Chapter Four (Part Two)

It was only a little later that Jen made her excuses, hugged and left Ethan and her dad at home deciding on pudding. She took her coat and, as soon as the door snicked shut on the latch behind her, she rang Lucy. They decided on a place from them to meet.

Jen quickly forgot about the awkwardness of dinner as she clacked along main road in her stubby black heels that needed fixing. Under the amber glow of the streetlamps the cold, draughts of air passed uncomfortably beside her neck. She pulled her coat a little closer, hunching her shoulders and as and she did Jen thought about her old flatmate.

Lucy Trean was two years older than Jen and had been in the year above her at university. She was the friend of a friend and sometime flatmate of Jen; they had become close in Lucy's final year and remained in touch while Jen finished her degree and Lucy was on her training contract.
Lucy was in Morford visiting her parents. It was a happy coincidence that they had both come from here; and it was also a fillip for Jen, who was rather missing her old friends now she had moved back. It had almost been the whole summer since she had seen anyone and she didn’t plan on missing the opportunity to see her.

They arranged by text to meet in a nice wine bar on a cobbled turning just off the high street. It was fairly busy when Jen arrived. Some of the patrons turned to size her up casually; it was the usual crowd thought Jen; slick hair and cheap suits or pressed shirts, jeans and work shoes. Jen ignored them as she peered round the room; she was there first. Seeing that it was already a quarter to ten, she brought a bottle of white wine and two glasses to the only table she could find. As she was sitting down, Lucy appeared.

Jen almost bounced back off the sofa as she got up again to say hello. Lucy looked almost exactly the same as she had done when Jen had last seen her. She had long white blonde hair that hung in loose curls down to the top of her neck. Her face was small and everything else about her was quite petite, despite the fact she stood nearly as tall as Jen.

“It’s so nice to see you” Jen felt suddenly elated as she sat back into the chair, “you look great. Oh I love your shoes” said Jen looking down and seeing a pair of cream leather Jimmy Choo’s.
“Thanks, well you look lovely too” said Lucy, as if she had been prompted to say it, but Jen didn’t notice.
“Sit down, sit down” she said excitedly “I got some wine? Are you well?” and then remembering herself she sat back down.
Lucy poured herself and Jen a glass of wine and sat back with a sigh, “yes, thanks; you got away from your parents then?”
Jen wondered momentarily if she should mention her mother, and decided against it, “yes finally” she said “did you ever meet them?”
“I don’t think so” Lucy obviously wasn’t interested; she had a mischievous look on her face, “I’ve done my duty too” looking positively feline as she pawed the rim of her glass. Jen watched her admiringly.
“Well I was so happy to hear you were coming down, you wouldn’t believe how long it has been since I saw anyone, since, like, just after graduation.”
“That happens” replied Lucy “you find that most of them are just friends of convenience... in the nicest possible way. You’re just in the same place at the same time, and then you’re not. Same thing happened to me.”
“I suppose,” Jen thought out loud, not really believing what Lucy had just said. “But, yes, about you, your new life. You have to tell me all about your new life in London. Is it amazing?”
“Yes, it’s amazing... busy, crazy, frantic” Lucy took a sip of her wine “It’s good to come back here sometimes, catch your breath!”
Jen carried on with her enquiries.
“So where are you living now?”
“Pimlico.”
“Pimlico” repeated Jen wistfully, “wow.”
“Yeah, it’s a nice little two bed flat.”
“...in a great place too” enthused Jen “and how’s work?”
“It’s good, going well, but it’s fucking hard!”
Jen started imperceptibly, she didn’t think she had ever heard Lucy swear before, “...but it’s exciting, new place, new job, new start.”
“Yes, but let’s just say they know how to take their pound of flesh.”
Again Jen was deaf to the complaint, “...but it must be amazing to be there, living on your own doing what you want.”
Lucy looked at her friend with a cocked head; ‘she really does think the grass is greener’ she thought. Lucy didn’t mind playing along, it felt good to be esteemed, if only a little bit.
“It is, yeah it is. Did I tell you I’ve got a boyfriend?”
“No!”

They talked for a while about Lucy’s boyfriend Tim, and then Levi and Jen tried to make him out as a man of wax too. As she did so, the disparity between how happy she supposed herself with the relationship and the reality of the matter became more manifest to her. After this she stopped talking about herself and continued to ask questions of Lucy about her life in London, the life that she knew she wanted. The conversation continued until the lights came on in the bar and they left with a hug and assurances they would do ‘it’ more often.