Chapter 13
Helen entered the newsroom the following morning,
tired but deliriously happy. She had somehow managed to write the ‘Louise
Morrison’ article in spite of Nikki distracting her every few minutes with
declarations of love and tender caresses. She dropped her bag beside her desk
and sank into her chair.
“How did it go then yesterday, Helen?” Lofty’s voice
broke into her thoughts.
She smiled distantly. “It was absolutely perfect,” she
drawled huskily then, realising he was looking at her strangely, coughed
nervously. “It was fine, Dan. I’ll let you have my copy in a bit.”
“Are you alright, Helen?” he asked anxiously.
“I’m fine, Lofty. Honestly.” She couldn’t resist a
smirk. “In fact, I’m more than fine. I’m…I’m…” she stopped, at a loss for
words.
Lofty looked at her curiously. “Well, I’ll take your
word for that.” He walked away shaking his head. One day she looked as if she
had the weight of the world on her shoulders and the next she was the total
opposite. Bloody women! Was there any wonder he had never married?
“Lofty,” Helen said hesitantly, as she walked into his
office later that morning.
“What’s up?” He looked at her over the top of his
glasses. There was definitely something different about her.
“Can I get you a coffee?”
“Thought you stopped fetching coffee for me years
ago,” he remarked sarcastically. “Spit it out, lass. I know you’ve got
something on your mind.”
She perched on the edge of his desk. “Lofty.”
“Do you think we could move on a bit from ‘Lofty’?” he
asked facetiously. “And how many times do I have to tell you to get your
backside off my desk. Do you know what seeing your cute bum up so close does to
my blood pressure?”
“Wish you’d told me before,” she laughed as she stood
up and moved to a chair.
He smiled at her knowingly. “What’s his name?”
“Nikki,” she replied nervously. “And it’s not a ‘he’,
it’s a ‘she’.”
He sat silently for several moments then he laughed. “So,
I was right all along. There was something between you and the Wade woman!”
She hung her head with embarrassment, a delighted
smile lighting up her lovely face. “Maybe you knew something I didn’t.”
“Maybe,” he agreed. “So, is that it? Is that what you
wanted to tell me?”
“Not really. Nikki had been asked to write her
autobiography and she wants me to help her with it.”
“I see,” he mused. “You’ll be wanting time off then?”
She grimaced. “Lofty, I want to resign. You’ve been really
good to me and I love my job but I want to be with Nikki. I can’t do both.”
“I see,” he regarded her sadly. “Well, who am I to
stand in the way of my best girl? I hope you’ll be happy, Helen, and if you
ever decide you want to come back, just give me a call.”
“Thanks, Lofty.” She smiled tearfully. “I’m going
freelance, so you’ll always be at the top of my list for any stories.”
“I’ll hold you to that.” He stood up and held out his
arms. “Come and give an old man a kiss. Bugger the blood pressure!”
Helen shuddered as they followed the dumpy prison
officer – what was it Nikki had called her under her breath? Bodybag! – along
the corridors of Larkhall. To think that Nikki had spent a year of her life in
this place! This visit was supposed to assist in her research for Nikki’s book
but she wasn’t looking forward to her first meeting with Karen Betts. Also
Nikki was helping some of the women with a project and decided, with Helen
being a journalist, a little advance publicity wouldn’t go amiss.
As they walked, Nikki’s arm brushed against hers and
she grasped her hand and squeezed it reassuringly. Helen turned to her and saw
revealed in her wondrously expressive face all the love she felt for her. She
smiled and squeezed Nikki’s hand in return.
“Bloody hell, Wade! How do you do it?” a voice
exclaimed behind them.
Nikki released Helen’s hand and turned to face the
speaker. “How do I do what, Fenner?” she demanded, eyeing him contemptuously.
He looked Helen up and down approvingly. “Pull the
birds without any equipment?” he sneered.
“I get by,” she replied smugly.
He turned to Helen, his most charming smile upon his
lips. “When you decide you want the real thing, love, give me a call. Jim
Fenner’s the name.”
Helen looked at him distastefully. “I’ve already found
the real thing…Mr Fenner, so I doubt I shall have to resort to ringing your
number. Let’s go, Nikki, we’re wasting time here.”
Nikki smirked at Fenner who shook his head and stalked
off then looked at Helen and smiled. “I love you,” she whispered so Bodybag,
who was hovering nearby, wouldn’t hear her.
“I know, I love you too,” she replied softly. “Come
on, let’s go and see this Wing Governor of yours.”
“She isn’t my Wing Governor,” Nikki objected.
Helen raised her eyebrows. “Not if I have anything to
do with it, she isn’t.”
“I haven’t got all day, you know,” Hollamby’s voice
echoed peevishly down the corridor.
“Tea going cold, Sylvia?” Nikki laughed and took
Helen’s arm. “Come on.”
Sylvia knocked on Karen’s door and pushed it open.
“Wade for you, ma’am.”
“Miss Wade,
Sylvia,” Nikki said mockingly.
The senior officer opened her mouth and closed it
again, her eyes narrowing angrily. “Miss
Wade, ma’am!” she spat.
“Thank you very much, Sylvia.” Nikki winked at her as
she brushed past her.
Karen who had been watching the exchange suppressed a
smile. “You never change, do you, Nikki?” she asked after Hollamby had left.
“Not where Bodybag is concerned,” she grinned as she
gave Karen a hug. “Good to see you again.”
Karen shook her head at her in exasperation. “It’s
good to see you too.”
Nikki took Helen’s elbow and drew her forward. “This
is Helen.”
The Wing Governor turned to Helen with a smile.
“Pleased to meet you, Helen. I hope you’re managing to keep this one in order…I
couldn’t.”
“I’m doing my best,” Helen smiled. “Though she is
quite a handful.” The two women laughed and received a glare from Nikki.
“I told the women you were coming and they’re all
looking forward to seeing you again,” Karen informed her. “Barbara especially.”
Helen looked at Nikki sharply. Barbara! How many more
women had she had dalliances with whilst she was in Larkhall?
They followed Karen back along the maze of corridors.
“Here we are,” she said as she stopped outside an open door. “I’ll leave you to
it, Nikki, so don’t let them give you any flack. See you later.”
As Karen walked off down the corridor, the two women
entered the room. A cheer went up at the sight of Nikki and she was soon
surrounded. Helen lost track of the names as she was introduced to the
women…Denny, Dawn, Shaz. Her ears pricked up, however, when she heard the name
‘Barbara’ and she breathed a sigh of relief when she was introduced to the
middle-aged woman.
“This your girlfriend then, Nikki?” Denny asked
teasingly, as she looked Helen up and down. “Bit easy on the eye.”
Nikki cast a sideways glance at the blushing Helen.
“Glad to see you traded Dockley in for a younger model,” she countered, the
lascivious looks passing between Denny and Shaz not having gone unnoticed. “OK,
if you’d all like to take a seat. Helen here is a journalist and I’m hoping –
once I’ve used my considerable powers of persuasion on her – she is going to
convince her editor to give us a hand turning your mini-masterpieces…” she
paused, unable to make herself heard over the laughter and good-natured ribbing
her words had evoked. “Calm down,” she said eventually. “We don’t want Fenner
or Bodybag descending on us. As I was saying, you all did some good work in my
classes and I’m hoping Helen can persuade her editor to give us some free
publicity.”
They spent the next hour discussing the prospect of
their work being turned into a book and them all becoming famous authors. After
much heated debate they decided if they were actually fortunate to sell any
books, they would donate the proceeds to a prisoners’ aid charity.
The women filed out until only Barbara remained. “It’s
so good to see you again, Nikki,” she told her tearfully. “I really miss your
company and our little chats.”
Nikki gripped her shoulders. “I miss you too,” she
said gently. “I’ve been busy but from now on I’ll try and visit you as often as
I can and I’m going to do everything in my power to get you out of this place.”
She drew the older woman into an embrace and smiled sadly at Helen over the top
of Barbara’s head.
“Barbara killed the only man she’d ever really loved,”
Nikki informed her as they walked with Karen to the main gate. “He was in agony
and all she did was stop his suffering!” she exclaimed passionately. “Don’t
they think she’s suffered enough by losing him?”
“Maybe writing this book will give you the chance to
have your say,” Helen replied positively.
“Helen’s right, Nikki,” Karen put in. “Tell the truth
and shame the devil, I always say and if you need any help, I’m here for you.”
She gave Nikki a hug. “See you both again, soon I hope.” She patted her
stomach. “I want you both to come to the christening.”
“Try and stop us,” Nikki assured her.
“When have I ever been able to stop you doing
anything?” Karen smiled at her affectionately then turned to Helen. “Take care
of her, Helen, you’re very lucky.”
Helen returned her smile. “Oh, I know that.” She
watched as the Wing Governor went back inside. “She’s very pretty.”
“Yeah, she is. Told you so,” Nikki agreed with a smirk
on her face. “But now you’ve met her, you can see there’s nothing between us
except friendship.”
She poked her in the chest with her finger. “That’s
all there had better be,” she ordered. “Who was that screw – Fenner, was it?
Does he always speak to you like that?”
“Principal Officer James Fenner and a right bastard if
ever there was one!” Nikki laughed. “He hates my guts but he’s only jealous
because I can pull the good-looking birds and he’s shagging a slapper!” She
slid her arms around Helen’s waist. “I don’t think I’ve thanked you properly
yet for helping get me out of this place.”
“Yes, you have. Last night, the night before and the
night before.” She smiled up at her. “But since I’m helping you write your life
story, I think I need to explore you a bit more before I get down to work.”
“And we both know you do all your best work lying
down,” Nikki teased. “Come on, let’s go home.”
Helen looked at her questioningly. “Yours or mine?”
“Does it matter?” Nikki shrugged. “Home is where we
both are.”
Helen linked her arms around Nikki’s neck. “Why don’t
we go back to my place tonight? The bed is smaller so we can get closer
together and there won’t be any chance of Monica walking in on us, so I can
really show you a good time.”
Nikki bent her head and brushed her lips across Helen’s.
“I hope so,” she said softly.
THE END