my paintings?’
I jumped at the chance to have something other than my own ineptness to focus on,
‘Yes, yes I would.’ My first unforced comment I realised.
He led me back to the communal room and gestured to numerous pieces of paper attached to the wall.
‘The Centre,’ he said pointing at one. The myriad of coloured lines may have represented a building I could not be sure.
‘This is me, playing NFL.’
I looked more closely at the picture and thought I could possibly see the stick outline of a figure.
‘NFL?’ I asked.
‘Yes.’
Again I needed to be more thoughtful with my turn of phrase. ‘What does that mean?’
‘American Football.’
A subject I knew nothing about, a situation that over the course of the day was evidently becoming a recurrent theme.
‘Stacy,’ he said pointing again.
I considered the picture of the stick person that was meant to be Stacy. He had managed to attempt to paint her hair and her smile, but there was something about it that seemed to make it stand out. At first I could not put my finger on it and it was only when I glanced back as we walked away that I realised that this was the only picture in which he had painted the sun shining.
As the day drew to a close Stacy approached me.
‘Shall we sit down and have a chat?’ she suggested.
We entered her office where I was dismayed to see she had already made two cups of tea, I had managed to drink water throughout the day but this time there would be no escape it seemed.
‘Ok, so what do you think?’ she asked.
I was not sure how to respond, nothing really had changed since I walked through the door a few hou rs before, this was simply a stepping stone to my next job.
‘It’s nice,’ I said truthfully.
‘Uh huh?’ she said sipping at her tea. I nearly made the mistake of reaching for mine but decided to fill the gap by saying something which was seemingly what she was expecting.
‘Dan is a character.’ A pause, so I added ‘He showed me his paintings.’
She smiled at this, ‘He likes you.’
I had no idea why, I had initially treated him in the most appalling manner and then failed to build any effective bridges with him.
‘So overall then, what do you think?’ she continued.
‘About what?’
‘Coming here and teaching!’
‘Oh, yes definitely.’ I was not going to drive a tractor and yet again I told myself “It’s only temporary.”
‘Ok, great. Now the guys you will be teaching are nothing like Dan or anyone else here for that matter. Do you think you will be ok?’
‘I will be fine.’
‘Well great stuff. They don’t start till Monday and I was wondering if you would like to come in tomorrow as well to sort yourself out? We don’t open over the weekend so tomorrow being Friday is your only real chance.’
The realisation that I had to leave soon and go back to my flat where I would be spending my first night hit me. It was a depressing and if I am honest, a little frightening thought.
‘Will I be able to have breakfast and lunch again?’
She laughed, ‘Of course!’
‘I will be here then.’
‘Ok, let me just grab my stuff. Once I have done that we can set the alarm and go.’
She left the office and I took the opportunity to tip my tea into a pot plant. She returned a few minutes later and said ‘Right let’s go.’
She paused for a moment to frown at the pot plant before she closed the door.
As I walked back towards my flat I remembered that I needed to call into a supermarket, it was one of the smaller versions of a national chain. As I had no cooking facilities I needed to plan carefully especially as I had limited funds. I broke my weekly allowance down into a daily allowance with which to feed, clothe and generally support myself with. I felt confident that I could manage; I had no idea how much the bus fare would be but I could walk if I needed to.
First thing on the list was some Earl Grey and a few lemons; I had a choice of two types of tea. One was an
I jumped at the chance to have something other than my own ineptness to focus on,
‘Yes, yes I would.’ My first unforced comment I realised.
He led me back to the communal room and gestured to numerous pieces of paper attached to the wall.
‘The Centre,’ he said pointing at one. The myriad of coloured lines may have represented a building I could not be sure.
‘This is me, playing NFL.’
I looked more closely at the picture and thought I could possibly see the stick outline of a figure.
‘NFL?’ I asked.
‘Yes.’
Again I needed to be more thoughtful with my turn of phrase. ‘What does that mean?’
‘American Football.’
A subject I knew nothing about, a situation that over the course of the day was evidently becoming a recurrent theme.
‘Stacy,’ he said pointing again.
I considered the picture of the stick person that was meant to be Stacy. He had managed to attempt to paint her hair and her smile, but there was something about it that seemed to make it stand out. At first I could not put my finger on it and it was only when I glanced back as we walked away that I realised that this was the only picture in which he had painted the sun shining.
As the day drew to a close Stacy approached me.
‘Shall we sit down and have a chat?’ she suggested.
We entered her office where I was dismayed to see she had already made two cups of tea, I had managed to drink water throughout the day but this time there would be no escape it seemed.
‘Ok, so what do you think?’ she asked.
I was not sure how to respond, nothing really had changed since I walked through the door a few hou rs before, this was simply a stepping stone to my next job.
‘It’s nice,’ I said truthfully.
‘Uh huh?’ she said sipping at her tea. I nearly made the mistake of reaching for mine but decided to fill the gap by saying something which was seemingly what she was expecting.
‘Dan is a character.’ A pause, so I added ‘He showed me his paintings.’
She smiled at this, ‘He likes you.’
I had no idea why, I had initially treated him in the most appalling manner and then failed to build any effective bridges with him.
‘So overall then, what do you think?’ she continued.
‘About what?’
‘Coming here and teaching!’
‘Oh, yes definitely.’ I was not going to drive a tractor and yet again I told myself “It’s only temporary.”
‘Ok, great. Now the guys you will be teaching are nothing like Dan or anyone else here for that matter. Do you think you will be ok?’
‘I will be fine.’
‘Well great stuff. They don’t start till Monday and I was wondering if you would like to come in tomorrow as well to sort yourself out? We don’t open over the weekend so tomorrow being Friday is your only real chance.’
The realisation that I had to leave soon and go back to my flat where I would be spending my first night hit me. It was a depressing and if I am honest, a little frightening thought.
‘Will I be able to have breakfast and lunch again?’
She laughed, ‘Of course!’
‘I will be here then.’
‘Ok, let me just grab my stuff. Once I have done that we can set the alarm and go.’
She left the office and I took the opportunity to tip my tea into a pot plant. She returned a few minutes later and said ‘Right let’s go.’
She paused for a moment to frown at the pot plant before she closed the door.
As I walked back towards my flat I remembered that I needed to call into a supermarket, it was one of the smaller versions of a national chain. As I had no cooking facilities I needed to plan carefully especially as I had limited funds. I broke my weekly allowance down into a daily allowance with which to feed, clothe and generally support myself with. I felt confident that I could manage; I had no idea how much the bus fare would be but I could walk if I needed to.
First thing on the list was some Earl Grey and a few lemons; I had a choice of two types of tea. One was an
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