Kylie & Jack 1: Humble Beginnings

13. The High of Knowing You're Gone

"So, what happened then?" Jack asked, pulling open the draw and handing over a teaspoon.

"A parent complained that he told off one of the kids on Friday. So his boss pulled him from the job. They're sending someone else out."

Jack nodded, watching her pass his mug to him. "So I guess that means I don't have to walk on eggshells around you anymore, huh?"

Kylie gave him an impishly chastising look, thinking. "Since when have you ever walked on eggshells around anyone? You're one of the most confident people I know."

Jack shrugged, taking a sip of his coffee and grimacing. "For example, right now. You make a terrible coffee!" then he threw her a bright, cheeky smile so she knew he was teasing her. Kylie cackled, smacking his arm and turning on her heel, heading for her classroom.

Jack watched her leave, sipping his coffee. It was good to see Kylie upbeat again ... he thought about the complaint that had been made about Luke (and not by a parent as Kylie had been lead to believe), grinned again and headed back to his classroom.

Kylie had stayed up until three AM on Saturday night, trying to get at least a few days ahead on all her administrative duties, so that she could put in a full classroom day on Monday, which was normally a half day for her. That, plus the new knowledge that Luke wouldn't be coming back, had Kylie skipping on sunshine. Nothing at all was going to dampen her good mood today.

At ten to twelve, there was an uncertain knock on her classroom door, just as Kylie was leading her students through a chant of the eight times tables. She and the class stopped the instant they heard the knock on the open door. She turned to see Jamieson Builders' replacement builder standing there.

"Uh ... I'm – ah – looking for Kylie Foley?" he asked awkwardly. Kylie smiled, walking towards him.

"You're in the right place – ah, Ebony, keep the chant going until ..." she looked up at the clock above the interactive whiteboard.

"Until the big hand reaches the twelve, then pack everything away and head out to lunch."

Ebony beamed with pride to have been picked to watch the class in Kylie's stead, nodding promptly, swivelling in her seat to face the rest of the class.

"Now, I will be back in to make sure that everyone has cleared away their things – so no running out of class early!" Kylie added, pointing to the class with narrowed eyes, who glanced to each other with excited little giggles.

"Excuse that," Kylie said, turning to the man, who just shook his head with a polite smirk.

"Nah, you're all good, mate. So ah – I'm meant to sign in or something, is that right?"

"Yep, got it in one! Right through here ...?" she gave him a questioning look.

"Sean." He said, extending his hand to her.

"G'day, Sean. So once you've signed in, I can show you where to go and you can get yourself all sorted. I hope it won't distract you too much, but it is lunch time, so there'll be a few screaming kids running about the place."

"Nah, nah. I've got twin four year old's back home, so I'm pretty much used to all that racket."

"Well it sounds like you're properly battle tested for the job!" Kylie joked, leading them into the office to show Sean where to sign in. Kate was on the phone at her desk, a Milk Arrowroot biscuit wedged between two fingers and a half drunk coffee beside the computer. Kylie opened up the visitors book to the latest entry.

"There you go." Kylie indicated with a little push of the book towards him.

Sean patted himself down looking for a pen. "Do you have –" he began to say when Kate handed a pen to him without taking her eyes off the screen.