Chapter Fifteen
Friday afternoon and Anna was in her office, trying to catch up with the never-ending paperwork, though her mind wasn’t on it. Two and a bit days after she’d put the phone down on Dan, and still every word of their conversation was going round in a loop in her head.
Had she been too harsh on him?
Yes, she’d been annoyed. She still was, but she’d also been emotionally battered.
The fear that he’d been in an accident had morphed into relief at knowing he was fine, quickly shifting into anger when she’d realised he’d literally dumped them for a better offer.
But now, with the benefit of time, she could concede some of the anger had been unjustified.
He’d deserved a rebuke, deserved to see her annoyance, but not the curtness of her tongue.
Not when she considered how important getting an audition must have been to him.
He’d let them down though, both the teachers and the children.
The disappointment on their faces when they’d realised it was Sid taking the after-school rehearsal and not Dan had both surprised and irritated her.
Surprised, because she hadn’t realised how much they were enjoying being part of Dan’s little .
. . troop, she guessed she should call it.
And irritated for the same reason. How could he charm his way into their hearts in such a short time, yet blithely ditch them the moment something better came up?
Bridget popped her head around Anna’s office door. ‘Sorry to disturb you. I just wondered if we’ve got a finished play yet?’
Bridget was the dynamo behind the costumes and the scenery for the play, and this was the second time she’d asked the question this week.
Once again, Anna cursed Dan. ‘I’m afraid not, Bridget.
It was promised to me at the end of this week.
’ Considering the man who’d promised it had merrily skipped back to his other life — his real life, she reluctantly had to concede — she couldn’t see them getting their hands on it anytime soon.
‘Oh.’ Her face fell slightly, but then, as it was Bridget, she plastered on a smile.
‘I don’t suppose it matters too much. We know it’s a nativity, so we’ll push ahead with that.
It’s just if he wants to add different touches, like scenes in a school, or have some of the kids dressed as animals, we’ll need to know as soon as possible. ’
‘I know, and I’m sorry. I’ll phone him today and give him an ear bashing.’
Bridget chuckled. ‘Now that I’d like to hear. But I have no doubt he’ll turn up with that dreamy smile again next week and we’ll forgive him.’
Anna liked to think she wasn’t that susceptible, but hadn’t she already given in to it over the last few weeks?
The fact she’d agreed to let him write the play in the first place was proof of it.
‘I suspect you’re right.’ She motioned for Bridget to step inside, and then lowered her voice.
‘I’ve been meaning to catch up with you since the dance class on Tuesday.
What did you think of Sid’s dancing skills?
’ As Bridget flushed and avoided her eyes, Anna realised she was as bad as Dan.
She really shouldn’t push this, and yet .
. . she’d never seen the pair of them look so animated, so smiley, as they had when they’d demonstrated the tango.
‘He’s a surprisingly good dancer.’ Bridget slowly met Anna’s eye. ‘I haven’t danced like that for a long time.’
Anna smiled. ‘You looked like you were enjoying it.’
Bridget’s eyes twinkled. ‘Don’t tell anyone, I don’t want to start any rumours, but I was.’
‘Good. It’s about time you had some fun in your life.’
‘You know, the same can be said of you.’ Bridget’s expression was gentle but knowing. ‘Dan strikes me as a man very capable of providing fun.’
Anna willed herself not to blush. ‘I’m sure he is, but right now I’m more interested in him providing a completed Christmas play.’
Bridget laughed. ‘I hear you. Well, I’d better get back to 4C before they start running rings around our new teaching assistant. If I don’t see you again, have a good weekend.’
Anna wished Bridget the same, ignoring the jittery feeling in her stomach.
Were she and Maisie still supposed to be going to London? She’d not heard from Dan since that call. Did that mean it was still on? Or did the fact that he’d not phoned to confirm mean it was off? Or more likely, that he’d totally forgotten his spur of the moment invite. Out of sight, out of mind.
She’d deliberately played it down with Maisie, saying they might be going away for the weekend to see a friend, but she wasn’t sure yet.
No way had she wanted to get her daughter’s hopes up for a weekend in London seeing The Lion King, when the man delivering that invitation had cheerfully abandoned them all in favour of an audition.
An audition that could lead to a part he clearly so desperately wanted.
She sighed, caught, as seemed to be the norm with Dan, between frustration and sympathy. She’d phone him when she got back home. And once she’d finished this flipping paperwork.
* * *
Dan slotted his Range Rover — the Porche had been abandoned for this trip in the hope that he’d need the extra seats — into a parking space at the school, and stretched.
A transatlantic flight, followed by a three and half hour journey up the motorway, played havoc with the knots in his shoulders.
Thankfully he’d slept for a few hours on the plane, and then again for two hours at home before he’d set off, so he didn’t feel tired. Just stiff.
And anxious.
He wasn’t sure how his ‘grand gesture’ was going to be received. All he knew was he had more chance of persuading Anna to come to London with him if he saw in her person than if he did it on the phone.
Glancing at his watch, he figured he had around fifteen minutes before school ended and she’d be on duty. Fifteen minutes to apologise for letting her down on Tuesday, apologise for not contacting her sooner, persuade her to come to London with him. Beg, if necessary.
Squaring his shoulders, he strode into the school reception.
Hayley’s eyes blinked in surprise, and then she smiled, wide and open. And flirtatious. ‘Couldn’t keep away from us, huh?’
‘Something like that.’ Feeling a tad uneasy, as he always did when harmless fan worship began to swing towards something a little more direct, he nodded towards Anna’s office. ‘Is Anna in?’
‘She is, though she might not want to talk to you.’ Hayley leant across the reception desk, clearly offering him the chance to glance down her blouse. ‘You’ve been a naughty boy.’
God help him, he’d never quite learned the art of the polite brush-off. It felt rude not smiling, not responding, yet he knew if he did, it only served as false encouragement which was worse than rude, it was cruel.
At that moment Anna walked out of her office, and their gazes collided over Hayley’s shoulder. Hers darted from him, to Hayley and back to him. He was too far away to read her expression, but one thing he knew for sure. There was no smile.
Hayley’s eyes tracked his. ‘Visitor for you, Anna. I’ve warned him you might not want to see him.’
‘Thank you, Hayley.’ She looked down at her watch and then at him. ‘I can give you five minutes.’
Okay then. It looked like he was going to have to go directly to option four. Beg.
He followed her back down the corridor, eyes inevitably falling to her hips, to the way her charcoal skirt hugged her curves.
The moment they stepped inside her office, she closed the door.
‘I take it you’ve come to give me the final script for the play, as promised?’
Turning to look at her, he huffed out a laugh. ‘That’s it? Not even a hello?’
She stood against the door, her arms crossed. It wasn’t the most promising start. ‘I figured you’d need the whole five minutes to weasel your way through an excuse as to why you haven’t finished it yet.’
At her cool response, his hopes for the weekend sank without trace.
He was left with one remaining hope — that he’d still be allowed to help them put on the play.
‘Actually, I only need ten seconds to tell you I emailed it to Sid this morning.’ He’d finished it off on the plane.
Nothing like ten hours cooped up in a metal tube for focusing the mind.
‘If he’s happy with it, then it’s done.’
‘You have?’
Finally, he’d caught her off guard. ‘I have. I’m not always an unreliable jerk.’
Her lips twitched and she unfolded her arms, walking past him so she could perch on her desk. ‘Jerk is a bit harsh.’
‘Tosser? Prick?’
She shook her head, smiling now. ‘None of the above. But . . .’ Her shoulders rose and fell. ‘You do make me want to shake you sometimes.’
Though hope rose again, he felt like he was walking a tightrope.
One misstep and the weekend was doomed. ‘Would it help if I apologised again? And again? Because I’m happy to do that, I need to do that, but by my reckoning we now only have three minutes left, and we haven’t discussed the weekend yet.
Or how I’m desperately hoping I haven’t angered you so much you’ve decided to knock the idea on the head.
’ Her eyes dropped briefly to the floor, and disappointment curdled in his gut.
She wasn’t going to come. ‘I don’t mean to guilt you into anything.
’ God, his voice sounded desperate. ‘But I’ve got The Lion King tickets.
And one of the guys in the cast is a pal of mine, and he said we could go backstage afterwards.
I thought Maisie might like that. I’m not sure about Max, but if he’s not enjoying it I can always take him outside for an ice cream.
’ It was official. He was rambling. ‘Just, will you consider it. Please?’
Something magical happened then. She started to laugh. ‘Wow, maybe I should watch you squirm a little longer. You might start throwing in a few more treats.’
His pride had long since flown out of the window. ‘I’ll throw in whatever you want.’
‘Dinner at the Ivy?’
He baulked. Maybe a few months ago, before he’d been sacked, before the salacious Daniel Ramsey hits rock bottom headlines, he could have turned in a few favours.
With his standing at the moment though, he wouldn’t even get into the Ivy to clean their drains.
‘Sorry, I know a lot of good restaurants—’
‘I was kidding. I’m not an Ivy kind of gal.’ Her hand reached to touch his arm, her brown eyes warm and soft. ‘We’d love to come to London. Maisie will be thrilled to bits with The Lion King.’
Slowly his muscles began to relax. ‘Good. That’s good.’ Taking a risk, he clasped her hand, running his fingers across her knuckles, marvelling how right it felt to be doing that. ‘Would you want to come down tonight, with me?’
‘Tonight?’ Her gaze jumped to his. ‘I guess we could, but we didn’t discuss it when we spoke. I assumed we’d train it down tomorrow morning, if you still wanted us to come.’
He gave her what he hoped was his most winning smile. ‘You wouldn’t leave me to drive all the way back down again on my own, would you?’
She rolled her eyes, but her hand remained in his, and her laughter fizzed through the air. ‘That was your plan all along, wasn’t it? Drive up here so you could emotionally blackmail me into going back with you?’
He could smile and agree, but he didn’t want her to think this was all just a game for him.
‘Honestly? After the way our phone call went, I didn’t think there was a hope in hell you’d want to stay with me for the weekend.
’ His eyes dipped to their hands, and he gave hers a gentle squeeze.
‘I drove up because I wanted to tell you to your face how sorry I was that I ballsed up on Wednesday.’ He searched her face then, absorbing all the little details that made her so fascinating.
The freckles over her nose, clear skin, pretty hazel eyes.
‘I wanted us to be friends again. Anything beyond that is a bonus.’
Emotion flickered across her face, and he wondered if she felt it too, this connection between them. He’d said friends, but it felt way more than that. And he’d never wanted to kiss a friend like he wanted to kiss her right now.
The screech of the home time bell cut through the air, making them both jump.
‘I guess my time’s up.’
The usually unruffled head looked at little flustered as she smiled back at him. ‘Yes, I need to go.’
Moving to the door, he opened it for her. ‘I can wait in the car while you think about whether you want to come down with me tonight.’
She stepped into the corridor ahead of him. ‘I have a better idea. Maisie always waits for me in the reception area. Why don’t you ask her what she wants to do?’ Leaning towards him, she whispered, ‘All she knows at the moment is that we might be going away at the weekend to see a friend.’
He nodded, feeling that dart of shame again. He didn’t need to ask Anna why she hadn’t said anything more. She was afraid of letting her daughter down. Afraid he would let her daughter down.
As he followed Anna towards the reception area, he made a vow to himself. From now on, he wasn’t letting anybody down. Not the school, not Maisie, not Anna. Not his son.