So sorry about the long wait.
Together.
After the hug Rachel had changed her mind about drinking though she still wasn't in the mood to get drunk, and it didn't look as though Janet or Gill wanted to either. Grabbing three clean glasses from the cabinet and a bottle, Rachel went back to where her guests were sitting. Adrian kicking Janet out wasn't much of a surprise when you stopped to think about what Andy knew. The vindictiveness streak in the man made her feel sick, more so than she realised she herself had once been that way with Nick. Sometimes since her brother had been arrested, Rachel had caught herself wondering what had possessed her to go after Nick, blackmail him when he was a barrister and capable of ruining her career with a well written letter to the Chief constable, and the Head of MIT.
No. She'd gone after him because he'd hurt her, used her, humiliated her. Janet may have forgiven that, moved on...But not Rachel, who'd been born and raised to know you had to get your own back even if you lived to regret it.
But Janet's situation was different. Married. Two kids. Living with a man, or had been living with a man, who was sulky, uninterested, rude, and uncaring when Janet had more passion in the office. What kind of life was that? The thought of Elise and Taisie made Rachel grimace slightly; what was going through the girls minds? Rachel wasn't naive; she knew only too well the girls were used to their parents arguments, but what would they do when they heard what their mother had been doing?
She was sure Elise would go through the facts and see clearly it was inevitable, but Taisie was like Rachel, she was impetuous, and she might say or do something she would never be able to fix.
What about Dorothy? She didn't like Rachel and the feeling was mutual, but how would the old woman react when she heard Janet had been seeing Andy, and not just the once, but the latest in a long line?
Rachel sighed, she would help Janet cross that bridge when they reached it, just like Janet had helped her in the past. It was long overdue for Rachel to pay her best friend back.
She smiled as she passed the glasses round. Gill and Janet took theirs silently, and held them up for Rachel to fill the glasses with wine. When Rachel was sat down, she tried lightning the mood. " Well, this is awkward," she smiled, though it was noticeably hesitant.
Gill took a sip carefully. " Yeah," she whispered. " So, tell us about your mother."
Rachel frowned before she realised what her boss wanted her to do. She wanted the atmosphere to be about everything and nothing. She put down her glass, and stared into the dark red liquid.
" Well, she's successful now," Rachel began, " she's working for a big company in the city. She's also well travelled, makes me jealous, not to mention envious," Rachel snorted before she carried on. " Like I said our conversation was nice, and she held herself differently from what I remember. She was so sad about what she'd done, and she deserved to be sad, but I couldn't help but be sorry for her."
" I know how she feels." The two women looked at Janet, who was looking haunted herself. Janet sighed, and a lock of her blonde hair almost fell into her wine glass. " What you're talking about...I can't help but wonder what Taisie and Elise are thinking. I can guarantee you Ade is telling those girls his side of things." Tears started pooling in Janet's eyes, but she sniffed them back to control herself in front of her best friends. She glanced at them, expecting to see their faces suddenly become judgmental, though rationally she knew it wouldn't happen. Rachel's eyes were tearful, and Gill's were no better.
Rachel decided to change subject, quickly before anyone DID burst into tears. " So, boss, how's Sammy and Orla?"
Gill smiled, sensing the change in mood, and smiling widely at speaking about her beloved son, and who he was hoping would become her daughter in law. Janet watched the two women interact, Gill grinning as she talked about Sammy, what he was doing...How she was supporting her son's decision to join the police. How Orla had helped him buckle down, just what he needed.
Janet smiled sadly as she watched the interaction between her two friends. She wondered what the future held for her.
Author's note. Sorry its so short. The main stuff will happen in the next chapter.
