(A/N): We're back with Vi, Evie, Hettie, and Pip.

Trigger Warnings: Someone technically gets outed, and it's not Evie. It doesn't go badly, but I still think it needs to get tagged.

January 16th, 1966

Vi

"Right, no, yeah, thanks Joyce. Yeah, I'll definitely try and make that work, but I can't promise anything. Alright, see you- Bye." I paused outside the kitchen door as Evie finished up her phone call, trying to take the opportunity presented to me to listen in, but the only thing I really heard was her putting the phone back on the hook, followed by an odd thud.

I pushed the door open, and discovered that the thud must have been Evie dropping her forehead against the wall next to the phone. "Is... everything okay?" I asked after a long moment of her not moving or saying anything, and her head popped up and snapped around to stare at me with, what I felt, was an unwarranted level of suspicion. "Whoa, hey, what's wrong?" She continued to eye me warily, though a bit less intensely than before. She turned to face me properly right as Pip and Hettie came in behind me, her gaze snagging on them briefly before returning to me.

"How much of that did you hear?" She asked, and I blinked heavily. I mean, I had been trying to eavesdrop, but Evie wasn't to know that- and if she hadn't been saying anything worth eavesdropping on, she wouldn't be worried about me overhearing it.

"Just... that very last part? Right before you hung up? You said you'd try to make something work, but you couldn't promise anything?" She gave me a skeptical look, even as her wariness seemed to subside slightly.

She crossed her arms over her chest defensively. "Joyce asked me to do something with her next weekend." When she left it at that, I cocked an eyebrow at her.

"And you said no?" She shrugged.

"I said maybe, but yes, I meant no." But... why? Sure, Joyce was Evie's coworker more than her friend, but they were still friends- and Evie didn't blow off her friends. Or at least... she didn't used to. "I figured, given everything, I should stick close to home for the next few days." Well... I couldn't say I was unhappy about that. "I have the next three days off, by the way- Gigi's back, and Harvey's divvying up the hours to give her something to do."

I couldn't help but roll my eyes at that. "Of course he is- God forbid that man let his wife find her own job, instead of cutting down his hardworking, loyal employees' hours to accommodate her." She shot me a look that was reproachful, even as it said she didn't necessarily disagree. "Speaking of phone calls," I started, and Pip winced from beside me, temporarily drawing Evie's eye. "Who was that first phone call? I know the second one was Joyce, but-"

"Joyce. It was Joyce. They were both Joyce." Well. I guess we had our answer as to whether she'd stick to her guns and lie. I glanced at Pip, who stubbornly refused to meet my eye. "What's that look?" She asked, and I shrugged.

"Oh, nothing." She shot me a sharp look. "Just- I mean, you do know if someone stands next to you, they can tell that the person on the other end isn't a bubbly young- female- bank worker, right?"

Evie glared at Pip, who turned to glare at me. Evie's glare held a lot more power than Pip's, though, luckily for me and unluckily for him. "You do know it's incredibly rude to listen to other people's private conversations, right?" I rolled my eyes at her again.

"He didn't really-"

"I don't want to talk to you right now, Vi- Pip's the one I'm cross with." He swallowed thickly, and reached up to ruffle his own hair nervously. "What do you have to say for yourself?" I felt myself frown as Evie snapped at Pip, and Hettie shifted uncomfortably on my other side.

"I... Look, I didn't mean to overhear, but I-"

She cut him off, clearly not moved by this excuse. "But you did mean to tattle on me to Vi and Hettie." He didn't deny it- couldn't. "Friends don't tattle on friends, Pip-"

"Yeah, well, friends are doing a lot of things they're not supposed to, lately, aren't they?" Pip fired back softly, which I think surprised all of us- even Pip himself. Maybe especially Pip. "And I wouldn't have had to say anything if you hadn't lied about it." She opened her mouth, but he spoke over her, which was rare for him. "Who was he, Evie? Your man from the club, or some other bloke?" She glared at him, even as Hettie snorted.

"Couldn't be the bloke from last night," She said confidently, and Evie's eyebrows furrowed. "I feel like Evie wouldn't be able to hold a conversation with him without blushing the whole time... and I feel like he's a talker, but you said the call was pretty short. Am I right, Evie?"

She narrowed her eyes at her, not quite glaring- but only, I suspect, because she was more than slightly amused by Hettie's assessment of the situation. "I have a feeling I shouldn't answer that," She said, and Hettie shrugged nonchalantly.

"If you don't, we're just going to assume the worst," She told her. "Which is-"

"Nothing new?" Evie asked pointedly, and Hettie flapped a hand at her. "No." No? "No, it wasn't him." But if it wasn't him, then who-? "You know how I mentioned their friend? The one who we stayed with?" I nodded even as Hettie and Pip shook their heads- right, they hadn't been present for that conversation. "Well, she has a very good friend, who I met and got along quite well with. He..." She hesitated for barely half a second, but it was still noticeable. "It's hard to explain how, but he knew I'd be getting a call from Joyce, and warned me about it ahead of time- along with some other things." Her eyes flicked to Pip, somewhat confusingly.

Hettie blatantly stared at her, clearly fighting to keep the smirk off of her lips. "And this new man... what's he like?" Evie immediately shook her head frantically.

"No. No, no, no. No, I see where you're going with this- don't." Hettie held up her hands in a placating manner. "He's a friend- and while I suppose he's a bit more my type than Pip is-" She shot him an apologetic look that he did his best to ignore. "-I'm far from his." My eyebrows furrowed, automatically sort of offended on her behalf.

"What- Why? How?" She couldn't hide her amusement at this reaction, even if she did seem more than a little flustered by it.

Hettie grinned, shaking her head far more lightly than Evie had. "Is he my type? Maybe you could send him my way, and-"

"You're not his type, either. None of us are his type- well..." She trailed off, and I didn't understand what this meant, until Hettie tilted her head to the side and asked,

"Is... Is his type more, um... saint-like?" She eyed Pip pointedly, and Evie flushed.

Pip frowned- one entirely born of confusion, rather than anything else. "What is that supposed to mean? Why are you looking at me like that?"

Hettie rolled her eyes at him. "I'm insinuating, Mr St James, that Evie's boyfriend likes boys- hence why Evie said none of us are his type. I'm right, aren't I?" Evie winced heavily, hesitating, and Pip blinked.

"You're- That's not... my place to disclose," She said, and Hettie snorted.

"Honestly, I'm more concerned by how he knew Joyce was about to ring you," She said. "Is he monitoring the phone lines or something? I thought we were done with mysterious men sticking their noses where they don't belong-"

"You mean like you always do?"

(A/N): Yes, Pip's surname is St James. We learn more about his name(s) later.