and less consequence. She was quite certain that one day she would simply disappear, and absolutely no one would notice. She shivered as she pegged her nightdress next to the sheet.
‘Morning, Mrs Brooker!’
‘Morning, Mrs Bedmaker!’
Again the two spoke simultaneously, suspecting that she would miss the cruel moniker. They were right, she didn’t notice a thing.
‘Morning, Luca! Good morning, Emily! How are you both today?’
‘Good, thanks. Is Dom ready?’ Luca spoke for them both. Emily had the guilty and furtive air of someone who was sleeping with her son.
‘I think so. Feel free to go in. There is breakfast ready if you are hungry.’ She smiled at the two of them.
Mrs Bedmaker, Mrs Bedmaker, Mrs Bedmaker… the words spun around inside her head, a silent taunt.
Clearly they were in too much of a hurry for breakfast as within a minute the four children were making their way back down the path and off to morning lessons.
‘See you later!’ Dom shouted over his shoulder. Lydia was once again plugged in and oblivious to the rest of the planet.
‘Bye, love! Have a good day!’
Kathryn hated the false brightness of her tone and the smile that she knew was an inadequate veil to her silent misery. She watched them disappear behind the hedgerow and seconds later heard a roar of laughter. She knew instinctively that they were laughing at her – about her, at her, it made little difference which. It hurt just the same.
As she walked into the kitchen Mark pushed his breakfast plate into the middle of the table, ready to be tidied away by his wife.
‘Kathryn…’
He always said her name when starting a conversation, to make sure that he had all of her attention, so that she wouldn’t miss a detail or even a nuance.
‘Kathryn, I think fish for supper would be good.’
‘Fish. Yes of course.’
‘Good.’
He rose from the table and pulled his double cuffs to the desired length below his suit jacket.
‘I don’t know if you have heard on the rumour mill, but I, and as a result the school, are being honoured. I have had it on good authority that the National Excellence in Education Awards are naming me Head Teacher of the Year. How about that?’
She blinked at him. Speak now, make it something nice.
‘That is very well done, wonderful.’ She tried hard not to make it sound stilted or mechanical.
‘You are right, it is very well done and wonderful. You know why I am being honoured in this way, don’t you?’
‘No, well, yes, I’m not really sure…’ She didn’t know what the correct or expected response was.
‘Fret not, Kathryn, I will tell you why. It is because I am quite brilliant. Why did I get it?’
‘Because you are brilliant, Mark.’
‘That is very kind of you to say so, my sweet wife.’
Pulling her forward by the tops of her arms, he kissed her full and hard on the mouth just as Judith opened the back door.
‘Only me!’
Seeing that she had interrupted an apparent moment of tenderness, Judith felt the scarlet stain of embarrassment creep up her chubby neck.
‘Oh, Headmaster! Kathryn! I am so dreadfully sorry to impose! I’m obviously interrupting at a delicate moment.’
She was flustered, jealous and intrigued all at the same moment.
‘Not at all. My wonderful wife was just telling me that I am brilliant!’
Judith pushed her glasses back up onto her nose. ‘Oh, but you are, Headmaster, quite brilliant.’
She stared slack-mouthed at Mark, as if she had forgotten that Kathryn was there. Kathryn could imagine her salacious, lewd thoughts.
‘That is very kind of you to say so, Judith. Have you come to escort me to the office?’
‘Well, yes and no! I mean, I will obviously escort you, but also I wanted to pick your brains about speech day refreshments and the siting of the marquee; we must prepare for the possibility of light showers!’
‘Ah yes, indeed we must. And there was me looking forward to a leisurely stroll to my office. Never mind. No rest for the wicked, isn’t that what they say?’
He turned and winked at his wife as the two of them left the kitchen, neglecting to shut the back door. Wicked indeed.
While stacking the dishwasher, Kathryn smiled to herself. Judith’s entrances always made her think of Natasha and how much she missed her friend’s visits. Natasha used to imitate Judith by entering with a much exaggerated ‘Only me!’, which would render Kathryn helpless with laughter. She thought back to one particular rainy Tuesday, when the two had been chatting in the school