“Look, no one’s to blame,” said Jake, taking Lori’s hand. “He’s fine about it. Let’s just give him his space for now. I’ll talk to him at the end of the week.”
Draining the last of his beer, Paul stood up and declared, “Right, I’m out of here too. I’ve got work early tomorrow. Usual time on Thursday night?”
The others agreed to meet up to run through an acoustic set at the rehearsal hall as long as the gig was still on. As Paul made his move to depart, Rich got up to leave too.
“I’ll see you at school, Mr Power,” he joked with a wink. “Night, Lori. Thanks for tonight.”
“Pleasure,” she said with a smile.
Once the others had left, Jake cleared up the rest of the BBQ stuff and made sure the grill had burned out. Satisfied that everything was tidy and safe, he went over to sit on the sun lounger next to Lori.
“I need to head too,” he apologised, putting his arm around her shoulder. “I’ve got stuff to get ready for school.”
She giggled at the thought of him in the principal’s office. “Don’t forget your apple for the teacher.”
“Very funny, li’l lady,” he said, trying not to smile. “I’ll call you after school.”
“I’ll be thinking about you,” whispered Lori, snuggling into his shoulder. “I hope the kids are gentle with you.”
“Me too,” he said. “It’s been a long time since I’ve done any classroom teaching. Almost ten years.”
“You’ll be great.”
Gently he kissed her, then said he really had to make a move. She followed him round to the front of the house and watched from the porch as he drove off towards town.
♪
Overnight a storm moved in and the week started wet and thundery. The storm lingered over town for three days. Trapped indoors, Lori began to feel like a caged animal. She turned her attention to her work and managed to finalise the book jacket design by Tuesday afternoon. The finished piece looked good and Lori hoped it represented what the author and their team were looking for. A flutter of nerves passed through her as she pressed “send” on the email with the JPEG files attached. Her second commission was proving to be more of a challenge. Her nuts and bolts theme seemed to fit, but none of the concepts she devised felt right. That special “Mz Hyde” touch was missing from it and it was beginning to frustrate her as much as the weather.
It took until Wednesday morning for her financial advisor, David, to get in touch via email to question the invoice for studio hire. As she read his email, Lori began to laugh as she visualised him having a fit in his ivory tower at her sudden frivolous expenditure. He had been her father’s best friend and his accountant for over ten years before his death; he had been her accountant and adviser ever since. Until she had inherited her father’s estate and firm when she turned twenty eight, he had kept her on a tight rein. Old habits died hard and he still questioned every four figure sum she spent. A five figure sum was sure to trigger a heart attack. Quickly she typed up an appropriate response, explaining the background and bulleting projected additional expenditure for that week. She instructed him to have her apartment readied, the kitchen stocked, a daily cleaner hired for the week and for three parking spaces to be reserved. As an afterthought she asked him to have her car serviced and ready for use. After she hit send on the email, Lori sat waiting for the phone to ring. He didn’t disappoint and her phone rang less than ten minutes later.
After she had chatted with David for almost half an hour, Lori gave up on work for the day and went through the house in search of Mary. Her housekeeper had been quiet and distracted all week as she continued to fret about her sister. Lori found her sitting at the kitchen table with her head in her hands and her cheeks wet with tears.
“Hey,” said Lori gently, putting a hand on the older woman’s shoulder. “What’s wrong?”
“I just don’t know,” replied Mary with a sob catching in her voice. “I just don’t know how she’s going to cope.”
“Who? Your sister?”
Mary nodded and explained that the tests had shown that her sister had a mass in her stomach that the doctor suspected was cancerous. Surgery had been scheduled for the following week to remove it.
“Mary, you need to be with her,” said Lori sitting down beside her.
“I know,” she admitted. “But what can I say to her? What can I do?”
“Just be there,” answered Lori. “Ok, no arguments here. Take some time off. At least until after her surgery. I’ve told you, family comes first.”
“But I’ve things to do around here for you,” protested Mary. “This is my job.”
“And it will still be your job when you come back,” reassured the younger woman firmly. “Now, please, take whatever time you need and we can work this out together.”
“You shouldn’t pay me if I’m not here working for you,” muttered the housekeeper. “I’m not taking charity.”
“Mary, it’s not charity. It is an authorised leave of absence,” stated Lori bluntly. “Let’s leave things flexible. You take the rest of this week off and all of next week. Call me next week to fill me in on how things are and we can work out a short term reduced schedule from there. Does that sound like a plan?”
Mary nodded and wiped fresh tears from her cheeks. “You’re an angel, Lori.”
“Nonsense. Now get your stuff together and go to your sister.”
“And you’re sure you’ll be ok here?”
“Yes,” replied Lori, feeling inside that this might be a challenge. “I’ll be fine. I can always call you, or Jake or Jo if I’m stuck.”
“Thank you,” sobbed Mary, hugging her tight.
“No need,” said Lori quietly.
The housekeeper insisted on preparing lunch before she left. Having watched her depart via the back door, Lori sat on in the kitchen eating her chicken salad and listening to the rain pounding down outside. Apart from the noise of the rain, the house was silent. It was a relaxed, calm silence. A cricket chirp from her cell phone interrupted it a few moments later.
“Will be over after school. J x”
“Looking forward to it. L x” she responded, then as an afterthought added a love heart.
There were still a few hours until school came out for the day and, with nothing better to do, Lori picked up her sketch pad, settled herself in the sun room with some music on and began to doodle a few simple designs. As she doodled a repeating Celtic knot design across the page, she began to think back to her conversation with David and the whole New York thing. Was she really ready to return to the city? Could she cope with it? Lord, she hoped so. Then she began to think about getting behind the wheel of her car again. Was she even fit enough to drive? There was only one person who could answer that. Reaching for the phone, she called John Brent’s secretary and made an appointment for the following week. She was due to go back to see him soon anyway and it would give her peace of mind to talk to him. Since her last visit she knew she had made good physical progress and mentally she was stronger too. When she stopped to think, life was actually pretty good. The thought made her smile.
By the time Jake arrived at the house, she had doodled her way through six pages of her sketch book, covering the pages with a variety of Celtic knots and tribal designs, ultimately ending up back at her cogs and gears/nuts and bolts theme. While she made them both a coffee, Jake told her all about his first few days at the school. His enthusiasm and passion for the job was apparent the minute he began to talk. Such a change from the sultry Jake, who had worked at the pizza place. Already some of the kids were asking about private guitar tuition over the summer and one group of boys even wanted him to help set up a band. Eventually he paused and asked her how her week had been and Lori got the chance to fill him in on the progress she had made with work and also about Mary’s leave of absence.
“Will you be ok here on your own?” he asked obviously concerned.
“I’ll cope,” said Lori then added. “But I do need to ask one
favour. Linsey from the school wants me to come in for the day next Tuesday. I’ve also got a late afternoon medical appointment. Can you take me to the school, then out to Beebe?”
“Sure. She told me you were coming in,” said Jake. “Is there something wrong when you need to see the doctor?”
“Just a routine check-up,” she explained. “But I want to see if he will clear me to drive again. My car’s in New York so if he gives the ok, I can bring it down here.”
“Are you sure?” asked Jake. “It’s at least a four hour drive.”
“We can work that bit out nearer the time,” said Lori then changing the subject asked after Grey and about the gig planned for Friday night.
“I called him last night. He’s holding up ok. Well, as ok as anyone would,” he replied. “Said he’ll be glad once the funeral is over.”
“It’s the period of hanging about in between that’s the hardest,” agreed Lori, remembering the deaths of both her parents and feeling Grey’s pain and grief.
“About Friday night,” began Jake a little nervously. “Do you want to come along?”
“Sure, if you want me to,” said Lori delighted at the thought of hearing him sing and play again.
“Wouldn’t have asked if I didn’t want you to be there.”
“Can I ask another favour?” asked Lori a short while later.
“Sure, but I’m not promising to grant it,” he teased.
“Can you take me into town or to the outlets? I need out of the house for a while,” she confessed. “The walls are closing in on me!”
“OK on one condition,” agreed Jake. “You let me buy you dinner.”
“Deal,” she laughed. “Let me get myself together, then we can go.”
It had been twelve years since Lori had been in a high school and she felt more than a little nervous as she followed Jake into the building on Tuesday morning. The high school on the outskirts of Lewes served a wide area and was far bigger than the exclusive Manhattan school she had attended. Several students shouted a greeting to Jake as they walked along the main hallway towards the elevator that would take them up to the art department. As they walked, he explained that art and music were adjacent departments and shared a teacher’s base station. When they reached the elevator, Linsey was coming along the other corridor.
“Morning,” called out the art teacher cheerfully. “You must be Mz Hyde. I’m Linsey Bergman.”
“Lori, please,” she corrected. “Pleased to meet you.”
“I’m so glad you could come in for the day at such short notice. The students are really looking forward to it,” gushed Linsey, as they entered the small lift.
“Be gentle with her, Linsey,” cautioned Jake, putting a protective arm around Lori’s waist.
“Oh!” exclaimed the art teacher. “Are you…. eh…together?”
“Soul mates,” said Jake playfully. “Just make sure Mz Hyde here doesn’t over do it.”
“Of course,” promised Linsey, with what she hoped was a reassuring smile. “Rich said you were down at the beach recovering from an accident. I hadn’t realised you weren’t fully fit yet.”
Trying to hide her discomfort at talking about herself, Lori replied, “I’m fine. It’s just taking longer for my leg to heal than I’d planned. I’m fine to be here for the full day. Mr Power is just being over protective of me.”
They had arrived at the third floor and the doors opened, allowing them out into the art/music corridor. From the signage, Lori noted that the art department was to the left and that music was down at the far end to the right. With a quick kiss on the cheek, Jake left her with Linsey and headed off to his first class. Taking a deep breath to steady her nerves, Lori followed the art teacher along the corridor to the first art room. It was a large bright room with four tables in the centre floor space and several smaller work stations along the back wall. It was far more modern than any art room she had been in and a far cry from the one in her old high school.
“I’ve split the day into three workshops,” explained Linsey, handing Lori an agenda of the day. “The first students are in the ninth grade. The junior group will be the middle set and the seniors will be last after lunch. Is that ok?”
“Are we doing the same workshop three times?” asked Lori, leaning against one of the tables to take some of the weight off her leg.
“That’s up to you,” said Linsey. “What did you prepare for this?”
“Well,” began Lori nervously. “I had prepared a short talk about what I do and what I’ve done, then I thought we could let the students do a small piece of design work that I could critique. We can do the same talk three times if that works for you.”
“Works for me,” agreed the art teacher. “Do you want a coffee before the first invasion?”
“No thanks, but a water would be good.”
Afternoon classes began at one thirty and by then Lori was starting to tire. Over lunch with Linsey, Rich and Jake she had taken two Advil to relieve the ache that was growing in her leg. When she returned to the classroom, Lori confessed that she would need to sit down for this session.
“Are you ok?” asked Linsey, mindful of Jake’s warning to be gentle with her guest.
“Just a bit sore,” confessed Lori before adding, “I badly smashed up my femur and it’s pretty much held together with metalwork. I’m just a bit sore from standing for most of the morning. I’ll be fine in a while.”
“We can cancel if this is too much for you?”
“Nonsense,” dismissed Lori with a smile. “I’m enjoying this.”
A few minutes later the group of senior students began to filter into the room. There were twelve of them- eight girls and four boys. As before Lori gave her pre-rehearsed presentation, then set the class the design challenge. She asked if there were any questions before they got started
“How do you get started on a design?” asked one of the girls.
“Well, if it’s for album artwork I’ll listen to the band’s work. If there’s a theme through the tracks I’ll try to pick up on it. If it’s a book cover, then I read the story and follow the same theory,” answered Lori.
“Have you ever failed to come up with an idea?” asked another student.
“Sometimes,” she admitted honestly. ”Sometimes I’ve turned down a commission as it didn’t feel right. Others I’ve done the opposite and approached the band or artist with an idea or a draft design.”
“Did you really do Silver Lake’s artwork?” asked one of the boys. “Mr Power said you gave it to them as a gift.”
“Yes,” answered Lori, blushing slightly. “Sometimes it is nice to help out a friend.”
“Ok, guys,” interrupted Linsey sharply. “You know the task. You’ve got an hour to come up with a design as per the remit on the board.”
Her pain medication had finally taken effect and Lori felt comfortable enough to move around the art room using only one cane, leaning on the tables for occasional support. As she surveyed the class’ work, she was really impressed with the designs that four of the students had come up with, especially the work of one of the boys. He had come in and sat at the back of the room and appeared to be disengaged from the whole workshop, but when Lori went over to look at his design it blew her away. The paper in front of him was already covered in expert graffiti art and he was quietly working on the shading.
“That’s great,” she said softly, leaning on the desk for a moment.
He looked up at her, but said nothing. This struck her as odd, but she calmly moved on to the next student. Linsey had noticed the lack of response from her student and went over to speak to him, but next thing, he had leapt to his feet and charged off out the door. His design lay discarded on the floor.
“Sorry,” said Linsey to Lori after the class was over. “I should’ve warned you about Brad. He’s a gifted artist. My best student. When I told him you were coming in he was the first to tell me he was a fan of yours, but he’s mildly autistic and a bit unpredicta
ble.”
“I wondered,” said Lori, relieved to learn that it wasn’t her who had offended him. “Do you have any more samples of his work?”
“Yes. His portfolio is still in the drawer,” replied Linsey. “Why?”
“That kid has real talent. I could make a few recommendations to some contacts if you think he would be ok with that. I can think of a few places that would be interested in his work,” offered Lori warmly.
“Let me talk to him first,” suggested the art teacher. “That might be too much for him to cope with. I’ll talk to his mom too.”
“Of course,” agreed Lori. “Give him my number and he can call me or his mom can call.”
“Thanks,” said Linsey with genuine warmth. “Today’s been great. Have you enjoyed it though?”
“More than I thought I would,” Lori admitted. “If you ever need me to come back in, just give me a call.”
From outside the art room a voice called, “Mz Hyde, are you ready?”
“Almost,” called Lori, lifting her bag onto her shoulder. “Can I take this?” She had lifted Brad’s discarded design.
“Of course. He will be flattered that you want it.”
“Thanks,” said Lori, putting the piece of paper into her bag. “Now I need to make a move. Doctor’s appointment.”
“Come on, Lori,” called Jake. “We’re tight for time.”
They made it across from the school to the medical centre with a few minutes to spare. As they drove across town, Lori filled Jake in on her afternoon and the incident with Brad. He knew of the senior student, but hadn’t taught him yet. By all accounts he was also a gifted musician, but had so far skipped Jake’s class. When they arrived at Beebe Medical Center, Jake dropped Lori off at the front door, then went to park the truck. Slowly she made her way through the building to Dr Brent’s office. There were a few other patients in the waiting area. Hoping to avoid any well–meaning enquiries from strangers as to why she was there and what had happened to her, she sat in a corner seat away from them all. The waiting part made her nervous and Lori was relieved when Jake walked through the door and came to sit in the empty chair beside her.
Stronger Within (The Silver Lake Series Book 1) Page 14