I can see now why you would think we were getting back together, but you’re so far from the truth, Mr Wood. I do deserve more. We’re not trying again. I’m not giving him a second chance because, quite frankly, I’m not a complete fuckwit. Gem.
I stood up and whooped, a proper full on yelp. The whole class turned and all I could do was smile as I slipped the paper into my shirt pocket.
‘Guys, search the internet for the greatest day ever in the history of greatest days.’ Fingers started flying across keyboards and hands were raised in the air asking for help spelling greatest. ‘Don’t worry; just look at the calendar icon at the bottom of the screen. What does it say? Shout it out to me,’ I said, wriggling my fingers. A chorus of March 11th made me jump in the air. ‘Yes! Remember that date. Today is the greatest day in the history of greatest days!’
The greatest day in the history of greatest days started to taper out as the day went on.
Harry threw a chair when his temper got the better of him. We quickly got the children outside and calmed him down. He was the cutest kid but his ADHD made it hard for him to control his anger. On a one to one, he was the most fascinating, loveable seven-year-old that I had ever had the fortune to meet, but his anger switch could flick at any minute with no real build up.
We sat together colouring a picture of a Power Ranger underneath his den. It was a small tent in the quiet corner of the class, and although my back was killing me and I’d lost all feeling in both of my feet, I was determined to bring something good from the chaos of the last ten minutes.
The door to the tent folded back and Mrs Hamilton, the head teacher, poked her head through. ‘Hi, Harry. That’s a wonderful picture you’re doing there.’ He gave a shy smile, obviously worried about why the head teacher was now invading his safe space.
I tapped him on the knee. ‘Mrs Hamilton has come to cover me while I go to a meeting.’ He smiled in recognition that she wasn’t there to give him a good telling off. ‘I’m going to be talking about the Easter fair. Do you have any ideas that I could share?’ I asked.
‘We did an Easter bonnet parade last year. I didn’t win but it was fun,’ Harry said.
‘Great idea, Harry. I’ll make sure I offer it as a suggestion. See you later.’ I started to consider what would be the best way to get out of this bloody tent. Commando roll seemed to be the only viable option until Mrs Hamilton offered her hand. ‘I must be getting old,’ I laughed as she helped me to stand.
‘I’ll give you points for even attempting to get in there, Mr Wood. The meeting is in the staff room. There will be a few parents who have offered to help. It will be a good way for you to get to know them.’ I nodded, told Harry I would see him later and made my way to the staff room.
I grabbed a cup of water from the water cooler by reception and walked through to find Gem standing by the window watching Theo as he played football on the playground. She had a proud smile and everything about the moment pushed me towards her. Her presence, the way she was looking at her son, the curve of her neck and the curls of hair that had escaped her ponytail. I thought of her note, how the world had shifted once I knew for sure that she wasn’t back with her ex. Slowly I got closer until I heard a sharp gasp as she turned to find me standing behind her. Her hand clasped against her throat and the water in my cup spilt and dropped onto my trousers. We both followed the route of the water and said, ‘Oh no,’ in whispered unison. She bent forward and started to brush my thigh at the same time as I went to pull the wet fabric from my skin. Our hands touched and neither of us moved them, we just watched each other, our hands lightly touching, taking each other in again until circumstances meant that we couldn’t anymore.
‘Hello, Theo’s mummy,’ I said, watching the rise and fall of her chest.
‘Hello, Mr Wood,’ she replied, her voice shaky and quiet.
‘Hi, welcome, please take a seat,’ Mrs Enders said as more people I didn’t know filed through. Gem and I both looked at two empty chairs and hurriedly sat down next to each other. She smiled as I tried to hide mine behind my cup, and instantly, everything felt good again. Our shoulders touched. I could feel the warmth of her body, and if that were the only area of her body that I would ever touch again, I would die a happy man. I tried to pinpoint the feeling, get it down to fine detail, but all I could think about was how much comfort it gave me to have her so close again.
‘I got your note,’ I whispered.
‘I got yours,’ she smiled.
‘Can we start again?’
A voice broke our connection. ‘OK, shall we begin? Mr Wood has very kindly agreed to join us in the absence of Mrs Lee,’ Mrs Enders announced, forcing me away from Gem and everything I wanted to say to her. Gem crossed her legs and I followed them briefly, the flesh of her upper thigh, the curve of her leg. I almost said, ‘Praise be to whoever invented skirts,’ before I remembered where we were.
I couldn’t help it. She had great legs.
‘Easter will soon be upon us, so I thought we should meet as soon as possible. Thank you to everyone for agreeing to help out. As those of you who helped out last year already know, it can be a very hectic time organising a school fair.’
‘I organised the tombola last year and I’m happy to do it again,’ Mrs Kendrick, also known as Lydia, said. She was a parent I recognised because she had made a point of talking to me every morning and afternoon when she collected her son. Miss Henshaw, my classroom assistant, had started joking about how my class was taking longer to dismiss every day with all the mums wanting to discuss various issues about their children with me. I had laughed it off but it was beginning to make me uncomfortable, particularly as Lydia was staring at me from across the room.
‘I’m happy to help with that too. It’s a big job, organizing prizes and getting everything labelled,’ Gem said. She watched my hand as I placed it on my knee ever so close to hers. I couldn’t fail to notice her bite her lip.
‘That’s OK, Gemma; I can handle it. It takes up a lot of time and you must be very busy with Theo and Brandon to take care of.’
‘I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t have the time, Lydia,’ Gem replied. I felt her shoulders tense up beside mine. I didn’t like the tone of her conversation, and I’m sure Gem didn’t either.
‘Lydia, if you’re happy to do that on your own, that’s great. Gemma, I really could do with some help organizing the cake sale. We didn’t get many last year, so we need to advertise and really push,’ Mrs Enders said.
‘Sure, that’s fine. I’ll make some posters,’ she replied, folding her arms.
‘Now, ideas for stalls. Nothing too taxing. Nothing too aggressive. Mr Deacon still hasn’t regained the feeling in his little finger after bat the rat last year.’
Gem tried to hide her laughter but I made it worse by nudging my shoulder into hers.
‘My dad has some stuff in his garage from school fairs he used to run. I could bring it in if that would be helpful. There are stocks for hit the teacher with a wet sponge, a giant connect four, pin the tail on the donkey, that kind of thing. He even has a candyfloss machine. That always goes down well,’ I shrugged. ‘Ooh, I also promised Harry in my class that I would offer his suggestion of an Easter bonnet parade.’
‘We all know Harry,’ Lydia said, rolling her eyes. ‘Wasn’t it Harry who hit Mr Deacon’s finger with a baseball bat?’
‘It wasn’t done intentionally. He was just trying to…bat the rat,’ Gem said, her laughter setting off again. Sticking up for Harry was something I needed to add to my long list of reasons why I liked Gem.
‘I just saw his little angry episode on the way in,’ Lydia said.
‘Yes, it’s all been dealt with appropriately.’
‘I hope so, because if my son gets hit by a chair, you’ll know about it,’ Lydia replied.
‘I can assure you that all the children were safe. We took the class outside immediately for an early playtime,’ I said, getting increasingly riled by this woman.
The rest of the meeting went without a hitch. Various roles were dished out and we put a strong plan together. We agreed that the theme would be Alice in Wonderland and everybody agreed to help paint some backdrops to make it really special. I was kept talking by Mrs Enders and realised that Gem had slipped out of the meeting without me being able to talk to her. I checked my watch and saw that it was almost the end of the day. I grabbed a piece of paper and wrote down a note, which I put into Theo’s diary.
Gem was already waiting outside the classroom and it took everything in me not to just sit and stare at her. She had pulled her blonde hair to one side over her shoulder and she was taking fleeting glances into the classroom. She stood back, leaning against the wall as a flurry of parents pushed forwards and got lost in the crowd.
Gem held back until most of the class had gone. She hid behind sunglasses and hesitantly moved forward. ‘There’s Mummy, Theo,’ I said as he ran to give her a big hug. She wrapped him in her arms, pulling his around her waist and kissing him repeatedly on the top of his head.
‘Have you had a good day?’ she asked, all focus on him. He nodded and smiled and got lost in the hugs and kisses. Fuck, she was a great mum.
I walked closer to her and waited until Theo left her arms and held her hand to the side of her. ‘You’re note made me smile so hard—’
‘Not here, OK,’ she replied, cutting me off. There was a small upturn of her mouth; I took that as a win. ‘I think it would be good for us to talk at some point.’ I nodded in agreement. There was so much I wanted to say to her but not here, not in front of Theo. I watched as she walked away until she stopped and turned. ‘Mr Wood,’ she said. I lifted my head to her; there was that smile I’d missed so much. ‘Your reaction to my note is good to know.’
Chapter 22
Gem
‘Hold it up so I can see it,’ Kate said. The sun was shining like a great ball of light behind her shoulder and her large black sunglasses filled the screen.
I want to take you out on our second date. Josh.
‘Are you asking for proof because you think I’m making this up?’ I laughed.
‘No; handwriting says a lot about a person. His says…he wrote it in a rush.’
‘Thanks!’ I laughed. ‘What do you really think? Should I give him a second date or make him work for it?’
‘What’s your gut instinct telling you?’ Kate asked.
‘Yeah, listening to my gut instinct has never worked for me in the past,’ I replied as I took a sip of tea, snorting it out of my nose when Kate told me she agreed fully and hadn’t thought through the question long enough before it left her mouth.
‘You have two options. Agree to go on a second date, or forget about Josh and get back on Loveisintheair.com.’
‘I deleted my profile, so that means my two options are to agree to go on a second date with Josh or swear off men for the rest of my life.’ The screen went black before the bright sunshine and view of the water came into view.
‘Sorry, dropped my phone,’ Kate said as she reappeared back on the screen.
‘Stop flaunting the sun, the perfect beach you’re sitting on and your idyllic lifestyle. I’m sitting here debating whether to put the heating on.’
Kate laughed. I didn’t fail to notice Danny behind her, who dropped a kiss on her shoulder. ‘Well, in eleven weeks, we’ll be joining you in that debate,’ Kate replied.
‘Eleven weeks; is that all it is? Oh my God, I cannot wait to have you home.’
‘Is she still pissing around with making her mind up about the bloke she met online?’ Danny asked off camera.
‘Yeah, still pissing around,’ I repeated.
The camera moved with speed to Danny. His face appeared with a scowl. ‘You, my friend, are delaying. I get it; believe me. But you’re missing out on a fucking great opportunity here. The guy has dating skills, Gem. Dating skills! That first date alone should have you desperate to see what he comes up with for the second.’ Danny grinned into the camera and I smiled because I knew he was right. ‘Arrange the second date and then come back and tell me I’ve given you the best advice of your fucking life.’
The week passed by with only notes being exchanged between us. I told him he was far too quick to make assumptions. He told me he was sorry. I told him his communication was crap considering he worked as a teacher. He agreed and said mine wasn’t much better. What we didn’t mention in our notes was the elephant in the classroom. I could tell it was there in the energy between us but neither of us pushed the subject of a second date. I didn’t know whether to think that was adorable or think about shaking him to make the first move. Every morning, he would greet me with, ‘Good morning, Theo’s mummy,’ and I would giggle like a pre-teen who had her first crush and reply, ‘Good morning, Mr Wood.’ Every afternoon, he would smile and offer me a lazy wave, a trademark of his, and I would smile back. No mention of starting again. No mention of arranging a second date.
Until this morning.
Everything was normal on the walk to school. Theo chatted about football, and I feigned interest as I did every time he talked about football. Brandon tried to castrate himself on the school gates by swinging on them, causing a backup and pissing off every parent who was already late for work. My heart shifted into my throat when I caught sight of Josh already waiting at the classroom door. Boom, kaboom, pop. No, not my heart; Theo’s water bottle as it rolled across the floor, popped, and spilt its contents across the playground.
‘Hang on,’ Josh said as he bent down to pick up the mangled plastic after Theo accidentally dropped it. I’ve never known a kid so clumsy. I bent down as Josh bent down and, somehow, everything else fell away, leaving just the two of us in a world that didn’t always allow it. We both stood when another parent asked to speak to Josh, who looked mildly annoyed at being asked about his Saturday morning football coaching sessions.
I gave Theo a kiss and watched him go safely into his class. Just as I started to leave, Josh called me over. I watched him hold up a finger to the mum he was talking to and break away, walking towards me. ‘I’d better give you this.’ He handed me Theo’s popped water bottle, and as I took it from his hand, he pushed a piece of paper into it, smiled, and went back to the parent who was now glaring at me, possibly because I’d taken her time with Josh away.
I clung to the paper until I got home, unfolding it as soon as I entered the house. I read it before I had even shut the door.
Second date, Theo’s mummy. I’ll make the plans. You just have to be there. Josh.
Chapter 23
Gem
‘Please text me if you need to,’ I said as I pushed my lipstick into my clutch.
‘They’ll be fine,’ Jay’s mum said as I did a final check in the mirror.
‘I won’t be too late.’ I checked my watch. It was 4 pm. I had been confused about the time of our date. What was I supposed to wear? I settled on black jeans, a matching slinky vest top and a bright jacket. My blonde hair was curled and my heels were strappy but I had no idea if I was over or underdressed.
I had asked Josh to meet me at the top of my road to save any awkward questioning from my nosy ex-mother-in-law. She just assumed I was meeting Abi and Elle, and I was happy to let her think that.
‘Give me a kiss, boys.’ Theo hugged me, and Brandon left his very important building session for two seconds as he almost flattened me with a hug before returning to his bricks.
‘I’ll text you when I’m on my way home.’
‘Have a good time,’ she said as I shut the door.
Josh was already waiting for me, leaning against his car with his arms folded across his chest, his smile getting bigger the closer I walked towards him. He pushed himself off the car and met me halfway, taking my hands in his when he reached me. ‘Hey.’
‘Hey, yourself,’ I replied, swinging our hands awkwardly. He laughed at my nerves.
‘No “Hello, Mr Wood” today?
‘No “Hello, Theo’s mummy”?’
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br /> ‘It’s the weekend; I’m not on duty now. Anyway, I’m thinking of a new name for you, maybe a nickname,’ he said as he opened the car door for me. ‘How about Gems? Wait, this is great. You’ll love this one. Gemzy.’
‘Call me Gemzy again and we’ll never make it to a third date.’
I could hear him laughing as he walked behind the car and got into the driver’s side. After putting on his seatbelt, he turned to me and smiled. ‘I didn’t say it before but you look really pretty today.’ I rolled my eyes, which only seemed to feed his humour. ‘You’re a perfectly small package of awesomeness, Gems.’
‘Small? Are you being heightist?’ I smirked, narrowing my eyes for added effect.
‘Absolutely not,’ he replied. ‘I prefer small packages. And that came out totally wrong.’
I laughed. ‘Tell me where you’re taking me for our 4 pm date.’
‘Oh no, I don’t ruin surprises. You’ll have to be patient.’ I watched his hands on the steering wheel. He was strong and confident, completely at ease and so fucking sexy.
He drove us into the city, but even after parking the car, I still had no idea where we were going. We shared stories as we walked past familiar places. He pointed out bars he frequently fell out of as a student and I described the scene when Elle’s ex-boyfriend stumbled out of the nightclub covered in the beer that she had just poured over his head.
‘Your stories have been about your friends and not you,’ he said. ‘Every bar or club you’ve pointed out to me has involved a funny story or drama belonging to Elle, Abi or Kate.’
‘They weren’t married at twenty. They were out making the most of being single and having no responsibilities,’ I replied. ‘And anyway, Abi more than made up for my lack of partying.’
‘Why doesn’t that surprise me?’ His deep laugh rumbled through my body and I found myself smiling. He had a habit of doing that. ‘Didn’t Jay encourage you to have a night out with the girls every once in a while?’
Let Me Be Your Last (Music and Letters Series Book 4) Page 12
