49. Love at first sight (1/4)

I have just read Part 1 of Becoming by Michelle Obama. In part one she tells of how she met Barack (and how he proposed, excellent!). The story of how they met is a classic story but nonetheless amusing, she writes about it in an almost chatty tone and it reads like a story told by a friend.

So it inspired me to write this. 

Back in those days I was living in Glasgow, studying in Edinburgh and working for a tutoring agency to help finance all this.
I got a phone call one evening when I was so tired I just wanted to crash out. It was the lady running the tutoring agency, who by then knew me well enough. She started cautiously.

'I know you don't like teaching adults but ...'

I cut her off.

'No, no adults. Thanks. You know that.'

She ignored me and went on.

'I know. I know. But listen to this. I've got this client and I really don't know what to do with him.'

I tried protesting some more but again she ignored me and went on blabbering about this client. He was English. He had learned French in Africa and wanted to keep it up. No pressure, just conversational French. You know, he sounds really keen and best of all he lives just two stops from you on the underground. 

'Thank you but no. You've got other teachers for French.'

Then she played the desperate card:

'Come on, please, you'd actually be doing me a favour. Just go for two lessons and if you still not happy, I'll send someone else.'

And it worked. I had to agree. I was tired and I'd think about it later. As I said yes and she prepared to give me the details I kept thinking I should think first, then act, not the other around. But it was already too late.

She had cheered up instantly and in a happy sing-song voice she gave me more information about the tricky case.

'So, as I said, he lives in the East End, two stops from you, he has travelled in Africa and started to learn French there and liked it, he worked in France on boats in Cannes before going to Africa and that's where he ...

Just when I was going to tell her I did not need to know all this right now, she said something that had me straighten up on the spot. Suddenly I was not so tired.

'And he's an embalmer and works for the funeral directors in Dumbarton Road.' And with these words she cut me off.