A.N: Thank you for all your reviews and kind comments for C3, and as usual my special thanks to Flossie, the Pied Piper, for her incredible support. I really hope that you will enjoy Chapter 4.

-OG-

"Nah … you don't need me"

"I can't go on my own, can I? Not when I said we were all going, I mean, for fuck sake, it'll look as if I was lying"

"You were"

"No I wasn't, I didn't lie … well, not exactly, I just wasn't sure he'd say yes if he thought it was just the two of us, he might think it was me asking him out on a date …"

"And he'd be right … and you was lying" Molly giggled "He's prob'bly not into man-eaters"

"I'm not, I was just … I was being honest and upfront about liking him …"

"That what you call it?"

"Of course … I haven't got the time to mess about and men usually love it … everyone knows where they are and … well, I've found it works for me … " She smiled ingratiatingly and put her hands together as if she was begging "Come on, Molly, I need a wingman"

"Nah … 'n why 'aven't you got time?"

"If I said because life's too short would that do you?"

"Nah … anyway, it'll make no difference what you say, I don't want to …"

Molly could almost afford to be enjoying it when she had no intention of joining their little excursion, she didn't care if Frannie needed a wingman, it wasn't going to be her, not if she had anything to do with it. She couldn't help laughing at the way the other girl was going after him, it looked like Frannie was putting more effort into her campaign to seduce Captain Cock than whole armies did into going to war, any minute now she'd be doing a spreadsheet.

"Playing 'ard to get might work better, you know … waving your knickers at someone is not always the best way" Molly broke off and sniggered "But you know what, he might not even like girls"

"Shit … you don't think that's it, do you?" Frannie stopped to think for a second, an appalled expression on her face "No … that's not it, I'm sure it's not" She didn't sound sure "You don't really think that?"

"Dunno … nah, course not, prannet … I'm pullin' your chain"

"Thank fuck for that … I mean, it wouldn't be a problem … well, yeah alright what am I saying? But I'm sure I'd have known, nope, it can't be that … and anyway what's a prannet when it's at home?"

"'ave to ask me Nan … but you listening to me? 't. make. NO. difference, I don't want to, alright?"

"You said you did"

"Yeah, when it was just us going for a drink 'n that, but I'm sorry, I don't want to spend an whole evening on me own with you and him, he don't like me, did you see the way he looked at me?"

"Okay … yeah alright he looked a bit … he was a bit … but it was your own fault, you were bloody winding him up"

"Was not"

"Yes you were, and what was all that Rupert stuff about anyway?"

"Nothin' … well, nothin' important …got to him a bit though, didn't it?" Her voice was full of glee at the memory.

"Thought you just said you weren't trying to do that?"

"Okay … might have been … just a bit" Molly giggled remembering the expression on his face when she'd said it, and then how pissed off he'd looked when she'd done the whole wide-eyed dumb insolence thing she hadn't used since she'd been in the army.

"Come on, be a mate" Frannie obviously thought she'd give wheedling a try "I promise…" She crossed her heart with her hand "It won't be just you and us, someone has to stay here so either Marco will be coming or Stefan will" She stopped and thought for a second "He'll have to get a night off from shagging the girlfriend which will do him the world of bloody good, except I'm not sure about him adding a lot, he's got all the bloody charisma of a spatula …" She sniggered and Molly found it hard not to join in and laugh with her "We can call it a staff bonding exercise and then her ladyship can pay for it" She sniggered again.

"Us? That was bleeding quick" Molly raised her eyebrows "'n how you planning on explaining 'im when you get her to put her 'and in her pocket? Tell you what …" She raised her eyebrows hopefully "How about it's me stays 'ere?"

"No … you haven't got the experience … and you don't speak Italian … sorry, nice try"

"If this is all s'posed to be making me feel better about it, it's not, I'm gonna need matchsticks to keep me bleeding eyes open if it's Stefan, 'n he won't wanna talk to me anyhow, he's in lurve … and does Marco even know about it?"

"Not yet … but he'll do as he's told if he knows what's good for him … you can choose which one is the lucky one" She had an air of thinking she'd offered something that made all the difference, whereas it made no bloody difference whatsoever.

"You're bloody shameless … and deranged, gotta be bleeding desperate … he's … he's …"

"He's what?"

"Dunno … he just … he reminds me of someone"

Actually he reminded her of a whole lot of someone's that she'd be very happy never to see again. Or even think about either. But Molly knew Frannie was never going to take no for an answer, any more than she'd have let either of the lads get out of it. She reminded Molly a lot of Bella when she had the bit between her teeth, and just like her little sister, Molly wouldn't mind betting that once Frannie went after something she always ended up getting it. It hadn't taken her five sodding minutes to be hanging off his arm, by the time they got to the flat bit at the top of the hill where you could see the lake between the houses she was all over him like a rash. All girly and giggly and had made Molly squirm with embarrassment at the way she was inviting him to go with them, it was more about flirting and flapping her bloody eyelashes at him and insinuating there was more in it for him. She'd taken absolutely no notice of the look on Molly's face. Actually, Molly had been a bit surprised to hear him agree, she hadn't thought it was his sort of thing although she didn't know him so maybe it was just she was prejudiced because she thought he was a pig, but he hadn't looked that keen, had he? Even without hating him she wouldn't have had him down as someone who liked spending time with girls who behaved like they were brain dead slappers, still, what did she know? Maybe the promise of a bit of action made all the difference, and he could of always said no, couldn't he?

Molly could see the odds of her getting out of it weren't great, not unless she threw some massive hissy and totally refused, but she hadn't even been there a week yet. It was a bit soon to fall out with anyone, and a couple of drinks wouldn't kill her, although it was likely to end up being a few more than that if she had to hang around all evening with Captain Cock and Frannie. The thought of sitting there watching her flicking her hair about and flaunting her cleavage and taking every chance she got to touch him, as well as laughing like a lunatic at his jokes, whether they were funny or not, made her want to stick her fingers down her throat. And an evening having to pretend she didn't mind being palmed off on one of the lads, either bloody Stefan for an evening pretending she was happy chatting to a personality free zone, or Marco, for one listening to him saying fuck knows what while fiddling with his bloody oil slick and admiring his refection in the spoons. An evening staying behind on her own might be favourite but was apparently not on the cards, still at least with Frannie behind the wheel of the hotel car she couldn't get pissed, Molly had the feeling she'd be far, far worse when she'd had a few.

-OG-

It was pride made her do her face and hair and put on her TKMaxx top and her best black jeans even though they were a bit on the tight side until they'd been worn for a bit and the evening was too bloody hot for denim. There was no way she was going to even try and compete with Frannie, not even going to try and keep up, the red dress she'd put on was short and tight with a split up one side and it jacked up her tits to give her an impressive cleavage. Well, an even more impressive cleavage than she already had, all Molly hoped was that Captain Cock would appreciate the effort she'd put in.

It was also her pride that made that stupid little voice echo in her head, the one that made her hear herself crowing to the audience in the pub about taking every opportunity to try different things, it was almost certainly the main reason for giving the Tortellini a try. The only trouble was it came with truffles which she'd always thought were posh chocolate sweeties that you got in Waitrose and M&S for special occasions, had never even heard of them apart from that. So how the fuck was she supposed to know they smelled exactly like the crotch of her exercise leggings after she worked out? The Tortellini looked okay, quite nice in fact, but she was left trying to work out the best way of holding her breath, or even better holding her nose without anyone noticing, while she put some in her mouth. It didn't matter how bloody vile the stink, she knew she had to eat some, because her stomach was growling and she'd shipped enough red wine to be sure that if she didn't eat something soon she'd be under the bloody table.

"Hey … here, swap?"

Oh fuck, he'd noticed she was having a problem that she wasn't eating and worst of all seemed to have guessed what it was that was wrong. There was this great big bit of her wanted to toss her head and tell him to get on with his own bloody dinner and leave her get on with hers, but even half pissed, she knew that would just be the worst bit of cutting off her own nose to spite her face she could think of. It would be plain bloody stupid and all about pride and nothing else. And he was being nice, really nice, he definitely wasn't taking the piss and had asked her really quietly with this really nice smile on his face and not only that, he had this plate of Ravioli in spicy tomato sauce in front of him that was crying out to her. Her mouth was bloody watering just looking at it, although if he said anything else she'd be forced to have to refuse.

"Come on …"

He pushed his plate towards her and nodded slightly, still smiling as Molly wracked her brains trying to think of something smart to say, not the easiest when she'd had the best part of four glasses of wine. But he didn't wait, just swapped them over and she wanted to thank him, she really did, her brain was saying she was dead grateful even though her mouth wasn't, that it was lovely of him to volunteer to eat that shit, but when she looked up from the Ravioli he looked like he was actually enjoying it. She decided it was probably best to keep her gob shut in case she said something stupid, something that made him change his mind and take back his Ravioli.

Charles had known she was struggling, but had no idea why or how he knew, and especially had no idea why it was anything that should be bothering him, but it was, he felt oddly protective towards her. And he'd noticed how much she was drinking.

"Can I ask you a question?" Oh shit he was talking to her now.

"Long as it's an easy one …"

"It is … how long? How long have you been out?"

"What? What d'you mean? You're making it sound like I been inside … which I 'aven't by the way in case that's what you're thinking"

"No I know, and you know what I mean … okay, I'll put it it another way, how long is it since you stopped being a Doris?"

"Who you callin' Doris?" Molly decided to stop trying to be smart, she was a bit too pissed to be any good at it, and he was being nice so maybe she should give it a try and stop being so snarky "Coupla years"

"Fuck … that long?" He ignored the rhetorical question as his eyebrows shot up "Still, army life is not for everyone, is it?"

"What you mean?" She giggled, a bit too pissed to work out whether she should be offended "Oh I get it, you think I did basic and then what? Decided I couldn't hack it and that was it? Or they decided they could get along very nicely without me? I'll 'ave you know I did me 4 years … I was in Bomb Disposal"

"Bloody hell … were you?"

"Nah …"

"Very funny …"

"I thought so … 'n you shouldn't believe everything you're told … I was a medic with 22 Field, at Keogh? Except for when I was on tour … and anyway who said I wasn't still serving?"

"Where were you on tour?"

"Afghan"

She swallowed hard, how the hell had they got round to talking about this? She didn't want to even think about it, had made a conscious effort to wipe it out of her head ever since it had all gone to shit, and suddenly this was not about her winding him up, this was about her. There was no way she was going to share any of it with him or anyone else sitting in a noisy bloody restaurant with Frannie and Marco rabbiting away to each other about something. Especially when she'd shipped enough wine to be in danger of losing control of her gob, letting her tongue run away with her. Her go to habit when things got a bit tricky was always to try and make people laugh, hide behind being the class clown, but she couldn't think of anything remotely funny to say about her time in Afghan.

There was a tiny bit of a lull as she tried to think of something to talk about, something, anything to change the subject, because even though Marco was still rabbiting away, Frannie seemed to have stopped listening to him and was watching them instead with a frown on her face. It was obvious she wasn't exactly thrilled to bits at the way they were leaning towards one another over the table so they could talk. She had started shooting poisonous looks in Molly's direction when up till then she'd have easily won the gold medal in the smirking Olympics.

"Last I heard the British Army don't give you the whole bloody summer off so you can take a holiday job in Italy … "

"Might … if you ask nice enough"

"I don't think so …" He laughed "So a medic? Were you at Bastion?" He wondered for a moment whether that was how she'd known, whether their paths had crossed and she knew him from being there on the day that had changed his life. But he was reluctant to ask outright in case the conversation ended up in the whole you were nearly a jackpot explanation, he wanted to forget about it, not dwell on it. And logically he was sure that if that was the case, if she had recognized him, she'd have already told him "You're obviously a lot older than you look …"

"I know, lucky or what? … people are always telling me I'm not bad for 45 … that I'm wearing quite well"

"I'd have to agree, I wouldn't have put you a day over 39"

"Thanks …" She giggled "I'm going to be 25 soon" Well, she would, in about 6 months give or take "And now it's my turn to ask a question"

"Go on then … as long as it's an easy one" They both laughed.

"How old are you then? Or do you need time to think about it?"

"Guess?"

"Guess what?"

"Go on … take a guess" Oh fuck, was he flirting with her? She thought he probably was because Frannie was looking daggers, she was going to kneecap her any minute.

"80?"

"Cheers …"

"Welcome … well, ask a silly question 'n you get what you deserve, don't you?"

"Indeed … I'll try and remember that in future… I'm 34"

"Blimey … "

"Alright that'll do … and before you ask, yes I am still serving, I'm on leave … so …how did you know?"

"Know what?"

"Are you being deliberately obtuse?"

"Dunno … am I? … If I knew what one of them was, I'd tell you … but … what do you mean? Do you mean how did I know about you being army?"

"Yup"

"Intuition I guess?"

Pissed or not, there was no way she was going to mention elastic bands, or the significance they held for her, she was not going there.

"Right …intuition? Okay … of course" He raised his eyebrows almost as if he didn't believe her, she couldn't imagine why not, and then he smirked down at the table top "Why didn't I think of that?"

"I dunno … well, it was either that or a lucky guess" She had the strongest urge to giggle, it was proving really hard not to fall about laughing "What rank are you?"

"Captain …"

Oh god she knew it, how good was she at this stuff? Except she didn't think he was Captain Cock … probably not, however much it suited him.

"Captain James … Charles James … What's funny? There's nothing funny about that"

"Nah … not laughing"

"Not much … what was your nickname then? What did they call you, or was it too rude?"

"What makes you think I even 'ad one?"

"Everyone does … come on, what was it?"

"Me name's Dawes so they called me Dawsey … see … told you, not rude at all … not very original neither, still, could of been a hell of a lot worse … so, what's yours then? … nickname, I mean" She giggled thinking of the one she'd given him that suited him down to the ground.

"Bossman … and you are, you're laughing … what's so fucking hilarious?"

"Nothin'" She wasn't going to tell him, was she? There were limits even when her brakes were affected by too much red wine.

Suddenly despite everything, despite not wanting to be a third wheel on an evening out with him and Frannie, and ending up as one, despite Marco being bullied to come along for her, and despite Captain Cock being a bloody snotty Rupert, she was enjoying herself. Which was a lot more than could be said for Frannie. A quick glance at her face told Molly she most definitely was not. It was crystal bloody clear she didn't like them laughing and Molly longed to tell her to stop making it so bloody obvious, but it was clearly time to find something else to talk about, she still had to work with her for the rest of the summer. Her and Captain Cock enjoying themselves teasing and taking the piss out of each other wasn't exactly going down well, so all she had to do now was think of something.

"So Dawsey?"

"Yeah?" She was going to find it even more difficult to think clearly and come up with something to appease Frannie if he kept on talking to her.

"What did you think of Afghan?"

"Ummm … alright I s'pose, okay … well it would have been nice if it hadn't been for the bloody war 'n that … there was good bits … 'n bad, the people was nice, most of the time anyhow, but it was smelly and dusty and the showers were crap" She shrugged "But I 'ated checking me kit every morning … you know, making sure nothing had set up home during the night" She shuddered remembering the horror of lifting up her boots one at a time and shaking them, hoping against hope that nothing would come scuttling out "Bloody camel spiders …"

"I didn't have that problem"

"Didn't you? Lucky you … 'ang on, I thought everyone did"

"I had a squaddie check my kit and especially my boots for me"

"You never?"

"Nope … you're right I didn't … now who believes everything they're told?"

"Well, wouldn't of surprised me"

"Yes it would … and you do know it's a myth, don't you? Admittedly camel spiders are a bit on the big side …"

"A bit? They're bloody huge"

"Seen one have you?" She shook her head "Thought not"

"'ave you?"

"Nope but I know they're about the size of a teacup and that they do bite, I'll give you that, but they don't eat soldiers"

Size of a fucking teacup? Shit.

"Well, maybe not … alright yeah, I did know that" She hadn't, but then she'd never asked, had preferred not to know any details, had just been ultra-careful there wasn't one anywhere near her "Still didn't fancy sharing me boots with one … thanks very much"

"Fair enough"

"So where is it you come from Charles?"

Frannie had obviously got sick of them having a conversation that didn't include her, and leaned forward to speak to him, cutting across their conversation and angling her shoulder and back towards Molly which effectively cut her off. Marco she ignored completely even though he was in the middle of telling her something. On the one hand Molly was happy for a change of subject, it was actually a bit rude of them to be talking about stuff the others wouldn't have a clue about, although Marco wouldn't have had a clue anyway. She couldn't help feeling a little bit sorry for him, it wasn't even his choice to be there. But she was totally bloody shocked at just how rude Frannie was.

"Bath …" He grinned and leaned his head over to one side so he could see round Frannie and nodded at Molly, he appeared to be determined to carry on talking to her, apparently oblivious to the steam coming out of Frannie's ears

"Do you know it? The City I mean … not the other sort"

"Didn't think you was talking about living in the bathroom … but … nah, sounds a bit shit to me …"

"I think it sounds lovely … I've heard it's a beautiful city"

Charles smiled at Frannie making Molly sorry she'd been so flippant about his home town, but she wasn't used to people getting all het up and defensive about where they came from. She couldn't imagine anyone she knew getting all shitty because someone slagged off east Ham, most people she knew would be likely to join in. Including her.

"It is … it's lovely"

The cynic in Molly was telling her that Frannie hadn't volunteered to say what she liked, no, what it was she loved, about Bath, and was pretty sure it was another one of the half-truths, or lies, Frannie was using to flatter him into bed. But then suddenly there was a general discussion going on about where they'd all grown up and where they went to school, and even Marco was joining in as Frannie translated into English for Molly. But as they all talked over one another in Italian she felt more than a little left out, not only was it almost impossible to follow what they were saying, even with Frannie translating, somehow the local comp at Newham wasn't exactly anything to write home about. From what she remembered of the place, not that she'd even bothered showing up there most of the time, it definitely wasn't on a par with the rest of them. She'd made up for it since of course, had worked her bloody socks off to get what she needed for her course and had gone on to get the job she wanted but still, belonging to a behind the bike sheds smoking club wasn't exactly on the same page as the things they were on about. And ending up sitting there with a fixed grin on her gob trying to look like she gave a stuff was exactly why she hadn't wanted to be there in the first place, and now having to pretend to be interested and to follow the chat meant she had nothing to occupy her mind, it was just as well she was a shit hot actress who was used to bull-shitting her way through stuff. And she could feel the first prickles of her hangover behind her eyes. It might be dead anti-social, but what she'd really like most was to go home, or rather back to her little room at the Aldo and put her head down. Except that when they did go back she was going to have to watch him and Frannie disappear off together, and for some reason she was suddenly dreading that, she didn't know why it made her feel a bit odd, it just did. It occurred to her that she had no idea how much sound travelled through the walls, especially when someone used the bathroom, and the thought of lying in her bed all night trying not to listen filled her with horror, and the thought of bumping into him in the morning didn't bear thinking about, what the fuck would she say? She couldn't ask him if he'd slept well, because somehow she didn't think sleeping was going to have a lot to do with it.

Nothing lasts forever and eventually the waiters made it obvious they wanted to close up and started clearing up round them. And then they were out the door and walking along by the lake where all the lights were reflecting in the water and the little breeze was making the boats bob about. It was making the masks swing about so they made noises like there were bells, and there, right by the water, well almost in it, there was the ruins of the whatever it was, the castle or fort or something that she'd seen when she first got there. It was obvious you could get all the way down and walk round it to have a look and Molly made a mental note to come back in the daytime, and there were these places you could book to go Paddle Boarding or Scuba Diving which she definitely did not want to come back to see in the daylight. The others got all excited over them and immediately started going on about making arrangements to come and do it together, but Molly kept very quiet. Over her dead body. It was lovely by the water, there was a little breeze and not too many people and she could see it was probably dead romantic, well if you weren't walking with a bloke who had half of Superdrug on his head and would probably rather be walking with Captain Cock. Or Captain James as she had to remember to call him, it was probably best for her if she tried to forget all about the nickname she'd given him, before there was an unfortunate slip of the tongue. Him and Frannie were up ahead of them, walking together with her hanging off him, her arm through his like a manacle and both of them laughing, heads back laughing, as Molly did her best to swallow her feelings of envy. As she kept telling herself it wasn't that she was jealous and it wasn't about him, it was about being on her own and remembering she hadn't really had a full-on belly laugh with anyone about anything since the day it happened. She used to, all the bloody time, not just giggle, but laugh till her sides hurt and she would be desperately crossing her legs trying not to pee herself as the tears ran down her cheeks, but not now, not since then. After Afghan everything had got too serious and it was alright for him, laughing like that, well he was being charmed or propositioned or whatever by Frannie, so why wouldn't he be laughing? He was a bloke after all, he had to be flattered and he was definitely on a promise, she wasn't exactly playing hard to get, was she? And he had no idea what a can of worms he'd opened making her remember Afghan, why would he? Her job now was to put it back in the cupboard under the stairs and then throw away the bloody key, she'd spent two years dealing with it and had come out the other side, there was no bloody way on earth she was going to tell him anything else and risk going back there.

-OG-