Saving Face

Fears are tackled in this sparkling short story by Christine Bryant.

Whatever he did, Cole couldn’t let Zak know he was afraid of the dentist!

MUMMY says I can go with you tomorrow,” Zak said. Cole was shaving. Putting down his razor, he looked at his son, who was gazing up into his face expectantly, his dark hair tumbling to one side. “Tomorrow, Zak?” Crouching down to his son’s level, Cole looked into his eyes.

“And where are we going tomorrow, then?”

Zak gave a giggle. “Daddy, you know! We’re going to the dentist. Mummy says I can go with you to your appointment.” Cole frowned.

“I don’t have an appointment, Zak. Mummy’s got that wrong. Mine’s not for ages yet.

“Look.” He walked across to the calendar.

In the space allotted to the 27th were the words: 8.30 a.m. Cole – dentist appointment.

“That must be wrong,” he said, fighting the knot in his stomach. “There’s no way it’s been six months.” “What’s it like, Daddy?” Cole shook his head.

“It can’t have been six months.”

Zak tugged at his trouser leg.

“What’s it like at the dentist, Daddy?”

Cole took a deep breath. “You’ll love it, Zak,” he said with enthusiasm. “I do. Rupert’s such a nice man.

“And he has this fantastic chair you can sit in, like they have in spaceships.

“It’s brilliant, moves up and down and tilts and everything. And it’s so comfortable, like a big, soft armchair.”

Cole’s voice tightened. Get a grip, he told himself. You’re thirty – a grown man.

The thought of the dentist might bring him out in a cold sweat, but he mustn’t show that to his son.

It was all so ridiculous. Rupert was a nice man.

He was patient, kind and understanding with nervous wimps like him, but for some absurd reason, Cole was reduced to a trembling heap every time he had to visit.

It wasn’t a new thing. For as long as he could remember he’d been nervous.

That was fine when he was a kid, but now?

He looked back at the calendar. There must a mix-up.

“What do they do at the dentist, Daddy?”

Cole moistened his lips. “Oh, lots,” he replied, trying not to think of all the possibilities. “But let’s not worry about it now; it’s not until tomorrow.

“Come on, let’s go and have some breakfast,” he finished.

Tomorrow was ages away yet, he told himself. No need even to think about it.

All that day Cole kept himself busy, trying not to think about the appointment.

The bathroom walls got their final coat of paint.

The lawn was mown to within an inch of its life, and the flower-beds thoroughly weeded.

After two bedtime stories and a song with Zak, Cole sat down to escape for an hour to the fictional village of Potters Cross to enjoy the weekly TV murder mystery.

Exhausted, he fell into a deep sleep until six o’clock the next morning, when a very excited little boy rushed in.

“Tomorrow’s here, Dad!” Zak cried. “We’re going to the dentist!”

Cole’s delight at waking on a beautiful sunny morning next to the woman he adored suddenly crumbled to dust.

The appointment.

The familiar ache of anxiety returned.

I must be brave, he told himself. I mustn’t show any kind of nerves to Zak.

“So it is!” he exclaimed with a very weak smile. “How exciting!”

Slowly, he crawled out of bed.

His legs felt like lead. Lifting them laboriously one after the other, he lumbered towards the bathroom and stared at himself in the mirror.

You’re thirty, he told himself again. You can do this.

Straightening up, he took a deep breath, balanced his fists on his hips and struck a pose like Arnold Schwarzenegger.

You can do this, he told himself. Time to step up to the plate.

Zak was relying on him. His wife was relying on him.

Staring at his reflection, he threw out his chest and held up his chin.

“By night,” he said aloud, “Cole Billings was an ordinary, mild-mannered husband and dad, but by day he became Superdad, boldly going to the dentist like no dad has gone before.”

“I hate to interrupt, Superdad,” a gentle voice said from behind him, “but your son’s waiting for you.”

Cole whirled round and swept his wife off her feet. She gave a little squeal. “Never fear, Tina,” he told her. “Superdad is here.”

“He’s been ready since seven,” Tina said.

“Oh. Has he?”

She nodded. Her voice dropped to a whisper.

“Never fear,” he told her. “Superdad is here”

“Would you rather I took him to my next appointment instead, love?” she asked. “It’s no problem.”

Cole shook his head.

“Of course not,” he said. “I’ll take him. It’s just a check-up.”

Cole’s air of confidence lasted almost until the bottom of the stairs.

Then back the butterflies came in their hundreds. And they’d all brought a friend.

“I don’t . . . um . . . think I’ll have any breakfast this morning,” he said.

Tina looked at him.

“It might help.”

Under the table, Cole mopped a moist hand on his leg.

Above the table, he shook his head.

“No.”

Tina walked across and squeezed his shoulder. “OK, love.”

Cole watched the hands on the clock tick round.

When that says 10 o’clock, he thought, I’ll be back home.

He was sorting the spoons on the table for the umpteenth time when Zak burst in and announced it was time to go.

Cole rose to his feet. “Wow, is it? Then we’d better get going.”

All along the high street, Cole prayed the junction would be clear, though why it should be different that morning he didn’t know.

As he joined the inevitable queue, his mind was churning.

If I could get to the dentist earlier, he thought, someone might have called to cancel and I could go in earlier.

Then it would all be over earlier, and he’d be home with Tina enjoying his breakfast earlier, and . . .

The lights flicked to green.

His foot pressed on the pedal and they were away, through the junction.

Suddenly, looming up before them, there it was.

Rosebridge Dental Practice.

“Is this it, Dad?” Zak asked.

“Yes.”

“Is this where Rupert lives?”

Cole wasn’t up to explaining that the dentist didn’t actually live there, so he just nodded. “Are we going in?” “Yes.” Stepping out of the car, they walked in through the doors.

The smell hit Cole at once.

It was the smell that said here was a place of fillings and antiseptic.

In a kind of daze, he floated across to the reception desk.

The receptionist looked up, bright and breezy as usual.

“Good morning, Mr

Billings,” she greeted him.

“I’ve . . . um . . . got Zak with me,” he burbled. “My wife rang?”

“She did. That’s fine.” Leaning over the desk, she added, “Hello, Zak. Have you come with Dad to see Rupert today?”

Zak gripped Cole’s hand and hid behind his leg.

It’s you, Cole thought. He’s picking up on your anxiety.

With an enormous effort, he forced a smile to his face.

“Yes!” he cried, speaking for Zak. “And it’s going to be great fun!”

Relaxing, Zak wandered over to a little table spread with Lego.

Cole looked again at his watch. Almost there.

Sitting down stiffly on a chair, he tried to take his mind off things by reading a magazine, but his fingers were sticking to the pages.

While Zak was absorbed in building a scale model of their house, he nipped into the bathroom.

When he came out, Rupert was helping Zak with the final brick.

“Morning, Cole,” he said with his usual broad smile. “Would you like to come through?”

Not really, Cole thought. “Morning, Rupert,” he replied instead. “Yes, of course.”

As they walked in, Zak slipped his hand into Cole’s for reassurance.

All through the examination, Zak remained by his side, squeezing his hand like a vice.

Every now and then, Cole squeezed Zak’s hand in return.

To Cole’s amazement, Zak even volunteered to show Rupert his teeth.

And when Rupert gave him a sticker, he insisted Cole have one, too.

“Are we going home now, Dad?” Zak asked as they left the surgery.

Relief flooded over Cole like a shower of rain.

“We are,” he replied.

“How did you get on?” Tina asked as they walked through into the kitchen. Cole nodded and smiled. “It was fun, Mum!” Zak cried. “I made a model out of Lego!”

“Wow!” she exclaimed, giving him a hug.

In a buoyant mood, Cole reached across to flick the switch on the kettle, ready for a celebratory cup of tea and maybe a chocolate biscuit or two.

Out of the corner of his eye, he watched Zak telling Tina all about it.

His son seemed quite unfazed by the whole thing.

Superdad strikes again, Cole thought.

“Thanks for that,” Tina remarked as Zak rushed into the lounge to play with his toys. “It sounds like he had a great time.”

Cole laughed.

“I think he did,” he agreed. “He hung on to my hand all the time I was in

Zak slipped his hand into Cole’s for reassurance

the chair.

“Anyone would think he was the parent, not the other way round.”

Tina chuckled as she turned away to make tea.

“Bless him. That would be funny, wouldn’t it?”

The End.