`You’re right. Life hasn’t exactly been what I was planning when I last saw you. Sandra got pregnant, I needed a job, we needed a house, teaching was the easiest and quickest option; living life to the full was suddenly on hold.’ `Are you happy?’ `Are you?’ `I’m free. I can do whatever I want, go wherever I want.’ `Run away wherever, whenever you want,’ said David. `I’m not running away.’ `Then maybe you should try sticking around for once?’ There was a thud from up above, followed by the clatter of Amy coming down the stairs. `Auntie Sandra, the twins are fighting again.’ Phoebe and David both looked upwards. They could hear the high-pitched bickering of little girls. There was another thud, then silence followed by a long, loud wail. `Behave,’ Sandra bellowed from the kitchen. Phoebe looked at David. `Maybe you’re jealous,’ she said. `Jealous? Of what?’ `Of me travelling, taking off whenever I want.ʼ She paused and gave him a sideways glance. ʻLiving your dream.’ David shrugged. `I’m just saying you could stay here and give it a chance. Get a job doing something that really interests you.’ `You sound like a schoolteacher.’ `I am a schoolteacher.’ They both laughed again. At last Phoebe could see the free-spirited young man sheʼd met at her sisterʼs barbecue. She remembered the tattoo; beneath the suit and shirt it must still be there. Phoebe stopped laughing and turned back to the website she’d been looking at. David crouched down beside her and looked at the computer screen. `Can I just make one more suggestion without being accused of being a teacher?’ His hand made a move towards the mouse. `OK,’ Phoebe could hear the drone of Sandra’s voice talking to Nola; she tried to block it out and watched David click through Google to a different site. `PGCE,’ he said, highlighting the word on the screen. `Teacher training. You could be a teacher, a primary school teacher.’ `Like you?’ `Yes, though the comedy tie is discretionary. Nola says you’ve been working in an orphanage in Bangkok so you must like children and if you’re thinking of teaching English then you can’t think teachers are all bad.’ `I’m not sure; I really need to get away from here before Nola drives me completely crazy; she still treats me like a badly behaved teenager.’ `So? Move out, get a flat, get the qualifications, try it for a while. You can always use it to teach somewhere else – Africa, South America. You don’t have to stay in this country if you really can’t bear it.’ `Where would I do it? Where would I train?’ `With me.’ He smiled at her. `You can do it in my school. There’s a teaching post coming up next term and if you’ve already got a degree you can train on the job, get paid, get a place of your own.’ Phoebe was quiet for a little while. `Why should I take your advice?’ `Didn’t you take it before?’ He took his hand away from the mouse to let Phoebe click on the how to apply link. His fingers brushed hers. Phoebe thought of all the years sheʼd spent aching for him, all the boyfriends sheʼd compared to him, all the boyfriends sheʼd found wanting. `Here you are! I wondered where you’d got to,’ Sandra stood in the doorway, her arms folded tight across her chest. `The girls and I are ready to go now.’ David got up and smiled brightly at his wife. As he followed her out of the room he turned back to Phoebe. `Think about it. It could be the start of something really good.’