by A. E. Radley
“Speak of the devil,” she mumbled as she passed the Halls walking through the school gate.
She turned into the car park and found her usual spot. She grabbed her belongings from the passenger seat and got out of the car.
“That car must be as old as you are.”
She looked up and smiled at Hannah and Rosie, who had walked over. Hannah was looking at her Mini with a smirk.
“I doubt it,” Alice replied, although it could be. She didn’t want to have the inevitable conversation about age in the car park when she was already running late.
“Mummy is twenty-five,” Rosie spoke up. “How old are you, Miss Spencer?”
“Rosie, you can’t ask a lady things like that,” Hannah quickly told her daughter, a red glow starting on her cheeks.
“Why not?” Rosie looked up at her mum, understanding that she had done something wrong but not understanding why.
“I’m thirty-six,” Alice said, to save Rosie’s blushes. She was still reeling that Hannah was only twenty-five. She’d guessed a couple of years older, hoping for at least a single-figure age gap between them.
“You’re eleven years older than Mummy,” Rosie helpfully added.
“Yes.” Alice locked the car door.
“More than twice my age,” Rosie continued.
“Y—yes.” Alice wanted a hole to form in the car park and wash her out to sea that she could hear crashing against the rocks behind her.
“Good thing I like older women,” Hannah said.
Alice’s eyes snapped up. Hannah was staring intently at her, conveying a message that went over Rosie’s head in more ways than one.
“Rosie, I can hear Simone. Why don’t you go and say hello?” Hannah suggested.
“Okay.” Rosie turned and ran towards the playground.
“Sorry, she’s not very good with social niceties,” Hannah explained.
“It’s okay. It’s probably good that it’s out there,” Alice said. She adjusted her bag and the paperwork in her arms.
“I had a great time last night,” Hannah said, a smirk on her face.
Alice snorted a laugh. “So did I. Although I’m usually a bit better behaved.”
“Shame.” Hannah winked. “I was planning a repeat performance. Soon.”
Alice felt her mouth go dry. She’d hoped that Hannah felt the same way she did, but this confirmation caused goosebumps to crawl down her arm.
The bell sounded.
“You’re late, Miss Spencer,” Hannah said. “I’ll let you get to work. I’ll call you later.”
Hannah turned on her heel and went to say goodbye to Rosie. Alice shook her head to try to get herself together. She was relieved that the age issue had been aired and was, apparently, not one.
She released a deep breath and walked towards the building.
23 TO TEXT, OR NOT TO TEXT?
Hannah filled the kettle and switched it on. Then she turned it off again. She didn’t need another hot drink. She just wanted something to do. But if she had another hot drink, her eyes would start swimming.
She looked over at Rosie who was happily reading a book on mathematics that Alice had loaned her. It was Saturday afternoon, and the weather was terrible, rain and wind howling past the window.
Despite the conditions, she had dragged Rosie grocery shopping that morning and then to run some other errands around town. They were things that technically could have waited until Monday, but Hannah was eager to get out of the house in the hope that she would accidentally bump into a certain first-year teacher.
Sadly, Alice Spencer had been nowhere in sight.
The last couple of days had passed in a blur, and Hannah hadn’t had the chance to call Alice. She meant to text her, but everything she came up with sounded too needy. Her heart was begging to see Alice again, but her brain was reminding her that they’d only had two dates. She didn’t want to smother Alice before they really had a chance to get to know each other.
The pressure was on, though, because Hannah was invested. This wasn’t like other casual dates she’d been on or like previous relationships where she’d always had one foot out, just in case. Alice had quickly blasted by her defences and was now nestled in her heart, with the power to break it in two.
Hannah grabbed her phone and opened a blank message to Alice. She thought for a few seconds about what to write. Casual comments, quips, and sarcasm were all pushed out the way, and she finally typed, Thinking of you x.
She hit the send button before she had too much time to think about it. She’d done what she said she would. She’d reached out and contacted Alice. Now the ball was in her court.
“What are you doing, pumpkin?” She walked over to Rosie, hoping to distract herself from thoughts of Alice for a while.
“Reading.” Rosie didn’t look up.
“Want to do something with me?”
Rosie frowned. “Like what?”
“I don’t know. Something fun.”
Rosie looked up and thought about it for a few seconds. “Not now, maybe later?”
Hannah stared at her daughter. Sometimes she really wondered if there had been a mix-up at the hospital. Rosie would much rather read about math than do something fun with her own mother.
“Riiiiight.” Hannah turned around and looked at the apartment.
She had been meaning to clear out the cabinets for a few months. Or she could wipe down the tops of them. She looked at her phone.
No reply. She’s probably freaking out because you’re so clingy. Should I text again? No! No, that’s clingier. Leave it.
“I’m going to watch a movie,” Hannah said. “Want to watch a movie?”
Rosie shook her head.
“Okay, I’m going to watch a movie on my own then. I might make myself some popcorn.” She looked at Rosie, hoping for a reaction, but nothing was forthcoming. She realised that she really would be watching a movie on her own, and she decided that she definitely would be having popcorn in the hopes that she would be able to eat away her anxiety.
* * *
Hannah had glanced at her phone every ten minutes throughout the movie. There was no reply from Alice, and her anxiety was working overtime. She couldn’t ignore it anymore. She knew she had to say something else.
She unlocked the phone and opened a new message. She stared at the screen as her mind came up blank. Usually, she’d make a joke, stick to defensive humour that she liked to hide behind. But her often sharp mind couldn’t come up with anything.
I’m sorry if that was too much.
She hastily typed and sent the message. The second she sent the message, she wished she hadn’t. She wished she hadn’t sent any messages. Or even owned a phone.
“Mummy, I’m ready to watch a movie now.” Rosie stood in front of her.
“I just finished watching a movie, pumpkin.”
“You can watch another.”
“I can’t. I’ll get square eyes.”
“That’s not true,” Rosie said. “Your eyes don’t change shape.”
“Well, mine might. How about a board game?”
Rosie thought about the offer for a moment. “Scrabble?”
“Sure.”
“No made-up words this time,” Rosie instructed seriously.
“We’ll see.”
Hannah cast a final glance at her phone before getting up to fetch the Scrabble set from the shelf.
Only half her brain was focused on the game. The other half was busy constructing doomsday scenarios for her fledging relationship and cursing herself for having fallen for Alice so quickly.
It was fifty-eight excruciatingly long minutes before her phone beeped. She nearly sent it flying across the kitchen in her rush to pick it up and read the message.
Hi! Not too much at all, I’ve been thinking of you too x I’m sorry for the delay, been away from my phone.
As she read the message, another arrived. It was a photograph of a freshly painted classroom wall. Hannah smiled so hard her cheeks hurt. Everyt
hing was fine. They were fine. Alice had just been busy.
You missed a bit, she sent back.
“Who is it, Mummy?” Rosie asked.
“Adrian,” she lied.
She stared at the three dots blinking on her screen, indicating a reply was on the way. She looked at the picture of the painted wall, hating that Alice was spending her weekend decorating the classroom. She cursed Hardaker and his rusty purse strings.
It’s all well criticising when you’re not here! It looks better in person, I assure you. Sadly, I have to get back to work. Missing you very much x
Hannah closed the message and opened up a new message to Adrian, asking him if he would mind taking Rosie for the afternoon and maybe into the evening. Following an afternoon of panic, she had a desire to be closer to Alice. And, she reasoned, the sooner the painting was done, the sooner Alice would have some free time. Hopefully to spend with her.
Adrian replied quickly saying he was free and would love to see his favourite member of the Hall family. She’d thump him for that.
“Pumpkin, Adrian wants to know if you want to go over there and spend the afternoon with him?”
Rosie’s face lit up. Despite seeing Adrian on a regular basis, she adored spending all the time she could with him.
“Can I?” She was already up from her seat and putting her Scrabble tiles back in the bag.
“Absolutely. Let’s get you changed and ready to go.”
* * *
It was still raining as Hannah entered the deserted school playground, but she didn’t care. She’d gotten changed into her old decorating clothes and hurried Rosie to Adrian’s before making her way to Willows.
She hopped up the steps and pressed on the door, only to be stopped in her tracks as the door refused to budge. She belatedly realised that Alice had, sensibly, locked the door behind her.
Grinning, she held up her phone and took a selfie of herself outside of the school door.
Let me in! I’m ready to criticise your paintwork in person!
She waited, hoping that the sound was turned on on Alice’s phone. The rain continued to fall, but it didn’t dampen her mood as she thought about finally seeing Miss Spencer again. It had been a just over a day, but it felt like forever.
She saw movement through the glass as Alice hurried down the stairs with a large set of keys in her hand. A few moments later, the door was unlocked and thrown open.
“You should have told me you were coming, I would have unlocked the door. You’re soaked!” Alice grabbed her arm and brought her into the building.
Hannah shivered at the cold air in the school.
“Brr. It’s okay, I think it was warmer out there.”
Alice laughed. “True, but the one thing this building has going for it is that it’s dry. So far.” She closed and locked the door again. “I’m very happy to see you, but I have to ask, what are you doing here?”
“Helping.” Hannah gestured to her clothes. “I can paint.”
Alice stared at her in surprise. “You’d seriously give up your Saturday with Rosie to come here and help me paint?”
Hannah tried to appear casual but knew her reddening cheeks would give her away. “Of course. I want to help. And see you again.”
Alice surged forward and then stopped herself. “Sorry, I’m covered in wet paint.”
Hannah pulled her into an embrace. “Old clothes,” she explained before kissing her.
Soft, warm lips immediately melted on her own, and she felt whole again. Part of her hated that she now seemed to need Alice to feel complete, but the bigger part of her was just happy to see and feel her again.
Reluctantly she pulled back. “So, I’m here to help. Boss me about and tell me what you need. I’ll even go up the death ladder.”
“My hero.” Alice gestured towards the stairs, and they both walked up to the top floor. “I thought that confronting your fears was supposed to help beat them into submission, but I’ve been up and down that ladder all day and I’m still terrified of heights.”
“Maybe you need to do a bungee jump? The ladder isn’t a big enough challenge for you?” Hannah joked.
Alice visibly shuddered. “No, thank you. A long time ago I decided to accept the fact that I have a great number of fears and to just do my best to avoid them.”
“So, no bungee jumping with a snake wrapped around your neck? At night?” Hannah quipped.
“Stop.” Alice chuckled as they walked into the form room.
“That’s all of them, isn’t it? Oh, and spiders. You’d need to have a spider with you!”
“And the plane would have to be on fire,” Alice added, “but I think I’m safe from that particular scenario. Except for in my nightmares, so thank you for that.”
“If you need to call someone in the middle of the night, you have my number,” Hannah offered, grinning.
“I may hold you to that. Especially as you’d be the cause.” Alice pointed to the wall. “What do you think?”
Hannah tore her eyes from Alice and looked at the freshly painted area. “Looks good.” She stepped closer and really examined the work. Alice had clearly taken a lot of time and effort, even at the top of the ladder where she was terrified. It made her realise just how much Alice cared about the kids and the school.
“I can’t believe you’re doing all this,” Hannah said.
Alice shrugged. “No one else will. To be honest, this building needs a much larger overhaul, but Hardaker will never pay for that. This is like bringing a sticking plaster to a car crash. The kids deserve a better environment to learn in. The excuse of ‘it’s an old building’ just isn’t enough.”
Hannah reached into a paint bucket and picked up a brush. “Point me in the right direction.”
Alice smiled. “I’m doing a second coat on this section. The brickwork soaks up paint, so it needs a lot of coats. Wish I had known that before I bought the paint.”
“I can’t believe you’re paying for this as well as doing the work.” Hannah started applying paint where Alice had shown her.
“No one else will.” Alice picked up another brush and started painting a little way from where Hannah was. “But thank you for helping, I really appreciate it.”
“You’re welcome.” Hannah painted in silence for a few moments while she thought. “Maybe if I’d had a teacher who cared as much as you do, I’d not have hated school so much.”
“Was it bad?” Alice asked.
“Awful. Not just the teacher’s fault. They didn’t help, but it was a lot of things,” Hannah admitted. “Kids can be cruel.”
“They really can,” Alice agreed.
The lights flickered on and off for a few moments.
“Nice disco effect you have going here,” Hannah joked.
“Yes, it’s really helpful in the dark weather when painting,” Alice sighed. “It’s been happening for a while, but it got worse after the electrician came in to supposedly fix the issue.”
“Sounds about right,” Hannah said.
The lights returned to normal, and she continued working.
“Where’s Rosie?” Alice asked.
Hannah turned to Alice, her jaw dropping. “Rosie?!” she cried, looking deadly serious for a moment before laughing at Alice’s shocked expression. “She’s with Adrian.”
“You’re not funny,” Alice said.
“I am, though.”
“Okay, you are a little.”
Hannah put the paintbrush down as she realised a table covered by a dust sheet was soon going to be in her way. She pulled the table out of the way, and the sheet fell to the floor, exposing stacks of papers and books.
She crouched down and picked up the sheet, but before she covered the desk, she noticed a leaflet for an expensive-looking academy farther along the coast. She picked up the leaflet and held it up.
“Planning your escape from here already?” she asked.
Alice was focused on painting and didn’t look up. “Hmm?”
&nb
sp; “Prince Academy? Are you hunting for a new job already?”
Alice turned and looked at Hannah. “Oh, that. No, I’m locked in for the year at least. Actually, I got the details for Rosie.”
Hannah felt a cold shiver run through her body.
“Rosie?” she checked.
“Yes. It’s a wonderful school.”
Hannah turned the leaflet over. “It’s a long way away. What do you expect? A five-year-old to get the bus on her own there and back every day? It would take two hours to get there! You expect Rosie to have an eleven-hour school day? I know she enjoys school, but that’s ridiculous.”
Her anger was rising the more she stared at the leaflet. Who did Alice think she was? Did she really think Hannah would want to send her daughter to this school? That Hannah could even afford to?
Alice’s mouth dropped open. “Of course not.” She put her own paintbrush down. “Do you honestly think I’d consider that?”
Hannah read the leaflet properly. She was fuming. Alice had no right to make plans for Rosie’s education without consulting her. Especially these kinds of plans.
“This is something for a parent to decide, Alice. Not a teacher. We may be dating, but that doesn’t give you any say over Rosie. Do you understand? I know you’re finding it a challenge to teach Rosie and the rest of the class, but that doesn’t mean you can just ship her off when the going gets tough.”
A line caught her eye, and her jaw dropped open.
“This is a boarding school? A fucking boarding school. You seriously expect me to send my daughter here?”
“No, of course I don’t,” Alice replied. Her cheeks were red, her hands on her hips. “But what is so wrong with a boarding school? I went to a boarding school.”
“I bet you did,” Hannah said. She should have known better than to get involved with someone like Alice. She clearly came from a middle-class background and would never be able to properly understand Hannah’s life and values.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Alice asked frostily.
“You have no idea, do you? You do realise that places like this cost money, right? Money that I don’t have. Money that I could never even hope to have.”