by Kitty Wilson
‘It’s a pleasure, they’re a bit of a joy. I can see why you enjoy working with them.’
‘Can you?’ Her face lit up. ‘I do really love every one of them, it feels like such a privilege to be involved in their lives, and yet people can be so disparaging about teaching as a career. But I love it.’
‘Which is why you’re so good at it. Look, I don’t want to push things, and you were quite clear about keeping things professional, but I really think you and I need a talk, a proper talk, not in the earshot of your pupils, and not when we’ve been drinking buckets of booze and things get confused. What do you think?’ Don’t push her, don’t say a time and place, he told himself. This is a time for slowly-slowly rather than alpha-male-hear-me-roar. Although how many roaring alpha males sported butterflies in their hair he wasn’t sure.
‘I think you might be right. Someone very wise told me today that communication is key and I think maybe she should be listened to.’
‘I think so too.’ He knew he had a grin that stretched from ear to ear, if not wider, and he didn’t care.
‘OK then, I’ve got to get these guys back to school, then I’ve got a staff meeting and then I’m meeting a friend. Can I give you a call when I’m free and we’ll arrange something, is that OK?’
‘Rosy, that is more than OK, of course.’ He couldn’t believe it had been that simple. Now all he had to do was work out what he had to say in a way that didn’t make her run like a scared rabbit, or bad-tempered ferret the moment he spoke.
They both just stood and looked at each other, and for a minute there he felt his world was perfect.
Chapter Thirty-Three
Matt grimaced as he pulled into the drive of Chase’s house. Rosy hadn’t rung him yesterday evening as she had said and there had been silence all day today. When his phone had eventually rung it had been an invite from his sister to come to dinner here. He didn’t think he’d ever had a dinner invite from her before, plus with the exception of their drunken night earlier in the week he had barely seen his sister since the party, so felt compelled to say yes – but having to come back to this house was not improving his mood much.
Initially he had tried to wriggle out of it, but realized it would be a chance to properly meet this Chase bloke and find out what was going on with him and his sister, and what had been going on between him and Rosy. If anything, the man might even be able to shed some light on why Rosy had screamed at him that night. Matt had a feeling that he wasn’t going to like the answers he received and had little faith in the character of the sort of man that his sister liked to date. It was his fraternal duty to speak his mind about the whole set-up but to do so he’d need to establish a few facts first – which was why he found himself on this stupidly ostentatious doorstep, pressing the doorbell and preparing to play nice.
His sister eventually opened the door, swinging it wide.
‘Oh wow, you’ve got a face like thunder! I’m not going to let you in if you don’t smile.’
‘Seriously, do you know how much I don’t want to be here? You owe me for having such a strong sense of sibling loyalty that I turned up at all, so you’re bloody letting me in! I’ve come to find out what’s going on and what on earth you are doing spending all your time here, Ange.’
‘I thought you were coming for dinner. And don’t be rude, I’ve been cooking for you. I’m sure I smell of onions – did you know that they are next to impossible to cut up? Really hard, slide all over the place, although Chase did give me a particularly difficult one. I don’t know how normal people manage.’
‘Cooking? Cooking?’
‘Yes, it’s not that surprising, I am an adult. Chase is teaching me new things. Oh my God, what’s that look for?’ His sister breathed out so hard he almost felt sorry for her and had to fight the grin that was about to appear on his face, banishing his dark mood. He supposed loud sighs were a step up from thrown crockery. ‘I do hope you’re not going to be difficult, Matt. I didn’t invite you here to be difficult.’
‘I’m sure he’s not, Ange, let the poor man in. I expect he’s just come to check out where you’ve been spending the last two weeks, and rightfully so. Hi, Matt, do come on in. It’s nice to meet you properly at last, I’ve heard so much about you.’ Chase appeared at the door and leant forward to shake his hand in welcome. Matt’s innate good manners and the pleading look on his sister’s face meant there was no choice. Whatever this guy was playing at, Matt figured going carefully was the way to find out the truth. Making an enemy straight off the bat certainly wasn’t going to help anyone. He smiled and outstretched his hand.
‘Yup, number one on the list of things Ange loves to talk about is her brother. How do you do?’
‘Never stops.’ Chase smiled and Matt couldn’t help but smile back. ‘And Rosy also has some nice things to say, in a kinda complicated fashion!’
What was going on here?
‘I doubt that very much, she seems to be avoiding me at the moment.’
‘Ah, that I can’t answer to, but I can pour you a drink.’ Chase led Matt through the huge foyer and then down a hallway into the best equipped kitchen he had ever seen. This man was obviously quite domesticated and, if he had heard her correctly, managed to get his sister doing things in the kitchen. And had mentioned Rosy in front of Angelina and survived.
Chase fetched him a beer from the fridge (down to earth – tick) then made small talk as he threw some steaks on a griddle and asked Angelina to get more salad things from the fridge. This she did, without a grumble. Even further than that, she did it with a smile, so double tick to Chase so far (unless of course he had drugged her or she was suffering from Stockholm Syndrome and then Matt would have to get ready to punch him).
Dinner was served and as they sat at the kitchen table, Chase made the talk flow easily and Angelina managed not to behave as if she were four years old. It was proving to be quite a remarkable evening; he would go as far as to say he was enjoying it. When his sister was pleasant, genuinely pleasant not paparazzi-around-the-corner pleasant, she was capable of being a joy. It was just that Matt hadn’t seen it for a while and never in front of someone she was dating. Normally she seemed to assume that histrionics were part and parcel of a functioning relationship and that men were attracted to the drama. Quite clearly Chase wasn’t and she knew it.
‘So tell me about your first date?’ he asked. Normally he wouldn’t bother but knowing how Ange liked to brag about chic restaurants and fast cars he thought she deserved a bit of a treat for being so bloody normal this evening.
‘It was really nice wasn’t it, Angelina?’ Chase squeezed her hand as she giggled back at him.
‘No, it was vile.’ But her words belied the look upon her face. ‘He promised me a present and then bought me wellies’ – Matt choked on his beer – ‘and made me get in a boat.’
‘You like boats.’
‘No, I like yachts where you can lie in the sun sipping cocktails…’
‘You drank a fair amount from what I remember,’ Chase teased and received a glower in return. A loving glower. Another first for anyone that wasn’t Matt.
‘Shush. He made me get in a boat and then he caught fish, and that’s not the worst bit because he cut them open too.’
Chase nodded. ‘Yep, you have to gut them, Ange.’
She gave a shiver. ‘He cut them open and made me eat them; honestly, Matt, I thought I had died and gone to hell. I thought I had been captured by a madman and if I didn’t do what he said I’d be next.’
‘Really? You thought that was what was happening?’ The madman’s eyebrow jerked up and then he switched into a European accent. ‘You were right. Tonight, baby, tonight I shall cut you into leetle pieces.’
‘You met her last boyfriend then?’ Matt giggled and received a punch from his sister. ‘Ow! What’s happened to new mellow Angelina?’
‘She doesn’t exist for you!’
‘Seeing that we’re talking of exes…’ This was his chance.
‘We weren’t,’ Angelina retorted, kicking him under the table.
‘Seeing that we are talking of exes,’ Matt repeated, ‘tell me what happened between you and Rosy, Chase.’ He felt a bit awkward. He liked the man that he had met this evening, but still, he needed to know what exactly had gone on.
‘Oh my God. Can you not talk about her for like five minutes? This is my evening. Not bloody goody-two-shoes. I can’t believe you!’
‘Um… I was never dating Rosy, buddy. I only met her that night and she wasn’t interested in me.’
‘What do you mean not interested in you?’ Angelina rounded on him, half falling off her chair in the process. ‘You were NOT interested in Rosy.’
‘Well, I hadn’t met you yet… ouch! I’m teasing! I met Rosy when she came to the party, we bonded over – well I can’t tell you, other than a pretty scary sight. And yes, Ange, fists unfurled please, I thought she was lovely, but just not my type.’
‘Because I’m your type!’
‘Less so by the minute I should think, shut up, Ange! I want to hear what Chase has to say. Are you telling me you’re not the one who’s dating Rosy?’
‘Yep, I have never dated her, Matt, and from what she was telling me that evening, she only has eyes for one man. It’s just… it’s not really my place to say.’
Matt felt his heart lift and sink in the space of seconds; this was too much to compute. He had been convinced that she was dating Chase. It had explained everything, especially as he knew she had spent Valentine’s night here. But if that weren’t the case then who was the guy that Chase was talking about? He realized Chase was still speaking and he hadn’t a clue what he had just said.
‘Sorry, mate, I missed that, what were you saying?’
‘Oh, can we not stop now? This is dull, dull, dull!’
‘Shh.’ Not completely cured then. His sister was still capable of being a selfish pain in the arse.
‘I’m slipping into a coma here.’
‘Yeah, but not quietly.’
‘Are you two always like this?’
‘Nah, normally she’s more violent, I think she’s on her best behaviour because you haven’t been dating that long. Anyway, ignore her. As long as she’s not setting fire to anything we should be OK. Now what were you saying about Rosy?’
‘Just that whilst I don’t like to break confidences I think maybe this needs to be said, cos you kinda got a raw deal that evening. That night I met her, and I agree she is lovely, funny, kind, smart—’ Chase’s head whipped around. ‘Did you just growl?’
‘Yeah, she does that, has done since she was about eight. You’re right about Rosy, she is all those things, and more.’
‘Yep, and as I was saying, and yes, Ange, I promise we’ll all talk about you in a minute, anyway, from what I can see Rosy thinks the world of you but the tricky thing is… I shouldn’t be sharing this… but she has a few demons from her past that need healing first. That’s why she kicked off at you. She’s scared but I think she’s making headway. I think you should stick in there, give her time, be gentle, get her to talk, and with any luck it will all come good.’
Matt froze. Did he just hear Chase right? Rosy thought the world of him? She liked him like he liked her? Oh this was ridiculous – he wasn’t some twelve-year-old girl passing notes in class and crushing on the head of the First XV. Plus he had enough baggage of his own, most of it six foot tall, blonde and very demanding. Could he take any more on? A picture of her teaching him Cornish flitted into his head and he smiled. The naughtiness of her face when he was wearing the hairpin widened his face into a grin. However, getting even soppier in front of his sister’s new boyfriend was not an option; he was going to have to man it up now.
‘Oh right, that’s good to know, yeah, I can do that.’ He nodded, masculinely.
‘Right, brilliant, are we done now, can we get on with the evening? Let me show you the rest of the house. The wardrobe is out of this world! Seriously. Oh my God, you’re going to love the garden! And Chase is taking me to St Barts next month, aren’t you, honeybun?’
‘Not if you call me honeybun I’m not!’
And so the evening continued, and yes the house was amazing, the gardens were to die for and anyone with a whole bloody beach to themselves was seriously lucky, but really the only thing whooshing around in his mind was Chase’s statement and the fact that he needed to have a serious talk with Rosy. A proper one, not a promise of one that never materialized. He needed her to open up about whatever was scaring her and know that he would never do anything other than keep her safe. Then they could iron out what was looking increasingly like a mess of miscommunication that had done nothing but play with both of their heads.
Chapter Thirty-Four
Rosy was pleased to see Marion; she had just finished on the phone and had some news for her. However, as usual, she hadn’t been able to get a word in from the minute the woman hurtled into her office.
‘What do you mean we have to throw a party, Marion? Everyone’s exhausted. The toing and froing from the garden over the last couple of weeks, the stress of the potential closure, not to mention everyone’s out-of-school lives – a party is madness. I’d much rather have a few days in bed with my head under a pillow if I were to have my way on anything.’
‘Now, now, Rosy, where’s your gumption? And more importantly have you been listening to me at all?’ Marion stood in the doorway of Rosy’s office in a rather nice green dress dotted about with fuchsia petals, her demanding tone boomeranging off the walls.
‘Probably not, Marion, did I mention I was tired?’
Marion smirked and Rosy was taken back to the night of the sequinned red dress and she softened a little. Rosy still couldn’t quite believe she had witnessed this paragon of middle-class motherhood in… well… as she had. She realized now that the smirk was not as malevolent as people believed.
‘Yes, you did. And I quite understand it.’ Rosy was not convinced because still Marion continued at breakneck speed. ‘However, this really is important – you do know that the TV show is aired on Friday evening, the first episode? The whole meet-the-kids, when Magnificent Matt handed out the tools, all of that will be aired. You want to hope they’ve cut your evil stares…’
‘Have you been talking to Katie? It was one! One slightly bad-tempered stare.’
‘Katie? No, anyway keep listening, this is our time to shine. This is when we capitalize on all the work we’ve done. We need a launch party, we’ll invite Magnificent Matt…’
‘Could you stop calling him that, please?’
‘Well, he is.’ The force of Rosy’s glare was so strong it managed to quell even Monster Marksharp. But only for a second. ‘He may well have another engagement, I expect he’s in great demand. But he seems very committed to the school so we’ll invite him anyway, maybe some of the crew, get local news down, make sure that if Edward Grant didn’t know about it before—’
‘Ah, now I want to talk to you about him. Listen to what I’ve found out.’
Marion didn’t. Obviously.
‘—he certainly will soon. This is going to be huge! And this launch is a necessity, Rosy, a necessity. I’ll stake my life on it. Don’t look like that, you’re not getting rid of me that easily. We’ll have all the local media there, it may even get picked up by national – I’ll have a word with a couple of friends in London. We’ll throw a damn fine celebration of the school and all it provides for the children and the community on the night it’s aired and then we can all finish by watching it together. I’ll send out an emergency newsletter. I have the perfect dress for you to borrow, a beautiful cerise number, Magnificent Matt won’t be able to keep his hands… what?’
‘Marion, Marion! You need to hear what I have found out. And thank you, but it’s a no on the dress.’
‘But… OK! I don’t want to speak out of turn but those eyebrows of yours can be really quite alarming. Go on, what have you found out?’
‘All righ
t, I now know which schools Edward Grant has placed on his list to amalgamate, and when you first look at the list there doesn’t seem any obvious reasoning behind it. They’re not the closest schools to the new site, nor the poorest performing schools. But as I rang around and played sleuth to find out who had had a meeting, who hadn’t, etc., etc., then one thing, my original theory, became very clear.’
‘Do come on, Rosy, cut to the chase. I have an awful lot to do, you know.’
‘OK, well every single head on the list of closures is female…’
Marion’s mouth dropped. ‘Are you saying what I think you’re saying? Surely not? Surely he wouldn’t be so blatant? He must have included St Ewer, everyone knows Mr Doughty is a complete incompetent. That school is in dire need of improvement and new leadership.’
‘Well, deeper research shows that Mr Doughty is also a member of the same golf club as Mr Grant. Mr Doughty, interestingly, is chairman there.’
‘Are you absolutely sure about this, Rosy? Not a single headmaster’s school is on that list?’
‘Yep, only headmistresses, but most of them would be over the moon to be moved to a brand new school. Mrs Trewithen says Sanding Bridge is falling to pieces around her ears and she’s worried about the safety of the children if they continue to stay there longer than a couple more years. Mrs Pascoe added that she’s got a couple of teachers who are so bad at their jobs that the TAs are doing most of the teaching and she’s having to invent tasks for the teachers outside the classroom just to keep them busy. An amalgamation would be the perfect opportunity for her to offer them redundancy. Really, it’s only us unhappy to be on the list. But it’s still a list drawn up based on gender prejudice, regardless of whether they’re happy to be on it or not.’
‘And you’ve checked and double checked?’
Rosy stared her down.
‘Of course you have. Right, Richard is having drinks with Dave French on Wednesday.’ Marion named the chief executive of the Local Authority. ‘I will prime him and make sure he slips this information in. You’ve done an amazing job, Rosy. I can’t see how, with this information, combined with the new sky-high profile of Penmenna School, we can’t have won this battle. And get Edward Grant’s professional practices examined a little closer. You’ve done it!’
