Anna and Mary were well into their second bottle of wine and had long abandoned any pretense of watching the movie. Mary had just finished telling Anna all about the joys of being newly married and was ready to hear about Anna's life.
"So, any news on the Anna and Bates front?"
"No," Anna complained miserably, a little in her cups at this point in the evening, "Truth be told, I think I'm going to throw in the towel."
"What?! You've been waxing poetic about him since the moment he arrived here. You can't give up now. When he's finally making progress on his divorce."
"Mary please, if he were going to make a move, he would have done it by now. You should have seen me in his office. I leaned over his shoulder so far I was practically in his lap. His face was inches from my cleavage for god's sake. And still, nothing."
"I wouldn't be so sure. You know Uncle John. There's never been a man in history with a stronger or more irritating sense of honor."
"I used to think it was just his honor, but this close to the end of his marriage, that can't be all it is. No, I'm pretty sure I've been relocated to the friend zone."
"Oh Anna," Mary pulled her friend and confidant into a brief hug.
"Don't worry about me. I'm a trooper. It's nothing that a pint of ice cream and Colin Firth can't cure."
Mary looked at her sideways, "You could always have Joseph Molesley."
"Mary," Anna warned, "just turn on the telly."
