AllFreeNovel
Share Us
It was true. Liam had phoned the head that morning to complain about how the school or Sophie – she didn’t know which and hadn’t asked – had dealt with things. It didn’t surprise her. It had been a hideous parent meeting. If she’d been a parent, she would have probably complained too.
‘It was awful. I knew it was going to be. Liam’s one of those angry parents who don’t see their child as ever having done anything wrong.’
‘Always a tough one,’ Kate agreed, nodding, and popped a chip in her mouth.
‘He was fine when I was talking about the academic stuff but the minute I suggested Cassie might be going through something emotionally, he just changed and wouldn’t hear it.’
‘He’s probably trying really hard, especially with whatever’s going on with the mum. Maybe he’s just oversensitive at the moment?’ suggested Kate.
‘You’re not supposed to be on his side,’ Sophie said, pointing a chip at Kate. ‘Besides, I wish he’d realise I’m just trying to help. I’m worried about her.’
‘They don’t always see that, though, do they?’ Kate said.
Sophie played with the last few chips on her plate and tuned in to the Bing Crosby CD that was playing softly in the background. While she listened, she weighed up whether or not to share her next thought. ‘The thing is …’
Kate sat forward.
‘The thing is, he made me feel a bit funny.’ Sophie cringed as she spoke.
Kate grinned, understanding her meaning in an instant. ‘So, you fancy him.’ She said it like a statement rather than a question and leant forward, resting her chin in her hands.
‘I don’t know. Not really. My insides just did something odd,’ Sophie admitted, scraping up the last of her ketchup with a chip and sitting back in the chair.
‘You fancy him!’ Kate shrieked, clapping like a wind-up monkey.
‘Shh!’ Sophie said, looking around to make sure no one was listening to their conversation. ‘I don’t. Not really. Besides, we decided that he’s probably dealing with a messy divorce or an estranged wife or something horrible like that and he’s always mean to me. Plus, remember, he’s got a ten-year-old daughter. Not ideal.’
‘But not impossible.’
‘It’s completely impossible,’ Sophie said, deciding then and there that she would shake off these weird feelings when she walked into rehearsal once and for all. He was bound to do something irritating that would put her off. It seemed to be his style. ‘Come on, we’re going to be late for rehearsal.’
‘We don’t want to disappoint Mr Hawthorn now, do we?’ Kate joked and got a jab in the arm from Sophie.
‘I knew I shouldn’t have told you,’ Sophie said, reaching for her coat and wrapping it around herself, piling on her scarf and gloves, despite the short walk around the corner to the town hall. She didn’t trust the hall to be much warmer than outside after last week. She helped Kate put her coat on too – her pregnant belly preventing her from doing it independently, without difficulty.
‘Come on, you,’ Sophie said, and they squeezed their way out of the pub.
Crossing the road, she looked up to see the stars dotted in the sky. It was beautiful and for a moment, she didn’t even notice the icy breeze that had whipped up while they’d been eating. She pulled her coat around her tighter still and hurried up past the Christmas tree to the town hall.
Rehearsal hadn’t started yet, and there was a hubbub of people chatting and catching up with one another. Sophie led Kate over to their seats in the middle, and they sat down.
‘Yoo-hoo! Sophie, honey!’
Sophie looked up to see Lulu waving excitedly in a huge leopard-print coat, its enormous collar making it look like a leopard was actually devouring her head. Alarmed that Lulu could be sporting what was essentially a whole, real-life leopard carcass, Sophie was shocked into giving her a wave back.
‘We’re altos now. We gotta sit over here.’ Lulu pointed to a seat that she’d saved next to her in the front row.
Sophie shot Kate a look, to which Kate returned a shrug. Sophie sloped across the room to where Lulu was waiting, not entirely relishing the thought of sitting next to Lulu and her dead animal – and right in front of their new and frustrating musical director.
‘Sorry, Greg, excuse me,’ she said as she squeezed past the tenors, who sat further along their row.
‘Sorry, love,’ Greg said, swinging his legs to one side so she could slide past. ‘How did the flyers look? Albert said you were collecting them this morning.’ His face was filled with anticipation.
Next to him, Albert slid a little lower in his seat and blushed.
‘They looked great, Greg,’ she lied. ‘They just need a few tweaks and we’ll start getting them out into the community.’
Albert shared a small smile of thanks, and Sophie slipped past them.
