Chapter 20
The following morning Cassie pulled into her parking space, reminding herself that she was only a lowly assistant and her wings had been clipped.
At 8.40 a.m. there was still no sign of Miss Upton, so Cassie threw on her spring jacket and trudged out to collect class 4B.
The column was ready to snake indoors when, out of the corner of her eye, she caught sight of Marie, looking more hassled than the previous day and holding the hand of a little girl. There was something familiar about the scene and it was only as they came into focus that realisation dawned. The child was Cici.
‘Mummy, look, it’s our babysitter! Hi, Cassie!’
There was no avoiding it. Weakly, Cassie raised a hand and returned the wave. Oh crap.
The pieces fell into place. What sort of a mess had she got herself into?
She met Marie’s gaze and realised she seemed to be having a similar epiphany. Marie, it was obvious, was Marisha, who used her maiden name for work. Of course, she’d already spoken to her on the phone that night in Finn’s apartment, without realising it. But more than that, Finn must’ve realised that she’d be working with Marisha and, for some reason, had chosen not to warn her.
What the hell? That explained why he’d seemed cagey about her excitement at getting the job. She didn’t even have the thirty seconds necessary to fire off a text demanding an explanation. Now she was going to be stuck in a room for what felt like all eternity with Marisha and the thorny question of just why her ex-husband had chosen Cassie to babysit for her kids at the last minute.
Cici had joined her Senior Infants’ class and trundled off happily in the opposite direction.
Struggling to look calm and professional, Cassie tried to focus her attention on the children. From behind her, Marisha’s voice hissed in her ear. ‘We need to talk. At break time.’
Cassie felt a cold hand clutch her stomach. A conversation like this promised to be all shades of shite.
Break time arrived, and in an attempt to delay the dreaded confrontation, she checked her phone, only to see four missed calls from Ramona. What the hell? Ramona never called her. Alarmed, she hit call and waited – she was ready to ring off, when a voice answered, ‘Well, hey, do you never check your phone?’
Cassie could tell she was attempting her usual sass, but her voice sounded muffled and downbeat.
‘Where are you?’
‘Mater A&E, thanks for asking.’
‘What? Oh my God, I’m so sorry, Ramona, I didn’t even know you weren’t home. I feel terrible.’
‘Then that’d be two of us, so chill. Point is, they won’t let me out alone, so either you come to collect me or I sit here like part of the furniture.’
‘What happened?’
‘Long story – so, can you come?’
It was funny that out of all of Ramona’s legion of followers, there didn’t seem to be anyone else she could call in an emergency. Cassie could see Marisha eyeing her across the desk, tapping her manicured nail impatiently. Well, feck her.
‘Yeah, course I can. See you in half an hour.’
Filled with a burst of righteous courage which trumped any intimidation, Cassie marched up to Marisha and announced she had a family emergency and wouldn’t be back until lunchtime. Marisha didn’t look one bit pleased – she’d likely been rehearsing the roast she was about to deliver – but Cassie realised she didn’t give a shite. Let her stew.
‘I’ll be back as soon as I can,’ she said, without waiting for a reply.
*?*?*
Ramona had a black eye and some pretty angry-looking bruising down one side of her face.
‘Hey, kid, thanks for showing up.’
‘I’m sorry, Ramona, I didn’t even realise you were missing. Are you OK?’
‘I’m fine. Can’t you tell?’
She looked exactly the opposite to fine.
Cassie helped her down to the car and, once inside, she took a breath. ‘What the hell happened? Was it that Tinder date? Were they a psycho?’
‘Naaa, it wasn’t them. They were OK but the guys gave it a thumbs down, so they had to go.’ Cassie nodded, trying to appear neutral.
‘But then I got talking to these two guys in the bar.’
Seriously, Ramona, most people would’ve called it a night at that point, Cassie reflected.
‘They were on holiday .?.?. They seemed fun .?.?. I think. So, we were doing shots, having a laugh .?.?.’
Cassie was starting to feel like her mother, but forced herself to keep her trap shut.
‘What went wrong?’
‘I was stupid, I know .?.?. I went back with them to their Airbnb .?.?.’ She seemed to be trying to reconstruct the scene in her brain. ‘It all seemed pretty chill .?.?.’
‘ Chill? ’ Shut up, she warned herself. The last thing Ramona needed right now was to be reminded that the whole situation hadn’t been the world’s greatest idea.
‘We were goofing around and having fun .?.?. then I don’t know, the atmosphere changed somehow. One of the guys was kind of sitting behind me, and I thought he was OK .?.?. but the other guy started to creep me out and then I spotted the two of them exchanging glances .?.?. I’d had a few drinks, but I’m not stupid. I shot to my feet and made for the door. The creepy guy grabbed me by the arm, but I shook him off, pushed him as hard as I could and just ran .?.?.’ It seemed like she was struggling to reconstruct the events. ‘And I made it out into the hall, but I must’ve whacked my head on the way, even though I don’t remember feeling any pain. Hurts like hell now, though. Anyhow, I got out onto the street and .?.?. it was busy, they didn’t try to follow me.’
Cassie realised she had both hands covering her cheeks in horror.
‘I knew I was concussed because I felt really dizzy so I hailed a taxi .?.?.’
‘Oh my God, Ramona. That could’ve turned out so much worse.’
It made sense, in a way, Cassie reflected. All her life Ramona had felt unprotected in spite of her family’s wealth, like a high-wire act with no safety net.
They drove back to the apartment as the radio played ‘Raspberry Beret’ by Prince.
‘Someone was looking out for me last night,’ said Ramona. ‘And when I find out who it was, I’m gonna give them a big hug.’
Cassie smiled, and as she sang along with the chorus, she found herself filled with gratitude for the nurses, for the sun, for what really mattered and, especially, for the world of second chances.
*?*?*
Cassie arrived back at school just in time to answer discreet enquiries from the other staff.
‘I saw you flying off in your car, I thought, God help us, is someone dead?’ said Babs.
This was a clear invitation for Cassie to fill them in. She managed to give the crowd at the table just enough information to seem trusting and collegial, but not quite enough salacious detail to fan the gossip. All the while, she spotted Marisha circling the staffroom like a silent shark. It was ten past one – five more minutes of break to go.
‘Cassie, have you a moment?’ she hissed.
Just get it over with, Cassie thought. She really didn’t have the energy for Marisha’s vendetta. Marisha ushered Cassie into the guidance counsellor’s room, flipped the ‘Do not disturb’ sign round and slammed the door.
‘Sooo .?.?. you were the babysitter I spoke to that evening on the phone. I knew there was something familiar about your voice, but I couldn’t quite place it.’
‘Look, I’m really sorry about how that worked out, I acted in good faith. I hope the children weren’t upset.’
‘On the contrary, they appear to have had a fine time, kept asking when they could have you again.’
Cassie cringed inwardly – that was no help to her right now.
‘So, it seems .?.?. you are in some contact with my husband?’
Her ‘husband’. That wasn’t exactly how Cassie understood the situation but, admittedly, she hadn’t had a chance to contact Finn yet. There hadn’t been enough space in her head for two emergencies at once. What if he’d already revealed their relationship? What if Marisha already knew all about them and was just testing her?
All of a sudden, after everything she’d been through, this situation just felt so tiresome.
‘Look, yes, I did end up babysitting your children on one occasion, but I didn’t make the connection either. I was as surprised as you were this morning. If you want me to leave the job, I will. It’s been a very upsetting morning and the last thing I need is .?.?. insinuations about .?.?. whatever it is you’re insinuating about me.’
Cassie knew exactly what Marisha was itching to ask her and had no intention of making it easy. She seemed to be sizing Cassie up. She doesn’t want to expose herself either, she thought.
‘Well, I’m sure you were glad of the money.’
Just then the bell went right outside the door and the tension snapped. Cassie guessed they were both equally glad to get out of the room. For the rest of the day Cassie found herself trying to stay invisible at the back of the room. In spite of her composure in the moment, the confrontation with Marisha had shaken her. The experienced teacher expertly brought the class through a double period of maths, totally on top of each child’s progress. There was no rowdiness, no messing. How had she ever imagined she could fill those shoes?