"I don't know what to expect" Kim confessed, after forwardly telling me that Chris was just Eddie, only with a slightly different personality. Also he hadn't knocked up my sister, but she didn't say this bit out-loud. She could say what she liked, but Chris was not and never would be Eddie. You could say that I was being a bit harsh on the lad, but Eddie was a bloody good deputy and it was going to take a hell of a lot to live up to him. Plus I'm not even going to venture into a personal sense.
"Well I suppose I'd describe Chris as how you'd expect any John Foster's teacher to be, he's a bit scary, he's humourless, and he's ultra conservative" This was completely the opposite of what he was, but I wanted her to have the pleasant surprise that I had. Chris was definitely not how you'd expect any John Fosters teacher to be and he certainly wasn't in the slightest bit scary, in fact I think at our first meeting he was more scared of me. Humourless- no way, at the pub afterwards we'd had a proper good laugh, the first I'd had in weeks, plus the things we laughed about were hardly conservative.
"So why've you appointed him then?" she asked, getting her judgy Kim voice on. Though to be honest if it had been the other way round I'd be getting my judgy Rachel voice round about now.
"Because he's going to help with the new intake." Was my reply that I knew would send her up the wall.
"Rachel I can't believe..." she didn't get to finish her sentence because she was disturbed by the handsome devil himself appearing through the doorway.
"Rachel hiya."
"Chris hello" I greeted him, whilst watching her face perk up. I think she'd suddenly gained interest, so it was time to introduce them to each other. "Kim this is my new deputy head Christopher Mead"
"Kim Campbell head of Pastoral Care"
"Nice to meet you Kim, Rachel's told me a lot about you"
"Yes likewise." She replies raising an eyebrow. I desperately hoped that was not her attempt at flirting. If it was then boy have I got my work cut out for me? I was going to try to get them together because Kim really needs to move on from Andrew who went back to Rwanda and from baby Grace as well, and Chris is single so everybody's happy.
"Same again?" an offer we both accepted "Same again and a beer please" he turned round and instructed the waiter. Kim gave me her smile of sneaky approval, not only was he the opposite of all the things I had just said, but Chris had a nice bum as well.
"So are we here to celebrate or to seal ourselves for battle? I know there's been a lot of resistance to this merger" that was when I remembered the real reason we had met up near the end of the holidays. We needed a management team meeting and the school was still having the last finishing touches done to it, so we'd had to meet in this restaurant instead.
"Yes and that's why it's so good to have you on board" I knew it was a good idea to hire Christopher the minute he stepped through my office door because not only would he be a very good deputy, but he knew the John Fosters kids which is what they would need to feel welcome at Waterloo Road. "If they're pains in the backside please don't send them all to me" he replied
"I heard that some of your staff are all up in arms about this" Ah Kim's test. Well I supposed if he could please her then he could please anybody. I should have just left him to answer, but I had to make it clear that Waterloo Road was just as good for these pupils as John Fosters and we as a management team had know that
"Yes and that's why we've got to prove that we're as good as any independent school" I knew I'd caught their attention as I watched them nod their heads in agreement with me, which was exactly what I wanted "This is going to be the best year yet for Waterloo Road"
"And I want to be part of that" Chris piped in.
"Great, so we've got 3 weeks to get the school into shape before the New Year"
In 3 weeks we had a lot to do, and call me sad, but I was excited. I had a fantastic management team, lots of new teachers, new students, a new building in some places. A small anticipation brewing in my stomach made me believe what I had said- this was going to be the best year yet. No more guns, fire, drugs, bulldozers, assault, evil parent governors, alcoholic parents, murder, psychopathic kids and certainly no more dating my staff or my sister's ex for that matter.
I told myself all this, but little did I know that as they do every year, things were about to get interesting...
