Chapter 13
Chapter Thirteen
A nother week of teaching was coming to a close. Grace had just waved goodbye to the eight- and nine-year-olds she’d been with all morning. A talk on the weather had led to questions about where rainbows came from, which had got a bit technical for her liking. But an exercise to write a sentence using one of the colours of the rainbow had proved a big success and quietened everyone down.
Stelios’s mother, Konstantina, had brought his new dog, Mikey, a Maltese crossbreed, to meet her son from class, which had sent everyone crazy.
While they were fussing over the white ball of fluff, Grace had managed to ask about the boy’s grandfather. She couldn’t really ask Stelios anything in class. She didn’t want to make him cry in front of the others, and he seemed to be making such progress, joining in regularly and venturing his own opinions.
‘My father died at the weekend…’ The woman was obviously doing her best to hold it together. Grace didn’t want to push her, but she needed to know the basics for her pupil’s sake in case it impacted on anything the kids were learning.
‘I’m so sorry to hear that.’
Plus, she’d grown quite fond of the little boy. Boys were in short supply in her family. She had one sister, Angela, who also had two daughters, like her. They were all up in Scotland, and she didn’t see anything like as much of them as she wanted to.
She squeezed Konstantina’s hand as the woman tried to say more.
‘And the funeral was on Wednesday. We like to bury our dead quickly here. He had a good life, and he was ready to go.’
Grace thought it was a much better system than letting people lie around in cold storage for weeks. She hadn’t wanted to see Phil’s body again after he died. As soon as the light had gone out of his eyes, he wasn’t Phil anymore for her. Like Konstantina’s father, he’d had a good life, as far as it went, but it had gone far too soon, and he hadn’t been at all ready to go. Fifty-eight was no age. She wasn’t religious as such, but she did believe that Phil’s spirit had gone off somewhere else. Hopefully somewhere lovely.
Konstantina was waiting for her to say something.
‘It’s still hard, isn’t it, however old they are?’
The woman nodded in agreement.
‘In forty days, we will have his memorial, where we gather together and celebrate his life.’
‘That sounds like a lovely idea.’
Grace reached forward and hugged the woman hard.
When Phil had died, she’d wanted people to acknowledge what had happened. One neighbour had crossed the road to avoid her rather than have to talk about Phil’s death. For her, physical touch was an important part of showing you cared, and the Greeks were big huggers. She was sure her hug wouldn’t offend Konstantina.
They embraced for a few moments, and when they parted, the younger woman’s eyes were full of tears again.
‘Thank you.’
Konstantina pointed at Mikey.
‘That dog has brought a lot of love into our lives, particularly Stelios’s. We wouldn’t be without him now. So, thank you again.’
‘No problem. Look after yourselves.’
Charlie appeared in the hallway just as Grace was locking up her classroom.
‘All right, Grace? You look a bit mizzy.’
‘Just tired, Charlie.’
The conversation with Konstantina had shaken her. The third anniversary of Phil’s death was coming up in a few weeks. It was only a date, but, as Grace knew, however much you told yourself that, it still had the power to wound deeply. You couldn’t stop the memories coming.
‘Well, don’t overdo it. I’m off home for lunch with Sarah. You’re welcome to join us.’
‘Not today, but thanks anyway.’
Sarah was Charlie’s girlfriend, a model, who featured in the promotional material for the language school, which was how they’d met several years ago. If people thought all the teachers were that attractive, they’d be in for a bit of a shock. Sarah occasionally came to the building to pick her boyfriend up. Though she was outwardly scary, Grace had discovered that Sarah was a pussycat, who suited Charlie down to the ground.
Grace had taken to going for long coffees and the occasional lunch with Charlie once a week to talk teaching methods. He’d asked her to give him tips on how to make the lessons more fun for all age groups. He really wanted to expand his knowledge and possibly open his own school at some point in the future. She had a lot of time for the man.
He’d reciprocated by insisting that for fifteen minutes at the end of each session, as a thank-you, he taught her the basics of DJing, after she’d expressed such an interest in his part-time job.
Grace could now speak with authority on beatmatching, mixing, phrasing and scratching, something she wouldn’t have believed possible a couple of months ago. She’d even been round to his flat a couple of times and had a little go herself on his decks.
Most of his gigs were at eighties nights, and they’d managed to put together a set of Grace’s favourite soul music from the decade. When she was ready, he was planning to let her have a turn live on stage, a prospect that made her feel sick. They’d kept it a secret from everyone except Sarah. Her daughters would be flabbergasted, not that they’d use that word, but it was the astonishment on Will’s face she’d enjoy seeing the most.
Charlie broke into a grin at the beep of a car horn.
‘Don’t forget we’ve got a session tomorrow. It won’t be long now before you’re up there on stage.’
‘Mmmm. Maybe. See you later.’
Grace began the long walk up the stairs to her room, and the Greek salad she’d got in the fridge.
On the turn of the first stair, a sound stopped her in her tracks. It was unmistakably a woman crying.
As far as she knew, everyone had left the building. She’d seen the other teachers walk out together. They’d been informed that Giannis would be away all week on business. She glanced out of the window on the stairwell. Elena’s Mercedes was still in the car park.
Her gentle knock on the door was answered with a muffled ‘Come in’.
Elena’s dark head was bent over the desk.
‘Is everything OK?’
Her red-rimmed eyes told Grace that this was very much not the case.
Will’s warning about not getting involved ran through her head, but Grace wasn’t just going to leave the poor woman there alone.
‘Can I take you out for a coffee? Maybe down by the port where it’s quiet. We don’t have to talk about anything if you don’t want to. We can just watch the boats.’
Elena hesitated before nodding agreement.
Taking her by the arm as if she was an invalid, Grace steered Elena to a café at the end of the port wall. There was no one sitting outside, so she grabbed a table with an umbrella.
‘Espresso, right?’
Elena nodded.
‘And I’m guessing you haven’t eaten this morning?’
Elena shook her head.
‘OK.’
Grace went inside the café to order, so the waiter wouldn’t keep coming out and disturbing them. A row of croque-monsieurs behind the glass counter caught her eye. They’d only need heating up. Plenty of stodge and cheese would be good for Elena, and Grace hadn’t had lunch herself.
After a couple of mouthfuls of the toasted sandwich and half a cup of coffee, Elena looked a tiny bit less pale.
‘Is that helping?’
‘Yes, thank you, Grace. I’m sorry. This is so unprofessional of me.’
Grace stroked the younger woman’s arm.
‘Don’t worry. Just try and eat.’
A few mouthfuls more, and Elena was finished. Grace had long since demolished hers, but Elena pushed the plate away as if horrified with herself for eating such rubbish.
‘Thank you.’
Grace waited for Elena to make the first move.
‘Can I speak to you in confidence? I’ve got to talk to someone, or I will go crazy.’
‘Of course.’
‘Do you promise not to say anything to anyone?’
‘I promise.’
Elena’s tears were falling again, and Grace passed her a paper serviette. Whatever her boss had to say had to be said. It was like lancing a boil. A horrible image, but accurate.
‘I think my husband is having an affair.’
So, she’d been right. This is what it was all about. She needed to tread carefully.
‘Why do you think that?’
‘All the little things that a wife notices. Mysterious absences, keeping his phone close to him at all times, not being affectionate, and, once, the smell of a perfume that I know is not mine.’
‘Are you sure about this?’
Elena looked down at the table.
‘It has happened before… Only once, but it nearly broke me. It’s the same thing all over again. I don’t think I can cope this time.’
‘Have you tried to speak to him about it?’
The despair in her eyes tore at Grace’s heart.
‘He says that I am mad, paranoid, crazy…’
Does he now? ‘Bloody liar’ were the words that came into Grace’s mind.
‘He says that because he made a mistake once, I am unfairly accusing him. He has mended his ways and he would never do it to me again.’
Grace’s anger was growing with every word Elena uttered.
‘I cannot sleep, I cannot eat… He has got me wondering if I am indeed mad.’
‘You’re not mad, Elena. You’re as sane as the next person. You are stressed and sleep-deprived, but there’s nothing crazy about you.’
A tiny smile was Grace’s reward.
‘If he was, and I say was, having an affair, do you have any idea who it might be with?’
Elena sat back in her chair.
‘I’m not certain, but if I had to pick someone, I would say Anna is his type.’
Now she looked at Elena carefully, Grace could see the similarities between the two women. Elena was stunning, but Anna had twenty years on her boss, and, more importantly, wasn’t weighed down with the responsibilities of children and a business to run.
So, Giannis had found himself a carefree lookalike with plenty of free time instead.
Grace had to force herself not to speak. She was so close to blurting out the truth.
Elena stopped her silent weeping and wiped her eyes.
‘Nobody knows this, not even Giannis, but I am pregnant, with a child that we have longed for. I had a miscarriage last year, and we’ve been trying ever since for a fourth baby. Now I have to keep such a secret from my husband, as I do not know what the future is for my unborn child, or myself.’
‘Oh, Elena. How awful for you.’
‘I keep worrying that the stress of trying for a baby has driven him over the edge. But maybe he is right… and it’s me who’s been driven over the edge.’
The red mist descended, and Grace knew she couldn’t stop what was about to happen. Giannis was a selfish pig who deserved everything he got if he was prepared to treat his wife like this.
She grabbed Elena’s hands.
‘Listen to me, Elena. You are most definitely not going mad. I know for a fact that Giannis is having an affair with Anna, as I caught him coming out of her bedroom this week in the early hours of the morning.’