Lariette introduced Ruediger to Nora, Bella and Phoebe. The three ladies couldn’t hold back from their excitent upon discovering their colleague’s new marriage.
Lariette tried to answer their questions without giving out too many details. Ruediger smiled watching the ladies’ interaction.
"The eting should start soon, right?" Lariette turned to Ruediger while reaching for the paper bag, "I’ll follow my colleagues now, Eddy. Thank you for walking here."
Lariette knew she better head to the eting room now. If not, the ladies most likely would co up with more questions about their relationship.
A happy Ruediger nodded. He handed the paper bag of desserts to Lariette. As he spoke, his voice was considerably softer than usual, "Text once you’re done. I’ll co to pick you up."
Lariette smiled sheepishly when Ruediger’s remark earned playful looks from the three teachers. She initially wanted to say that she would be fine going ho by herself, but...
"Okay. I’ll send you a ssage."
The curves of Ruediger’s smiley eyes softened, following the arch of his lips. He was glad to hear Lariette imdiately agree with him. He looked forward to coming to pick her up.
"I’ll get going now," Ruediger returned his gaze to Nora, Phoebe and Bella, "I hope you’ll enjoy the desserts. See you again."
"Yes. See you again, Mr. Ruediger."
"Don’t worry about Lari! She’ll be safe here."
Burst of laughter echoed from the small group of ladies as they watched Ruediger walking toward the gate. The morning sun basked over his towering figure, the light catching his fluttering crimson locks.
"Let’s go now," said Lariette once she tore her eyes away from Ruediger’s disappearing figure. Showing the paper bag in her right hand, she said, "My husband made so pudding and cake. We can eat them during the eting."
"Your husband made what? Those sound yummy!"
"Oh~ Seems like our Lari got married to a good man."
"Hey! When did you get married? Was it right after you were in that accident?"
Lariette had already expected such questions, especially the last one by Phoebe.
She wouldn’t be the only one bringing food. Usually, a few teachers brought desserts or dishes to be shared with everyone during etings.
Shaking her head, Lariette gestured toward the staircase with a tilt of her chin. She shot them a knowing look, "The eting will start in ten minutes. Let’s go."
Seeing that Lariette didn’t seem to answer their question, the ladies didn’t press further. All three of them walked alongside her as they went to the second floor.
"Are you really well, already? Do you need more days off?"
"Lari, no need to push yourself. We can handle your work."
"Hehe, your students will haunt us with questions if they ever heard about your accident."
Lariette appreciated Nora, Bella and Phoebe’s well-intentioned concern about her well-being. She reassured them that she was indeed healthy enough to start working again.
"Lari! Who was that man?"
"Aww~ Our Lari brought her boyfriend to school, huh?"
Once again, Lariette received questions about Ruediger from a few teachers who were already in the eting room. They saw her walking with the crimson-haired man through the windows.
Lariette was well-received by almost everyone in Blossom Phoenix Middle School. Her graceful manner and the mystery of her private life made people assu her background was not ordinary.
So even wondered if Lariette was related to the renowned Elsher family in the country. What they never thought was, she was from the main branch.
The story of the neglected real heiress of the Elsher family mostly circulated in high society.
"Lari, who was that?"
"Hehe, you finally showed your boyfriend, huh?"
"What a handso lad. Say, does he like fishing?"
Even the principal, Lawrence Smith, was intrigued by the new gossip. He arrived a few minutes after Lariette appeared in the eting room, only to be welcod by their chatter.
Lariette smiled in helplessness. Still, she was happy. With a bright smile on her face, she briefly explained who Ruediger was.
"He is my husband. We got married last week. We didn’t have a wedding, so he made so desserts to share with everyone today."
And, once again, Lariette’s remark earned surprised gasps and congratulations from her colleagues.
"Lari, congratulations!"
"Hahaha! Desserts made by the groom? I can’t wait to try them."
"They’re a perfect match! Don’t you think so?"
Principal Smith clapped his hands, pulling everyone’s attention to him. The older man smiled warmly as his eyes landed on Lariette’s face.
"Congratulations, Lariette. It’s such good news after what happened to you a few weeks ago. All of us wish you the best."
Understanding what Principal Smith ant, Lariette smiled in gratitude, "Thank you, Mr. Lawrence. I really appreciate everyone’s good wishes."
Led by Nora, the people inside the eting room gently clapped their hands. Lariette could only thank them again and again, her cheeks flushing.
The eting was delayed for almost ten minutes but, Principal Smith didn’t say anything about it. He and a few other teachers went to their respective seats.
The hum of conversation filled the eting room as the teachers discussed the preparations for the upcoming sester. Sumr break would end sooner rather than later, thus, they needed to be proactive.
"Any concerns about curriculum adjustnts?" asked Principal Smith while pushing the round glasses on his nose bridge, "Feel free to speak your mind."
Principal Smith was an approachable figure. The teachers and the staff, including the low-ranked ones, had no problems voicing their opinions to him.
The older man possessed almost thirty decades of experience in the education field never brushed their thoughts off without weighing them down.
Phoebe, the math teacher, let out a sigh, "My students struggled with a few sub-topics last term. I plan to introduce more visual learning tools."
"That most likely will be helpful," Lariette raised her hand slightly while speaking, "In my case, I noticed my students learned faster with storytelling techniques. The language departnt has been implenting creative approaches."
A few other teachers nodded in agreent, also sharing their own experiences in using the thods the language faculty used.
"That’s a good idea," Principal Smith nodded, "Let’s discuss it further."
The eting buzzed with excitent as the teachers shared their thoughts with each other. Ideas kept flowing between them, yet so were hard to implent.
In the middle of it, they paused for a quick coffee break. They flocked to the side table where the desserts and drinks were placed.
Much to Lariette’s relief, every single one enjoyed the mango coconut pudding and lemon blueberry loaf cake made by Ruediger. She had separated a portion for each, to be given to Bill and his colleague later.
"This is so heavenly! Oh~ The divine taste of mango."
"Excuse , I want another slice of the cake."
"Lari, what else can he bake? How about cooking dishes?"
While scooping the mango pudding on her plate, Lariette said, her whole face beaming, "He can cook everything. I’ve been eating a lot more now."
When echoes of playful envy rang in the room, chuckles slipped out of Lariette’s lips as she couldn’t help but be proud of Ruediger.
Never did she expect he was facing so trouble now. Or, rather, trouble ca looking for him.
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