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‘That was the principal at the new secondary school.’ Nola picked up her slice of toast and inspected it with a satisfied smile before taking a small bite. ‘He just rang to offer me a job.’
‘What sort of job?’ Iris asked.
‘Teaching, of course – drama.’ Nola licked some stray butter from her fingertips and looked at her sisters defiantly.
‘But you’re not a teacher,’ Iris said, although the very fact should have been self-evident, even to Nola.
‘So, you think I should be cleaning the loos? Applying for a post as a dinner lady, is that it?’
‘She never said that.’ Georgie didn’t look up from her phone.
‘No, well, she didn’t say congratulations either,’ Nola snapped.
‘Congratulations,’ Iris said, sounding flustered. ‘Of course I’m delighted for you.’
‘Ditto.’ Georgie looked up, her lips momentarily lifting into what was supposed to be a smile. ‘Is it full time?’
Nola bristled. Trust Georgie to look for the holes in her achievement. ‘No. But I’ll be going in every day to teach a few different classes and maybe, if there are teachers absent, I might pick up some supervising hours between classes.’
‘That’s nice. It’ll be good for you to have something to do. And a little pin money, for running about with,’ Iris said, sounding like she was talking to a five-year-old.
Nola stood up so quickly that her chair flew backwards and hit the wall. ‘That’s just so bloody typical of you, Iris.’
‘What? What did I say?’
‘If you don’t know, why should I tell you?’ Nola picked up her cup and stormed out of the kitchen. In spite of herself, she felt disappointment coursing through her. She was angry with them, but even angrier with herself. How could she be so stupid as to expect them to have changed? Nothing she did would ever be good enough for Georgie, and Iris was only ever going to patronise and belittle her. And now, they’d ruined her moment.
