” said the guy. “I’m Alex …you can come in and wait for a while if you like.”Hannah regarded him with curiosity. He was sorta fit. A bit ski...ny but stylishly dressed with a well manicured afro. “Will she be long?” “It’s really important.”Alex laughed. “Yeah, not long, you can wait in here.” He gestured in to the flat and stood aside. Hannah slid past him and he closed the door behind her then followed her down the short narrow hallway to the lounge. The smell of weed was overpowering and as she. " I was afraid you'd laugh," she said, uncertainly.He looked at this complicated woman who had upset his normal, sedate, almost boring world. He'd dreaded getting a student teacher, then been delighted when it turned out to be Cee Cee. Since then the proverbial pendulum had swung both ways. Now it looked like it was on the side of things that was stressful, rather than joyful. It was obvious, from her tone, that she didn't WANT to have a crush on him. He knew she was down on men, and what. “Ava actually sent me. She’s afraid to come herself.”“Huh?” Why?” I said.“She says her being around is kinda like rubbing your nose in it. Well, it’s what she thinks,” said Bea. I snorted.“It is and it isn’t. Anything else?” I said.“Candace will be by. She’s living the dream. Married, working, going to school, and well, busy.”“All of them are shocked that you sent Marian packing. Me too,” she said.“That’s not true. She and I decided to split up because we simply were just not in love. We were,. So, we are given hoes and all troop off to work on the flower beds, of which there are several very large ones.It's my first really good look at the Inward Bound "Spa" from the outside in daylight.The building is quite large, but extends much further back than the frontage suggests.The garden looks rather "municipal": all flower beds and banks of small conifers and rhododendrons. The main drive winds away and is very soon lost behind the trees. I glance round, but there are no other buildings.