Dinner had actually gone more smoothly than Caroline had anticipated; Gillian and Robbie seemed happy, Alan had loved his presents and, best of all, she did not yet appear to have given anyone food poisoning.
They were now all sat around the table laughing and drinking Prosecco, and the blonde watched as Alan, cheeks rosy with the wine, doted on her mother who was actually blushing.
Caroline smiled at the sight of them, feeling a sudden rush of affection for her family. She put the improvement in her mood down to the fact that she was warm, sleepy and just a little bit tipsy.
Next to the love birds, William was animatedly explaining something to Robbie; demonstrating yet again what an accomplished young man he was becoming.
It was then that Caroline realised two things – firstly; that they were almost out of wine, and secondly; that Gillian was missing.
She rose from the table in search of both, suspecting that they might be found together.
XXXXX
As she entered the kitchen, the blonde was hit by a gust of cold air and she turned to see that the patio doors had been inched open. Gillian was sat on the stoop, facing away from her and looking out into the darkness.
Caroline walked over with a frown, "What are you doing in here?" she asked suspiciously.
The other woman jumped and turned to look at her, "Nothing!"
Caroline's eyes widened as a tell-tale smell filled her nostrils, "Are you smoking?! In my house?!"
Gillian sighed, "No, Caroline," she replied, as though the headmistress was being particularly dense, "I'm smoking on your patio."
She swept her hand across the dark expanse before her to illustrate her point.
The hostess folded her arms in outrage, "And you didn't think to stand out in the garden, rather than fill my kitchen with smoke?"
Gillian looked appalled, "It's bloody freezing out there!" she objected, taking a long drag.
"I'm almost finished now, anyway."
Caroline sighed and slid the door further open. The cold air swirled around her and she suddenly felt a little more drunk than before. Snagging a shawl from around the smaller woman's shoulders, she draped it around herself and sat down.
"Hey!" Gillian protested, wrapping her arms around her body protectively, "It's cold you know?!"
Caroline arched an eyebrow incredulously, "You realise this is my shawl?"
"Yeah, but you weren't using it," the other woman mumbled, sulkily.
The blonde smiled faintly, "Well, now I am," she replied, pulling it tightly around her and hugging her knees for warmth.
Gillian rolled her eyes, "Look at the Head Girl slumming it round the back of the bike sheds."
Caroline gave her a haughty look, "Who says I was Head Girl?"
"Oh, please," the woman next to her snorted, exhaling a long plume of smoke. She held up an empty glass for inspection, "You're out of wine."
Caroline nodded, "Yes, well, I had some borderline alcoholics to dinner and they seem to have drunk it all."
"Touché," the brunette grinned, offering over the cigarette.
The blonde shook her head, "I don't smoke."
Gillian sighed, "Of course you don't."
Caroline grinned mischievously as she produced a hipflask from her pocket, "But it turns out that I do confiscate booze from my teenage son to keep as an emergency stash."
Gillian's eyes lit up as she was handed the flask. She took a large swig and winced as the liquid glugged down her throat.
"Oh my God!" she spluttered, "I was expecting paint thinner, but that is bloody good brandy!"
Caroline hummed in agreement, "I should think so. It came from my liquor cabinet."
Gillian looked surprised, "Seriously?!"
The blonde pursed her lips, "After that row with my mother, I poured myself an exceptionally large glass of brandy and it turned out to be apple juice."
Gillian let out a shout of laughter, "Nice one, Lawrence! Are you sure we didn't accidentally swap kids at some stage?"
She took another drag on her cigarette, "So, did you give him the bollocking of a lifetime?"
"I was going to," the headmistress shrugged, "but in the end I just replaced the contents of his flask with apple juice and put it back where I found it."
Her eyes sparkled as she took a sip of brandy, "He'll be furious when he arrives at a party with that!"
Gillian sniggered, "That's ingenious," she marvelled, nudging the woman next to her playfully.
For a few seconds they sat quietly together, sharing their confiscated booze.
Eventually, Gillian broke the silence, "How is everything with your mum, anyway?" she asked, flicking ash onto the patio and pretending not to notice the blonde's disapproving look.
Caroline shrugged, "Better."
There was another pause before the headmistress sighed, "Still a bit tense. She's in her eighties and I called her a bigot and shouted that I enjoyed sex with other women, so it's not exactly been a normal few days."
"Well, she needed to hear it," Gillian replied firmly, before adding with a smirk, "Maybe not in quite as much detail, but…"
Caroline smiled ruefully, "I'm not saying she didn't deserve it, but it's a bit of an embarrassing conversation to have with your mother."
Her friend snorted, "Oh please. She'll have to get over it eventually."
Gillian leaned forwards and stubbed out her cigarette, using it as an opportunity to hide her face, "And I doubt your argument is the most embarrassing thing that's happened to Celia recently."
Caroline raised an eyebrow, "Oh?"
Even in the half light from the kitchen, the headmistress could see that Gillian was blushing.
They sat in silence for a few seconds until the blonde could not take it anymore, "Well?!"
Gillian reached for the hip flask, "It's a bit embarrassing."
Caroline chuckled, "Oh, I'm counting on it!"
The smaller woman huffed and took a swig of brandy, "A few weeks ago, when dad and Celia were staying over, me and Robbie went to the pub."
Keeping her eyes on the floor, Gillian forced herself to continue, "It was late by the time we got back and we were both a bit pissed. We were on the sofa kissing, and you know…"
Out of the corner of her eye she could see Caroline's smile growing until it stretched from ear to ear. She gave the blonde a gentle shove, "Stop laughing!"
"Sorry," Caroline replied, not sounding sorry in the slightest.
Gillian sighed, "So, one thing led to another and we started to, you know..."
Caroline's eyes widened in mock outrage, "You know I've slept on that sofa?!"
The brunette shot her a withering look, "Do you want to hear this story or do you want to make sarky comments?"
"I think I can manage both," her friend deadpanned.
Gillian shook her head, "So, we were under a blanket…thank God…but pretty much naked. Then the hall light came on."
Caroline clapped a hand over her mouth, "Gillian, please tell me my mother did not see you and Robbie having sex."
Beside her the smaller woman was blushing furiously, and it was hands down the best thing Caroline had seen in weeks.
"Well, that's the problem. At first she didn't see us," Gillian mumbled, "She poured herself a glass of water and then just sat down on the other sofa."
Caroline covered her face with her hands and properly laughed for the first time in ages. She had forgotten how good it felt.
Gillian grinned and snagged the end of the blonde's shawl, dragging the corner over her own shoulders before continuing, "She just sat there in her little pink dressing gown, while we were frozen under the blanket."
She took a deep breath, pointedly avoiding a pair of sparkling eyes, "…In the end Robbie had to cough to get her attention."
Caroline burst out laughing and she could not stop. She held her sides and laughed until it hurt.
Gillian bit the inside of her cheek to stifle her own smile, "Anyway, Robbie was really embarrassed and he hasn't seen your mum since, so he's been panicking all the way here. It's probably why he's downed so much wine."
For some reason, the thought of poor, sweet Robbie being so mortified made Caroline laugh even harder, and as Gillian watched her friend doubled over on the stoop, taking huge gasping breaths in a futile attempt to regain some self-control, the brunette finally lost her composure as well.
The memory of Celia's horrified expression washed over her, and Gillian covered her face, her toes curling in embarrassment even as she laughed helplessly.
Her utter mortification was not lost on Caroline, who by this point genuinely thought she might never be able to pull herself together.
Eventually, their bouts of helpless laughter died down and they both wiped their eyes, still giggling slightly.
Gillian looked over at the blonde with a sheepish grin, "I'm just saying that your mum has faced much worse than a barney with you recently."
Caroline's smile was so huge that her cheeks were starting to ache, "Hmmm," she agreed, "Well, thank you for so dramatically raising the bar for me."
The brunette rolled her eyes and reached for the hipflask, "Happy to help," she replied, taking another mouthful of their stolen booze.
XXXXX
As Kate drove along the same street for the third time, trying to spot a sullen teenage boy, she wondered how she kept get dragged into Caroline's problems.
In reality, she already knew the answer; because this was not actually about Caroline. It was about Lawrence. If he was worried enough to call her, of all people, to get him out of a scrape, then he really must be in trouble.
Besides, Lawrence was not just Caroline's son, he was also a pupil at Kate's school and she owed him a duty of care.
That was her official story and she was sticking to it.
As Kate entered the high street, she suddenly noticed Lawrence sitting on a metal bench, his head bowed as a group of larger boys circled around him on BMXs.
"Shit!" she murmured, immediately pulling into a bus stop and jumping out of the car.
"Lawrence!" she called across the road.
The boy raised his head at the sound of his name. His shoulders were squared and he was scowling menacingly, but Kate knew him well enough to recognise the flicker of fear in his eyes.
One of the older boys looked over and sniggered, "Oooh! Mummy to the rescue!"
"Get lost!" Lawrence responded, standing up and taking a step towards her.
The older teen lazily rolled his BMX forward, blocking Lawrence's path. The group jeered and spread themselves out so that Lawrence was unable to navigate his way around them.
"Oi!" Kate called from the far side of the road.
She slammed the door of her BMW behind her and took an angry step towards them.
She did not see the car until it collided with her.
XXXXX
The two women had just snagged some Prosecco from the fridge and were headed back to the dining room when Caroline's phone vibrated.
The blonde jumped, yanking it from her pocket and frowning as her son's name flashed across the screen.
"Lawrence?"
"…Mum…"
Caroline's eyes widened at the tears she could hear in his voice. She immediately covered her ear to block out the chatter from the other room.
"Lawrence, what's wrong?"
There was a tiny choking sound as the boy forced out the words, "…It's Kate…there's been an accident…"