a full laugh.

"Well, if you are going to deal with the crowds, you might as well stop by. Jerry has some very good specials tonight," I said afterward.

"I don't know..." he said, continuing to tease.

"I'll even buy the first round," I offered.

"Sold!" he laughed. "I guess we won't have to cancel the reservation we set up after all."

I began laughing once again, remembering what Frank said back at the pub. My mood really wasn't good for business.

"Ut oh..." Ted said, looking off to one side. I followed his eyes and saw a young woman making her way to the snow covered field. She was probably in her mid-twenties and had dark hair that was pulled back from her face rather severely. She was built tall and slim.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"That's Ms. Phillips," he explained. "She's a new teacher this semester. She replaced Ms. Hoffman who's out on pregnancy leave. Ms. Phillips already has a reputation of being tough. The kids are afraid of her. From what I hear, so are most of the parents."

We stood there watching as she stopped at the edge of the field and called the children off the lawn. Jason, Nicolaus and Ted's kids came running back to us. I was guessing Ted was right about her reputation based on how quickly they arrived. Still, I was surprised when she came over to the adults and started lecturing us as well.

"That field is off limits until the snow is gone," she said sternly. "It was clearly stated in the weekly packet." I ignored the rest of her little speech. She was glancing from parent to parent as she spoke and when her eyes met mine I noticed that they were grey, not the blue I originally thought. They drew you in, or at least that's how it felt to me.

The woman had high cheek bones and nicely shaped lips. There was something about her that made me think her ancestry was some sort of Eurasian mix, not that it was obvious. I figured if she wasn't dressed so conservatively and her hair wasn't pulled back she'd probably be attractive. Well, that and she's have to actually smile.

"Damn Curse!" I mumbled to myself.

"What?" Ted frowned.

"Nothing," I replied, not wanting to get into it yet again. Thankfully, the new teacher's lecture finally wound itself down and Ted and I said our goodbyes.

I had to walk by Ms. Phillips to get to my car. The boys didn't look thrilled as I led them passed her, but they followed. I attempted to smile innocently at her as I passed, but right at that moment a burb slipped out. I swallowed the noise, but when I opened my mouth she must have gotten a whiff of the beer I'd had earlier.

"Pardon me, but have you been drinking?" She surprised me by grabbing my arm and stopping me.

"No," I replied. That didn't go over well at all.

"Then how come I smell beer on your breath?" she snapped.

"Well, because I had a beer earlier," I explained. "But only one." She frowned at me and for some reason I found myself adding, "Okay, one and a half."

"And that's not drinking?" she asked, clearly annoyed.

"Not in this town," I grinned. She clearly wasn't amused.

"I'm not going to let you take these children into a car. You're drunk." Her tone was unyielding and waspish.

"Lady, I'm not drunk." Okay, so my tone wasn't any better than hers, but as far as I was concerned I was in the right. "What do you take me for? Do you really think I'd risk my nephews' lives by driving drunk?"

"I don't know," she replied honestly. "I don't know you and I won't risk their lives until I'm certain you're sober."

"Well then," I sighed. "I guess we have a problem. What do you suggest?"

"Hey, I can give the boys a ride home," Ted offered. I looked at him and he regretted his offer instantly. "Hey Mike, I know you're not drunk, but she's clearly not going to let this go." It was right about then that I noticed all of the other parents left were standing around watching the scene unfold. Great.

"Thanks, but no thanks," I said in annoyance. "My sister called me and asked me to pick up the boys and that's exactly what I'm going to do." I couldn't back down with the audience we'd attracted.

"I'm afraid I can't let you do that," Ms. Phillips insisted.

"And exactly how are you going to stop me?" I asked, honestly curious.

"I'll call the police if I must," she threatened. I'd had enough. I could have given in, but if I did then half the town would think I was drunk when I came to pick up the boys. I couldn't have that. Like I said, it was a small community and I had to be careful. After all, I owned a business here. I couldn't afford those types of rumors to spread. I pulled out my cell phone and dialed without a word. She frowned and watched me.

"Hey Timmy, I need a favor," I said into the phone. "Can you stop by my nephews' school? I'll explain when you get here." He agreed and I hung up.

"You'll let him drive the children home?" the teacher asked.

"Not likely," I snorted, causing Ms. Phillips to frown. "Timmy coaches the boys in baseball. We grew up two houses down from each other. He's also a local cop."

"You called a police officer?" the new teacher asked with a frown.

"I've got a business to run," I sighed. "I can't stand here arguing with you all day."

"And there Timmy is," Ted put in helpfully. "He must have been out on patrol."

"What's going on?" Timmy asked when he exited his car. There was quite a crowd by now. I guess some of the neighbors had joined us.

"Emily asked me to pick up the kids and this teacher won't let me take them home," I replied succinctly. "She's new."

"He's been drinking," the brunette put in.

"As I said earlier, I have not been drinking," I retorted. "But let's let Timmy decide that."

"So, you want me to test you?" Timmy asked in surprise.

"Oh, not just me," I replied, not willing to be the only person embarrassed by all this. "Us. I want you to test Ms. Phillips and myself. After all, she's a teacher at my nephews' school and in my opinion she's acting irrationally. For all I know, she could be high."

"I am not high!" the woman snapped.

"Prove it!" I argued. "After all, it only seems fair. I'm willing to prove I'm not drunk."

"Fine," she said, shaking her head and giving in with surprising grace. "But you first, and if you fail then I don't have to be tested."

"Sounds reasonably, for a change," I shrugged, before turning to Timmy. "Do you want to do the whole nine yards or just use the Breathalyzer?"