That Odd Feeling

by TZT

Nikki and Helen reunite at their daughters wedding after having been at "war" with each other for years. Despite previous animosity there are still that odd feeling of love between them.

TITLE

That Old Feeling

AUTHOR

TZT

RATING

18+

DISCLAIMER

Bad Girls and all its characters are property of Shed Productions, a division of Shed Media Group, plc. The author implies no ownership of these characters, and they are used in the stories without permission solely for entertainment and not for profit. Similarly this applies to any copyrighted fictional characters either from any other literature, broadcast media or film.

The story may contain some bad language and some 18+ rated stuff between consenting persons of the same sex, so if you are offended by that, then stop reading. Otherwise feel free to enjoy the story.

I am happy to accept constructive feedback and comments. Please use private message for extensive comments.

AUTHORS NOTE

The story is based on the movie "That Old Feeling" with Bette Midler from 1997

Chapter 1

"Why did you have to invite them?" Sophie Helen Wade-Stewart was yelling at her fiancé. She was angrily pacing the floor, gesturing in the air with her hands to emphasize her agitation. She was a petit dark haired girl with hazel eyes, full lips and a fiery temper.

"It is custom to invite the bride's parents," Sean Parr Jr. said defensively trying to calm down his future wife.

"You damn well know they hate each others guts!" Sophie's eyes were sparkling with anger. She stopped abruptly in front of Sean glaring at him.

"Can't they be civilized just for a couple of hours?" he said avoiding her stare.

Sophie just shook her head in exasperation and stormed out of the room slamming the door in the process. She could not believe he had actually invited her parents to the wedding without her knowledge. She was absolutely furious.

'How could he do that?' she thought. 'Damn! He knows they are at each others throat when being in the same room.'

Sophie was normally a quiet girl, though her temper sometimes got the better of her. She did resemble her mothers in both her mannerism and her appearance. Her parents or actually her mothers were both strong women with hot tempers and both being more stubborn than a donkey. They were also very beautiful women, and she had inherited the beauty of them both. She could not help but think of them as she walked down the path to the solitary beach. There was a time when they had all been together as a happy family, but that was more than 15 years ago. Her childhood had been very loving, but when she was about 10 years old things had begun to go wrong between her parents. They had argued whenever they were in the same room and within a very short time they had went their separate ways hardly speaking to each other, unless it had something to do with her, and when speaking about anything else it was done with much malice and anger.

Her mother Helen Stewart was a famous actress and movie star, often chased by the tabloid press. She was a good actor and had made a promising career out of nothing, winning some of the most prestigious movie and television awards. She was normally a very private person and hated to be the top prize of the daily news flash. But her relationship with the famous, or rather infamous lesbian author Nikki Wade did not escape the front pages or the headlines. She had taken it well, considering it was her first relationship with a woman. Her Mum Nikki Wade was well known in gay circles and was an out and proud lesbian, who had been together for 9 years with a high profile night club owner Trish Harris, before Helen Stewart had come into the picture. Nikki Wade was famous, not only for her stand in gay and lesbian rights, but also as a brilliant author. She had won several literature awards and scholarships at the best universities. Sometimes Sophie wondered what had brought them together in the first place, since she could not really remember them saying something nice to each other. Or maybe she was just forgetting it because of their eternal bickering. And now there were both coming to her wedding with their new partners. What more could possible go wrong? She knew she had to talk to her mother, sooner rather than later.

"Mother, could you stop and just listen to me for a moment?" Sophie pleaded trying to catch up to her mother. Helen Stewart was almost running down the pavement heading for the main entrance to Harrods.

"When we're inside, honey," she said looking over her shoulder, but not at her daughter. "I want to get rid of that irritating photographer. It's the same who took that horrible picture of me, when I was bulging in all the wrong places."

They took the escalators to the second floor, only to be met with flashlights and the unmistakable sound of a camera clicking.

"What the f….!" Helen shrieked and tried to launch an attack on the insolent photographer.

"Hey, lady, keep it cool… I'm just trying to do my job…" the photographer said while trying to keep the angry actor at arms distance and avoid the fierce kicks.

Sophie just stood with her mouth hanging open. The photographer was a slim dark haired girl clad in a leather jacket, black jeans and wearing sunshades on the top of her head. Grey eyes were looking directly at Sophie and not at the angry actress.

"Security!" Helen Stewart yelled attracting the attention of both customers and security guards. "Please, make this individual leave. She is harassing me. Security!"

The photographer girl was escorted away rather heavy-handed, but it did not seem to bother Helen Stewart on the outside, though a slight frown appeared on her face as she looked over her shoulder to assure that they were not followed. She pulled Sophie with her inside a more quiet area of the women's clothing department.

"What were you saying, darling?" she asked her bewildered daughter like nothing out of the ordinary had happened.

"I was saying that Sean had also invited Mum to the wedding. Do you think you could possible behave yourself, just for a few hours?" Sophie asked her mother. She was apprehensive about her mother's reaction, but she had to make sure that there would not be some big scene.

"Of course, dear" Helen said without conviction, which made Sophie inwardly shudder with dread.

"Mother! Please, promise me you will not make a scene," she pleaded looking with exasperation at her mother.

"You know me, darling…" her mother replied, gesturing aimlessly in the air.

"Yes, I do!" Sophie said with exasperation.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Helen narrowed her eyes and looked icily at her daughter. "I would never make a scandal in public," she said with conviction.

"No? Then how about then when I was 10 and you embarrassed me at my birthday by pouring ketchup all over Mum just because she didn't agree with you on the menu at McDonalds?" Sophie asked her mother with bitterness evident in her voice. She kept listing the events in short clipped sentences. "And what about the time when I was 12 and you were yelling at Mum in the middle of the restaurant because she was later? And the time when I was 15 and you argued with Mum about my new boyfriend… in front of him? How about when you and Mum almost came to blows at my 21st birthday?"

"I get the point," Helen finally hissed. "I will behave. Just make damned sure that Nikki and that dreadful cow she calls her partner does the same," she said vehemently.

Chapter 2

The big day had finally arrived. Sophie was anxious about it, but not for the reason a bride would normally be anxious about a wedding. Ever since Sean had revealed that both her parents were attending their wedding she had been on edge, snapping at him and suffering from insomnia. She had no idea how it was going to work out, but she was intent on making sure that they behaved themselves. It was vital for Sean's career that nothing was going wrong. He was up for a big promotion. His family had aristocratic ancestors and was definitely upper class people with solid positions in big business corporations or law firms. His parents were rather uptight and had not seen with kind eyes on their relationship. They had not approved of her background, the child of an actress and a writer, even if it was two highly successful people, they were still artists or bohemians; not to mention the fact that she was coming from a totally unconventional family of lesbians. It had taken a lot of persuading from Sean and good behaviour from Sophie to be accepted.

And here they were, about to be married, when Sophie suddenly had begun to question the sanity of it all; especially the idea of having two headstrong women under the same roof.

"Could you please hurry up?" Dr Thomas Waugh was calling out to his wife Helen Stewart. "We are going to be late."

Helen sighed. Sometimes she wondered why she had married him in the first place. He could be so annoying. Always talking and always analysing everything she said or did. She knew he was a psychiatrist and probably a very good one, considering the amount of books he produced about therapy with married couples as his specialty.

"I will be down in a minute," she said, while making absolutely sure that her makeup was impeccable and flawless. She put the final touch to her lips, emphasizing their curves and their sensual dark red colour. Her dark green dress clung to her body, showing off perfect curves in all the right places. Time had been good to her, and she was making sure that it would not go unnoticed by anyone. The slit in the dress revealed a pair of well-toned legs. She brushed her dark blonde hair, still without any grey stripes, but only the natural light fading from a summer of full sun.

'I'm going to make that bitch Caroline Lewis look like an old hag,' she thought to herself. 'And why is it you want do that?' her inner voice asked, but she was interrupted before she could consider the answer to that.

"Helen, this has nothing to do with the fact that Caroline and Nikki is coming too?" Thomas had stuck his head inside the bedroom and looked pointedly at Helen.

"Why on Earth would you say that?" Helen tried to look outraged, though she knew he had been a little closer to the truth that she dared to admit, even to herself.

"It's just you never seem to take this long, even when going to those award ceremonies," he said totally oblivious to Helen's faint blush. But she quickly composed herself and stood abruptly while saying:

"This is hopefully the only time my daughter is getting married, and I am just trying to look my best. No one is going to get the chance to find any flaws on my appearance!"

'Least of all Caroline Lewis,' she thought with slight bitterness.

Nikki Wade was standing in front of the bathroom mirror frantically trying to style her short dark hair, which bore the marks of age in the form of several silvery strips at the temples. It had to look casually ruffled; after all it was her trademark. Her makeup was elegant, yet subtle and was underlining the natural beauty of her face.

"Are you ready?" the voice of her partner Caroline Lewis was penetrating the silence in their apartment.

"Yeah, be right there…" Nikki shouted back once more trying to put some recalcitrant hairs in their right place. She sighed and straightened her dark Armani suit. She wore it well, her tall frame being the perfect foundation for an elegant suit. It was stylish and showed off her body's more feminine sides. The black silk shirt with the top buttons open was clinging to her torso leaving very little to the fantasy.

'Wonder if Helen would notice the new grey stripes,' she thought as she looked at her reflection in the mirror. 'Why would I care what she thinks?' she then asked herself, but did not dare to linger at the thought.

Caroline Lewis was an actress too, but not as well known and famous as Helen Stewart, even though she would like to believe so. She was a tall, blonde woman and actually quite beautiful, but no genuine warmth was reaching her blue-grey eyes. Her early career had been spent making x-rated movies, something she was not too proud of, but at the same time it was a fact that could not be changed. It was a part of her and her past, which people would just have to deal with that.

"Why are you making such a fuss?" Caroline asked. She had noticed how edgy Nikki had been for a while. "Does it have to do with the fact that Helen will be there?"

"No, of course not!" Nikki retorted vehemently, though her inner voice screamed: 'Of course it bloody is! Helen can detect any wrinkles, stray hairs or bad dress style with her near x-ray vision.'

"I'm just going to make sure that my image is properly in place. I'm just not comfortable with those grey stripes. Maybe I should have them dyed?" she said trying to convince her partner that it was the truth.

Chapter 3

Helen Stewart was seated on the front row in the small church. Her new husband Dr. Waugh was sitting next to her on the edge of the bench. She forced herself to look calm and thanked her training as an actor for the successful deception. The church was full of people, and she carefully took a discrete look around. Her eye caught sight of Caroline Lewis, whom she gave the evil stare. However, Caroline glared back with a poisonous smile around her thin lips.

The music suddenly started and everybody turned his or her attention to the doors, where the bride made her appearance. She was beautiful, wearing a dream of a white dress with a matching veil, but it was not what caught Helen's eyes and paralyzed her. It was the person next to the bride, a tall, lean, dark haired woman in a black Armani suit with a black silk shirt. Helen unconsciously stopped breathing and took in the vision in front of her eyes, which were glued to every movement the person made as she and the bride walked down the aisle.

As they moved towards the altar Nikki quickly scanned the room for familiar faces, and when they approached the front rows her eyes finally found what they were unconsciously looking for, a beautiful dark blonde woman with sparkling green-grey eyes and full, red, kissable lips. For a split second their eyes locked. She felt her breath being caught in her throat, and she was more than happy when she was forced to turn her attention towards her daughter and future son-in-law, though her smile was a bit forced.

Helen was letting out the breath she had been holding while Nikki had escorted their daughter to meet with her future husband at the altar. She was not sure why she had been so tense just by watching her former partner walk their daughter to the altar. Or maybe that was just it, their daughter, the product of them both and the connection between them, stretching over times and other partners, rooting them together by reminding them of what had been in the past. The love and devotion had guided them through the prejudice from the public opinion and even their families. How could things have gone so wrong in the end? What had been so bad that it had separated them? She was pulled out of her musings as she listened to the words spoken by the priest. They reminded her of her own vows to the dark haired woman, who now sat on the other side of the aisle beside a platinum blonde blow-up doll. That and the fact that tears had started to build made Helen angry. She was determined not to show any weakness and pushed all her previous thoughts to the darkest place in her mind.

After the ceremony all the guests were guided to the adjacent garden and hotel, where the reception and dinner were held. People were mingling, and the two families were mixing idly. Sophie Helen Wade-Stewart, married Parr was nervously fiddling with the hem of her dress as she watched the crowd of guests gathering around the buffet. She pensively stared at the scene wondering where her parents where. So far they had not been in close proximity of each other, so nothing had blown up. But it was far too quiet, Sophie decided, it would be too good to last. Sooner or later something unexpected would happen. She was suddenly blinded by the flashing of a photo light, which made her blink her eyes, only to focus on the photographer from Harrods. She angrily stared at the woman.

"What the H… are you doing here? Can't you leave her alone just for once? Why do you have to do that?" Sophie was furious and it was evident on the light shaking of her voice.

"Hey, I'm being paid for this…" the photographer woman said flashing a charming smile towards the newly married Sophie.

"I can imagine that!" she said angrily, her eyes flashing daggers at the photographer. "Don't you have any morals?"

Sean came up to his wife and placed an arm around her in order to calm her down.

"I asked her to take the pictures," he said. "I paid her to do that."

"Why did you have to choose her?" Sophie asked incredulously, but did not wait for an answer before twisting away from Sean's embrace and running inside the hotel lobby filled with thoughts that was not fitting for newly wed woman.

Chapter 4

Though Helen and Nikki had not been able to agree upon too many things during the past 15 years, they did share a certain apprehension about their daughter's choice of husband almost bordering to a very obvious dislike. Sean Parr Jr. was not exactly the kind of man they would have liked to see Sophie marry. In their opinion he was a stiff, self-righteous, bigoted chauvinist. But their daughter seemed to genuinely love him, and who were they to deny her happiness, if he actually made her happy. And here they were at Sophie's weeding, trying to make the best of a bad situation.

Nikki had found herself trapped in conversation with a boring friend of Sean Parr Jr. a politician, who wanted to use her in his upcoming campaign as a classical example of a well-adjusted happy lesbian. She sighed inwardly and let her mind and eyes wander, while listening with only half an ear to the torrent of high strung practiced sentences that meant nothing to her or anybody else for that matter. Suddenly her eyes caught something on the other side of the garden, and she quickly excused herself.

Helen had not been able to walk five feet without being intercepted by eager fans that wanted to have her autograph, shake her hand or just have a glimpse and a short exchange of words with the famous actress. She was used to it, but somehow it annoyed her more than usual and made her wish she was anywhere else than at her daughter's wedding. She finally escaped her admirers and found herself at the buffet table in dire need of a large vodka. She glanced around, but was disappointingly unable to find what she was looking for. She almost bumped into a woman when she turned around.

"Ahh… I didn't see you there," she said with a silken voice when she realized who it was.

"I could hardly recognize you," Caroline Lewis said with a false smile. "You have lost sooo much weight."

"Well, you certainly seem to have gained a little more yourself," Helen retorted evenly.

"Unlike you it suits me," Caroline said narrowing her eyes.

"Oh, yes… You do have the age to play the more mature women, and they are sometimes a bit more … what shall I say… heavily build than the young ones, I still play…" Helen said with a smirk trying, relishing in the fact that Caroline's face twisted in anger, before she regained her equilibrium.

"At least I still get roles to play…" she said without fooling Helen, who knew of her problems. "And haven't your hair changed colour too?"

"At least I don't shed long blonde hairs on other people's pillows!" Helen said in a dangerous low tone.

"Ah, yes… the hair… it was such a classic," Caroline smirked.

"Bitch!" Helen had lost what little there was left of her self-control. But before she could do physical harm to Caroline a soft, low voice interrupted her.

"Care to explain why you are speaking so tactlessly to my partner?" Nikki had lifted her eyebrow questioningly.

"We were just having a conversation regarding our work situation," Helen replied with ill hidden venom.

By then Thomas Waugh had also shown up, and people had started to gather around them, but the women were totally oblivious to the spectacle they were making of themselves.

"Helen, dear, why don't you have a nice talk with Nikki about…" Thomas started to say, but two angry women saying in unison cut him off.

"Shut up!"

"I am still waiting for an explanation," Nikki said returning her attention to the small, but highly agitated woman in front of her. The woman was absolutely gorgeous, and even though Nikki was seething mad at her she was inevitably draw towards her.

"I don't owe you an explanation or anything else!" Helen was angry and her unmistakable Scottish accent was growing more recognizable with every word she hissed out through clenched teeth.

"I think you do, when yelling at my partner," Nikki said not averting her gaze from the angry woman in front of her.

"I most certainly didn't yell," Helen said tersely and pursed her lips in clear dissatisfaction.

"Yes, you did," Nikki said fighting the urge to roll her eyes. "I heard you all the way across the garden."

"I didn't yell," Helen hissed, but she seemed to pull herself together as she continued in a brisk tone. "Besides it is absolutely none of your business anyway."

"Let me be the judge of that!" Nikki shot back sharply, while narrowing her eyes finally losing her own temper. Helen had always managed to rub her the wrong way when they were arguing, which was something she recalled they had done quite often. Something inside her snapped and she vehemently retorted with angry sparks flaring from her eyes: "Why do you always turn up to make my life shit?"

"Oh, so now it is my fault that you failed as a writer?" Helen said in a deceivingly silken voice.

"I didn't fail," Nikki bristled visible at the comment, but managed to hold her temper as she continued her voice like ice. "I have sold more than 100.000 copies of my latest book, not that you would now anyway, since you only read that crap they call manuscripts."

That was hurting Helen beyond means, and Nikki knew it. That was why she had said it, but at the same time she mentally kicked herself, as she also knew how much pride Helen actually took in her work and how meticulous she was when preparing for a new role, whether it was for the theatre, television or movies. Helen would never leave anything to chance and therefore used all her energy and focus on being totally in sync with all the demands of a role. Nikki knew the reaction would occur before she could retreat to a strategically safe position, so she braced herself.

"How dare you diminish my work?" Helen was spitting mad, her cheeks flushed and her eyes dangerous dark with fury ready to launch a physical attack on the tall dark woman.

"Please, you are ruining my wedding," Sophie had hastened over to the couple as soon as she realized something was awfully wrong. She instantly knew what was about to happen, and she would do anything to prevent things from escalating to something beyond her control. "Mother, you promised me to behave!" she shot an accusing look at Helen, and then at Nikki, who just shrugged almost imperceptible. "Can't you go outside at the car park if you absolutely have to kill each other?" Sophie finally managed to say.

Helen and Nikki stared angrily at each other, but both kept silent. They both seethed with fury, while silently agreed to their daughters wish. They turned around and headed outside at the car park. When they got there they once again turned against each other with poisonous glares.

"Now you've done it again!"

"What?" Helen shouted with indignation.

"Embarrassed our daughter!" Nikki shot back with a precise cold fury.

"ME?" Helen was beyond caring about her surroundings and her dignity. She took a step closer to Nikki invading her personal space and making her involuntarily swallow, her mouth suddenly going dry. The close proximity of the warm body of the woman she had once loved more than life was inevitable taking its toll. She could not control her own bodily reactions as everything suddenly came back and hit her full force.

Chapter 5

They were standing only inches apart, breathing heavily and staring angrily at each other. They were not sure who had taken the imitative, but somehow the distance between them closed as their lips met in a hard, punishing kiss. They kissed each other with a hunger and need that completely took their breath away, yet only leaving them craving more. Nikki had pushed Helen up against one of the parked limousines in one swift movement, which allowed her leg to push between Helen's thighs. Helen had eagerly wrapped herself around Nikki lifting her one leg up on her hip allowing a closer contact between them. When they had to pull apart to gasp some air they just stared at each other, pupils dilated with desire, lips swollen from the rough kissing and panting in short breaths.

"This is insane," Nikki said in a low raspy voice trying to sound regretful, but failed miserably.

"Yes, we shouldn't be doing this," Helen answered equally unconvincing.

They began to kiss again but the need for more than just that were building rapidly, and made them take refuge on the backseat of the parked car they had been leaning against. Helen had simply taken hold of the lapels on Nikki's jacket and pulled her inside. As soon as the door closed behind them, the jacket was discarded and Helen started to unbutton Nikki's shirt with trembling fingers. Meanwhile Nikki was busy hitching Helen's dress up around her hips. They never stopped kissing, devouring the all too familiar feelings as their tongues battled, danced and made love. Soon the shirt had joined the jacket on the car floor and Nikki was hovering above Helen only wearing her trousers and a black lace bra. Helen broke the kiss and impatiently leaned forward to catch one of the peaking nipples through the material of the bra. Nikki gasped out at the rough sucking and hurriedly moved her hand up towards Helen's burning centre to find her lace knickers practically soaked with her arousal. Helen had spread her legs wider to allow Nikki easy access wanting nothing more to have her need taken care of. She quickly unzipped Nikki's trouser and inserted a hand only to find that her knickers was no less drenched. Helen slid two fingers inside the wetness without warning making Nikki shudder in delight. Helen gasped when Nikki in return ripped her flimsy lace knickers off and roughly plunged two fingers inside her. They started to kiss again, letting their tongues mirror the movements of their fingers. It only took a few rhythmically strokes to make them both climax hard, but their motions did not stop and they peaked two more times shouting out their pleasure before they finally collapsed, still with their fingers deeply buried inside each other. They lay totally spend and panting, relishing the feeling of velvet slick muscles involuntarily spasm around their slender digits in the sweet after match of their heated encounter. It had not been especially loving or caring, but frantic and rough in their need for release.

Slowly they regained consciousness and smiled to each other. There were no odd feelings or awkwardness between them as expected, but more a naughty playfulness that made their eyes twinkle with a mischievous glint. They savoured the feeling of being inside each other a little longer before carefully withdrawing their fingers, somehow regretting the loss. They kissed gently and held on to each other. Nikki carefully moved her hand across Helen's side in lingering movements while planting small soft kisses all over her face. Helen sighed content and let her hand tug at the soft curls on the nape of Nikki's neck. She loved the feeling of the thick hair sliding through her fingers and she knew what it did to Nikki. She pulled her head in for another kissing session. This time, however, it was slow and gentle, carefully exploring every texture of their mouths, tongues, teeth and lips. Against all common sense it ignited a slow burning need deeply within them both; a craving for making real love and not just having carnal hot sex, even though it had been good. They slowly undressed from the remains of their clothes savouring every moment, wanting to feel their naked bodies slide against each other. They carefully kissed and touched every inch of their heated bodies, familiarizing themselves again with every curves and valleys that made out the landscape of the body. It was like coming home to a well known, but beautiful territory of softness and sensuality. As hands roamed all over, kneading breasts, pinching nipples and massaging the warm soft skin the passion inside them blazed into a full grown desire.

"Good God, I need you so much," Helen whispered hoarsely into Nikki's ear, making her shiver in response. "Please, make love to me. Take me again," she breathed.

Nikki moaned at the words said in that beautiful Scottish lilt that sounded like a purr, and she could feel her own arousal drip down her thighs. She kissed Helen with a craving that left very little to the imagination, as she slipped one then two fingers inside the lubricious channel of heat.

"I want to taste you," she said, her voice dropping to a low growl. Helen could have climaxed there and then by just hearing the softness of that lovely voice speaking the need. She groaned and wriggled her body in position to receive what she knew would be absolutely Heaven.

Nikki slid down over her body leaving a hot wet trail of kisses. She nuzzled the soft, well-trimmed curls covering Helen's mound, deeply inhaling the intoxicating sent of womanly desire that was so uniquely Helen, before continuing further down the swollen lips, carefully avoiding the little bundle of nerves. She licked the creases sweeping up all the wetness that oozed from the quivering opening. She moved a bit upwards sucking on the hard nub that peaked out and ached for the touch. Helen threw her head back with closed eyes and groaned loudly at the sensations that Nikki caused to speed through her body. She could hardly hold back her release as Nikki once again plunged two fingers inside her while sucking vigorously on her overly sensitive flesh. Nikki curved her long, slender fingers a bit finding the slightly different texture within the slippery velvet womanhood. A few moments and thrusts later Helen cried out her release sending Nikki over the edge as well.

Chapter 6

They had been making love for what seemed like an eternity. At least it was dusk when then finally emerged from the limousine cautious on making their return to the festivities seem casual and unconnected. Helen carefully straightened her dress, feeling eternally grateful for the silk material that did not reveal any creases. She had been forced to go without knickers as Nikki's previous administration had resulted in them being totally torn. It made her feel a bit exposed, but also decisively hot and sexy, not to mention naughty. She had reapplied her lipstick and powdered her nose, but it could not hide that her face had a healthy rosy blush.

Nikki walked in from the other side of the room, straightening her jacket and being relieved that the buttons on her shirt had survived Helen's rough handling. She felt her still wet knickers cling to her overheated flesh making it a bit uncomfortable to walk, but she tried to ignore the feelings it enkindled between her legs. However, she was totally unable to hide her flushed face and silly smile that kept creeping onto her lips.

They walked slowly towards the main garden, where their respective partners greeted them. Suddenly the leader of the orchestra grabbed the microphone and announced that the opening dance was supposed to be made by the bride's parents. Sophie closed her eyes and sighed, while Helen and Nikki tentatively looked at each other before stiffly walking towards each other.

They started to dance very carefully, silently making a mutual agreement to avoid too much body contact, as they were sure they would burst into flames if being too close to each other.

"Okay, we can do this," Nikki said quietly trying to keep her composure from crumbling.

"We can be civilized," Helen agreed gingerly balancing her weight on the high heels in tact with the music and Nikki. She felt herself blush when she unintentionally brushed against Nikki's breast making her shiver.

They managed to finish the dance and even the next one too. They even talked nicely to each other like normal civilized peopled. They tentatively smiled and greeted the other guests, who flooded the dance floor as well. Thomas was standing next to Caroline watching them carefully. He was happy that they were not trying to kill each other for once.

"They seem to have found a mutual understanding," he blabbed to Caroline, who just shot him a sideway glance full of contempt, only just managing not to snort at him. She had a feeling something strange was going on right under her nose, but she was unable to pinpoint what it was.

As soon as possible Helen and Thomas retired to their room. Helen was annoyed with Thomas' continued flow of more or less meaningless theories from the psychiatric world and his latest book on therapy for married couples. He carried on with his nonsense while entering the bathroom. Helen sighed with relief as she heard the water from the shower. She quickly changed to her cream coloured half transparent silk nightgown in order to be in bed before Thomas would return. She was in no mood to either talk to him or even see him. Her mind twirled with vivid images of her late afternoon on the backseat of a black limousine. She shivered at the thoughts and her nipples hardened against the soft cool material of her night gown. The telephone rang and made her jump. She carefully lifted the receiver not really sure that she wanted to. She had an almost supernatural feeling about who it might be.

"Yes?" she said tentatively.

"It's me… Nikki… Listen, I can't talk now, but I need to," she hesitated briefly, but then continued. "I need to talk about us… about what happened…" her voice trailed off.

"I can't… we shouldn't…" Helen could not finish her sentence.

"Meet me downstairs in five minutes," Nikki said with that soft silken voice making Helen shiver in anticipation and cutting off any opposes Helen might have.

Helen carefully replaced the receiver on the telephone. She listened for a short moment to ensure that Thomas was still in the shower before slipping silently out of the room after having thrown a matching robe around her semi-naked body.

Chapter 7

Sophie Helen Wade-Stewart married to Sean Parr Jr. made her way from the bathroom to join her husband in the big four-poster bed, where they were supposed to consummate their marriage. She could not help feeling a bit unsettled about her parents' strangely sudden civil behaviour towards each other. It was rather unusually.

"Come here, baby," Sean reached out to embrace his wife. She carefully slid into his hug without much enthusiasm, but slowly she relaxed into his lingering strokes on her back, making her sleepy. The night was clear and silent, the perfect setting for a wedding night.

Suddenly a deep, husky, dirty laughter rang out shattering the silence. Sophie sat up with a jolt, sending Sean almost out of the bed.

"Did you hear that?" she said, her eyes darting around the room.

"What?" Sean was totally bemused at her reaction.

"It sounded just like my mother," Sophie said with a slight panic colouring her voice.

"You're imagining things," Sean said shaking his head and gathering the discarded duvet around them. At the same time the laughter sounded again, not quite as loud, but equally recognizable.

"There it was again!" she climbed out of the bed and leaning against the wall, trying to capture the voices on the other side; another laughter penetrated the silent night, a light giggling sound, making Sophie's eyes widen in horror. "And Mum?"

"It could be someone else," Sean sighed with boredom. "Besides, didn't you say they hated each other?"

"Yes, but something weird is going on," Sophie retorted fiercely.

"That is probably just your imagination," Sean was getting annoyed with his wife and climbed out of the bed to put on his robe.

"No, no, it is definitely my mother," Sophie was pacing the floor gesturing wildly with her hands.

"You're obsessed with your parents," Sean said while pouring himself a drink.

"No, I'm not," She stopped pacing and looked pleading at Sean. "Could you take a look?"

"What! You mean out there?" He pointed towards the balcony outside their windows.

"Yes… please?" She was already halfway over and opening the window.

"I can't believe I'm doing this," Sean said while carefully climbing outside and over the rail to put himself in a position where he could have a look inside the room next door. What he saw there made him gasp out in surprise and almost loose his footing on the balcony. It was a sight that he had no need to ever see again.

Nikki was hovering totally naked above an equally naked Helen on her back in the big double bed. Helen marvelled at Nikki's still very shapely torso with full breasts that made her mouth water in anticipation. Nikki's hand had been busy kneading and caressing every inch of Helen's body enjoying the responses that she knew she could draw from it. She loved the feeling of cupping Helen's full breasts, the nipples instantly hardening against her palm accompanied by the tiny moans of pleasure escaping from her throat. Helen had automatically spread her legs wider to allow Nikki to settle in between them, loving the feeling of her body pressed against her hot centre. Her hands were wandering down from Helen's breast over her abdomen, over her hips and caressing the outside of thighs, slowly moving over to stroke the soft skin on the inside of the thighs. Helen tried to open her legs even wider and growled deep in her throat at the sensations that Nikki's touch was enticing inside her hot core.

Nikki breathed heavily at the sight of Helen laying so open and vulnerable for her to see. She carefully traced the swollen folds with a finger, feeling the quivering in the hot flesh. The bed side lamp gave the room a warm glow and even in this sparse light she could see the glistering wetness that covered Helen's most intimate parts. Nikki swallowed hard as the anticipation of tasting the sweetness of her arousal again overwhelmed her. She carefully slid a finger inside the warm, slippery cave drawing out a little more lubrication, using it to reduce the friction when circling the hard nub of burning nerves. Helen arched her pelvis against the touch and moaned in pure ecstasy. She could hardly believe how turned on she felt, or how ready she was to be pushed into the bliss of release. No one but Nikki had ever managed to make her feel that way. Nikki could feel Helen's urgency and gave into her own as she bowed her head and hungrily started to suck, lick and taste the delicate juices of love that flowed so freely into her mouth.

It only took a few moments before Helen cried out as the climax swept her away into the sea of pleasure. Nikki drowned her own cries of pleasure in Helen's secret creases as she was pushed over the edge just by hearing Helen's passionate cry. Afterwards she slowly crawled up over Helen's body and embraced her in a warm, loving hug, holding her tight as they regained some of their composure, basking in the golden aftermath of their passion and rekindled love for each other.

Chapter 8

Sean had climbed back into the room totally white in the face and with wide eyes. Sophie was feeling the apprehension spread through her body as she silently waited for him to speak. When he finally did it was in a strained voice, huffing out every single word separately.

"I... can't… believe… it! It… was… them… naked… in bed… together…" Sean was in a state of shock. He looked accusingly at Sophie. "I thought you said they hated each other."

Sophie swallowed as her worst suspicions were confirmed. "They do… They did… I thought…" she trailed off and apologetically shrugged her shoulders before continuing. "I'm sorry, Sean, but I just can't do it with my parents next door… and knowing that they are doing 'it'."

He sent her a gloomy look, but refrained from any making any comments, reluctantly admitting to himself that he was not keen on the idea either. They went down stairs to the reception, where they asked for another room.

"Sorry, dears… but I've just rented out the last available room…" the receptionist said.

"But…"

"What?"

At the same moment a highly agitated Caroline Lewis appeared only wearing a grey silk robe.

"Good, there you are… Have you seen Nikki?" she asked the young couple. "She had disappeared."

"No, no… not really," Sophie said evenly, and it was the truth for her part. Sean just shrugged his shoulders.

"Oh, thank God you are here…" Thomas Waugh entered clad in pyjama buttons and a purple silk robe, looking utterly distraught. "Sophie, dear, your mother is missing."

Caroline swung around starring at Thomas with disbelief showing on her face. She then turned to the receptionist.

"Who rented that last room?" she asked the receptionist icily.

"Let me see… ah, here it is…" the receptionist said looking in the book. "It was a Nikki Wade… She booked it for her sister."

"Her sister!" Caroline was spitting mad, but she quickly regained her cool demeanour and turned around. She briskly walked past a confused Thomas and upstairs in a hurry. She found the right number on the door. She stopped briefly before turning the handle and pushing the door open. She really expected it to bee locked, but it gave in and opened. What she saw made her speechless for a moment.

A totally naked Helen was reclining languidly on the bed sipping champagne without a care in the world.

Caroline flushed with anger, but kept her voice calm when she spoke:

"Have you seen Nikki?"

"Oh yes, I have… And dear Caroline, I believe I have just left a little more than just a hair on your pillow," Helen could not keep the smugness out of her voice, as she smiled sweetly at Caroline not bothering at all to cover herself.

Caroline just turned around and walked out, slamming the door in the process. Helen laughed that throaty laugh of hers, as Nikki entered the room clad in a black silk robe shaking her head, but smiling mischievously at Helen.

"Did you have to nail her like that?" she said having a hard time keeping the humour out of her voice.

"Ah, darling, but it was so funny," Helen said still giggling, which made her breasts jiggle seductively.

"What do we do now?" Nikki had turned serious, but looked with longing at Helen's naked body.

"I believe you don't mean just right now," Helen said also sobering up, but then adding a quick: "Though there are plenty of things I could think of doing at this moment."

"Well, so could I," Nikki said smiling a bit too. "But seriously, Helen, where do we go from here?"

Helen looked pensively out in the room for a moment before turning her head and gazing into Nikki's deep brown eyes.

"Do you think, what I think, you think, I think?" she said a bright smile forming on her face and her eyes sparkling with joy.

"I do," Nikki agreed smiling back at Helen. "Let's get on the move before they realize anything."

Chapter 9

Somebody was banging on the door. Sophie slowly regained consciousness as she registered her surroundings. She sat up with a jolt as the events of the previous night hit her square in the face. She was horrified at the prospects of facing her parents, but at the same time she knew that it was not over yet. However, Sophie had not time to muse things over as the banning on the door kept on. Sean was up and finally he chose to answer the door. A very agitated Caroline Lewis strode into the room without even acknowledging Sean. She headed right up to the bed where Sophie was still trying to make her mind focus on what was happening.

"Do you know where they are?" Caroline shouted at Sophie. "They have disappeared!" she began to pace the floor waving her arms with agitation.

"Err… What do you mean?" Sophie croaked not really able to fully comprehend the words coming from Caroline in a shrill voice.

"They have left! They are gone!" Caroline stopped abruptly in front of Sophie starring at her with cold blue eyes.

"Impossible!" Sophie shrieked trying to believe her own outburst, but deep down she knew it was true. Her parents had run off like two naughty teenagers, leaving her to clean up the mess. 'How typical of them,' she thought in exasperation.

"I knew something was going to happen," Sean said vehemently and glared with accusation at Sophie.

"Excuse me, but you invited them… even though I warned you that they would make a scene," she shot back, not willing to listen to him being unreasonable.

"A scene? They are making a scandal!" he shouted. "I'm going to find them and make sure they don't make any further wrong turns." He was in full damage control mode, and Sophie sighed with resignation. She knew how Sean had a tendency to exaggerate when he felt threatened. And even thought she did not really want to, she had to admit that the disappearing act her parents had pulled off might cause some minor damage to Sean's career move. However, she was quite convinced that it would reflect worse on her than on him, at least in his parents' opinion.

Just as Caroline was leaving, a very agitated Thomas came running through the door almost knocking her over in the process.

"Have you seen your mother?" he asked on the verge of tears. "She has gone… and she had my Valiums in her purse."

Sophie opened her mouth, but chose to close it again, as she could not find a proper response to his dishevelled appearance.

Sean looked with contempt on Thomas as he pulled on his jacket. He turned around and shot a look at Caroline.

"You two are coming with me. I'm going to drive you home. Nobody must know what is going on," he said with determination. "All this would ruin my reputation and my career."

Sophie fought the urge to roll her eyes at his statement. That was really all he was thinking about: His career, his reputation, and his life. Sometimes he was just so narrow-minded. She let out a sigh of relief when Caroline, Thomas and Sean left the room. She slowly pulled herself from the bed and went to the bathroom. After a quick shower she dressed in a grey silk shirt, casual white slacks and matching white jacket. She went down stairs and literally bumped into the last person she had expected to see there.

"Why are you here?" Sophie asked a bit wary of the situation. She did not know whether to feel happy or sad about the fact that the photographer girl was standing in front of her in a nice pair of black jeans and a black leather jacket over white t-shirt. She was starring intensely at Sophie with clear grey eyes, revealing intelligence and humour.

"Just doing my job… I wanted some pictures of the morning after," the photographer girl said with a wry smile, not taking her eyes off Sophie for even one moment. It unnerved Sophie and made her suddenly feel rather strangely self-conscious. As Sophie kept silent and apparently at a loss for words, the photographer continued in a casual tone:

"So where is she?"

"That is none of your business!" Sophie had regained her composure as she tried to avoid being to obviously nervous, but failed miserably.

"She can't hide forever, you know… she has to come out some time," the photographer said flipping the camera over in her hands and gazing around in the hall.

"She won't… " Sophie stammered. " She is not even here…"

"Ah…. That explains this little note," the girl said waving a small piece of white paper in front of Sophie, who tried to grab it.

"Give it to me."

"Not unless you say 'please'," the girl said teasingly and moved the paper just outside Sophie's reach. She smiled widely as she continued taunting her. "But then again I could just read it to you," she cleared her throat.

"Dear Sophie, don't bother looking for me.

I'm gone off with N. We will be back in time.

Have a nice honeymoon.

Love you! Your mother Helen"

"So… who is N?"

"That does not concern you," Sophie said with agitation. "Nikki will not be pleased to hear that…"

"Your other mother?" the photographer girl interrupted and then she said with a smirk. "Oh, this is so good."

"Please, " Sophie knew she had slipped the truth and was about to panic. She really needed to calm things down and to cover up the best she could; if not for Sean's fault then for her parents'. "Listen… err… what's your name?"

"Atkins… Lauren Atkins…" came the reply.

"Please, Lauren… don't go to the press with this," Sophie was pleading. Then an idea formed in her mind, something that might be worth pursuing. "You seem to be able to track my mother down… even when she tries to avoid you… I was wondering… Could you possible help me… err… find her?"

"What's in it for me?" Lauren said curtly. She was on her guard. Nothing ever came without a hitch, and certainly nothing came without a price. She had learned that early in life from her own parents.

"I'll… I'll pay you £1000," Sophie said hesitantly. She did not know where she would get that kind of money at the moment, but she was desperate and would try anything to persuade Lauren Atkins to help her. Somehow she felt she could trust her and her instinct also told her that Lauren would be interested in her suggestion.

As to emphasize her assumption Lauren Atkins whistled in appreciation of the offer and seemed suitable impressed. She slowly nodded, while catching and holding Sophie's eyes she said:

"Ok, princess… I'll find them for you."

With that and the silent agreement between them, they left the hotel together using Lauren's old van. Two hours later Lauren manoeuvred the battered van through the heavy London traffic with great confidence, finally pulling up outside a big grey building housing one of the biggest tabloid papers in England. She quickly led Sophie inside, discretely moving down the corridors and smoothly entered an office. She quickly sat at the desk and tapped some commands into the computer. Sophie had the distinct feeling that they were not supposed to be there, but she kept silent and allowed Lauren to conduct her investigation on the computer.

She could not help taking a closer look at Lauren. Her dark brown hair was tied together in a ponytail and her clear grey eyes seemed to be able to penetrate her defences and look right into her soul. She had blushed and quickly turned away every time their eyes had met. Sophie did not know why she felt so off balance in her presence, but something odd had drawn her to Lauren, making her a bit bewildered as to where her sudden strong feelings for this woman had come from. She was pulled from her musings as Lauren triumphantly called out:

"I got them!"

"Come on, let's go get them," she said pulling Sophie with her. As their hands met Sophie felt the blood flow to her cheeks and a tingling sensation shoot between their fingers, but tried to hide it and hoped that Lauren had not noticed it.

Chapter 10

After fleeing from the hotel and their respective partners, Helen and Nikki took their time to reacquaint themselves not only with the unexpected freedom, but also with the joy of shopping together. It had actually been one of their favourite pastimes when they had been a couple, though it had been difficult at times to remain anonymous with both of them being celebrities. Now they hid behind sunglasses and the occasional newspaper while raiding the stores for clothes. They enjoyed trying out the different clothes seeking the approval from each other and stealing kisses in the changing rooms. They felt like teenagers, giggling and blushing whenever caught by eager shop assistants.

The shopping kept them busy most of the morning. After a delightful lunch at a fancy restaurant they went for a sightseeing tour. Far too often had they deprived themselves of the possibility to just relax and take pleasure in the simple things in life, such as just being together watching the busy life of London. Now they had the opportunity and they were determined to make the most of it. All too soon it would be over, but neither of them wanted to think about it, so they pushed the reality away and put it on stand by for the time being. They knew they only had a limited amount of time to indulge in this newfound freedom.

They slowly walked along the riverbank of The Thames holding hands and sharing an ice cream. It was like their early days together; just the two of them, not a care in the world, only living in the moment and relishing in the love that so obviously flowed between them.

They stopped and looked across the river in silence. They knew that at some point they would have to return to reality. At least they had to return to the hotel, where they had booked in for the time being. Neither of them wanted the day to end. It was far too good to end, but it would at some point. They just wanted to prolong their day of freedom, before having to go back to lives neither were totally satisfied with. Reluctantly they went through the doors to the hotel and were met with the sight of their very angry daughter.

"What DO you think you are doing?" Sophie hissed at them through clenched teeth.

Both Nikki and Helen had the good grace to look a bit ashamed. They were suitable subdued in their response and tried to look remorseful, though they did not succeed completely at that. Even Helen as the good actress she was did not manage to look truly regretful. Yet somehow neither of them felt the need for making excuses for their actions.

Sophie was angry and even embarrassed by the way her parents had acted. It is kind of strange to see your parents behave like teenagers on the run. Though they had always been the touchy types, Sophie felt her face flush, as they stood there so close holding hands and casting loving glances at each other, when they thought nobody noticed. It profoundly confused Sophie to see her parent's sudden change of hearts when interacting with each other. For so many years Sophie had only seen them argue, and now all of a sudden they were acting like lovesick teenagers. She was unable to make her mind understand what was happening.

Lauren watched the scene unfold in front of her eyes. She knew it would earn her a small fortune if she took some pictures and sold them to the tabloids, but something kept her from exploiting the privilege she had gained indirectly to observe these people. She was unsure whether it was the fact that her mother knew Nikki Wade or the fact that she found Sophie a little more than interesting that prevented her from acting on her natural instincts for a good picture and a stash of money. She just stood silently in the background and waited for the outcome of this little family reunion.

Sophie turned around and headed for the phone boxes. She called Sean and told him that she had things under control and would return with her runaway parents. He appeared to be satisfied with that information and told Sophie that he would pass on the message to Thomas and Caroline, who definitely did not seem to value the absence of their respective partners. After she had finished the phone call she returned to face her parents and tell them to behave.

Helen turned her head and saw the photographer who had been hunting her for the better part of 4 years. She was surprised not to see any camera lenses and raised an eyebrow in a silent question. The girl just shook her head slightly in a deprecating gesture. Helen nodded in acknowledgement before turning her attention back on her daughter.

"Listen, honey, why don't we go upstairs and pack our stuff… then we will come home with you," she said, while glancing at Nikki. A small smile made the corners of her mouth curl slightly. With an almost imperceptible movement of her head she made Nikki aware of her intentions. Nikki knew Helen well enough to guess that she had come up with some kind of plan to escape the inquisitorial stare of their daughter and her companion, and she happily followed Helen's lead.

The four of them took the elevator to the 25th floor where Helen and Nikki had their hotel suite. They entered the luxurious main room and started to buzz around gathering their things while speaking loudly and asking Sophie and the girl to collect some things for them in the adjacent room. As soon as the two of them had disappeared into the other room, Helen and Nikki quickly made their way out into the hallway locking the door after them. When they came down to the reception they waved some pound notes in front of the receptionist asking him to ensure that there would no disturbances in their suite for at least the next 12 hours.

"Mother, there is nothing in there… only a…" Sophie said when she returned from the other room, but her steps faltered as she realized that her parents were gone again.

"Mum? Mother?" she called out, but instinctively she already knew that there would be now answer. She walked up to the door only to find it locked from the outside. She turned to face Lauren, who had also entered the main room of the hotel suite.

"Hey… what the Hell?" Lauren said in astonishment as she tried to pry open the locked door.

Sophie was panicking slightly by the prospect of her parents being on the loose again without supervision from her. Then she became perturbed by the fact that she was locked into a hotel room with a total stranger, though it was a nice stranger. She sighed slightly resigned to the fact that they had managed to evade her attempt to bring them back home. She felt the tears start to build, but angrily blinked her eyes to get rid of them.

Lauren stared pensively at her. She had the urge to hug the teary eyed woman and somehow comfort her, but she knew the gesture would not be welcomed; at least not at the moment. She looked around for a telephone, but found that they had been disconnected and obviously taken away. She dumped herself on the couch staring at the ceiling.

"So… what do we do now?" she asked quietly.

"I don't know," came the answer from Sophie. She sounded defeated and did not look at Lauren.

"Maybe we can attract some attention…" Lauren said, but was cut off by Sophie starring puzzled at her.

"Why don't you just call the reception?"

"Because your bloody parents have taken the telephone with them!" Lauren retorted sardonically.

Sophie opened her mouth to say something, but decided against it and turned away.

"How far up are we?" Lauren said hopefully. That caught Sophie's attention.

"Oh no, no, no… you're not going to make me climb down from the 25th floor!" she said with a fierce determination.

"Ok, princess… then it seems like you're stuck here with me until someone comes along and unlocks the door… I guess we just have to make the best of it then," Lauren shrugged and slumped back onto the couch.

"I just wanted this wedding to take place quietly and then be on my honeymoon… This was the last thing I expected to happen," Sophie was speaking more to herself than to Lauren. Then her voice got a bitter edge. "I should have known they would ruin that as well."

"Hey, don't be too hard on them," Lauren said sitting up and looking intensely at Sophie. "They are just trying to have freedom… don't you ever have the urge just to do whatever you want?"

Sophie opened her mouth, but no sound came out. She did not know how to respond. She had had the urge all right, in fact too many times lately, but she had never acted impulsively. How could she when she always had to take care of things, when her parents were not able to act like the adults they were supposed to be? She reckoned that she had grown old before even being young. She had responsibilities and not the freedom to just waltz off without a care in the world, but what she would not give to be able to do just that. As her thought lingered on the possibilities she had turned down, her eyes came to rest upon her companion. A thought suddenly entered her consciousness, though it was not a thought that she would like to acknowledge. Deeply hidden feelings and attractions flooded her and made her dizzy, but maybe it was time to face it. Maybe it was her time to have some freedom too.

Chapter 11

Lauren noticed the emotions that played over Sophie's face. Her beautiful features were troubled, but she seemed oblivious to the fact. Lauren wondered what was going on inside her head, and again she felt protective of the other woman looking so fragile and lost, but she was unsure about how to handle the situation. She had to do something actively before she became restless, and she had to lessen the tension between them.

"Hey, princess… you want a drink?" Lauren asked. "You seem to be in dire need of one."

Sophie just nodded. Lauren stood from the couch and walked over to the mini-bar collecting two glasses and filling them with vodka. She returned to Sophie and handed her a glass before slipping down on the couch next to the coffee table. They sipped there drinks in silence. There was not much else they could do anyway. They were locked up, the telephones gone and with no means to create any kind of attention from anyone outside the room.

Lauren caught Sophie's eyes over the rim of her glass. She had an odd expression on her face, like she was going to ask something but had stopped mid-sentence. They stared at each other in bewilderment for a moment before Sophie broke the silence.

"Why are you doing this?"

"Doing what? Helping you?" Lauren said casually.

"No," Sophie sounded a bit annoyed. "Taking pictures of celebrities and selling them to who ever cares to buy them?"

"I have to make a living," Lauren shrugged and took another gulp of her drink.

"Don't you ever get a bad conscious when exposing someone?" Sophie was not ready to let it go. She was intrigued by the indifferent attitude that Lauren showed, as she instinctively knew that there was more to it than what met the eye.

"Like your mother?" Lauren knew what Sophie was hitting at, but she was not inclined to make it easy for her.

"Yeah," Sophie nodded to affirm Lauren's question.

"No," came the curt reply.

"But how can you?" Sophie was aghast.

"As I said, I need to make a living," Lauren furrowed her brows and seemed to be gathering her thoughts. "But that doesn't mean that I don't have dreams."

"What do you dream about?" Sophie found herself more and more fascinated by Lauren's free spirit and casual attitude, as well as captivated by her physical appearance.

"I would like to have my own studio for photography at some point. And to be able to actually chose between my assignments. Not always having to do some dodgy jobs," she said with determination. Lauren looked Sophie in the eyes. "Don't you have some dreams?"

Sophie contemplated the question not really knowing how to respond. She had often asked herself that question, but most of her life she had never had the luxury of dreaming. Things were more or less planned for her. For the first ten years of her life, she had been a perfectly normal happy kid, dreaming of whatever kids dream about. Then when her parents began to argue and finally divorced everything had been planned out for her, leaving her no room for dreaming or having any fantasies. Then she had gone to university where she met Sean, and then he had been planning her life. She had never had any real freedom to do what she wanted. Even her choice of study at the university was made by her Mum. Everything was safe and predictable. She did like it, since her life with her parents had been less than stable, but there had been time when she dreamed of another life; a life of excitement and unknown adventures, a world of new challenges and the freedom to explore them. But she had never revealed that to anyone. Maybe it was time for her to do so, yet something held her back.

When no response came from Sophie Lauren continued her musing speaking them out loud.

"You know… I saw you four years ago… You were with your mother, Helen Stewart… You were dining at the Ritz." Lauren said tentatively.

"How could you see us? It was on the 5th floor!" Sophie exclaimed with amazement.

"I was hanging outside on the balcony. I needed some pictures," Lauren shrugged, but then her face softened and her eyes got a dreamy expression. "I never saw anyone so beautiful as you…. You were wearing a pale blue dress and a pearly white cardigan. You looked so happy." she turned her head to look more intently at Sophie and asked with a frown. "What happened?"

Sophie sighed audible and took a moment to gather her thoughts before she gave her version of the last couple of years of her life in a subdued voice devoid of any emotions, like she was reciting a long list of facts. She deliberately chose to keep her voice even, because she feared that any inflictions would reveal her true feelings.

"I had just met Sean. He was so nice to me. He was generous and kind. He provided some stability in my life, some normality, if you like. My life has always been rather turbulent with two artists as parents, not to mention them being two extremely stubborn and ill-tempered women. Nothing was ever calm in our life… well… maybe when I was a small child. I can't really remember to be honest. They were always arguing, and yet most of the time they were actually quite amiable and pleasant to each other. But they were not a normal pair of parents," Sophie's voice trailed off as she contemplated what she had said.

Sophie was no stranger to relationships between women since her parents obviously were two women, nor did she find it strange, but she had never seen herself as being attracted to another woman. However, she suddenly realized that she found Lauren very beautiful and felt herself being captured by her strong personality. Maybe it was because Lauren represented all that she was not. Carefree, relaxed, happy and foremost courageous enough to embrace life with all its challenges.

Meanwhile in a fashionable part of London three very tense people were pacing the floor in Thomas and Helen's apartment. Thomas had been whining all the time about Helen leaving him without his pills. He had been on the verge of nervous breakdown up to several times within the last couple of hours, aggravating his companions to no end. Caroline had been bickering with him, leaving him in no doubt that she considered him a whimpering fool. He had not taken the hint and just kept on speaking without even listening to what she had said.

"I can't understand what had made her leave? I have been so good for her. Taken her away from that unnatural lifestyle. My therapy worked, and I believed she had come to terms with her divorce from Nikki. What will people say? I am a famous therapist for couples, and I can't keep my own wife from straying. But now it seems she still have some unresolved feelings. She had left with my pills. I don't understand that. How could she do that to me? They were always arguing. I have some pills in the bathroom. They were not meant to be together," he did not even stop to breathe while babbling along, but was cut short by Caroline's angry voice.

"Will you just shut up and go take those damned pills… all of them preferably!"

He shot her a grim look and turned around in a huff heading for the bathroom. Caroline let out a sigh of relief and went over to the bar, where a considerable amount of different bottles were placed. She grabbed the nearest whiskey bottle and poured herself a large drink. She emptied the glass quickly and refilled it, only to empty it as quickly as the first.

"You want a drink?" she turned to Sean waving a glass in front of him.

Sean did not answer but just took the glass out of her hand and drank the content in a few large gulps. He had brought them all to Thomas and Helen's apartment after the disturbing news of his in-laws disappearance in the morning. He had made some phone calls in order to track them down, but none of his contacts had been able to help him. Sean hated the fact that he had no way on knowing what was going on. He had never felt this out of control of a situation and it angered him more than anything else. He used to be the one giving out the orders and now all of a sudden he had no means of being in charge. In fact his wife had just called and told him that everything was under control and that she would return with the 'fugitives' brining them back to their respective partners.

He had relayed that message to the other two persons, who showed clear signs of calming down by celebrating the news with several more drinks. Sean had joined them in the celebratory rounds of drinks and somehow the time had just passed by. Suddenly he looked at his watch as he realized it was beginning to get dark outside.

"Where the Hell are they?" he said, more to himself than to the other two people in the room. "They were supposed to be here by now."

Caroline shrugged her shoulders. She really did not care anymore, the alcohol dimming her senses and reducing her anger to mere indifference. Thomas was also beginning to feel the effect of the large whiskeys he had been drinking all day. He began to feel sorry for himself once more and finally he started to sob and mourn about his misfortune. That made Sean stand up and he turned towards Caroline.

"I'm taking you home," Sean said with determination and urged Caroline to stand up too.

He pushed her forward and out of the front door. She staggered slightly and grabbed his arm for support. She leaned heavily against him and brushed his arm with her ample breasts. She had a dazed look in her half closed eyes that had grown darker. Sean felt his pulse quicken and a sudden rush of primal urges were rushing through his body, leaving his mind totally numb and inactive. Caroline was not an unattractive woman, and Sean was only a man.

The drive to Caroline and Nikki's apartment was made in total silence, yet there was a strange tension between them. They eventually arrived at their destination and Sean took a firm grip on Caroline's arm leading her upstairs and inside the apartment. As soon as they were inside, Caroline leaned into him, letting her body slide seductively against him. Her skirt had ridden up a bit higher on her thighs leaving very little to the imagination.

"What are you doing?" Sean hissed. He could feel the blood rush to a part of his anatomy that he was unable to control.

"Isn't it obvious?" Caroline said with a smirk and stepped one pace backwards to have a look at him. Her eyes wandered appreciatively over him and down to his crotch. Sean felt himself blush at the thorough inspection.

"You are drunk," Sean was getting angry, both with Caroline and with himself as he could feel his body react to her close presence.

"So are you," she giggled and swayed slightly, once more leaning into his personal space letting the heat from her body caress him.

"No, I'm not," Sean said stubbornly, while trying to gain control of the situation.

"Whatever you say," Caroline said without really caring. She took Sean's hands and placed them on her breasts. She was feeling extremely amorous and in need of some sex. It had been a while since Nikki had been willing to accommodate her wishes.

'Besides Nikki can't give me the hard fuck that a man can,' Caroline thought with an alcohol-dazed mind. 'She misses a very essential part for that.'

"Just make me come," she whispered into Sean's ear. She touched down in front of his pants and felt the unmistakable hardness forming right under her probing fingers. She grabbed him harder, eliciting a moan from him. She dragged him of to the bedroom, where she quickly undressed them both before falling on the bed. The sex was rough, needy and carnal. Exhausted from the physical exercises and feeling the effect of the considerable amount of alcohol that they had consumed, they fell asleep.

Chapter 12

After tricking their daughter and her companion into the hotel room and locking them up as well as paying the receptionist to keep anyone from disturbing them, Helen and Nikki had quickly escaped the hotel and made their way out into the freedom made by the busy streets of London. They headed to the southern part of London, following some of the less visited streets.

"Do you think something will happen between the two of them?" Helen suddenly asked.

"Maybe," Nikki looked a bit doubtful. "It would surely be better than Sean the prawn."

Helen giggled at that statement said with so much disdain for their new son-in-law and took hold of Nikki's hand. They walked down the pavement in silence, just relishing in the feeling of being together. Suddenly Nikki stopped and Helen looked questioningly at her.

"You remember that old shady place we used to visit?" Nikki said with her eyes all shining brightly in the dimming light.

"Aye," Helen gave Nikki a tender smile.

"It's close by… I was wondering if you would like to take a walk down memory lane?" Nikki said hesitatingly, but she smiled when she caught the glint in Helen's eyes. "I know the new owner."

"Sure….why not," Helen said, obviously enjoying the memories Nikki's question had evoked in her mind.

They quickly walked down the street and turned around the next corner. Within minutes they were at the entrance to a certainly still shady looking café or bar. The door was made of sturdy wood panels and was heavy. The sparse light coming out from the windows did nothing to invite people in, nor did the cheap neon sign above the door indicate that the bar was rather nice looking and even cosy on the inside. It consisted of one large room divided into smaller sections along the two sidewalls. A large bar was suited at the end wall furthest in the room. Beside it to the right a small dance floor was placed as well as piano. There was a door on the other side leading to a small hallway and the toilets. The bar consisted of a one large counter and two doors were placed on the end wall behind it. One door was leading to the kitchen and the other to another hallway with storage facilities, offices and staff room.

Nikki dragged Helen with her and walked up to the bar where she greeted the two young girls serving some of the other customers.

'She seems to know the place and people rather well,' Helen thought and was confirmed in her observation by the next statement from Nikki.

"Hey, Atkins, get your lazy bum down here and serve us something a little stronger than your average coffee," Nikki yelled at a figure just noticeable behind the half closed door to the kitchen.

"Watch it Wade," came the steely reply from the emerging figure of a tall ginger haired woman with piercing grey eyes.

'She's scary,' was Helen's first thought, but when she saw the interaction between Nikki and the strange woman she relaxed a bit and took in her surroundings.

The woman smiled almost imperceptible at Nikki and then stared intensely at Helen, sizing her up and evaluating what she saw. She made Helen slightly uneasy, but she did not seem unfriendly, just curious. Finally she seemed to have made her conclusion and turned to Nikki with a casual gesture scooping up two glasses and a bottle. .

"So you finally got rid of Caroline, eh?" the woman said with something resembling approval. "Who's your new girlfriend?" she pointed at Helen with the glass. Nikki chuckled and began to make the introduction.

"It's Helen," she said and then turned to her. "Helen, meet Yvonne Atkins. The most notorious dangerous landlady the city. She has connections, you know," the last was delivered with a voice filled with theatrical drama.

"Nice to meet you… I think," Helen said warily and shook hands with the intimidating woman.

"Don't listen to the Wade woman," Yvonne said and gave Helen what could be considered as a friendly smile. "I'm really all sweet and nice. I just used to be married to Charlie Atkins."

"Not Charlie Atkins, as in Charlie Atkins the gangster who got banged up?" Helen's eyes widened in astonishment

"Yep… the very same," Yvonne said nonchalantly and continued to dry some glasses. "I gave the prosecuting barrister some very interesting information about his deals, and made an agreement to get myself out of trouble."

She did not elaborate on that, but Nikki knew what it meant. She would have to fill Helen in later on. The fact was that Yvonne had been in prison accused of planning a murder on a 'family' friend, whose wife had been having an affair with Charlie Atkins. Due to the deal about turning her husband in, she had gotten herself a reduced sentence and had come out after 4 years. She had then made a living for herself and her daughter by running the bar bought 5 years ago with money from her previous life.

Nikki had always visited the bar, because it reminded her about the first couple of years with Helen. Since Yvonne had taken over she had started to visit the bar on a more regular basis as they had formed a tentative friendship, which had developed based on mutual respect. It had soon grown stronger and they were by now very close friends, though Nikki had not told Yvonne everything about her previous life with Helen. But Yvonne was no fool and she knew Helen from the tabloids, having seen enough pictures of her to recognise her, and she knew enough about Nikki's past to know that they had been on a bumpy road together.

"So, what's the story of you two?" she asked innocently, even though she already knew most of it.

"Yvonne, Helen and I go a long way back," Nikki had sobered up and took a deep breath before continuing. "We used to be married, and we have a daughter, who by the way was married yesterday to Sean Parr Jr., you know of the Parr Corporation. We haven't spoken nicely to each other for 20 years and have been divorced for 15 years, and we both have new partners."

"Then how come you two are sitting here together, all peacefully and actually seem to enjoy it?" Yvonne said raising an eyebrow in question.

"I guess, we needed to get away from everything for a while," Helen said looking pensively, but lovingly at Nikki, who was unable to answer the question. "Just the two of us, no attachment, no worries, just us. Even if it is just for a short while."

Yvonne nodded. She understood what Helen meant. She had also reckoned something else by the way the two women in front of her interacted. They were leaning in to each other, unconsciously seeking comfort and maybe even confirmation of the closeness and love that seemed to wrap around them like a thick blanket. Yvonne could see that there was something more to their present relationship; something that they themselves were not consciously aware of.

Nikki felt Yvonne's intense stare and tried to lessen the mood by diverting the conversation to something else with an inquiry:

"So how's your daughter?"

"She's great, making a living of taking pictures of rich, famous people," Yvonne smiled, obviously being proud of her daughter.

"Is she a photographer?" Helen asked with slight apprehension and frowned.

"Yeah, maybe you know her," Yvonne said with a croaked smile and held out a picture of her daughter to Helen, who looked carefully at it. She almost fell from her chair as she recognized the girl on the picture.

"Don't tell me it's that damned no good photographer who had hunted me around for the last couple of years?" she said with an incredulously tone colouring he voice.

"So you do know her," Yvonne could not help but to smirk at the expression that flew over Helen's face.

"Oh, so that's the one who has been on Helen's tail. I didn't realize it was her. she has changed a lot since I last saw her three years ago," Nikki said as she reckoned who she had locked her daughter up with.

"Yeah, she is not much around here. Actually I haven't seen her for quite some time either, but I speak to her now and then," Yvonne said, not quite succeeding in masking the dismal in her voice.

"What about Karen?" Nikki asked hastily to change the subject and was gratified with a profound expression of happiness on Yvonne's face along with a slight blush, totally out of character for the otherwise composed and cool woman.

"She is doing great. She helps out with the book keeping, when she is not working in the Hell house," Yvonne said with a wide grin. Karen had been the wing governor of the prison where Yvonne had served her time. They had formed a strange friendship, which ended up in a mutual attraction on another level, and a tentative relationship that they had pursued, when Yvonne was released.

"And how are the two of you doing?" Nikki then asked with a smile, while unconsciously enter wining her fingers more tightly with Helen's.

"Absolutely the best," Yvonne said and her eyes were bright with happiness. In fact things could not be any better between them. They had found a rhythm and understanding in their relationship that they had not expected when they started out. It provided them both with stability and security, something they desperately needed after both having had some rather disastrous relationships with men.

Nikki and Yvonne exchanged a few more words, before Nikki had led Helen to one of the small stalls in a remote corner of the bar. Some food was brought to them and they started to eat the simple, yet very delicious meal. As they sated their hunger they began to talk.

"You know, Helen, I don't know how we got to be so comfortable together after all these years of antagonism, but I'm very glad that we did and that we got this chance of catching up," Nikki said quietly, looking Helen in the eyes in order to convey her sincerity.

"Aye, believe me, so am I," Helen said with an equal sober expression. "I think… somehow… we both needed this. A chance to see what we have missed all those years," she hesitated briefly and sighed deeply. "What went so terrible wrong that we couldn't make it?"

"A lot of things," Nikki still looked at Helen and held her gaze as she spoke. "Our work situation… The pressure from our surroundings… maybe even our own expectations to each other and to ourselves?"

Helen nodded in agreement. They continued to eat and sipped their wine as they reflected over their actions in the past. There were a lot of things they could have done differently, but they could not change anything now. They could only try to make things better from now on. Helen suddenly stopped eating and took hold of Nikki's hand.

"Nikki… I… err… I…," Helen was stumbling over the words. "I think, I never really stopped loving you."

"I know what you mean," Nikki gently squeezed Helen's hand. "I couldn't get you out of my system either."

"Things were just too difficult," Helen averted her eyes. She knew it sounded as a bad excuse, but it was the truth. "My career was just taking off, and I had to put a lot of work in it," she said quietly.

"I suppose… I always knew how much it meant to you. I couldn't compete with that." Nikki smiled ruefully at the statement. It had never been a secret that Helen loved her work and took great pride in doing it properly. Nikki could understand her professionalism, since she herself was working hard to obtain her goals.

"But at what price?" Helen said in a wistful voice. "We lost each other in that," she sighed deeply before continuing. "I was so damned blinded by my needs to be famous. I should never have hired that PR man, Dominic McAllister. That's where it started to go wrong."

"He made me so jealous," Nikki said slowly, as she remembered how her temper had gotten the better of her. How she had accused Helen of having an affair with the man. They had almost split up after arguing about it. "I know it has always been my weak point when it came to you… My temper and my jealousy." Helen did not know what to say, as she knew it was true. Somehow she also knew it would be best to keep silent and let Nikki speak.

"I couldn't cope… cope watching you do all those love scenes, kissing and pawing another person. Even just knowing what you were doing was aggravating," Nikki voice held all the pain and hurt she had been feeling, and it almost broke Helen's heart to hear it. She knew it had troubled Nikki when they were together, but she had never realized exactly how much.

"But that is all acting," was all Helen could say in return; she looked lost and was unable to provide Nikki with a proper answer.

"I know," Nikki fought to keep her emotions under control and not to shed the tears she could feel starting to burn in her eyes. "But I just couldn't help thinking that you might be acting with me too."

"You know, I would never do that to you," Helen said fiercely, her Scottish accent colouring her words. "I loved you! And I still do." The last was said very softly and very intensely.

"It was just so frustrating, and it made me so angry," Nikki had lowered her head. She did not want to let Helen see how hurt she still felt. "It was like I lost a little bit of myself every time I had to watch you do it. It was too painful to see it."

Helen swallowed the lump that had formed in her throat. She gently took hold of Nikki's hand and willed her to look at her, to look into her eyes so she would see the truth within them and understand that every word Helen spoke was nothing but sincere and heartfelt.

"I'm sorry to have hurt you. It wasn't my intention," she was trying hard to convey all her feelings. "And trust me, I was never anything but sincere when we were together. I never acted with you, in fact you are the only one who had ever made me feel really alive and unconditionally loved," she blinked her eyes to get rid of the tears there. "I suppose I did say a lot of hurtful things."

"You did, but so did I," was Nikki's simple reply. She kept silent for a very long time, but she did not withdraw her hand from Helen's tight grip. She finally nodded in silent acceptance of Helen's proclamation.

However, her next question took Helen by surprise, especially with the obvious hint of challenge and touch of anger laced with jealousy:

"Why did you end up with Thomas?"

"Why did you end up with Caroline?" came the quick retort from Helen.

They starred at each other, neither of them willing to back down. Some of their old hostility came up between them like a flash of lightning. The atmosphere between them was equally charged and all of a sudden the otherwise nice events were gone and the tension was back with full force.

"You made it very clear to me that we didn't have a future. You ended our marriage, remember?" Nikki said vehemently.

"I didn't actually start a relationship with him until after the divorce," Helen said, her voice laced with ice as she quickly removed her hands from Nikki's.

"Imagine this… It was actually a bit difficult seeing our marriage counsellor move in to charm the pants of you," Nikki said with sarcasm filtering through every word.

"You know, it would never have happened, if you hadn't been so damned obsessed with the cheap actress playing the lead in one of your plays," Helen was not one to hold back on her anger, and it was obvious she was angry as her Scottish accent grew stronger with every word.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Nikki shot back raising her voice slightly. She had a hard time controlling her rage.

"You were having an affair!" Helen, however, did not try to control anything and she did not care who saw or heard them. She starred angrily at Nikki, letting all the accusations fill the air between them.

"No! No, I wasn't! Not until after the divorce," Nikki quickly and forcefully denied.

"Then what about the hairs I found in OUR bed that day?" Helen said letting the sarcasm sluice through her sentence.

"Caroline had been by our house to pick up some manuscripts and I left her for just a few moments to get them. She asked for the bathroom," It suddenly dawned upon Nikki what had actually happened. Caroline had come on to her strongly in order to improve her chances of getting a new role in Nikki's next play, not that Nikki would ever let herself influence by such an easy recognizable trick, but she was flattered by the attention and relished in it as she had a bit of a rough time with Helen. Nikki frowned deeply as she let her mind wander through all the facts of the events.

"She must have proceeded to the bedroom and…" Nikki stopped mid-sentence and looked into Helen's eyes with an intense glare as something suddenly dawned on her. "That's why you were so agitated when you came home to get some clothes from the bedroom… You thought I was having an affair with Caroline… in our home, in our bed."

Nikki just kept starring a Helen as the realization sank into her mind. The frown on her face did not disappear, nor did Helen's defiant posture. They sat in complete silence contemplating the events that had taken place all those years ago. They finally visibly relaxed and looked a bit more amiable at each other. They were quiet and looked deeply into each others eyes recognizing the deep love and understanding that had brought them together in the first place. They slowly nodded in acceptance and smiled tentatively to each other. Nikki finally broke the silence by speaking out loud what they both were thinking:

"We are very good at making presumptions and jump to the wrong conclusions."

"I guess so," Helen quietly agreed on the observation. She smiled ruefully and drew a deep breath. "We were always misunderstanding each other."

"Maybe we still do?" Nikki said pensively as she drank the rest of her wine. "What do you think?"

"I suppose… in some ways we do," Helen looked deeply into Nikki's eyes as she spoke. "But I also believe we know each other a lot better than we think. And that the love we once shared is still there."

Nikki caught a lump in her throat and swallowed before leaning over the table and tenderly kissing Helen, who responded with great enthusiasm. A little breathless Nikki broke away and said:

"Maybe we should go back to the kids and see how there are doing?"

"Aye, my sweet, but not until the morning," Helen had a mischievous glint in her eye. "We don't want to interrupt anything between those two, will we?"

Chapter 13

The evening and the night went by all too quickly. Nikki and Helen had enjoyed their meal and shared a lot of thoughts about life and love. They had danced like in the old days, relishing in each others company, and indulging themselves in the dream of them still being together. In the magic of the night there was no right or wrong, and no one to tell them what they should or should not do. Yvonne's bar had provided the necessary atmosphere to make them feel at ease, as two ordinary people and not some well-known celebrities, who could not be left alone by the public. That shady bar was their sanctuary and they were the only ones in a timeless suspension of inner peace and sudden understanding. A lot of ghosts from the past had been buried and a newfound mental connection between them had formed itself from the ashes of the war they had fought.

Eventually they had to return to reality. Not that it was something they actually looked forward to, but it was something that was inevitable. They walked the streets of London towards the expensive hotel near High Street Kensington Station, where they had locked up Sophie and Lauren. They tried to extend their time together. It was soon to be over and neither of them wanted to admit it, but it troubled them beyond reason that they would have to return to their present partners and life. It was not as tempting as it might seem from the outside. They were both having their fair share of trouble with Caroline and Thomas. Now they had even acknowledged it openly, but they still lacked the final courage to deviate from their chosen paths in life, even if it was clearly time for them to make some decisions regarding their future, whether it was for them to be apart or together.

During the early morning they reached the hotel and walked past a sleepy receptionist, who did not take any notice of the two women casually walking through the lobby hand in hand. They got into the elevator and pushed the button for the 25th floor. Helen giggled a little nervously at Nikki's worried frown, but made a straight face when she carefully unlocked the door to the suite. She apprehensively opened the door and peered inside. It was relatively dark, as the curtains were drawn and nobody seemed to be in the main room. Nikki was anxiously hovering just behind Helen and tried to have a look over her shoulder. They stepped inside looking around. Everything seemed to be in place, and nothing seemed to have been touched except for two glasses and a bottle of vodka that was placed on the coffee table. They tip toed around in order not to make any noise. Helen went into the bedroom and had to stifle a smile at what she saw there.

Sophie was sprawled all over the bed, fully dressed but with the cover wrapped around her tiny form. Helen wondered how such a small girl could take up so much space. On the floor placed on some pillows an also fully dressed Lauren was lying on her stomach with her head stuck under the bed and a blanket covering her legs. Helen carefully walked to the other side of the bed and sat down. She gently shook Sophie for her to wake up.

Sophie finally stirred and sat up with a bemused expression in her sleepy eyes, not really understanding what had woken her. She focused on the form sitting next to her and a small cry of astonishment escaped her lips as she recognized her mother.

"You're awake, honey?" Helen asked, gently robbing her daughters back.

"Aye, I think so," Sophie croaked. "What are you doing here? What time is it?" she asked as she found her consciousness rise from the heavy dreamless sleep. With more accusation colouring her voice she said:

"Is Mum here too? Why did you lock us up? And why did you sneak away again?"

"It's just a quarter past nine… And yes, Nikki is here too," Helen smoothly avoided answering her daughters other questions.

The person on the floor began to stir and for a moment two sets of curious eyes focused on the form that uncoiled from the sleeping position and stretched lazily, which elicited a groan of pain as the back cracked loudly enough for the pair of them to hear and to make them shudder, but they kept starring at the woman.

"What? Have I got something on my nose?" Lauren said when noticing the intense stare from mother and daughter.

Helen was the first to compose herself and she shook her head.

"No, nothing is on your face," she hesitated. "Just wondering why you were sleeping on the floor, when there is a perfectly good bed available?"

"Ah, I didn't want to make the Princess uncomfortable, so I stuck to the floor," she said mockingly raising an eyebrow and sarcastically added: "Where I belong."

That made Sophie look up sharply, but she did not say anything, though it looked like she was biting off her immediate response. She looked hurt for a fleeting moment, but it was quickly disguised by an angry glare shot in Lauren's direction. The silent exchange did not go unnoticed by Helen, who made mental note to keep an eye on them.

"Come on, let's all go home," she said with a tired little smile, hurdling the two younger women on their feet and out the door to the waiting Nikki.

The morning also brought light into the bedroom of Nikki and Caroline's apartment. Sean had woken early with a major hangover, but with the knowledge of everything that had happened during the night. He had been horrified with the prospect of losing his professional credibility if it were known that he had had an affair so shortly after his marriage. He needed to get out of there and to find his wife in order to mask up his little indiscretion. However, Sophie did not need to know what he had done, and he would make sure that she never found out.

"Ouch!" Caroline croaked when she slowly regained consciousness. She had a hangover from Hell and the distinct feeling of sourness in parts of her body that she had not used for quite some time. With the pain came the memories of the events during the previous night. It was not something she cared to think about, especially in the harsh light of day and soberness.

Sean had not been able to slip away before Caroline woke up. He had slipped out of bed and hunted around for his clothes. He was almost finished when her groaning made him freeze his motions. He looked with disgust at the crumpled sheets wrapped around a dishevelled figure with mussed blonde hair sticking out in all directions; nothing at all like his Sophie. His wife, he berated himself as he scowled at Caroline.

"As far as I'm concerned, this never happened!" Sean hissed through clenched teeth.

"No kidding?" Caroline said sardonically. "Anyway, it wasn't such a big deal, so it is easy forgotten."

"What is that supposed to mean?" Sean's self-esteem as a man was picked by the dispassionate tone coming from the blonde woman in the bed.

"It wasn't that memorable after all," Caroline said with obvious indifference and shrugged her shoulders. She quietly cursed herself for making the movement, as her head began to spin and hurt even more than before.

"I have never had any complaints before!" Sean was getting an odd shade of red in the face as he struggled to contain his anger.

"Lucky you," she drawled in response. "It just didn't really ring my bells."

"You… I… This… I…. You… You… Dyke!" Sean yelled before storming out of the bedroom and apartment slamming the door on his way.

Caroline was relieved that he had left and just reclined back into the bed seeking out the unconscious heaven of sleep. She knew she was in deep trouble, but it had to be sorted out later, when the headache and the nauseous were gone. For now only sleep was the solution.

Sophie had been very quiet on the way back to Helen's apartment. Sean had arrived almost at the same time as they, eliciting an outburst from Thomas:

"Where have you been all night?"

To which Sean hissed something inaudible, but it did not go unnoticed by the ever-observing Helen, who filed the exchange of words away for later use, if it should be necessary.

Sophie had sent Sean off to collect their suitcases from the hotel, where the wedding reception had taken place. After saying goodbye to her parents she had gone for a walk in Hyde Park to collect her thoughts. They had been swirling around in her head making her dizzy. So many things had happened in such a short time, that she had no rest for quiet reflections of her life. She had briefly touched the outer rim of her dark side when talking to Lauren, but eventually she had not dared to uncover what lay beneath the surface of her unconsciousness. The events she kept turning in her head, considering them from all possible angles were difficult for her to handle. She knew she had to find her way through the emotional wilderness, but she had to gain some guidance for her to walk the difficult path that she could see, but not yet dare to walk. Nikki would be the person to seek out for help, but Sophie wondered if she herself was strong enough to face the consequences.

Determined to have a proper talk with her Mum, Sophie got a taxi and was soon at Nikki's doorstep. She had her own key and let herself inside the apartment. She was in no mood to run into Caroline and she knew that her Mum would probably be in her study. She silently slipped through the corridor and found her way to Nikki's office. She took a look inside and got her Mum's attention by knocking softly on the door.

"Hi, sweetheart," Nikki looked up from her book and smiled gently at her daughter.

"Mum, could I have a word?" Sophie asked a bit hesitantly.

"Yes, sure, honey. Come in and have a seat." Nikki waved her hand and closed the book in her lap. She took a closer look at Sophie and immediately took notice of her mood. "Hey, what is it? Is something wrong?"

"Oh, Mum… I don't know," Sophie could feel the tears start to burn in her eyes, but furiously blinked to get rid of them. "It's just… It's so difficult… Everything is so complicated at the moment." she took a deep breath before continuing. "Don't you ever feel like things are not really going where they are supposed to? I mean…" she stopped to contemplate her words. "Haven't you ever done something you were supposed to do, but then it didn't feel right but… but you did it anyway… and… then you regret it afterwards?"

Nikki nodded and looked thoughtful. She had had a similar conversation with Helen only a few hours previously. And now when she looked at her daughter, she saw both Helen's and her own insecurity in the pained expression covering Sophie's face. She realized that there was a lot more to Sophie's questions than what was being said and what it looked like to the bare eye. But she had no real clue as to what exactly was bothering her daughter. She instinctively knew she had to tread carefully and maybe even coax the real issues out of her, yet an honest and direct approach might be the best.

"You seem to be a bit out of sorts, even unhappy. What has brought that on? I mean it's not like you to be so reflective when you are supposed to be having a good time. In only a few hours you will be off with your husband on a honeymoon. That should be a good thing, right?"

"Yeah, I suppose so," Sophie did not look entirely convinced about that statement, and she definitely did not fool Nikki for moment.

"But?" Nikki could feel that there was much more to come. She wanted Sophie to talk to her and to reveal what was bothering her; however she did not want to pressure her.

"But… maybe that is not what I'm supposed to do," Sophie frowned and tried to focus on her train of thoughts.

"No?" Nikki knew Sophie had to come up with her own conclusions and face her own demons, but she wanted to be there for her and to help her through the process. She observed the emotions that were fleetingly mirrored on Sophie's face as she went through the different aspects of her life and the choices she had made.

"I feel… the lack of… substance in my life," Sophie frowned as the words came out of her mouth one by one. It was like she was listening to someone else speaking. "It's like… I miss something important… but I can't put my finger on what it is."

She stood from the chair and began to pace. Nikki followed her with her eyes and tilted her head considering what her daughter was saying.

"You are not happy with the choices you made?" she gently asked.

"No, I'm not… It's like I'm adrift with no anchor, just floating around without purpose and goal." Sophie sighed deeply and slumped back into the chair in front of the big desk. She threw her hands out in a resigned gesture.

"I don't know what I want anymore… and I don't know where I'm heading."

Nikki nodded her understanding. She recognized some of feelings of doubt and uncertainties from her own life. Too often those feelings had influenced her decisions in a bad way making the results deficient. Could she allow her daughter to make some of the same mistakes, or should she guide her safely through the difficult state in her life? She was pulled out of her musings as Sophie started to speak again.

"I just wish I could be as confident as you and Mother obviously are."

Nikki could not help but to chuckle heartily at Sophie's words so firmly stated.

"Oh, boy… Is that what you think we are?" she managed to say through the fits of giggles. She smiled warmly at her daughter as she spoke.

"Sophie, your mother and I may seem confident and even self-sufficient, but that is not quite the truth. For one thing your mother is an actress and used to play a role in public, and for my part… well… I have always hid behind a façade of self-confidence in order to preserve the real me for my close friends and family. It is something we have learned to do after many years as public celebrities."

"But you always seem to know exactly what to do or say… no matter what situation you're in."

"Honey, we may be a little older, and hopefully a little wiser after all these years of learning things the hard way, but we certainly don't have all the right answers at hand… But sometimes I wish we had," Nikki smiled wistfully.

"It just seems so straight forward with you. Black and white. Either you argue or you love, nothing in between," Sophie insisted, not ready to let it go.

"There is nothing straight about your mother and me," Nikki chuckled again and fought to keep herself from laughing out loudly. "Oh, sorry honey, didn't mean to make fun of you," she said and sobered as she observed the crestfallen face of Sophie. "But it's just that there is really nothing simple or straight forward about our relationship. It is about as complex and tortuous as it could possibly be."

"Why did you split up with Mother?" Sophie looked directly into Nikki's eyes. Nikki contemplated her answer carefully.

"Err… well…we… we had different opinions on how we were supposed to live our lives," she said quietly averting her eyes from the inquisitorially glance Sophie had directed at her.

"But that was not the only reason?" it was said more like a statement than a question. Sophie looked thoughtful for a moment. She knew it was unlikely that she would get any further information from her Mum at the moment.

"You were always arguing," she said with a slight hint of accusation in her voice. "Sometimes I felt so caught up in the middle of your heated fights."

Nikki turned serious as she saw the hurt expression on Sophie's face.

"Listen, sweetie... Even though your mother and I split up, neither of us stopped loving you. We just had a difficult time. Unfortunately we didn't take into account your vulnerability. We were too caught up in our own problems. And for that I am profoundly sorry. We both still love you, very much. Don't you ever dare think anything else."

"I understand that, and I know you did love me," Sophie frowned. "There is just something about all this I don't get. At my wedding you were at each other's throat, ready to kill each other, and then suddenly you ended up in bed together, not mentioning you running away like two love sick teenagers, who can't be together? What happened?"

Nikki had the good grace to blush at the memories Sophie's words evoked. But she pulled herself together and answered with an even voice.

"Well, in the early days for your mother and me, we actually had a lot of fun and made a lot of things together. We hardly ever argued and simply had a good time. Then both our careers took off, leaving us with very little time to be just ourselves, and in the end you… I suppose. We forgot to have fun. It was all work back then, so we missed out on some of the more important things of life. Somehow it all just came back to us."

Blushing again Nikki continued. "The physical interaction between us has always been very good, and I suppose the physical closeness of our argument trigged and released some long repressed sexual tensions and needs in both of us. And when we started down on that path, we just couldn't stop it again, not even if we had wanted to. We needed each other, not only physical, but also the psychological bond between us was rekindled with an unexpected force that we couldn't deny. We needed to get away from our lives and to have some fun, to mentally reconnect in the silent understanding that we used to have, as soul mates. And we had a chance to relive some of that. It just felt good and right."

"Do you always just do what you feel is right?" Sophie said quietly.

"No, if I had, I shouldn't have let your mother walk away all those years ago without fighting for her. Trying to convince her to stay," she took a deep breath before continuing.

"But I was hurting. She had hurt me, and I was too stubborn and proud to beg her to stay. Besides she had made it very clear to me that we were done. I loved her too much, so I let her go. And instead I made the mistake of my life, by starting a relationship with Caroline," Nikki smiled ruefully and shook her head as to get rid of the unpleasant thoughts that invaded her mind.

"Is that what love is about? Sacrificing?" Sophie said with wonder.

"Yes… partly," Nikki said gently. "But love is also about acceptance, respect and understanding. Unfortunately your mother and I forgot about that 15 years ago… and we split up."

Sophie seemed to absorb what Nikki said. However, her next question caught Nikki completely off guard.

"Why were you two so much against my marriage to Sean?"

Nikki blinked her eyes a couple of time to regain her composure before answering.

"We just wanted the best for you, and frankly, we didn't perceive Sean as being the best choice for you, but we accepted it because he seemed to make you happy. At least in the beginning," she hesitated. "He is still making you happy?"

Sophie deliberately avoided answering that question and continued her own line of questions.

"Why did Mother always behave so strangely around Sean's father?"

"Ah, that's a long story, which your mother really should be telling you, but I guess you need to know the basics," Nikki sighed and pulled a hand through her short ruffled hair.

"Sean's father, Sean Sr. had something going on with your mother before I came into the picture. But she was not interested in him, and I suppose he harboured a grudge against her for that. And she undoubtedly felt rather uncomfortable around him, at least considering how he humiliated her in public, but it was before she became a celebrity."

"So, what are you going to do now?" Sophie asked Nikki.

"I don't know… I suppose," Nikki did not get a chance to finish her sentence as the door without any warning violently swung open and revealed an angry looking Caroline casting a very cold glare in Sophie's direction.

"Oh, it's you Sophie. I thought it was your mother," she said icily.

"I was just on my way out," Sophie said looking equally cold.

"I'll see you at the airport, honey," Nikki said, feeling extremely uncomfortable in the suddenly chilled atmosphere of her study.

Sophie dipped her head in acknowledgment and turned on her heel. She walked briskly past Caroline, totally ignoring the poisons glare she got from her.

Chapter 14

Newly wed Mr and Mrs Parr drove to the airport in total silence. They did not even look at each other. The atmosphere between them was several degrees below zero and far from the ideal beginning on a honeymoon. They had argued when Sophie returned from her visit to Nikki. Sean had gone ballistic over her not telling him where she had been all day. At first Sophie had tried to calm him down, but soon found herself in the defensive position she recently had taken more and more. Finally she had just ignored him, which only angered him even more.

They quickly walked into the departure lobby, where they checked in. Sean pulled the suitcases up on the low desk with short abrupt movements clearly displaying all his pent up anger. When they turned around people that Sean really did not want to see for several reasons greeted them. Helen Stewart accompanied by her husband Thomas Waugh, who looked more on the brink of a nervous breakdown than ever before, Nikki Wade with her blonde partner Caroline Lewis, who was the embodiment of deceit, at least in Sean's mind, and Lauren Atkins with a camera ready to shoot the best pictures of her life.

"Why did you have to ask them to come here?" he hissed angrily at his wife through clenched teeth.

"I didn't invite them," Sophie hissed back, before walking towards her parents.

"Mother," she greeted Helen and then turned to Nikki. "Mum."

"Hiya, darling," Helen smiled warmly at her daughter and embraced her quickly, putting a small peck on her cheek.

"Hi, pumpkin," Nikki said quietly.

"Could I have a word with you two?" Sophie asked her parents, who nodded in agreement. All three of them walked a few steps away from the rest of the assembled partners, who looked suspiciously at them. Normal courtesy prevented them from eavesdropping on the trio in a too obvious manner, though they were anxiously trying to defragment the bits they actually could hear.

Sophie was facing her parents, not with accusation, but with an honest puzzled expression on her face as she addressed the question that kept running through her mind; no matter how much she tried to stop pondering over it.

"I'm still wondering about why you two ran off, and why you chose to come back again. I'm trying to understand why. Care to explain it to me?"

Nikki and Helen exchanged a quick glance before Helen spoke in a quiet and apologetic voice:

"Listen, sweetheart, your mum and I are so very sorry for the trouble we gave you. It was not intentional. We just needed a bit of fun and freedom."

"But couldn't you have chosen to do so at another time than my wedding?" Sophie said with a frown. She had the urge to rub her temples as a headache had announced it presence.

"We are truly sorry, but it just happened. We didn't ask for it. It just took us both by surprise. We… I….," Nikki stammered and stopped mid-sentence as she tried to collect her thoughts. Sophie looked expectantly at her, but remained silent.

Nikki really wanted to explain their actions, but was not sure she could accomplish that without literally pulling the safety net away from Sophie and shatter what they had strived to teach her about being a whole human being. She carefully considered the conversation she had had with Sophie only a few hours before. So much had been left unsaid, yet Nikki was quite sure that Sophie had reached some conclusions that were far more important to her life than what was apparent to the eye. She carefully continued after once more exchanging a quick silent look in which they communicated far more than anyone could ever see.

"Honey, don't be so serious. No real damage was done. Not for you, not for us. I guess, what I'm trying to say is, have some fun while you can. And don't ever settle for second best, follow your heart and instincts."

"Is that what you and mother did just now?" Sophie asked with interest. "Followed your instincts and hearts?"

"I suppose so…We needed a break…. We didn't think of the consequences," Helen said hesitating for a brief moment. "Maybe we should have, but we didn't and it just felt right at the time."

Sophie seemed to consider what her parents had said. Helen looked questioningly at Nikki, who just shrugged her shoulders. Only the buzzing sound from the busy airport lounge around them was heard.

"Ok, I accept that," Sophie finally said which filled Nikki and Helen with relief. "But you have to understand that it is a bit difficult for me right now, and it was very bad timing of you two to outlive your fantasies on my expense."

"We understand that, honey. We really didn't want to cause you trouble," Helen said followed by Nikki saying. "And we are truly sorry about the mess."

"Yeah, guess we just have to sort it all out now," Sophie said with an enigmatic expression on her face. Helen looked puzzled and once again turned towards Nikki who just shook her head imperceptible. Sophie observed the silent conversation between her parents with interest.

"How do you know when you really love someone? How do I know whose only second best?" Sophie asked looking intensely at both her parents. This time Nikki looked at Helen raising an eyebrow. Helen pursed her lips and rolled her eyes as discretely as possible. Nikki sighed and began to speak.

"Well, if the person you are with doesn't make you tingle or make your body buzz just by being close, and if you would rather be anywhere else when you are together with this person, then it's probably the wrong person to be with in the first place. But if you find someone, whom you can't keep your mind and your hands of, someone who would make you feel alive, loved and cherished beyond anything else, someone you feel you could trust with your life and who makes you feel safe. Then you've found the one."

Sophie looked pensively for a long time. Then she suddenly realized something that was going to change her life. She was not in love with Sean, but with someone else. However, she had married Sean and they were about to go on their honeymoon. Sophie felt dichotomized between two paths her life could take. She could stay married to Sean, a man she did not love anymore, out of duty and responsibility, being totally miserable for the rest of her life. Or she could make the choice to throw caution to the wind for once in her life and do something completely spontaneous and crazy; run away with a woman she had just met, but who she had fallen in love with. Sophie knew where her happiness would lie, and it was not with Sean. She also knew it would take a lot of courage to take the jump, but for the first time in her life, she felt strong enough to be herself and to admit that her feelings were more important than what was expected of her. She felt the weight of responsibilities lift from her shoulders, and her heart beat a little faster as she looked across the lounge and into a pair of intense grey eyes. She was pulled out of her musings when Helen gently touched her arm.

"Honey, are you all right? You seem a bit flushed?"

Sophie's eyes focused on her parents in front her. They looked at her with concern. She smiled faintly and said:

"Yes, yes I am fine. In fact I have never felt better."

She walked away from her parents and over to where Sean was waiting impatiently. She stopped in front of him and looked dispassionately at him with detached curiosity. She wondered what she had ever seen in him in the first place. Her intense stare unnerved Sean and made him feel skittish, not to mention angry with her. He felt everybody was looking at him, both his annoying in-laws and all the other people in the lounge. He needed an outlet for his anger and verbally lashed out on his wife.

"Where were you last night? Who were you sleeping with?"

Sophie lifted an eyebrow and looked at him with cold disdain.

"That is none of your damned business," she said in a cold voice.

"You are my wife! I have a right to know!" he hissed, suddenly feeling conscious of their surroundings.

"And what about my rights?" Sophie quickly retorted.

"For Christ's sake, Sophie. We just got married, and then you take off with some damned no good photographer, officially to find your parents, but only God knows what you have been doing?" Sean was rambling and he was beyond caring who heard them.

Sophie narrowed her eyes and glared at him. She had not noticed that Helen had come to stand next to them, and was startled when she spoke with ill hidden venom colouring her voice.

"Why don't you tell your wife, where you have been all night?"

Sean was stunned for a moment, but quickly regained his bearings.

"I don't know what you are talking about," he said in an even voice, but the underlying tremors betrayed his uneasiness.

Nikki, Caroline and Thomas had also gathered around them and with interest they observed as the colour drained away from Sean's face. Helen was not one to back off, when she knew she was on to something, and the question she had heard Thomas ask him in the morning definitely indicated that something had been going on. She looked at Sean's dark jacket and her eyes lit up with a dangerous gleam as she discovered something on his lapel.

"Ah, the bitch is shedding again," Helen, said triumphantly while picking up a long blonde hair from the jacket of Sean Parr Jr.

"What?"

"Uh?"

"Err?"

Four sets of inquisitive eyes were pinning Sean down as Helen silently congratulated herself on the truth of her intuition. Something shady was definitely going on between Sean and Caroline. She knew it was petty of her to gloat at others misfortune, but she could not help herself feeling all too smug with her revelation, especially considering the impact it would have on Caroline's relationship with Nikki. She did, however, feel sorry for Nikki, but a look in her direction told Helen, that she did not have to worry too much.

"So that's where you were all night?" Thomas said which earned him an angry glare from Sean.

"Were you going to tell me you slept with her?" Sophie asked in a dangerously low voice.

Caroline starred with disgust at Sean, not able to hide her slightly flushed appearance as the truth came unveiled in front of her partner and the worst rival to her devotion, her ex-wife.

Strangely enough Nikki kept silent, but her dark eyes showed a certain amount of disgruntlement, whether it was from the fact that Caroline had slept with Sean or that Sean had been cheating on her daughter was not quite clear, not even to herself.

"Well, that settles it!" Sophie finally exclaimed with a determined gleam in her eyes.

"What do you mean?" Sean was baffled.

"I'm entitled to love whoever I want, and I have come to realize that I certainly don't love you," she said vehemently, grabbed their flight tickets out of his hands and turned around to walk away.

"Come back! You can't be serious!" Sean shouted after her, desperately trying to get his head around to everything that happened.

"Oh, yes I am! I have never been more serious in my entire life!" Sophie shot back with more speed than a bullet. "Get a grip, Sean and see the light. We're through!"

"But… I will forgive you…" he stammered, once more trying to convince his wife to reconsider her decision.

"You know, Sean, you are really dense, " Sophie was losing her patients and the infamous Wade-Stewart temper was slowly emerging, reading to hit her insolent husband full force if he did not back off.

"You may think, that I have slept with someone else, but unlike you I actually haven't acted upon my feelings…. yet…"

With that she walked over to Lauren, took a strong hold on her and kissed her soundly on the mouth leaving no doubt about her intentions towards her, leaving Sean with his jaw hitting the floor.

When they finally broke apart, gasping for air, Lauren looked thoroughly stunned and was blushing furiously at the attention they were getting both from the people standing in close proximity and the rest of the people staying in the airport lounge.

Nikki and Helen looked at each other in amusement and quite pleased with themselves and their daughter's unabashed actions.

Sophie walked over to them and handed the flight tickets to Nikki with a big smile on her face.

"Why don't you and Mother make good use of them, since it is obvious that Sean and I won't be needing them," she said with a mischievous glint in her eyes.

"Mmmm…. Sounds like a good idea. What do you say, Helen?" Nikki said with a big grin and the same humours gleam in her eyes as her daughter.

"Aye, let's get going," Helen smiled widely and hugged Sophie. She then took Nikki by the hand and they went off to the gate not looking back.

Sophie took Lauren's hand and squeezed it tightly and looked at her with a warm smile.

"Let's go. Any idea to where?"

Lauren had not stopped looking excessively pleased with herself, having a silly grin plastered all over her face.

"Yeah, princess, I think it is time to introduce you to your new mother-in-law."

They happily left the noisy airport lounge and left three flabbergasted ex-partners to their own fate.

Epilogue - Two years later

"Mother, will you please stop pacing around. You are making me all nervous," Sophie said with obvious exasperation colouring her voice and a certain amount of irritation lingering just beneath her otherwise calm surface as she suppressed the urge to roll her eyes with an effort.

"Sorry, darling, but I just can't help being on edge," her mother said, as she stopped pacing the floor for a brief moment in order to take a closer look at her daughter. Helen took in her appearance and had to smile as the vision reminded her of her partner, Nikki. Though her daughter was small like herself, she had dark hair cut short for the first time in her life and it made her look just like a younger version of Nikki. Then Helen remembered why she was with her daughter in the first place and began to pace again.

Sophie this time did roll her eyes and turned back to the mirror in order to have a better view when applying the last of her subtle makeup. She was dressed in a nice white silk suit looking astonishing. However, she had a hard time concentrating as she could feel the constant movement behind her back, and she sighed silently. She finally put down the eyeliner and shook her head.

"Mother, could you stop fiddling with your dress, and get me some coffee?" she said and eyed her mother's nervous form in the mirror.

Helen stopped and looked bemused at her daughter, not aware that she was aggravating her by her constant pacing.

"You want coffee? Now? At this time?" she said as her eyes widened in apparent disbelief.

"No Mother, not really, but if it will occupy you to get it and thereby make you vanish from this room, it will be worth it," Sophie said trying to hide her amusement at her mother's miffed expression.

Helen narrowed her eyes trying to determine if Sophie was being facetious. In the end she decided to keep silent but had stopped wearing the carpet thin. She had to admit to herself that she was feeling rather nervous about the upcoming event. She was not sure how to express her anxiety, but she had never experienced anything like it before. Helen had woken very early in the morning and though she knew all the preparations were well taken care off and in the hands of skilled people, she could not help but feel strangely uneasy. She had woken her daughter, who occupied one of the guest bedrooms in her new home in one of the most fashionable places in the South of London, before getting herself all dressed up and ready. Unfortunately she had done it so fast that it left her with much more time than she liked
before the wedding, which was going to take place in the early afternoon. Helen had chosen to wear a beautiful slim white silk dress, which was clinging to her and showing off her still very shapely cavernous body. A small white jacket underlined the vision of elegance emanating from her.

'The wedding', she mused. 'How can it be that it makes me so damned nervous and all worked up? It's not like I haven't tried it before… Yeah, right, but now it is not only your daughter. It's yourself as well… for the third time.'

She had unconsciously started to walk back and forth in the room once more. Sophie turned around and watched her mother carefully. She had never seen her so out of sorts and decided to try a more gentle approach.

"Mother, don't worry. It's going to be all right. Nikki will be here soon. You know, she is with the Atkins." Sophie said trying to sound as reassuringly as she could.

"Yes, and that is exactly what I'm worried about!" Helen retorted with vehemence and her head shot up to look intensely at Sophie.

"Oh, and why is that?" Sophie lifted a finely curved eyebrow questioningly.

"Are you aware of how much trouble she gets in when she is with Yvonne Atkins?" Helen said looking fiercely at her daughter.

"Come on, it was only that one time when they were celebrating the launch of her latest publication," Sophie said without hiding her merriment at her mother's outburst. Helen just scowled at her daughter with a look of utter doom in her eyes. It did nothing to impede Sophie's amusement, nor did it intimidate her the slightest. She knew her mother too well.

"I know they were supposed to go on a 'stag night', but for one thing Karen is with them and for the second thing, Lauren knows I would kill her if she shows up late, so there is no need to worry…really." she said and shrugged her shoulders. She stood and walked over to her mother placing a hand gently on her arm.

"Come on, it's almost time. We might as well go down now."

Mother and daughter left the room in silence and walked down stairs. The guests had started to arrive. Helen and Sophie greeted their friends and family on their way. They finally stepped out into the garden, where the ceremony was to take place, relishing the warm sunlight that signified that this was indeed a beautiful day. They went up to the small pavilion and took a seat on two of the four chairs, which were placed in front of the temporary altar.

The guests began to fill the rows of chairs and Sophie could not suppress the beginnings of nervousness that suddenly shot through her. She recalled another wedding that had taken place two years earlier. She had also felt quite anxious then, but for very different reasons. At the time she had felt apprehension about her parents behaviour, and when it had turned out that she had actually had fair reasons to be worried she had found herself in a far more delicate and complex situation than she had ever imagined possible. Not only had her parents, who assumingly hated each other, ended up in bed together as well as taken a runner, but also she herself had found herself falling deeply in love with no other than the annoying photographer, who had hunted her mother for the better part of four years.

If had not been so emotionally overwhelming she would undoubtedly have found it all very amusing and been able to laugh at the absurdity of it all, including the fact that she had just married a man she did not love. The whole situation had quickly escalated into some profound soul searching on her part, and fortunately she had finally gotten the courage to be true to herself. She had chosen to leave her new husband and pursue the feelings she had developed for another woman. Sophie did not regret that decision, not even for one moment. Another benefit from that otherwise disastrous wedding was the fact that her parents were back together. Though it was not all roses and sweets, her parents being two immensely stubborn women with matching tempers, it had been a bliss to see them together and so obviously in love; a love that had never really gone away, but only been inhibited due to various misunderstandings. Now they were getting married, for the second time, and it brought a smile to Sophie's face and she squeezed her mother's hand lightly. She still felt nervous, but at the same time calm in the knowledge of how much she loved Lauren, whom she was now going to marry.

Helen felt Sophie squeeze her hand and she turned her head slightly to look at her daughter. What she saw made her feel light-headed. Sophie's eyes sparkled and a happy smile was lightning up her face. Helen clearly remembered what she had looked like the previous time she was about to marry someone. And it had not been that look of pure unadulterated happiness. It made Helen happy to see Sophie excited and obviously in love. She then remembered her own previous weddings. The first one must definitely have seen her as happy as Sophie, while the second had left her with little enjoyment. Now this third time simply had to be her lucky pick of the lot.

As the time went by she began to feel more confident, though still a little anxious. She was going to marry the one person she had ever really loved, and the one person, who had ever been able to make her feel complete and loved unconditionally. She felt warmth spread through her body and felt just as happy as Sophie looked.

The murmur in the crowd died out, which made Helen and Sophie turn their heads and look at the two women walking down the aisle towards them. Their hearts caught in their throats. Lauren was wearing a steel grey suit that complemented her grey eyes that sparkled brightly. Her long hair was done up in a bun, instead of the usual ponytail. Beside her Nikki walked along with long strides. The tall woman tried to look confident and cool, but the nervousness was apparent to those who knew her well enough. Her dark
eyes looked a bit haunted, and her dark hair with the silver stripes looked just as ruffled as always. She was still a very good-looking woman, and she emanated a subtle elegance wearing that black Armani suit with a matching black silk shirt. Almost the same outfit that she had worn two years ago, when she had won Helen back. She smiled fondly at the memories, but suddenly blushed a delicate pink when she remembered how Helen and she had ended up making love on the backseat of a parked limousine.

Lauren and Nikki reached the end of the aisle and placed themselves besides the women they loved. A tall grey haired man, the vicar, stood in front of them and cleared his throat before starting the ceremony. His name was Henry and the husband of one of their closets friends, Barbara, who had always watched over them. The ceremony was short, but very emotional and beautiful. They made their vows and kissed to the cheers from the guests.

Sophie was walking around hand in hand with Lauren, feeling utterly happy and chatting away with the guests, when she suddenly heard a heated exchange of word. She immediately recognized the voices and hurried towards the sound, inwardly groaning in frustration over her parents.

"Are you out of your mind?"

"No, but you definitely are!"

"And just what is that supposed to mean?"

"You know exactly what I mean!"

"Why don't you enlighten me here?"

"I most certainly w…"

The last angry outburst made with a heavy Scottish voice was cut short by a very angry Sophie, who glared furiously at Helen and Nikki. They had been standing at the buffet obviously arguing about something, as people had gathered around them. Lauren, who had hastened after Sophie as she ran across the lawn, looked curiously at her new in-laws. She had the distinct feeling that not everything was what it looked like. She had that tingling feeling in her left arm that always appeared when something was at odds.

"Would you two just behave and stop making a fool of yourself?" Sophie was really angry. "Why do you always have to ruin everything?"

"Sorry, honey, we just got carried away for a moment," Nikki said looking a bit sheepish. She also had the good grace to blush when she realized exactly how many people were starring at them.

"Yes, we're really sorry, sweetheart," came the soft reply from Helen completing Nikki's apology.

"You two are behaving like children. When will you grow up?" Sophie's eyes still flared with anger, but demeanour had calmed visibly, though her voice was laced with a cold anger and an unmistakable Scottish lilt like her mother's.

"For God's sake, and mine. Get your sorry asses upstairs and don't come back until you have sorted this out!"

Both Nikki and Helen looked suitably subdued by the reprimand they had received from their daughter. They tried to muster as much dignity as possible while retreating into the house, not looking at the people eying them as they went.

Once upstairs in their bedroom after closing and locking the door behind them, they finally dared to look at each other.

"That went well," Nikki said dryly. "It got us away from the party fairly easy."

"Aye, it sure did," came the even reply from Helen followed by a small chuckle. "I guess I'm not such a bad actress after all… and neither are you."

Nikki did not miss the mischievous lilt in the Scottish pronunciation and shot her spouse a questioningly look.

"Was that really what you intended all along?"

"Wouldn't you just like to know?" Helen quickly retorted. "Now, come here and kiss your spouse. And do make love to me all night, just as you promised me when you proposed."

Nikki walked over to her wife and kissed her delicately on the mouth while gathering her in a tight embrace. They happily consummated their second marriage the whole night without a second thought. This was their life and their future.

The End