One hour later...
It was 3:30pm. The interviews had gone well and Rachel had chosen the top three candidates in order of who she would offer the job to first. None of them were Adam, for a few reasons.
One, it was a potential conflict of interest. Whilst he had interviewed fairly well, she had known and been friends with him at one time in her life. She didn't want anyone to think he'd got the job through favouritism, especially Adam himself.
Reason two, the way he had been intensely staring at her throughout the entire interview, and not just at her face either. He had made her feel uncomfortable, especially when he kept looking her up and down like she was a piece of meat. She hadn't been looked at like that for years and had forgotten how degrading it was.
It was so bad at one point that, if her desk wasn't placed between them, she was sure he would have forced his lips onto hers, or worse. The thought of it made her feel sick.
Looking back, it was obvious that Adam had, had feelings for her when they were at school together. He'd follow her everywhere during the school day. He'd sit next to her in class, as well as at break and lunch. He'd always wanted to spend time with her, and she let him, mostly because he was lonely and she felt sorry for him. She had been too pre-occupied with the mess that had been her life at the time to notice that he'd wanted more than friendship.
It was obvious now that he still had feelings for her. His face had dropped when he'd seen the engagement ring on her finger and she'd told him about Eddie. She felt if she hired him he would try it on with her, even if she'd made it clear that she was engaged to Eddie and that she loved him. Even if he knew she was carrying Eddie's baby, she didn't think it would stop him.
Also, the other candidates had interviewed better and had more relevant experience with young people than Adam did. The best qualified for the job had won and Adam wasn't one of them. She had let the first candidate know half an hour ago and was now waiting for their response.
There was a knock on the door. Before she could even say "come in", the door swung open with a BANG!
Adam stood in the doorway, glaring at her. She frowned at him.
"I thought you'd left?" she questioned
"Why didn't you give me the job?" he snapped
Rachel sighed.
"Adam,"
"I interviewed better than any of those other idiots!" he growled, cutting her off
"No, you didn't. You were good, but there were others with more relevant experience and ideas compared to what you had" she explained calmly
Adam scoffed.
"I don't understand, Amanda. I thought we were friends"
She flinched at the sound of her old name. Those that were aware of her past used it as a weapon, in an attempt to try and intimidate her. Stuart, Melissa, and now Adam. Thankfully, she had thick skin.
"First of all, it's Rachel. We were friends at school, yes. But that doesn't mean I can just drop everything to give you this job. If you think that I'm that kind of person, then you don't know me at all. You're not the right fit for this school, Adam. So, if you could leave the premises now before I have to call security that would be great"
Adam glared at her.
"Your sister was right. You really don't have any loyalty, do you?" he snarled
Rachel glared back at him to mask her confusion. What did Melissa have to do with any of this?
"What I have, Adam, is professionalism. An ability to do my job without being biased. I don't bend the rules for friends, family, or colleagues, past or present" she shot back
"You're selfish! You just go in, ruining people's lives and not caring how it affects them! You ruined Melissa's chance with her fiancé. You took her son from her! She is in BITS because of you and I've had to pick up the pieces!"
Rachel scoffed. So that's what this was about. Melissa had sent Adam to spy on her, to have a go at her. She'd told him a pack of lies, had twisted the story so that Rachel was the bad guy. Anger bubbled inside of her.
What made her even more furious was that Melissa was evidently somewhere in the UK still, possibly nearby and oblivious to all the chaos going on with her son. Not that it mattered. Even if she did know, she wouldn't care.
"I guess she didn't tell you that she was still married to TWO other men whilst she was engaged to Marcus? I bet she didn't tell you the emotional and physical abuse she inflicted on Philip, or how she kicked him out the night Marcus left, telling him she never wanted to see him again? She left all of those little, minute details out, didn't she? All to make me look like the bad guy"
Adam huffed.
"You're lying. She told me you would. She told me this would be your version of events. A hero trying to save the bloody world!"
"Maybe I'm lying, maybe I'm not. Either way, I want you to leave the premises. NOW" she demanded
Adam smirked, moving closer and closer towards her until she was backed into a corner, her back pressed against the wall. The feeling of his breath on her neck made her skin crawl. Her heart started to race as his eyes drilled into her own, anger flickering through them.
She tried to push him away, but that only made it worse. He grabbed her wrists tightly, pinning them to her sides, pressing his body against hers so she couldn't move. She knew his intentions, knew what he was going to do if she didn't stop him. She had seen that look before, only a few months ago when Stuart had raped her. It was going to happen again.
No, it wasn't.
"Get off me!" she growled, desperately trying to fight him off
He chuckled wryly.
"Or what, Amanda? Eh?" he challenged
"OR I'LL MAKE YOU!!!"
Rachel almost cried in relief at the sound of Eddie's voice. She watched as he pulled Adam off of her easily, dragging him out of the office without asking any questions.
She slid down the wall, hands trembling violently as she rested them on her stomach in an attempt to calm herself. If Eddie hadn't come in just then, she wasn't sure what would have happened. Her head fell into her hands as she battled with her mind to stop the memories of Stuart's sickening grin from resurfacing. All the hard work that she'd put in during her two counselling sessions with Louise so far was currently threatening to come undone. She had been in the process of putting that horrific night into a box and pushing that box to the back of the filing cabinet in her mind. Now, the lid of the box was open and was threatening to overflow with its contents.
Melissa had sent Adam here, to do what? To hurt her? To yell and scream at her? To drive a wedge between herself and Eddie? What did she want?
Eddie came back into the office, shutting the door quietly. His mind was providing him with a million scenarios as to the identity of the man who had been threatening her. Was he connected to Hordley? How had he got into the school? What did he want? What would have happened if he hadn't made his way over to her office?
There was every chance that Rachel didn't have the answers to his questions. But he was going to ask anyway.
He sighed painfully when he saw her curled up in the corner of the office, knees drawn up to her chest. Her eyes were glued to the floor and brimming with tears. She was shaking violently, paralysed by fear. He could see in her eyes that her mind was racing, trapped in reliving memories of the past. He wanted nothing more than to pull her into his arms, to reassure her that she was safe and that it was ok. But he didn't want to frighten her or give her reason to push him away.
Gently, he slid down the wall, shuffling to sit beside her.
"Rach? Are you ok?"
She shook her head frantically.
"Who was that?" he asked, his voice soft and calm
"Adam Fleet" she whispered, curling further into herself
"How do you know him?" he questioned
"I... went to school with him" she mumbled
"Ok... what was he doing here?"
"He was a candidate for the Healthy Eating Co-ordinator job" she explained
Eddie sighed painfully.
"I take it you didn't give him the job?"
"The others interviewed better and had more relevant experience. I sent an email out to the unsuccessful candidates. That's why he was in here kicking off. And besides, he..."
She trailed off, voice shaking and eyes glistening with tears.
Eddie moved closer to her, taking her hand into his.
"What, Rach?" he asked gently
She took a deep breath. It sounded so stupid.
"He... kept... looking at me... you know... like that... and then he..."
A strangled sob escaped her lips. Eddie squeezed her hand gently, reassuring her that he was listening.
"He... backed me up against the wall and... I-I couldn't move and I... I thought it- Stuart- I thought it was going to happen again" she blurted, bursting into tears
Eddie pulled her into him, holding onto her tightly as she sobbed and her body shook. It made him feel sick. The idea of anyone hurting Rachel or putting their hands on her made his blood boil. He should have thrown a punch at the guy rather than just escorting him to the school gates.
"It's ok, Rach. It's ok" he reassured, stroking her hair gently
"Did he...?" he added eventually
"No"
Her answer was instant. Shaky, but genuine.
"He just- kept looking at me like... like a lot of men did when I was... like Stuart did when... you know. It just freaked me out. If you hadn't of walked in when you did I... I don't know what would have happened" she explained
Eddie sighed, pulling her onto his lap and hugging her. She clung onto him tightly, a strangled sob escaping her lips.
"That's not all" she whispered as she pulled apart from him, wiping her tears with the back of her hand
Eddie frowned, urging her to continue.
"He's been talking to Melissa. She's twisted the story of what happened. She's told him that I destroyed her relationship with Marcus and took Philip from her"
Eddie rolled his eyes.
"Let him believe what he wants, Rach. We know the truth" he reasoned
"I know, it's just- she's obviously still in the area somewhere. Philip's behaviour is spiralling out of control and she's completely oblivious! It just makes me so angry, Eddie" she ranted
"I know, I know. But, be honest, Rach. Would she care if she did know?" he pointed out
Rachel shook her head.
"He's gone now, that's what matters" she mumbled
Eddie nodded, guilt flooding through him.
"I'm sorry I wasn't there, darling" he whispered, tucking her hair back behind her ear
She shook her head, placing a hand on his cheek.
"You had classes to teach. I told you I'd be fine"
"I should have gone against your wishes and sat in on the interviews anyway" he shrugged
"It wouldn't have stopped him, you know that" she pointed out
"A punch to the face would have"
Rachel smiled weakly.
"Are you sure you're ok?" he asked
She nodded, straddling him as she pulled him into a hug.
"I love you" she whispered
"I love you too" he replied, placing a kiss in her hair
He pulled apart from her as he felt something dribbling onto his jacket. Confused, he looked down. A red stain instantly caught his eye. He frowned.
Rachel felt what she thought was a stray tear running onto her lip. She wiped it with her hand, eyes widening in surprise when she saw her finger was streaked with blood. She saw the blood on Eddie's jacket and knew exactly what it was.
She pulled herself to her feet, moving to sit at her desk. Eddie followed, confused as to what was going on.
"Eddie? Please can you get me a tissue?" Rachel requested calmly
Eddie lifted his head to look at her properly. His heart practically leapt out of his chest when he saw the blood trickling out of her nose.
"It's ok. I just need you to get me a tissue" she reassured
Eddie did as he was told, reaching over to the table opposite the desk and grabbing the box of tissues. He grabbed a few, handing them to Rachel. To his surprise, she knew exactly what to do. He watched as she used one hand to press the tissues to her nose and tilted her head back. Her other hand came up to pinch the bridge of her nose to try and stop the blood flow.
They sat in silence for ten minutes until Rachel sat forwards and removed the tissues from her nose. She sighed in relief when she saw the bleeding had stopped. She cleaned herself up before smiling reassuringly at Eddie, who was waiting for an explanation.
"Are you ok?" he asked nervously
She nodded.
"I sometimes get nose bleeds when I'm stressed" she explained
Eddie raised an eyebrow.
"Well, that's a fact about you I didn't know until now!" he chuckled
She laughed.
"I used to have them when I was younger. I haven't had them for a few years now, until today. I don't know if it's normal or not. I've never felt the need to get it checked by a doctor or anything, but maybe now I'm pregnant I probably should, just in case" she shrugged
"Well, we'll keep an eye on it. If it keeps happening and it is stress-related we'll go to the doctors and we'll find a way to manage it, yeah?" he suggested
She nodded, hugging him again.
"Sorry, I got blood on your jacket" she giggled as she pulled apart from him, scratching at the stain with her nail
"It'll come off" he reassured
"If not, you owe me a new jacket" he added with a smirk
She laughed, placing a kiss on his cheek.
A knock on the door caused them to spring apart. The two of them looked up to see Kim stood in the doorway. Up until this moment, Rachel had completely forgotten that they still had a missing Karla to deal with and to find a suitable punishment for Michaela.
"Sorry, am I interrupting?" Kim asked apprehensively
"No, is everything ok with Karla?" Rachel replied
"Yeah, I found her on the side of the road and got her back to school unharmed. Michaela is in detention for the next week and I've confiscated the money. Karla wants to put it towards getting new paints for the Art Department" she explained
Rachel nodded, relief flooding through her. It was one less thing to worry about. Despite the fact that Kim had made a mistake, she had done a great job of putting it right and getting Karla back in one piece. That was what mattered to Rachel.
"Have you called her Mum?" Eddie questioned
Kim nodded.
"Yeah. She was quite calm about it really. Everything is fine. I'll see you both tomorrow"
"Thanks, Kim" Rachel called after her as the office door closed
Rachel sighed, smiling softly at Eddie. She knew he wanted to make a comment about Kim's actions today, but he had evidently chosen to refrain. And she was glad. She didn't need him being awkward right now.
"Let's pack up and go home for a bit before the scan, yeah?" he suggested
Rachel nodded.
"We need to talk to Philip" she reminded as she grabbed her coat and bag
"I know, we'll sort it" he reassured, following her out the door