Chapter One

Tuesday 1st December

Sally Braithwaite had just turned 34 years old and as far as she was concerned, it might as well have been the end of her life. She had never been what her friends would call a socialite, preferring to stay home and study until University finished. But then she had a career to take care of, and that meant long hours, putting in the effort so that she could be where she was today.

And it wasn’t that she didn’t like being head of English at the local comprehensive; it just wasn’t fulfilling all of her needs anymore. This was it as far as her ambition went, and it was an achievement for someone of her age, but she had worked for it and at a cost to her private life.

In all honesty though, she wasn’t living the dream. And now, Christmas was around the corner and those cold wintry nights had been drawing in and bringing with them a need that Sally hadn’t dwelt on before.

“The problem is, Gabby,” she said one evening to her best friend and partner in crime – well, not really, because neither of them had a reckless bone in their bodies, but she liked the terminology. “The problem is… I’m old.”

“Pfft,” Gabby said, rolling her dark eyes at her friend. “You’re not bloody old. Jesus, what are you saying? I’m 36, Sal. That would make me what?”

“Ancient!” they both said together before laughing at themselves.

“Oh, you know what I mean, Gabby,” Sally said. Reaching for the teapot, she topped up their mugs and then considered which of the mince pies she wanted for herself. “When did this happen?” she asked, waving a hand back and forth the length of her body, icing sugar flying off of the Christmas delicacy. “When did I fall apart and become this frumpy…”

“Don’t you dare say old again,” Gabby warned playfully as she leaned forward to take her own mince pie. The melodic sound of George Michael singing “Last Christmas” with Wham played out over the speakers, and she found herself swaying slightly to the music.

Sally smiled, her crystal blue eyes sparkling as she pushed a hand through her hair. The blonde strands were messy from hours under the woollen hat she had worn. “Fine, we’re not old, but I feel it.”

Gabby sighed and reached out a hand across the table, her darker skin contrasting perfectly with Sally’s pale and freckled complexion. She squeezed gently and then smiled to herself as she caught a glimpse of them both in the reflection of the window. “You just need to get out more, that’s all. You’re always cooped up at home on some pretence of working.”

“It’s not a pretence…”

Gabby raised a perfectly tweezed brow at her. It was true. Half-term break had been and gone, and neither of them had done anything other than hang out with each other for the entire week. Not that it hadn’t been fun – she loved spending time with Gabby – but her friend was right.

“Fine, you’re right, we need to get out more.”

“Uh, we?” Gabby sat back, picked up her mug, and sipped it, staring at her in disbelief. “I already go out, quite often actually.”

Now it was Sally’s turn to “pfft.” “Really? Visiting your mum’s, or the last school staff meeting drink up, doesn’t count. When was the last time you had sex? Like, really great sex?”

Gabby almost spat out her tea. “Sal!” She gasped, looking around the packed coffee shop at all the other Christmas shoppers taking a well-earned break. Thankfully, nobody was looking their way. “I…well…there was that hook up, what was her name?”

Nodding her head, the corner of Sal’s mouth lifted. “See, you can’t even remember. I can, it was Tanya.” She smirked knowingly.

“Tanya? That was like a million years ago!”

“I know.” Sal nodded again. “It was last year actually, if you wanted a reminder.” She chewed on the last bite of the Christmas treat. They had wandered into town after work, along with everyone else by the look of it. People trudged around, all bundled up as they filled bag after bag with goodies and gifts for the upcoming celebrations. Gabby and Sal were no different, with several bags piled up on the spare chairs at the table and on the floor around their feet.

“Bloody hell, we need to get laid!” Gabby suggested, finishing off the last morsel of her snack too.

Sally placed her cup down, “But I want more than that, Gabs. I want to be in love. I want to come home from work and find someone waiting for me, someone who knows me better than anyone else, someone who just makes my day better.”

Closing her eyes, imagining it, Gabby blushed a little. “Yeah, that would be nice.” She pursed her lips and considered something. Concluding, she said, “I joined a dating app a few months ago.”

Sally’s eyes widened. “You didn’t tell me!”

“Well, it’s kind of embarrassing, isn’t it? And anyway, I never really used it,” she fibbed a little sheepishly. The truth was, she checked in at least once a week, but nobody ever quite measured up enough to swipe yes to, though she often had tons of views and the odd message. If you could call them messages. The smiley faces and love hearts were meant to persuade you to join a conversation, but in all honesty, it bored Gabby.

“So, which one did you use?”

Gabby picked up her phone and scrolled. “This one, FindHer.com.” She turned it around so that Sally could see the screen.

“I’m not sure about them, aren’t they for losers?” Sally said, flicking across the screen.

Gabby stared open-mouthed and grabbed the phone back. “No, because I am not a loser. And stop flicking right, these people will think I’m interested.”

Sal’s smile widened at the idea. “Of course, you’re not a loser, but have you actually dated anyone half-decent on there?”

Narrowing her eyes, Gabby admitted, “I suppose not.”

“So, it would be better to go to a bar and have a real conversation, wouldn’t it?”

Gabby shrugged. “I guess so.”

“Right, so it’s agreed…you’ll be my wingman, so to speak, minus the dangly bits obviously.”

“Eh? Now, I didn’t say…”

“Oh, come on, Gabby. It’s the first of December, lots of parties and people going out. We should join them. You’re my best pal, who else is going to hang out with me in bars we have no right being in any longer?” When Gabby frowned at that, she added, “We’re too old, remember.”

Kissing her teeth, Gabby stood up, grabbed her coat, and began to wrap a bright red scarf around her neck. “You might be too old, but this prime specimen of womanly love is going to strut her stuff like… well, anyway, I gotta dash, Mum’s been a bit weird lately and I need to have a chat with her.”

“Okay, give my love to your mum, and remember, this Saturday we are out.”

Gabby leaned in and kissed her friend on the cheek. “Like, out, or out, out?”

Sal laughed at the joke from their favourite comedian. “Out, out. See you Saturday.”

Chapter Two

Saturday 5th December

When Saturday night came around, Sally found herself with another conundrum. What to wear? It was cold outside; it hadn’t snowed yet though, although the weather reports were threatening it.

“Gabs, it’s no good. I have to cancel,” she stated into the handset hooked precariously in the crook of her neck as she held up yet another dress and decided against it.

“What? Sal, I am outside your door. You ain’t cancelling now.” As if to prove the point, she pressed the doorbell. “See, now get down here and let me in, it’s freezing out here!”

Sally disconnected the call and stared at the dress a moment longer. Shaking her head and groaning out loud, she tossed it onto the bed, on top of the pile of others that hadn’t made the grade, and turned to head downstairs.

Opening the door to Gabby’s smiling face in turn made her smile. There had never been a time when seeing Gabby hadn’t made her happy.

“So, I got this… get us in the mood,” Gabby sung as she waved a bottle of bubbly from Tesco in her face. “I also ordered Derek to pick us up, drop us off…and then pick us up again tonight, because I am not waiting for a taxi. They said on the news that it might snow this weekend, and I am dressed to impress, not stay warm.”

Sally took the bottle from her and examined it as they wandered into the kitchen. While Gabby grabbed the glasses, Sal prised the cork out. “Snow would be pretty though.” Sal sighed wistfully; she loved winter. “And Derek is a star. Who knew your brother would be so useful?”

“Yeah, well he’s after using my flat next week to woo some girl he’s got his eye on. I said he could, as long as he did the ferrying around tonight, and you didn’t mind me crashing here next week.” Gabby slipped her coat off and flung it over the back of the nearest chair. “Oh, and I said we would give him a tenner for petrol. Well, I said you would. I am giving up my flat, and no amount of washing will ever make those sheets clean again.”

Sally laughed. “Fair enough.” She poured the drinks and they clinked glasses together in a toast. “To us, and lots of hot women later.”

“I’ll drink to that,” Gabby agreed. She took a sip and smacked her lips. “Ooo that’s good. So, where are we going tonight? I trust you have researched and found the best place.”

“Well, I checked out the bars and clubs on offer obviously, and quite frankly, there isn’t much choice. But…there is a new bar that recently opened in town. It’s called The G-Spot.”

Gabby stared at her. “You even said that with a straight face.”

“I know, quite proud of myself, actually.” Sal smiled. “I need help getting dressed.”

“You look great,” Gabby said, taking in her lithe figure hugged by low-slung jeans and a lightweight jumper that hung off of one shoulder. Her hair was up and looked casually coiffured, but Gabby already knew that there was nothing casual about it. Make-up was light, not too over the top. All in all, Sally Braithwaite was pretty damn magnificent. “Seriously Sal, you look…you’re gorgeous, my friend.”

Blushing, Sal waved her off. “You are biased.”

“I’m also a fully functioning bisexual woman with 20/20 vision.” Gabby winked. “Come on then, lead the way. Let’s go through this wardrobe of yours until we find something you’ll be satisfied with!” She grabbed her glass and the bottle before Sal could reply. “Might as well finish this off while we’re at it.”

Upstairs, Gabby gasped at the sight.

“I seriously need to go shopping for new clothes,” Sally said, lifting a tie-dye dress she had bought on a whim in Mexico three years ago. The holiday had been fun considering she had gone alone. This was what she had chosen to commemorate it instead of the usual fridge magnet, but it was not an outfit for December.

Gabby’s brow raised. “Seriously, you’re like the best dressed teacher on campus. However, this…” She took the tie dye dress from Sal’s hands. “…was clearly the product of too much tequila.”

“There may be some truth to that,” Sal said, tossing it towards the bin.

“So, top up?” Gabby laughed, realising this might actually be more difficult than she had thought. Mostly, Gabby saw Sally in work mode. The local comprehensive in town was a hotbed of absolutely nothing social wise, unless it was the after-hours drink in the hall following a parents evening. And with Sally being the head of department, there was a definite dress code that Sal followed to the letter. She was the perfect role model: a grown-up, sophisticated, fully focused on her job kind of woman. She wasn’t quite the ice queen; everyone loved Sally Braithwaite, but she was somewhat standoffish when it came to her private life. As far as Gabby knew, she was the only person from work who got to see Sal outside of office hours, and that was usually within the confines of their own homes.

They’d been friends on and off for years though. Meeting at teacher training school, they’d been the best of pals, but then life took them in different directions. Gabby married Cliff and had moved to another part of the country to teach English at a small private school. Sal, on the other hand, was living with Nicola at that point and settled in Woodington. Within five years though, both relationships had ended, and Gabby moved back home. It was at Sal’s insistence that Gabby apply for the vacant teaching job at Woodington Comprehensive.

They were inseparable, best of friends.

“So, I am thinking, now that I’ve seen you shimmy up in your glad rags, that I should make more of an effort,” Sal said, giving Gabby the once-over. Her best friend was taller by a couple of inches. She could get away with those kinds of short, thigh-hugging dresses that made her look a million dollars. Plus, the fact that her skin was darker set off the sparkle from those sequins perfectly. That kind of outfit would never work for Sal, not that she had the confidence to pull it off.

Sitting on the edge of the bed, she watched as Gabby was flicking through her wardrobe, muttering “nope” to herself as she examined everything quickly before pushing it aside on the rail. Then she stopped and pulled a hanger out. The red woollen dress that hung from it was not one that Sal had worn often. She had bought it on a whim in a sale and it was too bright for school, but it was a lovely dress.

“This would be perfect. With some heels and a warm jacket; it’s getting parky out there now.”

“Well, it is December, Gabs.” Sal frowned as she took the dress from Gabby and examined it. “Really? It’s not too…” She thought for a word. “Slutty?” She fingered the hem. The dress was short, and with a plunging neckline.

Wide-eyed Gabby burst into laughter. “Babes, you wouldn’t know slutty if it slapped you in the face and flashed the slut badge at you, and then walked you to Slutville, had drinks, and left you at the Sluts Hotel to do the walk of shame the next morning.”

Sally huffed and chewed her lip. “I don’t…” The sound of a car horn blasting outside stopped her in her tracks.

“That will be Derek. I’ll go tell him five minutes. You get dressed,” Gabby said opening the door to the bedroom. “Get that down you, and smile,” she ordered, pointing to the champagne flute that was still virtually full. “This is supposed to be fun.”

~Date~

Opening the door to her baby brother, Gabby grinned. A decade younger and a whole heap of trends different, he looked at ease in a pair of fancy kecks that clearly cost him most of his wages last month.

“Alright Sis, you two ready to go?” He leaned against the wall like he had nothing better to be doing. Which, in fairness wasn’t true. He was heading to football training with the lads and then for a couple of drinks at a local bar before picking Gabby and Sal up on his way home. Derek didn’t drink alcohol though; it would be mocktails all the way for him. He was all zen where his body was concerned. Nothing went in that didn’t need to be there. Gabby wished she had his ability for such focus, but God had invented chocolate and donuts for a reason!

“Almost, Sal’s just finishing getting dressed.”

Derek groaned, his eyes rolling before he looked at his wrist to check the time, and then he rubbed his hands together and hunched over with the cold. “I’ve got to be at training in 30 minutes,” he whined, and she was reminded of him as a four-year-old, when she was 14 and he irritated the shit out of her.

“Don’t panic, you won’t be late.” She stepped aside and held the door open wider for him to come in. “Get inside, you’re letting all the cold air in.”

He grinned at his sister. They were a lot alike in many ways. They had the same shaped face and nose, similar eyes too, but it was their personalities that were most alike.

“Where are you going anyway?” Derek asked, taking a seat uninvited in the armchair. Not that he needed an invite; Sal wouldn’t have a problem with it. Sal was family as far as the Dickson family were concerned.

“It’s a new bar, The G-Spot?”

Derek choked back a giggle. “Bloody hell, you sure you’ll find it?”

Gabby pursed her lips. “Never had a problem so far, but you’ve got a satnav, right? Cos I ain’t giving my baby brother directions.” She winked and he grinned back.

“Don’t worry, Sis. No complaints from the ladies so far.”

“Oh, that don’t mean they ain’t complaining, bubs. They just ain’t damaging your fragile ego.”

“Ouch,” he said, pulling a hurt face that made them both laugh out loud.

“What’s so funny?” Sal asked as she entered the room. The Dickson siblings both turned at the same time and let their jaw drop.

“Wow, Sal, you look…” Derek started.

“Amazing, really,” Gabby finished for him as her eyes roamed her friend’s body.

Derek nodded. “Yeah.” He grinned, noticing his sisters’ face.

Looking down at herself, and then at her friends, Sal said, “Really? I mean, I just…”

“No,” Gabby said, stepping forward. “Do not follow that up with a negative. You look great, now are you ready?”

Nodding, Sal smiled. “Yes.”

“Then lez party!” Gabby shouted, leading the way, with Sally and Derek both rolling their eyes at one another.

Chapter Three

The G-Spot was not at all what Sally had expected as they made their way inside and found some seats. It was still early, which was why there were seats available, and was also why it was almost empty. But it looked like a nice place, all clean and freshly decorated of course. It had a modern feel to it, unlike the dives of her youth. Bright colours adorned the walls with Christmas decorations hung loosely, but creatively from them, and the music was pretty mellow at this point.

“I’ll get us some drinks then, shall I?” Gabby said as she slid her coat off and threw it onto the seat. They’d picked a small U-shaped bench with a table. It had enough room for four people to sit comfortably, but plenty of room to dump coats and bags.

“Yes, thanks. The usual,” Sal said, looking around and taking it all in.

Gabby shook her head. “Nah, look, it’s cocktail hour, and it’s two for one.” She grinned. “Let’s try something new.”

“Alright, nothing too adventurous though.”

Gabby leaned in, not that the music was that loud, but there were now people sitting to the left of them. “Adventure is why we are here, Babes.”

Sal watched as her friend sauntered over to the bar and struck up a conversation with the woman standing next to her. Gabby was laughing at something the woman said and for a moment, Sal felt a pang of jealousy. Gabby was her friend, not this woman’s.

“Stop being ridiculous,” she scolded herself.

“Sorry?” A voice to her right got her attention. Turning towards it, she noticed a woman staring at her with a slightly comical expression on her face.

“Oh, uh… I was talking out loud… to myself, actually… I mean, not to myself, because that would be something different, but uh…”

The woman was smiling at her now. “Dawn,” she said, holding out her hand, a lopsided grin on her face. She was cute, if you liked the hippy style.

“Ah, hi. Sally,” she replied, a weak smile gracing her own lips. She had never really been particularly good at small talk with strangers. Going to the hairdresser’s was a nightmare.

“Hi Sally, is that your girlfriend?” Dawn asked, jutting her chin towards Gabby, who was still chatting to the woman at the bar, even though she held two very flamboyant-looking drinks in her hand.

Sally smiled at the thought. “No, my best friend, Gabby.”

“That’s good.” Dawn’s grin grew wider. “So, can I buy you a drink…” she asked, her eyes following Sal’s that lead right to Gabby and the drinks. “…later?”

“Sure, yes. Why not?” Sal spit out nervously. What was she nervous about? This was what she wanted, wasn’t it? She finally managed a smile just as Eartha Kitt sang ”Santa Baby.”

“Cool. I’ll see you soon then.” Dawn got up and meandered away, just as Gabby sat back down again, handing over what could only be described as petrol in a glass.

“Here you go, I see you’ve already pulled.” Gabby winked.

They both looked towards Dawn, who nodded and raised a glass back at them. “I wouldn’t say pulled…she’s buying me a drink later though.”

Gabby stared nonplussed at her. “Really? You wouldn’t say you…” Gabby kissed her teeth and turned away, sipping the bright drink through the paper straw. “I don’t even…seriously?” She grinned. “The woman was hitting on you, you know that, right?”

Once again, Sal turned to look briefly at Dawn. She wasn’t really Sal’s type, though she had to admit that she wasn’t sure she actually had a type. Dawn looked more of a bohemian, the kind of woman her dad would have called a flower child.

“I suppose, she’s not really my…”

Gabby glared. “There you go again with this negative shit. How do you know if she is your type? What you really mean is, you don’t like the way she’s dressed, or she’s not attractive to you.”

“That is certainly not what I mean…though, I mean she’s very different from anyone that I have dated in the past.”

“Uh huh.” Gabby nodded. “And they were all so successful, right?”

Narrowing her eyes, Sal picked up the drink and sipped the bright blue concoction. “Oh, dear god, what is this.” The alcohol content was overwhelming as it slid coolly down her throat.

“Hypnotic something. It’s alright.” Gabby grinned, and then her attention was caught by the woman at the bar. She gave a little wave, and the woman smiled back.

“I see I am not the only one to pull,” Sal snarked.

“Evie, I think that’s what she said. Look, why don’t we get them to join us?” Gabby suggested, placing her glass down onto the tabletop. “It could be fun.”

Sal grimaced.

“Can we just have another couple of drinks first and then see if they’re still interested?”

Gabby side-eyed her. “This is why you’re single.”

“I don’t see you with a ring on it,” Sal answered back, grinning at the Beyoncé connotations. They both loved Beyoncé.

“I have at least had sex with another human being in the last 2 years.”

Sally gasped. “I…no, you’re right. Christ on a pony, has it been that long?”

The ‘I told you so’ look on Gabby’s face said it was. “So, I think we should invite them over. See where the night leads.”

“Alright,” Sal finally agreed, “but let’s have a couple more drinks first. If they’re still interested, then we can invite them over.”

Gabby held out a fist and Sally tentatively bumped it. “Deal.”

Chapter Four

Dawn and Evie joined them at the table, with Sally and Gabby both shuffling to the centre of the U, Evie on one side and Dawn on the other. It was definitely cosy now that the music was much louder, and they needed to lean in toward one another to hear each other speak. They were so different from one another, but then, Sal supposed, so were her and Gabby.

Dawn was a little less put-together with her hair dragged up inside a scarf and very little make-up covering her fresh-faced complexion, where Evie was suited and booted in a very form-fitting jacket and matching trousers. Evie had her dark hair slicked back into a tight ponytail that made her face look a little pinched. Both were incredibly attractive, and that always made Sal a little nervous.

“So, what brings you here tonight?” Dawn asked, looking equally as nervous and twisting her body around to face Sally. The music was louder now, with a good beat. It meant that Dawn leaned in a little too close, but Sal had had another Hypnotic something and was feeling the buzz, so she went with it.

“Well, we just thought it was…” Sal began.

Gabby leaned back and cut in. “We just saw a new bar and figured we would give it a go.” She smiled and then hissed at Sal, “Don’t blow it by telling her you think you’re past it.”

“I won’t,” she hissed back at Gabby, smiling at Dawn.

“Ah right.” Dawn grinned. “I am glad you picked tonight,” she continued, her gaze lowering to Sal’s lips. “I almost didn’t come; there was a demo planned down at the chicken factory in Halethorpe, you heard about it?” Sal shook her head. “Terrible. But anyway, it was called off and…well, this is a good place to come instead, right?”

“Yes, and it’s very nice,” Sal got out quickly, feeling her cheeks burn at the intimate moment. She leaned back a little, felt the comfort of her friend’s back against her own and settled comfortably there.

Evie was a lot more forward, which suited Gabby. Why beat around the bush when you could delve in instead? They’d barely spoken since she joined them, but that didn’t seem to stop her from leaning in and capturing Gabby’s mouth mid speech.

And Gabby didn’t stop her, kissing back in a slow, sensual way that spoke volumes about where the night could end up. But then she remembered Sally and broke off the kiss. “Wow, you’re a little firecracker, ain’t you?” she said, catching her breath.

Evie leaned in again, this time against her ear, close enough to let her tongue slide down the shell, her soft, warm lips capturing the lobe. “I prefer not to fuck about, when I want to… fuck about,” she said, all breathy and sexy.

“Oh, well that’s…gosh, forward.” Gabby giggled nervously and thrust the straw into her mouth, sucking quickly on the potent drink.

Evie leaned in a little further. “I just know what I like when I see it, and right now…” She let her fingertip trail up from Gabby’s bare knee to the hem of her dress. “I like what I see.”

Gabby considered things for a moment. She was here to enjoy herself after all, wasn’t she?

“Oh, sod it,” she said, grinning. She deposited her drink on the table and the moment her hands were free, she grasped Evie with two hands wrapped around her cheeks and pulled her in for another searing kiss.

The not-so-gentle nudge to her side from behind reminded her that she was here as Sal’s partner in crime, and she brought the kiss to a slow, sensual end. “Well, that was…lovely.”

“Mm, it was. Do you fancy coming back to mine and I can show you a few other…lovely things?”

The pulsing beat between Gabby’s thighs right now told her that she would indeed love to discover what lovely things Evie had to offer; however, she wasn’t the sort to just dump her mate when they had plans to travel home together. “That would be lovely; another time though.”

Evie suddenly sat back. “Right, well suit yourself.” She flashed a big grin alongside a cheeky wink.

When she abruptly stood up, Gabby was a little gobsmacked. “Sorry, I just…”

“Don’t worry, babe. I’m looking for a hook-up, no strings…a just tonight kind of thing?” Evie leaned down then and against the shell of Gabby’s ear offered, “Unless you wanna go somewhere now?”

Gabby gulped. She had never done that sort of thing before. She grabbed Evie’s shirt and pulled her closer. “Where did you have in mind?”

Dawn was nice. That was what Sally thought, though her focus kept drifting back towards her friend and the precocious Evie. She seemed a little bit full on in Sal’s mind, but that wasn’t her problem, was it?

“Uh, Babes. Me and Evie are just gonna…” Gabby was standing as she spoke, pulling her dress lower nervously. Her cheeks had darkened too, a blush. “Be right back, alright?”

And then she was gone, dragged by the hand towards the exit.

“So, are you…I mean, would…I was thinking.” Dawn was rambling, but Sal’s attention was still on her friend’s back disappearing through the crowd.

She turned away from Gabby once she was out of sight. “I’m so sorry, what were you saying?”

“Oh,” Dawn chuckled nervously. “Another drink?” She held her empty glass in the air as proof.

“Sure, why not?” Sal smiled.

While Dawn fought her way to the bar, Sal glanced around. She felt a little exposed just sitting there by herself. The bar had filled up a lot in the last hour, and now people were jostling against the table as they moved past, knocking empty glasses. One or two women smiled at her from across the room, and she did her best to smile back, though she was sure Gabby would have called it a grimace because neither woman made any attempt to further the flirtation.

She sucked in a deep breath and released it slowly, just like Jana taught her at her weekly yoga session. There was a sense of peace that came with it. Grounded in the moment, she felt her foot tapping to the beat, and with the amount of alcohol currently in her system, she was beginning to loosen up.

By the time Dawn reappeared with their drinks, Sal was a little merry.

“Here you go.” She blushed, handing over the bright red drink. “It’s uh…it’s called a Love Potion.”

Sal giggled. “Well, let’s see if it works.”

~Date~

Derek drove steadily as they headed back to Sal’s to drop her off. Intrigued, he asked, “So, how was it?”

“Sal has a date,” Gabby announced gleefully. “With Dawn.”

“Oh, and what is Dawn like?” He grinned at Sal through the rear-view mirror.

Sal was a lot tipsy. Leaning forward as best she could with the restraining seatbelt, she waved a finger at him. “She seems very nice.”

“Very nice,” Gabby confirmed with a drunken nod of her head.

“Uh huh, well that’s good then, innit?” he laughed. “And what about you, sis? Anyone taking your fancy?”

Gabby was about to answer when Sal shouted, “Oh, she found someone to tickle her fancy alright.”

“Shh, Sal… I thought what happened in G-Spot, stayed in G-Spot,” Gabby slurred, but her face lit up at the memory of Evie and the back alley.

Derek banged his palm on the steering wheel. “Oh, now this I got to hear.” He laughed and leaned towards the door as Gabby playfully punched him. “Aw, come on, that’s not fair.” He continued to laugh.

Chapter Five

Monday 7th of December

Monday morning was just like any other, only Sally had a small spring in her step that wasn’t usually there. Her smile and cheerfulness were soon disrupted by the sound of heavy footsteps running in the corridor. She stepped out from the room and found one of the pupils bounding down the hall. “Bannister, stop running!” she bellowed. Ryan Bannister came to a halt.

“But Miss, I’m late for my lesson,” he whined whilst fidgeting about.

Sally closed the door and walked towards him. “You should have considered the time earlier, instead of hanging around outside with Nicolas and David.”

“Aw Miss, we was just…”

“We were, it’s we were, not was, Ryan.” She managed to halt adding something about the Queen’s English.

He rolled his eyes. “Yes, Miss.”

Sally narrowed her glare at him. He was a good kid, but one of those who could be easily swayed onto the wrong path. “And tuck that shirt in. Honestly, Ryan, you’ll be heading to the real world soon. Interviews, and a job, hopefully. Do you think any employer is going to want a slovenly young man who doesn’t speak nicely working for them?”

“No, Miss.”

“Exactly. So, up your game. You can be anyone you want to be in this world, Ryan. Aim high. Now, which class will you be late for?”

“Mr Peters, history.”

“Right, well I will have a word with him later. You can tell him that I held you up. Alright? Now, skedaddle.” She smiled gently and shooed him away. “And don’t let me catch you running again.” He waved back at her and she shook her head in amusement.

Back inside the classroom, there was a murmured hush that descended following the usual scuffing of chairs as those inside quickly found their seats again from the impromptu opportunity to stop working and chat with each other.

“Right, I assume you all read the homework piece set on Friday, considering that this subject is something you all chose to study for A-level,” she called out. Heads bowed and eyes shifted away, all except for Marie. The class swot sat bolt upright, face smiling and eyes wide with excitement. Sally loved her; she was the kind of kid that teachers dreamed of. A sponge, soaking up every little morsel of information you could throw at her. “Marie, tell me about Virginia Woolf.”

While Marie droned on about the virtues of the early twentieth century writer, Sal’s mind wandered back to Saturday night, and the time spent with Dawn, how she had timidly asked her on a date.

Dawn had already sent a text on Sunday afternoon to ask if Sal would be happy going back to G-Spot and then maybe dinner later at a restaurant Sal hadn’t been to before. Of course, she had said yes; wasn’t this the point? New adventures and trying new things. Dawn sounded excited about it, so obviously it must be somewhere she had been previously.

“And so, she was a lesbian…” The word instantly brought Sal from her thoughts. She spun around and looked directly back at Marie. Her long auburn hair hung lankly around her face, hiding a sprinkle of freckles, currently being heated by the light blush on her cheeks.

“What?”

Marie looked up at her with confusion on her face before saying, “Virginia Woolf, her and Vita had a torrid love affair.”

“Yes, yes, they did, but…I think that she was most likely bisexual, as she was married to Leonard for…” She stopped herself from rambling. “Anyway, that wasn’t part of the…you were meant to read Mrs Dalloway.” Sal was a little flustered at the turn of events.

“Yes, and I did, and then I was intrigued so I googled her and found out more about her. She was an amazing woman, though tragic. Her life spent….”

Sal stood up. “Well thank you, Marie, very insightful. So, did anyone else actually do the homework?” She looked around the class and noticed Mohammed nudge Charlie in the side. So, she wasn’t surprised when Charlie raised his hand.

“Yes, Charlie?”

“I’m just wondering, Miss…” He looked around the room to make sure that all eyes were on him. The class clown needed an audience. “You’re not married, are you?”

“I really don’t know what that has to do with anything, Charlie?”

“But Miss, is it true that you and Miss Dickson are like…you know?” His cheeks blushed, though Sal was fairly sure hers might have too.

“Not sure what you are getting at, but if we can get back to the point at hand. Mrs Dalloway.” She turned to the room to continue speaking, but Charlie wasn’t finished.

“Are you lovers, Miss?” he shouted out. Playing to the crowd, he seemed to enjoy being centre stage with his classmates.

Sally turned back to Charlie and glared at him until the class settled. “Charlie, it really isn’t appropriate to discuss such things in class.” She smiled at him. “Miss Dickson and I are not lovers. Not that it would be a problem if we were, but to put an end to any further gossip, we are not. Now, Charlie, why don’t you tell the class what it was that you found so enthralling about the book?”

~Date~

As the lesson drew to a close and the pupils filed out, pushing and shoving each other, grabbing bags, and with more noise than was needed, Sal breathed a sigh of relief. She thought year 12 classes would be a little easier. Most of the class had matured a little and they were all here by choice; it should have been a cinch.

When she looked up again, she found Marie, still carefully packing away her things, in no real rush to be anywhere.

“For what it’s worth, Miss Braithwaite,” she said, looking over her glasses at Sal. “I think you and Miss Dickson would make a beautiful couple.”

Sally considered her best friend and agreed; they would. “Thanks, Marie.”

Finally, with everything zipped up, Marie picked up her backpack and walked toward the desk. “Mohammed and Charlie saw you both on Saturday going into some gay bar in town, that’s why they are being such idiots about it,” she explained before leaving the room.

Chapter Six

Sally Braithwaite shuffled her way past colleagues and into the break room, grabbing Gabby by the elbow and dragging her away from the tea urn – and therefore, other prying ears. “We’re about to be outed!” she hissed.

Gabby gave her an amused smile and replied in a hushed whisper, “I didn’t know we were ined!”

An audible huff exited Sally’s mouth before she pursed her lips and poked Gabby. “Be serious.”

“Fine.” Gabby put her cup down and then dragged Sal back across the room and out into the corridor. “Right, explain what has got you all in a tizzy.”

“We were seen!” she exclaimed rather loudly, before bending towards Gabby and whispering, “Going into G-Spot, we were seen.”

Gabby’s eyes widened and she nodded slowly. “Oh I see, well that is just terrible.”

“I know.”

“Oh, shut up, don’t be so bloody drippy, what is wrong with you today? So what if someone saw us, it’s not against the law!”

Sally huffed, her lips thinning and pressed hard together. “Charlie Harrison and Mohammed…”

“Kids, the kids saw us?” Sally nodded, and now Gabby got it. “Buggering heck.”

“I was thinking something similar, but buggering heck will do.”

Gabby shrugged. “Just ignore them. The more attention we give it, the more they will want to talk about it.”

“Yes.” Sal nodded again. “You’re right. That’s what we should do.”

~Date~

That afternoon, Sally found herself with the same group of pupils, covering a Philosophy and Ethics class due to staff sickness. It began rather quietly, and Sal was hopeful that maybe that was the end of any discussion regarding hers, or Gabby’s, love life.

She was mistaken.

Charlie’s hand went up and she wandered over to where he was sitting and looked over his shoulder. “What’s the problem, Charlie?”

He frowned at first, and then grinned. “Nothing Miss. I wanted to apologise for my outburst during the last lesson.”

“Oh, well… thank you, that’s very welcomed.”

“Yeah, I mean, it’s not an issue anyway…you know? If you and Miss Dickson is gay, it’s not a problem. We all think you’re pretty cool, and being a lesbian, well it’s kind of trendy innit?”

“Right, well, I’m really not sure what to say to that Charlie, so why don’t we carry on with our actual work instead, okay?” she said before turning and walking back to her desk at the front of the class.

Before she could sit down, Marie had her hand up. “Miss, Charlie is right. None of us have a problem with you being a lesbian. It’s all quite…well, half the school is gender fluid nowadays anyway…”

“I see, well, again…thank you, now if we can get back to…”

“But Miss.” This time it was Sarah Jessop whose hand was waving at her. “I know at least five lesbians, three bisexual, and a pansexual, and that’s just in the sixth form. You shouldn’t hide it, Miss. You should be free to live as you please, without society’s oppression.”

“Alright, come on now. We’re not here to discuss my, or anyone else’s, private life.”

“Miss?” Another hand shot up from the back of the room.

“Yes, Pavel?”

He stood up; apparently it was customary in Poland to do so when speaking to the teacher. “So, I think it’s safe to say…” His accent was still quite strong. “…you love Dickers.”

“Right, enough.” She swiped through the air with both hands as a signal to stop. “I appreciate very much that you are all so interested; however, it is inappropriate, and we will not be continuing this conversation. But I can see I am going to get no sense out of you regarding environmental ethics. So, for the last 20 minutes of class, you can all write a short essay on Biodiversity.”

~Date~

When the bell rang, Marie and Sarah packed up and headed out into the hallway.

“Charlie said that Ms Dickson and Miss Braithwaite looked really happy together the other night. Do you think they really are together and are just pretending they’re not together at school?” Sarah said.

Marie turned her head slightly to the right and looked at her. “I don’t know, but isn’t it a shame, I mean, if they were really in love and couldn’t be out and proud about it?”

“Yeah. Must be really shitty.”

They walked along in silence until they came to their lockers and found Charlie and Mo jostling each other like two overgrown toddlers. The boys stopped when Sarah reached past to her padlock. “Maybe they’re hiding it because they’re worried about us finding out, but we kind of know now anyway,” she said, opening the locker door.

“You talking about Miss Braithwaite?” Mo asked, grinning at the girls.

Marie looked at him. “Yeah, why?”

He shrugged. “No reason. Me and Charlie was thinking same, innit?”

Charlie nodded and moved closer.

“Maybe they really aren’t together, and haven’t realised they’re in love with each other?” Sarah pondered.

“Maybe that is it,” Marie agreed. “You can usually tell when Braithwaite’s telling us something she doesn’t agree with, so I would imagine she struggles with lying too.”

“Wouldn’t it be nice if they got it together, for Christmas?” Sarah said, all wide-eyed and excited. “Maybe we could help?”

Looking from one to the other, Marie shook her head. “How would we do that exactly?”

Noses scrunched, lips pursed, and eyes looked to the floor. “Dunno,” said Mo, “But we could try?”

Chapter Seven

Sally sank down into the armchair, kicking off her shoes and sipping a large G&T. She had just released a pent-up breath of exhaustion when her phone rang. Fumbling in her pocket for it, she pulled it out and quickly glanced at the screen.

“Hey Gab.” Her voice sounded as tired as she felt.

“You alright? I thought I’d catch you before you left, but you were out the door like a ferret up a trouser leg.” She chuckled to herself and Sally couldn’t help but smile.

“Yeah, just exhausted. Think I am gonna have a bath and an early night.”

“Eh? Did she cancel then?”

“Huh?”

She heard her friend huffing. “I can’t believe she would leave it this late to cancel, but I suppose it works out fine if you’re that tired anyway.”

Sal had that horrible feeling that she had forgotten something. Glancing at the clock, she noted the time, 6.43 p.m., and then it hit her like a juggernaut. “Crap!” she shouted, stopping Gabby’s rambling instantly. “Dawn? I have a date with Dawn tonight?”

“Yes, that was what I was saying…wait, so she didn’t cancel?”

“No, oh god, I am never going to be ready on time. I said I’d meet her at seven. Why did you let me agree to a school night?” she whined, downing the rest of her drink and hurrying upstairs.

“I didn’t, you organised that all by yourself, like a grown-up, while I was otherwise occupied.”

“Oh yes, Evie. I never did get the details,” Sal said, rifling through her wardrobe.

“Yeah, not sure I want to share that much to be honest, know what I’m saying.” She heard her friend roar with laughter and switched the call to speaker, tossing the device onto the bed while she hurriedly stripped out of her work clothes and pulled on a clean pair of jeans. “Listen, wait there, I’m sending Derek. You’ll be traditionally late; it’s your prerogative as the femme.”

“Dawn’s a femme too,” Sal argued, pulling a jumper over her head. “I think. Maybe not, I don’t understand all of these new labels everyone has nowadays, but I would say she was femme.”

“Good, then let’s hope she’s late as well.” Gabby giggled. “Just chill, Sal. It’s gonna be fine.”

~Date~

It wasn’t fine. Derek arrived at ten past seven. By the time Sal got to the bar it was almost 7.30 p.m., and Dawn was already there waiting.

“I am so sorry, got held up at work.” She blushed. Great, starting a potential new relationship on a lie, she thought to herself. “Have you been waiting long?”

“Oh… well, I got here a few minutes early, but it’s okay. I had a drink… or two.” Dawn giggled and held up an empty glass to prove it.

“Ah, right, well I’ll go get us some more. Same again?”

“Sure, but really, whatever you think is best, gorgeous.” She slurred a little and almost fell off her seat as she leaned towards Sal. “I think I am a little squiffy.” She chuckled, holding her finger and thumb closely together.

“Yes, quite! Uh… right, you sit there, and I’ll be right back.”

At the bar, Sal waited patiently, exchanging smiles and small talk with those next to her. Eventually she was served and tottered back over to deliver the drinks. But Dawn wasn’t there.

Glancing around, she spotted her easily, on the dance floor with another woman.

“Great,” Sally muttered to herself. Dawn waved over at her, and like an idiot, she waved back. Deciding that sitting down comfortably and drinking her drink would be preferable to continuing to stand on tired feet watching her date cop off with someone else, she plonked down and shoved the straw into her mouth.

When Dawn finally returned, Sal had drunk her drink too. Mixed with the G&T from earlier, now she was a little tipsy too.

“Oh wow, the music is just epic, don’t you think?” Dawn grinned. “Seriously, you should join me.” It was then that she winked and leaned in. “Might be fun, you know?”

“Yes, maybe later. I was rather hoping to spend some time getting to know you better.” She didn’t quite recall Dawn being this confident and flirty at the weekend.

“Sure, yeah. So, alright…” Dawn pulled her chair closer, her legs open so that one knee slid either side of Sal’s legs. “Do you like being naked, Sal?”

Sitting further back to avoid the instant waft of sweat and patchouli that engulfed her, Sal said, “Pardon?”

Dawn leaned in a little further. “I’m a nudist. Weekends I go to this great little place. I thought maybe you’d like to go with me this weekend.”

Sal was not a prude, but nudity on a second date with a woman who had barely spent any time with her on the first date, was pushing it, and it was bloody December. “It’s not really the weather for a nude camping trip, surely?”

Dawn laughed. “Oh, we only do tents in the summer. In the wintertime it’s all indoors. Log fires in the rooms. It’s very warm.”

“Sounds very…cosy,” Sal suggested, before changing the subject forthwith. “So, remind me, what it is you do for a living, Dawn?”

“Oh, I work at Boots. Part-time like; I need to be free for the group.”

“The group?” Sal asked, preferring this line of conversation to that of nudist camps.

“Yeah.” She beamed. “I am a member of Action Now, Uprising, Sabotage.”

Sal almost choked on her drink. “Anus? You’re a member of a group called ANUS?” she chuckled. “That’s just bum luck, isn’t it?”

Dawn did not look impressed. She smiled like a woman who had heard it all before. “Yes, it’s rather unfortunate. But it’s a profoundly serious group. We go on demos and—”

“But it’s called ANUS? I mean, surely you can see…”

“No, I don’t think I do see. You’re not taking this very seriously, Sally. The world is full of people who take advantage, who seek to delve into their own selfishness and create problems for the rest of us. We stand up for those oppressed. Last week we spent a night chained to the fence of Hassocks and Sons in an effort to save the elm tree on their land.”

“The elm tree?” she quizzed. “The one that is rotten, and could fall at any moment?” She couldn’t fathom how this poor tree was oppressing society.

Dawn was nodding. “That’s the one. Who are we to take the decision for nature? Action Now, Uprising, Sabotage, are the only group actively trying to—”

“I’m sorry, but you really are talking out of your backside. That tree is a danger.”

“No, it’s a living thing and therefore…” She lost her train of thought as something, or someone, caught her eye. “Be right back.” She pointed her finger like a toy gun. “Don’t go anywhere!”

Sal checked her watch; she’d had enough already. Dawn was dancing again with the same woman as before. Grabbing her coat, Sal got up and made her way through the growing crowd, waving bye to Dawn before heading out onto the street, her phone already in her hand ready to call Derek.

With the phone to her ear, she looked up and found Charlie standing across the road, staring, and waving at her, grinning from ear to ear. “Another date, Miss?”

“For God’s sake,” she muttered.

“Alright Sal, I did say give us a call when ya ready, no need to be huffy…” Derek was saying.

“Oh, Derek, no, not you Hun….” She sighed. “Can you come and get me, I’m done.”

“It’s only 8.30 p.m. You sure you don’t want me to take…my…time?” he said, dragging out the last bit.

“No, absolutely not. Look, I am going to start walking. I’ll wait up on the corner, by Tesco’s.”

“Alright, on me way. Don’t talk to weirdos,” he said seriously. Gabby would kill him if anything happened to Sal, and his mother wouldn’t be far behind with her rolling pin aimed at him.

She laughed. If only he’d been on the date with her, he’d know it was too late.

Chapter Eight

Tuesday 8th December

Walking through the school car park the following morning, Sal was absentmindedly thinking about the previous night. What a let-down it had been. She should definitely have taken Gabby; at least they could have gone on to have dinner, or just hang out.

The sudden bump to her shoulders almost knocked her off of her feet.

“Morning! So, how did it go?” Gabby leaned in, grinning.

“Bloody awful,” Sal replied, linking arms with her friend. It was chilly this morning, and a fine mist hung in the air like a blanket of ice.

“What? She seemed so…nice, the other day?” Gabby frowned. “Did you start talking about…”

“I did no such thing. I was late admittedly, but she spent most of the night dancing with someone else… and then, when she did sit down, it was to tell me all about…” She looked around to check there were no young ears pricking up. “Do you know she is part of a protest group….” She chuckled, and the more she thought about it, the funnier it got, until they had to stop walking. Sal was almost doubled over with laughter. “She’s… Oh God, it’s…” She was laughing so much that Gabby couldn’t help but join in.

“Come on, Sal… what’s so funny?”

“Oh Gabs, she…Okay, let me get it together.” She stood up properly and cleared her throat, pressing her lips together until finally, she had herself under control. “So, she’s all serious and telling me about this protest group she’s part of. It’s called…” She chuckled again but got it together more quickly. “It’s called, Action Now, Uprising, Sabotage.” She looked at her friend and waited, her hand covering her mouth to stop the giggle that threatened to bubble up.

Gabby was mentally doing the somersaults that would get her to where Sal was. “Action Now…Uprise? ANUS!!!” she said louder than she intended. The pair of them roared with laughter. “Oh Sal, did you keep a straight face?”

“Did I heck?”

They continued to walk, with everyone around them staring at them as they passed. “So, I assume you won’t be joining her on one of these Anal protests?”

“Nope, definitely giving that the bum’s rush.”

“Bottom of the pile then?” Gabby continued the pun-driven conversation as they entered the building, still chuckling.

“Well, I’d be an arse to continue, wouldn’t I?”

Gabby laughed loudly again, and Sal took a moment to enjoy her friend’s exuberance. If there was one thing Sal loved most about Gabby, it was the way she would toss her head back and laugh with genuine hilarity. “I’ll catch you at break, yeah?”

“Yes, save me a donut. It’s Peter’s birthday; he said there would be cakes.”

~Date~

The staff room had been transformed into a Christmas grotto overnight. Baubles hung off of brightly coloured tinsel that was pinned to the wall with tacks nicked from the school office supplies cupboard. There was a tiny tree (not real, of course) proudly displayed on the windowsill next to a cactus that had clung to life desperately despite nobody really taking much care of it. Every now and then someone felt sorry for it and poured the remnants of a bottle of water onto its soil, and that was about it. But it didn’t seem to care, defiantly standing tall regardless. It also had a tiny Santa’s hat on it.

“Oh, it’s very…Christmassy, isn’t it?” Sal said, as she came in for the first time and looked around in wonder. “I really love this time of year,” she continued, reaching for her cup and heading for the kettle.

“Yeah, me too. Shame though, it’s gonna be a weird one this year,” Gabby said, looking up at her from her place on the stained sofa.

“How come? It’s always a blast at your house.” Sal dropped a teabag into the cup and waited for the water to boil.

“Well, Uncle Neville, you know, Mum’s brother in Trinidad?” Sal nodded; she did indeed remember Uncle Nev, as he told her to call him. “So, he’s not doing too good apparently. Mum said she is gonna go take care of him for a while. Ya know, since his wife Aunt Sibby died, he’s kind of fallen into a depression.”

“Aw that’s a shame, I mean for him. Your mum will love it though, won’t she?”

Gabby laughed, “Yeah. she loves nothing more than bossing her brothers around.” She grew more serious. “But it will be weird, Christmas without her?”

The kettle boiled and Sal filled the mug. “Then you’ll come to mine and we will have our own Christmas!”

“What? You not going to your parents’?” Gabby said, watching as Sal moved around and took the empty seat next to her.

Sal tutted. “What, when I can stay here with my bestie and enjoy it? It’s the perfect excuse. Mark will be there with…” She pulled a miserable face and grunted, “Sharon. And the girls…” Her brother was alright, but his choice of wife was questionable in Sal’s opinion. “The opportunity to avoid those spoilt….”

“Sally.” A voice interrupted her, and she looked up and over her shoulder. Mr Dobson, the newest teacher on the block, looked down at her. His handsome face lit up, dimples popped, and the sparkle in his eyes gave him a warm and friendly appearance, which had gone down well with many of the other female teachers, as well as some of the male teachers too. “I was hoping to catch you,” he said confidently.

“Oh, well consider me caught.” She inwardly cringed the moment she’d said it and felt Gabby snigger next to her.

“That’s good to hear.” He continued to grin. “The uh…staff Christmas knees up? They’ve changed the date to the 22nd, new venue. The old one had to close apparently. Anyway, I don’t suppose you fancy….”

“Oh, she can’t,” Gabby jumped in, understanding where this was heading and realising that he hadn’t gotten the memo yet about which staff members were LGBTQ. “She’s already has a date.”

He blushed. “Ah, really… well that’s… uh w-who?”

“Me.” Gabby flashed him a pearly white grin that twinkled brighter than the fairy lights that decked the message board. “She lost a bet, so now she’s all mine.”

“Uh, yes, that’s right. Lost a bet,” Sal confirmed with a smile.

“Right, well that’s good. I just didn’t want you to have to go alone.” He ran a hand nervously through his hair before turning on his heel and leaving.

Sal turned slowly to her friend. “Bloody cheek,” Gabby said on her behalf.

“At least I have one decent date to look forward to.” Sal laughed.

Chapter Nine

Wednesday 9th December

“Don’t laugh,” Sal said seriously to Gabby as she climbed out of her car and yawned.

“That’s not fair, now I will want to laugh regardless.” Gabby smiled, but her friend’s serious face made her frown in an instant. “What is it?”

“I’ve joined FindHer,” she said quickly, before turning and walking towards the building, leaving Gabby to chase after her.

“Hold up…You did what?”

Sal stopped, turning back to face her friend, her eyes narrowed beneath her fringe. Eyeing Gabby up and down, she took it all in. Underneath the knee-length puffer jacket, she wore casual white cotton slacks with a lot of unnecessary pockets, a black V-neck jumper, and high-top canvas boots. “Is it dress down Friday?”

Gabby looked down at herself and then at Sal, who wore her customary outfit from Saint & Sofia: a black dress with a knee-length pencil skirt beneath a trendy white trench coat, with knee-high black leather boots to finish the aesthetic. She was always stylish whatever the weather.

“No, I just thought I’d be a little more comfortable, and stop changing the subject. What are you talking about? FindHer? You said those apps were for losers.”

Sal sighed and then smiled at Charlie passing them by. Her voiced lowered, and she leaned in. “Yes, but you’re on it, so it can’t be that bad.”

Gabby looked away when she felt the edges of her lips twitch.

“Don’t you dare,” Sal said, noticing it too.

The twitch turned into a curl and then a giggle erupted. “Oh, come on, this is funny, Sal.”

Huffing, Sal smiled. “Yes, it is. But anyway, I figured I would give it a go. What’s the worst that can happen?”

Gabby thought about whether to mention murderers, weirdos, stalkers, the mentally unstable… or just leave her friend in a peaceful bliss. She chose the latter. “So, any hits?”

“Lots actually, I had to turn the sound off as it was pinging every few minutes.” She blushed. “However, most are from men, which I don’t understand. Because I specifically filled out ‘women only’ and ‘lesbians.’”

“That does tend to be a problem,” Gabby sympathised.

“And then I had to get the hang of it, and I think I sent invitations to a few people without really looking at them. So many people do not even fill in their profile. I mean, how am I supposed to deduce if we will be compatible when I can’t even tell if they like the same music?”

Gabby nodded.

“It’s all quite shallow really, basing things off of looks. But… there are a couple I have my eye on.” She winked.

Rubbing her hands together, Gabby grasped Sal’s elbow. “It’s freezing. Let’s go in.”

As they walked away, Charlie nudged Mo. “Did you hear that?”

“No, what?” He shrugged his arm and pushed the backpack back onto his shoulder.

“They’re both using a dating app.”

“So?”

“So? Didn’t we all agree they should be together?”

“Yeah, what are you thinking?”

Charlie grinned, pulled his phone from his pocket, and turned to Google. “A bit of matchmaking. But we need Marie and Sarah onboard.”

“Why?”

Rolling his eyes, Charlie smirked. “Because they will know what to write that sounds like a girl, innit?”

“Ah, good point.” He slapped Charlie on the back. “Come on, let’s find them.”

~Date~

A flurry of snow excited the class the instant that Pandora screamed, “Snowflake!” Tiny specks of white dropping like dandruff upon the earth was so much more interesting than Virginia Woolf. And for a moment, Sal was caught up in it too. Hadn’t she always loved the winter months? Snuggles on the sofa, sipping hot chocolate, and watching an old black and white movie. She just needed someone special to do it with.

“A white Christmas would be nice, wouldn’t it, Miss?” Marie said, grinning back at her as bodies jostled for space to stare out through the window.

“Yes, I suppose it would.”

“All romantic-like, eh?” Marie continued. “Are you and Miss Dickson spending Christmas together, Miss?”

Flustered, Sal told the truth. “Yes, this year we are actually.”

A loud “Oooo!” rang around the classroom. Sal rolled her eyes before clapping her hands. “Alright, back into your seats. We still have a few more minutes left.”

“I think Miss Dickson is the nicest other teacher here, Miss,” Marie continued. “You and her would make a lovely couple.”

“Miss Dickson is…” The loud bell rang out over the school speaker system. “Okay, time’s up. Pack up quietly and remember that next week is our last lesson before Christmas.”

“Are we having a party?” Charlie shouted, shoving his books into his bag.

“You all know that the school’s party will be later that evening.” Sal smiled. “But I am sure we will find something fun to do. See you all next week.”

One by one they filed out, chairs scraping against the floor as they pushed past and into the hallway. When the room was empty, Sal pulled open the drawer on her desk and picked up her mobile phone. Swiping the screen, she noted the notifications waiting and was pleasantly surprised to see one from FindHer.com.

Hello, I saw your profile and I thought I would drop you a line and wondered if you’d like to get a drink sometime.

Faith

She pressed the icon that brought up Faith’s photograph. A dark-haired woman with dark sunglasses stared back at her. Swiping across, the next photo showed the same woman holding a glass of wine. This time the way in which she stared at the screen brought goosebumps to Sal’s arms. Self-assured, confident. She reminded Sal of the popstar, Rihanna.

Licking her lip, Sal considered things. It was awfully close to Christmas and she still hadn’t finished her shopping, which was now much more important if Gabby and Derek where going to be coming over. Her eyes dropped to the phone again, and the photo of Faith. She was gorgeous, and wouldn’t it be simply perfect to have found someone special for Christmas? A drink didn’t have to take all night, did it?

She clicked the reply button and quickly typed a message.

Hi Faith, thank you for getting in touch. I would love to get a drink with you, tomorrow night maybe. I am free around 8 p.m.

Sally

Moving apps, she text Gabby.

>Tomorrow night, wingman duties!!

She tossed the phone into her bag and stood up. Maybe this Christmas was going to be the best one ever.

Chapter Ten

The four of them crowded around Marie’s laptop. They had congregated round at Sarah’s place because her mum worked in the evenings and they would have the place to themselves to get things done.

“Right, here is the app,” Marie said, pointing to the screen that now had a photo of two women looking like they were in love, and the words ‘Time to FindHer’ typed in a bold font.

“Alright, so sign us up,” Mo urged.

“I will, but first we have to decide, are we paying for it, or just going to hope we can entice them towards each other?” Marie asked, looking around at her friends.

Mo and Sarah both shrugged, but Charlie pulled out his wallet. “Pay for it,” he said, handing over his bank card once he had slid it from his wallet.

“You sure?”

“Yeah, my dad’s loaded. Doesn’t spend any time with me, so he throws money onto this.” He waved the card and tried not to look bothered, “I don’t really use it. Don’t need his money, ya know?”

Sarah reached out a hand and patted his arm. “I’m sorry your dad’s a dick. If it helps, I don’t even have one. He cleared off the minute my mum told him she was pregnant.”

“Really?” Charlie said, smiling at her and not feeling quite so vulnerable. “That’s harsh, man.”

“Hmm, his loss.” Sarah smiled back, her hand no longer patting but just gently laying there. Neither of them attempted to remove it.

“Okay, so we just need to fill out this form and then we pay, and then we are all set. We need a name.”

They all sat staring at the screen.

“What about Virginia?” Marie said, feeling a little bit clever at the idea. “And the headline could be, searching for my Vita?”

“That’s good.” Mo nodded. “Got anything to eat round here? I am starving.”

Sarah stood up, and Charlie glared at Mo the minute her hand left his arm. “What?” Mo silently mouthed, completely unaware.

Diligently, Marie continued to fill in the information for their make-believe suitor. “How old should we make her?” she asked as she filled in the form and was stumped at the question.

“Well, they are old, ain’t they? So what? 35?” Charlie said.

“True. So, shall we go with that then?” Three heads nodded at her.

“I think there are some crisps, will that do? Otherwise, I guess I could cook us up a pasta dish,” Sarah added into the conversation.

“Whatever is easiest, Sarah. Don’t want to put you out.” Charlie smiled and she smiled back. “I’m sure Mo can last an hour before he goes home and his mum feeds him.”

“Yeah, don’t go to no trouble, Saz.”

“I was called Sarah because my mum didn’t think anyone could shorten it. Please don’t prove her wrong by calling me that again,” she said, adding a withering look of disdain. “I’ll get some crisps.”

“Behave,” warned Charlie.

Oblivious to it all, Marie stopped typing and sat back. “Okay, how does this sound? ‘Looking to meet my Vita. Are you out there? A shared love of language is a must. Perhaps, you could be the best Christmas gift I’ll get this year?’”

“Yeah, sounds great. What will we do about a picture? Obviously, we can’t use either of them,” Charlie said matter-of-factly, but when Mo looked blankly at him, he continued. “Because we’re going to be talking to both of them as though we are them.” Mo still looked nonplussed. “Come on, Mo, we talked this through at lunch. We will send Dickers a message, and then send Braithwaite a message…it will be like…like they’re talking to each other, and then we get them both to agree to meet Virginia, only Virginia won’t turn up, will she?!”

Marie jumped in. “The point is to get them to both turn up and think they have been talking to each other, and then they will realise they love each other, and Christmas morning will be…”

“Sex city!!” Mo shouted and punched the air.

“Well, hopefully, yeah,” Marie said, ignoring the guys’ leery smirks. “Okay, there are a lot of photos online. We just need to find one that will interest both of them enough to be intrigued.”

“What about Megan Markle, she’s hot,” Mo offered.

Sarah returned with more crisps and placed the bowl on the table between them all. “It can’t be someone famous, they would ignore that. Women are not idiots.” She narrowed her eyes at him and flopped down into the chair next to Charlie once more.

“Of course not,” Charlie added. “Don’t be an arse, Mo.”

“Fine, you pick someone then,” he huffed, crossing his arms and sitting back in the chair, sulking a little.

“We just need…” Marie said slowly, the tip of her tongue poking through her lips as she scrolled through photographs of attractive women. “Someone not too glamourous. Someone…like this.” She grinned, twisting the screen around to show a lightly tanned, medium blonde-haired woman. It was a headshot, taken candidly, and she was smiling. “She looks normal, the kind of person you might meet in a bar?”

They all agreed fervently that this was the perfect image. Marie hit a few more keys and finished filling in a few more questions, and then she was done.

“Right, now we just need to find their profiles, and hit them up.” Charlie grinned, sitting forward in his seat.

“Oh, just imagine they wake up Christmas morning all loved up?” Sarah squealed.

Chapter Eleven

Thursday 9th December

Gabby sat on the edge of her bed and slid her foot into a rather elegant shoe. She’d picked a dress for tonight’s escapade. Unsure exactly why she was being dragged along to Sal’s date, she hadn’t asked too many questions, but something about it niggled at her. Unperturbed however, she got on with the job in hand of making herself presentable. With both shoes buckled, she stood up and examined herself in the mirror.

“Not bad,” she said quietly to herself as she turned one way and then the other. Usually, she scraped her afro back into a ponytail, but not tonight. She’d gone a little wild with it, teasing it out and into an updo that would impress anyone. She tugged the hem of her skirt lower and then laughed at herself. “Come on, girl, you might be the wingman but that doesn’t mean you can’t get a little action yourself.” She thought back to the time spent with Evie. That had been a lot of fun.

There was a gentle tap on the door as she adjusted her lipstick with a quick swipe at the corner of her mouth with her little finger. She didn’t need to answer. Derek’s head popped around the door, his eyes not quite finding her until she spoke to him and he realised that she was dressed. “Woah, sis, you’re looking…”

“Hot? I know.” She grinned.

“Is this all for Sal?” he asked, stepping inside and sitting down on the bed in the spot she had just warmed.

“Sal? Why would I be dressing for Sal?” she quizzed, honestly baffled by the comment.

He chuckled gently and shook his head. “No reason,”

Her hands hit her hips and her stance stiffened. “Why are you laughing?”

“Not laughing, just…you can’t see it?” he asked seriously.

Her eyes narrowed even further. “See what? Have you been on the beer?”

“You know I don’t put that shit in this temple.” He smoothed a palm down his flat stomach. “Listen, I’m not getting involved in your love life.”

“Damn right you ain’t, but what the hell are you on about?”

He stood up and moved towards the door, ready to make an escape, “Listen, I see you and Sal, right? And…” He shrugged. “You look good together, ya know? Like, it’s pretty obvious to the rest of us.”

“What is?” She was utterly confused with where this conversation was heading.

“Sis, it’s cool. Look, you and Sal, you’ll work it out when the time is right.” Smiling, he checked his watch. “You ready to go? I’ll be downstairs.”

“Work what out?” she hollered at his retreating back, but he wasn’t silly enough to wait and answer that.

~Date~

When Gabby climbed into the car, Derek had the music up, and the conversation didn’t continue. He drove off the minute she was out of the car, but that didn’t mean his voice wasn’t replaying over and over inside Gabby’s mind. You’ll work it out when the time is right?

She didn’t get a chance to think much more about it before she was being grabbed by the arm and dragged towards the bar. “’bout time, it’s freezing out here,” Sal was saying, tugging herself closer into the warmth of Gabby’s faux fur coat.

“Why didn’t you just go inside?” Gabby nagged, but pulled her friend in closer. “I’d have found you.”

“Because I wanted to wait for you. We’re early, so we can have a quick drink, and then I will get settled in a booth and you can flirt with god knows who while…”

“I am here for backup and confidence-building. You’re the one looking to get laid,” Gabby retorted as they reached the bar. “What ya having?”

“Glass of red, and I am not planning to get laid,” she hissed loudly enough to be heard over the music.

For some reason, that eased the niggling feeling that had been upsetting Gabby all evening. Sal deserved better than one-night stands with hook-ups from FindHer.com. “I’ll bring it over. Go find ya seat. Don’t want her to miss you, do we?”

It was busy at the bar, the lure of 2-4-1 cocktails pulling in the early punters straight from work. By the time that Gabby was served and twisted around with two glasses of Clementine martinis, Sal was merrily chatting away to Rihanna, or Faith, or whatever she called herself. She sighed to herself, but being the bigger person, she strolled across the floor, plastering a huge smile on her face, and handed each of them a drink.

“Oh, thanks, I didn’t realise they did table service,” Faith said, looking up at Gabby to take the glass. “I don’t have any cash for a tip, sorry.”

“I’m not a waitress,” Gabby said, stunned at the way Faith had looked her up and down.

“Right, uh, so why are you here?” Faith sneered at her.

“Oh, sorry,” Sal jumped in quickly. “This is Gabby, my best friend. She accompanied me here tonight and was going to share a drink with me, but obviously, you arrived early.”

“Lateness is a real issue for me,” she replied, but said nothing further to Gabby.

“I’ll see you later then,” Gabby said to Sal. Her friend looked somewhat overwhelmed by the situation, and she felt a little bad. It wasn’t Sal’s fault her date was an arse.

“Yes, okay then,” Sal stuttered, watching as Gabby turned and walked away.

“So, as I was saying. I work for a high-end fashion brand. We market to all the big stores – I won’t name drop, it’s so crass, but you’ll have heard of the brand. In fact, most of what I am wearing is it.” She smirked before taking a sip of her drink. “I’ve been the top sales rep for three years. Nobody comes close to hitting my figures.” Her phone buzzed and she pulled it from her pocket, swiped the screen, and tapped out a quick message. “See, crazy in-demand.”

“Right, sounds like you’re very busy then?”

“Oh yeah. You’re lucky I could squeeze you in, really.” She grinned and sipped her drink again. “It’s all just go, go, go in the fashion world.”

Sal looked across the room and found Gabby’s eyes boring into her. She tried a tentative smile, trying to be discreet while on a date, but Faith noticed.

“So, your ‘best friend?’” She moved her fingers in quotation marks. “How’s that work? She watches? Takes charge? I mean, I didn’t plan on a threesome, but…” She looked back over her shoulder at Gabby. “Okay…She’s kind of hot if you like that ‘don’t mess with my bitch’ kind of vibe.”

“Huh? What? Oh…no, nothing like that.” Sal blushed at the thought of her friend, and then she thought about it a little longer: Gabby taking charge? There was definitely an element of interest there. “No, we are really best friends. We work together.”

“Alright, well that’s a shame, but anyway. Back to me.” Faith placed a finger on Sal’s chin and guided her line of sight back to her own face. “There, that’s better. You’re kind of cute. I think we’d look good together.”

“We would?” Nervously, Sal lifted her glass and virtually downed the entire drink. “I’ll just grab a refill, anything for you?”

“No, I’m good.” She was already reaching inside her pocket again for her phone before Sal left the table.

Chapter Twelve

Peering in through the steamed-up window, Charlie rubbed at the glass with his gloved hand, wiping away the moisture his own hot breath had created on the cold pane. “Miss Braithwaite is drinking with some fit woman, man. But it’s not Dickers. She’s at the bar by herself.”

“Maybe they ain’t into each other then?” Mo shrugged. He patted his arms around himself, trying to keep warm as another rush of cold air blew past.

Charlie pushed him gently. “Course they are, and anyway, Sarah thinks so.”

“Sarah thinks so,” Mo mimicked childishly.

“Shut up.” Pulling his glove off, Charlie reached into his trouser pocket and pulled out his iPhone. “Yo, Marie, we’re at the bar and they’re both here again, but they ain’t even sitting with each other.”

“What are they doing?”

“Dickers is at the bar drinking by herself. Braithwaite looks like she’s on a date.”

“With a fit girl,” Mo shouted loud enough for Marie and half the street to hear.

“This is not good,” Marie said. “I was going to send the first messages tomorrow, but maybe I need to start now?”

Charlie rubbed the window again and peered in. “Ms Dickson doesn’t look happy about something.”

“Would you when the love of your life is on a date with someone else?” Marie offered in his ear.

“I guess not. Okay, send the message.” He waited while she moved her screen out of conversation with him and into the app. He could hear the little beeps as she pressed buttons, and then there was silence while she composed the text. “Alright, sent. I dunno when Ms Dickson will get it though.”

“Hang on, she’s just picked up her phone. She must have her notifications on…she’s frowning, like she’s confused…now she’s smiling. What did you say?”

Marie chuckled. “I’ll show you tomorrow. Are we still on for operation It’s a Date?”

“Yeah, me and Mo will get it done.”

“That’s the plan. You got the address then?”

Mo shuffled about on the spot. “Come on man, it’s freezing.”

Ignoring him, Charlie continued. “Alright, laters.”

~Date~

The message that had come through FindHer.com and flashed up on Gabby’s phone had been surprising. She had been a member on the site for months, and most of the ‘matches’ she had had so far were either men, or women looking to hook-up. This one was different. The photo was a little out of focus, but it clearly showed a blonde woman around her own age. Nice!

The message itself was also a little different. “If I were the reincarnation of Virginia, would that make you my Vita?”

“Interesting,” she muttered as she clicked onto the profile and opened the details that this person had offered about themselves.

Name: Jo March

Age: 35

Lives: Woodington

Looking for: A happy ever after.

Offering: Everything you want in a girlfriend. Your best friend. Nights in, nights out.

Hoping for: A kiss under the mistletoe on Christmas Eve.

Gabby closed the app. She was intrigued, but replying now would just make her look way too eager; plus she was here to do a job and watch out for Sal. Although, the more she considered that, the more she was not quite so sure what it meant. Last time, she got it. They were out on the pull and Sal needed a companion to feel comfortable with that, but this was a date. She shrugged to herself and swallowed down her drink.

Looking around the place, she noticed it was beginning to fill up. Partygoers mainly. Everyone clumped together into groups, with lots of Christmas jumpers and various strands of tinsel and a whole load of glitter sparkling under the lights.

People were having fun.

“You having another?” a voice called out from her left. The barman was smiling at her and picking up empty glasses while he waited for her answer.

“Yeah, same again.” She grinned at him. “Might as well make the most of it.”

“On your own?” he asked, gathering bottles and two freshly cleaned glasses.

“Yes and no. I’m with a friend, but she’s on a date.”

His eyes narrowed. “Right, sounds a bit…”

“Weird, yes, I was just thinking that myself. But here I am.” She held her palms out and chuckled.

“Well, maybe you’ll get lucky too.”

She watched him for a moment as he measured out spirits and slopped them into the cocktail shakers, now filled with ice. Glancing back at Sal, she was surprised to see her friend looking back at her.

“Doesn’t look like she’s having much fun,” the barman said, shaking the liquids together over his shoulder dramatically. “Maybe she needs rescuing?”

“Really?”

The barman glanced over again and watched as the date was animatedly talking, hands flying all over the place as she explained something that she at least found interesting. “Someone is talking to her excitedly like that, and all she can muster is a lot of longing glances in your direction? I’d say she’s bored, or fancies you more.”

“Nah, that’s ridiculous. We’re best friends, innit.” But the words hit home. That was the second person to make the same comment. Her head twisted around and back to where her friend was sitting, now looking at her date and paying attention, but the barman was right: she looked bored stiff.

“You talking about the cute blonde and hot woman who can’t stop talking about herself?” butted in a short stocky woman with spiky hair and a plaid shirt opened to reveal a black vest top and jeans. She had one hand in her pocket and the other clutching a pint glass. “I had to move. She was doing my head in, and I wasn’t even talking to her.”

They all turned to face the table where Sal and her date were sitting. Sal had her ‘trying to look interested’ face on.

“Seriously, if she even knows your mate’s name, I’d be surprised.”

“I should go and rescue her, shouldn’t I?” She turned to the barman. “Better make that two.”

The woman smiled at her. “Might be worth your while.”

Gabby handed over a twenty-pound note and stuffed the change into her bag, not bothering to sort it all out into the change part of her purse. Grabbing both drinks, she made her way across the bar, and when she reached Sal’s table, she stood and waited for Faith to stop talking. When she finally did, she looked up and reached out instantly for the glasses again.

“It’s really helpful that you’re here getting drinks for us.”

Gabby pulled back before she could take them. “Oh, these ain’t for you. I saw Sal’s eyes glaze over and realised she needed rescuing.”

“You what?” Faith growled. “Do you know who I am?”

“Don’t much care, love,” Gabby said, sitting down and passing a glass across the table to a wide-eyed and open-mouthed Sal. “I’ve been at the bar for an hour, and barely seen Sal get a word in. Have you asked her anything about herself?”

“I really don’t see how it’s any of your business.”

“Well, I assume you probably don’t have room for a best friend in your life, what with the size of that ego you’re carrying around. But if I’d had the opportunity to get to know someone as amazing as Sal, I wouldn’t have spent the entire time talking about my own shabby little life.”

“Gabby…I—”

“It’s alright, Sal. I got this.” Gabby tossed a wide grin at her. “If you leave now,” she said, turning back to Faith, “you can probably grab the last train back in time to talk yourself to sleep.”

Faith scowled and turned to Sal. “Are you gonna let her speak to me like that?”

“Well…Gabby is her own woman, whatever she wants to say is her…”

Faith abruptly stood up. “Oh, I get it.” She wagged a perfectly manicured finger back and forth at them both. “This some kind of kinky roleplay or something, eh? You go on a date with some unsuspecting fool and the girlfriend gets to play knight in shining sequins? Not my cup of tea, love. I’m out of here.”

Gabby grinned as she watched her walk away. When she turned back, Sal was glaring at her. “Well, that was rude, Gabriella.”

For a moment, Gabby considered whether they had all read it wrong, and Sal was actually enjoying the date. But she knew her friend, she could read her like a book, and Sal had definitely been bored. “Sal, I…I’m sorry.”

The straight face did not last long as Sal chuckled. “Couldn’t have come soon enough. Dear God, that was torture. I don’t think she stopped talking about herself to take in a breath more than… five times?”

Gabby laughed and pushed one of the glasses closer to Sal. “Better get that down ya then.”

Chapter Thirteen

Friday 11th December

Charlie sat on top of the desk, his feet planted on the nearest chair, while Marie read out the message she had sent the previous evening.

“That’s it?” Mo said, somewhat despondent.

“Succinct and enticing,” Marie responded. “Miss Braithwaite is smart. If she were to really send a message to someone on something as asinine as FindHer.com, then she would want to eradicate those who are not worthy, and she would do so by using something quirky but cute.”

“Yes, Miss Braithwaite knows her worth.” Sarah nodded.

“Okay, and I guess it is something that Dickers would pick up on,” Charlie added to the conversation. “But Dickers hasn’t replied.”

“That’s true,” Marie agreed.

“So, what we gonna do next?” Mo asked.

Marie stood up and paced the classroom. “We send another message to Braithwaite too.” She stalked quickly towards her bag and pulled out her phone. “And wait for Dickers.”

“What if she doesn’t though?” Sarah asked.

“Dickers will when she reads this next one.” Marie smiled confidently. Opening the app, she started to type, reading aloud as she did so. “Is it better to be extremely ambitious, or rather modest? Probably the latter is safer; but I hate safety and would rather fail gloriously than dingily succeed.”

“Sounds a bit…” Mo was saying.

Marie lifted her notebook. “It’s a quote from V & V. I jotted some more down here to use sporadically. It’s perfect.”

“It is perfect,” Sarah agreed. “What will you send to Miss Braithwaite?”

~Date~

It was not until lunchtime that Gabby got the opportunity to check her phone for messages. Her mum had sent several texts from the airport. Derek had dropped her off at Heathrow that morning, and now she was panicking that she had left the oven on or not locked the doors properly. Gabby smiled to herself. Derek was already back home by now; if there had been any issues then he would have found them.

She sent a text back wishing her a good flight, and then moved down the list to the next notification: another one from Jo, on FindHer.com.

“Well, you really do know your stuff, don’t you?” she smiled to herself.

“Who does?” Sal asked, flopping down onto the small sofa next to her. “Seriously, 4B are an utter nightmare today.”

Gabby shoved her phone into her pocket and grinned. “It’s Christmas, Sal. They’re all overexcited.”

“I suppose so. Are we shopping tomorrow? I have a few more bits to get and…oh, is Derek coming for dinner? You were going to ask.”

“Uh, he is still thinking about it. He’s at mine tomorrow though to meet his new fancy woman. You still alright for me to stay over?”

Sal turned towards her. “Yes, of course. We can go shopping and then dinner and a DVD?”

“Yes, perfect.”

They both sat back and watched the room for a moment. “So, who does?” Sal repeated.

“What?”

“When I came in, you said someone really knows their stuff.”

Gabby pressed her fingers against her phone inside her pocket and smiled to herself. “Oh, just something I was reading.”

Sal checked her watch and stood up. “I will see you tomorrow then, okay? Have a good afternoon. You’ve got 4B next.” She grinned.

“I’ll survive,” she called back, pulling her phone from her pocket. She opened the app and read the message again. Switching to Google, she searched for a witty retort and found a meme with a quote from Frank Tyger. “Ambition is enthusiasm with a purpose.”

She sent the message and then headed off towards the nightmare that was 4B.

~Date~

The text read ‘Game on!’ Sarah grinned as she read the message from Marie and wrote a note to pass to Charlie. In turn, Mo read it over his shoulder. Picking up a pen, he turned the paper over and added the words, Common room, 4pm. Then he passed it back to Sarah, who sent the message back to Marie.

Time dragged, but as soon as their lesson ended, they all packed up and were out of the door.

“This is epic.” Sarah grinned as they all but jogged along the corridor.

Charlie grinned back. “Can you imagine if we pull this off? We will be like legends.”

“Yeah, proper legends,” Mo agreed.

Pushing through the doors to the common room, they found Marie already there at a table in the corner, her books covering the space on the desk as she caught up on some work.

“About time, you guys.” Her eyes sparkled as she picked up her phone and read aloud. “’Ambition is enthusiasm with a purpose.’”

Charlie ’s nose scrunched. “Not exactly what I was expecting as a reply.”

“Really? What did you expect?” Sarah asked.

His broad shoulders shrugged, and he ran a hair through his messy hair. “Well, I dunno, maybe more ‘let’s go out for a drink?’”

“Women are more subtle than that, Charles,” Marie said before looking at the screen again. “However, I do think that we now have an interested party, so potentially could begin to instigate a meet.”

Rubbing his hands together, Mo jumped up. “Yes, let’s do this.”

“So, what are you going to say?” Sarah asked.

Marie sat back and thought for a moment. “It has to be something casual, light. But also, we can’t be too interested, not until we have hooked Miss B. Otherwise, we could have an overeager Miss D, but we would be continually dodging a meet, and that would be very off-putting.”

“Women are so hard.” Mo sighed. “No wonder I never get a date.”

Sarah tilted her head and looked towards him. “It’s okay, Mo. You’re not meant to understand; just learn the rules.” The corner of her lips slowly turned up and into a grin. “Just kidding. Hey, when we have success with B & D, let’s make Mo our next project!”

“Do you think that would work?” he said, the beginnings of a smile appearing on his own face now. “Cos…Ruby is…”

“Ruby?” Charlie said a little too loudly. “Ruby? From the cinema?”

Mo nodded enthusiastically. “Yeah, she’s hot.”

“If you like,” Marie added to the conversation. “But right now, can we all concentrate on operation It’s a Date?” She looked pointedly at each of them before continuing. “Okay, so you all have work to do. Boys, you will make the drop this evening. Eight p.m. on the dot, while Sarah and I send more messages and see if we can guide them into a meet.”

“Yeah. Picking them up tonight, then I will meet Mo, and we will deliver on time,” Charlie remarked, high-fiving his pal in the process.

“Good, then let’s get this show on the road,” Marie finished, making a grab for her books and sliding them into her bag. “Sarah? My house at seven?”

“Sure thing.”

~Date~

Gabby sank down into the plush sofa and pulled her feet up underneath her. A glass of red sat next to her on the nest of tables, breathing a little longer while she reread the messages on the app.

Jo seemed like a really interesting person, and Gabby had to admit, she was more than a little intrigued, but she couldn’t quite shake the previous night. Other people had always commented on how close she was with Sal, but now it felt as though there was an added element to the commentary, and Gabby couldn’t ignore it. Did she like Sal in that way? The way everyone else seemed to think she did?

She put her phone down and lifted the glass to her lips and took a sip, leaving a light plum lipstick mark around the rim. Letting her head fall back, she sighed. It wouldn’t matter anyway. Sal was not interested, clearly.

The doorbell ringing made her jump. She wasn’t expecting any visitors, and she hadn’t ordered anything from the local take-away. Opening the door, she found nobody there. But leaning against the wall of the small porch was a little box. She stepped outside and looked around, but there was nobody there. Just a kid in the distance on a bike. Shivering, she bent down and picked up the box, taking it inside with her.

Gabby was excitable with gifts. She was the kind of women who rattled, sniffed, and shook everything in a desperate effort to guess what it was before she opened it. But on this occasion, she was perplexed.

There was nothing on the box to indicate it was even for her, but that wasn’t going to stop her from opening it and looking inside. Gently, she peeled away the cello tape and opened the flaps to peer inside.

A sprig of mistletoe and a note. The words were typed and printed, but the meaning wasn’t lost. ‘Something to hold onto until you work it out and find me.’

“What the heck?”

Chapter Fourteen

Saturday 12th December

Smiling to herself at the trill chime of jingle bells ringing out, Sal opened the door. “Good morning.”

Gabby stood outside, wrapped in a faux fur jacket with matching hat, grinning. “Ready for a day of fun, fun, fun?”

Standing aside, Sal let her palm ghost her friend’s back as she passed. “I don’t know that I’d call it that, Gabriella. However, it is a day spent with you, so that automatically makes it a good day.”

“You say the sweetest things!” Gabby laughed. “So, I was thinking breakfast at La Pushka, then pick up those last-minute things we need, grab a coffee at Costa, and then head back here for a catch up, some hot chocolate, and a couple of movies!”

“All planned out, I see.” Sal smiled and grabbed her coat. “Sounds like the perfect day!”

“Always is when I spend it with you.” Gabby grinned, pulling a scarf around Sal’s neck. “You look cute in this.”

Noticing herself in the mirror over Gabby’s shoulder, Sal scrunched up her nose. “I am really not sure that cute is where I should be aiming for.”

Gabby laughed and pushed her out of the door. “Too late, Sal. You’re never going to be anything but.”

They walked the steep hill up to the bus stop and waited. The temperatures had dropped again overnight and there were still the remnants of a light frost on the leaves of bushes and plants as they passed. What had been ice overnight now dripped from the bus shelter into cold puddles on the ground.

“It’s days like today when I really am jealous of Mum being in Trinidad. It’s freezing.” Gabby pulled her coat tighter to make the point. She smiled when Sal moved closer and slid her arm through the hook of her elbow.

“I dunno, I quite like it when it’s cold. Warm jumpers and hot chocolate – it all feels so cosy.”

“That’s because you’re an old romantic.”

“Yes, I think I am,” Sal agreed, pulling her arm free as the bus came into view.

They found seats and sat down to enjoy the short ride.

“I had something strange happen last night,” Gabby said as the bus pulled away and back into the traffic.

“Really? What was it?”

They swayed a little as the bus manoeuvred through the traffic. When it lurched to the left suddenly, Sal was thrown against Gabby’s side. She reached out a hand and grabbed at Gabby’s thigh.

“Blimey, that was a bit hairy.” Gabby chuckled, her eyes landing on the white-knuckle grip of Sal’s right hand on her leg.

“Yes, sorry.” She laughed nervously, pulling her hand away slowly. “What was the strange happening?”

“Oh, yes, right. So, last night, I was watching TV, nothing unusual in that, but then the doorbell rang. There was nobody there, but I looked down and found a box.”

“A secret delivery?” The bus began to slow again and pull into the bus stop.

Gabby nodded. “Yup. Inside the box was some mistletoe.”

“That’s it?”

“Well, and a…”

“Oh hey Miss.” Both Sal and Gabby looked up to find Sarah Jessop grinning down at them.

“Hi Sarah.” Sal smiled. “Heading into town too?”

“Yeah, meeting up with some friends. We’re gonna get breakfast and then do some shopping, hang out – you know?”

“Lovely.”

“Yeah. It’s great hanging out with those we like most.” Sarah looked between Gabby and Sal.

“You are so right,” Gabby replied, nudging Sal’s shoulder.

“So, you guys are tight, right? Spending all week at school together and now your day off.”

Sal’s eyebrow raised. “Yes, that’s what best friends do, isn’t it?”

“Oh yeah, sure. Best friends, right.” The bus began to slow and pull into the side of the road. “Well, I’ll see you later,” Sarah said, looking out of the window and waving to Marie.

She was off the bus before Sal and Gabby had stood up. “Right. Food first, then let’s hit those shops!”

~Date~

They sat in a window seat and watched as passers-by wandered along carrying bags and hurrying to the next store. “I can’t believe so many people are out already.”

“Yeah, that’s Christmas, right?” Gabby said, smiling up at the waitress.

Sal smiled. “Yes, and I do love it. Have you heard from your mum?”

Nodding, Gabby picked up her phone and flicked through her photos, passing the device across the table. “As you can see, she’s having a whale of a time.” The image of Gabby’s mum in the centre of a small group of men and women around her own age, all beaming at the camera, brought a similar smile to Sal’s face.

“Aw, are these all her siblings? I recognise Neville.”

“Yep.” Gabby pointed at the screen. “That’s Renee, and Thandi. Then on the end is Gabe, and next to him is his son, Zane. She’s having a great time catching up with them all.”

Their attention moved from the phone to the short girl standing at the end of the table looking at them.

“Ready to order?” she asked politely, holding out a pad and ready to jot down whatever was requested.

“Yes, I am,” Gabby said, closing the menu. “Cheese omelette for me, please.”

Sal waited for the waitress to turn and give her her full attention. “I’ll have the smashed avocado on sourdough, with a fried egg on top.”

Before she could finish speaking, Gabby butted in. “Make sure that the white’s cooked properly, yeah? She really doesn’t like that snotty bit… You know what I mean?”

The waitress nodded, but Sal’s face scrunched. “Oh Gabriella, really.”

“What? You know all you will do is send it back, and then spend ten minutes telling me how icky it is, and threatening to not eat for the rest of the day because your delicate stomach just cannot tolerate things like that.”

Sal said nothing as she contemplated that. Finally, she turned back to the waitress. “And a pot of tea please, with cups and saucers. There is nothing worse than tea in a mug.”

The waitress smiled. “Anything else?”

When both women shook their heads and handed back the menus, she left them to it.

“You crack me up. There’s nothing worse than tea in a mug,’” Gabby mimicked.

“It’s true. It’s bad enough that I have to use one at work.”

Gabby looked up and over Sal’s shoulder. “Speaking of which, don’t look now, but a gaggle of them just walked in.”

Of course, Sal instantly turned to find Sarah, Marie, Charlie, and Mo, looking around for a free table. “Oh, hi Miss, and Miss.” Marie waved over, drawing the group’s attention to them too and pointing towards the empty table next to them.

“Bloody hell, do you ever feel like you’re being stalked?” Gabby said under her breath as she waved and smiled at the group. The kids weaved their way between chairs, laden down with heavy coats, hats, and scarves.

“You should have been a drama teacher,” Sal remarked with a smirk.

“Pots and kettles, Babes.”

The group plonked down next to them, bustling about as arms were pulled from sleeves and chair legs screeched against the wood floor. Mo made a grab for the menu, but Charlie snatched it from his hands and passed it to Sarah. Smiling at him, she pushed her glasses up her nose and began to read.

“So, anything on the uh…” Gabby’s already quiet voice became a whisper as she finished, “…dating front?”

Eyes wide, Sal glanced at the group, but they seemed disinterested, passing around the menu as they decided what to have. “Well, there is one person messaging me. I’m just not sure if I have the time to…”

“Time? Make time. I thought you wanted to meet someone by Christmas?”

“That would be utterly delightful; however, I am quite picky.”

Gabby snorted and drew the glances of the kids at the next table. “Really? You?”

“Very funny.”

Appearing like a ghostly apparition, the waitress was placing cups and saucers down on the table before Sal could say anything more. With the pot of tea and the jug of milk in place, she was gone again.

“So, what’s this one like?”

Sal picked up the pot and began to pour. “Educated, quite attractive.”

“Quite?” Gabby grinned. “How picky are you being? Actually.” She held her hand up. “I remember the last two. You should definitely be more picky.”

Placing the pot back down on the table, Sal pursed her lips. “Sometimes I wonder why I invite you anywhere.”

Grinning, Gabby reached for the milk jug, “That is simples, Babe. You love me.” She finished with a wink and tipped the required amount of cow juice into the cup.

“There is that,” Sal agreed. She considered something else for a moment before shaking her head and picking up her cup.

“What? What was that?” Gabby squinted at her, held her finger up, and moved it in a circle, indicating Sal’s face.

“Nothing, I was just…” She leaned in a little, aware of potentially prying ears and previous conversations from the classroom. “I was just thinking, well…why we never dated?”

“Oh,” was all Gabby said, her own thoughts heading back to the conversation with Derek. “Well…I mean…we’ve just always been friends, haven’t we?”

Sal shrugged. “I suppose so, but there must have been a moment…when we first met, when we both decided we wouldn’t, and I’m not sure why, because I would definitely have been attracted to you, so…”

“You would?” Gabby said a little more loudly than the rest of the conversation had been heading.

“Of course. You’re an extremely attractive woman, Gabby. To be honest, I often wonder what’s wrong with you.” Sal fixed eyes with her friend.

“What’s wrong with…what?”

The corners of Sal’s mouth upturned, and she chuckled. “I just meant that I can see no reason why you wouldn’t be a catch, and yet, here you are still single. So, maybe you do something in a relationship that I don’t get to see.”

She had a point, Gabby thought. Why was she still single? She was a catch. Her mind wandered briefly to the messages on FindHer.com that she hadn’t replied to yet. Why hadn’t she?

“Well, maybe I just like hanging out with my pal, and being free to exist without the binds of society’s…”

“Claptrap.” Sal smirked and held her gaze. “If you met the one, you’d be on it like a ferret up a trouser leg.”

“Shut up and eat ya toast.” Gabby laughed as the waitress reappeared, tray in hand with breakfast.

Chapter Fifteen

Charlie stopped in his tracks. Sarah bumped into him from behind, with Marie yelping as he reached out and pulled her back. “Hang on, they’ve stopped again.”

“Bloody hell,” Mo whined for the third time that morning. “Seriously, every shop?”

Sarah shrugged. “It’s Christmas, Mo. This is what people do, isn’t it?”

He shrugged back. “I suppose so. But still, it’s boring.”

“I must admit, it’s not as much fun as I had envisaged,” Marie admitted. Her vision of following the two teachers being more Charlie’s Angels than Miss Marple.

“Stop whinging. Seriously, we have to up our game. They’re not paying any attention to the messages on the app,” Charlie stated, his eyes darting back and forth in case their targets made a move.

“They have, it’s just not as…” Marie blushed. “Well, I thought by now they’d have been more interested and arranged a meet.”

Sarah laughed. “Did you see them over breakfast? They only have eyes for each other…maybe the app idea isn’t going to work.”

“Maybe,” Marie agreed. “I’ll send another one tonight and if they don’t bite, we can scrap it and move forward with the gifts idea of Mo’s.”

Mo grinned, his chest puffing at the idea. “Yeah, sounds good.”

“Shit, move,” Charlie said, turning and pushing them backwards. “They’re heading this way again.”

The group turned and sped up, heading inside another coffee shop as their teachers passed by. “Okay, coast’s clear, let’s go,” Marie said, taking charge and pulling the door open. “We need an idea for the next gift as a backup plan. So, eyes peeled on what they look at.”

Sarah mock saluted. “Yes, ma’am.”

With Mo and Marie taking the lead, Charlie sidled up next to Sarah. “So, I was thinking.” He turned towards her slightly as they walked. “You know I like you, right?”

“Yes, it’s quite obvious, Charlie.” She grinned.

“Oh.” His cheeks reddened; it was cute. “Well, I was thinking maybe we could…”

“Yes, we could,” Sarah replied, slipping her hand into his. “I like you too.”

Confidence back, he straightened his shoulders and smiled at her. “Yeah, it’s quite obvious.”

“Well played.” Sarah laughed. “Come on, let’s catch them up, otherwise we might lose them and…”

“I wouldn’t complain. I’d rather be here with you anyway,” Charlie admitted.

“Good to hear. Because I love to shop.”

~Date~

Pushing the door open, Sal breathed a sigh of relief to actually be done with shopping. Gabby and herself had marched around almost every store open, picking up everything they needed, and so much more that they didn’t. But wasn’t that what Christmas shopping was all about?

She dropped her bags down onto the couch, Gabby following suit.

“I think a cup of coffee is in order.”

“Coffee? I need something stronger than that,” Gabby said, flopping down onto the sofa besides all of the bags. “I don’t care if I ever see another shop again.”

“So dramatic.” Sal grinned as she walked away to get the bottle of Chablis she had shoved into the fridge the previous evening. “I was thinking of a pizza tonight, what do you think?”

“I don’t mind, but I’m choosing,” Gabby called out.

Walking back into the room with two glasses, the bottle, and a menu from the local delivery service, Sally waited until Gabby moved the bags directly next to her and made some room. “Why do you get to choose?” she asked, placing the bottle down and handing a glass over to her friend.

Remembering the last time they’d done this, Gabby pulled a face. “Anchovies and black olives, that’s all I am saying, Sal.”

Nose scrunching too, Sal smiled. “I quite liked it.”

“Well, I thought it was the stuff of nightmares. Seriously, had it had marmite too, it would have been the centrepiece of the devil’s buffet.”

Rolling her eyes, Sal handed over the menu. “Fine, you choose, but I get to pick the movie we’re watching.”

“Fair do’s.” Gabby grinned, opening the menu and perusing the options.

~Date~

Netflix provided a limitless amount of entertainment, but from all that was on offer, Sal had chosen a fluffy romantic Christmas comedy for them to watch. The two main characters were hopeless and missing every signal, but it was fun. At some point, after wolfing down the pizza and the first bottle of wine, Sal had slid down and laid her head in Gabby’s lap, enjoying the lazy way in which her friend’s fingers pulled through her hair.

“If you carry on with that, I am going to fall asleep,” Sal acknowledged with a contented sigh.

“So?”

“Not the hosting skills I hoped to provide.” She chuckled.

“And yet, I am quite happy to continue,” Gabby answered, glancing at her phone as the screen lit up with a new notification from FindHer.com. With her free hand, she swiped the screen and read the message. Another one from Jo.

It would appear that maybe my advances are an unwelcome intrusion. Alas, my loss, I fear.

Gabby glanced back at her friend, the blonde hair splayed out on her lap as her own fingers entwined and pulled gently through golden locks. She could admit, to herself anyway, that there were times like this when she had wondered why they had never been anything more. But it had never happened, and now she was well and truly in the friend zone.

Sal was right though, with her assessment earlier: if the right person showed interest, she would usually be like a ferret up a trouser leg ready to chase the potential, and she was only going to find the right person if she started looking. What would it hurt? After all, Sal was dating; maybe they could double date. Maybe she wouldn’t keep looking at her friend this way if she had someone to distract her.

She typed out a quick reply.

Sorry for the delay, it’s a busy time of year, right? Tell me about yourself.

She hit send before she had a chance to chicken out. Letting her head fall back against the sofa, she smiled to herself. Maybe some romance wouldn’t be a bad thing.

~Date~

Marie had been finishing off an essay on “What Does Ethics Mean in Philosophy?” when her phone pinged. Expecting a reply from Sarah regarding the new development of Charlie finally asking her out, despite Marie’s protestations that Sarah could in fact do the asking herself, she was excited to see a notification from FindHer.com, and better still, Ms Dickson.

Now, she had to think. Whatever she said in this reply would be the hook that would reel Dickers in or cast her back into the dating pool. But also, Marie considered, they still hadn’t had a reply from Braithwaite, and that would be tricky.

Googling Virginia Woolf quotes, she found one that she thought might work and instantly sent it to her English teacher.

One cannot think well, love well, sleep well, if one has not dined well…

And then she added, wouldn’t you agree? She pressed send.

Picking up her pad, she started to compile a list of things that Jo March, aka Miss Braithwaite, would be interested in.

Chapter Sixteen

Sunday 13th December

Sally stirred as the chill she felt sent a shiver down her spine. Lifting her head, her eyes flickered open slowly. She raised her hand and rubbed at her neck gently. It ached from the position she had been in for this past…how long? She looked up around the room for the clock: 2.47 a.m. Four hours.

“God,” she whispered, sitting fully upright. Gabby was snoring lightly, her head dropped, chin leaning on her right shoulder. “Gabby, time for bed.” Gently, Sal nudged her friend’s arm. “Gabby, come on. Time for bed.”

“Shh, just kiss me and…” Her words tailed off into mumbled incoherent gibberish.

Sal giggled at her friend’s dream state. “Gabby, I am not kissing you. Wake up.”

“No…here, stay.”

Extricating herself, Sal climbed out from the tangled limbs and rubbed her eyes. Looking down on Gabby, she smiled to herself. She looked so peaceful. It felt mean to wake her, but the thought of kissing her seemed to linger. It would be meaner to leave her there all night and have her aching and grumpy at breakfast, however.

Kneeling down, she gently shook her friend until tired eyes wearily opened and flickered. “Is it morning already?” Gabby slurred sleepily, pulling herself up into a sitting position.

“No, it’s time to go to bed though.”

“What time is it?” she said, not really posing a question as she lifted her phone and flicked the screen open to read. “Blimey.”

Sal reached out a hand for her and pulled her upright. “Let’s get to bed, otherwise neither of us will be fit for anything tomorrow.”

“Well, it’s Sunday, we can just sleep in.”

“You might be able to lounge about all day, but at some point, I have to finish off my classroom planning.”

“Just wing it, that’s what I do.” Gabby winked, knowing Sal knew all too well that she did no such thing. “Temperature dropped?” She shivered, following Sal out of the room, flicking the lights off as she moved through the door.

“It does feel like…” Sal’s voice trailed off as she reached the first half-landing on the stairs and caught sight out of the small window. “Oh, it’s snowing.”

“What? I’m not prepared for that,” Gabby said, pushing up next to her and craning her neck around Sal’s shoulder to stare outside. “Damn, it’s beautiful, isn’t it?”

Sal twisted slowly and looked at her friend’s joyous face. “Yes, it is.” She sighed, closing her eyes before turning away quickly.

“Do you remember when you were a kid, waking up that morning and running out into the cold air, still pulling on hats and gloves, with your mum screaming at you to not stay out too long?” Gabby grinned as she turned towards Sal and found herself close enough to press her lips to her friend’s cheek. She coughed gently and leaned back, instantly giving her friend some space.

Sal frowned a little. “No, I wasn’t allowed to go out and play in it. My mother would have thrown a fit.”

Gabby narrowed her eyes, clearly thinking something inside that head of hers. Sal watched as scrunched mouth narrowed out into a slight smile.

“No,” Sal said. “No, whatever it is you just thought, no.”

“Yes.” Gabby grinned more widely. Grabbing Sal’s hand, she turned and began to tug her back down the stairs. “You have to experience this, Sal,” she said, grabbing hats, gloves, and coats from the hooks.

“Gabby, it’s three a.m. for God’s sake. I am not…” She was silenced by the woollen hat that hit her straight in the face. “Gabby, no. This is ridiculous.”

Eyes shining, Gabby clapped her hands with glee. “Yes, exactly. Come on.” She pulled the hat down over her ears and flung a scarf in Sal’s direction. Before Sal could complain any further, Gabby unlocked the door and yanked it open.

The arctic blast that blew through was enough to get Sal at least moving to put on some warmer clothing, but not enough to stop her from continuing to rebuke Gabby for this ludicrous idea. “We’re going to catch our death….” Her eyes widened. Gabby was already down the path and using her hands to pull along the small wall and pack snow into her hand. “Don’t you dare.” The sound hit her ears before the feeling of cold woke the nerve endings that peppered her cheek. “Gabriella!!”

Her friend bent over at the waist, laughing.

Sal huffed, pulled her coat on properly, and zipped it up to her chin. “Fine. You asked for it.” Determined, she slid her feet into her winter boots and strode outside, ready to get her own back. But before she could take another step, a second snowball hit her on the arm, followed swiftly by a third that whizzed past her head to hit the wall behind her.

“You should see your face,” Gabby said, her voice almost a whisper except for the ripple of laughter than ran through her words.

Sal bent down and scooped a handful of snow into her hands, pressing the icy substance into her palms until she had a perfectly shaped ball. Her eyes narrowed as they homed in on her friend. “It’s bloody three a.m. and you’ve got me outside, launching missiles at me!”

Gabby laughed again, but soon stopped when the snowball Sal had been holding hit her square in the face.

“Yes!!” Sal said a little too loudly, jumping into the air with delight. “Netball champion, three years running.” She laughed before bending down to grab another fistful of snow.

A rapid series of shots flew back and forth, giggles erupting between whoops of excitement as every so often one would land on its target. The snow was falling heavily, but not enough to cover the ground quickly enough. “Okay, come on, let’s go in, please?” Sal tilted her head to one side and stared at Gabby. “It’s cold and I just want to go to sleep.”

Slapping her gloved hands together, Gabby grinned as the remnants of snow and ice fell off. “Fair enough. Was fun though, right?”

“Yes, it was,” Sal agreed before hurrying back indoors and into the heat. Coats were yanked off and hung up, hats and gloves dropped onto the sideboard to dry out, boots pushed off and left in a small puddle on the mat. Sally yawned. “I don’t think I even have the energy to climb the stairs.”

“Drama queen.” Gabby smiled, taking her by the elbow. They linked arms and took the steps one by one. When they reached the landing and the door to Sally’s bedroom, Gabby pulled her into a hug. “I’ve had a really fun day, Sal.”

“We always do, don’t we?”

Gabby nodded. “Yeah, we do.”

For a moment they just stood there, smiling at one another. In any other circumstance, Sal thought that she would probably lean in and kiss someone, but this was Gabby. And you did not kiss your friends in the way that she was thinking about doing. So, when Gabby leaned in and did just that, she was taken aback.

“God, sorry, that was…” Gabby stepped back, but her eyes remained locked with Sal. “I mean, totally inappropriate… You turned your head and…”

“It’s fine, honestly.” Sal chuckled nervously. “Of course, it was an accident.”

“Yeah, exactly. So, I’m going to…” Gabby thumbed over her shoulder towards the spare room.

“Yeah, yeah. Good idea. It’s late.”

“Right, night then,” Gabby said, turning on her heels before Sal could find any more words that made any sense other than:

“Good night.”

Chapter Seventeen

Monday 14th December

The last week before school finished for the Christmas half-term was manic. Kids were louder than usual, and the teachers looked as though a nervous breakdown was on the cards. Quite a few looked as though they’d had one too many glasses of mulled wine over the weekend too.

Sally however, felt a little spring in her step. Following the awkward moment when Gabby had, out of the blue, kissed her on the lips, she could admit to suffering a little panic. Questions whizzed through her mind at record speed as to why Gabby would do such a thing. Hope quickly turned to ridicule, however, and she came down firmly in the camp of a mistake. That was all it was; hadn’t she turned her head slightly at the last moment? She was sure that must have been it, and she wrote it off as nothing more than a silly, hopeful idea. Instead, she threw herself back into the dating app and arranged to meet Jo.

After all, she sounded perfect.

~***~

“Guess what?” Marie said, dropping her bag onto the desk and pulling the plastic chair out to sit down on.

Sarah looked up at her and smiled, all wide-eyed and excited. “What?”

“Braithwaite has taken the bait.”

“No! That’s awesome. How did you manage that?”

Marie shrugged. “No idea, she replied finally in the early hours of Sunday morning.”

“Wow. This is amazing. Do the boys know?”

“Not yet. Haven’t had a chance to tell them, but we will at break.” She grinned smugly. “I told you that this would work.”

The door opened and Mr Peel pushed through the door with his shoulder, carrying a pile of books, his leather satchel hanging off his arm. “Alright, settle down. Into chairs, everyone.”

“So, we need to work out how to get them together this week. Before it’s Christmas!”

“School disco is on Friday, maybe we could…”

“Sarah and Marie. I know that there are a multitude of exciting things to talk about; however, save it for break time, okay?” Mr Peel said, looking pointedly at the two of them. “And phones away please.”

Sarah rolled her eyes. “Yes, sir.”

Marie grinned before whispering, “I have a good feeling.”

~***~

“Thanks so much for persevering. I tend to be a slow burn nowadays, what with the dates that I have been on so far being such a disappointment. So, you sound interesting and I figured, why not?”

“’I don’t have much time this week, but maybe we could organise something after Christmas? How does that sound for you?” Charlie read aloud from the page on Marie’s phone.

“I thought we wanted to get them together for Christmas though?” Mo chipped in.

“We are!” Sarah stated firmly. “Marie just needs a plan to form and then…” She looked to Marie for confirmation.

Marie grabbed the phone from Charlie ’s hands and reread the message. “Okay, so she says on her profile that she is a teacher. And we know that the school disco is on Friday… so let’s have Jo ask her out then.”

“But what’s the point? She will just say that she can’t go,” Charlie countered.

Marie smiled. “Of course she will. She will explain perfectly what the situation is, and then Jo will offer to meet her there.”

“But she won’t want to do that, will she? And then how do we get Dickers to do the same thing?” Mo inquired, his face scrunched up with confusion.

“Just trust me, it will work. All I have to do is get them chatting and organise it. Jo will agree to meet both of them at the school, at the same time, in the same place.”

Charlie jumped up from his seat on the table and grabbed his bag. “If you pull this off, you’ll be a legend around the school.”

Standing to face him, Marie scowled. “I am not doing this for status at school. I am extremely comfortable with my nerd status, thank you. I am doing this because they need us to. Because love is all that matters at the end of the day. You can have all the riches in the world, the status that goes along with it, but at the end of it all, the only thing worth doing, is falling in love.”

Three sets of eyes stared at her.

Her weight moved all onto one leg as she shifted and tilted her head at them. “Am I wrong?”

“No,” Sarah jumped in. “Love, it’s what it’s all about, right?” She nudged Charlie.

His cheeks blushed. “Yup, defo.”

Mo chuckled. “I mean I was in it cos it sounded like fun, but…love sounds kinda nice too.”

“Right, well then, let’s not forget the mission,” Marie stated, pushing her phone into her pocket and grabbing her own bag. “I will text you all later once I have sent out the next message.”

Chapter Eighteen

Wednesday 16th December

Snow had fallen steadily now for three days. By Wednesday there was talk of the school closing and the Christmas disco being cancelled. The threat of a lunchtime protest by year 9 and 10 had given the headmaster pause for thought and a promise to wait until the day to decide.

“If they cancel the bloody disco, I’m gonna be spitting feathers,” Mo declared while chewing on his sandwich.

“They won’t,” Marie insisted. “I can’t think about that anyway. I have enough trouble keeping up with my messaging to both of them.” Her eyes widened. “I am just thankful that neither of them has tried to get frisky.”

Charlie coughed and spurted his drink all over the desk in front of him. “Frisky? Who says that?” He chuckled before taking the tissue Sarah passed him and wiping up the splattered soda.

Marie rolled her eyes at him. “You know what I mean. It would be totally inappropriate and not to mention highly embarrassing.”

Leaning back in her chair, Sarah crossed her arms. “So what are they saying?”

“Nothing much, just talking about jobs and what they like to do, it’s all quite dull really, however, both have mentioned the school disco on Friday, so I think I might have an idea for putting them together.”

“What’s that then?” Charlie asked.

“Well, I’ll see if Jo can meet them at the school. The disco ends at nine. So that leaves plenty of time on a Friday night for a short ‘date’ afterwards.” She picked up her phone and began to compose the next message.

~***~

By four o’clock, Sally Braithwaite was ready to pack up and go home. It had been a busy day, with several classes running amok due to the cancelled disco rumour. Right now, all Sal wanted to do was grab her coat, climb into her car, and face the slow and steady drive home in the snow before collapsing into a hot bath with a glass of Merlot.

She rubbed her forehead and was about to do just that when the door opened and in walked the head. Simon Hatchett had garnered the rather unfortunate nickname of Snatchett from some of the student body, and many of the teachers had secretly begun using it in quiet moments of reflection over some of the head’s draconian suggestions.

Mobile phones had often come under the wrath of the head during his short tenure. On the whole, however, Sally found him pleasant enough. He just needed to lighten up a little and stop trying to prove himself, in her opinion.

“Ah, Sally, just the woman,” he proclaimed loudly as he stepped inside the classroom. “I was thinking earlier about the school disco and wondered if you’d be available to hang around after and help clear up?”

That had not been Sal’s plan at all. A long day in the classroom and then straight into the school disco meant she had plans to sneak out early and go home to bed.

“Simon, I’d love to…” His face lit up. It felt almost mean to tell him no. “The thing is…” she continued, thinking on her feet. She really did hate to lie, but then a sudden thought struck her and before she knew what she was saying, she had said it. “I have a date right after. They’re meeting me here and then…”

“Oh, I see, well we can’t stand in the way of that, can we?” He smiled quickly. “Right, well I will see who else I can round up. Maybe Gabby will be available.” He grinned, knowing the women were friends. It was obvious that Gabby would be free if Sally was on a date.

Sally smiled back at him. “I am sure you can ask.” Before he could comment again, she grabbed her bag and walked towards the door. “I need to get going. Several hours of marking and a glass of Merlot await me.”

“Of course, I’ll catch up with you later in the week.”

Sal nodded. The end of term head of department meeting loomed. “Great.” And with that, she left him behind and strode confidently down the hall. Gabby was waiting at the school entrance.

“Took your time, I thought I’d have to come and find you.” She chuckled, pulling her coat around herself more tightly as someone else opened the door and an icy blast came through. “God, it’s cold out there.”

“Hmm, looks like more snow too.” Sal agreed, her eyes darting up from under her hat at the sky. It was darker now, and the sky looked heavy and cold. “By the way, Simon is after you helping to clear up on Friday.”

Gabby frowned, scrunching her nose at that idea. “Well, that’s made my mind up.”

“Oh?”

Gabby blushed. “Well, I’ve kind of been talking to someone on that app, and she asked if I fancied going out on Friday but obviously, I said no can do… But maybe now I should just suggest a quick drink… I mean, I wouldn’t want to lie to Snatchett’s face, would I?”

“He might not believe you.”

“Why not? Does this face look dishonest?” Gabby pointed at herself as they pushed through the door and out into the cold.

Laughing, Sal shook her head. “No, of course not. That face is anything but dishonest.” She smiled, her eyes lingering just a second longer than usual. “But I just told him the same thing.”

Gabby stopped walking. “What? You’ve got a date? On Friday?”

“Yes, I mean, like you, I wasn’t going to go, but if it gets me out of the big tidy up…then yes, I am going on a date.”

Looking confused, Gabby said, “I didn’t realise you were still looking.”

A quick glance to her left meant that Sal caught the look of disappointment that spread across her friend’s face. “Why not?”

“I dunno…I just…So who is she? Not another one of your weirdos?”

They reached Sal’s car, and she pressed the little button that bleeped and signalled that the door was open. “No, well I hope not. She seems quite…nice.”

“Nice, huh? So, what’s her name?” Gabby probed as Sal opened the door.

“I’ll let you know, if I decide to see her again.” Sal winked and slid into the car seat.

“Hmm, avoidant much?”

“You know me too well, Gabby. And if she is another weirdo, then I shall say no more, and delete the app, because I am seriously done with wasting my time.”

Gabby laughed. “You do that.” She tapped on the roof of the car and walked away to her own vehicle, muttering to herself.

“Yeah, can’t even see what’s right in front of your face, eh Sal.” She sighed. “Seriously, Gabs, what did you think was going to happen?” The beep beep let her know her car was unlocked, and she climbed inside, watching as Sal pulled out and drove off. Sitting inside the car with the engine running and the heater slowly warming up, she picked up her phone and opened the dating app, pulling Jo’s message details up.

Looks like I can make it after all. Where shall we meet?

Gabby.

Chapter Nineteen

Friday 18th December

Gabby hadn’t seen Sal the previous day, or that morning. Not that that was unusual – they didn’t live in each other’s pockets after all – but she had hoped to check in with her friend. Realising more and more lately that her depth of feeling for Sal was deepening, she realized it unnerved her a little. She didn’t know how to deal with it. Part of her wanted to grab Sal by the hand, sit her down, and just tell her, but the other half was scared. Fear of losing Sal, of ruining what was the best relationship she had ever had with anyone else, stopped her. They were friends; the last thing Sal would expect, or want, was Gabby dropping an “I love you” bomb in her lap.

Now she had to face a morning with Year Seven. Over excited and ready for the party that night, there would be no way she would get any work out of them. She downed the last of her tea and stretched. It was the last proper day at work before she would spend a lovely Christmas with her best friend. That was enough. She was happy with that, until a thought entered her mind.

What if this date is the one? What if Sal spent Christmas all dreamy and fawning over someone else?

“God, I can’t take that.”

“Sorry?” A voice distracted her from thoughts of Sal and the unfaced, unnamed woman who was about to plant a kiss on Sal over the Christmas turkey. Gabby spun around and found Marie standing in front of her, looking perplexed. “I did knock. Mr Yip said I could come in,” she explained as she looked around the staff room.

“Right, what’s up?”

“Uh, well I was talking with a couple of friends and we wanted to give Miss Braithwaite a little gift, but none of us have a lesson with her today, so I wondered…well, you’re both good friends. I wondered if you’d pass it on to her.” She held out her hand. A small, wrapped box sat perfectly in the palm.

“Oh, sure.” Gabby reached for it.

Pulling back a little, Marie looked seriously at her. “The thing is, we’d like it to be anonymous, and can you give it to her at the end of the night?”

Narrowing her eyes, Gabby crossed her arms over her chest. “Is this a prank? Am I handing my best friend something that’s going to explode glitter all over her, or worse?”

Marie laughed. “Gosh, no. Ms Dickson, please…you do know I am the school nerd, right? The very idea of doing anything so terrible is simply not in my DNA. No, we just, well the thing is…it’s just something nice for her, and we don’t need recognition for it. It’s just a thank you for getting us through the year so far.”

Gabby reached for the box again, and this time she took it. Holding it in her hand, she noted it didn’t feel heavy. She shook it gently and nothing rattled. “Okay, I will do as you ask. However, any funny business and names will be said.”

Marie nodded. “Yes, Miss.”

“Now, where are you supposed to be, because the bell rang four minutes ago.”

Smiling, Marie began to walk backwards. “Free period. I’d never be late for a lesson.”

“Unlike me,” Gabby muttered before grabbing her bag and heading off to her classroom.

~***~

Sarah was the first to notice as Marie all but skipped into the room.

“Did she take it?” She asked the obvious.

Holding out two empty palms, Marie grinned. “Yep.”

Charlie and Mo high-fived. “I really didn’t think this would be so easy.” Charlie laughed.

“I know, I think the gods are on our side and can see that we are trying to do the right thing,” Marie replied.

“And they clearly know we are right, which is why it’s all falling into place.”

Mo clapped his hands excitedly. “I mean seriously, you managed to persuade both of them to meet the same person, at the same place and time. It’s genius. You should start your own business, hooking up lonely people with their perfect other half.”

Marie smiled, genuinely happy with the compliment. She had spent a lot of time working out the details and sending the right messages that would bring this all into play. “I don’t know. The idea of cupid is fun, but it only really worked because we could all see what they can’t. I don’t think it would work if I just had random people telling me they loved so-and-so, and could I fix them up. What if so-and-so didn’t feel the same way? You can’t force love on anyone. It has to be what both people want, and then you can open the doors and eyes of those involved to see it.”

“So, you’re not going to do it again?” Sarah asked dreamily, glancing across at Charlie.

Marie chuckled. She had seen these two slowly falling for each other all term too and felt somewhat responsible for throwing them together like this. But what about Mo? she thought, smiling at Sarah. “Oh, I have a plan forming.”

“I can’t wait to hear all about it when they do,” Sarah continued.

Marie looked away, fearful she would give it away, and caught Charlie staring at her. Slowly his lips curved upwards, and he looked towards Mo before turning back to Marie and nodding knowingly. Marie winked at him before grabbing her bag again. “I’ll see you all later at the disco.”

Chapter Twenty

The School Disco

Lights flashed across an empty dance floor as the DJ set up and tested each part of his equipment. Chairs and table legs scraped across the floor as teachers moved speedily around to set everything up in time.

Sal had dashed home, as much as she could dash with the snow still falling and the north wind bringing an icy chill to wet roads, and gotten changed quickly. She was ready, not just for tonight’s disco, but the date with Jo.

She’d gone with the red woollen dress that seemed to fit so well and was, at the very least, warm. She had quickly pulled her hair up into a ponytail and fixed her make-up, adding just a slightly darker shade of lipstick to plump lips. Checking herself in the rear-view mirror before she climbed out, she grinned. Maybe this date really would be perfect.

Climbing from the car, she heard a whistle and looked around to find a group of boys laughing and jostling each other.

“You look nice, Miss,” Kevin Simms shouted, before being punched and pushed again by his embarrassed friends.

“You should all be inside; you’ll catch your death out here,” she called back, ignoring the compliment. It was just getting towards seven o’clock, and young people were arriving in cars, dropped off by parents and older siblings. There was an excitement in the air, and Sal felt herself lifted by it as she strode into the hall and almost tripped over a trailing wire as the DJ moved a lighting tower. She felt warm hands grab her waist and looked up to find Gabby staring at her.

“Careful, you don’t want to fall over and look a mess for…what was her name?”

Sal squinted at her. “Nice try.” She began to smile, but as she took in the sight of Gabby, she felt her mouth gape. Wearing a full-length white dress, she looked beautiful. “You look…lovely. I am sure that…”

“Nice try,” Gabby batted back with a wink. “Two can play this game you know.”

Before Sal could utter another word, the music started up and strains of a high tempo pop beat blared out and deafened her.

“Right, looks like it’s happening,” she shouted.

Gabby nodded. “I’m on the door.”

“You’ll be freezing! Have you got a coat?” Sal’s hand reflexively ran up and down Gabby’s arm.

“I have, don’t worry.” She smiled. “I’ll be fine.”

“Alright, well I better get over to the refreshments table.” One more smile, and then she turned on her heels and walked over towards the refreshments table, watched not just by Gabby, but by the group of teenagers with a vested interest.

“God, it’s so obvious,” Sarah groaned. “The smiles, the touches…why can’t they see it?”

“Well, tonight, it will all be revealed.” Marie grinned with confidence.

~***~

The night was in full swing. Those confident enough danced to the music, while everyone else hung around the edges in small groups, chatting and laughing. It was all going so well. Sally had made up more punch, a lemonade-based fruit cocktail that everyone was enjoying. She had just returned with another carton of pineapple juice to top it up when she noticed several of the younger pupils acting rather erratically.

Thinking nothing more of it, she continued on with the task until an almighty crash to her left gained her attention. Two boys had fallen and crashed into a table, knocking the chairs over and spilling the drinks. Putting down the carton, she rushed across to their aid, along with Martha Green from the art department.

“What on earth is going on here?” Martha said, bending down to check on one of the boys, who was laughing so hard he looked like he would cry.

Sal bent down to attend to the other boy.

“I don’t feel well,” he said, before twisting towards Sal and throwing up.

The undeniable smell of rum rose up from the toxic mess, which by some miracle had just missed hitting Sal’s dress. She looked at Martha.

“Can you smell that?”

The older woman nodded. “Alcohol.”

It was only then that they heard sniggering from behind them. Both women turned to find Kevin Simms and his pals hovering around the punch bowl, looking conspicuous. And then she spotted it. Kevin was pouring something dark into the punch from a flask.

“What do you think you are doing?” Sal shouted, as she rose to her feet and marched over to the group. She snatched the flask from his hand and sniffed the opening, recoiling at the pungent smell of rum. “How much of this have you poured into this?” she demanded, as more children began to get louder or bend over vomiting. The scene was carnage.

“It was just a bit of fun, Miss.” He laughed and looked to his friends, expecting the same reaction, but all of them stood mouths agape, wide-eyed and petrified.

“All of you, sit down there.” She pointed at the table to the right. “And don’t you dare move.” Watching as they did as they were told, she shook her head. Just how many kids had drunk the spiked punch!?

By now, most of the other teachers in the room were actively dealing with unwell children. She caught the eye of Geoff Peel and beckoned him over.

Clearly, he hadn’t gotten the memo yet, and had failed to notice the carnage playing out around him as he swaggered over to Sal with a grin on his face. “Sal, what’s up?” He smiled, a little too smarmy for Sal’s liking, but right now she had more important things to worry about.

“We have a problem,” she said, looking around the hall. Swinging around quickly, she shouted, “Don’t touch that!” as a young girl attempted to fill her glass from the punch bowl. She jumped out of her skin and dropped the paper cup, spilling the contents all over the floor and her shoes. “I’m sorry to shout,” Sal soothed, “but the punch is out of bounds right now.”

“What’s going on?” Geoff questioned.

“This lot,” she thumbed across at Kevin and his friends, “have spiked the punch.”

Geoff’s brows rose as his eyes widened. “Does Snatchett know?”

“Not yet, but it’s not something we can hide, is it? Look at the place.” Sal pointed at several teachers attending to kids, while the rest of the school appeared to be a little more boisterous than usual.

“Christ on a pony, this is not going to end well,” he griped, “Right, let’s get rid of that for a start.” He pointed at the bowl.

“Ok, you do that, and I will go and find Simon and inform him of the disaster this is turning into.”

“Good luck.” Geoff grinned as he lifted the heavy bowl and took a sniff. “Seems a shame to waste it.” He winked and turned before Sal could roll her eyes.

The sounds of retching and crying brought her back around to face the hall again. “Christ on a pony indeed,” she muttered.

Chapter Twenty-One

Saturday 19th December

It was gone midnight before Sal and Gabby sat down again. Both had cancelled their respective dates with Jo. Gabby had spent the rest of the evening calling up parents and explaining the issue, dealing with their outrage, and ultimately arranging for them to collect their kids early.

For Sal, it had been even more unfortunate when Mandeep had vomited down the back of her dress. Luckily, Petra from the P.E. department had a spare tracksuit in her locker and Sal was able to at least get changed.

“Well, that was fun,” Gabby lamented.

“Yes, not how I expected my evening to go,” Sal agreed, as they watched the last sweep of the hall take place.

“I guess so. Cancelled my date with Jo.” Sighing, Gabby turned slightly to look at Sal, who stared at her with a quizzical look.

“Jo?”

“Yes, the woman from the app.”

Turning to face her more now, Sal said, “I know that. She’s called Jo?”

“Yes, Jo. Which part of that are you struggling with, Babes?” Gabby stared at her as though she had lost her mind.

“The part where she’s called Jo. My date was called Jo.”

Gabby jumped down from the stage, her dress flowing downwards with the motion. “You what? Are you sure?”

“Of course I’m sure, I’ve been talking to her all week.”

“Bit of a coincidence, isn’t it? We’re both talking to someone called Jo, who was meeting…hang on, where were you meeting her?” Gabby asked, curious about the entire thing.

“Here,” Sal answered instantly. “After the disco ended, I was meeting her outside and we were going to…”

“Walk across to the town square for a drink in the G-Spot?”

Sal stared at her. “Yes, how did you know that?”

“Because that is what I was doing with Jo.”

Both women sat silently for a moment.

“I think I need some of that punch,” Gabby quipped. “Come on, let’s go home and get some sleep. We can worry about all this, and Jo, in the morning. Right now, I just need my bed.”

She held her hand out for Sal to take as she too jumped down from the edge of the stage. “Yes, I suppose you are right. I can’t believe someone would think they could double date on the same night. What was she planning to do? Walk me to the bar, then disappear in order to get you? And then what? Switch between both tables and hope we didn’t notice? It’s madness.”

“It’s rude, that’s what it is,” Gabby confirmed as she slid her arm into the hook of Sal’s and began to stride towards the car park. “Like anyone should ever mess you about, Sal.”

“Oh, well you also, Gabby. Don’t forget that.” She smiled at her friend.

“Yeah. Wanna get breakfast tomorrow?”

Sal’s face lit up. “I do, yes, let’s do that.”

Marie and Charlie watched from the shadows as they two women passed by.

Pulling his coat more tightly around him, Charlie shuffled from one foot to the other. “Well, that didn’t quite go to plan, did it?” He chuckled.

“No, bloody Kevin Simms, I could kill him for that party trick fiasco. It ruined everything.”

“Mo said he overheard teachers talking about expelling him, I reckon a suspension at the very least.”

Marie turned towards him. “If I get my hands on him, there won’t be anything left to expel,” she threatened, before flouncing off in the direction of her home.

“Hey, wait up, I’ll walk with you. It’s late.”

She was about to tell him that she would be fine, but then she reasoned with herself. It was dark, late, and freezing cold. “Thank you,” she muttered instead.

~***~

At ten o’clock exactly the following morning, Gabby rang the doorbell to Sal’s house. Derek hovered behind her, blowing hot air into his hands and making a huge drama out of having to wait the in the cold 30 seconds until Sal opened the door.

“Will you stand still, for Christ’s sake.” Gabby laughed. “It’s not even that cold.”

“Bloody is, Sis. I’m a hot-blooded guy; this is freezing.”

“Oh, for fu—” The door opened, and Gabby instantly refrained from finishing that sentence as Sal’s beaming face greeted them both. “It’s not my fault, I didn’t invite him,” Gabby said, kissing Sal’s cheek and passing by her. For a second, Sal was reminded of the good night kiss that Gabby had given her recently and wondered why they had never talked about it.

“Alright, Sal,” Derek said, leaning in and kissing her other cheek.

“Morning, both of you.” She smiled warmly at Derek and he passed her too. “Of course, your brother is always welcome here. My home is your home, as they say.”

“I’m not stopping. I just wondered if I could borrow that book you were talking about. The detective one?”

“Oh, of course. Hang on, I’ll go get it.”

Derek grinned and pushed his sister gently down the hall. “When ya gonna tell her?” he whispered over her shoulder.

Whipping around to face him, Gabby glared. “Tell her what?” Yanking her coat off, she tossed it over the back of a chair.

He swooned, palm to chest and quietly sang, “Because you love her.”

She hit him, a gentle punch to the shoulder. “Shut up, don’t start with me.”

Laughing, Derek reached for the fridge door handle and yanked it open. Pulling out the carton of OJ, he then moved across the kitchen and pulled a glass from the cupboard. Now that he was on the opposite side of the room, he poured some juice and studied his sister. “Look, I dunno why you’re both fighting it. Any fool can see it.”

She was about to refute the issue with him but thought better of it. “Look,” she confided. “Yes, okay, yes, I love her to bits, but it’s not that simple is it?”

“Isn’t it?” He smirked. “Seriously, Sis. You don’t see the way she looks at you?”

Gabby turned away. Of course, she had seen it. How could she not? But that wasn’t enough, was it? A few furtive glances?

“Here you go,” Sal said, breezing into the room holding out a book in her left hand for Derek to take.

He reached out, smiling. “Thank you. So what are you two up to today then?”

“Oh, I don’t know. Some breakfast first and then we can decide, right, Gabby?”

“Absolutely, I am starving. And after last night’s debacle…”

Derek swallowed down the last of the juice and laughed. “Yeah, drunken kids at the school disco. Sounds like the kind of party I’d have gone to.”

“You’d have been the Kevin Simms of the day,” Gabby joined in. “Though, to be fair, you would probably have just drunk it yourself, and not spiked the punch.”

“True dat, Sis.” He laughed, placing the glass in the sink. “Anyway, I have to get going. Got a date!”

They both watched as he left the room and waited for the sound of the door to click shut.

Turning towards Sal, Gabby grimaced. “So, last night. Jo?” She pulled her phone out from her pocket and opened up the app, clicked on the messages, and held it up so Sal could see. “Same?”

Taking it from her, Sal looked closely at the screen. Gabby’s phone was much smaller than her own, but it was unmistakeable. “Yes. That’s her. What’s her game?”

“I don’t know, but I won’t be returning any more messages on that one. Just block her.”

Passing back the phone, Sal asked, “I can block her? What does that mean?”

Gabby rolled her eyes and put the phone down on the table, moving closer to Sal. They stood side by side as she slid the phone screen open again, and Sal’s arm naturally snaked around her waist as she bent forward and paid attention.

“Just get the profile up, and then here, see those three dots?”

Sal nodded. “Yes.”

“You press that, and it opens up more settings, and one is ‘block user.’ Press it.” She pressed it dramatically to make the point. “And she’s gone.”

“I see,” Sal muttered as Gabby closed the phone app. The closeness was nice. Sal had made no effort to move away, and Gabby didn’t want her to. But like all magic, the spell was broken as soon as Gabby’s tummy rumbled. “Brunch then?” Sal winked and stepped away to find her bag.

Chapter Twenty-Two

Tuesday 22nd December

Staff Christmas Party

In hindsight, Gabby knew she should have taken a cab. But it wasn’t the case, and as she sat on the bus heading towards the pub for the staff end-of-term drinks, she closed her eyes and thought back to the weekend, and how close she and Sal had been. It was almost like something silently had passed between them. They moved closer, sat more together, and talked into the night. So much so that Gabby had stayed over on the Saturday.

She felt the movement of someone sitting down on the empty seat next to her and half opened an eye to check them out. Recognising the face, she was in two minds whether to just close her eyes and pretend she hadn’t noticed. But she wasn’t fast enough.

“Hey Miss Dickson,” Marie said brightly, grinning at her as she twisted in her seat.

“Hello, Marie.” She sat up straighter and adjusted her coat and hat. It was another freezing cold night. There would be no bus home; that would definitely be a cab trip.

“Off out anywhere nice?” Marie ventured, clearly intent on a conversation.

“Teachers’ party. I’d rather have stayed in if truth be told,” Gabby admitted, nudging Marie’s shoulder with her own. “But, once I’m there it will be fun.”

Marie nodded enthusiastically. “Especially if Ms Braithwaite is there, right?”

“Of course, and she will be…well, she better be.” Gabby laughed. The last thing she needed was a night out with work and her bestie not being there to entertain her.

“Oh, I am sure she will. I mean if you’re there then…” Marie smiled at her and blushed. This was her last chance, now that they had blown the app option. “Can I be frank, Miss?”

Gabby’s brow arched, but she nodded anyway.

“The thing is, you and Ms Braithwaite. Everyone can see it.”

“See what?” The bus lurched to a stop and people bustled past, shopping bags nudging at Marie. Gabby wasn’t sure if that was the reason she had now leaned in more closely, or if she were about to deliver a secret message – and by the sounds of it, a message that wasn’t quite so secret to Gabby anymore.

“You and Ms Braithwaite, we can all see it.”

“See what?” Gabby repeated, needing to make sure she knew exactly what Marie was going on about before answering and putting her foot right in it.

Marie tilted her head and stared at her, perplexed that she needed to spell it out. “That you’re in love with each other.”

“Pfft,” Gabby said, turning away to stare out of the window. She could see her own reflection in the glass now that it was dark outside, and that of Marie behind her, still staring at her. Was she really that obvious with how she felt for Sal? But wait. She turned back to Marie. “What do you mean you can see it? What are you seeing?”

Laughing, Marie sat back in her seat. “Everything. The way you both stand, as closely as you can be without being obvious. The way you both reach for each other whenever one of you is speaking.” She turned again. “Have you seriously never noticed the way that Ms Braithwaite looks at you when you are speaking?”

Gabby shook her head slowly. “No, no I haven’t.” She had though, hadn’t she?

Marie’s eyes rolled and she let her head fall backwards. “Goodness me, you two. Look, all I am saying is, if you have feelings for Ms Braithwaite, then you should tell her.”

The bus lurched again. This time, Marie jumped up. “This is my stop. Tell her! Before it’s too late! Love isn’t always being swept off your feet. Sometimes it grows over time and sneaks up on you. It doesn’t have to be all-consuming and overwhelming,” she implored before grinning and heading for the open doors. She waved quickly before jumping off and stood looking at Gabby through the windows.

Could it really be that easy? thought Gabby.

~***~

The bar was heaving with regulars as Gabby pushed her way inside and headed for the room at the back that had been hired to hold this event. She caught sight of familiar faces and waved hellos at them as she scanned the room for the only face that she was interested in - Sal’s.

She couldn’t see her though, so she made her way to the bar and ordered a large white wine.

It was a cosy place, just enough room to fit the faculty inside without everyone being in each other’s way. As she stood there, swigging, rather than sipping her drink, Marie’s words played over in her mind, interspersed with Derek and his pearls of wisdom lately. Was she missing the signs?

Looking down at the now-empty glass, she signalled the barman for another. When Sal gets here, I’m going to watch, properly, and see if everyone else is right, she thought to herself as she handed over a ten pound note.

~***~

Sally was not amused. Her taxi had been booked for 7:05 p.m. sharp. It would take 15-20 minutes to drive into town and drop her off at the pub in time for 7:30 p.m., upon which, she would bag a good seat for herself and Gabby. However, it had not turned up. And when she called to find out where it was, she was told there was a problem with the system. They didn’t know who had booked a taxi and were winging it. They could get a car to her within the next 30 minutes, but that would mean she would be late. Forsaking the opportunity to drink tonight and let her hair down, she decided to drive. Big mistake, as Julia Roberts had pointed out in Pretty Woman.

She had been making good time, until she reached the turning for the supermarket. Queueing traffic backed up as last-minute shoppers made a desperate attempt to grab some bargains, and their other Christmas essentials.

It always annoyed Sal. Why couldn’t people be more organised? She and Gabby had everything done and ready. All she needed to do was defrost the duck and cook their meal on the day. She was looking forward to it too: Christmas morning, waking up with Gabby and having breakfast together. Then Derek would join them in the afternoon, and they would all open their presents together. It would be a family affair of sorts.

Smiling, she turned the radio up and started singing along. Non-stop Christmas songs had been playing for weeks now, and she had to admit, she really enjoyed it.

By the time Sally arrived, it was almost nine o’clock, and her friend was already half-cut and dancing with Geraint and Steve. They ran the LGBTQ+ support group for staff and pupils, and she had to admit, they were a hoot. But it wasn’t them that she was staring at. She was watching Gabby, with her arms high in the air, her hair swishing around her face as she moved to the music, laughing and enjoying herself. Sal felt something roil deep inside before butterflies fluttered up and filled her chest with something she hadn’t felt in years.

Gabby turned and their eyes locked on one another for a moment. Something intense passed through Gabby’s features that Sal hadn’t noticed before. Within seconds though, it had passed, and Gabby was beckoning her over with a wicked grin and curling finger.

“Babes, where have you been? I’ve been here ages.”

Sal smiled. “I can tell, how many have you had?”

Twirling around and grabbing her glass from the table, Gabby swigged the contents down. “This is number three, I think…or maybe four.”

“It’s four!” Steve announced as he wandered back over with a tray carrying four more glasses of wine. “Here we go, get that down ya and let’s start enjoying our freedom.”

“Oh, I’m driving,” Sal protested, but took the drink anyway.

“One won’t hurt,” Steve assured her.

Looking at Gabby, she smiled shyly. “I suppose so.”

Steve leaned in and whispered to Gabby. “See?”

Gabby nodded; she did see. But what to do about it? That was the bigger question.

As the night wore on, Sal joined in the dancing. She loved dancing. “We should go dancing more often,” she shouted to Gabby above the music.

Gabby was tottering around on her heels, a little unsteady now and then following drinks five and six. She nodded. “We defo should. You look hot.”

Sal blushed and laughed the comment off. “Yes, sweaty and flushed, a great look.”

Gabby stopped moving, gripped Sal’s arms, and pulled her closer. “Stop doing that, stop putting yourself down.” They stared at each other and in that moment, Gabby saw it all. She stepped back and walked away, leaving Sal perplexed and chasing after her.

~***~

Sal found her friend in the vestibule, arms wrapped around herself as she shivered and muttered to herself drunkenly.

“Gabby, what’s going on?” Sal asked tentatively as she closed the gap between them. A gap that suddenly felt cavernous.

Sighing deeply, Gabby stared up at the ceiling and snorted ironically at the mistletoe hanging there. “Nothing, Babes. Too much to drink,” she answered, trying to smile as her friend studied her.

“That all? You seem…I don’t know, out of sorts.”

Letting out a deep breath, Gabby seemed to come to some conclusion. She turned and looked at Sal intently. She licked her lips and then her teeth gripped her bottom lip before she smiled, took one step forwards, and looked up. Sal followed her gaze, noticed the traditional mistletoe, and then her eyes fell lower again to find her friend. Gabby kissed her.

This wasn’t the kiss that friends shared. It wasn’t the kiss of someone just letting you know they appreciated you. This was a kiss, a proper kiss. This was something else. And for a second, Sal succumbed to it. But then reality, and being sober, kicked in and she realised it was Gabby, her best friend.

“No, stop.” She pushed Gabby away. “What are you doing?”

“I…I thought…the signs where there,” Gabby stammered. But it didn’t matter. Sal was already turning, rushing back inside the pub. Gabby chased after her, almost tripping. She kicked her heels off and grabbed her shoes. But she was too late. Sal was already gone.

Chapter Twenty-Three

Wednesday 23rd December

Gabby woke with a headache. When Sal had rushed out and gone home, she had tried to call her, but Sal wouldn’t pick up, and Gabby knew better than to try and force the issue. Instead, she had another drink and crashed out on Steve’s sofa.

By the time she had gotten home, showered, and changed, it was almost midday, and the loud banging on the door did nothing to ease her aching head. Gingerly, she shuffled along the hallway until she reached the door and opened it. “Derek? You have a key.”

“I know, Sis, but I didn’t know if…you know.” He winked. “You had someone stay over last night.”

She groaned and turned away from him, and the reminder.

“That a no then?” he asked hesitantly.

Pouring more orange juice into her glass and then reaching for a fresh glass for Derek, she poured him a drink too. “Of course it’s a no. Why would it be a yes?”

He shrugged, “Dunno, just thought, ya know… A few drinks, some fun.” He smiled at her until he noted the sorrow in her eyes. “What’s up?”

“I ruined everything,” she said, covering her face with her hands. “Made the biggest cock up since marrying Cliff.”

“Not possible, Sis. Cliff was a right dick.”

“He wasn’t that bad,” she declared, before adding, “Fine, he was, but this is worse.”

“Can’t be, what can be worse?”

Gabby pulled out a chair from the table and sat down, sighing as if the movement had emptied her body of air. “I kissed her.”

“Woah.” He pulled the chair opposite out and sat down too. “You kissed Sal?”

Nodding, Gabby felt the tears prick at her eyes.

“And she didn’t want you to?” Derek frowned, “No way.”

“Yes, bloody way. I kissed her, under the bloody mistletoe I might add, and then she ran.”

“Wow. I’m shocked.”

“And now it’s ruined, she will never speak to me again.” She flopped dramatically onto the table and hid her face in the crook of her arm.

“Come on, Sis. This ain’t like you.”

She sat back up and stared at him. “Bro, I just kissed my best friend, under flipping mistletoe, while drunk. I can’t think of anything more cliché and utterly pathetic. And so not Sal!”

He nodded. “I get it, Sal is a fancy lady, but come on, she’s been part of this family for years now. She ain’t up herself or judgemental. She’s going to laugh about it with you.”

“I don’t want to be sodding laughed at, Derek!” she scolded. “You were right; bloody hell, even the kids at school can see it…I love her.”

Reaching for her hand across the table, he smiled. “I know you do. And now she knows, so…”

“And now she isn’t speaking to me!”

“Ah.”

“Yeah, ah!” she said sarcastically.

“That doesn’t mean she won’t. She probably just needs some time to reflect and think about it. You know what Sal is like. She’s not so easy-going as you are.”

She flopped down onto the table again. “I just can’t deal with her never speaking to me again. I’d rather we were just friends and never speak of this again.”

Derek stood up. “What we need is coffee, and carbs. And I don’t say that lightly, Sis, because we know what carbs do to you.”

Slowly, she lifted her head and glared. “Don’t push it.”

Chuckling, he flicked the kettle on and grabbed the loaf from the bread bin. “Don’t worry. I’ll take you for a run afterwards to work it off.”

“You’ll get me some bloody mulled wine, mince pies, and then, you can watch a chick flick with me.”

“Now, who’s pushing it?” he laughed.

Chapter Twenty-Four

Christmas Eve

Ignoring the first ring, Sal assumed whoever was at the door would leave. They didn’t. It rang again. And again. She steeled herself for the possibility that it was Gabby. There were several missed calls and texts this morning that had gone unanswered.

As she reached the door however, she could tell already from the shape and size of the person through the opaque glass that it wasn’t Gabby. She flung the door open and found Derek standing there, shoulders hunched against the cold. “Alright, Sal,” he said breezily, before entering and wandering past her.

Sal closed the door and followed him down the hallway.

“I was thinking, you and Gabby, you’ve done all the planning for Christmas and I’ve not really done much at all, so I thought maybe I could…well, I noticed that you haven’t put any decorations up yet. I thought maybe that could be my job.”

“Decorations?” she queried. “Gabby hasn’t sent you round?”

“Gabby? No, why?” he returned. “I just thought, ya know, it’s not Christmas without a tree.”

“I don’t have a tree,” Sal answered. She was never here for Christmas. It was always spent with family or a few times, she had gone away. She had no use for decorations.

“Well,” he said, pointing a finger at her. “That’s where I can help.” He strode back out into the hall. She heard the door open and the wind howl inside, some scraping noises, and then the door blew shut. “I picked this up on the way,” he was saying, his voice carrying as a giant spruce was thrust though the living room doorway. “What do you think?”

“A tree, you bought a tree?”

He nodded enthusiastically. This must have been what he looked like as a little boy; excited and happy about the impending gifts.

“I got all the stuff, in the car. Decorations and tinsel…even an angel for the top.”

“Right, well alright, I guess…I mean.” She started to cry.

Dropping the tree gently to the floor, Derek rushed over to her. “Sal? What’s wrong?”

“Nothing. Everything,” she whimpered, trying to pull herself together. “Oh God, Derek, it’s all so messed up, and I don’t know how to fix it.”

“I’ll put the kettle on, then we’re going to put that tree up, and you’re going to spill the beans. Then we’re going to find a solution. Alright?” He rubbed his hand over her shoulder and smiled.

“Alright.”

Derek carried in two mugs of tea and set them safely onto the coasters on the coffee table. Then he lifted the tree and cut away the green netting that held it in place. While Sal sat on the sofa brooding, he went out to the car and brought in the bags filled with Christmas decorations.

Slowly, he opened boxes and bags and laid everything out, occasionally sipping his tea and furtively watching for any sign that Sal was ready to talk. By the time he had the tree standing, its branches stretched out and waiting to be bedecked with shiny festive décor, she looked up at him, and he knew it was time.

“Have you spoken to Gabby?” she asked.

His lips turned upwards into a gentle knowing smile. “Yes.”

“Did she send you here?”

His head shook slowly. “Nope, I think she would kill me if she knew.”

Sal agreed. “So, why are you here?”

“Because I know how much my sister is hurting right now, and if she is hurting, then that means you are too. I love you both dearly, and I don’t want either of you to be feeling like this when there is…”

“What? When there are what?” she asked urgently.

“Other options?” He put the bauble onto the tree limb nearest him and then picked up another. “Sometimes you can’t see what’s right in front of you, even when everyone else can.”

“What does that mean?”

“It means that anyone who looks at the pair of you can see how you feel about each other.”

Sal sat in silence for a moment while he continued to add baubles and tinsel.

“She kissed me,” she announced.

Without turning around, Derek smiled to himself and said, “I know.”

“It’s just so…”

“Brave? Courageous? It’s so like Gabby?” He returned the questions and now turned to face her. “My sister isn’t someone who wears her heart on her sleeve. She’s been hurt in the past. She’s worked hard to keep herself checked and secure. And she’s tried hard not to let her feelings for you develop, but they have, and she’s been brave enough do something about it.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

He let out a sigh and crossed the room to her. “It means, when are you going to?”

She looked away, over at the tree and the lonely bauble dangling from a branch. “I just…” His warm eyes softened as she struggled to find the words. “It isn’t that simple, Derek.”

“I think it is.”

“What if it went all wrong?” she asked.

He grinned. “What if it didn’t? What if you’re looking at the one person who could love you without any doubts?”

She shook her head. “Everyone has doubts, Derek.”

He reached out and took her hand. “Do they, Sal? All you can do is embrace what you have.”

“Really? And what happens when I fuck it up? What happens when she decides that I am not suitable girlfriend material, when I get scared?”

“Not gonna happen.” He grinned confidently.

“You can’t know that. And I cannot risk losing her, I’d rather we were just friends than…”

“What I am not hearing is…you don’t feel the same way,” Derek interjected. “What I am hearing, is that you’re scared, and that’s fine. It’s normal. Falling in love is always risky, it’s always a chance, but you know what?”

“What?”

“Sometimes, taking a leap of faith is all we can do.”

“But…”

He pressed a finger to her lips. “No buts. Right now you feel like you’ve lost her anyway, right? She’s sitting at home terrified you’ll never speak to her again, and you’re here at home, terrified to speak to her again. You’re both idiots. If you let this be the finale to your friendship, then both of you are ridiculous.” He raised a brow at her and she said nothing. “Way I see it, you can let it all go, forget about it and pretend nothing happened and go on awkwardly avoiding one another for the rest of time. Or…”

“Or?” she inquired quietly.

“Or go round there and tell her how you feel and be happy for once!”

Was it really that simple? It didn’t feel like it was.

“I don’t know, I need to think about it. I need to…god I don’t know, I just don’t know!” she cried. “I’ve spent so long convincing myself that it was unrequited and how ridiculous I was, that it could never work, that we could never risk our friendship.”

“You’re already part of our family, Sal. Nothing will change that. Even if you tell her you don’t want to be with her, she won’t turn her back on you. She loves you too much…and Mum would kill her.” He chuckled. “Look, just talk to her…but remember, it’s Christmas, and we’re coming here for dinner, whether you two are talking or not.”

Chapter Twenty-Five

Christmas Day

The snow had fallen again that night and for the first time in years, the UK had a white Christmas. Gabby had barely slept, her mind going over and over the events of the last couple days, and the fact that Sal had still not contacted her.

It was difficult. Herself and Derek were supposed to be going to Sal’s, but she didn’t know if it was on or off. She had butterflies in her stomach at the thought of going to Sal’s unknowing, but Derek had been insistent they were going unless Sal communicated otherwise.

Gabby wasn’t so sure.

She got up and dragged herself to the bathroom, threw off her pyjamas and climbed under the cascading shower to try and wash away the impending feeling of doom that she had felt for these past 24 hours.

Christmas was usually her favourite time of the year, but right now, she wished she could just go back to bed and forget about it. But she couldn’t; she had to be dressed and ready for when Derek arrived. So, she grabbed some clothes and got dressed before wandering downstairs to make a pot of tea.

She passed the table, where all of her newly wrapped presents were piled up, ready to be taken to Sal’s. Just the thought of her friend brought tears to her eyes, but she was determined today would not be a tearful one. It was Christmas.

Dropping three teabags into the large pot, she stared out of the window, waiting for the kettle to boil. Two little robins fluttered about in the bare branches of a small tree, the snow flicking from it and landing like tiny bullets into the freshly laid snow on the ground. Her thoughts were interrupted though with the ringing of the doorbell.

She rolled her eyes. “Derek, I gave you a key for a reason,” she was saying as she reached the door and yanked it open. But it wasn’t Derek. In the doorway stood Sal, woolly hat on her head, scarf wrapped around her face, and wearing a long coat with every button fastened, her hands shoved into her pockets for extra warmth. “Oh. Sal. Hey,” Gabby offered. So many thoughts whizzed around her head, settling on the one that said Sal was here to tell her they were done, and not to come over for Christmas lunch.

“Can I come in?” Sal asked, teeth chattering.

Stepping aside, Gabby finally found her manners. “Yes, of course. Sorry. Of course you can come in.”

She held the door as Sal stepped in and wiped her boots on the mat, kicking off the clumps of snow that had covered her feet from walking across the green outside. For a moment, she just stood there, but when Gabby closed the door and stopped the north wind from entering after her, she pulled her hands out and yanked the hat from her head, unwinding the scarf, before finally unbuttoning her coat.

“I just made a pot of tea; would you like a cup?” Gabby offered, breaking the silence between them.

But Sal just stared at her, their eyes locking into place before she finally spoke. “No, I just came to deliver something.” She looked confidently at Gabby before taking an initial step forward, and then another, and another, until finally she was standing right in front of her friend. Without another word, she reached up and with cold hands, she grasped Gabby’s warm cheeks and pulled her closer, close enough that when their lips met, Gabby melted into it.

This time there was no hesitation. No pushing away, just the feeling of softness caressing her own mouth. And when there was no resistance, the kiss deepened, and progressed just like Gabby had wanted it to the other night. Now, she felt her stomach roil in excitement, her legs wobbled slightly as she let her thoughts move to the place where they recognised that Sal was kissing her.

Reaching down, she pinched herself. She wasn’t dreaming.

Smiling into the kiss, she let herself be taken, pushed gently until her back hit the wall and she was consumed by the insistence of her friend’s tongue, hands, scent. It was everything she had dreamed, and more.

But all too soon, it came to an end.

“I wish I’d done that sooner,” Sal said finally when they broke apart. Her right palm reached up to cup a cheek, her thumb stroking gently. “You’re so much braver than me. But Derek was right, sometimes we just have to take a chance.”

Gabby’s brain scrambled to understand what Derek had to do with any of this, but it was unimportant right now. What she needed to do was test something out. Was that a one and only kiss, or permission? She leaned forwards, and this time it was her lips that captured her friend’s. It was her hands that now sought to find comfort on warm skin and rise up to cup Sal’s face in her palms, as she once more kissed her friend deeply, and most definitely not as a friend.

“Oh, Sal. I forgot.” She reached for her bag and pulled out the small gift from Marie. “Marie gave me this to give to you, but in the fallout from my kissing you, I forgot.”

Sal looked quizzically at the small box before reaching out and taking it from Gabby. “I wonder what it is?”

“Well, it is Christmas. You can open it,” Gabby encouraged with a grin.

Gently, Sal peeled the paper back to reveal a plain black box. She edged the lid off and laughed, “Well, I think we know who Jo was.” She reached in with finger and thumb and pulled out a small keyring. Two tiny painted books were attached: Little Women and Vita & Virginia.

“The little sods.” Gabby laughed, but then she sobered. How ridiculous had they both been to fight this for so long? She leaned in. “Take a chance on me, Sal. I won’t let you down,” she whispered against her lips.

Sal smiled. “I know you won’t.”

“All I want is a chance to love you, to be loved by you,” Gabby finally admitted, the weight of it lifting from her heart. This was what love was about. Feeling it, feeling safe in her vulnerabilities.

Sally Braithwaite smiled again. “All I want for Christmas is exactly that - love.”

“So, we’re doing this?” Gabby grinned, her arms encircling Sal’s waist. “We’re going to give us a chance, be together?”

“Yes,” Sal whispered. “I can’t think of a better Christmas gift, can you?”

Gabby shook her head. “No, this is just perfect.”

“Good, now I need to get going, otherwise there will be no dinner for anyone. I’ll see you later, yes?” She leaned in and quickly kissed her again, noting how much she liked that.

“It’s a date.”