Shattered Hearts

Chapter 30

"Mrs McKenna, a word please," the principal said to Charlotte as she was just about the enter her classroom on Monday morning.

She looked up, taken aback by his formal tone. "Is there a problem?"

"Let's go to my office," he said grim-faced. "Don't worry, I've arranged cover for your class."

Her heart sank, whatever he had to say it could only be bad news. She followed him down the corridor, conscious of the sound her heels made clicking on the floor.

"Please take a seat," he said after he opened the office door.

She sat down at the desk opposite him and tried not to fidget. The room itself was hardly inviting; there were no personal touches that gave anything away about the occupant, and she realised she knew next to nothing about the man sat opposite her.

"Mrs McKenna," he began clearing his throat. "I don't like to tell you this so I'm just going to come out with it. We've had a complaint, more than one in fact."

"About me?"

He looked down, placing his hand over a piece of paper. "I didn't want to bother you with it at first, not when it was just the moms' gossiping." He laughed awkwardly and Charlotte frowned at him.

"Who's been gossiping?"

"Oh just some of the mothers, you know the sort of thing." He waved his hand dismissively. "I'm not particularly concerned about what a bunch of bored housewives have to say but someone's put a complaint in writing." He picked the piece of paper up and turned it over on his desk, hiding the contents. "It's not signed so it's probably malicious but I do have to raise it with you."

"What sort of complaint? What does it say?" she asked the colour draining from her face.

"It's about your personal life. Like I said I'm sure it's malicious and has no bearing on your ability."

"So why have you called me in here?" she snapped.

He had the decency to flush. "I'd be failing in my duties if I didn't discuss it with you. I have to consider the wellbeing of the children but also your wellbeing. I can step in if one of the parents has a grudge against you?"

Maybe one of the grandparents? Maybe Louis's mom?

"Can you tell me what it says?" 

He picked up the paper his eyes flitting over it. "Okay let's see, it says you 'lack the moral fibre and self-discipline to set a good example to impressionable young minds.'" She snorted. "And there's some stuff about you leaving your husband and moving in with another man."

"My brother!"

"And that you went on vacation with a single man, abandoning your son?"

She clenched her fists, her nails digging into her palms. "My son was with his father." The principal looked at her questioningly and she clamped her mouth shut. What could she say about the vacation that wouldn't sound incriminating? "Is that it?"

"Pretty much," he said folding the letter and placing it in his desk drawer. "But you can see why I have to discuss it with you?"

She grimaced. "Not really, my private life has no reflection on my ability to teach." She sat up straighter trying to convey confidence.

"It shouldn't but like I said, the moms' have been gossiping as well." He softened his voice. "Charlotte, you have to be careful not to compromise your position, you're making yourself an easy target."

"I can't help that my marriage broke up." She bit her inside lip, careful not to say something she would regret. "And I can't help it if bored housewives have nothing better to talk about."