“So, are you going to go and apologise to Abs?” Paul asked as he pulled on his jeans.
          “You think I should?” Gina mused as she watched a few leftover water droplets that Paul had failed to dry after his shower trickle down his spine.
          “Yes,” Paul said seriously, zipping up his fly. “Despite that fact what she did was hysterical, she’s your best friend and came to you for support.”
          “I know but I find it impossible to care when people do stupid things when they’re drunk,” Gina groused as she pulled her hair back into a pony tail.
          “If I remember correctly,” Paul mused, swaggering over to where she was looking in the mirror. “I told you I loved you when I was drunk and you cared then.”
          “That was different,” Gina pouted looking sideways at him. “And you didn’t remember anyway.”
          “That’s beside the point,” Paul countered crossing his arms. “Abbie supported you when you went whining to her…”
          “When you were being a bastard.”
          Paul raised an eyebrow. “As I was saying, she supported you, so the least you can do is support her, babe. You owe her that much.”
          Gina cocked her head to the side. “Since when did you come over all Christian?”
          “I don’t know that I’ve come over all Christian,” Paul shrugged and grabbed his shirt from the floor. “It’s just I kinda know what it's like to have done something stupid and then find you’re alone.”
          “Holly was so right,” Gina breathed, shaking her head as she took one last look in the mirror.
          “Holly was right about what?” Paul asked, looking concerned and pausing mid-buttoning of his shirt.
          “She said you were turning into a SNAG and quite frankly I think she’s spot on,” Gina quipped and sauntered out of the room leaving Paul worrying for his social status if it should leak out that he was a nice person and not a mongrel.

          “Abs!” Gina called, opening the guestroom door and seeing only a lump underneath the covers. “Abs come on, you can’t hide underneath my Designer Direct bed linen forever.”
          “I can and I will,” came Abbie’s muffled reply before her head popped out from beneath the sheets. “Did you say Designer Direct?” she added, blowing the curls from her face.
          Gina nodded. “That pastel yellow set has been touched by that annoying ethnic woman.”
          “Well you could have warned me!” Abbie groused, pushing the covers as far from her as possible.
          “That makes two of us then,” Gina countered and crossed her arms as she leant against the doorframe.
          “You do realise you have just totally turned into your mother?” Abbie smiled wryly. Gina frowned as she uncrossed her arms and a very clear ‘HA!’ from Paul was heard from the kitchen.
          “So tell me,” Gina announced, ignoring the dreaded reality that she was turning into her mother. “Why the hell did you fuck Jacob?”
          “I don’t know,” Abbie shrugged as Gina sat on the edge of the bed. “I guess I kinda felt sorry for him. Charmaine has been a complete control freak what with the wedding coming up and all.”
          “And so while you were tanked you decided to give him Abigail’s guide to orgasm?”
          “No, it wasn’t like that!”
          “Please don’t tell me that you enjoyed it?”
          “Well no, but he was flirting with me and when I was intoxicated it was nice to have some attention.”
          “And now?”
          “I feel kinda dirty,” Abbie breathed and fell back onto the pillows. “That and my family are going to have me expelled from the kinship.”
          “So who says they have to know,” Gina shrugged. “I mean if Jacob doesn’t tell anyone then why upset the equilibrium.”
          “Equilibrium?”
          “Sorry, I caught Business Sunday this morning.”
          “I always worry when you start throwing economic terms about,” Abbie mused and whacked her best friend with a pillow. Gina sat there stunned a moment and then snatched the pillow from Abbie and hit her back. They looked at each other amused and burst into girlish giggles.
          “Dear god it’s turned into a sleepover for 14-year-old girls,” Paul declared appearing at the door and then put on his best teenage girl voice. “Oh Charlene will you plait my hair…ohh let’s get our nighties on and watch Leonardo DiCaprio movies woo!”
          “Should we be worried he knows about sleepovers in that much detail?” Abbie asked as both she and Gina looked a Paul amused.
          “Just me and the 8th graders from Our Lady of the Sacred Heart College,” Paul beamed lecherously and then wandered off again.
          Gina and Abbie looked at each other blankly for a moment. “Remind me again why that’s the love of your life?” Abbie chided.
          “I’m beginning to wonder,” Gina giggled and they both started to laugh again.

          Paul was helping himself to toast and jam when Gina reappeared looking far happier than she had earlier.
          “Everyfing sorted out?” Paul asked through the slice of toast he was holding in his mouth as he screwed the lid back on the jam.
          “What?” Gina mused, dislodging the toast.
          “I said, everything sorted out?” Paul sighed and frowned as she started to eat his breakfast.
          “Yeah,” Gina nodded. “We’re going for coffee and shopping.”
          “You don’t drink coffee,” Paul remarked, unscrewing the lid again and turning the toaster back on.
          “Iced coffee darling.”
          “What’s the difference, it's still coffee right? They don’t make it with cheese or anything?”
          “Now that’s just ridiculous.”
          “No more ridiculous than your claims of being a non-coffee drinker when in actual fact you are.”
          Gina crossed her arms and pouted. “Do I stop you drinking beer?”
          “No,” Paul shrugged, looking bemused.
          “Then don’t whine about my iced coffee obsession,” she countered and looked at him haughtily. Paul crossed his arms, raised an eyebrow and let the faint hint of a smile creep onto his lips as they stared at each other. It took about five seconds for Gina to break into giggles and Paul grinned triumphantly.
          “I wouldn’t be so smug,” Gina chided as she leaned back against the sideboard.
          “Why?” Paul asked with a wry smile. “I can’t help it if I’m just too much of a sexual being that you can’t stay angry with me.”
          “Actually Mr Sex your toast has caught fire,” Gina quipped and Paul’s eyes went wide.
          “Fucking Gerald!” he growled as he pulled the smoking bread from the toaster.
          “Whose Gerald?” Abbie asked, sauntering into the room and looking at Paul strangely.
          “The toaster of course,” Gina chided. “He’s unpredictable.”
          “I told you I’d bring Susan over,” Paul groused. “At least she does what she’s told.”
          “And Susan is?” Abbie asked, now totally bewildered.
          “My toaster,” Paul shrugged, chucking his burnt toast in the bin.
          “You people have serious issues, you know that,” Abbie grimaced. “Get therapy.”
          Gina and Paul looked at each other and shrugged. “Hey Abs,” Paul piped up and she looked over at him. “Remind me again how you incorporate long division into foreplay.”
          “I hate you,” Abbie huffed, narrowing her eyes and walking back out of the room.
          “Do you carry the one?” Paul called after her and Gina started to giggle again.

          Gina dropped Paul off at his apartment building on her way into town. They tried for a goodbye kiss but got groans of disgust from Abbie and decided to cut short their show of affection.
          As Gina drove off Paul wandered up the stairs to his apartment. There was some mail he was supposed to go through but took one look at the envelopes that were sure to be bills and decided that it sounded like too much work for a Sunday. He glanced around for something to distract himself with and noticed a blank canvas he’d had propped on his easel for a while. He crossed his arms and cocked his head to the side, staring at it blankly and quite frankly feeling a bit Miro before an idea sprung to mind. Why not a large, full colour painting of his Gina-Maid and Octo-Paul! Yes, that was a very good idea, especially for a Sunday. He removed his jacket and dropped it on the couch before he went in search of all the supplies he’d need for his latest piece of artistic genius.

          If she was honest with herself, Gina wasn’t the least bit interested in shopping at that very moment. She would rather have spent the day with Paul just doing nothing, watching him paint or write, have a kiss and a cuddle when they felt like it, but as he’d pointed out she couldn’t very well be un-supportive in her friend’s time of need. So, Gina found herself sitting on a bench in the changing rooms of a clothing boutique as Abbie tried on an array of clothing.
          “What do you think?” Abbie asked, opening the door of her cubicle to show off what seemed like the millionth blue top she’d tried on. “I like it.”
          “It’s very nice,” Gina replied, quickly running out of nice things to say. “But I liked the other one better.”
          “Yeah?” Abbie shrugged. “I like them both.”
          “So buy them both,” Gina sighed. “How much time did you take off work?”
          “Eternity,” Abbie replied coyly and Gina’s mouth fell open.
          “You quit your job?”
          “Yes essentially,” Abbie nodded. “I took great pleasure in telling my boss to shove her job.”
          “Do you think that was such a good idea?”
          “One of my best.”
          “So, what are you going to do for money?” Gina asked, not sure if she really wanted to hear the answer.
          “Well, I was thinking of maybe getting a job here,” Abbie perked. “Staying with you for a bit.”
          “What about your mortgage?” Gina gasped, not having the heart to tell her friend she would rather have Saddam Hussein renting her spare room.
          “It’ll get paid,” Abbie perked. “Besides I think the change’ll do me good.”
          Gina smiled with a pained expression as Abbie closed the cubicle door again. She let out a sigh and leaned back heavily against the back of the bench. Sure, she loved her best friend but there was no way in hell she wanted her hanging about for a lengthy period of time. She knew it was mean but Gina was for the first time in years happy; she had a great job, a cosy home and a gorgeous boyfriend. It was the lifestyle she’d been yearning for since she was a teenager and while having Abbie stay could be fun it was also a link to the life she hadn’t enjoyed and she really only wanted to be remembered of that in small doses.
          “I think this is too tight,” Abbie declared and Gina jumped, her mind as far away from clothes shopping as possible. She looked up at her friend whose generous bust was nearly popping out of a purple button up.
          “Just a tad,” she managed to smile.

          After Abbie had spent amounts of money that Gina didn’t even want to think about she dragged her into an underwear store.
          “So, what does Paul like huh?” Abbie teased picking up a lacy little black number.
          “Why does everyone insist I buy raunchy underwear for Paul when I go out?” Gina groused.
          “Hello, you were licking chocolate from his naked flesh last night,” Abbie chided, averting her attention to a shocking pink pair of undies. “So fleshing out your naughty underwear collection has got to be a priority.”
          “Believe me when I say it’s not.”
          “So what does he like?”
          “It’s none of your business.”
          “Are you blushing?” Abbie laughed. “Oh my god girl, you’re not that bashful. Usually you’d be picking out something sheer and kinky.”
          “Well this is different,” Gina mumbled, digging her hands into her pockets.
          “Why? Oh because it’s Paul,” Abbie jeered. “The lust, sorry, LOVE of your life.”
          Gina turned a deeper shade of crimson. “He’s not a perverted freak like you think you know.”
          “He was talking about rooting school girls this morning,” Abbie countered crossing her arms.
          “Ok, so he doesn’t mind things kinky,” Gina groused and received a few curious looks from other shoppers.
          “So, what does he like?”
          “Skimpy and sheer,” Gina sighed, shaking her head. Abbie pawed through the racks and pulled out a pale green, sheer bra and boy-cut undies with a little pink rose just to make it looked totally girlie on both the bra and pants.
          “You should try this on,” she declared.
          “It’s green,” Gina remarked taking the little plastic hanger from her friend.
          “And you’re a blonde, it’ll look cool,” Abbie insisted and bustled her friend toward a cubicle.
          Gina reluctantly tried on the underwear while trying to work out why the sales assistant felt the need to see if she needed help getting her knickers on. She looked in the mirror and decided it was actually quite a cute set.
          “Well?” Abbie asked from the other side of the curtain.
          “I like it,” Gina replied as she heard her phone ring. Abbie was holding her bag and she listened as her friend answered it.
          “Hello, oh hi Pauly. Hey? Oh she’s trying on sexy undies for you. I’ll pass you over.” Gina poked her head out of the curtain and frowned at Abbie who looked back innocently as she took the phone.
          “Are you really trying on sexy undies?” Paul asked, amusement in his voice.
          “Yes actually,” Gina replied, feeling quite foolish.
          “Fantastic!” Paul mused. “Are you going to describe them for me or what?”
          “Not on your life,” Gina gasped. “I’m in a bloody shop.”
          “Good, I’m glad you’re not walking down the middle of the mall or something.”
          “Gee thanks,” Gina sarced. “Did you want something or are you just being clingy.”
          “Is clingy the wrong answer?”
          “No,” Gina mused and then lowered her voice. “In all honesty I’d rather be with you than here.”
          “Hey, I wish you were here in your sexy undies,” Paul agreed. “Actually, I did want something.”
          “What?”
          “Art supplies.”
          “Right, hold on,” Gina announced and poked her head out of the cubicle again. “There’s a pen and paper in my bag,” she declared and held out her hand and until Abbie passed it to her. “OK, shoot,” Gina perked, safely back in her cubicle. Paul rambled off the details of a couple of paints and brushes and Gina felt a bit clueless.
          “You got all that?” Paul asked and reiterated what he wanted.
          “Yep and I get these where? I mean I could get the brushes from like the $2 Shop or something.”
          “That’s sacrilege woman!”
          “Yeah but it’s a lot cheaper.”
          “Genie…”
          “I’m just teasing. I know where the art shop is,” she giggled. “I think.”
          “You better, I’m feeling very creative at the moment.”
          “Did my art work with the melted chocolate inspire you?”
          “Babe I don’t think there was enough blood left in my brain to actually do much thinking when you whipped out the chocolate.”
          “Good,” Gina cooed. “I should go, I’m going to have to buy the sexy undies now. They're kinda worn in.”
          “You wait until I get my hands on ‘em.”
          “Oh I can’t wait…”
          “Can you hurry up before you soil the underwear!” Abbie declared, poking her head around the curtain. “And besides no one wants to hear your smutty conversation with lover boy.”
          “Tell Abs to fuck off,” Paul declared and Gina looked blankly at Abbie.
          “Paul says fuck off,” she announced coyly and then sighed. “I’ll drop your supplies off later.”
          “I’ll be waiting,” Paul replied, an obvious smile in his voice.
          Gina reluctantly ended the call and then peeled off the sexy underwear and redressed. As she stepped out of the cubicle Gina noticed that a couple of gossipy sales assistants were looking at her amused and quickly pretended to be neatening a rack of bikini briefs as she walked past.
          “So what did monkey boy want?” Abbie asked as Gina placed the underwear on the counter.
          “Art supplies,” Gina shrugged. “Some paints from Bulgaria and brushes made from ferret fur or something pretentiously artistic like that.”
          “You should get him some of those cheap plastic brushes from one of the cheap shops. The bright pink ones with plastic bristles that fall out when touched to paper.”
          “The ones you buy for kiddies?”
          “Exactly!”
          “He’d bloody kill me,” Gina laughed. “No, he’s a brilliant artist and I shouldn’t belittle him,” she added slowly looking sideways and meeting Abbie’s eyes that were gleaming with mischief.

          It was mid afternoon by the time Gina and Abbie had finished shopping. Gina had then taken Abbie back to her place on Abbie’s insistence that she in no way wanted to go to Paul’s and infringe on their groping time. She then drove back to Paul’s apartment building, lazily took the elevator and let herself into his apartment.
          Gina sauntered through the living room and noticed a half finished painting. From what she could tell it was a strange looking octopus and a rather buxom mermaid. She studied it for a moment, the vibrant colours were eye-catching but the theme was relatively disturbing but she expected nothing less from Paul. Gina tore her eyes away form the painting and glanced around in case she’d missed him but Paul wasn’t in the living room at all. She continued to the bedroom and found him curled up on the bed asleep.
          “Lazy bugger,” she declared and leaned over to shake his arm and wake him. He lazily pulled her into his arms and she put up no resistance.
          “How was shopping?” Paul asked, yawning as he moved to kiss her sleepily.
          “Not as much fun as this,” Gina replied and they shared a few brief kisses. “What you doing sleeping?”
          “I’m worn out, you got me up at the crack of dawn.”
          “No, I got you up because the sheets were chocolaty.”
          “Wasn’t bothering me.”
          “Yes but you have an inability to change your bed linen,” Gina teased and gently kissed him again.
          “Did you get my stuff?”
          “Sure did,” Gina perked pulling away to grab her bags from the floor. Paul sat up, rubbed his eyes, and ran his fingers through his hair and tried to shake the bleariness from his eyes.
          “The art shop was stock taking,” Gina declared reaching into the bag. “So this is the best I could do,” she added and produced a plastic box of kids paints complete with useless plastic brush.
          Paul looked somewhere between pained and tearful. “I can’t create a masterpiece with that!”
          “Oh I picked up these for you too,” Gina added and passed him a set of five various sized plastic brushes.
          Paul looked blankly from one hand to the other and then at Gina with a defeated expression. “You can’t be serious?”
          “No, you’re right,” she nodded. “I’m not.” She grabbed anther bag and placed the items he’d asked for onto the bed. “That’s right isn’t it.”
          They were exactly what Paul had wanted but he felt annoyed that she’d ridiculed his art and narrowed his eyes. “I’m glad you take my passion so seriously.”
          “It was Abbie’s idea,” Gina said defensively. “She thought it’d be funny.”
          “Don’t lay the blame on someone else,” Paul huffed. “You were the one that presented me with shit!”
          “It was just a joke,” Gina pouted. “You know I’m supportive of everything you do, especially your art.”
          “I seem to remember you’ve made fun of it ever since we met,” Paul groused, clambering off the bed. “You have no idea how disrespectful it is to hand a professional artist shit like that.”
          “And once again it was a JOKE you pretentious freak,” Gina spat, not in the mood for a Paul style tantrum.
          “Yeah it was fucking hysterical,” Paul huffed and walked out of the room.
          “Fine, if you’re going to be grouchy I’m going home,” Gina huffed, picked up the rest of her bags and left.
          Paul waited for the door to close and then scurried back into the bedroom where he reached for the supplies Gina had brought and then stopped and grabbed the $2 paint set instead.

          “Did he laugh?” Abbie asked, laying sprawled on the couch as Gina stalked through the room toward her bedroom.
          “No he had a hissy fit and found it insulting,” she groused, slamming her bedroom door behind her.
          Gina remerged for dinner which Abbie had taken it upon herself to cook. It consisted of some packet rice and chicken but it was better than nothing. Gina was still quite miffed and found some solace in doing the dishes before she decided that a general kitchen spring clean was in order. Abbie declined to get involved and took to watching a rather trashy movie on cable.
          By 10pm when Gina was onto dusting tins of peas and Abbie her second of Paul’s beers. The key sounded in the lock and Paul strode into the apartment looking chuffed, he had a canvas under one arm and a rolled up piece of paper under the other.
          “Evening Abs,” he perked and strolled into the kitchen where Gina was checking used by dates on some packet soup. He rested the canvas against the breakfast bar and snuck up behind her. “Boo!” he jeered, wrapping his arms around her waist.
          “What?” Gina huffed, not taking her eyes from the soup. Paul cheekily started kissing her neck and Gina felt herself start to cave in. “What?” she asked again this time amusement in her voice.
          “I made you a present,” Paul declared proudly and slipped the rolled up piece of paper out from under his arm. “I decided to use those shitty cheap paints you bought me.”
          “Why?” Gina asked as he rested his chin on her shoulder and unrolled the piece of paper. He’d painted in a childlike fashion what appeared to be the crucifixion. “And this is?”
          “I call it the Crucifixion of Abigail,” Paul perked. “It was kinda inspired by my mood earlier.”
          Gina sniggered. “You’re horrible!”
          “Yeah but do you like it?”
          “I love it,” Gina giggled. “I’ll pin it to Francesca,” she added pulling away and attaching the painting to the fridge with a couple of magnets.
          “Sorry I was an arsehole earlier,” Paul smiled. “It was funny, I was just being all artistic and pensive.”
          “I know,” Gina nodded as she wrapped her arms around his waist. “Just don’t make a habit of it yeah?” she added as they fell into a gentle kiss.
          “Want to see why I’ve been all artistic and pensive?” Paul asked breathlessly.
          “No but you’re going to show me anyway,” Gina quipped and received an amused look from Paul as he pulled away to grab his canvas. He propped it up on the sideboard against the cupboards.
          “What do you think?”
          “That mermaid looks…oh dear god it’s me!” Gina gasped taking a closer inspection on the bare-chested sea loving beauty and then her attention moved to the octopus. “And that’s you right?”
          “Yeah, it’s a Gina-Maid and an Octo-Paul,” Paul enthused. “Do you like it or is it too freaky?”
          Gina crossed her arms, cocked her head to the side and quietly studied the finished painting. The Octo-Paul had its eight legs wrapped around the Gina-Maid. One tentacle precariously draped across a naked breast while another was tangled in her flowing blonde locks. “I actually think it’s quite beautiful.”
          “Really? You’re not just saying that because we’re like dating and stuff?” Paul asked looking curiously at her.
          “No and you know what the best thing is?” Gina smiled, snuggling up to him again.
          “What?” Paul asked, beaming as his arms moved around her.
          “I interpreted what it was all by myself,” she giggled and Paul shook his head at her.
          “What the hell…” Abbie declared as she headed toward the fridge and noticed the painting.
          “What do you think?” Paul asked, looking eager for an answer.
          “Therapy, lots and lots of therapy,” Abbie nodded and then noticed the painting on the fridge. “Why does Jesus have cleavage? Wait, is that me?”
          “Oh look, bedtime,” Gina announced quickly grabbing Paul’s hand.
          “Yes, have to be up early for work,” Paul agreed and grabbed his canvas as Gina hurried them both from the room.
          Abbie looked back at the painting on the fridge. “The bastard.”