A beat. ‘I see.’
I wait, my stomach churning with every passing second. She’s not going to ask to come to the house, is she?
‘Will you ask Max to call me, please? As soon as he can.’
‘I will,’ I say.
‘It’s Amanda.’
‘I’ll tell him.’
After we hang up, I sit there for a moment. She’s going to call again when she doesn’t hear from him. I stare at the phone, and then save the number. There. When she calls again, I won’t answer.
And then what?
Nothing – that’s what. He’ll be at the bottom of some hellhole by Monday. I’ll make sure of that. I can always say he was sick. He was in bed, then he was better. We had a fight, and he took off.
That’s it. That’s what I’ll say. It will be fine.
Shortly after, I go into Mike’s office for the meeting.
‘I don’t know what I can do or say that’s going to help,’ I say, pulling out the email printout. He’s already got a copy. He glances at it and pushes it aside just as Diana Ashford-Wells shows up.
‘Hello, Diana,’ Mike says. He indicates the chair. ‘Please. Now, what can we do for you?’
Diana glares at me and sits down.
‘Is it really too much trouble to ask that your staff have the courtesy to respond to my calls and emails?’ she asks crisply.
‘I’m sorry,’ I say.
‘I even left a note at your house.’
‘We don’t encourage parents visiting teachers at their home,’ Mike says. ‘I’m sure you understand the privacy issues.’
‘Well, if Miss Price?—’
‘It’s Mrs Price,’ I say. What is it with everyone around here?
Mike throws me a look. A kind of ‘be nice so we can get out of here’ look.
‘IfMrs Pricehad the common courtesy to?—’
‘Mrs Ashford-Wells,’ Mike says, raising his hand, ‘tell me how we can help you.’
Diana Ashford-Wells launches into a monologue about how Gregory needs advanced maths tuition, and if we don’t have a specialised programme, then one-on-one will have to do.
It’s essentially the same story. But I’m wired about Amanda’s call. I can’t stop thinking about it. What if she calls on Friday? What if she comes to the house to talk to Max? Or sends someone else from his office?
‘Kate?’
I turn to Mike and blink. Diana was speaking just now. What was the question? Something about how many children… Does she mean in my class?
‘Twenty-nine,’ I say.
‘Well, there you are,’ she says. ‘No wonder Gregory is being held back. Clearly, you can’t keep up. Are you skilled at mathematics beyond one plus one equals two, Miss Price? Can you actually handle the job?’
‘Mrs Ashford-Wells, please! Mrs Price is a highly competent teacher, but that has nothing to do with it. We don’t have the resources to provide Gregory with one-on-one tuition.’
