Up In The Air

The balloon trip had left Emma unsure of her future with her fiancé . . .

THERE, Emma said with satisfaction. “That’s the dishes washed and dried.” “We make a good team, Aunt Emma,” Bethany said.

“The best,” Emma agreed. Emma was looking after her niece for the weekend while Bethany’s mum and dad celebrated their tenth wedding anniversary at a luxury hotel.

It had been a busy day. She and Bethany had gone ice-skating in the morning and visited the cinema in the afternoon. Then they’d made pizza for tea with ice-cream for dessert.

Emma was enjoying her day with her eight-year-old niece. Bethany was good company. Also, it took her mind off the horrible argument she’d had with her fiancé, Kane.

“What now?” Emma asked. “We could watch a DVD.”

“I have homework first.” “Homework?” Emma cried. “But it’s Saturday!”

“Ms Carlsson says we shouldn’t leave it to the last minute,” Bethany replied. “Because then we’ll rush it and not do our best work.”

“That’s good advice,” Emma admitted grudgingly. “Well, maybe I could help?”

Bethany was looking at her homework instructions.

“I have history. We’re working on the Tudors.”

“I’m an expert on them.” Emma smiled. “Henry the Eighth and all his wives; Elizabeth the First and the Spanish Armada . . .”

“I need to write a paragraph about Henry the Seventh.”

“Henry the Seventh?” Emma repeated.

“He was the first Tudor monarch,” Bethany explained. “Ms Carlsson says he’s underrated.”

“Well, let’s Google him and print something out,” Emma suggested.

Bethany’s eyes widened with shock.

“I can’t print something straight off the internet. Ms Carlsson says that’s not proper research.”

“Does she now?” Emma muttered.

Bethany opened her bag. “I borrowed two books about the Tudors from the library.” She set the books out on the table.

“So you don’t need my help?” Emma asked.

“No, thanks, Aunt Emma.” Bethany smiled, opening her laptop. “I’ll be fine.”

Soon she was tapping away on the keyboard.

Emma settled on the sofa and switched on her phone to check her messages. To her disappointment there was nothing from Kane.

The day before, they’d had a bitter argument. For almost a year they’d been saving up for a deposit to buy a flat. It hadn’t been easy. They’d been scraping together every spare penny that they could.

Then yesterday, out of the blue, he’d announced that he’d spent over two hundred pounds on a balloon trip, of all things.

“I can’t believe it,” Emma had said when he told her. “That’s so irresponsible!”

“It’s a birthday present for you!” he retorted. “I thought you’d like it.”

“It’s two hundred pounds, Kane!” she protested. “When we’ve been saving so hard for the deposit.”

“There’s more to a relationship than money,” he replied.

“That’s not fair, Kane. It’s our future.”

He looked at her angrily. “I’m starting to wonder if we have a future,” he said, grabbing his coat and walking out.

Emma hadn’t heard a thing from him since.

“Done!” Bethany said, sitting back in her chair.

Emma’s mind snapped back to the present.

“Already?” she exclaimed. “That was quick.”

“And I’ve checked the spelling and punctuation,” Bethany added. “Ms Carlsson says that you should read over what you’ve written to check it for simple mistakes.”

“Very wise,” Emma agreed. “So what’s next?” “Maths,” Bethany said. “I was good at maths at school.” Emma smiled. “I can help you with that.”

“Do you know the chunking method?” Emma blinked.

“The what?”

“The chunking method,” Bethany repeated. “It’s how we do divisions which are too hard to work out in our heads.”

“Oh,” Emma said. “Well, my method is probably a different one, but . . .” “What’s your method?” Emma frowned.

“I’m not sure,” she said uncertainly. “But it’s really easy to do. I’ll show you.”

“Oh, no,” Bethany said firmly. “Ms Carlsson says we should only use the methods that we’ve been taught in school. She says that adults use methods they don’t understand.”

“Does she now?” Emma was beginning to find Ms Carlsson a bit annoying. “You like her, don’t you?”

“Oh, yes,” Bethany said, her eyes shining in admiration. “Ms Carlsson is the best teacher ever!”

Emma glanced at her phone. Still no message from Kane.

“Any time you have a problem,” Bethany went on, “Ms Carlsson knows how to sort it out.”

“Oh?” Emma asked, looking at Bethany with interest.

“Imagine that you had an argument with your best friend. What would Ms Carlsson advise you to do?”

“That’s easy,” Bethany replied. “Ms Carlsson says that friendship is the most important thing in the world. If you fall out with a friend, you should do everything you can to make things up between you.” “But how?” Emma asked. “Say sorry first,” Bethany replied without hesitation. “Ms Carlsson says that saying sorry is the first step to becoming friends again.”

“What if the other person was at fault?”

“Ms Carlsson says that when you have an argument with someone, usually both people are at fault.”

As Bethany got down to her calculations, Emma sat back on the sofa.

She had to admit that the argument hadn’t all been Kane’s fault. She had said things which she regretted.

She thought of all the joy Kane had brought into her life. It would be terrible if they lost each other.

She picked up her phone.

I’m sorry for the things I said. The balloon trip was a lovely idea. Forgive me?

Without giving herself time to change her mind, she pressed Send.

She slumped back on the sofa. Within moments there was a beep from the phone. I’m sorry, too. I’m an idiot.

Emma gazed at the message, the words blurring before her.

“Yes, but you’re my idiot,” she whispered.

“Finished!” Bethany cried, turning to Emma. “Auntie Emma, are you crying?”

“No.” Emma sniffed. “It’s just something in my eye.” She looked at the text. “Bethany, I think I agree with Ms Carlsson.”

“She’s great!” Bethany said.

Emma clapped her hands. “I feel like a celebration. Do you fancy an ice lolly?” Bethany frowned. “After I’ve done my spellings. Ms Carlsson says that you should never stop a task halfway through.” Emma shrugged. “Well, she’s the boss.” n