Page 11 of Seven Letters

‘Talk to him, love. The key to a good marriage is communication. Even if you’re roaring at each other, at least you’re communicating. It’s when you stop talking that things go wrong.’

Sarah polished off the last bite of cake. What the hell? She was eating for two. She glanced at her watch. It was half-past three. She’d put Izzy into after-school care until four.

‘I’d better go, Dad. I need to collect Izzy.’

Charlie stood up and they walked out to the car park. He hugged her. ‘I’m thrilled for you, love. A little boy. I can’t wait to meet him. I’m so proud of you.’

Sarah kissed his cheek. If Adam could be half the father Charlie had been to her, this little boy would be very lucky indeed.

4

Mia hadn’t sat down all morning. She glanced at her watch. A quarter to three: no wonder her stomach was rumbling. Between Communion practice, a meeting with the headmistress, the endless form-filling, then dealing with three children who seemed to have a vomiting bug and needed to be picked up early, she hadn’t had a second. Work was piled up on her desk, but there was no way she could get to it. Her chest tightened at the thought of all that still had to be done today.

She took a deep breath to calm her racing thoughts. Harry’s parents were waiting for her in her office, and it was going to be a difficult meeting. Poor Harry was falling behind in his senior infants’ class and the tests she’d asked the learning support teacher to conduct showed that he was within the autism range. The family had two other kids in the school who were bright academically, so this would be new territory for them. She took another deep breath, then straightened her shoulders and opened the door. ‘Joan, Peter, lovely to see you,’ she said, extending her hand. ‘Thanks so much for coming in.’

Over the next hour, Mia listened as Harry’s parents went through all the stages of shock, disbelief, questioning, anger, upset and, finally, acceptance. She felt for them, but it was essential that they get to grips with the diagnosis and focus on helping Harry to cope with school and fulfil his potential. He needed them to be strong now.

‘I’m here if you have any other questions,’ Mia said, standing up and smiling at them. ‘The staff are here for you andMiss Coakley is one hundred per cent behind Harry, there to support him every day.’

When she closed the door behind them, Mia heaved a sigh of relief. Another tick on her unending list. The next thing she wanted to sort out was the broken curtain rail in the sitting room at home. It was driving her crazy looking at it every evening. She texted Charlie, as he’d promised more than a week ago to do a run to the hardware shop, get the necessaries and come over to fix it. Johnny was hopeless at DIY. Her phone pinged almost immediately:Just with Sarah. Can’t today. Sry. Mia cursed under her breath. The curtain would never be fixed at this rate. She’d just have to try to do it herself. No doubt the two of them were having coffee or out on a walk. God, what Mia wouldn’t give for some time out, just five non-pressured minutes in her day. A leisurely cup of coffee with nowhere to be and nothing to do would be utter bliss.

Mia spent an hour trying to tackle the work on her desk, but eventually realized it was impossible to get through it all. She’d have to stay late again tomorrow. For now, she had to be at the post office before it closed, pick up her dry cleaning, and Johnny had texted her to buy some pork chops for a new recipe he was trying. Now that they only had one car, Mia ended up doing all the bloody picking up and shopping. She fired some work into her bag, grabbed her car keys and set off at a brisk trot to the car park. Hers was the only car there. The last to leave, as usual, she thought crossly.

She hit roadworks on the way to the post office and got there just as they were pulling down the hatch. Then she had to dash to make it to the dry cleaners before they shut up shop as well. She decided to drive to the supermarket, as their meat counter was the cheapest. It never ceased to amaze her that she had become the woman who carefully cut outcoupons and knew the discounts offered in every shop in a five-mile radius. When Johnny was working and Riley’s demands didn’t stretch beyond Barbies, she’d been able to buy as she pleased. She wouldn’t have had a clue how much pork chops were, she’d just have paid whatever was asked.Andshe would have gone to the organic butcher near Sarah’s house and paid way over the odds without a second’s thought.

Her life was almost unrecognizable to her now. She tried to tell herself that family was all that mattered, but it was hard to keep your chin up when everything fell on your shoulders. Mia felt old and tired. Tired right down to her bones. She was sick of having to carry everyone on her back. She earned the money, budgeted, nagged Riley to study, tried to keep track of her movements, and did the majority of the shopping. She did most of the worrying as well. It was great that Johnny was into cooking now, but texts with ingredient orders weren’t so great. He could have got the bus to the supermarket.

The worst thing was, it was impossible to go from Mrs Coping With It All to Mrs Might Just Want Sex Occasionally. Johnny had tried it on last night, but she was so tired and felt so deeply unsexy that she’d swatted him away. How was she meant to do the household accounts, argue with Riley, tidy up, then be all hot and seductive at the drop of a hat? She just couldn’t do it. The imbalance between her and Johnny had crept into their bedroom, and while it upset her deeply, she couldn’t see a way out of it. All she wanted to do after ten o’clock at night was collapse into bed and sleep.

As she walked towards the checkout with the pork chops in hand, she saw Rebecca’s mother coming towards her. Great, thought Mia. Now I have to be nice to this cow who was mean about Izzy. It was such a pain to have to put her work face on outside school, but everyone expected her to be deputy head at all times.

‘Mia, how are you?’

‘Hello, Grainne. Just grabbing a few dinner things on the way home.’

‘Same here,’ Grainne said, rolling her eyes. ‘The work never stops, does it? We working mothers are heroes. Mind you, you teachers have it easy with the short days and the long holidays.’

‘Not really. I think everyone is busy, Grainne,’ Mia said evenly.

‘I’m not so sure,’ Grainne said. ‘Those stay-at-home mums have no clue about the pressures of the corporate world. They just don’t understand the demands of being in a high-powered, high-pressured job. It’s all coffee mornings and yoga with them.’

Mia felt the irritation prickle across her like a skin rash. Could this woman be more judgemental? She had no idea of the lives of the other mothers with children at the school. Those who didn’t hold down day jobs did Trojan work, throwing themselves into school fundraising events, committees and every other task going, regardless of difficulties at home, like money worries or elderly parents who needed minding. From her years of experience in dealing with families, Mia was all too aware that no one got away lightly.

‘I think you’ll find they do a lot more than that,’ she said, trying to keep the irritation out of her voice. ‘Everyone has their own stress and pressure. It’s easy to judge from the outside but looks can be deceiving.’

‘Oh, sorry. I forgot your sister doesn’t work. Oops, hit a nerve, did I? Anyway,’ Grainne said, ‘speaking of Sarah, how is Izzy getting on? She’s in my Rebecca’s class, you know.’

Mia smiled tightly. ‘She’s getting on extremely well. She’s a bright little girl. Sorry, Grainne, but I’ll have to dash. My husband is waiting for the ingredients to arrive.’

‘Sure I’m rushing myself,’ Grainne said. ‘Never get a minute to sit down. It’s non-stop conference calls and meetings. Mind you, the hefty bonuses always help ease the pain.’ She winked. ‘This is last year’s bonus.’ She shoved a hand in Mia’s direction to show her a huge diamond ring. ‘Present to myself.’ She tittered.

‘Very nice.’ Mia walked away with clenched fists. What a piece of work, judging everyone else, then crassly shoving her success in Mia’s face. It had the desired effect, though. Mia did feel a bit envious. Working so hard would be easier if you were getting paid tons of money, but a teacher’s salary was never going to buy a diamond of any size. Still, all her success couldn’t save Grainne from being a total idiot. Mia needed to focus on the good things in her life and somehow find a better work–life balance before she broke.

The house was in darkness when she pulled into the driveway. She hated it when Riley and Johnny sat in the kitchen and forgot to put on the porch light. It looked so unwelcoming, as if they’d forgotten about her. Wearily, she gathered her stuff from the back seat, kicked the door closed with her foot and locked it. She couldn’t wait to take off her shoes and be served a hot meal, preferably with wine, if there was a bottle knocking around. Sarah had given her one last week, so if Johnny hadn’t got his mitts on it, she was going to treat herself to a glass to unwind after what had been a pretty lousy day, all told.

She let herself into the house. Inside it was cold and dark. There were no sounds of life, and certainly no smells of dinner cooking. She went down to the kitchen, switched on the light and dumped all her stuff on the table. She looked around. There were dirty dishes on top of the dishwasher, a habit of Riley’s that drove her insane. Johnny had obviously been cooking something earlier, and there were pots on thehob and spoons on the counter. The washing-machine was flashing ‘End’, with a full load inside, waiting to be taken out. There were newspapers strewn across the table. It looked messy and unloved. Where was everyone?

Mia took out her phone to check her messages. Sure enough, there was a text from Johnny:Riley had a tough day, so I’ve taken her to cinema. Be home by 10.30. Reheat soup if hungry.

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