xp_logs | [log] Piotr and Marie: I go away for three days and...

...nothing changes! Marie reads the journals and, based on her agreement to be there for Piotr if he needed to talk, she calls him before her classes.

His eyes blinked awake at the sound of the housekeeper rapping at his door and announcing, 'House keeping!'. Piotr jerked out of bed to let the housekeeper in and realized to his amazement that he had slept away the morning. It was late when he left and even later when he checked in. He was just so exhausted from all the arguing. He retreated to the bathroom to put some clothes on while the housekeeper quietly made his bed. He was so hungry, breakfast never sounded better. Stepping out the door and throwing his coat on, he heard the cell phone start to ring...

"Hello?"

"Piotr?" Marie sounded genuinely worried. "Where are you?"

"Oh, it's you Marie. Is there something wrong? I told the Professor and Clarice to call me only on emergency." he echoed her worried tone.

"What's wrong is you not being here," she said with some exasperation. "And no one knowing really exactly where you are. I went to catch up on the team journals and I saw that you'd taken off. Not that I blame you, hell, I understand. You'd said you wanted to be able to talk to me and all and I bailed this weekend so... here I am now. Sorry I wasn't around."

"Marie, you have no idea how nice it is to hear your voice. I'm fine. I'm just in town at the skuzziest motel this little suburb can handle. I don't know what happened. I was feeling down, unsupported and just plain crappy and was looking for support and Amanda had to make a remark about me and I just went off. I couldn't control my rage and all I wanted to do is have a repeated episode of that fight Mr. Marko and I had. I knew that's not what I wanted to do, so I left before anyone got hurt."

"Wise move." Marie put the kettle on the stove and went to sort her class notes. "We've all been so horribly stressed out lately and since we're short-staffed, no one gets a break, do they? Between team training and teaching and studying for my teaching cert and then keeping an eye on the dorm after hours, I'm at the end of my rope. I know exactly how you feel. So, how can I get you to come back?"

"I'm planning on coming back soon. Probably tomorrow or later tonight. It depends on how the school is reacting. I was hoping that my leaving would allow folks to cool down, as well as myself, but if people are still hostile, then I'll wait it out some more," he said on his was to Harry's for some breakfast.

"Look, um... your comment to Amanda was pretty out there. I know you were upset, but that was mean. I've been on the street myself, Piotr, and you don't get to be a nice girl after that." Marie sounded sad and tentative. "Will you at least apologize to her for that? She's a decent person and she's done so much for Lorna and Angelo. She deserves better than to be called names like that."

"I realize that it was a little harsh and I do plan to apologize to her, but I hope she will do the same. You said you understand, but I don't think anyone else does. I just don't understand how /she/ can express that she's feeling bad, but when I do it, it's not okay," Piotr's voice started to stagger. "And folks tell me to act like a teacher and such, but a teacher shouldn't have to take abuse from his students! Isn't there some sort of detention for students at the mansion?"

"Yes, there is. But the journals are their place to express themselves. If she was out of line in your journal, the best thing to do is to say so to her without losing your temper. I know it's not always possible, especially right now." Marie poured water into her tea cup and hopped up to sit on the counter. "I /know/ it's not fair. But things stop being fair when we take on responsibilities. We have to behave better than them, at least in front of them, or it all goes to hell."

"I know, I know. Under other circumstances, I would have been fine and in control. It would have been easy for me to brush off insults, but I've obviously been in a raw state," he now stood outside the door to Harry's. People that speak on cell phones in restaurants has always been a pet peeve of his.

"Yeah, you have. This hasn't been easy on you and people should respect that some. Even when I'm mad at you, I know you care and things are hard for you too." She sighed and stirred her tea. "Look, take the time you need to get your bearings. You have my number and you can call me /any/ time. When you're ready to come home, I'll see what I can do to help smooth things out a little. I owe Artie and Miles a trip to Harry's. You could come too and we could bring Yana. Start patching things up."

The sound of Yana's name made Piotr's heart jump, "Yana...I wish nothing in the world than for her happiness. Please bring her if she wants to see me, but if she refuses, force nothing on her. I'll probably stay the day and possibly another night, so feel free to visit anytime. Also, please don't tell everyone where I am. I can see that Shinobi snot and Angelo coming to harass me."

Marie laughed a little. "Piotr. They'd do no such thing. They were just standing up for their friend, you know. They're good people. You're a good man. This will all get fixed up. I have classes to teach and then I'll talk to the kids, okay? I'll call you."

"Ok Marie. Take care."

"You too, Piotr. Bye for now." She closed the phone with a click and went to pencil taking the kids to Harry's into her agenda.