"Hey, Rob." Jan sat on the chair opposite Rob in the staffroom. "How's the paint counter going?"
"Yeah... good." Rob put down his coffee. Jan was like a goldfish. Every time he saw her, she'd asked how the paint counter was going. "Have you seen Becky today?"
Jan fiddled with an empty sugar sachet as she peered at him. "She called in sick. Emily's covering for her." Jan beamed and leaned forward on the table with her chin in her hands. "Do you want to go to the movies tonight? The new John Wick is out. Boys love that action stuff don't they?"
Rob lifted his cup and took a mouthful. He looked over at her, and then slowly put the cup back on the table. How to say no without hurting her feelings. "Jan. Sorry. I can't. My girlfriend, well... I have a girlfriend. You understand."
"Oh... I didn't know." She blushed, hung her head, and then looked up at him from under her brows. "I should have known you'd have a girlfriend. Boys like you always have girlfriends." Jan pouted and lifted one shoulder. "Becky didn't say."
"Becky wouldn't know."
"Yes, that's right." Jan giggled. "You hate each other."
Rob couldn't help but chuckle. "Yeah. We hate each other." He pushed up out of his seat and said, "See ya. Gotta get back to the paint counter."
Becky wasn't at school on Monday either. Rob started to worry. At lunch he went in search of Linc and found him sitting with his friends in the junior area of the school.
"Hey, Linc. Can I have a word?" Rob jerked his head and walked away from the group.
Linc got up and followed. "Hi, Rob. I'm not going to be able to train this arvo cause Becky's away." He slunk his shoulders and twisted his mouth up in guilt. "She told me to come and tell you but I forgot. Sorry."
"Why isn't she at school, Linc?"
"Ah..." Linc hung his head. "She's been sick but I'm pretty sure she'll be back tomorrow."
"Is that the truth, Linc?" Rob lifted the kids head and peered at him. It sounded like a story to him.
"Yeah. I swear it is. She said to tell her friends she was sick but I forgot to do that too."
"How come you weren't at the game on Saturday?"
Linc lifted the side of his mouth in a grimace. "Becky couldn't take me so I couldn't come and I don't reckon me leg's good enough yet anyway."
Rob scratched the back of his head. He was sure the story wasn't completely true. "What about your dad? Couldn't he bring you to the game because even if you can't play you're part of the team and I'd like you to be there? You can still learn a lot from watching and your teammates would love the support."
Linc shook his head but wouldn't look Rob in the eyes. "Dad... Dad had to work."
"What does he do?"
"Ah..." Linc shrugged. "Stuff."
"Linc." Rob bent down to be at face level. "What's going on, mate?"
"Nothin', Rob." Anxiety flurried though Linc's chest. "Dad was busy and Becky was sick. I can't be at training today because Becky's sick."
"Okay, I got it." Rob grabbed a piece of paper from his bag. "I'm going to give you my phone number. Next time you ring me and I'll come and get you."
"I don't know if my dad would like that. He doesn't like people he doesn't know coming to our house."
"Maybe I could come and meet him. What do you think?" Rob studied Linc's face and could see he was uncomfortable with the idea.
"I'll ask Becky."
Rob nodded and thought he'd better let it go. If Becky was at school tomorrow, he'd get her by herself and find out what was going on. "Alright. I'll see you tomorrow afternoon at the pool, right."
"Yeah. If Becky's better." Linc smiled in relief. "I'm sorry I forgot to tell you."
"Okay, no worries." Rob patted Linc on the shoulder and watched him go back to his friends. Something wasn't right but there wasn't anything he could do about it. Not yet anyway.
Copyright © 2017 by Donna Fieldhouse. All rights reserved.
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