What followed were a few exchanges to the effect of, ‘Oh no, you won’t,’ and, ‘Oh yes, I will,’ in classic panto style. Cassie’s heart soared – this was exactly what she’d hoped to achieve. Rowley’s inventiveness and lack of fear pulled the others along with him and instead of the usual spiritless delivery, even the shyer kids edged forward to find their place in the fun. Trevor, who was playing Jack, had been worrying her, as he came across stiff and self-conscious, which wasn’t at all what Cassie knew he was capable of.
He confessed that his hero was Spiderman, so she helped him to imagine Jack being Tom Holland playing Peter Parker, Spiderman’s real-life identity. Immediately, something seemed to click with the boy and all his awkwardness fell away.
Sophie, Jack’s mother, spurred on by the overall excitement, seemed to be drawing dramatic inspiration fromThe Playboy of The Western Worldto great admiration from the rest of the class, while the Bondarenko twins were delighted to be cast as the cow, though where Cassie was going to find a cow costume, she dreaded to think. That was for another day.
When break time came around, the children erupted out into the yard. Rowley hung back.
‘Me granda has a little stepladder at home .?.?. I can have it under my arm for the show for lookin’ tall. And, eh, d’you think the show will be at night, ’cause my ma works nights an’ I know she wouldn’t want to miss me?’
Cassie reassured him that every effort would be made to make sure all the families could come. It was only afterwards she panicked at the responsibility for making every kid and their families’ dreams come true.
That lunchtime Cassie sat quietly at the end of a table, when she overheard Babs and another teacher sniggering to each other. ‘I can’t believe it either. What on earth does she see in him, with those musty suits? And, apparently, the husband’s a dish.’
She could see Marisha at another table, nibbling what looked like white bread and a banana, plus the obligatory Actimel. Poor thing, she was probably feeling hellish and trying to behave as normal. Cassie almost felt sorry for her. Almost.
* * *
As they were leaving on Friday evening, Marisha called her aside. ‘Cassie, could I ask you a favour? I hope you won’t think I’m being inappropriate, but I know my children have met you before and you seemed to get on with them. It seems my ex has an arrangement on Saturday evening, so I was wondering if you might be free to babysit for me? I know it’s short notice .?.?.’ Oh hell. This was her longed-for night with Finn that was going to make up for all the last-minute cancellations. She felt on the verge of blurting out everything. Mightn’t that be the best thing to do? Once you let an opportunity to tell the truth pass, it became a lie by default. Don’t be a fool, she decided, go home, phone Finn, tell him everything and clear the air.
‘I’m really sorry, Marisha, I’ve already made plans for Saturday night.’
She hated these half-lies but what else could she do?
Marisha shrugged. ‘That’s a pity, I was really looking forward to a night in. And you seem to be so good with Conor. He really needs someone who can understa—’
She suddenly looked horrified.
‘Are you OK?’ Cassie asked, alarmed. The dust motes tumbling in a shaft of sunlight seemed to freeze.
‘It’s you, isn’t it?’
All Cassie could do was nod dumbly.
‘I’d a hunch he was seeing someone. So, it’s you. I’m not surprised, I can see you’d be his type. So much for choosing a safe person to confide in,’ she added bitterly. ‘Well, it seems like you know pretty much everything about my life now. Congratulations.’
Cassie’s shoulders collapsed. ‘I’m so sorry, I never wanted this to happen. I hated not being able to be truthful.’
‘No, you were able. You just chose not to be.’
Cassie nodded miserably. What could she say?
‘On the other hand, you’re obviously discreet, because if you’d told Finn already, all hell would’ve broken loose.’
‘I hadn’t a clue what to do but in the end I just .?.?. cleaned my apartment to keep myself busy,’ confessed Cassie.
‘Could’ve done worse.’
‘Look, I’ll leave. I can’t see another way. I never meant to be deceitful. Please believe me. I’ll just tell Mr Newcombe that I’m finished and that’ll be it.’
‘Don’t.’
‘Sorry?’
‘You might as well stay. You know everything now, what more can happen? By the way, my ex-husband is an overgrown adolescent. You do realise that?’
Cassie reflected that that was exactly what she liked about him.
‘That’s if you still want to stay – I fully understand if you don’t.’
