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unfinished business; Bad Girls / Judge John Deed trilogy
Topic Started: Jun 22 2008, 10:39 AM (19,813 Views)
emtsue
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G3 Curtain and Duvet!
"Rock-a-by-baby,in the tree top
When the wind blows,the cradle will rock
When the bough breaks,the cradle will fall
And down will come baby, cradle and all."

Ahhh,poor Fenner, His dreams and ambitions for his own little "prison utopia" not going so well.Better watch that blood pressure Jim!
Richard your giving us a rare glimpse into Yvonne's true emotions. The "I don't do scared" attitude taking a back seat to her vulnerability,caring,and yes,her sense of of justice.Thus her spillage to Kris.As it turns out ,Kris is quite a loose canon,they have now in a moment of outrage upped the stakes.Hopefully Yvonne can get her friends and family on the outside in the know, so they can keep an eye on Fenner while he is keeping an eye on them!
Even though Yvonne's the behind bars,it's Fenner who has all the pressure against him.No more Governing Governor in his pocket ,which was his biggest asset in the past. As we all know, Fenner won't go down easy,so its up to our ladies on the outside to get the ax and chop him down,piece by piece ,if need be.For that matter,lets throw John,george ,Jo,and even Alice into the mix.Can't beat that combination,no matter how hard you try.
I love the fact that we can make an actual comparison on the tempers of Nikki and Kris.While Nikki was incarcerated we saw a volitile side to her,and not always physical,we had nothing else to compare too.But put Kris next to her,and it's true...more self control,style ,and grace!Who'd a thunk?
Richard ,just to re-iterate. I no nothing after series 3.So it's only your amazing writing skills that I go by,thank you.
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Andliv2laf
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Great update Richard! I just hope that Yvonne will use Kris' mouthing off to her advantage...she is a smart cookie, if anyone can do she can!! I still can't believe that Fenner will get his, I hope he does! With all these intelligent women against him I don't see how he can get away with...but he's like a greased eel! As always you leave so many avenues open, that's what makes you such a great writer! Thanks again! :girlygiggle
AND
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Axiegirl21
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Out of Dorm
:o Oh crap Kris has really dropped Helen and Nikki in it. But I think Yvonne is right Fenner won't go near them it's not his style but it won't stop him getting someone else to do something to them. The girls (and I'm including Karen in that) better watch their backs. Great update Richard, maybe Yvonne can make Fenner more paranoid by just smiling at him whenever he looks in her direction :rolleyes:
The past is history.
The future a mystery.
And now is a gift thats why we call the present.



Larkhall Lovelies Rule
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richard
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Enhanced
Apologies for the delay in responding.

To you, Empsue, you have described very graphically, the feeling and reality of Fenner when events are closing in on him and how he has sucked in more powerful enemies on his trail than he used to. In the past, they wre confined to Larkhall but he’s in a bigger world now. You have got to a nicety, the fascinating comparison and contrast between Nikki and Kris and, yes, you have summed her up so well.

To you, Andlif2laf and Axiegirl21, you capture how tricky Fenner is when cornered.

This next piece, revisits a chararacter from an earlier fic in this series and captures how it takes that encouragment to find and surprise oneself with what’s possible. Enjoy.


...................................................................................................................

Scene Twenty


Unknown to Nikki while the rumbling drama at Larkhall threatened to overspill its boundaries in all directions, Nikki was on her lunch break. She was getting some fresh air after studying the government’s latest national statistics for prisoners. It was dry as dust figure work, but no one knew better than her the human lives that were so coldly yet necessarily measured. She was looking round the market stalls at the back of where she worked when a familiar face from the past came into view.
“Hi Tony,” exclaimed Nikki.” Remember me?”
“Of course I do,” came the enthusiastic reply.
The man’s face lit up as he saw the prospect of congenial company to lighten up his day. Nikki looked obviously happier and more prosperous but otherwise hadn’t changed from first impressions.
“It’s great to see you around in these parts. What are you doing?”
“I’m getting nowhere in scouring round the market but otherwise, I’m doing fine.”
“Do you have to carry on doing that?”
“Not if there’s something better to do.”
“In that case, why don’t you join me in a coffee at Starbucks? I’m on a longish lunch-break so I’ve got the time.”
“There’s nothing I’d love better as I’ve got the afternoon off.”

The day for both of them suddenly brightened up as they rattled away at each other. It felt good for both of them to have congenial company. They both had a lot of catching up to do. Nikki led the way back to the main road and the sun shone brightly down on them both, as a breeze blew gently down the street. The world looked colourful and the range of cafes and small shops gave a sense of a thriving sense of community. Everything felt at piece. The two of them found their way into the café and found a quiet spot to share a café latte. They sat back comfortably in their chairs with a mug of coffee each. Nikki lit a cigarette, which she held between the fingers of her right hand as a pointer for conversation. Everything felt reassuringly normal.

“ I saw you walking by on the opposite side of the street, oh, two months back and despite my calling out to me, you never heard me.”
“Oh, I’m sorry, Nikki. I must have been rushing around on my lunch-break and in a world of my own.”
“No problems Tony, as we’re here right now,” Nikki said cheerfully to ease the man over his obvious embarrassment.
“So, how’s your new job coming along?” Tony asked.
“I don’t want to make you jealous but it’s going great. It’s the sort of job that could have been designed around me, plenty of research to get stuck into and a chance to think for myself. I can do my bit to help gently move changes along for prisoners and campaign against the ideas written on the back of a fag packet… that would cause misery for everyone. Also, I’ve got a boss who’s both supportive, intuitive and knows when and how to gently step in.”
“You’ve found a female boss who’s a human being for a change, not some petty Hitler type,” he commented
“Strange though it might seem, Tony, my boss is a guy.” Nikki said with a wry smile.” He’s great and I respect him…..so come on, Tony, how about you? Have you started to dig your escape tunnel yet?”
“You might be interested to know, I’ve just found an agency and I’m going to put my name down. You know me, Nikki. I’ll take it a step at a time. I’ll get there in the end.”

“See that you do, Tony. Your talents are wasted where you are. I mean it. I’m not saying it just for the sake of it.”
“I know. You always have been straight with me.”

There was a pause in the conversation and trails of cigarette smoke wafted up towards the ceiling as both of them fell into a reflective silence.
“So what else are you doing with your life, these days?” Nikki asked at last.
“I’m sorry to say that my life is, as you might expect of me, fairly humdrum as always.”
“Can’t you just break out in some unexpected direction, Tony? You might enjoy it,” she teased.
“Having said that, I did have an unusual experience the other day. Nothing to write off to the papers about.”
“You don’t mean you assassinated that straight laced idiot that both of us have suffered under? Don’t disappoint me?”
“Sorry to say, Nikki but it’s a bit of a puzzle, nothing special. I was walking along the back streets of Docklands London having got myself lost in trying to find a takeaway place and this green sports car drove up and stopped. I could see the man’s head darting round all different directions and at one time, looked my way. I guess he didn’t see me as I was in the shadows. I was about to walk over and ask him the way only for some peculiar reason. He then dragged out this blond wig and smeared lipstick on. As soon as he did that, he started up the engine and roared off down the road.”

Nikki’s eyes opened wide in astonishment at this bombshell Tony quietly dropped on her.
Her mind was racing before at last she spoke slowly and softly.

“I think I can find the answer to this one. This may be more important than you can imagine….can you pin a date when this all happened?”
Tony paused for reflection
“It was definitely a Friday. I’d say about four weeks ago.”
“About? Would it have three or five weeks?”
“Let me get my pocket diary out,” Tony said of his pocket in his most methodical fashion while Nikki hung on his words,” Ah let me see, it was Friday August 19th.”

Nikki’s first instinct was to jump to her feet in jubilation until a sobering thought struck her and she replied in a flat tone of voice, ready to be disappointed. After all, what average member of the public noted or remembered details like these?
“You didn’t manage to get the registration number of the car, did you?”
“I think you might be in luck. I’ve got it down in my diary as MHL 324L.” he said pointing to his neatly inscribed writing in the notes page of his diary.
Nikki’s heart leapt inside her and she got to her feet and did a little impromptu standing up jig of jubilation. Her answer was level yet trembled with emotion. Once she had been scornful of the anally retentive office worker mentality, but she was overjoyed that it had come good for her.
“I guarantee your life won’t stay humdrum from now on if you want it. You’re the vital witness to a crime and you’ve filled in the missing piece of a jigsaw. Karen who used to be wing governor at Larkhall Prison had her car stolen and a guy stole her car, ran over an innocent pedestrian and framed her for murder.”

As this stream of words went right past the man, Nikki slowly and lucidly ran through the account of what had happened, repeating herself on occasion as her account was most extraordinary now she heard herself tell it. This nightmare world of the lethal conflicts in her world came back as she talked. Jesus, she thought, even she was starting to have trouble in believing what she’d seen. Prison was another world, cut off from the world she lived in. It had that intense, febrile atmosphere, punctuated by periods of purposeless boredom. Looking through Helen’s eyes, she had understood how lonely and disconnected her partner had felt, that formal power hadn’t been all it was cracked up to be.

Tony’s eyes were wide open as a flood of mixed emotions poured through him like a tidal wave. At first, everything felt formless, like a TV film he was watching. It was only after a little while when he could grasp some sort of pattern. He first picked out a mixed sense of fascination and horror at the story Nikki was telling. Larkhall prison sounded like a lunatic asylum. His thoughts skipped sideways as he felt a growing sense of anger at the women he worked with who knew so little of his friend, yet they thought they knew so much. He knew Nikki was strong and determined but he had underrated her. His heart started to go out to this woman he never knew, who was in serious danger of being imprisoned for something she didn’t do and he felt corresponding anger at the man who was responsible for the death of an innocent passer by. It could have been him or anyone else whose only mistake was to be at the wrong place at the wrong time.

It was only as Nikki rounded into her conclusion when the penny started to drop and the awful truth dawned on him.
“I’m no lawyer, Tony, but I’d reckon that your evidence could make a difference to Karen staying free or going down.”
“Do you mean me giving evidence in court, Nikki?” he stammered.
“There isn’t any other way for what you saw to get a proper hearing,” she gently urged.
“I need to think about this, Nikki. It’s a big commitment.”

Tony was hit with a flood of mixed emotions. In one way, his narrow circumscribed life was a comfortable rut to give him definition. In another sense, he was emotionally choking from the restrictions imposed on him. He really did want out from his job and he had taken the first step to change his job. In his own mind, he had mentally signed up to something different. It was only when Nikki had changed jobs when he realised how much of a difference to his life Nikki had made as a friend. He was now in danger of reverting back into a state of isolation, alienated from those he worked with.
He felt that he was approaching the crossroads of his life and what he decided to do now would make a difference.

“OK, I’ll do it, Nikki,” he found his lips saying to his surprise. There it was. The words were out at last. He had committed himself.

Nikki’s eyes lit up in total joy and exaltation flung her arms round him and gave him a big hug. When she broke away from him, she shook his hand enthusiastically. She had anxiously watched Tony’s face as it mirrored the obvious doubt and confusion in his mind. She was forgetting, of course, that she’d appeared in court and had handled herself well, that she numbered amongst her friends the odd barrister, solicitor and high court judge. As far as she knew, this was a new world to Tony. She mentally vowed to himself that he would get all the support and encouragement that he needed.

“You can’t believe I’m grateful I am, Tony, and so will others. You’re a real star. I hope you don’t mind if I phone up the private eye who’s on the case?”
“Go ahead, Nikki,” Tony said evenly. The sun shone down into the café and a half smoked cigarette end smouldered in the ashtray while inconsequential conversations about favourite TV programmes surrounded them.

“Shirley Cheetham here,” the familiar voice intoned as Nikki spoke excitedly into her mobile and into the other woman’s ear. A big grin of satisfaction split her face into two as she gleefully savoured the news. This was exactly what she wanted.

“You’ve cracked it, Nikki. I’ve got an important lead on this case and your friend clinches it. We’ll all meet up as soon as.”

“Your friend has my sympathy,” Tony said quietly as soon as the call was finished. “Perhaps, I need to do something like this for myself, Nikki. I’ve hung round in the background for far too much of my life.”

This was a big stretch for Nikki’s imagination but she got there. She’d always stuck her oar into situations and knew she couldn’t change the way she behaved. Perhaps Tony, like Helen, had to go through changes in his life to find out just who he was. Personally, she always thought he had more nerve and courage than he credited himself with.






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emtsue
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Great chapter Richard!
Tony can now be added to Nikki's ever growing list of how one person can make such a difference to your life without you ever realizing, until they're no longer in it.Nikki and Tony may have found a new best friend in each other.Thank god for Tony's anal retentiveness!!!! Richard I must say it was a stroke of genious to have Tony be the one to unwittingly be an eyewittness to Fenner's cross-dressing scenario.There's another list growing here; The Lets Get Fenner List!! Shall we take a quick peak?
Nikki
Helen
Claire
Karen
Shirley
Yvonne
George
John
Tony
Oh,I forgot I'm throwing Alice in for good measure!This is in no particular order mind you, but they're all gonna kick ass!!Even Tony,now that we've found out along with Tony himself , that he's just as pissed off about the justice system as everyone else is.

Running into Tony became such a blessing for Nikki in more ways than one.Through Tony, she once again has been able to better understand why Helen needed to go through what she needed to go through.While Nikki was in prison it was her life,it was all she knew,it was all she had become.It just was.For Helen,she had two worlds to contend with.The prison world and the world outside those walls.Was one world more real than the other?No. Just different.Too different.How could she switch on and off like that,particularly if she's in love with someone who needed out of survival to forget about the walls outside.It's no wonder Helen kept running away to try and find that "easy " life.Now that Nikki's outside those walls looking in for only eight hours a day, she understands the turmoil.
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Andliv2laf
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I really enjoyed that Richard...calm, friendly, and very informative. As I have been in quite a contemplative state concerning where I'm going and where I've been, I find myself surprised at how people I met recently have given me a little push or nudge that has made a tremendous difference. I guess that's why that element of your story stands out so much for me...we all find that thread that speaks to us personally I guess. But, I love the way each relationship brings a most important nudge to assist the dream team of Stewart and Wade in their quest for justice! Your stories always make me smile Richard...I know it doesn't make sense, but they do! Thanks for sharing your work! :girlygiggle
AND
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richard
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Enhanced
These two posts continue the pleasingly formidably high standard of feedback.

To you Emtsue, you have very clearly mapped out the intertwined support group that has come into being.

Of especial interest in your thesis on Tony, aptly characterized is that Nikki is offering Tony the same chance of freedom from his own prison, that of a circumscribed life in favour of acting in a dangerous yet liberating fashion. This is, in essence ‘Tony’s coming out’ after a period of internal argument if this is the way I read your piece so Nikki is, once again, in Helen’s shoes. If this is a different tack, please come back on this and let it run.

To you, Andliv2laf, you have so fluently depicted that feeling of being open to influence, in following what you really want in your hearts of hearts, the right words at the right moment.

This is magic
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emtsue
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Hey Richard,
There were a couple of the thoughts running through my mind .
With Tony's "coming out" Nikki is most concerned that this is such new territory for him that she vows to support him throughout.In a way this a redemption for Nikki , as it was very difficult for her to be that support for Helen while she was incarcerarted.One being ,Helen's own confusion about her new found feelings and also her inability to "wear her heart on her sleeve" in front of Nikki due to: a) being Nikki's jailer, professionally speaking and ,B) just the fact that she'd fallen in love with a woman,left Helen not knowing whether she was coming or going.Thus all of Nikki's insecurities came bubbling to the forefront, leaving her spinning in circles not knowing which way to turn, and that Helen needed time to adjust to a life completely out of her realm of thinking.
Nikki now has the freedom to walk in and out of Larkhall at will,although she is not in love with someone on the inside,none the less she has her own demons from the past inside those walls that she must conquer.Walking in "Helen's shoes"means she must find a way to reconcile the two.But Nikki has something Helen did not, Helen at home, ready with love and support,I would deem it makes all the difference in the world.With this knowledge, Nikki can now pay it foward to Tony.
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richard
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Hi Emtsue

I love this post. This is such a cracking piece of analysis. Every link in your chain of reasoning is absolutely sound.

There are only a few points I can add. Nikki and Helen have got so many friends on the outside that they can be themselves. When they were both in Larkhall, they were terrifyingly isolated when it came to intimate matters. Another thing is that Nikki together with Helen are assimilating John's legal worldview which is a real confidence booster. This was a process that started in Series 3 Bad Girls.

Feel free to pick up on this or any other worthy poster.
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emtsue
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Richard, you are absolutely correct,they can be themselves, with themselves, and their friends.And I will go so far as to add that, outside of Claire , Trisha,and Yvonne ,all of their friends are new found and would not have entered their lives if it were not for the lives they lead in Larkhall, and the fact that they are loving partners. I don't think either of them outside the prison walls would have gathered this massive circle of intelligent,compassionate,hard ass,and highly witty group of people into their world, if these two points were not so.Helen and Nikki are individually strong women,but together... they are a magntic force....they feed off each other,and had they not been together, that want and need for these individuals, would not have had the same pull.
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Andliv2laf
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G2 landing
Thanks Richard...right now....that is huge!
AND
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hopelessromantic
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Have the lab run a CBC with differential an a chem pro plus stat
Nice on point feedback ladies...

Richard your secondary plot line involving Karen and Fenner and all these lovely addition of characters really is interwoven into this sequel nicely..

I have to admit am behind :o on my duties but I am still ahead by a Chapter so I'm relieved... :)

Good stuff as always...

HR
>>>>>> BGEnhanced <<<<<<

One cannot expect Congeniality when one does not exhibit Courtesy, Politenes and Impartiality.

Courtesies of a small and trivial character are the ones which strike deepest in the grateful and appreciating heart... Henry Clay
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richard
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Thanks for that very kindly and accurate post as always, HR, and at this point, I ought to pay tribute to the work behind the scenes that HR has done over this fic and the previous one. There are glitches in my writing which have been conscientiously spotted.
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richard
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I ought to preface this next piece with a health warning at the conclusion. Readers will notice in one eye blink just where I have lead the various threads of this fic. it starts with John mentally spinning out of control and as readers guessed, John does the sensible thing. I have borrowed one of Shed's narration technique in cutting in a third way into the next scene where Nikki and Helen guide John through his mental dilemmas and their kindness will pay dividends. No guesses as to the stranger at the end and I can't wait for what you guys come up with in feedback


........................................................................................................................

Scene Twenty-One


Since George had confided in him, John had hardly regained his peace of mind despite outward appearances. In fact, he was spiralling further out of control.

When he got back to his digs that night, he shut himself up in his room, poured himself the first stiff measure of whisky, and knocked it back. This was unusual for him, as he preferred to savour his drinks, like everything else in his life. The fact that he had slept with a nameless woman the night before was hardly the point, as that was pure sex and the crisis in his life was about love and feeling loved.

He shook his head, almost laughing as his mind skidded off as the first thought grabbed his attention. The ridiculous thing was that this happened just as he had sensed a rapprochement between George and himself. Jo Mills had been his long time lover but she had delicately backed away from an ‘on off’ relationship that had run for years. In the past, she had been his one political ally for years, with a similar outlook on the justice system while he had been the outcast, set apart from the brethren. They were all traditional, died in the wool conservatives and unable to see the bigger picture as political liberties were gradually being stolen from them. Now they had woken up and he had led an outrageously effective counter strike against them. Now John was in the curious position of being at the center of influence without retracting one single principle. Strangely enough, George had seen the light at last and had broken with Haughton. Life should have reached the peak of fulfillment and satisfaction and now his successes felt hollow, as his personal life had been turned upside down.

He had prided himself in being a progressive liberal campaigner in his views and actions, not least in the way he’d brought up Charlie. He’d made friends with those two very remarkable women, Nikki and Helen, full well knowing of their sexuality. Other male judges might have felt challenged and threatened by their very existence but he had felt a sense of kinship with them. It was clear that there was a mutual admiration society between them. It gave him a sense that his life and beliefs were as one so that the bombshell George had dropped on him disorientated him so much.

Suddenly, he picked up the phone. He knew what he had to do.

********

“Oh, come on John,” Nikki said, several hours later, all the concerned affection of the world in her voice as they debated over a drink on a warm night. It wasn’t the first they had had together. “It would be all very nice and orderly if all the straight people in the world were in one box and all the gay people in the world in another. You’re finding out that life isn’t like that. Years ago, I had affairs with straight women who used me as some kind of an experiment before going back into ‘normality’ so I got to be so paranoid about being cheated on. Helen knows all about that to her sorrow.”

“That’s very kind of you, Nikki but that’s only part of the problem. Part of me intellectually feels that the only permissible prejudices are against lack of humanity, dishonesty and obsequious careerism……”
“…and intolerance and narrow mindedness, don’t forget them…,” added Helen brightly.” You’ve left that out.”
“Quite right, Helen,” added John appreciatively before the smile on his face promptly disappeared.” My problem is that, OK, George and I have been apart for years, largely due to my compulsive infidelity. She’d changed recently, she’s come to share some of my beliefs and whatever antagonisms between us had burned themselves out. Just at that point, when it looked as if we have the chance of a future together, she falls in love with another woman.”
“Did you talk to George about getting back with her?”
“In a roundabout way, and in an equally roundabout way, she graciously declined.”
“So why did she refuse you?”
“I really don’t know.” John said with a studiously blank expression on his face. He winced slightly as the two women looked sharply at him. It made him feel uncomfortable.
“Lets put it another way, John. You give me a pen picture of George.”
John felt on easier ground. This belonged to the world of facts. This he could cope with.
“George was always a woman of the world… even when we were both young. She’s always liked the material things in life and power and position in the world. She has always had an iron shell and conceals her feelings very well.”
“Meaning that you reckon she’d get back with you and overlook your personality foibles which are bound to sink your relationship. Are you sure George is as hard as you make her out to be? We’ve seen her down at ‘Chix’ and she comes over as totally charming and seeking some honest way of expressing herself, as if she’s eager to learn a new language. She’s certainly tough enough when she’s in court as we’ve both seen. I hate to say it, John but Alice has been a good influence on her.”
“So it comes down to this. I can’t be sure if all this is just my hopes being disappointed or an unconscious prejudice against gay women coming to the surface that I can’t admit to….”
“John, you’re talking a load of crap,” Helen exclaimed. “The hardest thing to deal with is that someone who you once loved has found someone else who is more suited.”
“It happens that way, John,” added Nikki.” Trisha, my ex, has had to get used to me being around Helen. It can make you feel kind of inadequate, diminished and it takes real courage to rise above it and be that generous to your ex. At least she’ll do better with Alice than with that politician guy.”
“That’s easier to handle,” John sprang back with alacrity.” I knew Haughton and could so easily despise him and despair endlessly of George’s lousy choice of men.”
“Whereas you don’t know Alice. You know that George is changing for the better and Alice must therefore be at least halfway decent. You can’t get away from that,” Helen said softly as she slid in that logical conclusion. “That’s nothing to do with homophobia. You may be a novice to the quote gay scene unquote, but you’re the last guy to revert to primitive caveman mentality.”

John stared at the two kindly women as his mind sought to deal with this blinding flash of enlightenment. They were both incredibly kind and understanding. It took away some of the feeling of hurt that had been gnawing at his insides. He could see things less from his trapped point of view and move to a more universal approach.

“I’m sorry for coming over and burdening you with my troubles. I’m really grateful to you both,” he muttered, his eyes downcast.
“You’re welcome to come round any time that’s convenient, John. I told you that before. What intrigues me is that there’s something here that makes you feel especially relaxed, the same as when you stopped over last time.”

Both women knew that John was vastly understating his feelings of gratitude. It didn’t matter as they got his feelings. The night felt especially calm and everything felt at peace. John wasn’t to know that both women were used to such conversations at ‘Chix’ in bolstering up other women who had their trials and tribulations. This felt no different, as this was what they were there for. Helen thought fondly how John’s male pride couldn’t humbly admit his gratitude more than these awkward words. It didn’t matter to her.

“That’s a very good question,” John said at last very slowly as he turned the idea over in his mind. “All I can say is that it feels safe. I’ve stayed over at women’s flats many times, but this feels different…..I know very well that any relationship with you must be pure friendship or not at all. That stabilizes me. Of course, I enjoy intelligent conversation with you both and I feel that I’m in the same area of life as you are. Sorry that I can’t be more specific than that.”
“That makes sense to us,” Helen said, yawning as she spoke.” God, I’m tired.”
“You’ve had way too much to drink, John,” Nikki observed.” You’re stopping on the sofa?” she said, hardly a question. John nodded his head gratefully. He couldn’t bear to return to the loneliness of his digs.” Come on, let’s all turn in.”

***********

The man crept along the dark street, dressed in dark trousers, overcoat and wearing a woollen hat on his head. His eyes manically darted all around him and his eyebrows were furrowed in concentration. At last, he found the address that he sought. It was a large Georgian house, set back a little way from the road with big front bay windows. The front door was a large stout wooden affair and, even with glass panes wasn’t about to submit easily to his bagful of tools. Instinct made him believe that the side or back of the house might be an easier proposition and he’d be less conspicuous. He was delighted to see a wooden fence at the side of the building that could easily be climbed over. Once there, luck was again on his side as such a warm night meant that the sash window was left slightly open. He’d hoped for that as it meant that he needn’t have to forcibly break into the flat. He pushed upwards to ease the window up, a bit at a time. He grinned in an evil fashion, as he knew now that he’d be able to scare the shit out of those bitches who he’d tracked down. He’d have the advantage on them as no one can fight back when they’re half dressed or not dressed at all. Accordingly, he rolled gently sideways off the empty kitchen draining board and landed lightly on his plimsolled feet with hardly a sound. The way was wide open now.




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emtsue
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G3 Curtain and Duvet!
Hey Richard,
I do so love your characterzation of John Deed,especially in this chapter.
When Helen asks John,"so why did she refuse you",I had no problem seeing both eyebrows arch upwards in all innocence and respond,"I really don't know".Typical child answer, isn't it? I had the feeling of wanting to wrap my arms around him and pat his head!But his over all response to the changes in George,namely her new found sexuality and relationship with Alice,is anything but typical.There is absolutely no anger towards George,just himself, for wondering after all his crusades against humanity,that he could possibly be homophobic and how ill at ease this makes him.Nikki and Helen rightly pointed out,that his reactions have nothing to do with being homophobic,but with the fact that George has found someone she fits with.Man or woman,there's no fighting that.It sounds as though John only ever wanted someone beside him to fight those battles of injustice,and now that George is on the same track,he's totally missed the boat.But in all fairness, he was kind of blind-sided.His Male ego thinking that she would eventually go back to him definitely plays a part as well.
Helen and Nikki's self-proclamation that they were put on this earth to be the agony aunts for the lesbian community is priceless!!! Who would of thought,Helen of all people slipping into that role with such ease and confidence?!
Now as far as the stranger goes,I'v already been accused of projecting to far ahead..but what the hell, might as well give it a shot.The obvious first thought would be Fenner...but then I'm thinkin'...Sir Ian and the brethren...hired hand(s)....god forbid they should be made to look like idiots again,and by Helen and Nikki clan no less! Ok, thats it for me,done enough damage for one day!
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