In a Class of His Own (17 page)

“I’ve
got to go down to check it over. It’s in Dorset, by the sea.”
Jack paused and cleared his throat slightly. “I wondered, when
you’re feeling better, whether you’d like to come with me? Sea
air might do you good. The car could do with a run too.”

My legs gave way and I
sat back onto the sofa. “Fine,” I managed. “I’d like that.”
A whole day by the sea - with Jack? Who was I kidding? I’d love
that!

He smiled and with a curt
nod, left.

That night I had no need
of central heating. I had a rosy glow all of my own and it was coming
from inside.

As it turned out I wasn’t
feeling well enough for the trip for another couple of days. Jack
promised to postpone it until I’d recovered a little more.

In the
meantime I mooched around the flat, getting horribly addicted to
daytime TV. I knew I was feeling better when I found myself getting
bored of the repeats of
‘Come Dine With Me’.

On Saturday morning Ann
came to see me. I was still feeling weak and felt ridiculously
vulnerable without my guard dog, who was outside tinkering with his
beloved car.

As I made coffee I
thought Ann was looking strained. Perhaps it was the after effects of
the inspection. This term we’d been thrown into one another’s
company much more and had gradually become a little friendlier. It
helped to know she no longer had any interest in Jack.

“Are
you OK?” I asked curiously as I handed her the steaming mug. She
certainly didn’t look anything like as composed as the cool blonde
I’d known back in September.

She
laughed tremulously. “It should be me asking you that, shouldn’t
it?” She looked down and twisted
a ring on her finger. “Nicky, I don’t know if it’s the right
time to tell you this but I’m handing in my resignation.”

I sat
down beside her with a thump. This was all the school needed. “But
why Ann? Aren’t you happy at school?” A
thought occurred to me, “Have you got another job?”

She
shook her head miserably. “I feel such a bloody fool.” She
glanced at me and bit her lower lip. I could see the red marks it
made against the lip-gloss she habitually wore. She was close to
tears and so I put my hand on hers. She was silent for a moment,
obviously trying to pull herself together,
and then began to speak.

“It’s
Rupert,” she burst out. “I’m so in love with him it hurts.
Every time he looks at me or speaks to me I just …” She took a
deep shuddering breath and carried on. “He wanted to know if I took
sugar in my tea the other morning and I nearly died. I never know
what to say to him and I always blurt out the most awful rubbish. And
he’s younger than me.” Her voice rose into a wail. “And I just
know he doesn’t think of me in that way. She gave me a sideways
look. “He always talks to you such a lot, you get on so well with
him, I wondered if he’d ever said anything about me?” She looked
hopeful and a bit desperate.

There’s
a time for the
absolute truth and I was pretty certain it wasn’t now. I paused,
took a breath and said, “I know he admires your teaching. That
afternoon he spent with you in the Reception class certainly made an
impression on him.” I said it kindly. That, at least was the truth.

She
laughed,
seeing straight through my carefully chosen words. “So it’s that
bad is it? He admires my
teaching
.”
She gave a quick sigh. “You see Nicky, this is the problem, I don’t
think I can go on working with someone who doesn’t even know I
exist.”

“He
knows you exist all right,” I said, thinking back to what Rupert
had said about Ann when he’d given me a lift to the pub that time.

She sighed mournfully.
“Still, I don’t expect you to understand what it’s like. You
get on so well with everyone, even the scary Mr. Thorpe is eating out
of your hands.” She took a sip of coffee.

I prickled a bit at this
and then had a vision of Jack nibbling deliciously at my palms. I
thrust the image firmly to the back of my mind.

“We
have our differences, I can assure you!” That was the
understatement of the century. “But Ann, you’re doing really well
at school, you’ve been a fantastic member of the senior management
team and I’d really miss you if you went.”

She
didn’t look convinced.

“Think
how brilliantly the Christmas gala went. And that was all down to you
and your enthusiasm!” I added, wincing at my memories of the
evening. “Don’t leave, please. Not because of a man.”

“You
don’t understand, I didn’t think you would,” she pouted. “I
can’t imagine you ever having this problem. You’d just swan up to
the guy and drag him off!” Then she took the sting out of her words
by beginning to laugh, albeit somewhat bitterly. I joined in and then
inevitably began to cough.

“Believe
me. I understand far better than you think,” I murmured, meaning
every word. “It’s never easy working with someone you have
feelings for.”

There was a silence.

“There
was a time,” she began cautiously, “When I thought you and Rupert
…”

“No,”
I said as firmly as I could manage. “There’s nothing between me
and Rupert. I like him a lot but that’s all there is to it.”

Ann
gave another sigh. “Well that’s a relief. I know he likes you.”

“He
admires me as his mentor, which is only right and proper, bearing in
mind my incredible teaching prowess!” I said in pompous tones, in a
desperate attempt to lighten the conversation. It worked, Ann
giggled.

“Look,”
I added briskly, “Even if things are really awful, you can’t hand
in your resignation now. You’d never find another job at this stage
of the term.”

“No,
you’re right I suppose. But what am I going to do?” Her mood
changed again and she began to cry very slightly, little delicate
trails of tears crawling down her cheek. I wondered how it was that
some women cried so elegantly. I never managed it. I gave her a hug
and we rested our heads together. Two women in love.

Hopelessly.

“I
don’t know Ann, I just don’t know.”

We sat
in a
companionable silence until, in time, she rallied. Eventually she
gave a tiny sniff and began to look around her. It didn’t take too
long before she was more like the Ann I knew from old.

“This
is a lovely flat, Nicky,” she exclaimed, as she recovered rapidly.
“Bit on the bijou side but it’s been beautifully done. However
did you find it? I thought you were living with your parents?” She
blew her nose on a tissue. I hid a smile as I saw it was colour
co-ordinated to match her clothes.

“And
was that our overbearing headmaster, Mr. Thorpe, outside?” Ann
turned to me, excitedly. “Had he been to see you? I should think so
too, you’re practically running that school!”

After
I’d briefly explained, I winced. Jack and I had taken great pains
to keep our living arrangements a secret, in case it was subject to
gossip. With Rupert
and now Ann knowing, there was every chance we would be the talk of
the school come the Summer term.

She rose and moved around
the room, picking things up and then putting them down again without
really looking. She turned to me and said slyly: “You know, I’ve
always thought he had a bit of a thing for you.”

I snorted. “I thought
you liked him when he first arrived.”

“I
did,” she said airily. “Who wouldn’t? I mean he’s drop-dead
gorgeous, isn’t he. But he’s never once looked at me in the same
way as he looks at you.” She fingered the deputy’s badge which I
had proudly displayed on my notice board.

“How
does he look at me?” I was finding it hard to breathe.

“You
know, like the Big Bad Wolf looks at Red Riding Hood. Like he wants
to gobble you all up!” Ann put the badge down and looked out at the
little balcony. No doubt she’d call that ‘bijou’ too.

“I
think you ought to try reading some stories aimed at older children
once in a while,” I replied caustically. I’d think about Jack
‘gobbling me up’ later. “The Roald Dahl version of Little Red
Riding Hood is much more entertaining.”

Ann
turned on me, grinning, picking up the reference.
“I knew you were scary Nicky, but I didn’t think you kept a
pistol in your knickers!”

We were still giggling as
I saw her to the front door. As she tripped lightly down the steps
she passed Jack on the way up.

“Bye
Wolfie!” she carolled, laughing as she went.

Jack came into the flat
with a mystified expression on his face. “Wolfie?”

“Oh,
just a bit of school personnel business,” I adlibbed. “Love does
silly things to people, doesn’t it?” I added inconsequentially.

“You
can say that again.” He gave me a sour look. “I thought we could
go to Dorset on Monday. Would that suit?”

“It
would suit me down to the ground, Mr. Thorpe!”

Easter
Monday dawned bright and cold. A Spring
day more reminiscent of the lion than the lamb but I was excited
nevertheless.

I was
waiting by Jack’s car, dressed and ready on the dot of eight
o’clock. I leaned against the Jaguar, hoping my legs would stop
feeling wobbly soon. I attributed their weakness to the after-effects
of the ‘flu’, naturally.

Jack
came out of his front door and smiled broadly when he saw me.
“Ready?”

Dazed
at the warmth of his greeting, I
distracted myself by checking in my pocket for the economy sized
packet of industrial strength cough sweets I’d brought and grinned
back. “You bet!”

The
journey down was thrilling. Being so low down made the E-Type seem so
much faster than other cars I’d travelled in and it easily ate
up the miles along the M5. For once I could see the appeal – of the
car. The lightness in my heart had nothing to do with its driver.
Nothing at all.

“How
long will it take to get there?” I asked, squinting across at him
in the weak sunshine.

“About
two hours. Not long.” Jack answered with an impish expression. He
always seemed so much more relaxed when driving.

“Legally?”
I asked flirtatiously and smiled at him again. The joy of feeling
better, escaping the flat and being with him was exhilarating. I had
stardust in my soul.

Jack grinned back. “Well
maybe not totally legally!” and he gunned the engine to overtake
the car in front.

As we
sped along he told me about the cottage. “It’s in Lyme Regis. We
used to have our family holidays down there, every year until,
well, until we couldn’t afford one anymore. As soon as Jenny was
able, she and Colin bought a cottage there. It’s right on the sea
front. It was in a bit of a state so they got a bargain.”

He laughed indulgently.
“Jenny is completely besotted with Lyme. She’s not happy unless
she’s been there at least three

times a year. It drives
Colin mad. He’d like to do more skiing. If it wasn’t so far from
our parents I think she’d move there permanently, whatever Colin
said!”

I
thought Jenny looked more Bond Street than buckets and spades but I
didn’t comment. I hardly breathed in case it stopped Jack from
talking. It was so rare he opened up. I twisted sideways to get a
better look at him. He had on his chinos and suede jacket again but
underneath was a mustard yellow sweater I hadn’t seen before. It
made his light eyes look arctic blue in the

cold sunshine.

He caught me looking at
it and smiled ruefully. “It’s one of Colin’s cast offs. Not
sure it’s my colour. You’d know. You always dress so well. I
haven’t a clue about what colours go together.”

I hid
my blushing pleasure at his compliment by grinning idiotically out of
the window. I sighed happily. I was clutching at fragments of
happiness today but I was determined to make the most of it. Live for
the day was more Andy’s philosophy but for
once, I could see exactly what he meant.

When the car crawled down
Lyme’s steep high street, slowed by holiday traffic, I couldn’t
help myself but cry out with child-like excitement when I spotted the
sea. This earned me a wicked grin from Jack.

We
sneaked
into a parking space right on the front and across to the west of the
town I could a great sea wall snaking out into the bay. The sea was
satisfyingly rough and there were huge plumes of white water crashing
over.

The name Lyme Regis had
triggered a distant memory when Jack had explained where the cottage
was and now I remembered why.

“Of
course! This is where part of ‘Persuasion’ is set, isn’t it?”
I exclaimed. “And they filmed it here. It was lovely, so romantic!”
I was lost for a moment, thinking of one of my favourite novels.
“Captain Wentworth is such a gorgeous hero.”

I
sighed. Perhaps Bev
was right; I did go for the masterful type. I turned to Jack and saw
he was watching me closely. “Where are the steps Louisa Musgrove
fell down? Can we see them?”

“They’ve
filmed lots of things here,” he narrowed his eyes against the
light. “Do you remember ‘The French Lieutenant’s Woman’?”

I nodded.

He gestured in the
direction of the sea wall. “We can walk out to the end of The Cobb,
if you want to and stand where she stood looking out for her lover’s
return. If memory serves, I think that’s where Louisa’s steps are
too. Do you think you can make it that far?”

I nodded again, beaming
up at him. Nothing was allowed to spoil this day of stolen pleasure.

We
walked along the sea front and into the old harbour area. We didn’t
talk, Jack seemed preoccupied, his easygoing
mood suddenly gone. I had to stop and catch my breath every now and
again and eventually Jack offered his arm. We walked along

companionably, looking
for all the world like the happy couple we were most definitely not.

I
wanted to remember every single moment. I would have bottled the
memories, if I could, to take home and pore over, examining the
details to relive it all. Even
though it was cold, with