*Blue Cheeze* Chantelle - Just Wanted to Tell You

Chapter 5
Surprises are foolish things. The pleasure is not enhanced and the
inconvenience is often considerable.
Jane Austen, 1816

'Done!' exclaimed Jenna triumphantly as she typed the last bit of
information into the computer. Gwen and herself had now been in England
for 4 weeks. Jenna had found a job a job with a psychological research firm
and Gwen, with a bit of well placed flirting, had managed to land a job as a
receptionist at a London Accountancy firm.
'Anything else you want me to do?' she called out to the research
coordinator Mariette, a kindly, middle-aged Frenchwoman.
Mariette answered, 'Non merci, Jenna my dear, you can leave early if you
want, seeing as it is a Friday, I'm sure you will want to go off and party like
all you young things do now.'
Jenna giggled 'Thanks Mariette! I'll see you on Monday'
Grabbing her coat and bag, Jenna left, wondering what do you with her now
free afternoon. Smiling to herself, she recalled the motto that Gwen lived
by, 'When in doubt, go shopping' and so set off for Oxford Street.

2 hours later, arms loaded with bags of clothes courtesy of her latest pay
cheque, she arrived home to an empty house. It was almost 4 o'clock and
the sun was rapidly disappearing behind the houses across the street, bathing
the front room in an orange glow.
A yellow post-it note was tacked to the front door

Gwen and Jenna,
There's an office party tonight at work, so Nick and I
won't be home 'till late. Have a good night!!
Mairead

Feeling hungry after working up an appetite shopping, Jenna ransacked the
kitchen for food. She located a packet of pasta and some sauce.
'Perfect!' she exclaimed happily, 'we'll have Italian!'
With the packet of pasta in one hand and the phone in the other, Jenna
dialled Gwen's number.
'Earlbaum, Rosenberg and Associates, this is Gwen speaking, how may I
help you?'
Gwen purred into the phone.
Jenna giggled, 'Gwen it's me, listen I'm gonna cook pasta for dinner, can
you pick up some garlic bread on your way home?'
'Ooooh yum' Gwen replied practically drooling into the phone, 'I finish in
about 5 minutes so I'll see you in about 40 minutes time OK?
Unable to wait that long for food, Jenna fixed herself a quick sandwich to
snack on and bounced upstairs to have a shower and try on her purchases.

Jenna grinned sheepishly at herself in the mirror. The shop assistant had
said the top suited her but being wary of their eagerness for commission, she
had taken 20 minutes to decide whether to buy it. The dark silvery halter
neck lay in shimmery folds sloping down from her neck, the bottom of the
top ending just below her bellybutton. Slowly turning around, she could see
that the material fell perfectly onto her lower back, revealing an expanse of
smooth tanned skin. Jenna pulled the knee length black skirt she was
wearing until it lay across her hips, exposing a thin strip of her stomach.
'I DO look good' she said to herself, her blue eyes looking back rather
surprised in the mirror. Giggling, she admonished herself for her vanity.

Gwen hurried into the brightly lit supermarket, head full of thoughts of hot
pasta covered in rich tomato sauce and melted cheese.
'Garlic bread, garlic bread, garlic bread�' she muttered to herself, 'where
is it? Ahha!'
Reaching for the garlic bread, Gwen was distracted by the yell of a young
child down the aisle who seemed intent on throwing everything his mother
put in the trolley, out.
Her attention was brought back however when instead of landing on the
cool crinkly packaging of the garlic bread, her hand closed on something
warm and very un-garlic bread like. Realising she had grabbed hold of
someone else's hand as they were simultaneously reaching for the garlic
bread, Gwen giggled,
'Oooh sorry!' she said apologetically, 'I w�'
Gwen stopped, mouth open, as she found herself looking into a pair of
rather familiar sparkling green eyes.
'S'allright' smiled Lee cheekily, 'but can I have my hand back?'

Chapter 6
'Is it bad, then, to be misunderstood? Pythagorus was misunderstood, and
Socrates, and Jesus, and Luther, and Copernicus, and Galileo, and Newton,
and every pure and wise spirit that ever took flesh. To be great is to be
misunderstood.
Ralph Waldo Emerson (American Philosopher), 1841

Jenna was about to change out of her new clothes when she was interrupted
by the phone. Quickly she jumped down the stairs and with a thump landed
at the bottom.
''lo?' she answered breathlessly after her marathon run from the bedroom.
'Jenna?' Gwen's voice could hardly be heard above the loud music in the
background, 'Change of plan, get down here to the Metro nightclub as soon
as you can, there's someone that I want you to meet'.
'Gwen, what? who?' Jenna questioned, too late as the phone hung up. 'Oh
well' she sighed, 'At least I'm half dressed'
Quickly, she applied a coat of mascara to her already dark lashes, smoothed
on some silvery eyeshadow and located her favourite chocolate lip gloss.
After lacing up her black knee-high boots, she was ready.

Simon glanced across the crowded nightclub to where Lee and a rather
pretty blonde he had just met, were engaged in deep conversation.
'Man, am I bored' he complained, nudging Duncan, who was sitting next to
him.
'Well go and find someone nice and sweet to talk to' Duncan replied,
obviously distracted by the 'someone sweet' he was already chatting up.

Simon was about to get up and call it a night when he was distracted by a
flash of light, reflected from silvery material. A slim brunette had appeared
next to Lee and the blonde and was apparently being introduced. Eying her
from a distance, Simon saw that the newcomer, while she couldn't be
described as stunning, wasn't unattractive.
With her wavy brown hair falling just below her shoulders onto a smooth
back, the girl was grinning widely at Lee who had apparently said
something funny as the blonde was in stitches.
Lee caught Simons's eye 'Oi Sy!' he shouted, gesturing for Simon to come
over.
As Simon neared the group, the brunette turned around, and Simon felt a
jolt in his stomach. While she may not have seemed much to look at from
afar, Simon was captivated by the girl's eyes, wide and framed by dark
lashes, they were a startling shade of electric blue.
Recovering quickly as he realised he was staring, Simon quickly introduced
himself, 'Hi, I'm Simon'
'Hi Simon', the two girls replied in unison which brought a blush to Jenna's
cheeks and a giggle from Gwen.
Lee finished the introductions, 'This is Gwen and this is Jenna' he said,
gesturing to the blonde and the brunette in turn. 'They're from Australia' he
added, drawling in his best attempt at an antipodean accent.

Jenna stole a sideways glance at Simon as Gwen and Lee quickly drew him
into the conversation. Her heart thumped nervously, he was even more
gorgeous in real life. Smooth brown skin over a well toned body (easily
visible owing to the tight sleeveless black top he was wearing), soft brown
eyes and a deep velvet voice.
'Jenna!' Gwen said impatiently, though not without a small grin as she
realised where her friend's attention was focused.
'What?' replied Jenna, reddening slightly as she hoped that Simon hadn't
caught her staring.
'I said, will you be OK while me and Lee go and dance?' Gwen repeated,
her eyes shining.
'Oh, yeah sure' Jenna replied smiling, avoiding looking at Simon who she
could feel standing right next to her, 'have fun!'
'I don't suppose you want to dance , do you?' Simon's deep voice, tinged
with humour seemed to come from a space somewhere above Jenna's head.
Turning around and seriously misjudging his height, Jenna found herself
about to answer Simon's chest.
'Sorry' she apologised with a small giggle, embarrassed for the second time
that night, 'I forgot how tall you were'.
Looking up at him, Jenna saw that far from noticing her mistake, Simon
didn't seem to be paying her any attention at all, he appeared to be staring at
a spot just beyond her left ear. Jenna turned around to see that it was Gwen
in his line of sight.
Feeling like an idiot and attributing his dance proposal to forced politeness,
Jenna muttered her excuses and quickly disappeared to the bathroom. Once
inside she collapsed onto a chair, face in hands and groaned loudly in
embarassment, attracting some rather odd looks from the bathroom's other
occupants.

Simon stared in surprise at Jenna's retreating figure. He had thought that she
liked him, well at least didn't dislike him, I mean, she had been staring at
him hadn't she?
He'd just asked her to dance, and as she turned around, a piece of hair near
her left ear had been flicked out of place. He was just deciding whether it
would be a bit forward if he tucked it behind her ear when she had turned
around to look at Gwen and Lee, muttered something about having to leave
and disappeared. Simon looked at the dancing couple who were oblivious to
the fact that the music was now loud and fast, and appeared to be still glued
together at the hip.
'Oh' he realised, his heart falling, 'She was looking at Lee'
Now dejected, Simon trudged over to Duncan, waiting politely until his
friend disentangled himself from the girl he was with.
'I'm going home, mate' he explained, ' I'll see you tomorrow'

Chapter 7
'All the things I really like to do are either illegal, immoral, or fattening.'
Alexander Woollcott (American Author), 1973

'�and I was holding his hand instead of the garlic bread!'
Gwen was babbling excitedly. She had woken Jenna to describe to her, in
great detail, the happenings of the night before.
'�and then, after the nightclub�'
Jenna looked at her alarm clock and groaned. 'Gwen, it's only 6:30 in the
morning, and it's Saturday!'
Gwen shrugged, 'I know' she said, matter-of-factly, and continued.
'�and then, we went back to his place and THEN�'
Gwen went all giggly as she leant forward to whisper in Jenna's ear.
'Oh ewww!' Jenna groaned, attempting to block her ears with her pillow,
'Gwen, I don't want to know!'
Gwen flung herself on the bed beside Jenna, giggling happily, 'He's going
to call me today'
'Oh GREAT!' Jenna replied, mock seriously, 'You mean that I've got to
listen to your next lot of sordid exploits tomorrow morning?'
Gwen grinned, giving her friend a hug, 'You know you love me really' she
added as she bounded happily out of the room, 'What do you want for
breakfast?'
'Sleep' answered Jenna darkly, pulling the bedcovers over her head.

Later on in the day, as the two sat relaxing and watching TV, the phone
rang.
Watching with amusement as the remote control and copy of J17 that Gwen
had been reading flew into the air, Jenna stifled a laugh as Gwen rushed to
the phone where once there, unwilling to appear too eager, she waited,
jumping up and down until the requisite number of rings had passed.
'Hello?' she answered, trying to breathe normally.
'Oh hi Lee' Gwen answered, attempting nonchalance but failing to keep the
excitement out of her voice.

Jenna disappeared into the kitchen to make a cup of tea, which she promptly
spilt on the floor when Gwen came barrelling into the room and squeezed
her around the waist.
'Let me guess' Jenna asked dryly, 'You're going out again tonight?
'Nup' giggled Gwen, shaking her blonde curls, 'WE'RE going out. Lee's
going to bring the boys so I said you'd come to keep them company'
Jenna looked at Gwen.
Gwen looked at Jenna.
Jenna looked at the tea on the floor, the tea on her shirt, and the absence of
tea in her mug.
'Pulllleeeease' Gwen begged, getting on her knees and gazing up adoringly
as she clasped Jenna around the waist, 'for meeee?'
'OK' Jenna replied, 'but you owe me one'
Gwen squealed, hugging her so tight that Jenna had to mention her need for
air, then raced up the stairs to plan what to wear.
Jenna looked at her tea-covered self and sighed.

Chapter 8
'There is only one thing in the world worse than being talked about, and
that is not being talked about.'
Oscar Wilde (Anglo-Irish playwright), 1904

'Where are we going anyway?' Jenna asked as the taxi arrived at their house
later that evening.
'To dinner' replied Gwen, 'then I think we might go clubbing'
Jenna looked at her and raised an eyebrow.
'I know' Gwen smiled, patting Jenna on the cheek, 'I owe you one. I dunno
why you're not eager to go though, I mean, hello? Blue!'
Gwen nudged Jenna gently in the ribs with her elbow.
'Simon's cute though isn't he?' she winked suggestively, 'You always liked
Simon didn't you?'
'Yeah' Jenna replied somewhat sullenly, adding under her breathe, 'used
to�'

Lee and Ant were waiting out the front of the restaurant when the taxi
arrived.
'Hey' Lee said softly, a smile lighting up his face as he enveloped Gwen in
his arms and planted a kiss on her forehead, 'you alright?'
'Yeah' replied Gwen dreamily, gazing up at him.
Ant, safely out of site behind Lee's back, made silent gagging faces.
'I'm Ant' he grinned, 'you must be Jenna'
'Yeah' said Jenna, chuckling at Ant's mimed gagging, 'nice to meet you
Ant'
'And you must be Gwen' he added, locating her arm which was wrapped
around Lee and shaking it vigorously, 'I've heard soooo much about you'
he teased good-naturedly his face animated with a wide grin.
'Hey Jen' Lee had detached himself from Gwen for the time being and lent
over to give Jenna a quick peck on the cheek, 'shall we go in? Duncan and
Simon are already sitting down.'

Duncan was the first to see them re-enter.
'There they are' he exclaimed, 'that's the blonde from last night'
'Hey�..' Duncan gave a low whistle, 'check out her friend'
Simon looked up, Jenna was all in black.
From her heels, to her low cut jeans, to her fluffy knitted midriff top,
Simon's eyes slid all the way up to her face. If possible, her eyes seemed
even bluer.
'THAT was the girl who dissed you for Lee?' Duncan said incredulously,
'She's HOT, man you really lucked out there!'
'Thanks for you support Duncan' Simon replied darkly, 'you really know
how to cheer a guy up'
The small group arrived at the table, Lee introducing the girls to Duncan.
'This is Jenna and Gwen' he said, pulling out a chair for Gwen to sit down,
Ant immediately copying for Jenna but with immense exaggeration and
frilly hand movements.
'You've met Simon already, haven't you Jenna?' Lee asked.
Nodding and shyly saying hello, Jenna quickly sat down, Simon giving
what sounded like a grunt in response. Lee was too taken with Gwen to
notice but Ant gave his friend a funny look.

Surprisingly the meal went rather quickly with Jenna alternately in fits of
laughter and fits of blushing thanks to Ant's hilarious antics on one side and
Duncan's smooth flirting on the other. Lee and Gwen only had eyes for each
other and Simon had resigned himself to answering any questions sulkily
with a curt 'yes' or 'no'.
'Time for clubbing' announced Lee, finishing the last of his drink, 'shall we
go?'
4 of them left the table, Simon going with Duncan to pay the bill.

Ant quietly whispered aside to Jenna as they left.
'Don't mind Simon, he's not usually like this�well not THIS bad anyway'
he added as an afterthought, 'I dunno what's up with him'
'I do' replied Jenna attempting to smile, 'I think he likes Gwen'
'Aaah, that would make sense' said Ant nodding, 'though I wouldn't have
really thought Gwen was his type'
'Oh well' he sighed, 'stranger things have happened, Duncan went a whole
night once without attempting to chat anyone up'
Jenna giggled, cheered up for the time being.
'I find that hard to believe' she chuckled, 'from what I've seen, Dunc would
flirt with a tree if there wasn't anyone else around'
'Don't I know it!' Ant replied, widening his eyes, 'he tried to hit on me
once when he was really drunk.'
Jenna chuckled.
'�at least I hope he was drunk!' Ant added rather worriedly as he hailed a
taxi.