Page 26 of Autumn in Sycamore Park
Jennifer took a sip of her wine. ‘At first I thought he was great. We could do whatever we wanted, go where we liked. But after we’d been together a while, it seemed like he’d have two business trips for every day we had together, and soon all he did was go on business trips. Nights he met clients, weekends he went off to play golf. Sometimes he’d be gone all week. And when he was there, he’d talk at me, not to me. He never asked me how I was, what I’d been doing. I left no impression on him. We had a maid so I didn’t need to clean, and we had home food deliveries so I didn’t even need to cook. Just open the packets, eat, throw away.’ She flapped her hands, then snatched up her wine and took a long swallow. ‘I worked in the local school, but he always dismissed what I did as irrelevant. Told me if it was hard I should just quit, stay at home. He said the pets would keep me company. James was my grandmother’s cat, and I took him in when she passed. Bonky, Mark gave me for my birthday. Said I needed a reason to get out of the house on weekends.’ She realised she was crying. ‘I’d hoped having a boyfriend might have been reason enough, but he was only there one weekend every couple of months.’
Angela fished into her pocket for a tissue and handed it to Jennifer, who took it with a grateful smile. ‘So you pulled the plug on the relationship?’ Angela said.
‘I tried to talk to him a dozen times,’ Jennifer said, but it was one-way traffic. He never seemed to be listening. In the end I started to make plans. I quit my job, got a new one, moved my stuff out bit by bit and then left completely one weekend while he was over in France on a golfing holiday. I left him a note to say I’d gone, and not to try to contact me.’
‘Does he know where you are?’
‘No one knows where I am. If he comes after me, I know I’ll break and go back. He’ll say what he needs to say, and I’ll be taken in by it, and I’ll go back with him, hoping things will be different. Then they won’t be, and I’ll be back at square one. You see, despite everything that our relationship had become, I still loved him. I love him now, I just wanted to have my life back.’
‘I won’t ham on any silly quotes,’ Angela said, ‘but it’s true what they say. Sometimes you can love someone but not fit with them. It’s the way of the world. And really, there’s no one true person for anyone, despite what the telly might have you believe. There’s a whole host of people who’d line up just fine. You just need to do a little more window shopping.’
‘I’m too tired. It sucked the life out of me to leave Mark. I feel like a zombie most of the time. I don’t like being at home alone because I get tempted to call him, and the doubts start to creep in. The only thing that’s keeping me going is the school, and this café, and well, you.’
Angela smiled. ‘If you want me to fill your time with some evening and weekend shifts at the café, just let me know,’ she said. ‘I’d love someone to have a natter with on a quiet day.’
Jennifer laughed. ‘I’ll give it some thought.’
‘So what are you going to do? I can tell you right now, that one hundred percent you did the right thing, and that the more time that passes, the better you’ll feel about it. Plus, you’re still young. Plenty of time left to find someone else, if that’s what you want.’
Jennifer shrugged. ‘I’m just not sure what I’m after right now. With Mark I felt like I’d become invisible, and all I really want is to be part of the world again. I mean, Tom seems nice, but I just can’t do relationships right now.’
‘Well, let’s help you concentrate on the things youcando. There’s getting your class ready, and there’s helping with your teachers’ drama … and there’s the protest on Saturday morning.’
‘What protest?’
‘It’s against the council’s plan to cut down Big Gerry. I trust you’ll be there?’
Jennifer stared, openmouthed. ‘Uh … with bells on.’
Angela clapped her hands together, then picked up the bottle of wine from where she’d put it on the adjacent table. ‘Great. And please bring anyone who you think might be interested. The more the merrier. Right, let’s just top these up and then we’ll eat. It still counts as the same glass if you haven’t completely finished it.’
13
Progress
‘It wasn’t me, Miss!’
Jennifer closed her eyes for a second to regain her composure, then snapped them open, trying to do her best angry teacher face, even if she knew deep down there was no bite behind her pseudo-bark.
‘Gavin, please just pick them up and hand them out as I asked you. This is important.’
‘It wasn’t me,’ Gavin protested, as he scowled and bent down to scoop up the parents’ letters Jennifer had hastily typed out and printed at lunchtime. ‘It was that swot Vickers. He tripped me.’
‘I don’t care,’ she said, as the accused Vickers started to protest. ‘Please just hand out the letters.’
‘It’s not fair,’ Gavin grumbled, but at least he finally began to carry out the order, distributing the letters among the kids.
‘Now, take these letters home and give them to your parents,’ Jennifer said.
‘“Save Big Gerry”’ Paul Lemon read out in a loud, mocking voice, to laughter from the other boys on his table. ‘What’s Big Gerry? An elephant?’
‘A tree, Paul,’ Jennifer said through gritted teeth. ‘A very old, important tree.’
‘Can’t they grow a new one?’
‘Just … give the letter to your parents.’
With an emphatic groan, Paul stuffed the letter into his bag.
