Adulation / h.s

15

"Thanks so much for agreeing to meet me," Sue, the head teacher smiled.

"It's no problem," Rosie had no idea why her boss wanted to meet with her, when she walked into work this morning she had a note waiting for her on her desk.

"I have to say Rosie, I admire your work ethic, and how you teach. You're definitely one of our strongest teachers here."

Rosie didn't know how to react to the compliment.

"And after observing and comments from other members of staff, I wanted to ask you if you would consider covering Wendy, the assistant head teacher while she is on maternity leave."

"Wow," Was Rosie's first response.

"You would obviously, continue with your teaching but also be a big help to me; attending meetings, helping in decisions, and of course a pay rise."

"And you want me, to do it?"

"I think you're the perfect candidate for it,"

"I would love to take the opportunity," Rosie didn't need to think about it, of course it would mean more work load but this was her future.

"That's great, I'm so glad you agreed." She smiles. "The position will start from the first of next month, we will obviously have a couple meetings beforehand as a hand over and so you can really get to grips with the role."

"Perfect, I can't wait. Thank you for giving me the opportunity."

"My pleasure, you're a great teacher, Rosie."

Rosie walked to her car on her lunch break and called her mum to tell her the great news. She instantly praised her and celebrated for her,showering her with "I'm so proud of you".

Next, she called Bella.

"This means we have to go out Friday night," Bella demanded. "We'll dress up, put on our heels and hit central London. We're going out."

Rosie laughed. "Yeah?"

"Yes, I'm going to see what guest lists I can get us on to."

"Friday night, it's a date."

"Come over to mine and we can get ready together, I'll get in some wine, some vodka."

"I'll bring some snacks."

"I can't wait, it's been so long since we had a girls night."

"It has,"

"Rose, I must love and leave you I'm heading into a meeting but I'm so proud of you, well done. See you Friday. Love ya." Bella panted as if she was going up stairs.

"See you Friday Bell, love you too."

Instead of calling Harry, Rosie headed over to his place after work - it was nearing five thirty by the time she arrived; she had to stay after work for a meeting, then the drive to Harry's was longer than expected.

They hadn't seen each other since she left his place four days ago, Harry had called and messaged but she had ignored them all.

"Hi," Harry was surprised to see her.

"Hey," She walked in and could smell he had cooked something.

"I've just finished making some food, want some?"

"Yes please, I'm so hungry."

He dished out the pie and vegetables he'd cooked up, pouring on some gravy too.

"Drink?"

"Water is fine, thank you."

He nods quietly as he pours her some filtered water.

They were quiet when they began eating, neither one of them knowing what to say or how to start a conversation. He was just glad she was back, he had hoped she'd come back. All weekend he had stayed in and drowned himself in work. He ignored all calls always checking first to see if they were her; they weren't.

"I missed you," He broke the silence.

"I needed some time,"

"I know,"

"I believe that you wouldn't cheat on me," She revealed. His heart beat fast, his whole body felt lighter. "But I just want the truthful explanation of the underwear. I want to move forward with this, I don't want to be thinking about it months down the line. I just want the full honest truth, then we both move past it."

Harry took a deep breath. "The truth is I don't know how they got there, or whose they are. I've never even seen them before in my life. I know you have every reason to not believe me especially because of Vanessa coming over, but I don't know. All I can think is that she planted them when she was there, she knew it would cause problems. That's all she wants. She doesn't want me to be happy, she doesn't want me to move on."

"Sounds to me like she's not over you,"

Harry shrugged taking hold of Rosie's hand. "I don't care about her, the only person I care for and want to make happy is you, Vanessa means nothing to me."

"You promise if anything like this happens again you'll tell me straight away?"

Harry nods, "I promise."

"And you swear to me you've told me nothing but the truth?"

"That's all I've been able to do, I can't lie to you."

She swallows taking in a deep breath. "Then we'll move past it,"

He smiles kissing her. "Not having you around was horrible," He admits.

"It was quite weird for me too," She kisses him.

The two finished dinner, catching each other up on the time they'd spent apart, neither one of them had really had a nice time without the other. They both felt content when they climbed into Harry's bed that night, Rosie knew she'd have to be up earlier to make it across London to work in the morning but she didn't care, she was happy to be back where she belonged. Everything felt right when she was in Harry's arms.