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‘So my moral character is intact!’
‘Technically,’ Iosef said, and Annie gave a wobbly smile.
‘And your moral character?’
‘Don’t go there.’ He smiled mischievously.
‘Don’t you ever go there,’ Annie countered, ‘because I swear I’d never be so forgiving again.’
‘I love you.’
It wasn’t a revelation, more an acknowledgement and one she accepted—love an impeccable excuse for irrationality, be it his or hers. Love the wobbly barometer that fluctuated at will, that blurred every line and always had you coming back for more.
‘I really didn’t want to love you...’ He held her hand as he insulted her, that glint of mischief back in his eyes. ‘I really did not want to like you—there could not have been a worse time for you to appear in my life. You walked into that staffroom and walked out with my heart.’
‘I didn’t.’ Annie giggled.
‘You did,’ Iosef countered. ‘And Iloathedyou for it.’
‘I loathed you, too.’ She kissed his proud face but then he pulled back.
‘There is something else I need to tell you.’ Like a ride on a roller-coaster, her heart soared and then sank. ‘I told Jackie about us.’
And duly soared again.
‘You told Jackie!’
‘I did not intend to—but when my father was brought in I was just... ’ He gave a hopeless shrug. ‘I think I needed to talk to someone.’ And, Annie realized, what came as naturally as breathing to her was completely alien to him. ‘I offered her my resignation. I honestly thought I’d messed up your life—was worried you were about to leave—and it didn’t seem fair when you were there first. When, until I came along, you were happy there.’
‘And what did she say?’
‘That I should wait till well after the funeral to make any big decisions. I know it sounds crazy but it was the first time I really understood that there would soon be a funeral.’
‘Not crazy.’ Annie shook her head.
‘I told Jackie that I wanted you looking after my father and she said no. She thought, given the little I had told her, that it would be too much for you.’
‘So how come I ended up looking after him?’
Iosef closed his eyes. ‘I told her I loved you.’
‘You told Jackie that?’ And she sounded angry, only she wasn’t—just stunned, so stunned that he would actually say that, not to her but to Jackie. That this remote, proud man had left himself so completely open. ‘And what did she say?’
‘That she’d think about it. I’m not sure if she discussed it with Melanie, but later she came and said that she was sure, if you knew that I loved you, that you’d want to do it for me.’
‘So who else knows?’ Annie asked. ‘I mean, is there a notice up in the staffroom?’
‘Maybe George...’ Iosef reluctantly relented. ‘I didn’t tell him, but he took me out for a drink yesterday and tried to cheer me up.’ He caught her eye and they managed a tiny giggle. ‘I know I give him a hard time, but he really is the most self-doubting person I have ever come in to contact with. He spent most of the time apologizing for wasting my time!’
And whoever said friends weren’t important had never had one—this little army of people who cheered you loudly from the sidelines or quietly from behind the scenes when it was needed.
‘Did you know I collect foreign coins?’ Annie asked, smiling.
‘Sorry?’
‘I have a little jar on my dressing-table and every time I get one in my change I pop it in.’
‘And?’
