Page 8 of Snow Falls Over Starry Cove

3

Madame Bovary, Gustave Flaubert

Tuesday, 8th November

The next day I catch a glimpse of Stephen in the staffroom over lunch break as he ambles over and steals half of my sandwich.

‘That’s it?’ I ask as he walks away, winking at me.

Not that I’m expecting a kiss in front of my colleagues, of course, but aHi, how are you? Would you like to have dinner tonight?would have been nice.

‘Saving the rest for later,’ he promises with a ruffle of his eyebrows, and I know he’s not referring to my lunch.

But that’s Stephen for you. For every fault, he always finds a way to make it up to you. Most of the time.

With a glimmer of hope and some ‘us’ time to look forward to, I continue to chomp on what’s left of my lunch.

‘So, what’s up with tight-arse?’ Maisie whispers as she takes a seat on the teal velour settee in the staffroom next to me and nods to the door through which Stephen has just disappeared. ‘I bet he said no to Cornwall.’

‘Well, it’s not really a no,’ I defend, swallowing a piece of tomato. ‘He promised to come with me in the summer.’

She faux-punches me in the arm. Or so she thinks. She’s got the strength of a wrestler, Maisie.

‘Cornwall in the summer! That’s great, Emmie.’

‘It is, although Stephen says I should refuse to go as they never wanted to meet me. But this woman is all the family in the world I have now. Apart from you, of course,’ I add when she sticks out her bottom lip and gives me the spaniel eyes. ‘Is asking him to come with me really too much? Shouldn’t he actually be offering, without my asking?’

‘Absolutely, he should,’ Maisie agrees. ‘Especially with his pretences of being a protector and all that. But he’s all talk.’

I begin to fray the lettuce leaves protruding from my sandwich. ‘I mean, he’s got so many qualities and I love him, but I hate it when he plays the headmaster card to get out of something he’s not keen on. I mean, shouldn’t he be happy for me?’

‘Stephen doesn’t do family drama. He can’t even see the mess his own family is. He’d amply deserve it if you left him.’

I roll my eyes. ‘Maisie, stop. Why would I leave him if I love him?’

Maisie swallows the last of her sandwich, still piercing me with her eyes.

‘I just don’t understand, for the life of me, why you put up with him. You’re young and beautiful. You could have anyone else.’

‘Thanks, but I don’t want anyone else. Stephen makes me feel—’

‘Yeah, yeah, I know. Grounded. And unloved.’

I groan. ‘No, stop it. He’s… solid. Stable.’

‘You’re describing him like he’s a kitchen table!’

‘I mean, he’s a good man. He’s kind to me.’

‘Is that enough to commit to a bloke nowadays?’

It is to me, considering my parents were totally indifferent to me. Kindness is everything. Even if Stephen has his days. But he’s always there for me, and that’s what I was looking for in a man. And now I’ve found it, perfect or not. ‘It’s much better than having your heart broken again,’ I say, leaving it at that, because Maisie knows better than to dig up my past of unrequited love. ‘So romance is now only about stability and nothing else? You see why I don’t do relationships?’

If there were ever to be an official spokesperson for ‘No love – we just have sex, thank you’, it would certainly be Maisie Lowry.

She sighs heavily. ‘Forget about him.I’llcome to Cornwall with you.’

You see why I love her so much? I didn’t even have to ask.

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