Nora was so stressed, she felt like she was preparing for a test. She decided not to wear a suit, which seemed a little too formal for the circumstances. Jeans and a sweatshirt felt too casual for her liking. Eventually she opted for a pair of taupe linen pants and a navy-blue cotton top, a subtle blend of comfort and style.
She arrived at the preschool fifteen minutes early, short of breath and very nervous. Madame Stillet greeted her warmly, then led her straight to the teachers’ lounge, where she introduced her to Jeanine Lambinet. Though she was in her fifties, the woman looked like a schoolteacher from the 1970s, in her pleated skirt, opaque tights, lace-up ankle boots, and a checkered tunic, impeccably pressed and buttoned up to the neck.
“Madame Lambinet, this is Nora Amrani, our new kindergarten assistant.”
“At last!” exclaimed the teacher. “I’d almost given up hope.”
Despite her apparent relief at Nora’s arrival, Madame Lambinet’s handshake was cool. She looked her new colleague up and down with the kind of probing expression one might use to examine a new product.
“I hope hard work doesn’t scare you,” she said without preamble. “You’ll need nerves of steel.”
“I’ll do my best,” Nora replied simply.
“Your best isn’t good enough, Madame Amrani. As you are about to find out!”
The principal bobbed her head and gave Nora a reassuring smile. “Well, I’ll leave you to it. I’m sure everything will be just fine.”
She moved closer to Nora, and added under her breath, “Don’t worry. Beneath that surly exterior, Madame Lambinet is very kind.”
“Flattery will get you nowhere, Martine,” said Madame Lambinet in a loud voice.
Madame Stillet contented herself with a simple “Have a good day, Jeanine,” as she left the lounge.
Left alone with Madame Lambinet, Nora gave her a shy smile, which was ignored. Madame Lambinet tugged sharply at the sides of her tunic and then, with a brisk toss of her head, indicated to Nora that she should follow. Nora hurried after her.
Madame Lambinet had not been lying: the next four hours were grueling. Their class of twenty-five raving maniacs didn’t give them a moment’s respite, despite the teacher’s authority and experience. Nora spent the whole time running from one end of the classroom to the other, handing out saucers of paint, sheets of paper, and aprons to some of the children, building blocks and puzzles to others, explaining her presence, surveying, tidying, explaining, and accompanying them to the bathroom. When it was time to go for lunch, which meant that her workday was coming to an end, it felt like her head was about to explode.
Madame Lambinet may not have been particularly warm to her, but Nora couldn’t help admiring the efficiency with which she delivered a program that managed to be simultaneously creative, playful, and personalized. And despite her gruff exterior, Nora detected an undeniable affection for her little charges.
The rest of the week went by in the same way. From 8 a.m. till noon, Nora ran from one end of the classroom to the other, answering multiple questions at once, trying as hard as she could to combine efficiency and understanding, two qualities that can be tricky to reconcile.
When it was time to go home, she was too exhausted to do anything, but very thankful she hadn’t gotten the full-time post she’d wanted.
Things grew still more complicated on Friday morning, when Madame Stillet stopped her in the hallway to discuss a little problem. Nora felt her heart clench. Was there a problem with her work? Had there been a complaint? She nodded gravely, all ears, and prepared herself for the worst. It turned out that Eloise Villant—whom Nora had never heard of—was sick and would be absent the whole of the following week. Nora tried to piece together what Madame Stillet was talking about. Eventually she realized that Eloise Villant was one of the two women in charge of the after-school daycare program. Would Nora be able to replace her and change her schedule to come in from three till seven until Eloise was better?
Relieved, Nora happily agreed. Madame Stillet thanked her warmly, assured her that she’d helped resolve a very thorny problem, and promised she wouldn’t forget it. Then she disappeared into her office.
At that very moment, Nora remembered that she had the children the following week and would have to find someone to fetch Nassim from school. Inès wasn’t really a problem, since she could be dropped at home by one or another of her friends’ parents and stay home alone until her mother got back. But things were trickier with Nassim. He finished school at 4:30. Even if Nora could find someone to pick him up, they would have to stay with him until 7:20, or even 7:30.
As soon as she got home, Nora called Mathilde and told her about her predicament. Mathilde said she could fetch Nassim from school on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. She said she’d rather take him back to her place and look after him alongside her own children there. Nora could swing by and get him on her way back from work. On Tuesday and Thursday her two eldest children had activities—one did music and one judo. Mathilde spent both afternoons ferrying them back and forth in the car.
“It’s hell,” she told Nora. “Nassim would be bored to death. I don’t think it’s right to impose that on him. It would be much better if you could find another solution.”
“What do you do with Justine on those days?” asked Nora. Mathilde’s youngest child was only four.
“My neighbor looks after her till Philippe gets back. But I can’t ask her to take care of another child.”
“I understand,” said Nora resignedly. “It’s great you can look after him for those three days. I’ll figure something out.”
Mathilde warmly wished her luck and said goodbye. She already knew about her friend’s terrible mornings: Nora called her every afternoon to relate the multiple challenges of her working day.
Nora hung up, still not having figured out a solution for Tuesday and Thursday. There was no way she was going to ask Gérard to help out. Either he would use it to prove she couldn’t cope without him, or he’d remind her at every turn that she owed him. Nora’s parents lived in Paris, and she couldn’t expect them to make the round trip twice a week. Plus it wouldn’t be right to ask them to get back in the car at eight o’clock at night, so she’d have to put them up for the night. And in any case they were getting on in age, and had their routine. So that wasn’t an option.
She could always leave Nassim at the after-school club, but he wouldn’t be happy about that at all. He hated staying in school after class and would be bound to complain about it to his father, who’d then inundate Nora with an endless flow of criticism. In any case, the after-school club at Nassim’s school closed at half-past six, so it wouldn’t really solve the problem. Nora was disappointed that Mathilde hadn’t at least asked her neighbor. She might have been able to persuade her.
Hang on, what if she askedherneighbor? She was on good terms with Tiphaine, and she’d noticed that she got home from work every afternoon around four. Tiphaine could pick Nassim up at the end of class, and Nora could fetch him from next door when she got back. That would be the ideal solution.
She realized it was a bit premature to ask such a favor of a woman she barely knew, and continued scrolling through her contacts for an alternative solution, but either her friends worked late, or they lived too far away, or they weren’t close-enough friends to ask. Nor was Tiphaine, of course, but the advantage was that she got home early and lived right next door. With no other option, Nora decided to ask her if she’d be prepared to do her this favor.
