Sorry for the long delay in updating – life has been crazy and I have a new boss who on some days (maybe most days) seems like Elaine Peck on steroids.

Hope you enjoy this and I hope fanfic sends out an update email. No alert was sent when I last updated Breaking Through.

….

'The victim was struck just above the hairline on the back of the skull,' Holly indicated the place on Ray's head. 'It wasn't obvious last night but you can see the discolouration from the bruising now.'

Holly, Helene and Mac had their heads bowed over the body. From Gail's position in the glass booth above you might think they were praying that they were shrouded in layers of PPE. Mac was a broad nuggety man so was easy to distinguish, but it turned out Holly and Helene were of a similar height and build and it was only when Holly spoke that Gail confirmed it was her.

'There is also bruising around and inside his mouth,' Holly added. 'Maybe someone forced him to take those pills.'

'Can you swallow pills if you're unconscious?' Gail asked, remembering to hit the intercom button this time.

'Even a deeply unconscious person has the swallow reflex, though it's possible the blow stunned Ray rather than knocked him out. The bruising doesn't suggest he was hit with an object.' Holly looked up towards the glass booth but her face was entirely obscured by safety googles, hood, mask and face shield.

'Could he have been punched?' Gail suggested.

'It's possible.'

'So say Ray was punched in the back of the head and was semi-conscious or at least groggy,' Gail mused, 'what if the pills were crushed in water. Wouldn't that make it easier to force them down?'

'Definitely.' Holly's head bobbed up and down in agreement. 'If Ray was disoriented, the killer might have passed it off as a glass of water.'

'So maybe Ray blacked out and after he came round the murderer offered him water except it wasn't just water.'

'This is looking less and less like suicide.' Helene said.

'We should fingerprint the glasses in Ray's apartment,' Gail said, 'although if the pill bottle was wiped clean, chances are so is the glass.' She pictured the kitchen sink in Ray's apartment piled high with dirty dishes and cups and glasses. The techs weren't going to like it.

'But as you've said before, sometimes killers panic,' Holly pointed out. 'Particularly if the murder wasn't premeditated.'

Had she said that? Gail couldn't recall but the way Holly spoke made it sound as though they'd chewed the fat over numerous cases when in fact they'd only really worked together on the Robbie Robbin's investigation. Sure Gail had been sent to the lab on errands, to chase up test results or deliver evidence (not least of which was the thumb) but as a detective she'd worked more cases with Helene than Holly. Was that something of a sore point, Gail wondered.

'Pulmonary edema', Holly said, pulling Gail out of her revery.

Helene looked up towards the glass booth. 'That's—' she started to say but Gail cut across her.

'Fluid in the lungs. Classic sign of an opiate overdose. I guess you'll test fluid from the vitreous humor as well as his blood and urine,' Gail said. She was showing off. Not long after they first met, Holly had explained how because the vitreous humor—the thick, jelly-like substance that fills your eyeballs—was inert and less prone to decay it could be tested for the presence of drugs or alcohol. Some forensic pathologists argued it was the best method for determining time of death. Gail wondered if Holly was smiling beneath her mask.

'You are like a sponge detective,' Helene said, the compliment familiar and flirty and now Gail wished she hadn't felt the need to parade her forensic knowledge, which in truth was fairly limited. 'But I believe the blood and urine samples may be all we require, don't you agree Doctor Stewart.'

'You know I think we should err on the side of caution and test all three,' Holly demurred.

'Why not,' Helene replied breezily, sounding more like she was at a cocktail party than an autopsy.

'It's no trouble,' Mac said, already labelling the sample containers. He looked at Holly, then to Helene and back to Holly who nodded.

The autopsy didn't throw up any other surprises, though Gail bristled when Helene observed that Ray wasn't a healthy guy and wondered how people let themselves go like that.

'A workplace accident,' Holly said curtly, 'he was largely incapacitated I believe.'

'Large being the operative word,' Helene, who herself was rail thin, observed.

Holly didn't respond but bent her head back over the body. Gail blew out a breath. She used to think Helene was pretty cool, but over the past few days the pathologist had been acting like an ass.

Close to three hours had passed when Holly and Helene began the autopsy in reverse, filling the chest cavity with cotton wool and then the internal organs which had been placed in a plastic bag should they need to be retrieved for further examination. The ribs were reattached and finally Holly began to sew the Y-incision shut.

'So Detective, how's Harley?' Holly asked casually, mid stitch. She glanced upwards towards the viewing room.

'Harley,' Helene jumped in before Gail could reply. 'Have you got a girlfriend stashed away somewhere you haven't told us about Detective.'

'Well, she lives with Gail,' Holly said, a provocative edge to her voice. What was she playing at, Gail wondered, and when did Holly start playing games anyway.

'Oh,' Helene drew out the word.

'But she's not Gail's girlfriend.'

'This sounds intriguing,' Helen laughed. 'Is it a riddle. Don't tell me—Gail's trying to set you up. A blind date with her flatmate.'

'As if,' Gail said as she pressed the intercom. 'Holly's married.' There, that would stop Helene fishing. Stop her right in her tracks. Gail wished she could see the pathologist's expression. She'd bet her last dollar it was dumbstruck and—oh fuck, Holly most definitely didn't want that piece of information to get out. Who was the dumb one now, Gail thought, wishing she could bang her head repeatedly against the glass window without attracting attention.

'Married?' Helene was surprised.

'Not really,' Holly said hurriedly.

'How is one not really married?'

'Um.' Holly had stopped stitching and was standing stock still. Gail imagined that under the mask she was now frowning. Damn, her big mouth.

'Are you half married? Is there such a thing?' Helene persisted. 'I know, you had a commitment ceremony.'

'Maybe Doctor Stewart wants to keep this private,' Max suggested, his voice neutral.

'Oh, I didn't mean to pry,' Helene gave a little laugh, trying for breezy but

sounding unsure more than anything.

'I'm getting divorced,' Holly blurted out.

'Oh, I'm sorry.'

'Nothing to be sorry about.'

'Okay. So a date with Harley might still be on the cards then,' Helen barrelled on, once again animated and flirty. 'In fact, it could be just what you need.'

Gail jabbed the intercom. 'Harley is my cat,' she said, not bothering to conceal her disdain.

Helene laughed. 'Somehow I didn't picture you with a pet.'

'How do you picture her?' Holly's voice was cool now.

'Not with a pet,' Helene stammered slightly, evidently not completely immune to Holly's tone.

Gail pushed the intercom again. 'I need to call Detective Anderson,' she said, which was not entirely untrue and gave her an excuse to escape whatever it was that was going on in the autopsy suite.

Holly stopped stitching and looked up. 'We're almost done here. Meet me at my office in 20?' she asked, her tone now a little uncertain like Gail might say no. As if, Gail thought to herself.

…

Frankie didn't pick up which left Gail at a loose end for what turned out to be closer to 40 minutes. From what she knew the layers of PPE had to be removed slowly and carefully to avoid infection spread. It was possible Holly had decided to shower as an extra precaution.

Gail checked her watch. Dov would be on duty by now so she called his mobile.

'Enjoying the morgue?' he asked.

'Hmm,' Gail was noncommittal. She really didn't want to have a discussion with Dov about the state of play between she and Holly or how weird everything had become with Helene.

'Okaay then,' Dov said, sounding prissy. 'I thought there might be certain attractions down there.'

Gail decided it best to ignore him. 'Any luck with the security footage from Ray's apartment?' she asked.

'I just finished reviewing it. Sam Rodrigues entered the building just after 6 pm. It doesn't mean he had anything to do with Ray's death though.'

'Except Ray's death looks like murder.' Gail proceeded to fill Dov in about the pill bottle and the autopsy.

'You told Frankie?'

'Can't get hold of her. I left a message.'

'She must still be at the bank,' Dov suggested.'If Sam is John Smyth and has been siphoning money from the company, maybe Paul and Ray found out.'

'It gives Sam a motive,' Gail said, 'If Frankie comes into the station, get her to call me?' Gail asked before disconnecting. She stared at the blank screen. Something wasn't adding up.

If Paul and Ray suspected Sam was ripping off the business, why didn't Ray tell her that after Paul was murdered. It was possible Paul hadn't confided in Ray but Sam had assumed he had and so killed both men. But then why wait for nearly two days after Paul's death to murder Ray? Surely, Sam would want to silence Ray before he had a chance to speak to the police.

Gail's stomach grumbled, reminding her she skipped breakfast. She didn't have a lot of food options. The café in the building, which was surprisingly good, had been an early casualty of the Covid shutdowns. There were some vending machines in the corridor outside the firing ranges (ballistics being hungry work—a fact Gail could attest to) but they only took coins or notes and Gail had left home with just her card. Since the pandemic less and less people accepted cash and she wondered briefly if it may be one more thing Covid would consign to the past.

Gail was lurking outside Holly's office when she heard Holly and Helene come out of the lift. The two women were chatting quite amicably now and Gail wondered what had shifted. Helene flashed Holly a smile, said goodbye and headed up the corridor in the other direction.

Holly's face lit up when she saw Gail. Sure enough, the ends of Holly's hair were damp and, although her face still bore the faint indentations of the mask, it had a freshly scrubbed look which made Gail certain she had showered.

'What's going on?' Gail inclined her head in the direction of Helene's retreating figure.

'Oh that,' Holly laughed lightly, swatting her hand in the air as if to brush the whole thing away. 'It's quite a story. I'll tell you later.'

'No really,' Gail pushed, 'what is going on?'

'Well,' Holly paused and Gail fully expected her to launch into an explanation but instead she said 'if we're going to date you have to stop telling people I'm married.'

'I guess that could be awkward for you.'

Holly narrowed her eyes.

'Sorry, I am sorry really. It was stupid of me but Helene was being so annoying,' Gail shuffled and gazed down at her feet. 'Are you mad,' she looked up tentatively to see Holly shake her head. 'You should be. I also told Chloe and she's probably told Andy and Andy can't keep a secret.'

Holly winced. 'And I guess Chloe was being annoying too.'

'You have no idea!' Gail exclaimed, thinking Holly empathised, after all who wouldn't find Chloe annoying, but then seeing Holly was once again regarding her with narrowed eyes, decided she needed to quickly change tack. 'But Helene—you know, what is the story? I think you owe me an explanation.'

'I do huh?'

How did Holly manage to look sceptical and amused and gorgeous all at once? She tilted her head to the side and smirked, actually smirked.

'Come on, Holly,' Gail practically whined. Why was it that she could never keep her cool around Holly? Still it was enough for Holly to relent.

'She and Rodney cooked up some screwball plan to get us back together.' Holly rolled her eyes.

It transpired that Helene had asked Rodney if Gail was single. Rodney had become jittery and began to stammer, almost dropping the lung he was holding. 'Do you fancy her?'Helene had asked. 'No, no, no,' Rodney shook his head empathetically, 'but dd-Doctor Stewart. Doctor Stewart is coming back. You can't date Gail', as if that were explanation enough. Helene wasn't satisfied though, and cajoled and persuaded until Rodney gave her the full rundown of Gail and Holly's ill-fated romance.

'She even knows about the thumb,' Holly smirked again.

Now it was Gail's turn to wince. That wasn't exactly her finest moment, although not among her worst. There was that at least.

Once Helene heard the full story, she decided that she and Rodney must embark on a mission to reunite Gail and Holly. After much contemplation (probably all of 30 seconds, Gail thought) Helene hit on a plan. If she flirted with both women, they would become so consumed with jealously it would drive them back together.

Gail laughed. 'Yep, hare brained.' She recalled though that Helene had once disclosed that she had been bought up on Bollywood romances, her maternal grandmother, Deepti, being a huge fan. Both Helene's parents worked so it fell to Deepti to collect her granddaughter from school. Once home, Deepti would sit Helene at the kitchen table, feed her a snack and then hover while she completed her homework. Then and only then would Deepti allow them to watch a movie on the giant flat screen TV that adorned a wall in the living room. The two of them would snuggle into the couch, armed with a box of tissues and Deepti's favourite assorted chocolates.

'I just thought Helene had a screw loose,' Holly said.

'And I seriously thought you might take the bone saw to her or the skull chisel or maybe both.'

'As if,' Holly scoffed.

Now it was Gail's turn to look sceptical.

'Anyway, who'd have thought Rodney was our champion.'

'Yeah, I didn't see that coming,' Gail smiled at Holly, who grinned back. It seemed like neither of them wanted to break out of this little bubble.

Even a second time round (or was it a third—Gail wasn't sure how to count their brief reunion before Holly went to San Francisco—this liminal moment, where the two of them had admitted their feelings yet not acted upon them, held all the thrill and maybe more of that first confession in the interrogation room.

'Soo,' Gail drew out the word, her reluctance to leave palpable. 'I guess I should get back to work. I want to take another look at the crime scene.'

'Me too. Do you mind if I tag along.'

Gail's stomach rumbled loudly enough that Holly heard.

'Lunchtime?' she quirked an eyebrow.

Gail felt herself blushing. 'Skipped breakfast,' she muttered.

Holly tipped her head to one side and regarded Gail.

'Alright, alright. You don't need to say it. Breakfast is the most important meal of the day. The foundation in fact.'

Holly laughed. 'Not what I was thinking.'

'No.'

'I was thinking Gail Peck must have a good reason to skip breakfast.'

'I, I don't need,' Gail started and then stopped, her mouth sort of frozen open as though caught out.

Holly laughed again. 'How about we get lunch on the way to Ray's apartment and you can tell me all about it.'

Gail managed to shut her mouth and recover something of her swagger to say, 'You buying'.

The lunch part was good but she wasn't so sure about admitting why she had skipped breakfast to get to the morgue so early. Who was she kidding—she'd do anything Holly asked.

'Will you drive?' Holly said. They were inside the office now and Holly retrieved a coat hanging from a peg on the back of the door.

'Sure,' Gail agreed.

'I don't have a car yet so I've been getting around on a bicycle.'

'A bicycle!' Now Gail was amused.

'It came with the Airbnb where I'm staying. It's only a fifteen minute ride to work. And there are next to no cars on the road. I practically have the streets to myself.'

'I thought you'd stay with your sister or parents,' Gail said.

'Once I started work here I didn't want to put any of them at risk. My landlord was happy to give me a long stay. I think she's grateful to have regular rent coming in at the moment.'

'Hadn't thought about that—the pandemic's killed Airbnb too.'

They found a café selling takeaway coffee and burgers. Gail surprised Holly by ordering one made of cauliflower and chickpeas.

'What?' Gail demanded as Holly looked at her quizzically. 'I heard eating less meat is better for the planet.'

'A plant-based diet is much more sustainable,' Holly agreed. 'You know if everyone in the world ate red meat and processed food it would stretch the earth's resources beyond breaking point. Studies have shown that beef is more than 100 times as emissions-intensive as legumes. Plus a plant-based diet reduces obesity, diabetes type 2 and heart disease and—' Holly stopped when she noticed Gail grinning. 'You know this stuff, don't you.'

Gail nodded. It didn't stop her finding Holly adorable, not that she was game enough to say that yet.

The café was opposite a small park which was empty save for a guy with dreadlocks doing extreme yoga poses. They skirted around him and headed to a lone picnic table under a big oak tree in the opposite corner of the park. Gail plonked herself on the table top with her feet on the bench and Holly followed suit. They didn't say much at first and Gail wondered if things had become awkward. She concentrated on chewing her burger, grateful for the distraction as much as for food.

'These are pretty good,' Holly said finally, holding up her half-eaten burger.

Gail replied, but her mouth was full and the words were swallowed with the burger.

'Charming,' Holly observed.

'Well, you don't love me for my manners,' Gail said and then froze.

Holly had just taken a bite of her burger and began to cough so violently Gail had to pat her quite forcefully on the back.

'Um,' she said when Holly recovered. 'That was, I didn't mean, you know', but she didn't get a chance to finish (which was a good thing because really she had no idea where to go with this) for suddenly Holly leaned forward and kissed her. It was quick and even shy and was over almost before Gail had a chance to register it, not unlike that first kiss in the coat room, and like that kiss far too fleeting for Gail's liking.

'I can honestly say your table manners are not something I love about you,' Holly sassed as she pulled back.

The blip of a siren on a squad car made them both jump away from each other. Gail wondered if she looked as guilty as Holly.

'Are we in trouble. Maybe we were sitting too close,' Holly said.

'I think we definitely broke the two metre rule,' Gail said. Had Holly forgotten she just kissed her?

'Oh, yeah I guess we did.' Holly smiled goofily.

Clearly not forgotten.

'Probably just bored rookies,' Gail shrugged and then groaned as she watched first Chloe and then Andy emerge from the squad car.

'Hate to disappoint you, but I don't think I'm going to be your prison wife anytime soon,' Holly quipped.

Chloe practically skipped across the park with a huge grin plastered across her face like she was Snow White or something. Did that make Andy, who was two steps behind, one of the dwarfs. Dopey perhaps, Gail grinned to herself.

'Fancy finding you two here,' Chloe squealed as she came to a stop two metres away from Gail and Holly. Andy, who was looking at Gail and Holly rather than watching where she was going, almost ran into the back of Chloe, dodging to the side at the last minute. Definitely Dopey today, Gail decided.

'We were just leaving,' Gail bunched up her burger wrapper and held out her hand for Holly's trash. She could have sworn she heard Chloe say 'aww sweet' but when she whipped her head around Chloe was acting all innocent but in that studied way that made you certain she was anything but.

'Why the hurry?' Andy asked.

'Why the interest?' Gail countered.

'We wanted to welcome Dr Stewart back.'

'Well now you have.' Gail pushed herself off the table and stood, hoping Holly was following. For some reason she wasn't ready for Chloe and Andy to see her with Holly.

'You know Gail, I thought you might be happy now Holly's back,' Andy turned to Holly. 'She's been grumpy ever since the split with Vicky.'

'Vicky?' Holly asked.

'Nobody,' Gail and Chloe said in unison.

'Nobody!' Andy exclaimed, 'she wanted to marry you.' It wasn't malicious—just typical unfiltered Andy, still there was an indignant tone to her voice.

'She did?' Holly asked, looking first to Andy and then Chloe and finally Gail.

'Um,' Gail hedged. Why did Andy and Vicky have to become such good friends. Gail was beginning to wonder whether Andy had a thing for her exes. Holly's brow was furrowed. 'Um,' Gail repeated. She was saved by the appearance of the yoga guy she'd noticed on the way into the park.

'Are these pigs harassing you?' Yoga man asked but didn't wait for a reply. 'Don't you pigs have anything better to do.' He planted his feet apart and crossed his arms over his chest, ready for a confrontation. So much for the calming effects of yoga.

'It's okay, I know them,' Gail waved her hand in the direction of Andy and Chloe.

'You don't have to put up with their crap,' Yoga man insisted.

'Unfortunately I do,' Gail's grin was mercurial. She was tempted to string this out but doubted Holly would play along.

'No way, you've got rights, man. Don't let them railroad you.'

'Is that what you're doing?' Gail turned to Andy and Chloe, her voice syrupy. 'Railroading me.'

'Fascists,' Yoga man didn't wait for Andy or Chloe to respond. He was clearly warming to his topic. 'Don't you realise you're just instruments of the military-industrial complex.' He jutted his face towards Andy and Chloe, his arms still crossed.

'Military industrial,' Andy repeated slowly as if trying to puzzle out what it meant.

'Get their badge numbers,' Yoga man told Gail.

'I don't think that's necessary,' Chloe said, her tone placatory.

'Yeah,' Yoga man looked at her sceptically. 'Like we're gonna take advice from you. Are you even strong enough to hold a firearm. Man, they must be scrapping the bottom of the barrel down at recruiting.'

'Gail,' Holly touched her arm. 'Maybe you should—'

'Report them! Yeah.' Yoga man's expression was fervent now.

'Tempting as that is,' Gail drawled

'Gail', Chloe remonstrated and Gail half expected her to stamp her foot. Andy had that wounded bewildered look she often wore around Gail.

'I work with them,' Gail pulled out her badge and showed it to Yoga man, who recoiled like she had the plague or Covid she supposed.

'Fucking pigs,' Yoga man shook his head. Then gathering as much saliva as he could, he spat on the ground right next to Andy's boot and stalked out of the park.

'Eww,' Chloe said.

Andy lifted her boot gingerly. 'I think he got me.'

'So arrest him,' Gail said tartly.'Much as I'd like to discuss the spitball on your shoe, we've got work to do.'

'Nice seeing you both,' Holly said, effortlessly warm.

'Maybe we can catch up some other time,' Andy suggested.

Gail narrowed her eyes at Andy.

'Yeah, you should join our zoom trivia comp. Most people play as couples but solo players get extra points,' Chloe said excitedly.

'Yeah, like Holly will need them,' Gail huffed.

Holly started to protest there was plenty she didn't know but Chloe cut across her, saying 'Gail won't play with us anyone', as though this explained her churlishness.

Where they in grade school?! Gail was about to retort before she realised Holly was thanking Chloe for the invitation and saying she might be able to persuade Gail to join her team.

'I thought you did that already,' Andy muttered and Chloe elbowed her in the ribs. 'Ow,' Andy exclaimed, rubbing her side.

Holly pretended not to hear, gracious to the last, but Gail glared at her idiot colleagues and marched off in the direction of the car.

'So Vicky?' Holly asked once they were back on the road.

'Somehow I knew you'd lead with that,' Gail twisted her mouth.

'And?'

'Old news. Over an age ago.' Gail put the car into gear and pulled away from the curb.

'But she wanted to get married'

'And I didn't so.' Instead of finishing the sentence Gail shrugged.

'So?'

'So nothing.'

'Uh huh,' Holly didn't sound convinced.

Gail sighed. 'I didn't feel the same way she did about me. It would have been wrong to marry her.'

'But she asked you,' Holly pushed.

'Jeez Holly why are you so hung up on this,' Gail exclaimed, banging her hands on the steering wheel. Could she tell Holly that when Vicky suggested they move in together (which it later transpired was intended as a precursor to a proposal), all Gail could think of was Holly.

Vicky had been so right for Gail in so many ways but in the end not right at all. Was this the way Nick had felt when he left Gail at the altar? She'd never asked him, but at least she hadn't jilted Vicky. It didn't stop Gail feeling like a rebropate, even now, and she didn't blame Vicky for avoiding her still.

'Sorry,' Holly said after a moment. 'It's none of my business.'

'It's' Gail faltered. She had come to a stop at a red traffic light, even though there were no other cars on the road and it wouldn't have mattered if she'd driven straight through. A heavy silence stretched between the two women. 'Do these lights ever change,' Gail finally grumbled just as the lights turned green.

'Evidently they do.'

Gail grunted. 'It is your business,' she said as she accelerated. 'Or at least you're part of the story.'

'I am?' Holly sounded surprised.

Gail nodded slowly. 'Vicky was a good person and I hurt her and I'm not proud of that but being with her wasn't right.'

'Okay,' Holly said slowly.

'It wasn't right because she wasn't you,' Gail plowed on as though Holly hadn't spoken.

'Oh,' Holly said so softly Gail almost didn't catch it.

'Yeah, oh and I thought I'd never see you again so yeah, oh.'

'Pull over.'

'What?'

'Pull over.'

This time Holly sounded so insistent Gail did as instructed, nosing to the curb outside a retail strip—among it a tattoo parlour, barber shop and a gaming arcade, each one shuttered tightly because of Covid.

Incongruously in the middle there stood a bridal boutique, with two headless mannequins in the shopfront window, one in a wedding dress with an embroidered bodice and voluminous tulle skirt and the other in a figure hugging lace mermaid gown. Dust motes had gathered around the four-tiered wedding cake, which had been placed between the two mannequins, its white frosting and little piped roses looked real enough to eat. Crowning the cake were figurines of the bride and groom, except the groom had face planted into the cake. Perhaps, the bride pushed him, Gail thought. She would have done it to Nick if she'd had the chance. Punching him in the face had been satisfying though.

Gail guessed Holly wanted to get out of the car and she could only suppose it was because all that talk of Vicky had been too much. It was both ironic and fitting that she had parked right outside the bridal boutique because, apart from that one time when Holly kissed her at Frank and Noelle's wedding, by and large anything to do with nuptials spelled disaster for Gail.

When she mentioned this to Patricia, the therapist had wondered whether Gail might be exaggerating, turning her head to one side in a way that jarringly made Gail think of Holly. Jarring because Patricia was at least fifty and in no way resembled Holly. She was short with rounded features and a figure you might describe as plump, though her expensively tailored clothes made it hard to to be sure. Gail had proceeded to tick off all her wedding disasters on her fingers. Nick had jilted her, she'd slept with Frankie after Andy's wedding and then there was Jinx, who Gail met at Celery and Oliver's wedding, a year to the day after Holly left.

Jinx (not her birth name and something Gail might have called a cat not a person) was a witch friend of Celery's. Against her better judgement, Gail found herself going home with her after the reception. It led to an ill-fated month where every encounter proved how ill matched they were, particularly as Jinx hated the police with a passion. When she wasn't advocating defunding the police or railing against the alt right (which Gail could get onboard with but not as the chief topic of conversation), Jinx seemed capable only of conversing on a spiritual plane, all of which irritated Gail intensely. They usually argued and then had not exactly hate sex, but something close to it. It did nothing to dispel their animosity towards one another but weirdly compelled them to come back for more. At least the orgasms were intense. When Gail ended things, she was sure Jinx had cursed her, not that she believed in any of that of course. In any case, wasn't she cursed enough?

Then there was Vicky. She had never actually proposed but had planned to, had been on the brink when Gail did a runner. It seemed like plenty of people knew about Vicky's intentions but it was only later, when Gail was clearing her stuff from Vicky's apartment, that she discovered the ring Vicky had purchased. Apparently, or so Andy told Gail, Vicky and her mother June had a wedding planner lined up and were considering putting a deposit down on a venue. They had been so sure of Gail, something Gail couldn't say of herself. She felt as though the ground shifted beneath her from day to day, allowing no such certitude.

Nonetheless, her inability to repay their faith in her made Gail feel even more like a louse. No other word for it. Normally the mothers of people she dated didn't exactly warm to her—she guessed Nick wasn't the only one who didn't see her as the girlfriend type—but June was different. Amiable and intelligent, she had made Gail feel welcome from the start and Gail had liked her too. In fact, she found herself drawn to all of Vicky's family, discovering in them the warmth and conviviality absent from anything Peck.

With hindsight, Gail realised that it was this chance to be part of Vicky's family that made her push aside any misgivings about staying with Vicky. She convinced herself that the whole package was enough, and anyway she would probably go her whole life and never fall like she had for Holly. In an unguarded moment on a stakeout, Gail had confessed as much to Frankie, who shrugged and said 'Holly was your first. Everyone idealises their first' and Gail had decided that for once Frankie was right.

Gail wanted to tell Holly all of this, but in her own time, not because of Andy's indignant outburst or her own lame protestation that Vicky was no one. Gail hadn't intended to sugar coat it or play down her part for she had broken Vicky's heart—plain and simple. More than anything, she wanted to make Holly understand how deeply she regretted that and yet how impossible it had been to do otherwise.

Gail realised that she and Holly had been sitting in silence for some time. She shifted her gaze from the bridal shop to Holly, who for her part was looking at Gail intently, her expression hard to read. Gail opened her mouth to say something, anything to make Holly stay but before she could speak Holly launched herself across the console and kissed Gail fiercely.

Gail was so surprised she didn't immediately react and Holly started to pull back, an apology forming on her lips, but Gail would have none of that. She placed her hands on Holly's cheeks and leaned in to kiss her, softly at first and then with increasing pressure, until there was nothing tentative about it. For both of them it was like years and years of feelings—those feelings which had been quashed and pushed aside—surfaced now in that car and in that kiss.

It's quite possible they would have stayed like that for some time, kissing a little like their lives depended upon it, had they not been interrupted by the blip of a police siren. Gail looked up to see the squad car inching by impossibly close—Andy at the wheel with a huge grin and Chloe with her face pressed against the passenger window, giving a big thumbs up.

Gail swore and Holly laughed but then Gail's phone rang, and the car was filled with the sombre strains of the Funeral March. She didn't answer immediately and Holly looked at her quizzically. Finally Gail hit the call button and said 'Hello Elaine'.

…

More to come soon I hope...let me know what you thought of this!

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