'What…be a loose woman?'

Watching the programme reminded her of Annie.

'Can I ask your opinion?'

'As a…loose woman?' She asked with wonderment, clasping her hands together. Because surely this was something Annie would have loved. What larks they had got up to in their afterlife. She'd been without Annie for longer now more than ever and she'd lost the use of her voice again, her will to want to. She found herself slipping back into her hesitant ways. Every time she watched it, she imagined Annie sitting there beside her. Maybe even holding her hand. She could imagine her friend's reaction to all of them. She would have loved the modern slang Mary had heard, would have used them with relish.

'Wazzock!'

'Wanker!'

'Tosser!'

'Dickwad!'

She watched diligently, storing up as many of the stories in her head as she could, ready to tell them. Because she hoped that one day she'd be a lucky cow too and get sucked off, just to see Annie again. And how they would laugh.