Eastern District School

Chapter 23 - A busy day

After greeting Bill, Rich and Rose went into the office.

Admittedly, Rose was surprised to see Bill there. For some reason, she thought that Rich would be the one to open up. Any other job they'd taken though, Bill would have a set of keys to the gate, so it shouldn't have come as such a surprise. They both signed in separately, as Rose set up her laptop in the office, and Rich left to check on things, with the promise that he would be back within an hour to keep her posted. 

She felt far more comfortable sitting in the staff room for a while, because she hoped to avoid everyone coming in to sign in. As she sat their with her laptop, she briefly greeted the workers that came in to the staff room anyway. 

"Morning Rose." Benny greeted her. She returned the greeting, but Benny waited until the workers had left them alone. "Had a good night?"

Rose raised an eyebrow at him. "What?"

Benny shook his head. "Come on Rose, I'm talking about the fact that your car was left here?" 

She stared at him. How could he have known that?

As if reading her mind he said. "You signed out long before I did, and your car was still here when I left." 

He knew that and yet he hadn't phoned her? 

"We went to visit Rich's grandmother, by the time we got back the gates were closed."

He half nodded his head as he seemed to scan his eyes over her.

She tried to ignore his interrogation skills. "All that Benny, and yet you didn't call me?"

He laughed then, and his usual smile remained on his face. "And would you have it switched it on?"

Rose smiled whilst she continued working on her laptop then. "It was on silent, but I would have answered it, I answered a phone call from my mother!"

"Yeah I'll believe that when I see it!" he  rolled his eyes. He was busying himself with the kettle now, rather than heading straight out into the school, unlike the others. He saw Rose's mug on the counter top. "Would you like a coffee?" he then asked, and Rose wasn't sure he had even heard all that she had said, otherwise he would have questioned her.

She nodded, hoping he wouldn't quiz her anymore, and was thankful when they were joined by Steve and Rob, who were chatting loudly as they entered the cabin.  

"Na mate, it's not like that!" Steve said laughing.

They both stopped as they saw Rose. Turning to Benny, Steve asked. "Has she had her coffee yet?"

The three of them laughed. Rose however, did not, bringing their short burst of laughter to an abrupt end.

Steve and Rob both busied themselves reading something written on the noticeboard, and then left Rose and Benny alone.

"So?" Benny said.

She looked up from him with a puzzled look on her face. "So, What?"

"So, how did the talk with your mother go? Did you get to ask her the questions that you wanted, regarding..." his voice lowered with each word, "...you know what?"

Rose couldn't help but laugh at Benny's feeble attempt at whispering. "I spoke, she spoke, no answers really got answered, apart from the fact that she isn't seeing the person who I thought she was."

"Oh...that's some good news right?" Benny asked.

Rose nodded. "Yes, she said they were just good friends and that he was just looking out for us..." her voice travelled off, and then there was silence.