Franky walked back onto the set, and was thankful there weren't many people in the main living area. She'd watched enough of these types of shows to know that there was always at least a little backlash from some of the other contestants for winning rewards. She had decided that later, she would tell Shayne where she had really gone. It wouldn't feel right lying to him. They'd spent some time most evenings sitting outside together, and had started to build a trust.
The brunette headed to the dorm so she could stash the few clothing items she'd grabbed. They'd made her turn in her phone again before she was allowed back on the set. She changed out of her jeans and into a pair of pyjama pants and went to sit on the patio. She hadn't seen Shayne anywhere in the house, so she was hoping to find him out there.
"Well look who it is." Hank announced her return loudly as she stepped out onto the patio.
Franky silently cursed in her head, So much for not drawing attention to herself, she thought. She didn't acknowledge him, but just took an empty seat beside Shayne. She caught the young man's eye, and greeted him with a small nod.
"How was the fancy hotel?" Hank spoke loudly enough that he definitely had everyone's attention focused on him now. When the brunette didn't respond, he continued. "Judging by the marks on the back of your shoulder I'd say you had a big night. Strip club maybe?"
"Unlike some people, I don't have to pay women to touch me, Hank." Franky smirked, and heard a couple of the other contestants chuckle quietly. She could tell that Shayne was angry, but so far he'd made no move to jump in like last time.
"Fucking bitch," Hank muttered under his breath, as he stormed off back inside.
"Don't mind him." One of the older women spoke up.
As the evening went on, the others started going inside to sleep. It didn't take long once she and Shayne were alone for him to ask what she knew had been on his mind since she'd returned.
"So how was it?" he asked, turning his head to look at her.
"I went home instead." The brunette said it quietly in case anyone was still lingering just inside the doors. She wasn't worried about the cameras; she knew Jillian wouldn't let the editors leave it in the final cut.
"Everything good there?" Shayne leaned back in his chair and looked up at the night sky.
"Everything is fine." Franky smiled thinking about the time she'd just spent with Bridget and Emily.
"How did you convince them to let you do that?" He knew the show was pretty strict about not allowing any of them to have communication with anyone on the outside let alone actually see them.
The brunette knew he wasn't asking in a mean or suspicious way, but it was still the question she'd been dreading; why was she allowed to leave and what made her special?
"It was part of the deal I made with Jillian." Franky played with the silver ring on her finger.
"What?" The young man shook his head like he didn't understand what she was saying.
"If I win a challenge that involves being allowed to leave the set, then I can opt to go home for that time instead." She tried to make it sound like it wasn't a big deal, but she knew it was.
He sat up and looked around to make sure they were still alone. He leaned in closer before he spoke again. "Franky, no offense, but how were you in a position to cut a deal like that?"
The brunette sighed.
"Franks." Shayne reached out and nudged Franky's knee with the back of his hand so she'd look at him.
She took a deep breath and let it out slowly before she began. "Remember when I said I'd fucked up before and gotten an assault charge?"
"Yeah, you said the right people had your back."
"Yeah." Franky nodded. "I was on a reality cooking show, and I beat the shit out of the host. He pushed and pushed until I snapped. I just went at him right there on the set." She tried to get a sense of what the young man was thinking, but he had a good poker face. "The show got shut down because of me, and well, you kind of know the rest after that."
"Shit." Shayne leaned back in his chair again. "That still doesn't really explain what's going on here right now though."
"Jillian apparently worked on that show too, but I don't remember her. She thought I had potential back then, so when she got to run her own show, she tracked me down and asked me to be a part of it. One of my conditions for agreeing to do it was that I'd get some time at home if it could be done discreetly." Franky shrugged.
"So…" He paused while he decided how he wanted to word his next question. "Are you a regular contestant then?"
The brunette knit her brow. "What do you mean?"
"Like...I don't know." Shayne shook his head and gave up.
"Are you asking if I know stuff that the rest of you don't?" It hadn't occurred to her that someone would think it had been set up for her to win. She'd just expected they'd be mad about the time she got at home.
"I guess." He gave a small shrug.
"I don't." Franky shook her head. "I don't know any more about the challenges, or dinner services, or anything else than you guys do. I just asked to be able to spend time with my family."
"I can respect that. They're important to you, and you put them first." He thought for a minute. "To me, I don't give a shit that you got to go home. I don't mean that in a bad way. I'm glad they're letting you do it, but I'm not jealous of it or anything because I don't have anyone on the outside that I'm missing. Some of the others do though."
He didn't come out and say that it was going to cause trouble for her, but he didn't have to. She knew exactly what he was getting at.
"Anyway, they won't hear anything from me, and if you need someone to go along with a story, I'm fine with that. Just give me a heads up first. I'm not a great actor, so I need to prepare my lines." Shayne laughed at his own joke.
The brunette smiled. "Thanks."
"So, what did you guys do?"
"Em stayed at a friend's place last night. I didn't tell them I was coming home. I wanted to surprise them, and I wanted Em to keep the plans with her friend. She doesn't spend a lot of time away from us and we're trying to get her out and doing more things with other kids. It worked out kind of nice though; me and Gidge spent the evening just hanging out. We watched a movie, and filled each other in on our weeks. We picked Em up in the morning and took her swimming, then cooked supper on the firepit." Franky nodded to herself as she thought about the day she'd spent with them.
"So no strip clubs? I'm kind of disappointed." He laughed, and the brunette joined in with him.
"Those days are behind me. Slipped in the pool," she said pointing to her shoulder. It was a half lie, but it was believable.
"Gotcha." Shayne nodded.
The brunette stretched. "I think I'm going to try to get some sleep. It's been kind of a long day."
"Alright. Night, Franks."
"Night." She stood, and headed inside to bed. It felt good to know that she still had someone in there who supported her even after she'd revealed a bit more of the truth.
"Come in," Bridget called out.
It was mid-morning on Monday, and the blonde was currently finishing up some notes on the session that had just ended. She looked up when the person entered the room.
"Julia." The blonde was less than pleased to see her ex, but she remained professional.
"Good morning, Bridget." Julia took a seat on the arm of one of the large green chairs. "I won't keep you long. I thought maybe we could set up a time to continue our discussion from the other day."
Bridget turned to her computer. "I've got an hour right after lunch. Other than that I'm pretty much booked for the day."
"I was thinking it could be a lunch meeting. You know, go to a nice place, somewhere more relaxing than this little office, and go over some things." A small smile played on her ex's lips.
"I'm fine with meeting here. I really don't thi-"
"What about that little Italian place you used to like? The one that overlooked the water." Julia interrupted her, paying no attention to the fact that the blonde had declined her invitation. "I'll meet you here at noon, we can leave together. I'll drive." She gave Bridget a quick smile, then quickly left.
The blonde shook her head. She didn't want to go, but she knew from their last meeting that Julia was out to end half of the programs she'd worked so hard to set up. If she refused a second meeting, and her ex put that in the final report to Channing, then it would look like she didn't care about her work.
She thought that maybe she could get Vera to go with her. She could say they already had plans anyway, and she felt it would be rude to ditch her friend. When she opened Vera's calendar however, she saw that she was on a scheduled day off. Bridget sighed.
Bridget's last appointment of the morning had just left when Julia appeared in her doorway.
"Ah, good, you're free. Let's go, shall we?" Julia checked her phone while she waited for the blonde to gather her things. "Oh, you won't need those. I'm driving, remember?" she said when she saw that the other woman had picked up her keys.
"Thanks, but I'm driving myself." Bridget gave her a small smile. There was no way she was going to let her ex take her somewhere, and not have her own way home.
"Whatever," Julia mumbled as she followed the blonde out to the parking lot.
When they got to the restaurant, the host led them to a table for two in the outdoor area overlooking the water. He waited until they were seated, then placed a menu in front of each of them.
"Your waiter will be with you in a moment," he said, giving them each a quick smile before making his way back to the front of the restaurant.
They sat in silence while they both looked over the menu. Bridget actually preferred the awkward silence over any conversation with her ex anyway.
"G'day, I'm Shawn, and I'll be your waiter today. Have you ladies decided yet, or would you like a few more minutes?" He sat a glass of ice water in front of each of them, and waited for a reply.
"I think we're ready." Julia looked at the blonde, who gave a small nod.
"Excellent." Shawn took a notepad and pencil from his pocket. "What can I get for you?"
Bridget began her order. "I'll have a sparkling water, and the pol-"
"We'll have a bottle of the Amarone della Valpolicella Classico." Julia interrupted. "I'll have the filetto di maiale, and Bridget will have the tortellini al prosciutto. That was your favorite, right?"
The blonde was silent. She couldn't believe the arrogance of her ex. It took her a second to realize that the waiter was still awkwardly waiting for her answer.
"Actually, I'll have the pollo alla parmigiana. Thanks," she said, handing her menu back to Shawn.
He gave them a small nod, and hurried back to the kitchen.
"What's wrong, Bridget? You used to like when I ordered for you." Julia took a sip of her water.
"I never liked when you ordered for me." The blonde clenched her hand that was laying on her lap, then stretched out her fingers, trying to will herself to relax.
"You never said you didn't." Her ex shrugged.
"Well, I didn't." What Bridget really wanted to say was that it wasn't worth the argument that she knew would have followed if she'd voiced her dislike back when they'd been a couple. She reached down and pulled a file out of the bag she'd brought with her. "We should discuss some things while we wait for the food."
"I didn't bring you here to talk about work." Julia leaned back in her chair.
"Your exact words were 'lunch meeting'." The blonde watched her across the table.
"Would you have come otherwise?" She took another sip of her water.
"No, and if that's the case, I shouldn't be here now." Bridget reached down and put the file back in her bag.
"Bridget, come on, don't make a scene." Julia looked around to see if any of the other diners had noticed their discussion. "Look, I've talked to a lot of people over the past couple weeks, both staff and inmates. They all adore you, and can't say enough good things about the work you do there. I may not agree with everything you're doing, but it's clearly having the desired effect. Even Derek likes you, and he rarely likes anyone he can't either manipulate, or get into bed. I will be making a couple of recommendations, but nothing major. So, let's just have a friendly lunch, okay?"
The blonde sat her bag back on the floor beside her chair. She still wanted to leave, but part of her was so relieved that Julia wouldn't be recommending undoing all of her work, that she figured she could put up with eating lunch with her.
"Good," Julia said when she saw Bridget relax in her chair again.
Her ex had that smirk on her face; 'That's better'. The blonde couldn't even begin to explain how much she'd come to hate that look.
"I've missed this place," Julia said looking out over the water.
"It's been awhile since I've been here myself." The blonde would be polite, but that's as far as she was willing to go.
"I'd imagine this type of place isn't exactly Franky's style." She turned her attention back to Bridget.
"What's that supposed to mean?" The blonde narrowed her eyes.
"I just mean I don't think it's somewhere she would be comfortable. It's quite fancy." Julia flattened a wrinkle that had appeared in the leg of her pants. "She's not your usual type. She's a bit young, a bit unrefined, don't you think?"
"Franky would fit in just fine here. In fact, she likes this place. We just don't go out to eat much because she prefers to cook for us." Bridget decided to let most of her ex's last comment slide.
"Ah, how domestic." Julia sat back in her chair as the waiter arrived with their wine.
He also sat a glass of sparkling water in front of the blonde, and gave her a small, sympathetic smile.
"I don't want any wine, thanks," the blonde said when she noticed that Julia was filling their glasses.
"Bridget." She gave the blonde a patronizing smile. "I've never known you to refuse a nice glass of wine before." She began to pour into the other woman's glass.
"Well I'm refusing now." Bridget watched as her ex continued to fill her glass anyway.
"Have you set a date yet?" Julia asked, setting the wine bottle on the table. "For the wedding?"
"Uh, no, nothing concrete yet. We've been busy and there's something Franky's doing for work first. After that we're going to sit down and make some plans." She saw her ex watch her pick up the glass of sparkling water instead of the wine she'd poured for her.
"Yes, I imagine taking on Emily would be quite a large burden." She sipped at her wine.
"She's a child, not a burden, Julia." Bridget took a deep breath.
"I never pictured you as the domestic type, but if that's what you want." Julia waved her hand dismissively.
"It is what I want. I can't wait to marry Franky and have a child with her." The second part had slipped out. The blonde hadn't intended to share that many personal details with her ex. "And what's that supposed to mean, that you never pictured me as the domestic type?"
"You just never expressed a desire to get married or have kids when we were together. I didn't think they were things you wanted." She looked out over the water before focusing her attention back on Bridget.
"You'd made it pretty clear that you didn't like kids. You made such a fuss when Em visited, I wasn't about to ask if you wanted any of your own." The blonde wished their food would hurry up so they'd at least have something to distract them.
"And you assumed that meant I didn't want to get married either?" Julia took another sip of her wine.
"It never really crossed my mind, to be honest." Bridget had never thought about it until now, but Franky was the only person she'd ever dated that she actually wanted to marry. She'd always thought that knowing she was in a committed relationship was what mattered, not having a piece of paper. With Franky though, she wanted to be able to say she was her wife. Almost like it was another level of commitment that she hadn't considered before.
"You didn't want to marry me?" When the blonde stayed quiet, Julia continued. "I would have, you know, married you. I still would."
Bridget paused with her water glass halfway to her mouth, then set it back on the table. She looked out over the water, watching the boats sail in and out of the waterfront.
"I'm with Franky, and I love her very much." The blonde didn't know what else to say.
"I know, but she's not good enough for you." Julia straightened the silverware in front of her as she spoke.
"Excuse me?" Bridget couldn't quite believe what she'd heard.
"Besides the fact that she must be at least fifteen years younger than you, she also has a very questionable past." She paused. "You did know about her past, right? When she beat a man unconscious for insulting her cooking?"
"How did you…?" The blonde knew she hadn't told her ex enough information about Franky to know those kinds of details.
"I have my ways. I'm just concerned for your safety. If she were to snap again, I'm worried what she might do to you." Julia reached out and placed her hand on top of Bridget's that was resting on the table.
The blonde ripped her hand away like she'd been burnt.
"You were the only one who ever laid a hand on me," Bridget spat back quietly.
"I told you, I was just under a lot of pressure, and not coping well at the time. I went and got help, and I'm fine now. Can you say the same about her?" She looked at the blonde as if she'd just made the most logical argument ever, and there was no way Bridget could disagree with her.
"Yes, I can. Franky would never hurt me." The blonde knew this with absolute certainty. "And your excuse of being under pressure is bullshit. Everyone is under pressure at some point, but they don't act out like you did. I'm leaving now. Tell Channing whatever you want in your report."
"Come on, Bridget. I'm trying here." Julia sighed.
The blonde grabbed her bag, and stood up. Her ex made no move to stop her this time. She didn't look back, she was focused on getting through the restaurant to the front doors and then out to her car.
"Ma'am, hey, ma'am, wait a second." Shawn was finally able to catch up with her just before she made it to the doors. "Here." He held out a take out container.
"What...what's that?" She'd been caught off guard.
"Your meal. I was just getting ready to bring it out when I saw you were leaving." He tried to hand the container to her again. "She's paying for it whether you take it or not. So you might as well enjoy it considering what you had to put up with." He hadn't heard their whole conversation, but he knew from the way Julia had ordered for her that the woman was an ass.
"Thanks." Bridget gave him a weak smile, and took the food.
As she drove back to Wentworth, she wished that Vera didn't have the day off, so she could go see her when she got there. She wished that she could call Franky, and lay in bed with her that night and tell her what had happened while the brunette held her. She hated that Julia still got to her so easily.
"Hey." Bridget smiled when she saw Franky's face on the screen of her phone.
"Hey, babe. I'm sorry it's so late, they ran overtime with a couple of the interviews before mine. Is Em already in bed?" The brunette knew she most likely was, but she wanted to check.
"Yeah, she went about a half hour ago." The blonde saw the look of disappointment on Franky's face. "It's okay, she understands. I had a talk with her and she knows if you don't call it's because you're working."
"I know, but I still hate it. We've got service tomorrow night, so I'm going to ask if I can call before that. You'll be home right after you pick Em up?" She figured she could ask Jillian for a few minutes in the interview room before they had to be on set. Everyone was usually busy getting ready then, so it was unlikely they'd notice she was missing.
"Yeah, I will. She'd like that." Bridget gave her a small smile.
"What's wrong, babe?" Franky could read her pretty well by now, and she knew the older woman wasn't acting like her usual self.
"Nothing," Bridget said, shaking her head.
"Gidge." The brunette wanted to be able to reach out and put her arms around her fiancée. "I know there is. You can tell me. I know I can't be there, but I can still listen, yeah? And we can talk about it."
"I had lunch with Julia today. She said it was a lunch meeting, but it wasn't. She just wanted to get me somewhere outside of Wentworth where it would be just the two of us." Bridget paused to compose herself. She knew the more emotional she was, the more upset Franky would be. "She was typical Julia. She insulted you, she was arrogant and rude. I told her I couldn't wait to marry you, and she asked if I ever thought about her and I getting married when we were together." The blonde saw the younger woman shift in her chair. "I said no, and that's the truth; it wasn't something I wanted with her. She said she would have married me if I had wanted, and she still would."
Franky leaned back in her chair, and then forward again. "She's still in love with you. That's dangerous, Gidge." She wasn't worried about Julia winning Bridget back, but she knew first hand what could happen when you didn't share someone's feelings.
"I know, but I don't think she'd delusional. She just hasn't moved on." Bridget debated whether to tell the brunette the part about Julia digging into her past. In the end, she decided that complete honesty was best. "She also knew stuff about you. She knew you beat up Pennisi, and she said she was worried you'd hit me if you got mad enough again. I told her she was the only one who'd ever done that, then I walked out. I just, I don't know how she knows. All she knows is your first name. She doesn't know your job or anything."
"It's not that hard really. Maybe there was mail in the letterbox the day she was there and she checked the names. Maybe she has a buddy who's a cop and she grabbed my license plate that day and got them to run it. Maybe she just googled my first name and got lucky with the article from the paper. The stuff with Pennisi is out there too. The network tried to bury it, but nothing stays totally locked away in the age of social media and the internet." Franky sighed. "I don't care what she found out about me, but I care that you're safe. Maybe you should ask Vera if she'd stay at the house with you until Julia goes back home."
"I don't think it's that serious. She let me leave the restaurant and hasn't tried to make any contact since." The blonde felt safe in her house. The doors and windows were locked and she wasn't like most people who had spare keys hidden outside. If Julia did show up to cause trouble, she had no problem calling the police, and she knew Em knew how to use her phone to call for help as well. She and Franky had shown her one night after the stuff with Kim, in case there was ever an emergency again.
"Okay, but if you ever don't feel safe, even a little bit, promise you'll get someone to stay with you. Vera, or Liz, or Will. I can give you Bea, Allie, and Boomer's numbers too. I know they'd be there in a second." The brunette was already scrolling through her phone for their numbers.
"Baby, it's okay, I don't need their numbers. I've got Vera's, Liz's, and Will's." She knew if Franky had her way, she'd have a whole army of people living there until she was done with the show.
"Just in case." The brunette hit send, and heard the tone from Bridget's phone indicating that she'd received the message. "And if it's real trouble, call Will, cause, you know." She flexed her arm.
"Yeah, I know." The blonde couldn't help but laugh a bit. "How was your day, baby?" She loved that Franky was concerned for her, but she was ready to change the subject.
"It was pretty good. The challenge we filmed today was a team one, and we lost. I wouldn't have gotten to come home even if we'd won, so it's okay. While they're getting their reward, we get "punished" by having to set up both kitchens, but we can use the extra time to go over stuff for the service." The brunette found herself making plans and strategies for her team even though she didn't want to be the leader.
"Sounds good. When does it start airing on tv?" It had just occurred to the blonde that she'd never asked that.
"I think it was supposed to be the end of this week, but there was talk it may get pushed back. They said something like we're filming twelve episodes in six or seven weeks." It didn't seem like a lot, but with the challenges, rewards, and classes in between, almost every day was taken up by something.
"I'll let Vera and Liz know to check then." Bridget gave her a wink.
"I'm sure Liz has a reminder set already." Franky let out a small laugh. When she looked up, one of the crew members was signalling to her that it was time for her to go back to the dorms. "Gidge, they're telling me I have to go now. Give my love to Em, and don't forget I'm going to try to call early tomorrow."
"I will, and I won't." The blonde promised her.
"And call someone if you need to." Franky knew she'd said it a bunch of times, but she felt helpless being in there, and the only thing she could do was remind Bridget to stay safe.
"I will, I promise. I love you." She kissed her fingers and held them up to the screen.
Franky returned the gesture. "I love you, too, babe."
The screen went black, and the brunette sat there for a minute before she turned her phone in and exited the interview room. She knew Bridget had support and friends out there with her, but Franky knew her mind wouldn't rest completely until she knew that Julia had gone back to Sydney.
