It was my final day at work and I felt somewhat depressed. The end of an era and a doorway to a different adventure. A new beginning that would hopefully see my son get through to the end of school with decent qualifications to support his brilliant mind and get him on the his next journey, wherever that may be.
I had my first meeting at Hillfields School this morning with Janice Armitage before I went to the office. I got ready slowly, savouring the moment and applying more effort than usual to my make up and attire. Tomorrow I’d be would be working from home after my school visit and would be able to dress how I pleased. Hmm, maybe I could go all boho hippy or something and invent a new me for my new role…Nah, maybe not.
I made pancakes for the kids which was probably a mistake as I didn’t want them getting used to the idea. I left them in a warm oven whilst I opened the pile of letters on the side of the kitchen counter. Bills, more bills, an invite to neighbourhood watch and then a complete and utter shock. The large letter was addressed in floaty style, italic font and gilt edged. Maybe I’d won something? I opened it up and began to read:
To Sophie Rhodes,
Receipt for booking of Heavenly Spa Indulgence at Eden Hall.
Set within acres of luscious lawns this beautiful listed mansion, built in 1875 will be your sanctuary for the day. Whether you want to refresh and revive or unwind and relax, the first class facilities make sure all of your needs are met.
Whatever your pampering needs, escape to Eden hall for the perfect, peaceful getaway.
Includes 3 course meal at our beautiful restaurant and:
The relaxation day plus the Thalgo Indoceane Comforting Wrap. This is the ultimate therapy for those looking to pamper their skin. Enjoy soothing warm oils and light massage to the back and scalp followed by the application of a hydrating cream. Enveloped; drift away whilst these luxurious products hydrate and nourish the skin.
Paid in full: £161.00
What? I hadn’t bought that! I turned the letter over to see if they’d made a mistake or who it was from but there was nothing. Just the letter, a booklet that made me want to head for Zen land right this second and a number for me to call to book my preferred day. Who the hell was this from? I put the letter in my bag so I could deal with it when I got to work.
We got to school and I parked up outside whilst Bryony and Brendon went in together. I made my way to reception to get my visitors pass.
“Hi” I said to the receptionist, “I’m going to be here pretty much every day for the next few weeks so can I just have a month’s pass or something?”
“No, sorry, It’s against our rules and regulations. You need to sign in and out every time…Is it for Mrs. Armitage?”
“No,” I replied.
“Oh…?”
“Just kidding! Yes. For Mrs. Armitage. As usual.” These people had no concept of playfulness.
Janice came down to collect me and we went upstairs to BASE. Brendon was already there removing all the white board pens.
“What are you doing?” I asked.
“Stopping that freak boy from winding me up.”
I looked at Janice, puzzled.
“Yesterday, there was a pupil in here who was drawing on the white board. It’s what he likes to do. However, the pen was making a squeaking noise and Brendon didn’t like it. He told him to stop but the boy refused so Brendon snatched it out of his hand, removed all other pens and forced the boy to leave. Obviously it’s gone down as an incident,” she said.
“Brendon! That’s nasty. It’s not up to you what other people do. Put those pens back now!” I scolded.
“No. The noise does my head in. Not happening again.”
“Brendon,” Janice pressed, “I’ve made sure he won’t be in here when you are. Plus now your timetable is cut down, it won’t be a problem. Put down the pens and sit down so we can go through your lesson plan now it’s been set. “
We all sat down, Brendon still holding tight to the fat markers. We went through the timetable and Brendon and I were made a copy.
“He’s doing well in most subjects,” Janice said, going through the reports, “though coursework needs updating. He can use some free time at The BASE to do that or at home. He is being put straight in for AS level for Ethics and philosophy because he’s extremely good at it.”
I was surprised by that. I couldn’t picture Brendon as a philosopher. Maybe a professional hacker or a politician but a philosopher?”
“Why do you like that so much?” I asked him.
“Because you can argue and debate and change people’s opinions. There’s one girl in there that I hate though. She’s as thick as fuck and needs to be removed.”
“Don’t be so rude and arrogant!” I wished he’d be more tolerant of people but I could never see it happening.
“It’s true. She’s stupid. I think my teacher even agrees. He’s cool.” It was rare I heard Brendon call a teacher cool.
“It’s the only lesson he’s never received a negative comment in, only positives.” Janice pulled a mock astonished face.
Brendon was excused to go to his class and he put the pens in a cupboard, high up, that only he could reach before leaving.
“Don’t worry, we’ve got ladders.” Janice said to me after he’d left, “sometimes it’s just not worth the argument.”
The reality of the situation ahead of me started to settle and I slumped a little in the plastic, blue chair. “I need to make this work Janice. I’ve left my job for this and I want him to get his qualifications.”
“We can do it. If we stick together then we should get him through. To be honest he has been relatively good lately, aside from the controlling and vigilante type behaviour, he hasn’t been that rude. I think that being on governors report has actually made him think. Not that he’d ever tell us that but he does raise his concerns with me sometimes.”
I was glad that he did. Maybe things did seep through after all. I arranged to see Janice the following day and so forth and left the school feeling quite positive. However, I wasn’t going to hold my breath. I’d been on these momentary highs before only to have them slashed ten minutes later when he’d got excluded for the day. This was going to be a continuous battle of highs and lows but a battle I was now ready for.
I arrived at work to find my desk covered in presents. I wanted to cry. Everyone gathered round whilst I opened them all up. I got a Starbucks card with £50 on so I could afford the odd luxury coffee when in town, three bottles of Rioja, a cinema ticket for the year so I could go out and watch films whenever I wanted, chocolates, a big mud pie from The Cheesecake Shop that Monica was already cutting into and a beautiful, silver bracelet with a four leafed clover charm, from Argento. When I opened my card I actually did start to shed a quiet tear as the messages were so touching.
‘I’ve never felt so upset about losing something but I want only the best for you Soph. You’d better come in EVERY week. Johnno XX’
And then there was Colin’s.
‘You may be walking out of this office but I won’t let you walk out of our lives.’ Colin X’
Where was Colin? I’d got so caught up with the immediate gathering that I’d only just noticed he wasn’t there. “Where’s Colin?” I asked the group.
“He got called into a big meeting. He’ll be out most of the day.” Monica replied.
I was devastated. He wasn’t here for my last day at work. Plus we hadn’t spoken since the ‘about last night’ speech and now I felt awkward and vulnerable. Maybe he’d had a change of heart.
I sat tucking into my slice of mud pie as I packaged all my goodies away and set to actually doing some work. Suddenly my phone rang. It was Rhodes, Karl Rhodes.
“Hi,” he replied without any emotion, “where on earth were you the other evening?”
“What? Oh, you mean when I went to the World Service?”
“I don’t know where you went except that you were with your boss. I had a phone call from Brendon at midnight wondering what to do and whether he should ring you. It woke me up. “
“Oh. Sorry.” I couldn’t believe Brendon had called his Dad! Little snitch bag. He’d kept that one quiet.
“Why were you out so late? Is anything even open past midnight? It’s a little late to be leaving the kids on their own.”
“I’m never usually that late home if I get to go out, so don’t pull that one. It was a special event so it went on longer than usual.” Trust him to spoil my happy mood, “plus the kids are fine, the house is secure, they have my number, friends’ numbers and neighbours. What do you want me to do? Never go out anywhere?”
“That’s not what I said. I think it’s a little late to be out with your boss and you need to be aware of your responsibilities.”
Wanker.
“A little late to be out with my boss? I wonder if Sarah’s mum says that to her,” I said sarcastically.
“There’s no need to be facetious. I was ringing to make sure there wasn’t a problem.”
“Did you receive my spreadsheet?” I asked, changing the subject before I lost my temper.
“Yes. I’ve made some corrections and alterations which we need to go through. I’ll call in to see you this weekend.”
Of course he had.
“Well make sure you call first in case I’m out. Now, I must go as it’s my last day at work and I’m busy with my colleagues.”
“Right. I’ll see you later.” He hung up. I looked at my phone and thought about deleting him.
The day flew by faster than any other, probably because I didn’t want it to and though it had been nice it was tinged with sadness. By 4pm I sat at my desk with a cuppa and ate yet another chocolate from the pile on my desk.
“No more Soph!” Johnno exclaimed, “they’re bad for you and you won’t eat your dinner!”
“You can’t buy me something and then tell me it’s bad for me! Besides, I probably won’t eat dinner.”
“Yes you will.”
“OK, Dad.”
My phone beeped:
MSG From: COLIN FRAY: I can’t stop thinking about you.
My heart did a happy dance and a smile spread across my face. I re read the message several times before responding.
SOPHIE RHODES: Don’t worry, you’ll get over that in a few weeks.
COLIN FRAY: I doubt that. Sorry I missed your big day. Meeting.
SOPHIE RHODES: It’s OK. That’s life. Thanks for all the presents.
COLIN FRAY: I didn’t want to see you walk out anyway so maybe it’s a blessing.
I left the office at the end of the day having been hugged to death, kissed a hundred times and with a whole load of promises to keep. My new waterproof mascara that had been given to me from the beauty department, had leaked down my face leaving me looking like Gene Simmons in a rain storm.
When I arrived back at the ranch, Bryony was sat at the kitchen table doing her art homework and listening to music. I spent some time helping her paint even though she kept telling me I was doing it wrong. Painting by numbers was probably more up my street but it helped me ignore the feeling of loss that enveloped me.
“Where’s Brendon?” I asked.
“He’s at Jessies. I think he’s gone there for tea.”
I made her some cheese on toast as she painted flowers in a Georgia O’ Keeffe style and I marvelled at her talent. I couldn’t eat anything as I had seriously overdosed on chocolate. I decided, instead, to open one of the bottles of Rioja I had received and have a glass of that to celebrate and commiserate and sat next to Bryony as the red and pink hues of the oil paint married themselves together.
A while later Brendon arrived. He looked very happy and chilled. I sniffed the air for traces of drugs.
“Hey Mommy.” He gave me a big hug, “did you get my present?
“What present?” I looked around the room for signs of gifts.
“It should have come in the post. They emailed me to say it had… It’s a spa day. You like those don’t you?”
Oh my God. The letter. I’d completely forgotten about it.
“You? You bought me that? Are you serious?” I was in shock.
“Yes. To say thank you for everything you do. I know I make life hard for you.”
I clasped my hand to my heart before it broke in two. “You can’t afford that. How did you pay for it? You shouldn’t have…really. Thank you so much. You’re my sweetheart!”
“I saved up all my birthday money.”
“What?” I hugged him hard and vowed in my heart to pay him back, “But that money is for you to spend on yourself…not for anyone else.”
“Don’t you like it then?” He stiffened and pulled away from me.
“Yes of course I do! I LOVE spa days and it’s just what I needed,” I sighed, “I’m not being ungrateful, I just don’t want you spending that kind of money on me…but thank you. Thank you so much.” His generosity had always dumbfounded me. Like everything he did, it was extreme. I changed the subject before I offended him.
“You seem very happy and relaxed. You haven’t been smoking weed have you?” I teased.
“No. But I just got a blow job from a Catholic girl. Result!” He high fived his sister who burst out laughing.
I gripped the side of the kitchen counter to steady myself.
“I beg your pardon.” I looked at him. “I can’t believe you’ve done that.”
“I didn’t do anything Mum! She did it all on her own.”
“And YOU,” I turned to Bryony, “shouldn’t even know what that means never mind giving him a high five!”
“OMG Mum, we’re not five years old!”
“Was it good?” Bryony continued like I wasn’t there.
“What! OH MY GOD, go to your room!” I shouted at her, snatching the paintbrush from her hand.
“Well Bry, it’s like a pizza,” Brendon replied, “even if it’s a bad pizza, it’s still a pizza!”
“I hear ya bro!” Bryony laughed as she collected her art book and left the kitchen.
“You’re outrageous.” I said to Brendon as I stormed upstairs to my bedroom.
I lay on my bed and tried to remember what it was like to be fifteen to sixteen years old before I went into psychopathic parent. I needed to calm myself down a bit.
I clicked on my word game and located ‘The Voice’. He was now listed in the ‘Game Over’ category of my virtual board. Due to lack of play the game had automatically resigned. I felt like I’d lost my first cyber love. I’d never get to know who that mystery Californian was who’d won my heart with his words.
My phone rang as I stared at the lost game from across the pond. It was Colin. I could hear the noise of a car in the background.
“Soph… get ready I’m on my way to fetch you.”
“What? Why? Fetch me for what?” ARRR, I wasn’t ready to go anywhere.
“Your leaving do. Johnno’s arranged it as a surprise, you can’t let him down. Or me for that matter!”
“Aww that’s so sweet…that’s why he tried to stop me eating all those chocolates. I don’t think I’ll be able to eat anything…And I’m not prepared!” I panicked.
“Just get your shoes on, I’ll be there in ten. It’s nothing glam, just a few drinks and a pizza.”
I lay back on my pillow and laughed my head off.
“What’s so funny?” said Colin, laughing along at my outburst.
“Ah, nothing. I’m looking forward to it. After all, there’s no such thing as a bad pizza, right?”