The next day, Annabelle was lying sleepily in bed until the sunbeams from the morning light started to ease her senses into consciousness. Her eyelashes fluttered open and a feeling of well-being gradually stole over her. Once again, she loved expected to have the blissful experience of waking to find herself snuggled down with the woman she loved more than anything she could ever desire. It gradually dawned on her that this time, the space which she'd been accustomed to was empty. Halfway between sleep and waking, she was lacking in physical energy and felt passive, frightened with the nightmare feeling that something, somehow had come in and stolen her world from her. Her arm reached around her to reconnect her physically to her lover but in vain. All she could feel was rumpled duvet and sheets.
"Hey Simone," she called out with note in her voice of rising anxiety. Causeless panic had woken her up now and she could see that Simone wasn't there. Why the hell had she got up early?
"I'm here, darling,"called out the clear, much desired voice but there was a slight tremor in her voice
"Thank God you're here. I was starting to worry. Come back into bed with me and keep me warm," the younger woman asked as coaxingly as she could conjure up first thing in the morning.
She heard Simone's light footsteps and a shiver of fear ran through her. She was wearing a loose fitting skimpy dressing gown and clutching a handful of letters in her hand. She exhibited a nervousness that shaped her body language. Something was dreadfully wrong.
"Come here darling. Whatever it is, I want to help you," Annabelle said in her tenderest voice.
To her alarm, Simone didn't get into bed with her and slide into her embrace. as she always did but sat stiffly on the bed, looking away from her, clutching the papers. The younger woman's mind worked a mile a minute thinking of possible reasons why Simone looked so freaked out. Perhaps the cops were having second thoughts about charging her, perhaps it was her parents or the Mother Immaculata or perhaps it was something scary she couldn't deal with.
"It's just bills and bank statements, nothing much,"Simone said in an attempt at a matter of fact voice, belying that by the way she was twisting a lock of her blonde hair between her slim fingers. The younger woman thought twice about laying a hand on her lover, knowing that she'd be rigid to the touch as she was closed off. She had to do the talking. It might as well be her as much as anyone.
"Darling, we need to talk about what we're going to do about money."
Simone's eyes closed painfully on the feelings churning around in her. More than anything else in the world, she didn't want the paradise of the last few days to ever end. It felt that she and Annabelle had been together a lifetime.
"Just how bad is it. I need to know as after all, I'm your lover," the younger woman persisted. That only made Simone feel worse as she knew that Annabelle meant well. That only tortured her inside. She knew the financial details of her life and she felt as if she were in a slow motion car crash, with her strapped into the driver's seat. What could her well meaning lover do, someone who had a large heart but no financial expertise?
"It's not as bad as all that. I'll deal with it,"Simone said in a tone of voice that captured the tensed up teacher who couldn't express her feelings in the younger woman's increasingly troubled mind. In reality, her feelings were so intense, they threatened to strangle her. A fierce tide of anger threatened to rise up inside Annabelle, tempting her to mouth off but she crushed it down. She started to speak in a slow, clear manner, pitching up the volume of her voice.
"Simone, you can't keep shutting me out especially as I have a solution. There is a way out of this hole but it's going to be tricky."
"A solution?"came the gasping reply. For the first time, her eyes opened wide. It was then that Annabelle took the hand of this extremely frightened woman to try and reassure her. The tight squeeze she received was not so much tender affection but a desperate need for assurance. Gently, she used her thumb to softly caress the fair haired woman's frightened sensitivities.
"I made good use of the time I spent at my parents- I won't call it home. My grandpa settled a trust fund on me on my eighteenth birthday which is due in four days time."
"Your eighteenth birthday?"echoed Simone in a wide-eyed way before stumbling for words. She'd quite forgotten how young in years her lover actually was."As young as that, I mean don't get me wrong but you don't seem young."
Annabelle saw that this very endearing woman of hers was in verbal freefall after the shock of reading the letters. This was the highest compliment Simone could pay her but she needed to be let into helping out with practical problems as well and gradually this thought got across to Simone.
"So what's the catch in this plan of yours?"Simone asked softly. This was the moment of truth, the other woman said to herself as slight nervousness spread through her system. A sneaking suspicion niggled at her that in an effort to be wise and worldly, she might be overstepping the mark and they'd fall flat on their faces. Personal embarrassment didn't bother her when compared with the fear of her plan letting them both down.
"We're going to have to visit my parents and get them to agree to make regular payments from the trust fund. They're the trustees of the fund."
A frown of concentration settled over Simone's features and she was silent. This made Annabelle nervous as if an English assignment paper was being scrutinised.
"Can they choose not to pay the money over? I mean, this is all new to me," came the tentative, worried answer.
"Do we have any choices Simone," the younger woman asked with a touch of impatience in her voice.
"No we don't," came Simone's answer, her mouth set in a determined manner."I'll come over with you if it can be fixed. In fact, I want to come over. We need to work out a proper strategy first to make sure it will work."
"How do you mean?" the younger woman asked, a frown wrinkling her face. Her instinct was to keep it spontaneous which is exactly what Simone had guessed.
"Let's look at it in cold blood. Imagine I'm your mother. You told me four days ago that them you're not part of my world and I'm not part of yours and let's quit this mother daughter bullshit. Will she remember that and use it to shoot you down in flames? We're going to be questioned about you living at my place- that's me, Simone Bradley- as they see us. What are you going to say to counter that, that you want to play Happy Families again?"
Annabelle laughed in an embarrassed fashion. This woman of hers had a practical mind that was as sharp as a razor and revealed a fascinating aspect of her that she'd not realised had existed.
"Yeah, that's a good one. First thing you have to understand that all my mother has seen of me is either the deaf mute or the hormonal teenage rebel when we've screamed at each other. I was really cool and dignified the other day which threw her. And, of course, she engineered it with Marilyn's parents to take her off to Europe- that's my first love. After that, I really went mental and the fallout from that got me expelled, the last time."
"You've not answered my question, Annabelle Tillman," Simone persisted, a mischievous smile on her face.
"Just who the hell are you, my mother or Simone Bradley?" countered the younger woman with mock annoyance. This identity shift felt weird to her.
"You tell me," came the self-assured answer.
"Mother," declaimed Annabelle looking in the direction of the wall, getting into the role play."I've been looked after by this kind teacher, the one you hauled away to be interrogated and who the police has agreed is not guilty of any sexual whatever. She's been looking after me and, as you can see, I'm nicely sun tanned and living healthily..."
Simone collapsed backwards on the bed with a helpless attack of the giggles when Annabelle stood up and exhibited her nude form for all to see in proud statuesque form. The prim look she returned was trying to say, look how suntanned and healthy I look.
"I'm happy where I am, living quietly out of sight, away from the press and I want to get on with my life. Let's face it, neither of us will be happy if I come back home and where else could I go who would put up with me? This way, I'll be quiet and out of your hair,"
As the dark-haired woman came to the end of her declamation, Simone broke into spontaneous clapping which caused Annabelle to blush with pleasure. She knew that Simone loved her very deeply but her respect met very deep needs in her psyche to be accepted for who she was. Living with Simone was turning out to be an impromptu therapy course in gently healing her wounds, something that her tough self-defensiveness had refused to allow had ever existed.
"You think it will work, Simone?" that very appealing, almost child-like voice called out, seeking her approval.
"We'll do it. We just have to succeed, " came the determined reply.
"That's good because having you with me will make me feel kind of safer...By the way, just what sort of bad news came through the post? That way, I'll know what we're fighting for."
"It's not as bad as I feared. I've got a little saved by and my last cheque from St Theresa's will see us through for a few weeks. I freaked out as I realised that there aren't any more cheques to come. I felt financially abandoned. You do understand?"
"Of course I do," the younger woman said warmly as she ran her hand round that lithe, slim body she loved the feel of so much. She pressed Simone close to her with pure affection feeling the tension leaving her body. She was so much head over heels in love with this sensitive, loving woman. Tears of joy trickled down the cheeks of the fair haired woman as she blessed the way that this very perceptive attentive woman of hers had calmed her fears. It felt so natural to wrap their arms round each other and feel the warmth of their bodies against each other for a long time.
"This is the tricky part," Annabelle said a little while later when they'd got dressed and ready to face the day. A little nervous smile showed that, when it came to phoning her mother, she needed a lot of reassuring for all her brave talk earlier on."I really don't like having to bullshit my mother and be nice to her," she explained, her face twisting at her last word but two. It brought back too many occasions when the pretty little girl, wearing her best frock had been told to be nice for too many grown-ups whose distant manner, impossible size and way too much self importance had made a disagreeable impression on her at the time. As she got older, she cynically concluded that such people were rising industrialists or government officials her parents wanted to impress using her as proxy pawn in their game.
"I know how you feel darling. I've been there," Simone's soft, sympathetic voice answered her and tended her wounds. Annabelle squeezed the hand of this infinitely understanding friend and soul mate of hers. It gave her the strength to go on.
"I'll keep quiet while you talk. Do you want me to be here or someplace else? It's up to you,"she suggested to the nervous woman.
"Stay here and hold my hand,"Annabelle instantly decided. She knew that Simone had the self-restraint to be quiet."I want to get dressed first. I'd feel safer that way."
The fair-haired woman nodded and she slipped on a pair of black trousers and a white shirt while Annabelle selected a radiant white dress of hers she'd not put on before. She vigorously brushed her hair many times and led the way to the balcony. Simone knew that the younger woman knew what she was doing in selecting the most relaxing context imaginable. While her freefloating sympathies were focussed on her lover's plight, it pulled a thought from the back of her head.
"Wait a moment, Annabelle. Have your parents tried to contact you on your mobile since you left their place? Do they know where you are? It might make a difference as to how they'll react."
Annabelle's mouth hung open in wonder. This woman of hers was a fucking genius.
"How come you thought of that? That's real parent type thinking."
"Put that down to years of talking to parents at graduation and listening to their concerns," smiled Simone.
Annabelle rapidly checked her mobile for messages. It had been switched off ever since she'd arrived so she might have been oblivious to parental anxiety. A hard smile of satisfaction noted that there wasn't a whisper of a message. It gave her an idea on how to read her parent's thinking before she phoned.
"I think I might have told them where I am but I'm not sure. She'll be smart enough to work it out anyway."
She took Simone by the hand and held on tight while she dialled the unfamiliar numbers, her breath coming in and out in short bursts. The whirling thoughts that had been churning around finally took shape and she became ice-calm and alert. It's now or never, she thought. For once in her life she wanted her mother to be available and not tied up in some bullshit meeting. Simone's ears were glued to the lump of black plastic.
"Hi, it's Annabelle, your daughter," she said in calm enough tones."I want to come over and sort out a few things about what's happening from here on in...yes, I'm stopping at Miss Bradley's house who's been looking after me...I know you're busy but I need to so when you can be around...it might be a good idea for Miss Bradley to come with me as she's a calming influence on me ...right, tomorrow afternoon at two thirty, we'll be there on time...I'm telling you I'm not interested in a screaming match, just that you live your lives, you and dad and I certainly don't ever want to be on the front page of the Los Angeles Tribune...OK, see you then," .
Immediately after Annabelle's calm measured mature voice came to a close, she blew out her cheeks to exhale all her pent up nervous tension and flung her arms round the very attentive woman whose nerves had been wire taut. She kissed Simone several times on her neck and nuzzled up against her. She couldn't believe her luck, especially in asking her lover to come along. Just because no charges had been pressed against her for bullshit stuff about her age didn't mean they'd be in a welcoming mood.