His Model Student: A Student-Teacher Romance

47. Busking

[RECAP: The Christmas holidays have arrived and Sera is missing Mr Marek as she isn't even able to see him in class any more....]

Despite standing out in the street dressed up as a golden festive Tinman for several hours, the Lois Christmas Bonus Collection Fund was far from overflowing.

"You need to do something more dramatic," Joel said. "Like stand on one leg in an arabesque."

Lois pointed out that she couldn't hold such a pose for ten seconds let alone a few hours. She sipped her hot chocolate, trying to defrost. Sera and Joel had stopped by with hot drinks to give her some moral support.

"Oi! Yer not supposed to move!" a nasty little boy yelled at Lois. He had been pestering her for the past half hour.

"Fuck off."

"I'll tell my mum on you. And I wants my money back."

"You didn't put any money in, you horrible little brat," Lois told him. "Get lost or I'll tell that policeman you were trying to nick my stuff." There was some truth to this as the boy had been considering how he could grab some coins from Lois's hat when she was back in her statue pose. He fled.

"How much have you made?" Sera asked her.

Lois sifted through the donations so far. "About fifteen quid. A tenner of which was from an old gent who thanked me for not making any noise." Further down the street two young girls were performing dying-cat-torture on violins.

It was a typical Christmas scene: crowds of people in thick winter clothes milling about, laden with shopping bags full of presents that their relatives would probably return in the Boxing Day sales. The air was icy and the Christmas lights twinkled cold, garish colours up above them. Sera wondered what Christmas would be like in a hot country, Australia maybe. Did they bother with presents and carols and turkey or just hang out on the beach?

Just then Lois nudged her. "Over there! Is that her?"

It was Mr Marek with Victoria hanging off his arm. She was wearing a long camel coat with huge padded shoulders and looked very possessive of him.

Sera's stomach flipped and sank at the sight of them both. "That's her."

Mr Marek saw the three of them and raised his eyebrows in greeting. Before he could come over, Victoria pulled him in the other direction with a look of thunder on her face.

Sera felt quite bereft. She missed him so much. As he walked away from them he turned around and looked over his shoulder, catching her eye. Only to be forced to turn back around again by a violent tug from Victoria and some angry words that they couldn't hear.

They watched the couple disappear down the street.

"She is a bit glamorous, isn't she? All that hair and make-up just for a trip to the shops," Lois said. "The High Street is hardly Knightsbridge."

Joel was dismissive. "I prefer my drag-queens with a little less vagina."

Lois cracked up laughing but Sera wasn't in the mood to smile. "She doesn't really look like a drag-queen, does she?" Sera asked.

"Not really. You need actual class and style for that."

"She is beautiful though," Sera had to admit, miserable at the thought.

Joel shrugged. "For her age maybe. I bet she's had work done."

"How old do you reckon Victoria is?" Lois asked.

"At least a few years older than him. Maybe nearly forty?" Sera said.

This was met with a howl of derision from Joel. "Nearly forty? Are you both blind? That dame is nearer fifty than forty."

"You barely saw her, and only from a distance," Lois pointed out.

But Joel was adamant. "Trust me. It's obvious."

It wasn't obvious to Sera but she was mildly comforted by the thought.