Simone and Annabelle were out once again, on this cold but sunny day, walking rapidly alongside the neat park railings in search of the entrance to their dreams. A light wind ruffled their hair which was just as well as they needed something to disperse the headache
"Never again will I get into a drinking competition with a sexy Scot , name of Helen Stewart. I don't know where she puts it. My head really hurts," commented Annabelle with a doleful expression in her voice. She loved her California sunshine and heat but after a day or so, she was starting to get used to the weird unpredictability of one day being not like another. Right now, the sharp coldness was doing her hangover some good.
"What makes it worse is that we're the rock and rollers," Simone said in a flat, understated voice, her right arm linked through her lover's and into her coat pocket to keep warm. Her understated humour made Annabelle laugh out loud though not too much as her head might hurt. Their brisk walking past Georgian frontages the other side of the road ate up the yards they trod to the park gates whose existence they sensed from others suddenly disappearing from sight. They finally turned the corner and suddenly far distant horizons opened up in front of them and spreading out either side of them as far as they could see. Scatterings of trees, some near some far, made an immediate impact as they stretched out their twisted configurations into the sky though bare of leaves. They gave the amazing impression of having been there since time immemorial. All around them, the green grass stretched out in an endless carpet apart from the far-off lake glistening in the sunlight. All this endless space symbolised the limitless possibilities that they'd been straining for, their very existence.
"This is beautiful. It's so different from anything we've been used to. All this unspoilt land in the middle of a great big city," Annabelle whispered, her face all aglow with wonder. She slipped her arm round her lover's waist and somehow the clear air blew away the last of the cobwebs at the back of their minds. Together, they strolled off into the far distance ahead of them. They could see a distant park bench where they could sit and take the weight off their feet and the quiet waters of the lake. There was no need to hurry as time was on their side.
It was now evening time when completely different pleasures awaited them all. The sounds inside their home were full of light-hearted chatter as they showered and spent ages choosing which outfit to wear and devote time to indulgent pleasures to makeup now that they had all the time in the world right now. Helen was the first to emerge, glowing in her low cut turquoise dress, showing her generous breasts. Simone next slipped into view, wearing a beautiful sleek yellow/ orange dress, matching her sleek wavy hair and displaying her long legs to perfection. By contrast, Annabelle's short black dress showed her smouldering beauty to perfection. Finally, Nikki's dark looks contrasted unexpectedly with her white trouser suit and short Mandarin jacket, accentuating her fabulous androgyny to perfection.
"Wow," was all that Annabelle could say, open mouthed.
"We look such a fine sight to hit the town," Helen laughed gaily, her spirits flying.
"We bought these dresses in Oxford Street yesterday for a special occasion," explained Simone
"I've booked us a cab to take us to Chix. It's due in five minutes time," Nikki said, visibly glowing with pride that their friends were coming to hers and Helen's favourite hangout as well as the club she once co-owned. Simone raised her eyebrows and Nikki knew why.
A remarkable sight awaited two fresh pairs of eyes to another facet of life in London. A remarkably rounded, almost old-fashioned black shape was parked outside, looking both compact and capacious. Nikki grinned as she opened the door for the others gesturing Simone and Annabelle to sit in the wide back seats. The other two women tipped the fold down seats facing them and this remarkable vehicle set off down the road to Nikki's direction. To her and Helen, this was another trip down Chix. To Simone and Annabelle, this night imprinted images in their minds of flying through the darkness in a city that they were getting a feel for as the back seat of the taxi provided a splendid view of the cheerfully flashing lights. The cab weaved its way through streets and bypasses and, as it fetched its way to its destination at an obscure side street, Helen called out 'we're here you guys' in an exuberant tone of voice as Nikki paid the fare.
Their two guests looked with momentary bewilderment as they looked outside at the dimly lit building that could have passed for an office. On the right was modern light brick portion, then an open glass swing door and to the left a series of stylish grey pillars separated by glass panes. The only giveaway was an illuminated purple round sign 'Chix', in elegant white lettering, the last large letter being a stylised image of two women. They passed momentarily through the freezing cold, through the entrance, past admissions security, down a corridor where the seductively honey coated singing over a pulsing beat grew strength and, into the dance area, it hit the women in their guts with the sights and sounds of freedom as the heat and flashing lights helped exert its spell. On the left was a semi-circular bar illuminated by area of lights at the back of it. On the immediate right, coloured lights at the back of the assemblage of square shapes stacked up to the ceiling illuminated the scene and contrasted with the dark foyer down which they had walked. One look at the swaying women on the dance floor right in front of them told them they'd come to the right place.
From out of the background dimness, an attractive woman with shoulder length dyed blond hair approached and greeted Nikki and Helen effusively, nodding and talking in their guests' direction.
"Are you Simone and Annabelle fresh over here from California? Nikki and Helen talked so much about you after their American tour,"Trisha asked in her lightly poised, educated accent. The two guests instantly warmed to this woman's charm and generosity.
"Steady, Trisha. You're making us out to be rock stars when these two are for real,"Nikki replied in her self-deprecating manner.
"Trying, Trisha. Annabelle and I sing and play in a four-piece band but she's more lead guitar than I am."
"You do know that sounds really glamorous. So what brings you to these shores?" came Trisha's genuine interest in this soft-spoken American woman.
"We've done two months of touring and we've gotten a gap between contracts so we took up our friends' kind invitation to come over," Annabelle chipped in.
Trisha looked with interest at this younger woman whose frank self possession made her feel more mature than her nominal age normally provided for. The question popped out of her lips out of natural curiosity.
"So how old are you, Annabelle, if I might ask?"
The other woman's mind ran at lightning speed while the flashing colours and pulsing music was not at all dissonant with the warmth and friendliness. She sensed that this woman had precisely the same occupation as Miranda's in far-off California but without her tendency to play subtle games. Having run around with an older, intelligent crowd in her present existence, she had become even more self-accepting than before.
"Eighteen. I know it might sound young, Trisha," the dark-haired woman said with her level stare.
"It depends on the woman darling. I'm sure you know Nik's experience of being unjustly jailed and how she met Helen. Nik and I were lovers for nine years before then. I know that when Nikki was sixteen she knew exactly who she was. She certainly did when I first met her a number of years down the line." Trisha's kind response drew a warm smile in response.
"Wasn't there ever a problem for you when Helen first got together with Nikki?" Annabelle asked in her direct fashion that had disconcerted so many in the past. Trisha had long since thought this question through, emotionally speaking so this didn't throw her. Besides, this American woman was as straight as Nikki was in the old- fashioned sense.
"Good God no,"she exclaimed with perfect certainty."No two women are better suited in my experience. My trouble is that, with the club riding on my head, I'm too dominant in my relationships. Don't think that all the luscious women coming to the club is the answer. It doesn't work for some reason I can't work out."
The fleeting moment of desolation in this friendly approachable woman upset Annabelle. Very quickly, she slipped into an intimate conversation with the other woman while her friends joined the group. Annabelle decided that Trisha was clearly one of the good ones and for some reason, she had opened right up to her. The next second, she reverted to her chatty sociable self as Helen chimed in gaily.
"Hey what about a quick drink and a dance?"
As Trisha rustled up the drinks list and conveyed it to the bar, the conversation became animated. It was extraordinary, the two American women thought how the particular cadences of British English were slipping into Simone and Annabelle's sense of normality rather than simply translating. It felt good to them both. Still more so did they feel when a trayful of drinks was passed over to Trisha with an appreciative round of cheers. These working women had slogged their way through to the weekend and were desperate to unwind. Helen set the style as she tossed back a double vodka with a defiant grin. Others took their time more so that Helen was the first to take her lover by the hand and sashay over to the dance floor. Their two guests knew better than to try and keep up with Helen's pace though both knocked back the remainder of their drinks and followed the others. At this moment, they were both flying high as they sensed the highpoint of their holiday
The music pulsed through their bodies through their nervous systems and the sugary candy coated gloss made them all feel good inside. All the women's expressions of pleasure was not just for the partners they were dancing with but a collective expression of joy that they were all here and were all one. Simone marvelled at the way her lover threw her body about and the overjoyed expression on her face and in her eyes. This wasn't some isolated private world of their own but a public event where they were all included, no one left out. Glancing to one side, Annabelle saw Helen and Nikki shaking it up on the dance floor and stealing the odd encouraging grin in their direction. The kind -hearted women felt good inside to see their friends from the other side of the pond melt so easily into the collective ambiance of the club a world in which they had invested so much emotional loyalty over the years. Come to think of it, stray images floated past their mind of when they'd been at Chico's and seen their friends perform on the makeshift stage.
As Nikki danced the night away, she couldn't help looking in the direction of the bar where she spied a disconsolate looking Trisha pretend to herself that she was there to in charge. In reality, she gazed vacantly into the distance while the party went on all around her. It was the story of Trisha's life, the compassionate woman thought as she reflected on her generosity of spirit towards her and Helen. However, her attention was caught as a tall dark-haired woman with strong, bold features and hair loosely falling on her shoulders. In that moment, Nikki pointed to Helen whose grin of appreciation saw the situation markedly change.
Just why it was that this stranger's eyes and smile focussed in on Trisha and not someone else was something she couldn't work out for the moment as the Chix clientele were at the least averagely good looking. Trisha found herself drifting in conversation that extended itself easily beyond the standard introduction to make a new customer feel at home, pouring both of them a drink. Everything went smoothly until this woman mentioned her name.
"Lita Gossard?" Trisha found herself echoing in an incredulous fashion and stumbling for the right words."You don't mean that..."
"I divorced that no good sadistic bastard copper who wrecked a whole chunk of my life. Nikki Wade did me a great favour in offing the bastard and stopping him haunting my life,"Lita interjected in chillingly angry tones. As soon as she'd spoken, she regretted her choice of words as a look of shock and horror flared in Trisha's blue eyes. The nightmare vision of being pressed against the bar by the evil; man who was trying to rape her and the successive shocks of Nikki's deranged intervention and the shattering of their happy life together
"I'm really sorry, Trisha. That was really crass and insensitive of me. I know how close you came to suffering at his hands and how Nikki paid for her heroism. Thank God Nikki got justice in the end and he's history to all of us. I've come a long, long way since I dumped him and that's how come I'm here today chatting you up."
Those well chosen sensitive words did the trick in calming Trisha down and finally a little thrill ran through her system. She was intrigued by the thought that this woman's intentions might succeed while her ex-husband's brutishness had failed. Trisha gestured to the barmaids to hold the fort while her elbow reclined on the counter while she fixed this attractive woman with her blue eyes and engaged in more intimate conversation.
The club DJ had always been given a free hand in her choice in music and now she judged right that the women wanted to soften the music to a more romantic tempo. The sighs of satisfaction as soft arms reached out to each other as fresh conquests and established lovers renewing their vows, enfolding each other in gentle embraces. Nikki smiled tenderly as she felt her long time lover's head nestle against her shoulder in the accustomed fashion and looked around her. From out of the haze of shifting colours, her old friend and ex-lover drifted into sight, Trisha wore a blissful smile on her face as the striking looking dark-haired woman planted soft kisses on her neck. By some miracle, Nikki judged that this woman had come out of nowhere, fully formed and matured from the crucible of life and looked to be the woman who might fill the gap in Trisha's life that Nikki knew only too well that she'd opened when she and Helen had finally got together. She turned her head to see Simone kissing Annabelle passionately in a similar romantic clinch as her own with Helen. This made her profoundly happy.
"So you're Lita Gossard?" Nikki asked rhetorically, a slight smile playing on her lips as she saw her and Trisha tenderly holding hands, looking on top of the world.
"I'm seriously thinking of changing my name by deed poll," Lita confessed with a wry smile on her face." I don't know why I haven't done it before as it's such an albatross around my neck. Aside from my maiden name that sucks, I don't know what to change it to."
"Nikki and Helen came over to Chico's, a club in California much like this where we heard what what Nikki had been through when she'd got jailed for taking out your ex, Tine but I hadn't properly thought about Trisha's horrible experiences," Simone said in her soft thoughtful way when a crowd of them were seated round several round tables pulled together and they were drinking long, cool drinks. By now, the softly pulsing music melted into the pleasantly fuzzy sounds after having too much to drink. Her look of sympathy to Lita and Trisha was meant, not alcohol induced. "Everyone makes mistakes, believe me. I was involved in more than one loveless relationship with a man before I met Annabelle, the love of my life," and here a fulsome smile spread across her face," but I can't say I was physically badly treated by a man. I guess I was very lucky."
"Thanks Simone," Lita said softly, grateful for this woman who owned up to a heterosexual past. Her words hung in the minds, even when patches of soft melodic music filled up the background.
"Looks like it's my turn for the next round," Annabelle volunteered in her friendly fashion whose reality was enhanced by her charming accent to the rest of the gang.
"Oh good," Helen said mischievously,"I wondered why my glass was empty."
"I haven't had to carry you into bed darling but there's a first time for everything," joked Nikki.
"Oh yes, like the first time I slept with a woman when you broke out of prison where you were supposed to be locked up for the night and you landed yourself on the doorstep," riposted Helen in a joking way which made Annabelle and Simone fondly reminisce about their problematic courtship which played out in front of a strict all girl's Catholic school. Time and distance healed everything, they dreamily concluded. Trisha and Lita exchanged tender smiles, caressing each others' free hand, knowing that they were committed to share the night and end up at Trisha's flat.
"We'll worry about the unexpected when it comes," Nikki replied masterfully."In the meantime, Annabelle's patiently waiting for you to name your poison dear."
"Double vodka please. The orange and lemon was a temporary aberration," sparked up Helen. Their friends, old and new, grinned fondly at this cross-talk banter. Pretty soon, the drinks were brought in, the night continued and so did the partying in a world where nothing outside these walls mattered.