I need another night to finish the next chapter of "Velvet and Bows" so here is a little one- shot I came up with to tide you over xo
There was a gentle knock at the door. She looked up from her book unsure if she was imagining it or not. Again there was a tap, this time louder, more confident. She swung her legs off the couch, putting her book on the side table as she walked out to open the front door. She was greeted by a rather nervous looking Hugh in what appeared to be his casual clothes.
"Hugh" her tone was surprised as she pulled the door open.
"Good afternoon Miss Fisher, I wonder if I might come in?"
"Of course, you know that Dot's at her mother's?"
He looked even more embarrassed as he took off his coat and nodded as she hung it on the hook ushering him into the parlour. "Well it must be serious"
He took a seat in Jacks usual position and a smile danced in her eyes as she sat back down on the love seat. "What can I do for you Hugh?"
"Well, it's hard to explain, but… Well as you know Dot and I are getting married soon and I…"
She tried to hide the smirk that had crossed her face and hid her giggle with a small cough. "I do Hugh, I do." She had been expecting him to have questions, but what she hadn't expected was him to ask her. She had had a similar talk to Dot just weeks before and wondered if they had discussed it at all. Obviously not.
"Well I was just wondering, when you get married, obviously, you ah spend the first night together as man and wife." She nodded showing she was following "I just wondered what…" he appeared to have forgotten how to speak, but his face gave it away.
" I would think you would be better asking Jack about this" He blushed the deepest red she had ever seen. "Miss I don't… I could never…Miss Fisher." He sounded exasperated on the 'Miss Fisher'
She gave him a wicked smile, "mmm I suppose you're right."
She thought back to her first time, not particularly pleasant, but she supposed as with all good things, they were better with age and experience. It was true she had a lot of lovers over her years, but now that Jack and her had… consummated their love, it was totally different. She knew Hugh and Dot loved each other, if possible more than her and Jack. Sex had been one of her main weapons for some time, so Hugh had certainly come to the right place, but when it came to love she was still at times a little hazy. Jack was much more into those types of things.
She chose her words carefully, not wanting to scare Hugh even more than he already was, he was watching her with bright eyes. "The first time" she sighed knowing that wasn't right "Hugh you love Dot." He nodded swiftly in agreement, "I'm sure whatever you do to her will be wonderful, just remember the first time, perhaps it's better to keep it simple, I wouldn't try anything out of my book too soon. You have to see what you're both comfortable doing and then you can go from there." She thought that adequately stated what she was trying to express.
Hugh finally spoke, trying to hide his embarrassment "But how will I know"
"Well that's simple Hugh, you must ask Dot what she liked and didn't like."
"And anyway, you should be able to tell by…" she cut herself off, Hugh looked like he was going to faint. She gave him a sweet smile and put her hand on his leg, he flinched away and she bit her lips trying to not laugh. "Really Hugh, I wouldn't worry about it. Not that I have any personal experience, but I think once you have the wedding done and are in the hotel room, you will just know." She gave him a small wink, "Honestly Hugh, it's not that hard." She smiled at him again getting up to pour him a small glass of whisky which she decided he definitely needed.
He took the drink and drank it fast chocking slightly on the warm liquid. He looked as though he wanted to say more and she gave him her most gentle smile, usually reserved only for Jack. He took a deep breath and avoided her eyes, "I just… I just don't want to hurt her." She considered what he said for a moment trying to think of a gentle way to explain the not so gentle answer. "That question you should probably ask Dot, but, you should take your time." She spoke slowly and gave him a look and hoped he could tell what she meant. He nodded slowly, looking down into his now empty glass with a frown on his face, he let out a gentle sigh.
"Hugh" he looked up at her for the first time since he had arrived. "Perhaps you should talk to Dot about this? I'm sure she wouldn't mind."
He looked outraged and flushed once more "Miss I couldn't say this to Dot"
"Why not? She's going to be your wife, if you can't talk to her about this than who can you talk to?"
He knew she was right, but it just felt wrong talking to Dottie about all of this. He accepted another drink from Miss Fisher and heard the front door click open. He heard the Inspector calling "Phryne"
"In here Jack" she winked at Hugh and watched as the Inspector walked into the room completely missing Hugh on the chair and leaning over to kiss Miss Fisher very deeply before pulling up for air. "Aren't you supposed to be waiting for me in bed." She didn't need to look at Hugh to know the shade of red he had just turned, she had seen it only minutes before. She spoke in a very casual tone of voice "Hugh just popped over actually." He turned to see Collins sitting in his chair and holding an empty tumbler. He tried to rub the lipstick which was smeared on his face only making it worse before giving Phryne a glare which made her produce a smile and Hugh an apologetic and embarrassed smile.
"Ah Collins, what are you doing here, isn't Dot at her Mothers?"
"He came to see me actually, about the wedding." She looked at Hugh, she wasn't going to give him away, she cared too much for the poor boy.
"Oh" he nodded apparently satisfied and moved to sit beside her, cautious not to touch her at all.
Finally Hugh found the ability to move and stood very quickly realising that he was interrupting their alone time, "Actually Sir I was just leaving"
"Oh Hugh you don't have to go." she moved to touch his leg again but he moved faster stepping away "Yes I do Miss."
She gave the Inspector a very pointed look and he shook his head slightly, his eyes open wide with denial. They both stood to follow Hugh to the front door, he was already getting back into his coat and Phryne moved to open the front door.
"Thank- you Miss Fisher."
"Anytime Hugh, just remember what I said." She gave him another kind smile, he looked to the ground and gave a small nod like a naughty school boy who had been caught and ran off before she could speak again. She shut the front door and turned on her heel to look at Jack who had a puzzled look on his face. "What was that all about?"
She had decided when Jack arrived home that it was better not to tell him what they had spoken about, she thought Hugh had suffered enough embarrassment. She walked over to him placing a small kiss on his lips, "Never you mind."