She saw from the back that he had jet black hair, and despite leaning over the car, appeared tall and well dressed. But then if you couldn’t be well-dressed on interview day, something was wrong. She did have a bit of a thing for a man in a suit. People expected her to be all about beard-sporting hipsters or men with dreadlocks and piercings, but actually a well-cut suit or a sniff of tweed and she got dizzy.
The man in front of her turned around and she took a step back. His eyes were deep puddles of the darkest brown and fringed so beautifully with triple the number of eyelashes people normally had. That just wasn’t fair! She tried not to stare. Or fall in love. It was difficult.
‘Ah, the half-woman, half-rabbit I spotted juggling boxes as I was getting in the car.’
Oh shit, she had forgotten she was dressed like a rabbit. Of course she was. Perfect. She’d have to brazen it out.
‘Us half-women, half woodland creatures are pretty good with cars.’ She grinned at him, praying she hadn’t smudged her lipstick with the key fob.
‘Really?’
‘Oh yes, especially ones like me who hang around in car parks. Known for it. Although, you are running the risk that I’m fibbing and I am a cunningly disguised car thief.’
‘Ha, well in that case, perhaps I shouldn’t let you near my car.’
‘Could be wise. But now you’ll never know if I could have helped.’ Pippa turned as if to go, pretending to pout as she did so.
‘Don’t be a cross bunny, a hot…’
‘Don’t make that joke. That’s an awful joke, and once out you’ll never be able to take it back.’ She didn’t turn around as she spoke, delivering the words with her back to him, arms folded and trying to keep a giggle from tumbling out.
‘Ha, okay, fair point. Stay and help, please, you have to know more than me. If you’ve got a minute that is. I’m really rubbish with cars, and haven’t a clue what I’m doing. It’s a miracle I know how to clip the seatbelt in, let alone change gears.’
Pippa turned and the man beamed. A grin that not just reached his eyes but made them flash at her as well.
For goodness sake!
He wasn’t madly good-looking, not in a traditional sense – his nose was just a smudge too crooked, his lips weren’t entirely symmetrical and his face was round, very round and really smiley – but there was something about him that was pulling Pippa right in. Something more complex than a well-cut suit, crazily beautiful come-to-bed eyes and a daft sense of humour akin to hers. Something she couldn’t quite put her finger on.
Naturally, the first attractive man she had seen in ages would find her in a car park, dressed as a rabbit. He had probably seen her pulling her keys out with her teeth and clunking the button with her chin as well, fully highlighting the quadruple chin thing that she blamed her father for. She wouldn’t be surprised to discover there was a huge neon arrow hovering somewhere above her head saying ‘Little bit odd. Best avoided.’
If she accepted right now that he wasn’t feeling the same immediate effect in her presence as she seemed to in his, she could take a look at his car, then flee back to the safety of the school, eggs and all, before she made more of a fool of herself.
‘Right, okay, what’s the problem?’ She used her most sensible voice, trying to be brusque and business like. ‘What have you noticed? It won’t start presumably?’
‘Yep, and I thought it might be the battery, but the lights all light up okay and the radio is on.’
‘Yeah, I saw you flash the lights. I’d gamble the battery is fine. It could be a couple of things. I can take a look if you’d like.’
‘Are you sure? Under the bonnet? Here?’
‘Yeah, I’ve got a couple of minutes before they send a search party. Hang on.’
Pippa wished she was a super siren that could unzip the top half of her rabbit costume and hold eye contact with the man in front of her as she did so, maybe waving her hair at the same time before turning around and fixing his car in three moves, dripping effortless glamour as she did so.
But this was a school car park and, Pippa reminded herself as she shrugged the costume down and tied the sleeves around her waist, she was always going to be way more Bugs Bunny than she would ever be Jessica Rabbit.
Chapter Two
Kam’s head was spinning a little. His interview had gone really well; he liked the head here and you could pick up on the feel of a school as soon as you walked through the door and this one felt good. But then after the interview he had been jumped upon by a very thin woman who appeared to have henchwomen who stood behind her as she looked at him rapaciously whilst asking how he felt about the promoting of the school Christmas Fayre as a Winter Wonder celebration instead. It was the fourth of April.
And then when he had come into the car park he had seen a woman with the blondest bob singing as she skipped across the car park. Actually skipping, and armed with a wicker basket. Not only that, but she was dressed in some kind of furry costume from the neck down.
He couldn’t tell whether he really wanted this job or should run a mile.
And now, his car being a bugger and refusing to start meant that the Easter Bunny was standing in front of him, bright red slash of lipstick forming itself into that weird shape that mechanics make with their mouths before shaking their heads while examining your car.
Next, said woman had unzipped the front of the bunny costume, pulled her arms out of the sleeves, and was rolling the top of her costume down and tying the sleeves around her waist, as if they were overalls and she was utterly used to this. Out of costume it was revealed that she wore a deep green blouse with a ginormous bow tied at the side. It was unusual and at the same time it seemed utterly fitting with the woman in front of him, her platinum bob and red lips, making her look like she had just walked straight off a film set during the golden age of Hollywood. And not at all like she worked with small children in the twenty-first century in Cornwall. Or like she was blessed with innate mechanical knowledge.
