Helen was more than glad to drive her worn out working collaborator, Nikki Wade back home after a hard day full of hassle in negotiating with that bastion of bureaucratic obstructiveness , HMP Larkhall, not helped by the intransigent client. That was the other half of the problem.
The client concerned was a troubled soul called Emira Al Jahani who was a wire taut coil of self-loathing from her past lifestyle of drinking and casual sex who cleaved to a rigid version of Islam as a desperate grasp for self-definition. Nikki had no problems with people of religious inclination. She had once shared a cell once with that quietly resolute symbol of Christian rectitude, Barbara Mills who saw Nikki who she truly was. Her Crusader's temperament for doing the right thing chimed in with Nikki's and likewise, Simone's gentle faith, carried so lightly, was something she could easily warm to. Not so the rigid doctrines of this woman whose pig-headed obstinacy in creating unnecessary enemies was not equalled by verbal and physical toughness to back it up. She could also sense that her smartly suited exterior, short cropped hair and attractive looks instigated a squinting suspicion as to her sexuality and this woman's pale, plain looks pointed towards an underlying female jealously. All this made her unwilling to negotiate on any level as to the exercise of her rights as a prisoner and played straight into the gleefully joyful bigotry as displayed by Bodybag who was only too happy to mouth off about Islamic terrorists. She insisted on wearing the nikab in shrill tones when a headscarf would have been the easily achievable compromise being there for the asking by any other Moslem woman.
After a fruitless argument with Bodybag who also was dead set against the granting on a visiting order, Nikki resolved to adjourn the meeting for a return trip the following day but she knew that she needed a strategy rethink without being clear just how she would achieve it. The thought depressed her as she headed back to the office, tired and disgruntled and Helen's intense expression of sympathy only took the edge off her sombre mood of feeling that she was a failure. It was only when they passed over the threshold when two radiant sun-tanned faces greeted them, eyes glowing and the situation changed. Nikki's sombre mood was dispersed immediately when she felt the pleasures their friends had enjoyed having previously gone round the exhibition themselves. Helen fell automatically into line, emotionally speaking and their home was miraculously transformed. They blinked their eyes to see their cool Californian friends decked out in a very fetching thick winter jacket apiece, both going for a chic effort that buttoned up very practically to the neck.
"Oh yeah, we went into an Oxford Street store and bought these coats. I guess we really messed up packing when we came over. Even Simone didn't figure out what the weather would be like."
At this point, Simone looked embarrassed at such an obvious gaffe but went on to fish out a coiled up roll of thick paper out of their carrier bag and held it out to Helen.
"Annabelle and I thought we'd give you this print as a present for the marvellous hospitality I know you'll give us."
The smaller woman's eyes opened wide with pleasure as she strongly suspected what
was awaiting them. Feverishly, she removed the polythene and a dazzling smile of pure pleasure illuminated her features. Nikki looked over her lover's shoulder and she gasped as her own vivid memories of the exhibition were encaspsulated by the one picture that summed up everything. There she was, this beautiful, self-confident femininity that had ever existed in the world, wearing garments of an ancient realm yet so irresistibly modern at the same time. Both large hearts were touched by their friends' perceptiveness in their choice of print. Her brown eyes were shining like stars, her mouth open.
"Why didn't we see this print? We must have walked right past the shop," Helen exclaimed at last in a semi-accusing tone of voice.
"Well, don't look at me," joked Nikki, holding her hands up and leaning against the wall in a state of helpless laughter."It took the two of us to screw up. Just live with it."
"Come on, this is a serious matter. So how do two American visitors to these shores manage to spot something that we missed- like a bloody shop?"
"Hey, take it easy. We can go back if we can find the time. At least Annabelle and Simone here were thinking of us," Nikki said tenderly. It woke Helen up and she slid her arm around her lover's and looked in their friend's direction as they pretended to push each other's faces away from each other.
"So what did you do with the rest of the day?" Helen asked excitedly as the penny dropped.
Annabelle gazed back, her eyes wide open with myriad images that had floated past her consciousness that afternoon. A slow smile spread across her face as she started to speak."After we came out of the Royal Academy which blew our minds open, we walked the streets of London together, went down to the Embankment, past Cleopatra's needle and on to the Houses of Parliament, all glittering gold in the winter sunlight. He hung around and then took the tube up to Euston Station where we found the gay pub you told us about last night."
Simone loved the way her partner talked so enthusiastically about their experiences. In the half-light, they'd persuaded some friendly woman they got chatting to to take pictures of them both, cheek by cheek against each other with brilliant smiles. Annabelle had made that totally unselfconscious leap into becoming a citizen of the world and eagerly imbibing the feel and location of the world they'd settled into. They weren't insular Americans any more than Nikki and Helen had been Little Englanders when they'd come to California. Her wide open eyes said everything about her.
"It felt lovely in the bar. We could embrace each other and feel perfectly normal. We felt the good vibes straightaway."
"I mean, we like what we've seen of England so far," interjected Simone as a backwash of the sights and sounds floated past her vision, the random encounters anyone undergoes in exploring a strange city for the first time and simply chatting to those people in the street who weren't focussed on their lives to the exclusion of everything else."If you're anywhere straight, there's a part of you that you don't reveal. Know what I mean?"
The other three women gloomily agreed with the fair haired woman's drop to a more despondent note. All they asked of life was the chance to be themselves, not much to ask for. As the mood persisted, Helen started to feel uncomfortable and she chipped in on a note of artificial brightness.
"So what plans have you got for tomorrow?"
The response from both women was glazed-eyed as they'd walked their feet off as their afternoon had become insanely busy. Right at that moment, they would be mutely grateful for a steer as to what to do for the next day where their legs could carry them.
"If it helps, there's a club we all go to on Friday night. My ex girlfriend who's now our very good friend runs it. It's called Chix. Rather than give it the big sell, let's say that our friends will really like you and you'll feel at home," Nikki announced with pride.
Both women gasped in amazement at the extraordinary coincidence that so nearly linked the name to their favourite hangout in faraway California. This was one of those conjunctions that just had to be.
"Of course we'll go with you. We'll look forward to returning the compliment," Simone said softly. Pretty soon, the four women fell into a discussion about the place and, in place of the classic American roadside bar look, the two women visualised a neutral facade in some officious London side street where only the insignia pronounced its real identity.
The afternoon merged into a comfortable evening as Annabelle suddenly disappeared into the bedroom for a bit while Simone hung out with the others as they set to work making dinner. In the middle of it, Annabelle appeared from out of nowhere with a glow on her face. The fair-haired woman said nothing as they started to eat a delicious curry. After they'd stacked the dirty dishes in the dishwasher, the conversation meandered back to the following day as they sat around the table, sipping wine in a nicely relaxed fashion.
"We need some wide open spaces and fresh air," Annabelle said vaguely, her mind searching for someplace away from the constant sounds of the city and its supercharged pace just for a bit of variety.
"There's Regent's Park. That's where Helen and I go when we feel that way. There's wide open spaces, a boating lake, botanical gardens, the ideal place to chill out," Nikki offered helpfully.
"Great, we'll go there in the morning," Annabelle said enthusiastically while Simone held her counsel. She felt that there was a trick somewhere. The truth emerged in short order.
"But first, you need to check the weather forecast," Helen said with a cheerful smile on her face as she fetched in four mugs full of coffee from the kitchen. The two women's face were a picture as the penny dropped
"So this is England? I can't get my head round planning things by the weather," Annabelle said, shaking her head in bewilderment. She had taken it for granted that
, after they'd come out of the Royal Academy, it hadn't rained for the rest of the afternoon.
"We could wait till the six o clock news finishes but our laptop will pick up the the local weather on the net straightaway," Nikki advised with a grin as Helen fished in the cupboard for the necessary electronic aids. She laid it on the table, plugged in and switched on. She pulled up the BBC Weather site and saw the icons flash up for the next five days.
"Result," exclaimed Nikki with a happy grin as fortunately, a square shape showed up in the first line, featuring a orange orb radiating light on a blue sky background showing the following day's weather."The sky is blue, the wind speed is nearly zilch though it isn't too warm. Normally it gets non-committal like 'sunny intervals' so it is only fifty per cent wrong. If you wrap up warm, you'll be fine "
"You sound just like your mother, dearest," Helen said in a deadpan voice. Nikki stuck her tongue out in response. Helen laughed out loud followed by Nikki. She knew she'd walked into the trap.
"Let's chill out somewhere more comfortable and take our drinks with us," she suggested with masterful diplomacy.
"Why don't we play you some music as well?" suggested Simone as the idea popped into her head. She felt a soft pressure on her arm in gratitude for the brilliant idea. This wasn't a gig they were contracted to do but a fun thing after such an inspirational day. Annabelle had a good instinct about this idea from her perceptive lover and she fished out the guitar from their bedroom while Nikki and Helen settled down comfortably. In the meantime, Simone's mind started to sift her way through songs that felt right. A couple of Tori Amos songs slipped through her consciousness unbidden together with one or two of their songs but she couldn't make up her mind between them.
"You can play if you want and we'll share harmonies," Simone said as Annabelle returned, carrying a sheet of paper and looking unusually animated. She knew that something was up.
"Darling, we'll see what cooks between us. You play later whenever you want," the younger woman smiled and said with infinite tenderness before she checked the guitar was in tune. She felt extraordinarily centered as she fractionally adjusted the top string to get it just so. She exchanged glances and smiles with her lover but didn't say anything. Anything she did, Simone was saying wordlessly, would be all right as she focussed on the sheet of paper she'd been writing on, earlier that evening.
Annabelle smiled softly as she started a curious circular pattern that caused her musical partner to raise her eyebrows. The words 'just relax' were mouthed at her so Simone's instincts became highly attuned as to what this talented woman had pulled out of the hat a little while ago. While Nikki sprawled into the depths of the armchair, Helen sitting in her lap, both of them watched in fascination as they saw the birth of a song before their very eyes. This was a new experience for them both and they gave it their utmost concentration. Suddenly, the dark haired woman began to sing, threading together the words and stumbling in places as the hastily scrawled words didn't entirely scan the way she had wanted them. Finally, Annabelle came to a point when she screwed up her face and stopped at the end of a line. She knew it wasn't right.
"Hey Annabelle, maybe it should go like this," Simone said calmly as she repeated the line, shifting the melody line and words around.
"You got it, Simone," the younger woman said approvingly. She glowed inwardly when she came to the line 'there were beautiful women on the portrait wall who took our breath away.' She felt that her musical partner felt the nuances of that line while their friends simply loved to hear it. More confidently, less tentatively Annabelle led her way through the song, stopping occasionally to work through a line she knew more confidently wasn't right. They harmonised their way through the chorus, both knowing where it would crop up and finally came close to name checking Nikki and Helen in the closing lines 'our lovely English friends.'
"Sorry, you guys. I know you wanted a finished song but this has really been nagging at me to get played," Annabelle explained, shaking her head as if emerging from a waking dream.
"We didn't plan it this way. I had a few songs we could be doing only I couldn't make up my mind. As soon as Annabelle started this song , I really wanted to hear what she'd come up with,"added Simone. The other woman saw their friends so attentive as opposed to the characters she'd written in the song. This last thought disturbed her
"You don't mind being kind of included in the song. I really wanted to and it wrapped up the song so well."
"It's a delicious compliment. We know where it comes from and we won't have the paparazzi chasing us asking for our life story. Once was enough talking to all you guys in Chico's," Nikki said with her acerbic wit. All four women laughed at the droll humour.
"Can I run through the song to see how it feels?" Simone asked in her soft voice. Annabelle gladly handed over the guitar, eager to hear how he4r partner would embellish the song while Helen poured out another glass of wine with a generous hand.