By
Jan
Chapter 6
Sister-in-law?
So this was Simon’s wife. She didn’t look his usual type…blonde hair and big
boobs…she had those alright but she didn’t look the airhead he usually went
for. Although she supposed in sixteen years his type could have changed.
“I’ve
heard a lot about you, Nikki,” Lucy said pleasantly as she held out her hand.
“So
that’s Nikki?” Lucy mused as she watched the tall woman’s departing back. She
had moved to sit on a chair when Nikki had arrived but now she and Sarah were
alone she again sat on the edge of the bed and linked her fingers with the
younger woman’s.
“What
do you think to her?” Sarah asked as she smiled happily. “She’s lovely, isn’t
she?”
“She’s
okay but…” Lucy winked. “I think I prefer her sister.”
“What
am I going to do, Lucy?” the young woman asked worriedly. “I’ve nowhere to live
now.”
Lucy
squeezed her hand gently. “Don’t worry about that now. As soon as you’re able
you can come and stay with me.”
“Want
to talk about it?” Helen asked as she switched off the television that same
evening. Nikki had come in from the hospital deep in thought and had barely
spoken since.
“Hey!
I was watching that!” Nikki, who was slouched on the settee, her long legs
stretched out in front of her, exclaimed.
“No
you weren’t,” Helen contradicted. “You haven’t heard a word of it. Did
something happen at the hospital?”
Nikki
gave a big sigh before speaking. “I think Sarah is gay.”
Helen
laughed in surprise. “What on earth gave you that idea?”
“Simon’s
wife, Lucy, was at the hospital tonight and they were holding hands…Sarah and
Lucy I mean.”
“That
doesn’t mean anything. Sarah was young when your parents died so I’m sure Lucy
became like a mother to her.”
“
Take my word for it…there was nothing maternal about the looks they were giving
each other!” Nikki retorted. “I think they’re having an affair!”
Helen
snuggled up against her and wrapped her arm around Nikki’s slender waist. “What
are you going to do about it?”
Nikki
kissed the top of Helen’s head before replying. “What can I do? She’s old
enough to make her own decisions.”
“Do
you think Simon knows?”
“Doubt
it. I don’t think she would have been living with him if he did. He’s a
vindictive sonofabitch from what I’ve seen then again he always was. He saw me
smoking one day…I was about thirteen…and he snitched to Dad. The little shit
got a pat on the head but Dad wouldn’t let me out of the house for a month
except to go to school. I got my own back though,” she gave a satisfied laugh
as she remembered. “I let down his bike tyres for the whole month. Every time
he pumped them up, I let them down.”
Helen
smiled. Nikki had obviously never lost her rebellious streak. She should
know…she’d been at the mercy of it more than once when Nikki was in Larkhall.
“Why don’t you talk to Lucy?” she suggested. “Find out what her intentions
are.”
“That’s
an idea,” Nikki replied avidly.
Helen
sat upright and looked at her, a broad smile on her lips.
“What?”
“I
was joking,” Helen laughed. “You can’t ask Lucy if her intentions are
honourable.”
“I
don’t see why the hell not!” Nikki exclaimed.
“Love,
you might alienate Sarah if she thought you were interfering in her life so
soon after you had
found
each other,” Helen replied patiently.
Nikki
looked pensive. Helen might have a point. Their relationship…hers and
Sarah’s…was still fragile so she didn’t want to do anything to rock the boat.
“You’re right. I’ll back off and see what happens.”
Helen
hugged her. “Come on, let’s go to bed. You must be tired with all the driving
backwards and forwards to the hospital.”
Nikki
gave a sexy smile and raised her eyebrows. “Not that tired!”
“I’ll
walk with you to the car park,” Nikki informed Lucy when they were taking their
leave of Sarah the following evening. She had watched the couple like a hawk
throughout the visit and they didn’t seem overly demonstrative but that could
have been because she was there.
“Okay,”
Lucy agreed then bent and kissed Sarah’s brow. “See you tomorrow.”
Nikki
surveyed them through narrowed eyes then raised her hand in a farewell salute.
“I’ll see you tomorrow too.”
When
she was alone, Sarah lay back and smiled. It was good to see her sister and the
woman she loved getting on, although she might have felt a pang of jealousy if
she hadn’t known Nikki was besotted with Helen.
Every
cloud has a silver lining, she thought happily. She might be homeless and in
hospital but when she got out she was going to live with Lucy. She couldn’t
remember when she first began to realise her feelings for Lucy were more than
sisterly. Maybe the feelings had been there from the start. The first time
Simon had brought Lucy home to meet his parents she had felt an affinity with
her that she had never felt with his other girlfriends. Lucy on her part didn’t
seem to mind an eleven-year-old kid hanging around and took pleasure in showing
her ways to do her hair and apply make-up…the latter only when her father
wasn’t around!
When
their parents had died it was Lucy who suggested she and Simon move into the
family home so that she, Sarah, wouldn’t have any more upheaval. It had also
been Lucy who had comforted her during those long, lonely months of grieving.
When she had woken up almost every night sobbing Lucy stayed with her until she
had fallen into an exhausted sleep.
When
Simon worked late…as he did most evenings…she and Lucy used to sit snuggled together
on the settee watching the old musicals they both loved. She used to love the
feel of Lucy’s body pressed against her and smell her perfume and the fragrance
of her hair. Then suddenly it was over. Lucy had packed her bags and moved out.
Simon had pleaded with her to go back to him but she had told him she didn’t
love him anymore. That had been a year ago and although she hadn’t seen very
much of Lucy during that time…Lucy’s choice, not hers…she had asked the
hospital to call her. To her pleasant surprise Lucy had rushed straight over
and now she was going to live with her. She snuggled down happily. Things
couldn’t get any better.
As
they walked back to the car park, Nikki’s footsteps got slower and slower until
she finally stood still. She had to find out what was going on between her
sister and sister-in-law.
“What’s
on your mind, Nikki?” Lucy, who was a little way in front, asked over her
shoulder.
“You
and Sarah,” Nikki began hesitantly.
Lucy
turned round and came and stood in front of her. “What about us?”
“Don’t
you think you’re too old for her?” came the blunt reply.
“Don’t
beat about the bush, Nikki, tell it like it is.” Lucy smiled. “We can’t choose
who we fall in love with and I wish to God it was anyone but Sarah but I don’t
think it’s any of your business.” She started to walk away but Nikki grabbed
hold of her arm.
“She’s
just a kid!” she retorted.
“I
know she is!” Lucy flung angrily back at her. “That’s why I haven’t told her
how I feel about her!”
“What
do you mean, you haven’t told her?”
Lucy
sighed in exasperation. “I love Sarah, that’s why I left Simon but...”
“If
you left Simon for her, why aren’t you together?” Nikki interrupted sharply.
“I’ve seen the way she looks at you.”
“I’ve
seen the way she looks at me too and it would be so easy to take what she’s
offering but I didn’t leave Simon for her, I left because of her.” There was
another deep sigh of exasperation. “If Sarah and I had started seeing each
other, it would have caused a rift between her and Simon then if we’d split up
she would have had no one and as you said, she is just a kid.”
“So
you walked away?” Nikki looked at her apologetically. “I’m sorry. I guess I
misjudged you.”
“It
doesn’t matter. You were just trying to protect her but I have a more pressing
problem. I told Sarah she could come and stay with me when she gets out of the
hospital but I don’t really think it’s a good idea.”
“That’s
okay. Helen has already said she can come and stay with us.”
Lucy
looked relieved. “Thank you. I don’t think I could cope with her being under
the same roof as me again.”
Only
another week to go, Helen thought with some satisfaction as she dropped her bag
beside her desk. There was a pile of post waiting for her but it could wait a
little longer. Jill Kelly was taking over the job as lifers’ co-ordinator on a
permanent basis so she could deal with it. However, her conscience got the
better of her and she quickly flicked through the pile. A couple of the letters
needed an urgent reply but they would keep until she had been to see an inmate
on G Wing. It was also a good opportunity to have a chat with Barbara Hunt. She
only had a few more months of her sentence to serve and Nikki was already
planning the party.
“Fancy
a game, Miss Stewart?” Shaz Wiley, a member of her lifers’ group, called out to
her as she entered the wing and held out her pool queue in invitation.
“Another
time, Shaz, thanks,” she replied good-naturedly then carried on up to Barbara’s
cell on Enhanced unaware that her every move was being watched by a pair of
unsmiling eyes.
Reb…short
for Rebecca…Morgan drew heavily on her cigarette and blew out a long stream of
smoke. So that was Stewart. She had only been transferred to Larkhall the
previous day and hadn’t expected to exact her revenge quite so soon. Fingering
the narrow blade in her pocket…smuggled in down the spine of a book…she
followed in Helen’s wake up to Enhanced and waited for her to come out of
Barbara Hunt’s cell!