‘Good,’ he says. ‘Straight ahead, left at the T-junction.’
Michael lives less than ten minutes away so it’s a short lesson, but I’m pleased that Ben makes a much better driving instructor than Josh.
‘Thanks, Mr . . . Actually, what is your surname?’ I ask, my joke about him being my new teacher falling flat.
‘Whiting,’ he replies. ‘Like the fish.’
‘Fish?’
‘Yeah, whiting,’ he says again.
‘Never heard of it.’
‘I will have to take you fishing sometime.’
‘Youfish?’
‘Sure.’
‘A man of many talents,’ I say stupidly. He unclicks his seatbelt and climbs out of his seat. We meet each other in front of the bonnet.
‘Thanks for being there for me last night.’ I feel like a shy schoolgirl all over again.
‘No worries,’ he replies with an even more exaggerated Australian accent than usual. ‘See you tomorrow.’
I can’t wait, I think sadly as I walk towards the house and turn back to watch him climb into the driver’s seat. He lifts his hand in a wave and then drives off as I experience a comedown that has nothing to do with how much I drank last night.
Chapter 6
As predicted, Josh is fast asleep when I get home. He emerges at five minutes to midday, looking hungover and strangely unattractive. He slumps down next to me on the sofa and instead of my usual flutterings at his close contact, I find myself feeling a bit annoyed that he didn’t sit on the armchair. How very fickle of me.
‘Can you not sit over there?’ I grumble. ‘I was about to lie down.’
‘Tough shit,’ he replies, reaching for my crisps packet.
‘Get your own.’ I snatch them back.
‘Somebody’s in a bad mood,’ he taunts.
‘That’s probably because I’ve been up all night taking care of an orphaned koala!’ I snap.How did I ever fancy you?
‘Up all night?’ he sniggers.
‘Well, that’s what it felt like,’ I quickly tell him, not wanting him to cotton on to the fact that I stayed at Ben’s. In the cold light of day I realise that he might find that slightly weird. I know it was perfectly innocent, but if he made a comment I might do something horrendous like blush.
‘And the koala is going to be fine, thank you for asking,’ I add sarcastically.
Josh gets up and goes to sit on the armchair.Result. Except now I feel a bit mean.
‘Have some of these if you want.’ I hand over the crisps.
‘Thanks,’ he mutters, and a tentative peace is restored.
Ooh, aren’t his arms skinny compared to Ben’s?Oh dear. I really must stop this.
My crush doesn’t dissolve over the course of the day and by Monday when Michael and I set off for work, I feel irritatingly jittery. I hope Ben doesn’t notice.
He’s not in the staffroom when we arrive and that provokes my symptoms even more. I head off to the hospital room, wondering if he’s with the joey. Quietly pushing open the door, I see him kneeling in front of the heater with our little orphan. My heart does a somersault.
