Chapter 54
Chapter Fifty-Four
C hrissie’s doorbell went. It was past nine pm and she didn’t think it would be Nisha – they’d agreed to give each other a bit of space until the end of the week.
She went to the door to find Philippa standing there, smartly dressed as usual, holding two carrier bags of what smelt suspiciously like curry.
“You may already have eaten, but Dottie told me you got the call from Ofsted, so I thought you might need some additional sustenance,” said Philippa.
“How does that girl find out everything that happens in the school?” asked Chrissie with a laugh.
“Try living with her,” replied Philippa, deadpan.
“I have eaten,” said Chrissie, “but I think I may have a separate stomach for naan bread and paneer, so come on in.”
Philippa grinned. “I also wanted to say well done on the training place you secured – thanks for texting to let me know.”
“Ah, you’re welcome,” said Chrissie, showing Philippa into the kitchen and getting out plates and cutlery. “It was partly you that encouraged me to apply.”
“Well, you deserve it,” said Philippa. “But may I say, you look exhausted. Was it a long one?”
“It really was,” said Chrissie. “Wait, where is Dottie?”
“At home with her father,” replied Philippa, her mouth pursing. “He’s in the house all the time now.”
“Oh yes, of course,” said Chrissie. “He’s not found another job yet, then?”
“No,” said Philippa with a sigh. “He’s talking about taking early retirement and working on his golf handicap.”
Chrissie wasn’t sure why this was such bad news, but if the look on her face was anything to go by, then for Philippa, it clearly was.
“But enough about him. How about you? Are you getting on ok?” asked Philippa, clearly keen not to talk too much about her own domestic situation.
“Yeah, ok, I guess,” said Chrissie with a shrug.
The friends sat down at the small kitchen table. “Everything ok with Nisha?”
Philippa was incapable of holding back, and Chrissie knew she had to tell her something. But she couldn’t tell her the truth, not with Nisha being Dottie’s class teacher. It wouldn’t be fair.
“Things are a bit tricky, to be honest,” said Chrissie. “I can’t go into it in detail. It wouldn’t be fair,” she added, pulling apart the naan bread so they could both have some. “It’s like our lives continue to pull us in different directions. I just wonder whether it’s really meant to be something that lasts.”
“Oh,” said Philippa, her face falling. She looked genuinely upset. “But you seem so good together.”
“Oh, we are,” Chrissie agreed, through a mouthful of bhuna. “But what’s the line in that John Lennon song? Life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans? It’s sort of like that. I don’t want to hold her back.”
“I don’t think you could,” said Philippa. “I’m not going to pry, it’s your business. But have faith. I feel like the two of you are supposed to be together. Didn’t you say you were a thing back when you were in your teens?”
“Yes,” replied Chrissie, with a smile. “It was a summer of hope and naivety and dreams and for a few weeks, it was perfect. Then we went our separate ways and didn’t see each other for twenty years.”
“It sounds wonderful,” said Philippa, looking wistfully up and over Chrissie’s head, as if remembering something from her own past. “I didn’t do anything nearly as interesting when I was in my teens. It makes me wish I had.” She looked back at Chrissie, her cheeks pink.
“It’s never too late, you know,” said Chrissie. “I know that to be a hard, cold fact.”
“Hmm,” said Philippa. “Yes, perhaps. But keep your hope and naivety, Chrissie, it suits you. Things may work out still.”
“We’ll see. But before that,” said Chrissie, wiping a blob of sauce from her plate with her naan, “we need to get through this wretched inspection.”
“Yes, although I feel like between you, Dan, Nisha and Mrs Hemingway, you will absolutely smash it.”
“Is that a legal term?” asked Chrissie.
“Of course,” replied Philippa, elegantly wiping the corner of her mouth with a piece of kitchen roll. “We always promise ourselves that the night before a big case. And we always order in curry.”
“Well, thank you for making me part of your tradition,” said Chrissie, touched that Philippa had thought of her.