Chapter Text
Sergeant Bianca Grieve took a hurried second bite from the piece of cold toast she held in her hand. She only had time to partially chew it so she helped it down with a large swig of her coffee….too large it seemed as she coughed and spluttered to avoid choking. As she recovered, she tossed the remainder of the toast back onto the plate and dumped the coffee mug in the sink, all to be dealt with at some stage much later in the day. She then grabbed her coat from the back of the kitchen chair along with her leather briefcase containing the files she’d spent hours poring over the previous evening before dashing out the front door only to return seconds later to snatch her car keys from their hook and try again, all the while muttering something to herself about needing ‘a fucking miracle not to be late’.
oooOooo
Earlier that morning, at the insistence of her alarm, Sergeant Grieve had partially woken, rolled over and in her semi-conscious state tapped the ‘Snooze’ button on her phone. Confident that it would wake her again in ten minutes, she closed her eyes, hopeful that she would slip back into the pleasant dream that had been so rudely disrupted….a dream in which a leather-clad, high-heeled woman with riding crop in hand who, apart from the outfit, looked very much like Janet King QC, featured prominently.
If it hadn’t been for a loud but fortuitous backfiring of a car somewhere nearby, she would probably still be curled up contentedly in her bed, sleeping soundly, dreaming her delicious dream and innocently unaware of her tardiness. As it was, the noise, like a bullet exploding from a gun, had woken her with a sudden start making her heart leap in her chest, however, it was on checking the time on her phone that her pulse really began to race. She had pressed the ‘Off’ button by accident and had overslept by almost an hour!
Sheer panic propelled her from the bed and into the shower after which she gave herself a cursory drying off with the towel, thanking the goddesses as she did so for blessing her with enough foresight to have organised a fresh suit and ironed a clean shirt the night before. What she hadn’t counted on, however, was having no clean underwear left in her knickers drawer. She really must take a day off and do some laundry, she thought to herself as she furiously opened one drawer after another and hurtled through the contents hoping to find a random pair of misplaced underwear but, having no luck, she hurriedly shut them again as best she could. In desperation, she dragged her gym bag from under the bed and rifled through it for the spare set of clothes that she often kept in there for after her workouts.
“Yeeesss,” she said with a pump of her fist as she located a fresh pair of knickers bundled at the bottom of the bag. They were white cotton with the fabric worn thin in patches and the elastic a little saggy but they met the minimum requirement in that they were clean. It was probably safe to say, they weren’t her most elegant pair but right now it was about necessity not appearance so they would have to do.
oooOooo
Bianca’s boarder of several years now, Rhys, was a routinely-early riser and had already been up and tip-toeing around the house for almost two hours. Having completed his regular morning run followed by ablutions, he’d pottered about the kitchen preparing the coffee and toast for both of them as he did most week days. Usually he and Bianca would sit down at the table together to share a bit of idle chatter over breakfast but this morning Rhys had eaten alone as Bianca had been a complete ‘no show’. He could only assume she was having a rare day off ….maybe she was unwell, although knowing her as well as he did, he was of the opinion that it would take a near-fatal disease to keep her home in bed. Maybe she was having a rostered day off. Rhys laughed to himself and shook his head. What was he thinking? He couldn’t remember Bianca ever actually taking an RDO even once in the whole time he’d lived there. Whatever the reason for her non-appearance, it seemed like she was indulging in some extra sleep so he took great care not to disturb her. However, when she did finally appear in the kitchen, she had the look of a woman possessed with her hair still damp and bedraggled, her shirt only half tucked in and an agonized frown on her face. Rhys could only watch on in bewilderment from behind his newspaper as the normally organised and calm Bianca dashed around the kitchen like a whirling dervish, managing only a couple of bites of toast and a gulp of coffee before rocketing out of the front door only to re-enter seconds later to grab her car keys which she had forgotten in her fluster, before making her final exit leaving a trail of unintelligible mutterings behind her.
oooOooo
As she inserted the key into the ignition and turned it, Bianca let out an audible sigh of relief as the engine came to life. The last thing she needed was car trouble but the way her day was shaping up, it wouldn’t have been a total shock if the car had refused to co-operate. Now she had to hope that there were no bingles on the roads this morning to cause one of Sydney’s infamous gridlocks and really seal her fate.
Looking at the clock on her dashboard, she calculated that if all went well from here on in, she could still make it on time but what were her chances?
As a Federal police officer there was almost nothing more embarrassing than turning up late for a court appearance even if it was only the committal hearing, for it was in the courts that their investigative efforts would culminate as the evidence was pieced together to form a seamless picture of events which would convince the upholders of justice that there was a case to be answered. Magistrates were notoriously unforgiving of anyone who caused delays in their already tight schedules, particularly if you were an officer of the law who should know better. No doubt, if she was to be late, she would also have to face the wrath of the Department of Public Prosecutions’ barrister assigned to the case who was relying on her recall of the investigation and knowledge of the facts in order to build a sound argument for trial. They, too, would not be impressed if she was to incur the ill will of the presiding magistrate.
oooOooo
Having made up some time with a fortuitous run of green lights…. a couple of which may have actually been an amberish-green… and driving cautiously but perhaps ever so slightly over the speed limit in some places… Bianca didn’t want to lose those precious minutes gained searching for a place to park so rather than do circuits looking for a space, she nosed the car into the underground carpark of the Museum Towers, a large residential and commercial complex located directly opposite the Downing Centre where the Local Courts were housed and where she needed to be as soon as possible. Strictly speaking, parking was limited to residents and businesses of the Towers as well as a few privileged criminal lawyers but Bianca was much more willing to face the unlikely possibility and inconvenience of having her car towed than turning up late for court.
With ten minutes to spare, she quickly gathered her coat and briefcase from the backseat of the car, activated the door locks and hurried towards the lifts. She pressed vigorously at the button on the wall, hoping to bring the lift to her faster but it was entirely unnecessary as the metal jaws that were its doors slid open almost immediately and beckoned her in.
While she waited for the lift to carry her up the three levels to the foyer, annoyingly stopping at each, Bianca took the opportunity to tuck in her shirt, run her fingers through her hair by way of a comb and generally check that she was presentable.
As soon as the lift doors opened up to the ground floor, Bianca stepped into the foyer and in only a few quick strides had made her way back out onto the street. At a break in the traffic she crossed Castlereagh then rounded the corner into Liverpool Street. Assured that she would now reach the court room on time, she started to refocus her mind on the case she had been investigating and running through all the details in her head one more time.
At the entrance to the Downing Centre she took the steps two at a time then, after dodging a number of barristers distinct in their legal regalia and accompanied by harried assistants lugging small trolleys stacked with file boxes, she slipped through the glass doors and headed to the registers where the courtroom schedules were displayed. A glance at her watch told her she was still in the black.
Relieved to have finally made it and with minutes to spare, she took a deep breath to help her regain some composure after the morning’s mayhem. Although she had already checked the court details online several nights before, Bianca scanned the register until she found the ‘Collins’ case and confirmed that she was to go to courtroom 4 where Sylvia Ferguson was to be the presiding magistrate which wasn’t great news but it could have been worse. Given her start to the day, she was amazed it wasn’t worse. It would have been totally within keeping of her luck thus far to see her nemesis, Magistrate Corey Hartford’s name beside the case.
As Bianca looked up from the register to reacquaint herself with the layout of the building and decide which direction to take to courtroom 4, her eyes fell on a familiar but unexpected figure standing only metres away from her….a figure that swept all previous sense of urgency from her mind…a figure that instantly scrambled her thoughts and left her frozen on the spot, unable to think what to do or where to go. If someone had so much as asked her at that moment what her name was she probably would not have been able to answer for standing there, barely ten metres from her, in her robes and wig and with her usual authoritive air, was the DPP’s Senior Prosecutor, Janet King.
Bianca could do nothing but watch on, mute and immobile, as Ms King stood those few paces away, deep in discussion with a young man who, Bianca surmised later, was her instructing solicitor, totally unaware of her presence. Janet King was the woman at the centre of Bianca’s most erotic of dreams as well as her worst nightmares.
Strangely enough, Bianca’s first and only coherent thought was of the less-than-attractive underwear she’d been forced to put on that morning but that was what Janet King did to her…she made her think about her underwear or, more precisely, that region of her body that the underwear sheathed.
oooOooo
Almost six months ago, Sergeant Bianca Grieve, as an officer of the Australian Federal Police, had been seconded to work for the New South Wales Royal Commission into Serious Firearms Crimes under the leadership of appointed commissioner, Janet King, an astute, confident woman whose reputation for being professionally unshakeable preceded her into each and every courtroom she entered and had seen her career path take a steep upward trajectory.
Bianca and Janet had worked together briefly once before when Bianca had played a small but nonetheless crucial part in an investigation on another of Janet’s cases. It was true to say that at the end of it all each had been impressed by the other and it was for that reason Janet had requested Bianca’s presence as part of the team on the Royal Commission. While flattered by the request, if not slightly daunted by the woman and the authority which she wielded by her mere presence, Bianca could not help the familiar feelings of attraction that she found Janet King QC stirred inside her. However, it was all rather futile as, on the one or two occasions Bianca had ventured towards the more personal with the woman….a touch here, a smile there, a few kind words when she thought she might need them…. it was made painfully obvious why Ms King had quite justly earned the nickname of The Ice Queen. It was to be strictly business only, albeit in a collegial manner.
Going into the Commission, Bianca was well aware of the personal burden Janet carried. Two years earlier Janet had lost her partner, Ash, in the most horrific of circumstances. Ashleigh Larsson had been murdered…callously shot down by a single bullet as she entered their home, her slain body to be discovered by Janet soon afterwards. At that time the reason for the killing was uncertain although theories were rife….Revenge against Janet? A random shooting? A case of mistaken identity? Something as cold as killing for the mere thrill of it? No motive had ever been firmly established and its perpetrator to this point in time remained unknown. Despite pursuing even the smallest of possible clues and all probable and even improbable hypotheses, the investigation that followed could turn up no likely suspects so, as a consequence, it had ground to a halt with the puzzle left unsolved.
As well as being devastated by the death of her partner, Bianca knew that to someone like Janet who needed all the loose ends to be neatly tied up for her mind to be at rest, the unsolved nature of this crime would have been torturous. Inevitably it was be the driving force behind her accepting the commission, regardless of the extra workload it created for her which, in turn, consumed even more of her time, a commodity she was poor in already as she was now responsible for raising her children single-handedly. It wasn’t meant to be like this. Before the twins were even conceived, she and Ash had discussed every aspect of their impending parenthood and made detailed plans for the immediate and into the more distant future. Once the twins were born and could be bottle-fed, Ash would stay at home and take care of them while Janet took up her career again. It made sense as Janet’s yearly income was more than double what Ash could make as a teacher. Together they were going to watch their children grow up, sharing their every milestone and supporting them in their every endeavour whether it be a performance in a school play, a sporting match or a university graduation. However, things did not work out that way. The fortunes of fate far outweighed even the powers of Janet King.
Ironically, it was Ash’s death that made Janet fully realise that she was surrounded by people who truly cared about her and who were more than willing to help her out, particularly with the children. Slowly but surely, she learned to accept this help and could now ask for it freely without necessarily feeling weak or needy…two states she couldn’t abide.
With this invisible wound still on the mend, Bianca could also fully understand Janet’s hesitancy to become emotionally involved with someone else if indeed that was the reason for her lack of response to Bianca’s attempts at friendship. Bianca reluctantly also had to consider that maybe the attraction wasn’t mutual although she was convinced that there was something there, particularly as she had caught Janet out on more than one occasion over the weeks they had been working together, giving her what could be quite easily interpreted as ‘the once over’ when she thought Bianca wasn’t looking.
Some weeks into the Commission it had all turned unexpectedly personal. The lives of Janet and her children had come under direct threat so immediate measures were taken to ensure their safety. The twins were whisked off for an indefinite stay with their grandmother while Janet was given household protection with a body guard allocated to be with her around the clock. That job was offered to Bianca. It was one that she accepted without a moment’s hesitation, grateful that she would personally be able to ensure Janet’s safety and make certain the job was done properly even if it meant long shifts sitting alone in her car outside Janet’s house, wearily fighting off the boredom while well and truly putting herself in the first line of fire should anything come of the threats.
Much to Bianca’s surprise and immense pleasure, the job had turned out to be far more rewarding than she would have ever expected and in a way she had only dreamed of.
As Bianca stood outside Janet’s front door about to knock and let Janet know what was happening… that, as of now, she was on duty and there for her if she needed her… a taxi had pulled up at the kerb. It was with some amusement that she listened as Janet thanked the driver with whom she seemed to be on first name terms and then watched as she alighted from the taxi. Despite the darkness, the glow from the exterior light of Janet’s house as well as a nearby streetlight provided enough illumination by which Bianca could see that Janet had to struggle slightly to remain steady on her feet. Had she had a little too much to drink? That would explain her use of the taxi.
Once inside her home, a converted warehouse now luxury apartment, it became apparent that Janet was actually a little tipsy and as she relaxed in the comforting familiarity of her home she all but gave up on the pretence of complete sobriety. Bianca could also see that the wall of professional steeliness that was usually steadfast in place, had been lowered slightly exposing a far more personable Janet King. An interesting, if not slightly confusing skew on the woman she knew from during work hours.
After explaining that she was there to provide police protection for Janet, Bianca was about to return to her car so as to begin her watch when Janet had made her move. She had sidled up considerably closer to Bianca…much closer than they would ever normally stand…close enough to make Bianca’s pulse race in anticipation of what she dared to hope might happen next… and invited her to stay unless, of course, sitting for endless hours alone in her car was more appealing. Perhaps emboldened by the amount of wine she had drunk….considering the outcome, Bianca didn’t much care about the cause….Janet completely discarded her professional armour and moved in for the kiss. Like most first kisses, it had begun a little clumsily but had very quickly heated up into something more sensual…something more demanding.
On that evening, almost five months ago…four months, two weeks and three days to be exact but who’s counting?… Janet had lead Bianca by the hand up to her bedroom where she had steadily undressed her….slow enough to excite and entice…fast enough to sate the rapidly rising physical need each had for the other ….and they had made love, once, twice, more…until Bianca had lost count and their bodies craved sleep.
Although it was far from the first time for either women, Bianca, at least, recognized it as something truly special…. the way her heart raced at the touch of Janet’s lips on her bare skin; the way she had to fight the urge to smile like a Cheshire cat with Janet’s blue-eyed gaze upon her; the ease with which they melded in mutual desire to share the one skin, the one breath…..she had never experienced feelings quite as intense as those before.
That night Janet proved her proficiencies to be in more than the area of mere law with her penchant for thoroughness and success extending into play as well as her work. Although, it was the level of vulnerability that Janet allowed herself….not something normally seen in the woman….that Bianca found equally impressive. The façade of Ice Queen that she wore during the day had not only melted but had become white-hot steam.
Bianca found herself naked in Janet’s bedroom on a number of occasions over the next week which was as good a place as any from which to keep watch she figured. However, it was always that first night that she called up in her memory when thinking of Janet.
Days later the investigation reached a tense and tumultuous climax. A woman blaming Janet for the death of her husband, had taken the twins with the intention of using them as part of her plan to seek retribution.
In the time leading up to the drama, Bianca had gone home to pack some fresh clothes and head to Janet’s place. It was as she spoke on the phone to Janet who was in her office awaiting the download of the Dutch DNA face morphology results, that the events swiftly unfolded. When the long-awaited identity of Ash’s killer appeared on the computer screen as clear and accurate as a photograph, Janet had recognized it immediately as someone who was all too familiar to them. That someone had just left the room with both of her children!
“It’s Peta,” Janet’s terrified voice had said into the phone.
“Janet, what is it?”
“The face…it’s Peta.”
“Coffee girl Peta?”
“Yes, it’s almost a photograph.”
“Oh shit…..”
It had been Bianca who had arrived on the scene first and who had fired off the necessary shot that had brought an end to the frightening ordeal, her actions disabling the killer and returning the children, unharmed, to safety. It had been Bianca who had watched on as a relieved but distraught Janet bundled her children into the backseat of the car and drove off. That had been the last Bianca had seen or heard of Janet King on that day or any day since.
oooOooo
Appreciating that Janet would in all likelihood want time to be with her family and to work her way through all the implications of this latest ordeal…the attempt on the lives of her children….finally knowing who had killed Ash and the reason behind it….coming to terms with the fact that the bullet had actually been intended for her….Bianca had decided to give her some space. She would not to intrude unless, of course, Janet asked her to but as days turned into weeks and nothing was heard from her…no phone calls or texts, no replies to the increasingly concerned messages she had left, no emails, nothing at all…Bianca felt a tight knot of anxiety form in her gut. Was Janet alright? Were they alright…her and Janet? Although, she wasn’t a hundred percent sure if indeed there even was a ‘they’ for there had only been a ‘handful’ of nights together before it had all ostensibly ended and yet Bianca couldn’t help but think there had been more to it than just the physical. Had Janet simply used her to fulfil a sexual need? Bianca didn’t think Janet was even capable of such shallowness but how well did she actually know the woman when she really got down to it?
On several occasions Bianca had considered driving over to Janet’s house and confronting her, asking her directly why she hadn’t spoken to her or at least contacted her in some way. Didn’t she understand that Bianca was worried about her? Didn’t it occur to Janet that the polite thing to do would be to answer at least one message or even call to tell her that she didn’t want to continue what they had? But then Bianca would think to herself, “What was it that they had anyway? Had anything really started in such a short time? Had she been reading too much into it all?” Bianca didn’t think she had. She had been of the impression that her own feelings were being reciprocated but clearly she had been wrong.
Once or twice Bianca had gone as far as driving in the direction of Janet’s house but each time she had changed her mind at the last minute and turned around as her sense of pride wouldn’t allow her to be chasing after someone who wasn’t interested enough to reply to her messages and whose intentions she had obviously misread.
Along the grapevine which was more efficient than ever these days thanks to social media, Bianca had heard that Janet had taken indefinite leave from the Department of Public Prosecutions with the possibility that she may resign altogether. It was also rumoured that she had moved interstate with the children. That was it then, Bianca had decided. Time to move on. She had given it her best shot but it was not to be. However, that didn’t stop her tuning in to conversations when she thought she heard Janet’s name mentioned or looking out for any reference to her in relation to court cases or investigations. The latest information she’d been able to glean while having a conversation with Detective Inspector Andy Campbell was that Janet had taken the children overseas for an extended holiday but he hadn’t volunteered any extra details…there was no mention as to where they had gone or when they would return….and Bianca didn’t like to ask for fear of sounding suspiciously like a stalker.
Forced to accept the irrefutable evidence that said Janet had moved on, Bianca set about doing the same which meant throwing herself into her work with exhausting gusto broken only by a few hours of sleep here and there, giving her no time to dwell on thoughts of Janet King.
oooOooo
That had all been several months ago now and in those months Bianca had come to terms with the fact that Janet was gone from her life…the woman was out of her reach….or so she would have believed until this moment. Now that Janet stood only a few short steps away from her, Bianca was conscious of her pulse quickening and the flurry in her stomach of a thousand butterflies. She was also aware of the rising heat of anger which prickled her skin and set her jaw firmly. She wanted nothing more than to rush over to Janet and demand to know what the hell was going on. Why had not one of her messages been answered? Would it have been so damn hard to call? Was it really asking too much? But Bianca couldn’t…not here…not now….so instead she remained languishing on the spot like a fish out of water, barely able to breathe.
It was only as Janet and her assistant turned away from her and headed toward the courtrooms that Bianca’s mind reconnected, reminding her that she too had somewhere to be. Another glance at her watch told her she needed to hurry.
Bianca made her way to courtroom 4, stepping lively as she did, while making a concerted effort to clear her mind of all thoughts of Janet, focussing instead on the evidence she would need to deliver to the magistrate in just a few short minutes.
oooOooo
After a brief post-mortem of the outcome of the hearing with the DPP’s barrister followed by an earnest commitment made by both to strengthen the case, Bianca collected her files and her briefcase and left the courtroom, her frustration with the result barely under control.
“Case dismissed! The evidence too circumstantial! What is circumstantial about a kilogram of amphetamines and almost $100K in cash hidden in the boot of the guy’s car? Of course he’s going to deny any knowledge of it but even Blind Freddie can see he’s lying! Who do you have to sleep with to get a trial around here?”
As she marched along the corridor towards the building’s exit, Bianca could feel a head of steam building up, partially because of the outcome but also because she blamed herself to some extent for the magistrate’s decision. She hadn’t presented the evidence as clearly as she might have. She had let herself be distracted.
“How are we supposed to keep this stuff off the streets if we’re hijacked by decisions like this? Maybe I should have stayed in bed after all.”
It was as Bianca was striding across the main foyer towards the doors, her thoughts still caught up in the ridiculousness of the magistrate’s ruling, that she smacked straight into one of the many ‘billowing black robes’ moving around the building completely absorbed in their own particular mission. The impact of the collision knocked Bianca’s files from her arms and scattered them on the floor.
“What the hell?” Bianca muttered vehemently as she bent down to gather up her precious paperwork, her reaction aimed more at the powers that were determined to ruin her day than anyone else. As she scooped the sheets of paper back into their folders she offered up a belated apology to the person she had bumped into who was still standing beside her. It was only when this person bent down to help her with the files that Bianca bothered to glance up to see who it was. Her gaze met the unmistakeable blue eyes, blonde hair and strong jaw-line that could only belong to one person.
“Janet?!” Bianca said, failing to keep the surprise out of her voice. “Sorry about….I wasn’t watching where I was….I was thinking about….Are you alright?”
The corners of Janet’s mouth edged up ever so slightly in an amused smile.
“I’m fine…..Let me help you with those,” Janet offered, her voice and manner far more controlled but then she was used to keeping her emotions on a tight rein.
That initial moment of recognition was followed by an awkward, embarrassed silence as both women were equally unprepared for this moment that fate had flung at them so they filled the void by concentrating on shuffling the spilled papers into the folders.
With all the papers back in their rightful place, both women got to their feet again. To avoid another ‘spill’ Bianca put the files into her briefcase, something she should have done in the first place.
As Janet handed Bianca the two folders she had picked up and still had in her hands, Bianca gave her a polite ‘thank you.’ It was all she could manage to say despite, over the months, having stored away in her brain a thousand questions she wanted to ask should they meet up again but now that the opportunity had arisen her synapses had become sluggish with the shock and she struggled to put together even the most basic sentence.
“How are you?” Janet asked. Her smile had tightened.
“Good….Fine….You? The twins?”
“We’re all doing well now, thanks.” Janet ran a quick appraising eye over Bianca and ventured, “You’re looking...good…great.”
“Yeah….thanks….you too.” Bianca winced as she heard her words...painful platitudes….but there seemed little else they could say to one another that wouldn’t threaten to burst open that oppressive cloud that hung between them.
Finally, it was Janet who broke free of the banalities.
Her voice was low and her expression now more serious, more subdued.
“We should probably find a time to talk.”
Janet was aware that she was most likely entering sensitive territory, one of her own making, and she wasn’t sure how Bianca would react.
At those words, Bianca felt her whole body tense like a fighter’s fist as her frustration began to build again but this time it was aimed at Janet.
“Really?” she thought sarcastically but replied, “Sure…that would be good,” with a nonchalance that belied her irritation. Somehow Janet always ended up being the one calling the shots but Bianca wasn’t going to let her annoyance deny her a chance to have her questions answered.
It was as Janet was about to suggest that Bianca might come over for dinner that night that their attention was drawn by the sound of a voice not too far away calling Bianca’s name. Both women turned in unison towards the voice. It was a woman about their own age if not slightly younger and as she approached them Janet couldn’t help but note how absurdly attractive she was.
“Hi, Bianca,” the woman said as she wrapped her arms around Bianca enthusiastically and kissed her cheek before noticing Janet standing there and realising that she was probably interrupting. “Oh….excuse me,” she added a little more meekly, “I didn’t mean to butt in like that.”
“It’s fine,” Bianca reassured her as she made the obligatory introductions. “Janet, this is Tahlia. Tahlia this is….”
“Janet King….yes, I know,” Tahlia interjected as she stretched out a hand towards the barrister. “I work for the courts and, as I’m sure you’re aware, your reputation is well-known around here.”
“Mmmm….I’m not sure if that’s a compliment or not,” Janet only half-joked as she shook the woman’s hand. Tahlia’s lack of response did not reassure Janet. Instead Tahlia turned to Bianca and asked, “Are we still on for dinner tonight?”
“Of course….I’ll bring the wine….Red or white?”
“Both….I’ll see you around seven then.”
With a final peck to Bianca’s cheek, Tahlia moved off to join the lunchtime exodus from the building.
As Janet watched Bianca watching Tahlia leave, suddenly the penny dropped. Bianca had moved on.
“Of course she had! Why was she so surprised?” Janet asked herself. “Had she expected Bianca to wait around pining for her, particularly since she hadn’t responded to the many messages or stayed in touch? But there had been a reason for that.”
They were reasons Janet felt a sudden urge to explain to Bianca even if it was too late for them to rekindle what they had started which, she had to admit, was something she had thought about now that the dust of recent dramas had settled and she and her family were well on the road to recovery from their ordeal.
“I was going to suggest we could talk over dinner tonight but obviously you’re already spoken for….”
Not wanting to let the opportunity go, Bianca quickly took up the slack. “We could have dinner at my place later in the week…if you want….if you can get a sitter.”
Janet gave her one of those smiles that instantly dispersed any remnants of the irritation she might have still been harbouring.
“Sounds perfect….I’m sure Tony can look after Liam and Emma….He owes me a favour so I’ll call it in.”
“Does Friday night suit....around 6… or 7?”
“Sure.”
With little else left to say at that point, Bianca made an excuse about having to get back to the office while Janet indicated that she needed to be in court and then, almost reluctantly, they turned and headed in their various directions. Perhaps her day hadn’t been a total loss after all, Bianca thought, although she still had to hope that her car hadn’t been towed and that the dodgy elastic in her underwear lasted out the rest of the day.