Eternally North by Tillie Cole Read Free Book Online Page B

and has been in two schools already, and hasn’t
responded to anyone as she has done to you,” she announced kindly,
with a face full of gratitude.
    With a lump in my
throat I replied, “I don’t know what to say. Thank you. That’s
the nicest thing anyone has ever said to me,” I confided.
    Getting up, Pamela took
my hand again and pulled me in for a hug. “I know it may be your
job, but it's her life and it's got a whole lot better since you came
along,” she flattered, patting my hand.
    With that, she turned
and walked out of the studio. I waited two minutes, and then began
shimmying around my classroom with ‘Spice Up Your Life’ playing
in my head. I grabbed my bag, and decided to ditch the rest of the
marking; this called for a hot tub celebration!
    As I headed to the
door, I punched a Breakfast Club -style arm up in the air, and
with a loud shout of, “She shoots, she scores!” ran to my
Smart car, eager to tell all to the other Oink Fairy.

Chapter 6
The beginning of the Tudor reign
    Les Miserables was shaping up to be the best production I had ever put on, and I
couldn’t have been happier, but the stupidly long hours and huge
pressure made me look forward to the October break like I’d never
looked forward to a holiday before.
    With only getting a
week off school, I had decided not to go home for a visit – it took
me four bloomin’ days to beat the jet-lag anyhow – so I planned
to have a nice chill-out week in Calgary, all kicked off with a night
on the razz with Tink.
    I arrived home at five
o’clock after finishing some paperwork, and I was excited as hell
for a good night of drinking. Tink was at the restaurant and wouldn’t
finish until ten that night, and I was to meet him there, prepped and
ready to go.
    In true Geordie style,
the beauty regime had started the previous night with a soak in the
bath for about an hour, using a good exfoliating brush to get my skin
as smooth as Bruce Willis’ head. I’d then applied fake tan, a
Natasha Munro-trademark three times, to make sure I was totally
tan-tastic, although the outside observer may say that I resembled a
recently creosoted fence. Yes, my sheets were completely ruined, but
vanity costs, people!
    So, the perfect
night-out colour achieved and a large glass of pinot grigio in hand,
I concentrated on meticulously curling both my hair and my 18-inch
clip-in hair extensions; applying lots of helpings of bronzer; gluing
two layers of fabulous strip lashes firmly in place (anymore and your
eyelids will struggle to function, believe me); sticking on nails
like talons; adding a thick coat of scarlet red lipstick; and
finally, whacking on the shortest dress I owned and the highest
sky-scraper heels you can imagine! I was good to go.
    Looking at the clock
and feeling a little bit tipsy from the wine and obligatory few
cheeky sips of sambuca I had consumed, I realised that it was only
just eight in the evening and that I was two hours early. After
twiddling my thumbs and searching for something to do, I decided I’d
go to the restaurant early and hang out in the back with the staff. I
quickly called a cab, and fifteen minutes later arrived at a very
busy Ristorante Girasoli.
    In the months that we
had been in Calgary, I had been to the restaurant more times than I
could count. I always used the staff entrance, as they all hung out
there when things were quiet or when the wait staff were on their
scheduled breaks. There was always someone to talk to and always
music playing, with each staff member rotating their iPhone playlists
– although the back room was always a lot quieter on Tink’s
playlist night – funny, hmm?
    The best thing was that
you could have a laugh and talk without the patrons seeing you. Tink
had truly landed on his feet working there, and he knew it too. The
Italian contingent of Calgary were some of the nicest people we had
met since we had moved. I had become a bit of a permanent fixture on
weekend nights, always showing up to