The neighborhood was bustling with more activity than it has seen the last couple of months. Bleary eyed kids dreading their return to school being led to the bus stop by parents with the contrasting feeling of relief. Eloise stood there, chatting with some of the other parents as Aaron came along with his daughters in tow. As they got closer, both girls burst out from behind him to join Eloise’s two girls.
“Mornin’ all,” Aaron said with a smile, met with smiles and cheerful greetings in return from everyone but Eloise, who could only manage a hushed “Good morning,” as she avoided eye contact.
Aaron crouched down and polled the gathering children on their excitement, or lack thereof, for the new school year. A few of the moms did their best to hide their fawning over him as he worked to cheer the children up from the dread of their perceived impending doom. Handsome, kind and always happy to lend a hand in the neighborhood, Aaron was easily the star of quite a few fantasies conjured up by a handful of the women standing around him. Until that past weekend, however, nothing like the bawdy fantasies her present company had imagined would have ever crossed Eloise’s mind.