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had fallen for him hook, line, and sinker, without really stopping to think about it—only this time it was harder and deeper than with anyone before, and she had no control over the situation she’d got herself into, and there was no endgame in sight. It’s a very powerful thing, to know you have that effect on someone—and having always thought of herself in the bottom half of the class in terms of looks, attractiveness, and intelligence, not to mention sporting prowess, Laura still couldn’t quite believe that she affected him this way.
    Laura knew she wasn’t working as hard as she should; she knew her boss, Rachel, was on her case about things. She knew she wasn’t being a good friend, or daughter, or sister, since Dan had come along. She forgot birthdays; she was late for work; her mind wandered. But she consoled herself with the knowledge that this was a temporary situation and in a few short months—by the summer—they would have sorted it out and could be together. And then she would make everything all right.
    He just needed a little push, that was all. Just a little something to let him know she wasn’t going to wait around forever, that she had deadlines of her own. She had another life apart from him and she was neglecting it, he had to see that. But so did she.
     
    The following Wednesday afternoon, Laura was in the office when the phone rang. It was pelting rain, which rattled on the windows of the shabby, drafty Victorian building where the education authority was housed in Holborn.
    Laura looked up wearily from her e-mails and glanced suspiciously at the caller ID panel. A teacher from a primary school nearby, St. Catherine’s, had said she would be calling to discuss a problem with the latest batch of teaching volunteers who’d just started at the school, once a week, helping individual children with their reading. The volunteers were from a firm of financial advisers, pretty big, called Linley Munroe, and it was something of a coup to have them involved—perhaps they might be induced to get involved in other ways. Laura didn’t particularly like Mrs. McGregor, though she could see how devoted she was to the school and the children. She knew from experience that Mrs. McGregor was the kind of person who had her own worldview and couldn’t be persuaded that anyone else’s was admissible. Laura knew why she was ringing—she made the same complaint, along different lines, every year. Laura picked up the phone with a heavy heart.
    “Hello?” she said tentatively.
    “Laura? Laura Foster?” came a slightly husky voice down the phone.
    “Yes,” said Laura, resigned.
    “Oh, Laura, I really must talk to you. I’m afraid this is a very bad situation, very bad indeed. Something’s going to have to be done, it’s a disaster. Catastrophe.”
    “Yes, hello, Mrs. McGregor,” said Laura.
    “Well, Laura…” And she was off.
    “…I’ve told him,” the voice was saying five minutes later, “‘You may think you can come here and think you’re doing something marvelous, helping these kids so you can sleep easy at night in your big banker’s flat. Well, you can’t behave like that and get away with it.’ I’m not putting up with it anymore, really I’m not.”
    “I explained the guidelines to him and all his colleagues, back in October,” Laura repeated. “I’m sure this Marcus bloke’s just got his wires crossed. I’ll talk to Clare at Linley Munroe, tell her to have a gentle word with Marcus. But I really don’t think he should be banned, Mrs. McGregor. He’s obviously enjoying it, and—well, let’s face it, all he did was tell this boy to shut it? They call each other the most horrific things on the playground, don’t they?”
    Her e-mail alert beeped and her eyes flicked instantly to the screen. She opened the message and read, her heart pounding.
    “Do they?” Mrs. McGregor said. “Not in my experience, Laura. Sure, there are rude words, but—”
    Laura wanted to