Blink

Note to the reader: This novel is told through two different points of view: Emma's and Ted's.

1st October 2015: 9:00 am.

"We’re late!"

Yesterday, I’d called the school and told them that Barbara, my daughter, had a temperature. I was warned that I wouldn’t need a doctor slip for one day, but for two I would, which meant that it was imperative that she made it in today.

Barbara’s temperature had been normal yesterday, but I’d ramped up the heating just so that we could stay at home. Bad mommy! I must admit that she loved it just as much as I did, and we spent the day watching 'Frozen.' It was one of our favorite Disney movies. No matter how many times we watch it, it just never gets old. We sang 'Let It Go' one too many times, and Barbara wanted to build a snowman by the end of it. It was cold outside, but living in Central London we hardly ever have the pleasure of having extreme temperatures sufficient to build a snowman.

Yesterday was a welcome distraction from my marriage, my blog and my cheating husband; everything that was giving me a headache felt like a thing of the past.

Today was back to reality. I didn’t want my six-year-old daughter, Barbara, to realize that I was panicking. I didn’t want to frighten her.

How could a brand new Audi not start?

The damn thing wouldn’t start, which meant that we would be late. There was only one way for us to be on time, and that was to get on the dreaded Tube like the rest of the London commuters whose approach to getting on the Tube was to act as if they were on a battle field, and the only ones who would make it through to the other side were the fittest and the strongest. We didn’t classify as being strong or fit. I’d never been on the underground before, let alone during rush hour.

But today I promised that I would be brave and join them, otherwise there was no way that she would get to school on time. Driving wasn’t an option, neither was getting on a bus. I wanted us to get there on time, but sitting in a bus would have meant that I was desperate. I wasn’t, but now I was wondering if maybe it was a better option.

I moved to the gate robotically, as my hands stopped sweating and my heart stopped pounding as it echoed through my body.

We made it!

I had a ticket and my child, and in a few short minutes we would be out of this pool of confusion. I didn’t even worry about how I was going to get home. I just knew that I had one chore and that was to get her to school. The assistant at the gate stared at me for a brief second. I glanced down and saw Barbara’s hat with her hand safely in mine. I shook my head at the fact that I wanted to give her a hug right now. She was excited about doing something new, something out of the ordinary, whereas it frightened the life out of me.

I showed the pretty blonde attendant my ticket. She motioned for me to press it against the electric sensor, the one that would allow us to get to the other side. I nodded as I pressed it and then she said, “Go through, love.”

We were on the disabled side of the exit; that was a lesson that I’d learned when I’d left Victoria. The disabled gate meant that both Barbara and I could go through with one ticket, rather than the other, which would require two. Barbara traveled for free, not that I couldn’t afford to get her a ticket, but why should I pay for her to go through this slaughter? I shouldn’t even have been traveling this way anyway. Not when I had a brand new car in my driveway.