Chapter 53
Chapter Fifty-Three
“ A re we all happy?” asked Nisha, looking around the room at the six or seven colleagues she was coordinating as they prepared for the inspection.
“Ecstatic,” replied Dan, rolling his eyes.
“Ok, smart-arse,” said Nisha, “perhaps not happy, but do we all know what we’re doing?”
“We do,” said Dan, and the others nodded. Chrissie sat quietly at the back of the room. Most of the other teaching assistants had already gone home.
Soon it was just Chrissie and Nisha left in the room, with empty coffee mugs and three empty biscuit packets strewn across the desks.
“Honestly,” said Nisha, “they’re worse than the kids for not clearing up after themselves.” She looked up at Chrissie as she gathered up the rubbish. “Thanks for staying. You know you didn’t have to.”
“I know,” said Chrissie, “but I wanted to support you. And besides, I need to get used to this stuff.”
“Yes,” agreed Nisha, raising her eyebrows. “Yes, you’re right, you do. Congrats, Chris. Your news has been swept up into all this, but I want you to know how proud I am of you.” She walked over to Chrissie, who was standing with her back to a phonics display board. She put her arms around her and held her. Chrissie brought her arms up to Nisha’s back and allowed her head to fall on Nisha’s shoulder. It felt so good to be together, sharing this moment in this way. But it only made it more painful, knowing their days were probably numbered.
Chrissie brought her lips to the smooth skin on Nisha’s neck and planted a soft kiss. “Thank you. Whatever happens now, I’ll never regret this,” said Chrissie.
Nisha put her finger to Chrissie’s chin and brought her face up. “Nor will I,” she said. “Do you want to stay at mine tonight?”
Chrissie smiled, a sadness in her heart. “I’m not sure I can,” she said. “I’m not angry, I’m just trying to sort things out in my head. You wanted to stop running away from things, and I can see you’ve made that change in facing Jake, going back to your new school, taking this amazing opportunity. And I want to be happy for you. I really do. But right now, I need some time to process that. I hope you understand.”
Nisha frowned. “I’m sorry. Yes, you must take all the time to yourself you need. I can see I’ve made things hard for you and I feel bad about that. How about we get through Ofsted and then regroup on Friday? We can work everything out then.”
“Ms Rajan,” said Mrs Hemingway, once again looming in the doorway. The two women leapt apart, Chrissie pretending to be pinning up work that had been displayed since September and Nisha collecting mugs. “I wonder if you might have a moment to discuss your email?” the head teacher asked, a smile playing on her lips.
“Certainly,” said Nisha, more formally than she would normally talk even to Mrs Hemingway. She was obviously trying to make up for being caught in an embrace with a colleague in the workplace. Chrissie giggled quietly, in spite of herself.
Alone in the classroom, Chrissie had a sinking feeling. She didn’t know exactly what they were talking about, but realistically, it had to be about Nisha’s new job in London. Nisha would have emailed the head teacher to let her know. Chrissie looked up at the display she’d been pretending to amend, displaying all the different colours of autumn leaves. She was reminded of something her father once told her – that some friends were for a reason and some for a season. Perhaps she and Nisha had only ever been passing leaves in the breeze. They gave each other what they needed at the time, then moved onto their own paths, moving in opposite directions.
Chrissie shook her head to try and rid herself of the vision of her and Nisha as leaves, floating away from one another.