She leant towards me, looking me up and down, then she put a hand on my knee and wobbled it gently and said, ‘You’re frozen. How about we take you home?’

‘You don’t know where I live.’

‘We do, Lisa,’ she said. ‘Let’s get you home, shall we? C’mon, it’s far too cold for this.’

She stood up and I allowed her to take my arm and uncurl me, help me off the bench and into the back of the car.

*

The next morning, I must have slept in. I stirred around ten. I could hear Matty talking on his phone in the sitting room. I closed my eyes. Ten minutes or so later, he brought me a cup of tea. He put it down on the bedside table next to me. I opened my eyes but didn’t sit up.

He sat down on the edge of the bed. He was silent for a moment and then said, ‘I was worried sick last night. The police asked if you had a history of mental health problems and honest to God, Lisa, I didn’t know what to say.’

I stayed silent.

After a moment, he put his hand on my shoulder and said, ‘Look, I’ve had a word with Adrian, I’ve explained, you don’t need to call him. He’ll arrange a supply for the rest of the week.’ He stood up. ‘I’ve got to go into work now, they can only cancel so much. I’ll call when I can take a break. Put your phone on silent if you go back to sleep.’

‘Thanks,’ I said, very quietly, but so quietly I’m not sure he heard.

*

When I went into school the following Monday, Adrian called me into his office at break, and asked me to sit down. He looked at me across his desk and I stared at the row of biros in different colours that were sticking out of the top pocket of his shirt. He asked what I’d done at the weekend and when I remained silent, he said that he had been to a very enjoyable classical concert, then gone birdwatching on Sunday. He paused, then said how sorry he was to hear I was having some difficulties and asked if I would like a referral to Occupational Health, or perhaps another sort of referral, maybe?

I didn’t know what Matty had said to him, so I replied, ‘No, not at the moment. I’ll think about it.’

As I left his office, Adrian said, ‘Lisa …’ and I looked back at him. He managed an inefficient smile, lips pressed too tightly, too much sadness in his gaze. ‘You’re an excellent teacher, you know. You’re really good at what you do.’

Quite unexpectedly, I felt tears well up inside me and I nodded and left his office as quickly as I could, before they could fall.

*