Accompanying soundtrack: April March – "Chick Habit"
Jen walked into the pub and looked around. Friday evening in the local next to the school was exactly as she imagined it, except no longer with the vast plumes of cigarette smoke. It wasn't particularly busy, and those that were already in there were either other teachers, people who looked like the spent all day propping up the bar, or both. She hesitated slightly before walking to the bar to wait for service. It'd only been a minute or two before the door opened again and Carla walked in.
Jen looked the woman over more carefully, noticing things she hadn't previously taken the time to see. Nothing had been immediately obvious but she now spotted the lightest dusting of make-up favouring a more natural look. Slim jeans, belt at the waist, and a military-look shirt with similarly influenced boots. She had a slight swagger in her walk that exuded confidence as she approached the bar. Jen noticed the well trimmed nails, and finally her gaydar was pinging. As she looked, Jen couldn't believe she'd not spotted it before. She used to play "Gay or European" with H, which allowed a little leeway between trying to work out if someone was actually gay, or if they dressed like the stereotypical European, which predominantly preyed the ambiguity of people's Sexuality. Sometimes it was difficult to not make assumptions, but Carla hadn't batted an eyelid when she'd mentioned 'girlfriend' the other day, and now it seemed obvious why.
"Hey, the others are sitting over there. I've only just arrived myself. I'm waiting to be served, can I get you something?"
"I'll take a beer, thanks. Whatever they have that's bottled. I'll go grab a seat." Carla walked over to where the others were sitting and placed herself where there were two vacant seats together at one end. Jen brought the drinks over and sat down in the spare seat next to her.
"You're on soft drinks?" Carla protested, wondering if Jen had missed the whole point of going to the pub at the end of the working week.
"I'm driving," she replied, tapping the edge of the glass lightly with her finger.
"Yeah, me too, but I just leave the car at work. I used to get Paul to pick me up." She pulled a face, and saw Jen's questioning look. "My ex. He'd do rugby stuff with his mates and then swing by here and get me on the way home."
Jen's eyes widened as the information filtered through into her brain, and she realised the assumption she'd made only a couple of minutes ago was incorrect. And moreover, she was surprised. Without wanting to seem like a complete idiot, she reminded herself to talk.
"My other half doesn't have a car, so the chauffer in the house is always me." Jen was wary to say girlfriend within earshot of the others. She wasn't interested in making a bold opening statement just yet. Carla picked up on her hesitancy.
"They'll be ok about it you know." Carla surreptitiously pointed down the table at the older grey-haired English Teacher at the end. "Frank lives with his partner Ollie. And Tom, the physics teacher, has some kind of polyamorous situation going on that none of us quite comprehend, but it's safe to say at the very least his private life would be a much more interesting topic of conversation than yours!" Carla laughed to emphasise the fact she had tried to lighten the mood.
"It's hard enough to manage one partner sometimes! I dread to think how I'd juggle more than that." Jen smiled through her response, taken aback by the frankness.
"He does often look very tired!" Carla whispered, and they both tried to suppress raucous laughter so as not to draw attention. For the first time Jen felt a little more relaxed around her work colleagues, but there was still a hesitation in her mind to be guarded and keep protected.
"This is nice actually. Better than I expected it would be." Jen smiled at Carla, she still wanted to seem to be part of the team so she could find out if they knew anything about Hollyoaks. As far as Jen knew, only the headmaster would know about her past indiscretions, and she knew the past should be the past, but history is a cruel mistress and she'd learnt the hard way.
"And how did you expect it to be? Philosophical debates and pipe smoking?" Carla smiled broadly.
"Well from you, maybe yeah," Jen grinned teasingly, "but… well I don't know really. It's the whole socialising with people you don't know thing. It's…. uncomfortable." Jen chose her words carefully, she didn't care to offend and create a situation. "They want to know everything about you, and small talk is so difficult."
"People are nosy Fuckers who've got nothing else to do, that's why. Just tell them to sod off, they'll get the message." Carla took a swig from her bottle. "Unless it's me of course, I want all the goss…!" and she clinked her bottle against the side of Jen's glass.
"So you're from Manchester? The accent doesn't sound like you're from much further afield?" Jen nodded.
"Yep, Manchester's got everything I need. No point in trying to find that somewhere else. You on the other hand, have a distinct hint of southern, when the French hasn't taken over that is."
"Quite so! I flatten my natural accent out quite a lot because it doesn't help with the French. In fact, it doesn't really help with anything up North sounding like a bit of a posh knob." Carla smiled.
"We are judging you every time you open your mouth," Jen quipped, nodding, as she struggled to suppress her amusement and keep a super serious face. Carla spotted the wicked glint in Jen's eye, and brushed right over it.
"This isn't your first school, is it? You don't seem like a green grass NQT – a bit too savvy methinks." The question Jen dreaded had slipped from Carla's lips like a poisoned arrow. She swallowed, taking a mouthful of drink to give her more time as she considered her answer.
"It's not," Jen replied casually, "It's my second. I was at a school in Chester last year. It was the first offer that came my way so I snapped it up, which meant I move there, but let's just say I had a difference of opinion with the stuffy old Headmaster, so I decided I'd make a more considered position this year to find something closer to my roots. And here I am."
Jen hoped it was a convincing lie. She'd tried to make it sound as natural as possible and wanted Carla to think that maybe they'd not got on because of her Sexuality, rather than her Sex life. Carla just nodded in acceptance.
Jen had been pleasantly surprised by the how the evening had worked out, and she'd deftly avoided having a difficult discussion about her history. It'd been nice to get out with some different people, even if they were the ones who had largely ignored her at work. She hoped that having seen them socially might make the school more of a friendlier place to work, and somewhere she actually liked going. As usually happens everyone turned out to be nice, and it was just a case of getting over that initial hurdle.
As the clock rounded towards 8 she realised nearly four hours had gone past and Tilly would probably be wondering when she was going to call.
"I'm going to head off I think. I'm hungry and I don't fancy the food here," draining her glass Jen made moves to put on her jacket.
"Aww, that's a shame, but you're right, I should probably head off too. I feel the need to stop at the takeaway." The several beers Carla had consumed had pushed her down the route most people take after a lengthy visit to the pub.
"I've got something delicious waiting for me to eat at home." She winked at Carla, as she realised exactly what her barely subconscious thoughts were reminding her of.
"Lucky you!" Carla answered, although Jen wasn't entirely certain whether she had picked up on her smutty comment. "Do you go anywhere past Ivy Road? I'm cheekily angling for a lift if you're going my way." Jen thought for a moment before she realised it was relatively en route home.
"Yeah, I can swing by there, no problem. It's only a minor detour." Carla grinned and grabbed her coat, swiftly downing the remainder of her beer.
"See ya Monday chaps!" she bellowed at the other teachers around them, and to Jen's surprise she linked their arms and marched them off towards the door. Carla's place was about 10 minutes away, and it was late enough for most of the traffic to have subsided.
"Thanks for the lift home, I really appreciate it," Carla's slightly slurred words tumbled out as she ran her hands along the seats. "I drive a bit of a Shit wagon, but I'd never drink drive." She slumped down in the seat a little as Jen took off from the traffic lights. The music from the radio filled the air for a few moments before Carla spoke again.
"So how long have you been with your girl?" she enquired, watching Jen as she drove.
"Hmm, that's an interesting question," Jen replied hesitantly. Honesty was probably the best policy, and there was a hope Carla wouldn't remember some of what she was saying. "We had a break in the middle, so it depends on which way you look at it really. Altogether about a year. This incarnation… a couple of weeks." She felt stupid saying it as a couple of weeks couldn't possibly represent the depth of feeling she and Tilly shared. "It's immaterial the length of time really, one shouldn't validate relationships based on time spent in them." She smiled as she thought of Tilly. "What about you? You mentioned your ex Paul, anyone else on the scene?"
"Oh, just over here on the left please," Carla chipped in as Jen approached her road. "Nope, no-one else yet. But I'm a discerning individual and take my time to choose" Jen pulled up outside a house. Carla undid her seatbelt. "All in all it's a shame you're not single," she said lightly brushing Jen's hand before giving her a peck on the cheek and springing out of the car door. "See you Monday!" and she headed towards her front door.
Jen sat there for a few seconds, slightly bemused, before she started to pull away. She wasn't entirely sure what had just happened. The fact that Carla had said she'd had a boyfriend had conflicted with Jen's gaydar pinging, but now it all made sense, and Jen wondered why Carla hadn't mentioned her own leanings, when she was talking about the others. She thought maybe it just wasn't common knowledge, but knowing what she knew about Jen it didn't make sense she wouldn't mention it.
As she waited at some lights, Jen reached for her phone to text Tilly.
"I'm on my way back. I can pick you up on the way if you want to come back to mine?" Tilly's reply wasn't long in coming, and it was obvious she'd been waiting for Jen to let her know she was free.
"I thought you'd never ask, I'm so bored!"
"I'll be about 10 mins. Have you eaten?"
"Yes I've eaten. Get here soon. Can't wait!"
Jen thought of her thinly veiled pub innuendo about having something delicious at home to eat, and smiled to herself crudely, but realised she probably didn't have any actual food she could readily prepare. Round the corner from Tilly's she stopped to grab a burger, and texted her to warn of her impending arrival.
Tilly snatched up her bag and barrelled out of her room, nearly knocking a startled Callum back down the stairs.
"Whoa! Where's the fire!" he barked at Tilly, not meaning to be gruff, but taken aback by the ginger flurry in front of him.
"Callum, I'm so sorry, Jen's picking me up and she's waiting outside." Tilly looked equally startled, and her wide brown eyes apologetically searched for an acceptance of her contrition.
"No worries. Oh, before you go," he grabbed Tilly's arm lightly, "George and Esther are definitely out tomorrow night. I expect it'll be at the usual haunt, but I didn't hear outright. Whatever, they're meeting at 9." He stopped and looked serious for a moment. "I know you want to rebuild bridges, but... they might not want to. Don't set your hopes too high, eh?" He smiled a little, raising his eyebrows, slightly inclining his head to signal his warning to Tilly needed heeding.
Tilly turned her head back towards Callum, dropped her bag on the floor, and gave him a quick hug.
"Thank You." She smiled, grabbed her bag, and flew down the stairs. Jen was waiting outside already by this time, and Tilly grinned as she jogged towards the car, opening the door with a good powerful tug, and throwing herself inside.
"Let's get out of here. Wait, do I smell takeaway?!" she said, planting a kiss firmly onto Jen's waiting lips.
"Yes! I've not had the chance to have any food yet, and I'm pretty sure if I tried to start cooking something that you'd be terribly distracting..." a single eyebrow raised, Jen's words trailed off as she saw Tilly licking her lips.
"I do have designs on your body, that I cannot deny. I've been waiting for you all evening…" Tilly replied, running her fingers along Jen's thigh before settling her hand there. Jen swallowed at the thought.
"You need to be patient madam. I need 10 minutes when I get in where you are hands-off, so I can eat something, otherwise I'll be fit for nothing!" She looked at Tilly and grinned. "After that, I'm yours to do with as you please," she looked back at the road ahead, pretending to be purposely aloof, not waiting to see the anticipation twinkle in Tilly's eyes.