Shaking her head, Gemma laughed. ‘The dog and the headteacher? Trust you to make the situation sound more humorous than it actually is.’
‘You can always count on me to do that. Go on, though, tell me.’ Annie waved her hand in front of Gemma’s face. ‘This tells me you had a better night’s sleep last night, so I’m going to hazard a guess that your friend’s dog was behaving rather than our lovely Mr Higgs having suddenly grown a conscience and a sense of humour.’
‘Oh, thanks, I think. Was that a compliment or just a delayed insult from yesterday?’ Gemma patted her under-eye bags with the pads of her forefingers.
‘It was a compliment not an insult, but you’re deflecting. Did he complain again?’
‘Nope,’ Gemma shook her head.
‘Really? Wow, that’s good. I’m guessing the dog has settled in at yours now, then?’ Annie perched on top of a table while Gemma emptied her water bottle and lunch box from her bag onto her desk.
‘His name’s Alfie.’ Gemma shook her head slightly. Annie had never been one to love animals, so Gemma knew she’d never remember Alfie’s name and he’d forever remain ‘the dog’.
‘Sorry,Alfie.’ Emphasising his name, Annie rolled her eyes. ‘And again, you’re not answering the question, so I shall make up my own interpretation of last night’s events and assume the lovely Mr Higgs knocked the wall between your cottages down and you now all live as one big happy family.’
Glancing towards the door, Gemma looked back and raised her eyebrows at Annie. ‘Shh, that’s not something either of us wants overheard by His Highness himself. And no, the partitioning wall is very much intact and in one piece. I slept on the sofa with Alfie.’
‘You what?’ Leaning forward, Annie placed her hands on her knees and stared at Gemma before shaking her head and laughing. ‘You seriously hid out in the living room so he wouldn’t hear if the dog barked? You’re changing your sleeping patterns for his benefit?’
Sighing, Gemma glanced towards the door again before answering. ‘It’s no big deal. The sofa’s comfy.’
‘Ha, yeah, sure. If you continue, you’ll be coming into work one of these days clutching your lower back.’ Annie giggled. ‘And I don’t know why you keep looking towards the door as though you’re worried he might overhear us. He’s not in yet. Joanne reckons there’s nothing in the diary, but it might be a last-minute meeting at Academy HQ or something.’
‘Oh, he’s not in?’ Gemma felt her shoulders instantly relax as the tension left her body. A day without him breathing down her neck would be wonderful.
‘Nope. Not in. And no one’s heard from him either.’ Pushing her hands against the tabletop, Annie jumped up. ‘Right, I’d better get on. I still haven’t prepped the classroom.’
‘Catch you later.’ Shrugging out of her coat, Gemma hung it on the peg by the door into the playground. That was one good thing about staying late at school to set the tables up for the next day - no last-minute panic if she was held up or rushing around before letting the children in.
‘Perfect. Well done, Tyler. You’re right, slide begins with the ‘s’ phoneme.’ Gemma snaked her hand to mimic a snake as she made the ‘sss’ noise. As the small boy ran off across the playground to search for another object beginning with one of the phonemes on his Phonics Bingo Card, Gemma grinned. A morning out in the sunshine was just what she and the children had needed. Yes, the spring breeze carried a chill, and the grey clouds above them threatened rain, but she would not let the threat of rain spoil her morning joy. For once she’d believe in the weather forecasts she’d read.
‘They’re loving this, aren’t they?’ Tania walked up to her, Freya holding her hand whilst grasping her bingo card in the other hand. ‘Superstar, Freya, here has almost filled her Bingo Card, haven’t you?’
Freya nodded and held up her card. ‘I have, Miss Murray. Look, I’ve only got to find this one.’
‘Wow, that’s fantastic. Let’s see what you’ve found so far.’ Bending down, Gemma listened as Freya pointed to the drawings covering her Bingo Card. ‘I love the fact you’ve drawn the clouds for ‘cl’ consonant blend. That’s so clever.’
‘Thank you, Miss Murray.’ Freya grinned. ‘And did you see this one?’
As Gemma tried to work out what the image was which Freya had drawn for the ‘ch’ digraph, Gemma watched as a shadow loomed over her. Before she’d even looked up to see who it was, Jonathan’s spicy aftershave filled the air, and she felt hermuscles tense. Ignoring him, she continued to focus on little Freya in front of her. ‘Ooh, chair. That’s a good find. Why don’t you and Ms Groves go and see what else you can find?’
‘Okay, Miss Murray.’
Straightening her back, Gemma watched Freya skip away with Tania in tow before she slowly turned to face Jonathan. Surely, he couldn’t complain that she’d moved her timetable around? If she’d left this lesson to the afternoon as she’d planned, they’d end up being cooped up inside the school searching for items to fill their Bingo cards. This was so much better, both for the lesson objective as well as the children’s enjoyment. She looked across at him and almost winced. He wasn’t happy. She could tell that by the way his lips were curling downwards and the deep crease between his eyebrows. Huh, maybe if Annie were to see him like this, she’d leave off describing him as cute. This man standing in front of her looked to have more in common with a ravenous lion than a fluffy hamster. ‘Good morning, Mr Higgs.’
‘I was late for school this morning and almost missed a prior engagement with a parent.’ He shoved his hands in his pockets, flicking the edge of his suit jacket as he did so.
‘Oh.’ She could feel an uneasiness stirring in her stomach. She had a feeling this was going to end up being her fault. He couldn’t seriously blame her, though, not when Alfie had slept through with her last night. He hadn’t barked once. Not once.
‘Is that all you have to say on the matter?’ He frowned, lines across his forehead deepening to match the one between his eyebrows.
Glancing across at Tania as a group of children surrounded her, she fought back the urge to scream for help. Instead, she took a deep breath, set her shoulders, and turned to look him straight in the eyes. ‘I’m sorry to hear you didn’t get much sleeplast night, but I can assure you that Alfie was as quiet as a mouse last night. He didn’t bark once.’
Shifting his position, Jonathan pulled his hands from his pockets and crossed his arms. ‘Thank you for keeping your dog under control during the night. That, however, is not the reason I was late.’
‘Right, okay.’ She nodded. What did he want from her? She bit down on her lower lip to stop herself from informing him she wasn’t telepathic. Somehow, she didn’t think that retort would diffuse the situation. She could almost feel waves of irritation emanating from him, though, so she knew without a shadow of a doubt that he was about to lay the blame on her, even though he’d walked to school by himself. Or driven. Whatever. She only lived next door; she wasn’t in charge of his life. If he’d run late, then that wasn’t her fault. Or her issue, so why...
‘Miss Murray...’ A quiet voice seeped through the stifling atmosphere between her and Jonathan.
