Chapter Seven
T he place looked like a haunted convent, or perhaps one of those abandoned mansions that kids filmed themselves breaking into. But Bea was in too much of a hurry to pay attention to the details. Bag over her shoulder, she raced up the stairs and had just enough time to wonder whether she was supposed to knock or ring before the door opened.
“Are you the yoga teacher?”
Bea’s mouth opened but words wouldn’t come out. The man who’d opened the door looked like a giant. And not the nice BFG kind of giant, but the other kind, the kind that crunched children’s bones and drank their blood.
Then he smiled and his eyes lit up and he was holding out a hand. “The name’s Josh, I’m general dog’s body, security when necessary, and, um, I teach mindfulness.” He blushed a little at this.
“That’s amazing,” said Bea, grinning up at him. “I mean, the breadth of qualifications there is pretty impressive.”
He grinned back. “And you’re yoga?”
“Yes. Well, no. I’m technically Bea. But I’m here to teach yoga.”
“Brilliant, in you come,” Josh said, taking a step back so that she could slide in.
Bea’s nose wrinkled. Cold cabbage and instant mashed potatoes. The place smelled like a bad primary school.
“Och, it’s just because it used to be a teacher training college,” Josh said, noticing her look. “The food’s much better now. We’ve got Celine, she’s the housekeeper, dusts the spider webs, that sort of thing. And she keeps up all fed.”
“Us all?” Bea asked as she followed Josh down a long corridor.
“Well, there’s the six clients that we’ve got for this session, you’ll meet those in a few minutes. Then there’s me and you, Luke Bradshaw, he’s the boss. Um, Lex is the main therapist and overseer, then Daria, she does meditation and relaxation. And that’s about it, I suppose.”
“Where is everyone?” Bea asked.
But before Josh could answer, an attractive blonde man popped out of a door to her right. “You!”
Bea stopped in her tracks.
“That’s Bradshaw, the boss,” Josh hissed.
Bea pulled herself up tall. He looked angry, but that was alright. She could stand up for herself. Look at what had just happened. Okay, crashing Benny wasn’t great, but she’d handled the situation and no one had walked all over her.
“You’re the yoga girl?” Bradshaw asked, face red in the cheeks.
As he got closer, Bea could see that he really wasn’t as attractive as she’d thought. He looked out of place in his own face somehow. Yoga girl. She wasn’t sure she appreciated that. “Yoga teacher, yes,” she said calmly. “Beatrice Thomas, pleased to meet you.”
“You should have been here hours ago,” he snapped. “This hardly bodes well, does it?”
“I’m so sorry. Obviously, there’s been a change of plan here and I’ve stepped in at the last minute—”
“I’m not here for excuses. Pull yourself together and get on with the job that you’re being paid to do.” He turned back toward the door he’d come out of.
“But, I—”
The door slammed. Josh pulled a face. “Ignore him. You’ll have to do some paperwork, but you might want to leave that for later. See him when he’s in a better mood. Why’s there been a change of plan then? What happened? ”
As he took her up the rickety stairs she told him about Liz and her broken leg.
“Oooh, sounds like the universe answered her questions then,” Josh said.
“That’s what I said. She said that it’s superstitious clap-trap.”
“I say that we need to be careful what we put out into the world, because you never know what it’s going to bring back to you,” said Josh, pointing toward a door. “That’s your place, throw your bag in and we’ll get downstairs. There might be time for a cuppa before you need to meet the clients.”
Bea pushed open the door to see the world’s skinniest bed and something that might be a desk if you were five years old and could fit your legs under it.
“Bathroom’s down the hall,” Josh called from outside. “Can’t miss it. I’d advise getting up early though, else the hot water’ll be gone.”
“Lovely,” said Bea, staring around the tiny space. She wasn’t sure she could fit in the bed and she was hardly large. Still, she supposed she wasn’t going to be hosting guests in it. And a room of her own was debate-ably better than sharing a flat with Robbie and Marilyn.
Wasn’t it?
She thought about her own comfy bed and then remembered that she wouldn’t have been sleeping in it anyway. She’d have been in the spare room with a pillow over her head, trying not to hear the love birds next door.
Yes, this was better than that. Plus, she needed the money. Plus plus, she needed the job that might get her future jobs. So she shouldn’t look gift horses in the mouth.
“It’s lovely,” she said as she went back out to Josh. “Just what the doctor ordered.”
“I’ve seen better looking prison cells,” Josh said. “Literally.”
“Ah, been inside?”
“I have indeed. I try not to keep it from people, I don’t like hiding things. I’m on the right road now, and I’ve got nothing to be ashamed of. ”
Bea looped her arm through his. “Glad to hear it,” she said. “Now, I think you mentioned a cup of tea? I’m parched.”
THE STAFF ROOM was filled with armchairs and couches that had long ago seen better days. It was dark outside now and unflattering fluorescent lights lit the room.
“Alrighty,” Josh said. “Here we’ve got Daria, she’s meditation.”
A limber, attractive, dark-haired woman looked up from a magazine and smiled. Bea smiled back.
“There’s Celine, our chef extraordinaire,” he said, pointing out an older woman who raised her hand in greeting. “And this is Lex, our therapist and head of the program.”
Lex looked up from her notes. She was young, far younger than Bea would have expected. She had short, blonde hair and gray smudges under her eyes that made it look like she hadn’t slept for weeks.
“Everyone, this is Bea, the new yoga teacher,” Josh said, grabbing a cup from the coffee table and filling it from the tea urn in the corner.
“Wait, aren’t you supposed to be Liz?” Lex asked, looking confused.
“Liz had a message from the universe,” said Josh, handing the tea to Bea.
“I’m the stand in,” Bea said. “But I’m very happy to be here, even if I’m a bit late.”
“As long as you’re on time for your sessions,” Lex said. “Here, take a look at this, it’s your schedule.” She handed Bea a piece of paper.
Bea scanned the sheet and then frowned. “I’m alright with the yoga, obviously, but you’ve put me down for group therapy as well.”
“Is that a problem?” Lex asked.
“Well, I’m… I’m not really qualified for—”
“We all step up where needed,” Lex said. “And there wasn’t anyone else available, so I’m sure you’ll muddle through. ”
“Yes, but—”
“Listen, I’ll be honest, Bea, was it?” said Lex. “We’re shorthanded, short staffed, and the whole budget is on a bit of a shoestring at the moment. You’re going to have to step up.”
Bea took a breath. She didn’t want to do this. Stepping up was one thing. Providing therapy to potentially sick or violent people was quite another. There was no way she was qualified to do that. And she wondered if Lex was in any way qualified to do what she was obviously doing. She looked all of fifteen.
“Is that a problem?” Lex asked.
Bea felt every eye in the room on her. She cleared her throat and thought about standing up for herself, thought about saying the right thing, but everyone was looking and she didn’t want to make a scene.
One step at a time. Maybe standing up for herself once a day was enough to be going on with.
“No, no problem,” she said. “I’m sure I’ll… get used to it.” She’d have to pick Lex’s brains on this, get some pointers, but therapy was essentially just listening, right?
“Excellent,” Lex said. She clapped her hands together. “Alright everyone, it’s time to get this show on the road.”
Bea thought she didn’t sound as confident as she would have wanted. In fact, she sounded an awful lot like a student intern. But she paid attention anyway.
“We’ve got six clients for this session,” Lex was saying. “We need to ensure that they have a good experience and will be recommending us.”
A good experience? From Liz, Bea had an overview of the program. As far as she knew, the place was part of a mandated anger management program.
“A good experience?” she whispered to Josh.
He rolled his eyes. “Bradshaw wasn’t getting enough clients through the courts and social services. So he opened the program up and advertised it privately, made it look like some kind of relaxation retreat for people with temper tantrums.”
“Right,” said Bea. That sounded like a match not at all made in heaven.
“Put on your best smiles and let’s go and meet the clients,” Lex was saying, standing up.
Bea followed along behind, starting to think that maybe this program wasn’t quite what she’d been led to believe. She could say something, of course, but then… then she might not be working here tomorrow, and that hardly seemed like a good thing.
This was all new. She was probably just getting the wrong end of the stick. She was here to teach yoga. She just needed to buckle down and do her job, that was all.
Lex led them all into what looked like some kind of assembly hall. Five people were sitting in seats right at the front.
“We seem to be missing one,” she said.
“Yeah, um, there’s one kicking up a fuss with Luke,” said Josh. He leaned closer to Bea. “Probably why he was looking so cross earlier. For someone who runs an anger management program, he does get pissed off quite a lot.”
Bea bit back a smile.
“Well, we’re not starting until we’re all here,” snapped Lex, looking like she might cry at the disruption to her plans. “You,” she said, pointing at a tall, sad looking man. “Run and find our straggler, please.”
“I’ll go,” Josh said.
“No, I need you here,” said Lex.
And for the first time, Bea realized that Lex was afraid. Afraid of the clients, afraid of what might happen if they turned all that anger on her.
She kept a close eye on Lex as the tall client slipped out of the room to find whoever was missing.