Chapter 1 Aidan

Maeve Binchy Evening Class

There was a time when their marriage had been good. They looked happy in their old photographs. But that was long ago now, perhaps fifteen years.

So what had gone wrong? They hadn't argued. There had been no other women in Aidan's life. Nell was an attractive woman but he felt sure that she had not had relationships with other men. No, he decided, he and Nell had just become different people over the years.

Nell hadn't asked about his work for a long time now. He made a great effort to take an interest in her life. But she never talked about Quentin's, the restaurant where she worked at the cash desk. It was just a job, she said. He had no more success with his daughters.

Grania, now twenty-one, worked in a bank but she didn't want to discuss it. And it was the same with nineteen-year-old Brigid. 'The shop's fine. Dad,' she said.

Sometimes he thought that things might get better when he became Principal at the school. But another man, also in his forties, might get the job. This was Tony O'Brien, who never stayed late or took part in the life of the school as Aidan did. Tony O'Brien smoked in front of the children, had lunch in a bar and was often seen with younger women. They couldn't seriously want him for the job, could they?

Sundays were the days that Aidan found the hardest. In the past, the whole family had gone to the country or the sea for the day. But now the girls watched television, washed their hair and clothes and spoke to friends on the telephone. Nell usually went somewhere to meet a friend. On Sundays, Aidan felt that he really wasn't noticed in his own home.

Once or twice recently, Nell had suggested that Aidan could make their guest room into a study for himself. They never had any guests. But Aidan felt that, shut in his study, all communication with his family might finally end.

•

'Did you have a good weekend?' Tony O'Brien asked in the teachers' room on Monday morning.

'Quiet, you know,' Aidan answered.

'Oh, well, lucky you. I was at a party last night and I'm suffering from it, 'Tony complained. 'Oh, and I met someone who knew you.'

'At a party? I doubt that,' Aidan smiled.

'No, really, she did. When I told her I taught here, she asked if I knew you.'

'And who was she?' Aidan was interested now.

'I didn't get her name. Nice girl.'

Aidan watched as Tony O'Brien went into his class. His pupils became silent immediately. Aidan couldn't understand why these sixteen-year-old boys and girls liked Tony so much. The man didn't even remember their names.

Aidan went into his own class and waited at the door while his pupils slowly stopped making a noise. Had Mr Walsh, the old Principal, passed behind him while he was waiting? It didn't matter. Aidan was the most responsible teacher in Mountainview. Everyone knew that.

•

That afternoon, Mr Walsh called Aidan into his office.

'You and I feel the same about a lot of things, Aidan,' he said.

'And if I had a vote, you would be in my job in September.' 'Thank you, Mr Walsh. That's very good to know.' 'There's nothing to thank me for. The Principal doesn't have a vote so I can't do anything for you. That's what I'm trying to tell you. Of course, I might be wrong. You might still get the job, but it's not the end of the world you know, if you don't. You're a family man — lots of life at home.'

Aidan tried not to show what he was feeling. 'Yes, of course, you're quite right,' he said.

'But?' the older man asked kindly.

Aidan chose his words with care. 'It's not the end of the world, but I had hoped that it might be a new beginning. I'm like you — you know, married to Mountainview.'

'I know you are,' said Mr Walsh, gently. Outside the room were the noises of a school at four-thirty in the afternoon — bells ringing, children shouting. It was all so safe, so familiar. 'Tony O'Brien seems to be the one they want. Nothing definite yet, not until next week. But they seem to think he's the man for the times that we live in. A strong man to solve difficult problems. But you've got a wife and daughters, Aidan. You should build on that.'

•

At home, Aidan found Nell in the black dress she wore for work in the restaurant.

'But you don't work Monday nights,' he cried.

'They needed more people, and I thought why not, there's nothing on television,' she said.

'Oh, I see,' he said. 'Are the girls home?'

'Grania's in the bathroom. She's meeting someone special tonight, it seems. I've left you some food on the kitchen table. See you later.' And she was gone.

Aidan made himself a cup of coffee and went into the guest room, closing the door behind him. Perhaps he should make this room into his own place, as Nell had suggested. He realized now that his family life had ended. And he would not be married to Mountainview either.

He started to plan it. He had seen an old desk that he liked, and he would have fresh flowers in the room. There would be a wall with books on it and he'd put up Italian pictures. He loved Italy. He and Nell had gone there on holiday when they were first married.

There was a knock on the door. Grania stood there, dressed for her evening out. 'Are you all right, Daddy?'

'I'm fine,' he said. He tried to smile. 'Are you going somewhere nice?'

'I don't know. I've met someone I like a lot, but listen, I'll tell you about it some other time.'

He felt so sad. She wanted to get away. 'That's fine,' he said. 'Enjoy your evening.'

Aidan was in bed when Nell came home at one o'clock. She climbed in on her side of the bed, as far from him as possible. Grania still wasn't home. The girls came and went when they wanted to. So he was pleased when he heard the hall door open and her footsteps on the stairs.

'Nice evening, Grania?' Aidan asked at breakfast.

'Yes, OK.'

'Good. Was it busy in the restaurant?' he asked Nell.

'Quite busy for a Monday,' she said. She spoke in the way she would speak to someone she had met on a bus.

Aidan took his case and left for school. When he got there, Tony O'Brien was taking something for a headache.

'I'm getting too old for these late nights,' he said.

'Did you enjoy it—I mean, the late night?'

'Well, I was with a nice girl, but I still have to face my class today.'

•

The day passed as days always pass, and the next and the next. Aidan hadn't forgotten his study He began to collect little bits of his dream: a low table for near the window, a big chair. And one day he would get some material to cover the chair: something in gold or yellow, something bright.

'Have you heard anything about the big job at the school?'

Nell asked to his surprise one evening, when they were all in the kitchen.

He lied. 'Nothing. But they're voting on it next week.'

'You'll get it. Old Walsh loves the ground you walk on,' Nell said.

'He doesn't have a vote, actually, so that doesn't help me.' Aidan gave a nervous laugh.

'But who would they have if they didn't have you?' Grania wanted to know.

'How should I know? Someone from outside..., or someone from inside that we haven't thought of.'

'But you do think you'll get it, don't you?' Nell said.

Aidan pretended to feel confident. 'Of course I will.'

•

It was their sixth evening out together. Grania really liked him. He was more interesting than people of her own age. There was only one problem. Tony worked at Dad's school. The very first time she met him, she had asked him if he knew Aidan Dunne. But she hadn't told Dad about Tony yet. She would tell him if the relationship developed. And Tony would have to be even nicer to her if she was the Principal's daughter!

•

Tony sat at the bar, smoking. He would have to smoke less when he was Principal. But it wasn't a big price to pay for a good job. Of course, nobody else knew that they had offered him the job. It was still a secret. Other things were going well for him too. Grania was warm and generous, quite special. She was only twenty-one, less than half his age, but that needn't be a big problem. He saw her come into the bar and he felt happy.

'You look beautiful,' he said.

They talked and drank together for a time, laughing and happily exchanging news.

'Well, there are lots of places we could go this evening,' Tony said. 'Or shall I cook for you at home?'

'Thank you, Tony,' Grania said. 'I'd like that.'

'More wine?' Tony asked Grania later that evening.

'No, I must go. Tony ... I've got to get to the bank in the morning and you've got to get to Mountainview.'

'Oh, that doesn't matter.' He didn't want her to go.

Grania laughed. 'You won't say that to me next term. My father’s going to be Principal of Mountainview.'

'Your father’s going to be what?

'Principal. Its a secret until next week, but I think everyone expects it.'

'What's your father's name?'

'Dunne, like mine. Aidan Dunne.'

'Oh my God,' said Tony O'Brien. 'He told you this?' He took both Grania s hands in his. 'This is the most important thing I have ever said in my life, Grania. You mustn't tell your father that you've been meeting me. We'll tell him that later. But there's something I have to tell him first.'

'Tell me,' she said.

'I can't. But you must believe that I want the very best for you. If you care about me, just wait a day or two.'

•

'Aidan, I need to talk to you this minute,' Tony O'Brien said, when he found him at school.

'Can't it wait until after school, Tony ...?'

'No, now. Let's go somewhere quiet,' Tony said, almost pulling Aidan with him. 'Aidan.' Tony O'Brien's voice had changed. 'Aidan, I'm going to be the Principal. They were going to announce it next week, but I think it's better if I make them do it today.'

'What... why?' Aidan felt he had been hit in the stomach.

'So that you stop believing that you're going to get the job upsetting yourself, upsetting other people ... that's why. We all thought that Walsh had told you.'

'He only said that you might get the job, and that he would be sorry if you did.'

'Aidan, the job of Principal is changing. They don't want someone nice. They want someone who's not afraid to argue with the Department of Education. But I'm going to need you, Aidan, to help me. The school needs you.'

'No, I couldn't stay here with you as Principal. I don't even think you're a good teacher. And I'd feel embarrassed. My family think the job's mine. They're waiting to celebrate.'

'Then give them something to celebrate.'

'Like what, for example?'

'Imagine that you could have another position in the school. Something new ... what would you like to do?'

'Look, I know you're trying to help, Tony, but it's not what I need at the moment ...'

'I'm the Principal. I can do what I want. I want you with me here. So, tell me what you would do here, if you could.'

'Well, I know you won't like it, because it's not really for the school. But I think we should have evening classes.'

'What? What kind of evening classes?'

The announcements were made that afternoon: Adult Education classes would begin in September, organized by Aidan Dunne. The new Principal would be Tony O'Brien.

Later, as Aidan walked out of the school gate, he looked at the school building where he and Tony had decided to hold the evening classes. It had its own entrance and two big classrooms. It would be perfect.

•

'I have very good news,' Aidan said to his family at supper. He told them all about the evening classes and that he would start with Italian.

They seemed pleased and asked him a lot of questions. He was already making plans. He would put pictures and maps of Italy all over the walls; they might do some Italian cooking or listen to Italian music; he could ask people with a knowledge of Italy to give talks.

'But won't you find this a lot of work as well as being Principal?' Nell asked.

'Oh no, I'm doing it instead of being Principal,' he explained and looked at their faces. Nobody seemed surprised. They continued talking like a real family.

Later Brigid asked: 'Who will become Principal now, if you're not going to do it?'

'Oh, a teacher called Tony O'Brien. He's a good man; he'll be all right for Mountainview.'

He poured them another glass of wine from the bottle he had bought to celebrate. They didn't notice Grania as she got up and quietly left the room.

•

Tony O'Brien sat in his sitting-room and waited for Grania. She would have to come. Then the doorbell rang and she stood there, eyes red from crying.

She walked into the room, young but not confident now. 'You've been laughing at me all the time, laughing at my father. I hope that this is the worst thing that will ever happen to me ... '

'This morning I didn't know you were Aidan Dunne's daughter. And I didn't know that Aidan thought he would be Principal.'

'Why didn't you tell me you'd got the job?' she cried.

'Because I had to tell your father first. And I wanted him to get what he wanted too ... a new position.'

'You've made my father and me look stupid. I don't think 1 ever want to see you again.'

'I hope that's not true. I'm very, very fond of you, Grania.'

They looked at each other for a few minutes. Then he spoke again. 'Give it some time, Grania. Think about it. You'll soon know how you really feel about me. But you know how I feel.'

'I don't think I'll be back.'

'Let's agree never to say never,' he smiled.

He stood at the doorway as she walked down the road. Would she ever come back? He didn't know. But he felt more hopeful about that than he did about the evening classes.