troubled teachers

Chapter 33

Regina slammed the phone back onto the cradle and gripped the edge of the hall table.

"Are you ok?" came Emma's voice from the living room.

"Um … fine," Regina called back, her fingernails digging into the wood, knuckles white and tense. She took a deep breath and exhaled slowly, trying to calm her racing heart. It was fine, she told herself. She hadn't spoken to him. She wouldn't speak to him. Everything was going to be alright. With another deep breath, Regina released the edge of the table and turned towards her family.

"Who was that?" Emma asked as Regina walked in through the doorway.

"Cold caller," Regina replied quickly. "I haven't had the chance to put one of those blockers on the phone yet."

"And you wanted to deafen them or break your phone?" Henry asked, spooning out a healthy portion of aloo gobi onto his plate.

"I dropped it," Regina said tersely. "What film are we watching?"

Just as Emma held up the two possible DVD choices, the phone rang again.

"Leave it," Regina barked as soon as Emma, who was closest to the door, moved to answer it.

Frowning slightly, the blonde sank back into her chair, looking curiously at the woman who was now aggressively ripping a chunk out of a naan bread and dipping it rigorously into some masala. The rich sauce splashed onto the table. Regina swore.

The shrill ringing from the phone ended suddenly and the house was silent, both Emma and Henry looking worriedly at Regina.

"Let's watch the Spectre," the brunette said suddenly. "I think I'm in the mood to watching people getting shot."

Later that night, when Emma climbed into bed besides Regina, the older woman rolled away from her girlfriend's gentle touch for the first time in their relationship. Emma hesitated, wanting to reach out again, wanting to know what was going on because something had clearly upset the brunette. But Regina's back remained firmly to her and despite Emma's fingers itching to slide the thin spaghetti straps of her night dress away from delicate shoulder blades, the unwelcoming and defensive stance told her not to.

The whole weekend was tense. Regina was quieter than usual, moving around the house in a preoccupied, distant manner. Emma tried to ask what was wrong but Regina dismissed her concerns, claiming she was worried about how her students would do in their upcoming GCSE exams. Henry noticed a change too, even asking Emma what was wrong on Sunday afternoon when Regina had gone to do some food shopping.

"I don't know," Emma admitted. "I've tried to talk to her but she won't tell me anything."

"Is it the baby?" Henry said.

"No," Emma said. "She'd have told me if something was wrong with the baby, I'm sure of it."

But Emma wasn't sure, not any more. She and Regina had always talked through any problems they had had in the past. And their relationship, however short, had already tackled seemingly insurmountable problems and emerged the other side, stronger than ever. So why wasn't Regina telling her what was upsetting her now? What could possibly be wrong that the two of them weren't able to face together?

~

The trio had decided several weeks before not to go on holiday for their half term break. Henry had revision to do for his early GCSE exams and Emma and Regina both wanted to spend some time in their new family home together. As Monday morning rolled around however, Emma was regretting that choice. A change of scenery might have done them some good, she thought when she woke to find Regina's side of the bed empty and cold.