Part EIGHT
The girls bickered playfully as Debbie walked Jasmine up Main Street to the Thomas's. Nudging each other as they did so. However, Jasmine bumped into Debbie a little too forcefully, causing Debbie to momentarily lose her footing, veering into the middle of the road. There was a peep of a horn, as a car had been coming up behind them, the girl's, too wrapped up in each other, to notice.
'What's your bloody problem?!' Debbie spat back behind her, as she started to turn to give the driver some more verbal. Jasmine, in a fit of giggles, reached out, stopping her and dragged Debbie out of the car's path. ''I think you might be confusing this place with Brands Hatch!' she continued as the dark car sped off.
'Jesus, what a prick,' Debbie said, watching, as the BMW disappeared from sight. 'And you–' she added returning her attentions to her girlfriend, '–are a crazy bint,' Playfully slapping Jasmine's arm.
'Sorry, Debs, I guess I don't know my own strength,' she replied cheekily.
'Yeah, whatever,' Debbie said, giving her a sideways glance.
Debbie led them past the telephone box, and towards the benches underneath Trisha's Tree and took a seat.
'Well, that's it, that's the vicarage,' she said, nodding over towards the lone, reasonably large figure of Mill Brook Cottage.
Jasmine followed Debbie's eye line, as her eyes roamed over the building.
'Looks nice,' she said.
Debbie looked over at her, studying her face. 'You going to be all right?' she asked softly, 'I know you've not really seen any family in a while,' and laid her hand on Jasmine's knee, stroking with her thumb. Jasmine looked into the Dingle's warm eyes and smiled, seeing the concern there.
'I'll be fine, Debs. But, thanks,' she replied, placing her own hand on top of Debbie's with a gentle squeeze, showing her gratitude. 'Right then, you best get back to work.'
'I can wait for a minute if you want? Incase they're not in,' Debbie said.
'I think I can find my way back,' Jasmine replied with sarcasm. 'It's that way right?' Pointing up the road leading to Hotten, as she grinned playfully.
'You know, attitude like that will get ya nowhere,' Debbie said with a wry smile. Standing up in front of Jasmine, a frown appeared on her face as she looked down at the girl's chest, 'What's that?' she asked, reaching out.
'What?' Jasmine replied, looking down at herself, as the cheeky Dingle swiftly brought her finger up to flick her nose.
'God, that's twice now. You're so easy,' she scoffed, backing away with a wink.'
Jasmine, just chuckled at Debbie's lame practical joke, watching as she walked off back to work. She truly did love that girl. It was actually quite scary, just how right everything felt whenever she was in the Dingle's presence. A warm smile grew on her face as she watched Debbie slyly turn to look at her, unable to resist glancing back at her girlfriend one last time, before chuckling to herself at having been caught looking.
As Debbie eventually disappeared from view, her eyes fell back on to the vicarage. Now Debbie was gone she felt the butterflies start to make their presence known in the pit of her stomach. She hadn't seen any family for years now and the thought of seeing her Uncle Ashley after all this time, made her slightly nervous, having not seen him since the funeral.
She gently shook the thoughts from her head.
Jasmine was aware that her father and her uncle weren't particularly close, although, the reasons behind this were always kept hidden from her. After all, she thought, 'she's only a child,' the memory of her father's voice, still patronising. Yes, only a child - not important.
Her own relationship with her father became strained not longer after her mother had gone, and it quickly reached breaking point. He had met another woman, mere months after it had all happened and she couldn't believe he'd moved on so quickly.
She felt overwhelming resentment towards him, for managing to simply get on with his life. She wanted to know that he was hurting too; that he was missing her so much, that he ached and that he was also scared to death of the day arriving, where he would start to forget what she looked like.
But he never showed any emotion – emotion she so badly needed to see. He was the poster child of the Stiff Upper Lip Brigade – and in the end, it drove them apart.
Jasmine took a deep breath as she stood and walked over towards the door of Mill Brook Cottage, running her hands slightly up and down her jeans with nerves. Reaching the door, she took one final deep breath before gently knocking.
After a few moments, the door swung open and her eyes lit up as she was greeted by an unexpected face.
'Grandpa!'
Sandy couldn't believe his eyes; seeing his grand-daughter appearing out of nowhere on their doorstep. He swept her up into a warm embrace, overjoyed to see her. He had not laid eyes on his precious Jasmine for years, not since she and his son Luke fell out. He never forgave him for how he neglected his child, effectively abandoning her when she needed him most.
It was left to him to pick up the pieces and try to be there for her as much as possible while she was still around. For almost as soon as Luke took up with, that woman, Jasmine was packed off to boarding school.
It broke his heart seeing the once spirited young girl become so despondent and seeing his son barely noticing. Too wrapped up in his charity work. It angered him that he harped on so much about how, we as people, should be doing more to help those around us, when there he was, blatantly disregarding the needs of his own daughter.
But there were no plaudits in that you see. No pats on the back for simply being a good father.
Sandy had missed her terribly, and now, standing before him, he couldn't quite believe how grown up she looked and was overjoyed at seeing that zest, that spirit, that was once lost, now back in her eyes. A touch of sadness passed over his eyes as the thought of how much he'd missed out on as she grew up.
'Jasmine! Dear girl,' his gravelly voice booming, 'what an absolute joy it is to see you.'
'And you grandpa, I had no idea you were living here with Uncle Ashley.'
'No, well – your father and I had, what you might call, differences of opinion,' he said, distantly.
Jasmine looked down at her feet, remembering the moments when they'd had their own "differences of opinion". Sandy saw the slightly glazed look in his grand-daughter's eyes and changed the subject.
'Come child, don't just stand there – come fill me in on all you've been up to,' he said brightly, ushering her into the house.
--
They had made themselves a cup of tea and had been happily chatting away, catching up on lost years when Jasmine stood and walked over to look at some of the framed photographs on the mantelpiece.
'So this is Laurel, then?' Picking up a photo of her Uncle with his wife - more a rhetorical question really, already knowing it was.
'Yes,' he said, answering her question anyway. 'That was taken on their wedding day,' he added, smiling fondly at the memory.
Just then, the door opened and in stepped the happy couple, though, currently bickering over the latest task the Bishop had bestowed upon the Reverend. They had not noticed their unannounced visitor, until Ashley turned round almost coming face to face with his niece.
'Jasmine!' he gasped in surprise.
'Hello, Uncle Ashley,' she replied, flashing her radiant smile.
'Goodness, I've not seen you since, since – well – not for a very long time,' he added, quickly swerving the sore subject of their last meeting. He opened out his arms as he walked up to the girl, enveloping her in a warm hug. 'How are you? What have you been up to?' he added, elated to see his niece again after all this time.
'Now, Ashley, don't be bombarding the poor girl with questions,' came a bright voice from behind him,
'Laurel, I would like you to meet my niece, Jasmine,' he said, smiling as he gestured for his wife to come closer, wrapping an arm around her waist affectionately, before adding, 'Luke's daughter,' in a tone that implied that Ashley had already fully explained the history between father and daughter, and the ill-feeling that had arisen.
'It's a pleasure to meet you, Jasmine,' Laurel said, giving her a welcoming hug of her own.
Jasmine chuckled as she was wrapped up once again, unable to help but take an immediate liking to her uncle's wife. She gave off a distinct air of geniality, with her wide smile, vivid clothes and endearing way of speaking; while on the verge of being comical, you knew there was an innate sense of warmth to her.
'You too, Laurel. I hope you don't mind me just dropping in on you all like this?'
'Not at all,' Ashley chimed in, 'It's a lovely surprise, isn't it, Dad?' he added, glancing over to his father, who was sat watching the scene in his armchair.
'Indeed, it is a delight, to see our fair Jasmine, ever the young lady, grace us with her presence,' his rumbling, almost theatrical voice conveying his jubilation.
'I think he's rather pleased to see you,' Ashley uncharacteristically, joked. 'So, are we having the privilege of you joining us for dinner? Or?'
'Oh, I don't want to impose...' Jasmine replied, politely.
'Nonsense, you're more than welcome. Isn't she, Laurel?'
'Or course,' she agreed, emphatically. 'I hope you're not a vegetarian, though. As it's a chicken dinner tonight,' she chortled, 'but I'm sure I can rustle something up if you are,' she added, not wanting to possibly offend the girl and sound unwelcoming.
'Thank you for the offer, Ashley, Laurel. It sounds lovely, I'm just not sure what we've got planned yet for this evening.'
'We?' Ashley enquired, eyes darting round the room, wondering if he'd rudely missed someone else's presence.'
'Yeh, I'm stopping with Debbie for the weekend.'
'Debbie? –– Debbie Dingle?' he repeated, taken aback and utterly confused at how his niece could possibly have crossed paths with the troublesome Dingle.
'Yeah, we only met quite recently really, but we get on so well,' she chuckled to herself, completely unaware of the clearly unhappy look on her uncle's face. 'We've become really good friends.'
'I must say, that is rather a shock,' the Reverend said, eyes flickering towards Laurel, to see if she was as surprised as he was at this revelation. But her face gave away nothing. 'How on earth, did you come to meet her?' he asked, not managing to keep the distinct tone of disapproval from creeping into his voice.
Laurel sighed, squeezing her eyes shut as she heard her husband put his foot in it.
'Ashley.' she said, calmly, hoping to remind her husband not to get worked up, knowing all too well how he felt about the Dingles.
Jasmine's eyes narrowed slightly at this, unsure of what to make of her Uncle's sudden change of tone. Her eyes now flitting from Ashley, to Sandy, to Laurel, before setting her eyes back on her Uncle.
She let out a short laugh, 'Erm...is there some sort of problem?' she asked, levelly.
'Jasmine, it's just – the Dingles – they're, well, they're not your everyday kind of family. Not the sort you ought to be getting yourself mixed up with.'
Laurel couldn't believe he had still blindly ploughed on with his tactlessness.
'Ashley,' she repeated, ' I'm sure Jasmine can make up her own mind,' she added, smiling weakly at the girl.
The vicar turned and gave his wife a look clearly showing his lack of appreciation at her interruption.
'Thank you, Laurel,' Jasmine responded, clearly starting to become quite offended now, at her Uncle casting aspersions on Debbie's character. 'I'm sorry, if you don't approve of my choice of friends,' she continued, once again now directing her attention to her Uncle, 'but last time I checked, you weren't my father and I am old enough to make my own decisions. Aren't you supposed to be all non-judgemental, being a man of the cloth?' she retorted, clearly unimpressed with his less than charitable attitude.
'Jasmine–' he tried to respond, attempting to validate his decision to air his concerns. but his niece simply cut him off, walking past him.
'Laurel, thank you, but I don't think i'll stop for dinner if you don't mind. It sounds lovely, but I think it's best if we leave it for another time,' the girl said sincerely with a wry smile. In which Laurel responded with an apologetic smile of her own, as she watched the young girl walk over to her grand-father.
Jasmine bent down to place a kiss on top of Sandy's head.
'I'll see you soon, Grandpa, okay?'
'I shall look forward to it, Jasmine. I can only apologise profusely for the ignorance of my son,' he added with some disdain, as he threw a look in the vicar's direction.
'Don't worry about it,' she said gently, as she made her way to leave. 'Bye Laurel, it was lovely meeting you', she said amiably before pausing as she opened the door. 'Bye Ashley,' she added, almost as an afterthought, a touch of frustration in her voice.
And with that she left, not stopping at Ashley's protestations.
'Well done, Ashley,' Laurel remarked as she walked off, leaving him rooted to the spot.
---
As Jasmine closed the door behind her, she found herself once again taking another deep breath. Only this time in a bid to calm herself down. She strode off at pace, cutting the corner, to walk around the cafe and shop. Not looking where she was going, once again too busy with her own thoughts, she accidently crashed straight into someone coming from the other direction. They both stopped dead, watching the man's coffee-to-go, drop to the ground, spilling everywhere.
'God, I'm so sorry. I wasn't looking,' she babbled, apologetically, looking up into the darkest eyes she'd ever seen. 'Please, let me buy you another drink,' she added, fishing about in her pocket for some money.
'Don't worry about it, love. It was my pleasure,' the man said, as he eyed her up and down appreciatively, making Jasmine feel extremely uncomfortable, folding her arms defensively across her chest.
'Um, well, if you're sure.' she continued, forcing a smile. 'Again, really sorry about that.' and she slowly walked away from the stranger.
Jesus. What a creep, she thought to herself, not noticing eyes still trained on her retreating figure.
She saw the garage sign was still out and needing to see a friendly face, she decided to keep the workaholic Dingle company. Maybe she could help calm her down.
As she turned the corner, she saw that all the cars had gone and that Debbie was pulling the large garage doors shut. Turning, as she heard the advancing footsteps, she smiled seeing the welcome sight of her girlfriend walking towards her. Though her smile dropped when she saw the look on Jasmine's face – there was obviously something on the girl's mind.
'Hey, you weren't gone long. Everything okay?' she asked softly, locking up the double doors.
Jasmine gave her a weary smile, 'Yeh, fine – just – ugh! Families!' I don't know why I bother sometimes.' Utter frustration coarsing through her veins. 'Are you finished for the day?' she continued, looking to the now closed doors.
Debbie grimaced slightly. 'Not exactly, just closing up as Daz has gone and the main work is done. I was just going to sit and do the paperwork.'
'Want some company?' Jasmine asked, hoping Debbie would say yes, not wanting to have to sit in an empty house, she'd only wind herself up even further. She knew that being in Debbie's company would help relax her, she always had that affect on her.
The older girl noticed the hopeful look in Jasmine's eyes, guessing it was her that was in need of the company and gently tucked a loose strand of hair behind Jasmine's ear.
'I'd love some company,' she replied, smiling warmly as she caught the brief look of relief pass over the other girl's face. 'C'mon,' she continued, gripping Jasmine by the waist, 'you can make yourself useful, by making me a nice cup of tea,' she added cheekily, walking them through the small garage door.
----
Laurel was busy preparing dinner, when Ashley walked into the kitchen. The chopping of vegetables suddenly increasing in volume, when she noticed his presence. He noted the stern look on his wife's face and he reached for the kettle attempting to break the tension in the room.
'Tea?' he asked as pleasantly as possible, turning the tap to fill the kettle. Getting no response, he tried a different tact. 'Are you doing roast potatoes? Aunt Bessie would be jealous of those,' he joked. Internally berating his lame attempts at waving the white flag. And still he was met with silence, as Laurel continued with her preparations.
'Laurel, please. You can't continue to ignore me forever. We're not children!' he snapped, losing his patience.
'No, we're not - and neither's Jasmine. She's a grown woman and you shouldn't have spoken to her like that,' she argued, her voice becoming shrill, flustered at her husband's lack of diplomacy. 'I mean for Heaven's sake Ashley, you hadn't seen the girl in how long? And you're on her back within practically five minutes!'
'Oh come on Laurel. Debbie Dingle? You can't seriously tell me that you're happy with the idea of Jasmine hanging around with that girl?'
'It's not my place to say, Ashley. Just like it's not yours. I know how you feel about the Dingles, but you have to let Jasmine make up her own mind. She won't thank you if you continue to try and interfere. Now – go and find Jasmine – and apologise.'
----
Jasmine handed Debbie a mug of tea before lifting herself up to perch on the edge of Debbie's desk.
'So what happened?' Debbie asked cautiously, idly spinning her pen around her fingers as she sipped at her milky tea.
'Just my Uncle, being all judgemental and trying to tell me what to do. God, he really reminded me of my father,' she sighed.
Debbie paused mid-gulp as Jasmine spoke. 'Did you tell him about us?' Confusion in her voice.
Jasmine let out a small laugh. 'No, I didn't even get that far. I just mentioned I was staying with you for the weekend,' she relayed, still not believing her uncle's behaviour.
'What, and he kicked off because of that? Bloody charmin' that is,'
'What's his problem? Why would he be so against you?'
'Fuck knows. Never done anything to 'im. But then I don't need to – I'm a Dingle, aren't I?' she added with irritation.
'Hey,' Jasmine said softly, setting down her mug. 'Ignore him. I am,' she continued, reaching out to cup Debbie's face.
Debbie smiled as she reached up to hold Jasmine's hand and turned her face to kiss her palm before pulling her closer, inviting her to sit on her lap. Jasmine smiled, taking Debbie's mug and placing behind her as she made herself comfortable straddling her girlfriends lap.
'S'ok, Im used to it. I don't care what he thinks of me. I just don't want it coming in between you two.'
'Debs, I've not seen him since I was fourteen. We're hardly close. Don't worry about it. He'll just have to get used to it, if he wants me to stay in touch.' Jasmine wrapped her arms around Debbie's neck, as she felt arms snake around her waist. 'Anyway, can we stop talking about my uncle, please?' she added, bending down to place a teasing kiss on her girlfriend's lips.
--
Ashley walked out of the corner shop, carrying what he hoped might help make amends with his niece. Two bottles of wine, white and red as he was unable to make a decision.
I hope she likes wine, he suddenly thought.
--
'Debs, that tickles!' Jasmine exclaimed as Debbie ran light fingertips along her skin, causing the older girl to grin into their kiss.
'I can stop if you like,' she teased, pulling away from the girl sat astride her and sitting back in her seat, a mischievous smile emerging as she placed her arms behind her head and quirked an eyebrow.
'Don't you dare,' Jasmine replied, placing a hand around the back of Debbie's neck and leaning down to capture her lips, before sitting up again, gazing down at the Dingle as the corner of her lip curled into a sultry smile.
Hazel eyes, now dark with lust, looked up to meet the big brown eyes, as the young mechanic leant in closer, placing a kiss on the bare skin before her. She was really starting to love this blouse. Eyes continued to hold each other's gaze as Debbie's lips glided across her partner's skin, occasionally tasting. Jasmine's lips parted slightly as the sensations hit her and Debbie watched as Jasmine closed her eyes to concentrate on the feeling of lips on skin. She placed lazy, wet kisses across her chest, starting from the very edge of her blouse and slowly moving up Jasmine's chest, as she felt the rise and fall motions start to quicken as her breath became shallower.
When her kisses reached Jasmine's jaw line, their cheeks gently nuzzled against each other and the sound of Jasmine's laboured breathing immediately stirred sensations of her own deep within. Debbie homed in on what she knew to be a weak spot for the other girl and kissed the pulse point of her neck, gently biting down, teasing the skin.
--
Meanwhile, a hand reached out to knock on the front door at Tug Ghyll.
Receiving no answer – eyes turned to glance further down Main Street, until they came upon the Windsor & Dingle signage.
--
The mechanic ran her hands around Jasmine's body, slipping her hands into the girl's jeans pockets, massaging the flesh that lay beneath and when she heard her name faintly spoken on Jasmine's breath she slowly turned her face to look upon that of the girl who had fast become the world to her – her eyes still closed and lips parted, as they blindly sought out her own. Jasmine briefly ran her tongue along her lips, moistening them and Debbie could do nothing to stop herself from claiming them for herself.
And she did so with such passion, causing Jasmine to edge slightly closer to Debbie, pressing herself against her, as her hands held on to the back of her head.
Both girls were so lost in the moment, that they failed to notice someone step in to the garage.
Eyes widening at the scene playing out before them.
'What the hell's going on!?'
The sudden outburst made the girls jump and scramble away from each other, getting to their feet, desperately trying to regain their composure and their breath whilst straightening themselves out.
The girls looked over to the unexpected visitor and for the Dingle, a memory came flashing back to her as realisation sank in.
The BMW.
Debbie assumed her trademark stance. Arms folded, almost challenging the visitor to start on her –– and without an ounce of pleasantry, she spoke.
'Hello, Dad.'
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