Lorraine skipped down the hallway the following week. She and Nikki's relationship couldn't get any better right now. They had spent every day after school together just acting like their pupils. Yes hormones often over took like teenagers but there were times when they cuddled up on the sofa and put a movie on.
Today they had agreed not to arrive together. Nikki and Lorraine had woken up next to each other but Nikki quickly made the point that she should leave—not that she wanted to—and get into the school early. Being deputy, she wanted to continue to impress the other staff even if she had got the gold star from who she wanted to impress the most.
"Morning, guys," she said to a group of students cheerfully. "Get to class or you'll be late."
"What's up with you?" one of them asked.
"What?" Ms Donnegan looked at them baffled. "Can't I care about you and your education?" she said with a stern voice.
The group didn't answer. Instead they groaned and took Ms Donnegan's orders. She smiled as they walked away before setting out on foot herself.
"Lorraine!" a voice called for her.
Lorraine turned around at the sound of her usual bubbly sister. "Yes?"
Sonya made a little run to catch up. "Mr Byrne wants to talk to you this afternoon."
Lorraine nodded. "Okay, tell him I can do that this morning," she smiled.
"Will do, sis," she pulled a pen from her bag and wrote Lorraine's words down on hand so she wouldn't forget. Once her pen was back in her bag, she and Lorraine were outside their office door. She stopped Lorraine from opening it. She looked at her sister baffled. "You alright, Lorraine? You have a sort of glow about you today…"
"Can't I just be happy for no reason whatsoever?" Lorraine joked.
"Not when she's normally got a face like thunder."
"It's called business," Lorraine gave Sonya a playful slap on the arm. She glanced over at the clock and pulled the door handle down. "Look, I'll talk to you later, okay?"
There was a knock on the door while Ms Boston was leaning against her the front of her desk discussing the benefits of last week's mainstream classes with the PRU pupils. So far they had said how they preferred the PRU because it covered more life lessons compared to learning algebra. Barry was the first one in there to crack the "I don't wanna find his x, Ms, why can't he do it himself?" joke, like she'd never heard it before but still, it made the class laugh.
Ms Boston glanced over at the figure standing there then pointed at Rhiannon to get it.
Ms Donnegan thanked Rhiannon for holding the door open and headed straight for Ms Boston. "Sorry to interrupt but I thought you'd need this," she handed the brunette the coffee in her hand.
Barry huffed, looking around at the rest of the class then to Ms Donnegan, he hatched an idea. "Hey Ms. Where's mine?"
"You weren't up all night," Lorraine paused for a second, thinking up a clever enough excuse, "discussing the wellbeing of the school, were you Mr Barry?"
"Well no but if you had me for the night we wouldn't be talking school files and I'd be bringing the coffee to you." He winked; the class clown got a laugh out of his peers once again.
"I'd be careful what you say and do from this moment on Barry. You know the school's been fitted with cameras, don't you?" Ms Boston leaned forward to catch the corner of his eye.
"Do now Ms," he nodded. "Don't worry. I won't make a move on you either."
Lorraine shook her head. "Anyway, I should be getting back to work. I'll see you later Nik," she kept her voice low at the end of her sentence.
She nodded then she and the class watched Lorraine as she left the room. "Barry, no more inappropriate behaviour," Ms Boston leaned back onto her desk. "So, what did we think about the mainstream classes?"
"Why did you make Nikki Boston deputy head without consoling me?"
"Because, it's like you said, she's the right woman for the job. I believe your exact words where 'she more than proved herself last term with her excellent work in the PRU,'" Lorraine quoted, doing air quotes with her hands.
Sonya was right. Michael defiantly wanted to talk to her. He, like Sonya, had started with her bubbly behaviour which she shot down quickly and now he had her in an angry attitude with his recent question. They were stood in the middle of his office, sitting down wasn't an option. Lorraine wanted this "meeting" to be quick and snappy. She didn't have time to sit down with Michael and discuss this. Nor did she have the energy.
"Yes but to do it over the break, to not consult me about it—"
"What's that got to do with it? It's my school, not yours!"
"Okay…," Michael nodded and rubbed his hands over his face. "I know that, okay? I know that. But I am the head master, not you. You're the investor."
"Which means I have the say in who does what in this school," Lorraine stated. "Starting with Nikki becoming deputy head, she is right for the position. Trust me on this."
"Just like I trusted you to fund this school and look what's happening!" he bit back.
Lorraine shook her. "I'm done talking about this," she picked up her jacket and bag that where sitting on his desk. "You had more faith in me as a fifteen-year-old then what you do now."
"Not when I first taught you I didn't."
"Then believe in me now, Mr Byrne," Lorraine said. "As the woman you made me into."
She walked out.
Lorraine had her head in her computer, looking at her bank statements before she heard her office door open. She lifted her head momently, seeing who it was; she smiled briefly then held her pointer finger up to tell Nikki to hold on a second. She closed the page and leaned back into her chair.
"Came to say thanks for coffee," Nikki closed the door behind her and made her way over to Lorraine. She sat on the edge of the woman's desk. "It was very much needed, thank you."
Lorraine giggled. "I figured."
Nikki nodded. "So what did Michael have to say this morning?"
"Just that he thinks I made a wrong decision making you deputy," she sighed. "And then crap about the funds of the school."
Ignoring what he had to say about her, Nikki focused on what he had said and done to Lorraine. "But aren't you sorting that out?"
"I am. Trying—I'm trying," the blonde nodded.
"Well you know I'm here still," she placed her hand on top of Lorraine's shaking one. "Don't let him get the better of you. Continue to prove him wrong."
"Oh, I'm not going down without a fight," she said sternly. "And… I know." She answered Nikki's earlier statement.
"There's the hot shot benefactor I know," Nikki laughed.
Lorraine shook her head, smiling. They looked at each other for a moment. "Thank you, Boston-bruiser."
Finally the day was over. Lorraine walked out her office with her phone in her hand, she was texting Nikki back about going round the brunette's for a change tonight. She put it back in her bag once she hit send.
"Hey, sis!" Sonya called out. "You going out anywhere tonight?"
Lorraine zipped up her handbag before looking up. She waited for her sister to be walking alongside her before she responded. "Um, I thought I'd catch up with Mum or something," she lied. She knew she should contact her mother but at the same time she wanted to continue spending as much time as she could with Nikki.
"Oh that's a good idea. She was well last time I saw her," Sonya smiled at her sister. There was a silence between them as they continued to walk out the school. Sonya's mind clicked at something she remembered from earlier. She slapped Lorraine's arm quickly to alert her.
"Ow," she looked at her sibling with complete shock at her actions.
"Sorry," she quickly apologised. "But, ay, you and Nikki are close aren't ya?"
"What?"
"Earlier I saw your little conversation on the cameras, cute little hugs. Looks like you too are close?"
"Um, yeah," Lorraine coughed. She wasn't quite sure where her sister was going with her statement. "She's a good friend…"
"Aw," Sonya scrunched her face up. "That's cute. It's good you found a friend. Always the unsociable one, you were."
"Thanks Sonya, that makes me feel great."
"No, no, no," Sonya's face turned from happy to nervous as she held her hands up in defence. "What I meant was you have always been the one who put business first. It's nice to see you make a friend while doing business." She smiled back at her sister.
"It feels nice, too."
Yeah... not best pleased with the ending of this chapter... but I did receive the sweetest review on the last chapter so thanks a bunch for that! :)
Anyway, anyone want to talk about the preview for next week's WLR? I'm so excited! Firstly being Lorraine in a dressing grown, hair tied up and a newspaper in my hand omg I wanna know why but then... break up.. :( Anyone else think it's none of Michael's business whether or not she's seeing Nikki? I know she judged him about being careful dating Christine but come on the tone in his voice...
Also, enjoy! Woop! :)