DISCLAIMER: Bad Girls is the property of Shed productions, this story depicts a loving/sexual relationship between women...okay, disclaimer done.
ARCHIVING: Only with the permission of the author.
Larkhall Online
By Sarah
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
"That's a beautiful watch you've got Nikki" Yvonne said as they left the shop. "But then again it was a beautiful watch an hour ago when we were last in there" Yvonne added
"I know Yvonne, thanks for being so patient. Now all I need is a card and I have an idea in mind for that." Karen said leading Yvonne to a card shop.
Yvonne sighed then turned to follow Karen as she bustled in the opposite direction. She followed as Karen made her way straight to the children's card section a confused expression marring her features.
"Ah this one will do" Karen said picking up a card. Yvonne looked over her shoulder while Karen held it out for her to get a better look. "It's a private joke between Nikki and I" Karen said in explanation.
Yvonne looked from the card to Karen. "Karen you and I need to talk babe. How about a coffee before we meet the other two." Yvonne said, not really asking.
Once they were both sat down with a coffee and sticky bun, Yvonne said. "If I was to say to you 'Jaw droppingly sexy gal seeks like minded fem pal. GSOH. Likes going out, movies, cuddling , gardening and teletubbies!'. What would be your response?" Yvonne sat back and took a sip of her coffee.
Karen was sure she would have a shocked expression on her face so didn't bother to take the surprise out of her voice. "How?"
Putting down her cup Yvonne continued "And if I added 'Never knew what people saw in the Teletubbies, always preferred Bob The Builder, but I'm sure you can fix it!'"
Comprehension dawned in Karen. "Then I would say that we need to talk because what you've just told me only proves to me that much more how much our two friends should be together."
"I think your right there Karen, but with Helen feeling like she's betraying her new email friend by being with Nikki it might take a bit of persuading." Yvonne said.
Both ladies sat back and took another sip of their coffees. Karen then put her cup down. "I've got an idea" she said looking triumphantly at Yvonne before outlining her plan to her.
"There they are." Nikki said to Helen as she pulled her into the café outside of Debenhams where Yvonne and Karen sat with coffee and the remains of two sticky buns.
"Hey you two we've been looking everywhere for you" Helen said sitting down at the table.
"So we see" Karen laughed looking at the bags Helen and Nikki placed down by their chairs.
"Yeah well nobody said we couldn't shop at the same time" Nikki laughed.
"So what are you two up to? You look like you are cooking something up." Helen said while Nikki went to get four more coffees.
"We were just wondering what to give Nikki for her birthday." Yvonne said.
"And we think we have the perfect present" Karen added watching as Nikki made her way over to the table. "Right lets drink these up then we need to be making our way back to the hotel to check out. What times your train?. Karen asked.
Twenty minutes later all four left for the hotel to check out and then Yvonne, Helen and Nikki went to the train station and back home.
Helen entered her house, placed her suitcase beside the sofa and flopped down. 'Bloody hell I'm knackered' she thought.
First the train had got in an hour late and then Yvonne had made a big issue about being the first to be dropped off by the taxi driver even though she lived the furthest away from the station than either of the other two. What had followed was the longest ten minutes that Helen could ever remember. At least on the train Helen had been able to leave Nikki to talk to Yvonne while she had been in her own little world. But in the taxi the silence had been excruciating. For some reason since checking out of the hotel, she hadn't been able to get Nikki's little talk from Selfridges out of her mind.
When the taxi had pulled up to Nikki's, there had been an uncomfortable silence where Nikki had looked with longing in her eyes at her but Helen had only managed a glance at her and a quiet "goodbye Nikki see you at work tomorrow".
She had been so close to calling out to the driver to stop and take her back, but when she had looked, Nikki had already gone inside, so she had just turned round and sat quietly the rest of the way to her home.
And now here she was lying down on her sofa reflecting on what had been a tumultuous weekend. Helen stayed that way for 10 minutes, not moving until the numbness in her back compelled her to get up. She made her way into the kitchen and made herself a cup of tea before opening her case and putting her laundry in the machine. She was putting her red shirt in a separate pile when the memory of Nikki taking it off her on Saturday night hit her full force. For the first time she really let herself remember all that she and Nikki had been to each other that night. Flinging the top on the floor Helen grabbed her keys and dashed out the front door.
Nikki headed for the door wishing that whoever was on the other side would take there d@mn finger off the buzzer. This was the last thing she needed after the sh1t that had ended this weekend. All she kept thinking was that Helen would never talk to her again – she had blown it!.
She had noticed that Helen was being quiet early into the train journey home but when Yvonne had insisted on being dropped off first she had felt joy well up inside her at the thought of finally getting Helen alone. That hadn't lasted long though when it had soon become apparent that she wasn't going to look at her let alone talk to her.
After she had got out the taxi she had looked longingly at it till it had reached the corner then she had stormed inside the house slamming the door behind her till it rattled in it's hinges. At first Nikki had just gone into the lounge and sat down remembering the weekend. Finally she had decided that she needed to do something so had gone into the kitchen and scrubbed all the surfaces till they gleamed, trying to forget for just one minute how fantastic it had been to wake up with Helen that morning. When that had failed she had just sat down and let the memories rush over her, until the ringing of the door bell had interrupted.
Helen didn't wait for the door to open fully before pushing her way in and closing the door behind her. "Nikki …." She began "… about today. I'm sorry about the way I behaved … the way we … I left it." She was feeling a little bit nervous here opening herself up like this in front of Nikki. "I've been driving around for the past hour trying to figure out how I can put it right, you know? I just … I just…"
"Hey … hey it's OK. It's alright Helen, honestly I understand." Nikki said running a hand down Helen's arm linking their fingers when they met. The anger from just before she opened the door dissipating quickly.
They stood there in the hallway with their hands holding just gazing into each others eyes for a few moments. "Umm would you like something to drink? Something to eat?" Nikki asked hoping Helen would say yes and stay for a while.
"I'd like that" Helen said and followed Nikki down the hallway to the kitchen. When Helen left two hours later after a lovely meal made by Nikki, all the tension had left her shoulders and her friendship with Nikki was as it had been last Friday before their trip to Manchester.
M: So how was your weekend? Did you have fun.
H: lol it had it's moments but it was really a work thing. How was yours?
M: Well the work aspect was pretty crap but that was more than made up for by the drink and company of the evenings.
H: Do I sense the beginning's of a beautiful friendship?
M: We have a beautiful friendship H, I don't know what it is I have with her.
H: So more fear of the unknown rather than a beautiful friendship? The same could be said of us don't you think?
M: No I think what we have is so much more? Don't you?
H: I don't think I have ever felt this way before, is that strange do you think seen as we have never even met.
M: Well lets rectify that shall we? Take a couple of nights and think about us meeting. I'm ready if you are?
H: It would be good to finally put a face to the mystery lol. Let me think about it?
M: Of course take all the time you need.
Nikki smiled as she logged off, things were looking up, she was finally going to meet with H she was sure of it, now if only she could begin to get Helen off her mind.
Helen logged off with a small frown marring her features. On one hand she wanted to meet with mystery but on the other hand what would happen between her and Nikki if she were to prefer her mystery.
"So what's the plan for Friday then?" Karen asked the two ladies in front of her at the café table.
"Friday night?" Helen and Yvonne said in unison.
"Nikki's birthday!" Karen elaborated.
"How about a meal down at The China Wall, followed by drinks at Edgar's. It's Friday so Edgar's will be open till 02.00am." Helen suggested.
"Sounds good" Yvonne and Karen concurred.
"Will it just be us four for the meal or should we ask some of the others?" Karen asked.
"Oh I think just the four of us for the meal and then we can meet the rest of the guys at Edgar's" Helen answered. "Oh what about Dominic?" Helen mentioned as an afterthought.
"I think he would rather meet us after than sit with four ladies on his own" Karen laughed.
"Well that's it decided then, I'll ring The China Wall later and book the table." Helen said.
"And I'll organise the girls to meet us at Edgar's. At about 10.00pm, yeah?" Karen added.
"And I'll organise the special guest" Yvonne muttered
"What?" Helen asked not quite making out what Yvonne had said, Karen just smiled.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Dear Mystery,
Yvonne smiled to herself, the archive on yahoo messenger was a wonderful thing, good job Helen hadn't deleted any of her messages. Now all she had to do was persuade Helen to put on or carry a yellow rose at about 10.30pm on Friday at Edgar's, but she had a couple of days to think about that. Hearing the toilet flush from upstairs she deleted any trace that an email had been sent and then closed down the internet.
"Hey doll are you alright? You were up there an awful long time?" Yvonne asked with concern.
"Yeah I'm fine. So what did Karen get Nikki for her birthday, I don't want to get her the same thing" Helen answered wearily, it had been a long week and it was only Tuesday!
"She got her a watch, real beautiful it is as well. How are you feeling about Nikki now?" Yvonne said picking up her glass and taking a sip of her Vodka Tonic.
"Oh same as Sunday. Confused. Chaotic. Messy. Bewildered." Helen sighed running a hand through her tresses. "I have no idea what I am going to do?" she sighed. "Did I tell you that Mystery asked me if I wanted to meet up with her?" Helen asked Yvonne.
"Oh?" Yvonne said feigning innocence. "And what have you decided?"
"I don't know." Helen cried. "My life is such a mess right now" she added on a moan.
"Well don't make that decision now, leave it till the weekend." Yvonne advised.
"I can't leave it that long!" Helen said aghast.
"Course you can, if it's meant to be and she really thinks a lot about you then she will wait and understand. And if she doesn't then you know where you stand don't ya." Yvonne said with a certain amount of logic. "Wait until the weekend … and don't talk to her again till then either" Yvonne added on a after thought.
Helen smiled at her friend. "You know what Yvonne … sometimes you are a genius!"
"Hey you cheeky mare" Yvonne scorned throwing a cushion at Helen, which she dodged.
Nikki sat back and stared at the computer screen. 'Well this is it' she thought. She was finally going to get to meet H on Friday at Edgar's. Which was great because she was going to be there anyways with Karen, Yvonne and Helen and as they said there was safety in numbers.
Thinking about Helen sent an ache through her. It was becoming more than obvious to her that all Helen wanted was a regular friendship, and sometimes not even that if the way she had been dodging her for the past three day's was anything to go by. After the meal on Sunday night she had thought that she and Helen could take it slow and be together. But then Monday had come and although she wasn't 100% sure she had thought that Helen was avoiding her, Tuesday had confirmed this when Helen had turned and walked down the hallway in the opposite direction when she thought Nikki hadn't noticed her. But she had. Nikki always knew when Helen was around. And then she had spent the most of today trying to find her only to have Karen come to her office at three o'clock and tell her that Helen had left early with a migraine, and all Nikki could think was what a cr@p excuse that was!
Karen let the door to the café swing shut as she took her sunglasses off and found where Yvonne was sat. Once she had located her she smiled and made her way over.
"So what's the plan?" she asked once the pleasantries were over and an order taken.
Yvonne grimaced, "I don't know, it seemed so easy last night. First we have to get them both to Edgars, which shouldn't be a problem considering it's Nikki's birthday but then we have to get Helen to hold a yellow rose at about 10.30 without Nikki twigging that we know … who know … Helen …. Arghhhh" Yvonne finished burying her head in her hands. "Why do those two have to make everything so bloody complicated" she wailed.
Karen smiled around her coffee that had arrived. "It doesn't have to be that complicated. Both Helen and Nikki will be there, so all we have to do is get them to see who it is that's stood right in front of them."
"All we have to do is show them who it is stood in front of them?!" Yvonne said, her tone dripping sarcasm and disbelief. "Well I'm glad you cleared that up for me Karen because I was really beginning to worry" she added before drinking from her Tea.
"It'll be easy you'll see" Karen added, before leaning forward to outline an idea of how they should go about it.
Nikki sat in her office with her feet up on the desk and watched as the second hand wound round the clock above her. "Thank fcuk it's Friday!" she thought.
It had been a long week of cat and mouse games with Helen. It seemed that every time she had gone looking for Helen she wasn't where she was supposed to be. Whenever she had walked into Helen's office one of the girls would tell her that she had just popped out, she was never in the forecourt for lunch anymore and Nikki knew she was being paranoid but when she had been washing her hands in the ground floor ladies yesterday she could of sworn that Helen had come in, seen her and walked back out again, but as she had her back to the door at the time she wasn't totally positive it had been her.
And to top it all off she was supposed to meeting H tonight and now with her mixed feelings over Helen she was having doubts as to whether it was a good idea. There were all sorts of things that could go wrong and she really didn't feel like another failure this week.
All she had to do now was get through dinner and drinks tonight with Yvonne, Karen and Helen, her first "date" with H and the agony of another birthday and then she could have the whole weekend to mourn the loss of Manchester and the time she had spent there with Helen.
Returning her feet to the floor Nikki stood up and reached for her briefcase when there was a knock at her office door.
"Come in" she shouted without much welcome.
"Ah Nikki I'm glad I've caught you" Neil Grayling Managing Director of Larkhall Incorporated said as a way of greeting when he entered and closed the door. "I've been meaning to speak with you all week about this, now seems as good a time as any." He added making his way carefully into the room and sitting opposite where Nikki stood.
Nikki shivered, Grayling gave her the creeps. Everything he did seemed so calculated, even the way he walked, and she had no doubt that he had deliberately left it till 5.00pm on a Friday to talk to her about whatever it was he had come to her office tonight for.
"What can I do for you Mr. Grayling?" Nikki asked with barely concealed insolence. It was after all home time after a long week.
Neil smiled "I know that it has only been just over a month since your promotion but an … opportunity … has arisen that I think you should seriously think about. Do you know Graham Nicholson?" Neil barely waited for Nikki's affirmation. "He was due to take over the US side of the business on the first of next month, unfortunately over the weekend he suffered a quite severe stroke, followed by a massive coronary on Monday, and well as I'm sure you can imagine, it doesn't look too good for Graham" Neil pondered his old colleague and the anguish his family were now going through. Nikki stayed quiet, truth be know she had never had much time for the old ditherer, nicknamed No No by some people because that was his answer to any question. "The board are unanimous – we would like you to oversee the US business" Neil continued, grabbing Nikki's attention once again. "Of course it would mean total relocation to California but a suitable recompense will be made to you. Well I know this is something you will have to think off so … please … take your time, come and see me on Monday" Neil said standing and making his way to the door. "Goodnight Nikki have a good weekend" he added as he closed the door.
Nikki just continued to sit there staring at the seat Neil had vacated. 'Move to California?' she thought. Well it was someplace she had always wanted to try and the timing wasn't too bad after all if she wasn't around Helen all the time then maybe she would get over this … whatever this was!.