Page 22 of Still Falling for You

‘I wouldn’t call that a lunch,’ John says with a sneer. I don’t think I’ve ever heard him use such a condescending tone. ‘It looks like regurgitated animal feed to me.’

‘You’re a PE teacher. Don’t you mostly eat regurgitated animal feed?’ she jabs and then adds maliciously, ‘I bet it was thatHolly person. She seems like the clumsy type.’

That Holly person? Did she really say that? Alex gives the door a death glare, ready to slaughter somebody.

‘Don’t be like that. Holly’s nice.’ John defends me, and warmth flickers in my chest. Alex’s face darkens, if it were even possible.

Danielle snorts, and I hear her moving towards the corridor leading to the classrooms. ‘You’re only being nice because you want to bend her over a desk, don’t you?’

I’m so shocked by her crude words that for a moment I think I must have imagined them.

Either John is not aware of what a gossip Danielle is, or he doesn’t give a damn because he responds in his suave manner, ‘Don’t mind if I do. She’s seriously hot in that quirky way. Likea kinky librarian.’

I almost choke at John’s words. I don’t dare to aim my gaze anywhere in Alex’s vicinity because I’m mortified. But it doesn’t escape me from the corner of my eye that Alex’s hands tighten into fists.

‘Just be careful. There’s something going on between Alex and her. I don’t know what yet, but I will find out. You don’t want to be another person Alex gets fired.’ Their voices retreat with their footsteps.

‘I’m not Hayden,’ John’s fading voice starts saying, but the rest is too muffled for me to hear.

Did Alex have somebody fired because he was after the same job? Regardless of his arctic personality, no wonder he’s so unpopular.

We wait five more minutes before the coast is clear, surreptitiously squinting in each other’s direction.

Neither of us says a word until we both speak at the same time. While I say stiffly, ‘I’d better go,’ Alex rushes, ‘About what John said…’

‘It’s none of my business what you do or don’t do,’ I say a little too harshly.

He grips the bridge of his nose and closes his eyes for a moment. When he opens them, they’re cold. He pulls himself up to his full height which is only a smidge taller than me; he’s back to his superior bullshit, and instantly I feel defensive.

‘So, you think it’s not above and beyond my practices to fire people who are my competition?’ he accuses me haughtily. I refuse to rise to his words.

‘Let me know how much your drycleaning is, or I’ll buy you a new shirt if it’s beyond cleaning,’ I say with detachment, but I know my silence to his previous question is an answer in itself. I’ve just poured water onto hot oil.

He laughs hollowly and crosses his big arms in front of him. My hands go automatically to my hips, ready for the fight.‘There’s not a grey cloud in your world, is there? Everything can be solved with money. Start facing your problems. You better go before you cause any more damage. That’s what you do, don’t you?’

His words are so harsh I rear back like he slapped me. I thought offering to pay for his ruined shirt was facing my problems. Did he expect me to bow down and beg for forgiveness?

He catches my reaction and his cheeks twitch. He opens his mouth.

‘Don’t bother,’ I snap, barely containing anger so hot it feels like it’s boiling my insides. ‘Whatever you were about to say, I’m sure I’ll be glad to have missed it. I’ll let you deal with the mess on the carpet because, as you said, I can’t seem to deal with my problems.’ Out of spite and unable to help myself, I add, ‘At least I’m not a two-faced arsehat.’

I pick up my stuff scattered around the reception and rush to my classroom, only halfway there realising I’ve left my bumblebee cardigan in the toilet. It’s a small price to pay for speaking my mind.

10

Half an hour later, I’ve gone through the lesson plan for the lower comprehension set and the higher maths set I’m teaching today. I’m setting out the starter tasks ready for the kids as soonas they come in when my phone buzzes. It’s Catherine.

‘Hey,’ she says sweetly, but there’s a definite strain in her voice. We’ve always been close and even though we often went without seeing each other for weeks during uni and our life paths couldn’t have been any more different, we’ve stayed best friends. So it’s no wonder we work on an almost telepathic level. Cheryl and Jason Blossom fromRiverdalehave nothing on us.

‘Is everything OK?’ I start gently, happy to be dealing with somebody else’s problems for once.

‘Of course.’ Her voice wobbles a little.

‘If you’re keeping it in out of any sense of misplaced solidarity to my current pathetic existence, I can assure you I’m all ears. I welcome any interruptions to my drama. I’m here for you. Always.’ I try to sound as supportive as possible even though less than half an hour ago, I was mere minutes away from an emotional breakdown or walking out of this school forever.

There’s silence on the other end, and so I wait. When she doesn’t say anything, I try a different strategy. Cheering up Lydia-style it is.

‘Let me prove to you that I can take on whatever’s worrying you. Let’s start. My mother is the living embodiment of Pamela Jones and can’t seem to understand that a woman can be happy without a man. A few weeks back, she tried to match me with a guy who turned out to be so nice, he invited me for lunch with him and his boyfriend. The only reason I didn’t tell you and Lydia was because I didn’t think I’d ever live it down.’

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