Chapter 22

Wednesday morning, today we’re taking Pixie to see Jenna, her mother. We’d phoned on Monday to check it was ok for all four of us to visit, they’d called back 30 minutes later to say it was fine, Jenna was doing well at the moment and was excited to meet Pixie’s girlfriend and her parents.

“Are we taking her a gift?” Kelly asked.

“It’s kind of awkward, we can’t take a gift and give it straight to her, the guards have to check everything and they hand them over later, when they’ve checked for drugs, booze, weapons and stuff. I always suspect they keep stuff, I know that’s super cynical of me, but I don’t have the money to buy her anything just for it to go missing. I tend to just get her a couple of chocolate bars from the vending machine in the lobby, then I can give them straight to her, she likes chocolate.”

“What would be something useful, assuming she actually receives it?”

“I think she’d like some nice clothes, they wear their own clothes, and all the ones she’s got have come from a charity that gives second hand clothes to prisoners.”

“Ok, so we make up a clothing parcel. What sizes is she?”

“Well, I’m basically a clone, she’s my height, maybe a bit slimmer from a prison diet.”

“I’ve got so many clothes I’ve never worn,” Naomi said.

“Nothing too fancy,” Pixie said, “it’ll just get stolen.”

“I’m sure I’ve got some stuff that’s not obviously expensive, come on Pixie, let’s go sort some stuff, if she’s a bit smaller than you I bet my undies will fit her perfectly, I’ve got loads of bras that are practically new.”

“Do you think Pixie is ok?” Kelly asked after the girls had gone, “she looks awfully pale today, paler than normal I mean.”

“I imagine she’s nervous, after all, she’s not only taking her girlfriend to see her mum, which can’t be an easy thing to do in normal times, let alone when your mum is in a secure hospital, but she’s also taking her girlfriend’s mum, and her mum’s boyfriend.”

“Oh my god, I hadn’t thought about it that way, the poor dear, and here I am pressuring her into giving Jenna a gift.”

“This is a pretty strange time for us all I guess.”

A few minutes later Naomi returned with a large pink box in her arms, Pixie by her side with a slight smile on her face, the first of the day.

“I found this box, I think you gave it me one birthday for storing my Barbies. I think it’s quite pretty.”

She lifted the lid off the box and we saw she’d carefully folded a number of plain coloured t-shirts, a couple of jumpers and blouses, two pairs of jeans and some underwear, nothing too fancy, but it was all good quality.

“Pixie says it’s all suitable for her mum.”

“It is, thank you for being so kind,” Pixie said, squeezing Naomi’s hand nervously.

Pixie carefully loaded the box in the Macan’s boot and the girls climbed in the back seats, looking in the rearview mirror I could see them holding hands, mostly in silence, for the whole 45 minute journey.

The secure hospital was not what I expected at all, I guess I thought it would be like a regular prison, with high walls, dual gates with guards, I was even imagining guard towers and searchlights.

Ok, I’ve never actually visited a prison before, so I only had films to base my ideas on.

Instead we drove through an open gateway and up to what looked very much like a typical Victorian municipal building, it was probably originally a hospital, or maybe a workhouse.

As I pulled into the car park I could see a high fence behind the first building, maybe I wasn’t far wrong with my first thoughts.

As if Pixie could read my mind she said quietly, “this first building is the reception and offices, we’ll have to hand the present in for checking, and leave our bags, phones, keys, anything that’s not actually our clothing basically. That’s why I asked you to bring a camera Tom, so we can have a record of the meeting. I’d like a photo of mum, me and Naomi, we can print it and send her a copy.”

“I’m sure she’d like that,” Kelly said.

“Mum’s in that first building behind the fence, on the top floor, that’s where all the ladies are housed, the men are in the next building, behind another fence. It’s not that bad here really, I know I said I hate it, but that’s because mum is locked up here.

“They have a pool, a proper big one, and a gym, and a cinema, and she has her own room, it’s not like a prison cell or anything, apart from the lock on the door, she has pictures up, and a table, and her own TV and radio.

“I know what I’m doing here, I’m talking to you instead of getting out of the car, I’m telling you how nice it is whilst avoiding going inside. Give me a minute to collect myself then I’ll be ready.”

A few moments later Pixie took a deep breath, muttered “be brave” to herself then unbuckled her seatbelt and slid out of the car.

Naomi opened the rear hatch and took out the box, I locked the car and we followed Pixie into the reception, where she was greeted warmly by a uniformed receptionist.

“Hey Pixie, I heard you were coming today, is this your girlfriend?”

“Hey Gemma, yes, this is my girlfriend, Naomi, and Kelly, Naomi’s mum, and Tom, Kelly’s partner. Kelly and Tom are looking after me now.”

“Ahhh, things not working at home?”

“Not so much anymore.”

“Well, clearly your new folks love you very much if they’ve come all this way with you. We don’t get many group visits here, that’s for sure.”

“Thank you, I feel very much at home with Naomi.”

“Great, so, down to business, do we have anything you’re not allowed to take through that door, phones, food, drinks etc.”

“We have a present for mum, can you check it over and give it to her, please?”

Naomi placed the box on the counter and Gemma lifted the lid.

“Ohh, new clothes. I’ll tell you what, give us 5 minutes, I’ll get Julie to give everything a once over and you can take it up yourself.”

“That would be great, thank you.”

Gemma carried the box into the next room then returned with a small metal box.

Pixie told everyone to drop their phones and keys into the box, Gemma locked it and slotted the box into a recess in the back wall.

“If you all would like to take a seat, Julie will bring the present back when she’s checked it, then take you up to Jenna’s room, she was really excited when we told her you were coming and bringing your girlfriend. She’s not stopped talking about it since.”

We waited in a row of plastic chairs bolted to the floor and wall, nice.

Pixie clasped Naomi’s hand in hers, “why am I so nervous about this? I’m not sure I could find a more suitable girl to bring home to see my mum, you are pretty perfect Naomi, you make me feel strong, just being by my side, but I’m still nervous as hell about seeing mum.”

Before Naomi could answer Julie appeared with the box, which she handed to Pixie.

“That’s a lovely gift, we’ve been trying to get her some more clothes, the last delivery we had from Prisoners’ Friend was a bit poor and we had nothing her size, she’s been wearing a size 16 dress all week, it’s way too big for her.”

Julie swiped a card through a reader on the door and we followed Pixie as she followed Julie.

The door led straight outside, we entered a wire-mesh tunnel, at the end of which was a metal gate which slid back as we approached.

“Hey Pixie,” a bearded guard said as we passed by.

“Hey Joel, not seen you in a while. How’s Jade?”

“She’s much better thanks, we’re seeing a new doctor who seems to know what she’s doing.”

“That’s great news, say hello from me.”

“I will. It’s always good to see you Pixie, Jenna talks about you for days afterwards.”

“I’d come every week if I could.”

“She knows that it’s not easy for you to come all this way, especially all on your own.”

“I have a new family now,” she replied, swinging round and pointing at us with the box, “Naomi, the love of my life, Kelly, Naomi’s mum, and Tom, her partner. They’re looking after me now that nan’s decided she’s not really my nan.”

“Oh man, that’s cold. So these folks are taking good care of you then?”

“They really are, I might not look it at the moment, but I’m the happiest little bunny in bunnyland, right now though, I’m irrationally nervous about taking my girlfriend to see my mum.”

“You’ll be fine, Jenna is so excited to see you all.”

“Thanks Joel.”

We set off again, Julie swiping her card at the front door of the Women’s block.

It was noisy inside, the building full of good-natured chatter, I could hear a TV and a couple of different radio stations.

“This is low security down here,” Pixie said over the noise, all the women are allowed to associate freely, there’s a couple of classrooms down the end of the corridor there, and they have therapy in those rooms there,” she added, pointed across the foyer to a pair of double doors.

“On mum’s floor it’s not quite so noisy, it’s split into three sections, and they don’t mix so much. The ladies at the other end of the floor have some quite complex problems, like mum was at first, so they’re kept separate from everyone else.”

Pixie saw the look on Naomi’s face, “oh don’t worry, there’s two sets of locked doors between mum’s room and them, we’ll be quite alright.”

We followed Julie up two flights of stairs, on the top floor she pressed a buzzer and a guard on the other side rolled the gates back and we stepped into a lobby area, to the left were a set of locked doors, to our right were another set of locked doors, ahead was a guard station protected by thick glass.

Julie stepped up to the guard station and spoke into the intercom, “I’ve got four people to meet Jenna Turner; her daughter Jean Turner, then friends Kelly and Naomi Sharpe, and Tom James.”

“Ok, I have them all down here. Has that box been checked?”

“Yes, I checked it myself.”

“Ok.”

We heard a buzz followed by a click as the doors on the left unlocked, Julie looked through the reinforced glass to make sure nobody was hiding behind the door then she pushed it open.

As the door clicked shut behind us Pixie spoke, “they’re very careful up here, this is essentially a prison, so there’s a lot of security, mum’s in the room at the end, on the right hand side. It’s a nice room, she has a good view, lots of trees, she sometimes sees squirrels, which is very exciting.”

Julie knocked on Jenna’s door, “there’s normally not room for four visitors, so we’ve been in already and helped her clear a space for four extra chairs, she’s really looking forward to this visit.”

We heard someone say “come in.”

Julie pushed the door and motioned for Pixie to enter first, she stepped forwards and into the room, whereupon we heard Pixie’s little squeal of joy followed by an almost identical squeal, presumably from Jenna.

A few moments later Pixie called us in and we got our first look at her mother, she wasn’t wrong, she was a clone of her mother. The facial features were the same. A little harder, maybe, but given she was only 13 years or so older than Pixie, you could easily think Jenna was her older sister.

“Everyone,” Pixie said excitedly, the nerves from the morning gone in an instant, “this is my mum, isn’t she gorgeous?”

We had to agree, she really was, just like Pixie was.

Pixie motioned Naomi forwards and pulled her into a one armed hug whilst she continued to hug Jenna with her left arm.

“Mum, meet my girlfriend, Naomi.”

“A proper girlfriend, not just a girl who’s a friend?”

“Yes mum, a proper, love her so much my tummy aches when I can’t see her love.”

“Oh gosh Jean, I’m so happy. I know sometimes my head isn’t right, and I don’t know who you are when you visit, usually when they’re messing with my medicine, but I always guessed you were more into girls than boys. You always talk about girls you see at school, never boys.”

Jenna turned a little in Pixie’s arm so she could see Naomi.

“Oh my, you’re so pretty, do you go to Jean’s school?”

“No Mrs Turner, I’m at boarding school.”

“Please, I was never Mrs Turner, no-one ever made an honest woman of me, call me Jenna.”

“This is Naomi’s mum, Kelly, and lastly, Kelly’s partner Tom.”

Jenna looked at Kelly for the longest time, “I think I recognise you, where could I possibly have seen you before?”

“She was a model, mum, she’s famous.”

“Really, well, you’re definitely the prettiest person I’ve seen in a long, long while,” she looked from Naomi to Kelly, then back to Pixie, “I’ll take that back, you’re very pretty Kelly, but I think my Jean wins, sorry.”

“Don’t be sorry Jenna,” Kelly said kindly, “I agree, although Naomi might argue with me.”

“No argument from me, I’ve already explained this to Pixie,” Naomi replied.

“Why don’t you take a seat and we can have a proper chat. I have some bottles of water if you’d like a drink, I’m afraid I can’t offer you anything else.”

Whilst we arranged ourselves around the table Pixie took the box from me.

“We brought you a present mum.”

“Really! Thank you so much.”

Jenna took the box off Pixie and put it on her bed and carefully lifted the lid, her eyes lit up as she looked at the contents.

“Oh, Jean, you shouldn’t have, these look such good quality, they must have cost you so much money.”

“Ahh, they’re not new mum, I couldn’t possibly afford to buy you clothes like these, look, that’s a Ralph Lauren, and those bras are from Victoria’s Secret. These are Naomi’s clothes, she let me have as many as I liked for you.”

Jenna looked at Naomi, she has the same look as Pixie when she’s puzzled by others’ kindness.

“Excuse me a minute,” Jenna said as she picked up the box and dashed around the privacy screen blocking the toilet from the rest of the room.

Pixie kissed Naomi, “thank you so much, did you see her smile, she’s totally made up.”

Kelly had put a few bits of make-up in the box, and soon Jenna was standing in front of the sheet of polished steel that served as a mirror, wearing a pink polo-shirt and jeans, applying lipstick and eyeliner.

“How do I look?”

“You look amazing mum”

“It’s a long time since I’ve put any make-up on, I’m a bit out of practice.”

“You look fine,” Naomi said, “I’m so glad I’ve met you, now I know where Pixie gets her looks and personality.”

“They call you Pixie, I thought you’d have grown out of that name.”

“I love the name, it’s what all my friends call me.”

“Ok, I’m going to carry on calling you Jean, it was my gran’s name, god rest her soul.”

“You can call me Jean, a few other people do.”

Jenna re-joined the group, Pixie motioned for Tom to get his camera out and he took a few photos of Jenna in her new clothes, then with Pixie and Naomi.

After the photos Jenna sat down on the bed and looked at a few of the other clothes, “these fit me perfect, it’s amazing. I can’t remember the last time I had a bra that fit properly, I’m glad Jean found a girlfriend with boobs nearly as big as hers.”

“That’s caused a few arguments,” Kelly laughed.

“Oh why?” Jenna asked.

“Naomi refused to believe Pixie had bigger boobs, I had to measure them both to prove it.”

“Haha, these boobs are a blessing and a curse. They got me a lot of attention, and I’m not as strong willed as Jean, so I was led astray at an early age, has Jean told you why I’m here?”

“Yes, she has,” Kelly said softly.

“Well, I can’t say I don’t deserve the punishment I’ve been given, and this place has helped me a lot, I was a messed up kid, I was only 22 when I ended up inside, and already I’d probably lived more life than most people do by the time they’re old and retired. I’d pumped myself with any junk I could find, I’m lucky to be alive. You look like nice people, and Jean looks so happy with you. Thank you, for the clothes, and for being nice to Jean.”

“It’s our pleasure,” Kelly said brightly, “she’s a good kid, and she’s a great cook, she’s keeping us well fed.”

“You said you’re at boarding school Naomi, so how do you know my Jean?”

“Ahh, that’s simple, Tom’s sister works at the library, and as I was at a loose end she invited me to spend a few days working with her, to get some work experience, meet some new people, you know, get the lazy posh girl to do some work for once, haha. Actually, that last bit is a lie, I’m not posh.

“Anyway, I see Pixie, sorry, Jean, I see her one day and my heart starts beating fast, she’s struck a chord somewhere. Then she comes back later, and again, and I’m thinking she maybe likes me too, so I go and have a chat, and well, things escalated from there.”

“So, what will you do in September, when you go off to your school, and Jean goes off to hers.”

“And ... that’s why I’m here,” Kelly broke in, and Pixie moved her chair a little, subconsciously moving closer to Kelly, “I’m not sure if you’ve gathered from our chat so far, but Pixie, I hope you don’t mind me calling her Pixie, that’s the only name I’ve ever used.”

“It’s fine, use whatever name she’s happy with,” Jenna replied.

“So, Pixie has moved in with us, as the person she thought was her nan, and her dad, clearly aren’t related to her, and Ruth basically handed her over to us.”

Jenna visibly paled at this news and Pixie dashed over and gave her a cuddle, “it’s ok mum, really, can’t you see how much happier I am now?”

“Yes, but I’m now worried they weren’t nice to you.”

“Mmm, I was never badly treated, I just wasn’t well treated, and, to be honest, things were worse before nan’s”

“Ahh, yes, well. Oh shit, I’m so sorry Jean.”

They cuddled and cried for a while, as they pulled apart Naomi nipped round to the toilet area and returned with some toilet tissue so they could both wipe their eyes.

“So, this is like, a new start, another new start,” Jenna said, her voice still breaking up from the tears.

“Yes mum, but now I’m old enough to know what’s going on, and what went on in the past.”

“Ok, so you were saying Kelly...”

“Yes, so over the last couple of days I’ve spoken to my solicitor, and childrens’ services, and, well, it seems poor Pixie fell through the cracks, so to speak, childrens’ services had no record of any kind of transfer of custody, neither Ruth, nor Mel, were ever Pixie’s legal guardians.”

“Really?” Jenna said, genuinely shocked, “I know I was pretty fucked up back then, but I’m sure Ruth said she had taken care of everything.”

“Well, the past no longer matters, it’s Pixie’s future I’m concerned with, so I’ve had papers drawn up so I can take over, become Pixie’s legal guardian.”

“Ok, like I said, you look like nice, decent people, and you’re well-spoken and obviously smarter than me.”

“Mmm, this is where it gets awkward, you see, when I spoke to my solicitor, he said due to your current situation, you are not legally allowed to sign the papers, and I need Pixie’s current legal guardian, or their legal representative to sign the papers.”

“Oh, right, yes, I guess I’m, what’s the term, not of sound mind.”

“Do you have a solicitor, someone who comes and visits?”

“Not really, oh there’s someone who comes round and has a chat, tells me I’m going to be here for another year. I don’t know who they are though.”

“Not to worry, I’m sure someone downstairs will know. Even though it’s unfortunately not your decision, I’d like to have your blessing to become Pixie’s guardian, and ultimately, I’d like to adopt her. With the exception of my own daughter, Pixie is the most wonderful girl I’ve ever had the pleasure to meet, and she completes Naomi, in the short time they’ve been together they’ve helped each other become better people.”

Jenna turned to Pixie, a sad smile on her face, “what do you want honey?”

“I want to live with Kelly, and Tom, and Naomi, obviously.”

“And if you live with them, and Kelly becomes your mum, will you still come and see me?”

“Of course! You won’t suddenly stop being my mum. We’ll both come to see you, even when I’m away at school, we’ll make sure we come and see you once a month.”

“And as Pixie has just hinted, Tom is going to fund Pixie’s education, Naomi’s school are happy to let her have a place, they were very impressed with her.”

“Oh yes!” Pixie broke in, “I had an interview by video, over the internet, it was very exciting. I spoke to the headmaster for ages, we had a chat about all kinds of things, he thinks I’m clever, and articulate, and he liked my hair, although I have to dye it back to its normal colour.”

Naomi spoke up, “and Pixie wore a suit, she looked so smart, it’s annoying I had to leave my phone downstairs, I could have shown you how smart she looked, and how beautiful, I cried when I saw her.”

“My little girl has grown up and I’ve not done anything to help you,” Jenna said, wiping her eyes.”

Pixie looked at Jenna, she put a hand on her mother’s chest, “what’s in there,” she moved her hand to Jenna’s head, “and there. That’s what you gave me, and your smile, and without these things I’d be nothing.”

“Stop it, I’m crying and ruining this perfectly good make-up.”

We chatted some more until our time was up, Jenna was needed in a therapy session, so we got up from the table, Jenna hugged Naomi, “take care of my baby, she has a good heart,” then she hugged Kelly, and finally, Pixie. They held onto each other for the longest time, when Jenna finally pulled away she looked at us all.

“Thank you, this has been my happiest day for such a long time.”

Julie entered the room to escort us back to reception, “don’t you look good today Jenna, new clothes?”

“Yes, Je... , “ she started to say, then corrected herself, “Pixie brought me a box of new clothes, they all fit, even the underwear. Have you seen Pixie’s new family?”

“I brought them up,”

“Ahh you did, lovely folks, I feel happy leaving Pixie with them,”

She blew us all a kiss as we left the room and Julie walked us back.

“Did you hear, she called me Pixie just then, she never calls me Pixie.”

Back at reception Kelly spoke to Gemma, “we need to see Jenna’s solicitor, or at least someone at the firm who represents her.”

“Ahh, well, she never had a solicitor, nothing formal anyway. There was never a trial, she was sectioned by Social Services, and, well, she’s just stuck here.”

“Oh really, she says someone comes every so often to tell her she’s stuck here for another year.”

“Oh yes, that’s a lawyer from the same charity who provide the clothes, I suppose they’re as near to her legal representatives as anyone. Why do you need to speak to them?”

“I’m looking to take over Pixie’s guardianship, Jenna’s not legally competent to sign the paperwork, so I need her solicitor to do it.”

“Give me a minute, I’ll phone them, see if someone can help you.”

Five minutes later Gemma called Kelly back over, “ok, by coincidence Lauren, who has been seeing Jenna regularly over the last few years, is coming to see a couple of our other ladies this afternoon, she’ll be happy to see you later, it’ll be about 5 o’clock though, is that ok?”

“That will be fine, we have to do some shopping for school, so we’ll come back later.”

We piled back in the car and I pointed it in the direction of Manchester.

“Your mum is great,” Naomi said brightly.

“She was today, I think she was trying very hard. Sometimes she can be really hard work, argumentative, stroppy like a child, other times she barely recognises me and I sit there for an hour trying to find something to talk about. I’m glad she was good today, that’s how she would have been if none of the shit happened.”

“You never have to go there alone, ever again. I’ll be with you from now on,” Naomi said, squeezing Pixie’s hand reassuringly.

“Thank you.”

They sat in silence for a few miles, just holding hands, lost in their own thoughts.

As traffic slowed on the approach to Manchester Pixie turned to Naomi, “isn’t she pretty, my mum I mean, she looked so nice in your clothes and a bit of make-up.”

“Yes, she’s really pretty, you have all her good qualities. You have the same eyes, and the same smile. I love your smile Pixie.”

“Thank you. I’m so glad you were all with me today, after seeing how nasty my not-nan was, it’s good you saw how nice mum can be.”

“Pixie,” Kelly said seriously, “we’re your family now, we’re here to support you through thick and thin. Every time you visit Jenna from now on, Naomi and either Tom or I will be with you. If you want to be alone with Jenna, we’ll wait outside, but if you need support, we’ll always be close by.”

Pixie reached over the seat and clasped Kelly’s hand, “thank you, that means so much to me.”

In the shopping centre we headed straight for the Apple store, naturally it was crowded, mostly with people using the computers to check their email and social media.

Eventually a gap appeared and we squeezed in, Pixie blanched and backed away when she saw the prices.

“No! Definitely not! I can’t let you spend this much money, I can use the old one Tom gave me.”

“That one is slow, and the battery only lasts an hour,” I told her, these are super fast, and the battery will last a full day of lessons, trust me, you will not be happy taking that old computer to school.”

“But they’re so expensive.”

“Yes, but you’ll get years of use out of it, and do you really want to lug an old laptop around when Naomi has one that’s nearly new?”

Eventually we managed to persuade Pixie to let us buy her an iPhone and MacBook, she chose a gold one, which was handy, as Naomi’s were grey, so they wouldn’t get mixed up.

Computer and phone purchased, Kelly and Naomi took Pixie to Marks and Spencer to buy her some new underwear whilst I had a coffee in Costa, they took so long I had two coffees. Then as promised we visited the Dr Martens store and bought her a pair of black leather Mary Janes, and a pair of 1460 boots.

I swear, she was happier about the shoes than the laptop.

We also picked up some pyjamas and a pink suitcase from a fashion discount store.

We loaded the shopping in the car then walked down to my favourite Indian restaurant on Bridge Street, on the way we passed a hi-fi shop, Naomi stopped us.

“Pixie needs some headphones, so she can listen to her music in private.”

“Don’t you like my music?” Pixie asked sadly.

“I love your music, well, most of it, not so keen on My Chemical Romance,” she cringed, “but I’m sure I’ll grow to like it,” she added, “It’s not that though, it’s we can’t all be playing music at night, some people need quiet to study, and if we’re all playing different music then we’ll go insane. So a decent pair of headphones is an absolute necessity.”

Learning our lesson, this time we didn’t let Pixie see any prices, simply letting her pick a pair she liked the look of, she ended up with a pair of very nice cream coloured B&O HD4s, I approved of her choice.

After lunch we still had a couple of hours to fill before returning to see Jenna’s legal counsel, Pixie suggested we find somewhere to print a couple of the photos I took of Jenna, Pixie and Naomi. Then Naomi suggested we print the photo of Pixie in her very smart interview suit.

We found a place in the shopping centre that printed photos, so we printed a few, including one of the ones I took of Pixie in the pub garden.

“I think she’ll love that one, you look so relaxed and pretty,” Naomi said as the photo of Pixie in her pink bra-top slid out of the printer.

We bought a card backed envelope from a stationery shop and put the photos inside to keep them safe.

Shopping done we drove back to the hospital, we were a few minutes early, but when we entered the reception Gemma told us Lauren was waiting for us in the staff room, so she led us through a different door this time, along a corridor liberally decorated with notices and into a room laid out with cafeteria tables and chairs, along one wall were several vending machines and microwave ovens.

A woman around Kelly’s age was sitting at one of the tables, she was leaning back against the wall, her feet on a table showing a distressed pair of pink Converse hi-tops. She was dressed in jeans and a checked blouse, she definitely didn’t look like any lawyer I’d ever met.

She was reading through some notes whilst drinking out of a plastic cup from the vending machine.

“Excuse me Lauren, this is Jenna’s daughter and her friends.”

“Oh hey, come in folks,” Lauren took her feet off the table and motioned us into the room as she stuffed the papers into her bag, “help yourself to warm liquid from the machines.”

Kelly shuddered at the thought, “we’re good thanks.”

“It’s not poisonous or anything, I just can’t work out if it’s meant to be coffee or tea.”

Pixie walked up to the drinks machine, pushed a few buttons and slipped 50p into the slot.

She returned with her drink and took a quick sip, “mmm, I definitely tapped in the code for white coffee, I really don’t think it is.”