Chapter 55
Chapter Fifty-Five
T he next day there was a fevered energy to the school. There were only twenty-four hours until the inspectors were due to descend, and there was a lot to do. Chrissie found herself busy replacing all the tired displays from one of the hallways, trying to make the learning environment look as ‘vibrant’ as an Ofsted inspector could dream of.
“What is that supposed to be?” asked Dan as he hurried past her.
“Rude,” called Chrissie, “you can clearly see that it’s a crocodile. It’s a new display on books the children have loved this year.”
“Oh yes, of course,” said Dan, papers clutched to his front. “Sorry, thought it was a green turd for a moment!” and with that, he disappeared around the corner.
“Charming,” said Chrissie, with a laugh, grateful for her colleagues and their support, however differently they all showed it.
“Nice,” said Nisha, emerging into the corridor from the classroom for a moment. “An avocado, I assume?”
“Very droll,” replied Chrissie, rolling her eyes.
“Sorry,” said Nisha, “I heard Dan and I couldn’t resist. Although now all the children have heard him say the word ‘turd’, so I have some serious reverse-engineering to do.”
“Tell them he was saying ‘curd’,” said Chrissie, “like Little Miss Muffet and her curds and whey.”
“How very Victorian,” said Nisha. “But I might well try that. Although I feel that, with Hardev and Dottie in the room, that genius plan won’t survive for long.”
“True. Now, once I have the teeth on this thing, it will all become clear,” said Chrissie.
“It will.” Nisha smiled, then pulled out her phone from her pocket, before frowning at it again.
“All ok?” asked Chrissie, hardly bearing to know the answer. She knew it would be Jake, and she knew it would be about London.
“Yep,” said Nisha, plastering on a smile and disappearing back into the classroom.
Everyone was anxious about the arrival of the inspection team the next day, but Chrissie felt more worried about the outcome of the conversation she and Nisha had planned for Friday night, once the inspectors had gone. It was clear that Nisha was still very distracted, which did not bode well.
At half past eight that night they left the school, after a final staff meeting with Mrs Hemingway at the helm. Even she had seemed slightly frazzled, a strand of her hair uncharacteristically freeing itself from her hair band.
“Do you want a quick glass of wine at the Vine?” asked Chrissie, as she and Nisha crossed the threshold into the cold and dark.
“Oh, er, sorry,” replied Nisha, appearing uncomfortable. “I have something I need to do.”
“Sure,” said Chrissie. “Of course, sorry.”
“No,” said Nisha, reaching out to touch Chrissie’s cheek, “don’t be sorry. Honestly, there’s really nothing I’d rather do. I just need to go and sort something this evening.”
“Sure,” repeated Chrissie, her voice flat. Her heart felt flat, too. Like Nisha was slipping away. “I might have a quick one before I go home,” she said, deciding that whether or not she had an after-work drink wasn’t down to Nisha.
“You do that,” said Nisha, leaning over to kiss her cheek. “See you bright and early tomorrow.”
“Yeah,” said Chrissie, trying hard to smile, and failing.
Ten minutes later she sat down in the bar, feeling like she stuck out a little on her own. She pulled out her phone and messaged Rae to ask if they wanted a cheeky snifter. Her friend was online and replied swiftly. “Sorry, Chrissie, I’ve got something on this eve. Maybe at the weekend?”
Chrissie sighed. No doubt Rae was with Clodagh. Lucky them. It would just be her this evening. Well, she wasn’t going to let that stop her. She needed to trust herself, to plough her own furrow – another expression of her dad’s. She ordered herself a glass of Rioja and sat down in the quiet upstairs section. She thought about Don and what he might have said to her, if he’d been here.
Chrissie smiled to herself. To start with, her Brummie father would have ordered himself a pint of bitter and complained about her drinking something as refined as wine.
One thing she knew, though, was he’d have given her the same advice as he had all those years ago: that she needed to do the right thing for her. He would have told her that if it was meant to work out, it would. She needed to have faith that somehow, she would find her way through.
“You look very deep in thought, bab,” came the rasping voice of the parish vicar.
“Oh, hi, Rebecca, sorry. I was miles away,” said Chrissie.
“No need to be sorry, bab, you do you. Fancy company?” Rebecca was wearing a big black puffer jacket, and looked a little like a gangster. “Do say ‘no’ if you’d rather be alone.”
“Company would be lovely,” said Chrissie. “Really, please do join me.”
“Excellent. I’ll be back shortly,” said Rebecca, returning a few minutes later with a double vodka tonic.
“How did you know you wanted to be a vicar?” asked Chrissie.
“Goodness, this is like being interviewed by the diocese all over again,” Rebecca chuckled.
“Sorry, I…” started Chrissie, but Rebecca waved her hand.
“Honestly, I suppose no one knows what they want to do for sure, or what the right path is. To me, it just felt right. I knew I needed to follow my faith, and I knew I needed to serve other people. Becoming a vicar was the best way to do that,” said the older woman, before taking a slug of her drink. “I needed that. One of the volunteers engaged me in a long conversation about flower arranging earlier, and after a long day, I could have done without that.” She looked up. “May God forgive me, although I suspect even He would have grown bored after twenty minutes of it.”
Chrissie laughed. “I guess whatever you choose, there’s always something that gets on your nerves.”
“Indeed. So, tell me about what’s been going on at the school, then. You’ve been super busy these last few weeks, and I’ve heard whispers of an inspection.”
“Oh heavens, yes. Do they do that in churches?” asked Chrissie.
“Sort of, although I tend to work on the basis that really the only person who can inspect me is God, and He doesn’t tend to send reports to anyone about what He thinks, thank goodness,” said Rebecca.
They both laughed, and Chrissie updated her friend on the latest developments.