Chapter 13

“How are you doing?” I asked as I watched Poppy working from my office doorway.

“Hey dad, I didn’t hear you come in, I’m so stuck on something, I wish Katie were here to help.”

“Why don’t you ring her, maybe she can help over the phone.”

“Even if she can’t, it’ll be calming to hear her voice.”

She dialed, then looked puzzled as she heard Katie’s phone downstairs, “shit, she left her phone here.”

“Hey Poppy, what’s up?”

“Fuck Katie, are you downstairs!”

I dived out of the way as Poppy ran for the stairs, then followed behind.

“Oh my god, you’re back, why?” Poppy cried as she hugged Katie and spun her around the kitchen.

“I just decided I didn’t want to live at home anymore, I’ll tell you more later, for now can you help me carry my stuff upstairs.”

“We’ve got a table booked for dinner in 15 minutes, so no making out yet!”

“Yes Auntie Helen!” Poppy called back.

“I’m not sure she could squeeze any more sarcasm into that reply,” Helen laughed.

“You’ll laugh even more when you see this,” I said as I opened the photo app on my phone and showed her Katie’s wardrobe doors.

“My god! She has my posters on her wall, with boobs out and everything, how come if her mum is so homophobic?”

“Her mum is also an alcoholic who probably can’t make it all the way up the stairs to Katie’s room in the attic.”

“Mmm, very interesting.”

“And one more very interesting thing I just learned on the drive to their house, her brother is staying at their Auntie’s over the holidays, Katie is not invited, because her uncle keeps coming on to her.”

“Did he ever succeed?”

“She didn’t say. Her auntie blames her, not her husband.”

“The bitch, it’s always the victim that gets blamed, ‘she was wearing a short skirt your honour’ it boils my piss, it really does.”

“Yeah, exactly, and she can’t say she’s gay so would hardly be leading him on because her auntie is just as bigotted as her mum.”

“Oh, the poor love, she’ll be fine with us.”

“Where’s Nita?” I asked, looking around.

“Ahh, she’s just popped home, she’ll meet us down at the restaurant, are you OK with Lebanese?”

“I love it.”

“Girls we’re going now,” Helen shouted up the stairs, “make yourselves decent and come down the stairs.”

“You’d have made a good mum,” I laughed, “do you want a job as their nanny.”

“No thanks.”

“Katie’s still in her uniform, we’ll be five minutes while she gets dressed.”

“Fair enough, we’ll wait.”

“Helen, could we borrow you for a minute?” Poppy called down.

A few minutes later Helen returned, “everything ok?” I asked.

“Oh yes, very much so, I just had to help choose some shoes to match an outfit, Katie’s wearing a dress that annoyingly won’t fit either Poppy or myself because we both have a little too much chest, Katie though is just perfect, as you’re about to see.”

And I did, and it was spectacular. Katie is pretty much the same height as Poppy, but now she had 4-inch heels, so she towered over her girlfriend. She’s slim, so the Donna Karan dress Poppy so wanted to wear fit her perfectly, just as Helen had said. The push-up bra Poppy bought Katie gave her the cleavage the dress needed without overburdening the neckline.

“Beautiful...” is all I could say.

As Katie reached the bottom of the stairs Helen moved behind her and fastened a fine gold chain around her neck, hanging from the chain, just above her chest was a jade heart.

“There,” Helen said, “that finishes the look perfectly.”

“Is it a long way to the restaurant?” Katie asked, “it’s just I don’t think these shoes are meant for walking.”

“Haha, it’s about half a mile, why don’t you wear some low shoes, then put those Jimmy Choo’s on when you get to the door, that’s what all the girls do on the red carpet.”

So my job was to put the fancy pumps in my coat pocket, then swap them for a pair of trainers half a mile down the road.

On the way we met up with Nita, she put her arm through mine as we walked, “so Alex, have you two been behaving?”

“We have,” I replied.

“I’m so glad to hear it,” she said, “is Katie back for good?”

“I think so, I took her home but for a few reasons she decided not to stay.”

“What’s her mum said?”

“Ahh, she doesn’t know yet, I’ll call her in a bit.”

“Alex! What if she notices she’s gone before then?”

“According to Katie the chances are slim to none, if she does I’ll take the blame.”

“So what are you going to tell her?”

“It’s a pretty weak excuse, but my plan is to phone her mum in a little while and tell her Katie just turned up at the door because Poppy phoned her for help with her homework, and we’ll take it from there.”

“That is weak.”

“Look, her mother was already half-way drunk when we got there, critical thinking isn’t going to be a strong point when I phone in an hour.”

“Oh shit, she’s a drinker. Helen said she’s not a fan of gays, poor Katie, growing up in that house, the mental torture of being gay and not being able to tell anyone.”

“Hopefully she’s out of there for good now, she’ll be able to express herself freely.”

We’d reached the restaurant, so I passed Katie her shoes and accepted her trainers in return, slipping one in each coat pocket.

Inside we were told there was a ten minute wait for our table, I decided now was probably the best time to make the call, so I stepped back outside and called Katie’s mum.

“Hello?”

“Hello Mrs Jackson, it’s Alex Harrison, Poppy’s guardian.”

“Yes ... I remember.” although the slight hesitation suggests thinking isn’t her strong point right now.

“I’m calling to tell you Katie just turned up at my house, she said Poppy called her for some help with her homework, so she came over on the train.”

“Katie? She’s at yours, but you just brought her home.”

Ahh, now she remembers.

“That was about 90 minutes ago, I came home, made dinner and she just turned up. I’ll feed her and send her home if you like, but to be honest it’s getting late, and her room is finished, so I’m happy for her to stay the night, she can come home tomorrow. Actually you were going to call round tomorrow and check if the house is suitable for her to stay.”

“I’m sure your house is fine, now she’s there she may as well stay, tell her if she wants anything else from her room she better come for it on Saturday as we have the removal people coming on Sunday to put everything in storage. Goodbye Mr Harrison.”

And that was it, she cut the call, she didn’t even want to speak to Katie, she might never see her again, what an absolute cow.

I re-entered the restaurant, the girls were still waiting to be seated, Helen had ordered a pint of Lebanese pilsner lager for me, I supped half of it before I spoke.

“What did she say?” Katie asked.

“Do you want the truth, or do you want me to sugar-coat it?”

“Didn’t you tell me earlier that we always tell the truth?” She answered.

“That’s correct, well, basically you may as well stop at mine forever, our house is your house. She also said if you’ve left anything at home, we need to collect it on Saturday.”

“Shit, so that’s it then, didn’t she even ask to say goodbye.”

“Nope, and she’s not coming round to check the house.”

“Well, fuck her then, there’s nothing in my room I want to keep.”

“Not even my posters?” Helen asked, prompting a smile from Katie.

“Ahh, I’ve already taken them down, they’re in one of my cases. I’ve left a few clothes and some undies, nothing major.”

“We can go shopping for more,” Poppy said, “we didn’t have a chance to do our shopping trip.”

“Yes, we’ll go shopping on Saturday, if the bitch wants to say goodbye she can try to find us.”

I ordered another round of drinks, including wine for the girls and we were led to a table by the window.

The food was good, and we had a fun time, with all four girls chatting amongst themselves. I zoned in and out of the conversation as I thought about all the changes life had brought me since finding Poppy. Not just the amazing sex with an insatiable and gifted teenager, her arrival into my life had brought me closer to Helen, and I’d also realised that Nita is nowhere near as annoying as I thought she was.

Then there’s Jenny, we thought Poppy was the person to replace Tammy, but maybe it’s actually Jenny who will take her place. As Jenny is bisexual like Poppy we shall wait and see how everything pans out.

As we were ordering desserts and coffee my phone lit up with a message from Jenny, she’d finished for the day and wanted to know if it was ok to call round, I told her it would be fine, and where to find us.

Ten minutes later she came through the door and I pulled up an extra chair.

“Do you want anything to eat?” I asked as a waiter approached.

“I’m starving, do you have anything you can throw on a plate for me, I’ve not eaten since about 10 this morning.”

“Of course, any preference?”

“Anything hot will be fine, maybe koftas and rice, something like that, and a beer please.”

As the waiter left Jenny looked around the table, “every time I see you Alex you have an extra female.”

“Not my fault, it seems Katie has decided to move in with Poppy a few days early...”

“And my mum doesn’t give a shit, that’s why I’m a little bit drunk and trying desperately not to spill ice cream on Helen’s lovely Donna Karan dress.”

“You look amazing in that dress Katie, is it really a Donna Karan?”

“Yep,” Helen said, “I stole it from a shoot for GQ, I desperately wanted it to fit, but these hooters are way too big for it.”

“And so are mine...” Poppy said sadly.

“And mine are too small,” Katie said, “luckily Poppy is an absolute angel, she bought me a push-up bra, and now it’s perfect.”

“It really is,” Jenny said before turning to Nita, “I don’t think we’ve met, I’m Jenny.”

“I kind of guessed that,” she said with a smile, “I’m Nita, Helen’s partner.”

“Ahh yes, Poppy mentioned you, she said you helped her with her bruises.”

“That’s right, and you’re working the case to find the people responsible.”

“Actually, I’m working the case to find the person responsible for making the people responsible for Poppy’s injuries disappear.”

“Ahh, ok, and how’s that going?”

“It’s, err, complicated, can we leave it at that.”

“Probably for the best,” Poppy said, “was the meeting with Jeremy productive though?”

“Absolutely, what an amazing guy he is, all I’ll say for now is he loves you like a favourite daughter, that’s why he was so angry about what happened, it’s like they’d attacked his family. I’ll tell you more later,” she said quickly as a waiter approached with her food.

“Your meal officer, I hope this is sufficient.”

“The food here is always great, Kamal,” Jenny said as she cut into her Kofta and dipped it in the minted yoghurt sauce, “mmm, amazing, thank you.”

“So Katie,” Jenny said whilst she cut off another piece of kofta, “how are you going to cope spending 24 hours a day with Poppy?”

“I’ve never met anyone quite like her, she’s just the most beautiful person...”

“Hang on,” Poppy interrupted, “you’ve not met Belle yet, one day I will find her and then you’ll meet the most beautiful girl to grace the earth, and I’m serious, she’s stunning.”

“Ok, you’re the second most beautiful person,” Katie continued, “on top of that, you’re really intelligent, and witty, and just so full of life. I’m going to have the absolute best time from now on.”

“And I’ve got someone to help me with my homework, and to have cuddles and sexy times.”

“Have you got any brothers and sisters Katie?” Jenny asked.

“Yes, I’ve got a brother, Ashley.”

“What’s he doing?”

“His school has boarding, so he’s living there, and during the holidays he’s going to stay with our Aunt Emily, Mum’s sister. I can’t stay there for a number of reasons, most of which involve her being a homophobic cow just like mum. She likes Ashley though because she doesn’t know he’s gay, he’s happy to stay in the closet.”

“He’s gay?”

“Yes, he’s really conflicted though, he wants to be straight, he got me to give him a blowjob last summer, he kind of enjoyed it, but not as much as he’d hoped I think.”

“Ahh, and did you enjoy it?” Helen asked.

“Not as much as I’d hoped either, it would have been better if he’d washed it first I think. I’d definitely be up for trying it again if I can find the right boy.”

“There’s one at the table,” Nita said.

“Oh gosh no, he’s going out with Jenny.”

“Err, he’s going out with all of us,” Poppy said, “I think we’ll probably have to draw up a rota.”

“Ok, well one day I’d like to try it with a boy, but I really think I’m fully gay.”

“So am I,” said Nita, “every once in a while though I really enjoy a good no holds barred fuck from a man.”

“Oh really, this isn’t why I wanted to live with Poppy, but it’ll be a definite bonus.”

With the meal finished I paid the bill and we set off home once Katie had changed shoes again.

I offered Helen and Nita coffee, but they said they had to get home, “I’ll see you in the morning brother, Ernie has a few bits to finish in the dressing room, probably just take him a couple of hours he said.”

“Great, I’ll get some cash out first thing to pay him.”

Back home I made coffee and joined Jenny and the girls around the kitchen table.

“How much do you know about what’s gone on in Poppy’s life?” Jenny asked Katie.

“I know about the streets, and her rape, and her mum.”

“Do you know someone has been killing the people who attacked Poppy?”

“Err, yes, Alex told me earlier.”

“Ok, so I’m going to tell you all something that can not under any circumstances leave this room. I need you all to turn off your phones and swear to keep this secret, I could lose my job and possibly get prosecuted for what I’ve done today.”

“Oh wow!” Katie said as she turned off her phone.

We all did the same and as one we said, “we swear to keep this secret.”

Jenny proceeded to tell us about her meeting with Jeremy, they discussed the situation, the pros and cons of different scenarios and finally agreed on an outcome.

“We’ve decided the best solution is to pin all the attacks on Max.”

Poppy gasped, her hands to her mouth.

“Jeremy is going to find Max, he’s going to collect some pieces of evidence and then have Max moved out of London. She’s from Rochdale originally, he’s going to try to find some family, if he can’t find anyone he has contacts with the Salvation Army in the town, they can find her some help.”

“He’s such a hero,” Poppy said quietly to herself.

“The final piece of the jigsaw requires patience, as we need someone to be found dead, hopefully of natural causes. You won’t believe how many unidentified bodies we find each week, it’s dozens. We need a female around Max’s age and height, then Jeremy will do whatever needs doing so we find her in Max’s clothing.”

“So she’ll be your villain.”

“Exactly, Katie. The real shit work though is down to me, I have to plant pieces of Max’s hair in each of the case files for all the victims, and that’s the bit that could get me sacked and worse.”

“You’re risking your job for me?”

“Not just you Poppy, but we need to keep Jeremy’s organisation out of the eyes of the law. I may not agree with some of his methods, but I know just how much he does to keep the girls as safe as possible.”

Poppy stood up and moved around the table, she hugged Jenny hard, “thank you, not just from me, but from all the girls, Jeremy told me you were greatly respected on the streets, I’m so glad we met you.”

“And in return, Jeremy told me just how much you mean to all the girls, the very real shock everyone felt when they thought you’d been killed. If Max hadn’t got there first, he’s sure plenty more people were working up the courage to take down Kenzie and Parker.”

“Mmm, still not sure I did anything heroic, but I am determined to do my bit now I’m safe. Once Katie does her job and shows me how to use a computer I’m going to start writing a memoir for Lois, Alex’s editor, and I’m going to work on the charity, but before all that, I need to go to bed.”

Poppy took Katie’s hand, “let’s see if our new bed is as comfy as Alex’s bed.”

“I’d best get to bed as well, tomorrow will be super busy, and I’ve got to look my best, I’m doing a press conference at 9:30.”

“Oh, will you be on the news?”

“Maybe a few seconds of me at lunchtime.”

“Do you think either of those girls is Gemma?”

“We’ve not identified either of them yet, we’re doing post mortems tomorrow. I can say that by the looks of things, it’s Gemma and the other girl, Meghan did she say?”

“Yes, Meghan was one of the girls from the photographs.”

“Of course she was, two more families we can help find closure, albeit through heartbreak.”

When we reached the top of the stairs I found the girls cuddling on one side of my bed, “ahh, sorry, it still smells of paint in there, we don’t want to wake up with a headache.”

“Fair enough, I guess this bed is big enough for us all.”

“Thanks dad, we’ll be super quiet, we won’t disturb you if you want to get friendly with Jenny.”

“We’re just sleeping tonight.”

“Ok, good night everybody.”

If only it was that simple, we undressed and slipped under the duvet, Jenny, me, Poppy, Katie; but Poppy wanted to be next to Jenny, so we moved around, then Katie wanted to be between me and Poppy, so we moved around again until we settled on me, Katie, Poppy, Jenny.

“Mmm, so much for going to bed for a cuddle with my boyfriend,” Jenny laughed.

As we drifted off Katie whispered, “I can feel his thing Poppy, and it’s huge!”

“One day you’ll find out how nice it feels inside,” Poppy replied dreamily.

“How does it even fit?”

“It’s a squeeze, but it’s worth it.”

Katie shuffled a bit so my cock was between her cheeks, just how Poppy likes it, and eventually we all drifted off to sleep.

The next morning I awoke to low moaning sounds from the other side of the bed, I opened my eyes to see a look of utter ecstasy on Poppy’s face, she saw me and smiled, “Jenny’s fingering me, it’s so nice, she’s being careful, ohh fuck, that’s the spot, mmm.”

Katie rolled over to face me, “can I kiss you Alex?”

Without waiting for an answer she brought her lips to mine, at first I was a little too shocked to respond, then as she parted my lips with her tongue I returned her kiss. After a moment or two Katie pushed against me, forcing me on my back and she climbed on top, and in a manner eerily similar to Poppy she started to grind her pussy against my cock.

She pressed her pussy harder and harder against me, her lips and tongue playing harder and faster, her hands either side of my face, preventing any chance of escape, just in case I wanted to.

All of a sudden she stopped moving for a second, then she pressed down really hard as she screamed into my mouth, “oh fuck, that’s it, oh my god I’m cumming, I’m cumming again Poppy, and it’s amazing.”

“I told you it was the best feeling, why have you never done it before?”

“Because she said it was a sin, and like a fuckwit I believed her, never again. I’m going to do this every day from now on.”

Katie rolled off and flopped down, the biggest smile on her pretty face.

“Are you going to be able to cope with all three of us,” Jenny laughed.

“I’m going to enjoy finding out.”

“Someone had better take care of that hard on,” Jenny said, “or you’ll be putting someone’s eye out.”

Katie’s eyes went wide then as she saw my hard cock pointing at the ceiling.

“Shit, did I do that?”

She sat up and put her hand on my cock, “oh my god, I can’t even get my hand around it, it’s huge, Ashley would cry if he saw this. Have you really had this up your bum Poppy.”

“Oh yes, and it was fucking amazing, like I was being torn apart, but in the best way, all my nerves were firing.”

“Was it the same in your pussy?”

“More intense than my pussy, I don’t know which was best, pussy sex is nice because it lasts for longer, and I can cum like 8 or 9 times sometimes, anal was intense, it only lasted about 10 minutes, but it was the best 10 minutes of my life.”

“Shit, I’d love to try that one day, but right now I don’t even know how to handle this, do I use both hands?”

Poppy disentangled herself from Jenny and moved around the bed, kneeling on the floor she took hold of my cock, “here’s what Alex likes, mmm, to be honest, most boys like this...”

Katie gasped as Poppy opened her mouth and took my whole cock into her mouth and throat.

“Ahhh, yes, that’s nice,” Poppy said as she came up for air, “be under no illusion, that takes a lot more practice than a 15 year old girl should ever have had, so don’t even try it, instead here’s what you should do.”

For the next few minutes Poppy showed Katie how to lick my cock, run her tongue around the really sensitive parts under the head, take just the head into her mouth whilst using both hands to play with the shaft and balls.

“We don’t really have any time left to really explore the glories of Alex’s cock so I’ll make him cum really quick now. On Fridays I tie him up and do whatever I like with him, I’ll show you how to edge him and make him squirm. Saturdays are when the Aunties come round and we all have a lot of fun, Helen is sooo good. In the meantime, watch this.”

Poppy took my head in her mouth again and worked me furiously, Katie and Jenny moved their heads constantly, watching Poppy at work and watching my reaction until I gave a grunt and came hard, cum was still dribbling out of my cock as Poppy pulled away.

She motioned for Katie and they kissed, Katie’s face lighting up as Poppy shared my cum with her, like she’d done with me that one time.

“Seeing as they’re busy I’ll clean you up,” Jenny said with a grin, “somebody has to I suppose.”

Afterwards Poppy asked me to show Katie how to massage the lavender oil into her back and bum, “it’s not that I don’t want you to do it anymore, it’s just if we ever do sleep in our own room, it’s best if she knows what to do.”

So I showed Katie what to do, warming the oil in my hands first, then using my fingers and thumbs to work it firmly into her muscles.

“Doesn’t that hurt?” she asked.

“It did a little at first, because I was so sore, now though, while it’s not very comfortable, I really feel the benefit, another few days of this and my stretches and I bet I’ll be able to touch my toes again, ohhh, don’t forget to show Katie what to do once you’ve done my bum and the tops of my legs.”

And so I showed Katie how to bring Poppy off super quick with two fingers and my thumb, “at the moment you have to be super careful though,” I told Katie, “she can’t have anything pushed too hard inside, either front or back, I’ll leave Poppy to explain while you’re getting ready for school.”

Once they’d gone to get ready I crawled back into bed and Jenny’s welcoming arms.

“You know Alex, yesterday I wasn’t sure, I definitely liked you all, especially Poppy, but I wasn’t sure. Now I’ve seen how much Poppy loves you, and how tenderly you showed Katie how to massage Poppy’s back, I really do think I love you. This whole family, it’s built around love, respect and acceptance.”

“I honestly haven’t got a clue what I’m doing, Helen has helped greatly, she’s given me tips about handling teenage girls, but I’m just winging it, reacting to events as they happen. So far, fingers crossed, no major tears since the first couple of days.”

“This goes completely against what I said the other day about moving in, but would it help if I was here every morning?”

“It wouldn’t hurt that’s for sure, and the more you’re here, the more chance we have of getting the bed to ourselves occasionally.”

“That’s a point, I’m intrigued to find out what happens on Friday and Saturday.”

“Mmmm, Friday is Poppy working off her aggression, she needs to feel she’s in control of me, because she had so little control of her life before, so she tied me up, and one week she spent over an hour teasing me until I came like a frigging fountain, the next week she used a strapon dildo to fuck me...”

“Really, she’s got a strap on? I’d like to play with that some time, once she’s healed of course.”

“Ahh, you want to use it on Poppy, that’s a relief.”

“You’ll not escape that easily, I’ll be doing you as well. Did you enjoy it by the way?”

“A lot more than I expected I would. She was pretty rough, because she needed to be, and she did hurt me a little, especially with her fingernails as she came herself, but it’s fine, she needed to work the aggression out of her system, and I suffered a lot less than she has in the past.”

“You are a remarkably tolerant man, I’m not sure many other people would understand what she’s going through and let her do that.”

“Again, it’s mostly Helen explaining what’s happening in her head.”

“Still, what you’ve been doing is amazing, I can imagine in any other version of events Poppy would probably be in hospital now, or worse.”

“If you’d seen her that first night, I hate to think it, because she’s an amazingly strong girl, but I really don’t think she’d have survived the night, she was close to getting hypothermia, that and the injuries, she’d have died right across the road from my house, and that thought terrifies me.”

Jenny hugged me as I told her about the walk through Soho and finding Evie, my first tiny experience of the life Poppy used to live.

“I honestly don’t know how any of them survive,” I said, almost crying now.

“I know, and that’s why I work so hard to help them, but my job has so many restrictions on what we can do. Sometimes I wish I could do the stuff Jeremy does, but then I think the laws are usually there for a reason, who really gets to say whether someone deserves to live or die.

“Oh fuck, I dunno Alex, life gets so complicated at times, and what I do know for definite is that I really need to get home so I can get changed for work, I need my best suit for the TV.”

“I’ll give you a lift home, I need to return that car downstairs.”

“Oh shit yeah, what’s that 911 doing on your drive?”

“I hired it yesterday to take Poppy to see Nikki, she deserves a treat having to go to see her mum in the hospice, and then after what she discovered I think she earned it.”

“Definitely, although she’s now caused Jeremy and myself some work, at least she’s got to the bottom of what’s been happening.”

We quickly dressed and went down to the kitchen, Poppy and Katie were eating cereals, “Sorry, we thought you’d be busy for a while, so we’ve not made you any breakfast,” Poppy said, “I’ve not even made coffee, I’m a bad daughter.”

“Gosh, it’s not your job to feed us, are you ok going to school on your own, I need to give Jenny a lft home, then I’m afraid the Porsche is going back.”

“We’ll be fine, it’s like a 10 minute walk, Katie will hold my hand all the way.”

“Before we go,” Jenny said, “would it be ok if I move in?”

“Why are you asking me?” Poppy asked, “it’s not my house.”

“I’m asking because I really don’t want to upset you by moving in on Alex full time.”

“Oh, it’s so lovely that you thought about that, but if I’ve got my own full time sweetie, I’m sure you’re allowed your own full time sweetie. Of course it’s ok for you to move in.”

“I am not being your mum though, I’m Jenny, not mum or auntie or anything else, I’m Jenny, and Detective Constable Jennifer Wilde on Sundays.”

“Hahaha, I’ll remember that.”

With that we left the girls to their cereal, reversing the car off the drive was even worse than driving in, I had to fold the mirrors in and rely on the reverse camera. Thankfully the road was quiet and I reversed out without incident, damaging neither the car nor my gateway.

Jenny’s flat was a mile away on the other side of town, it took about 20 minutes to do the journey.

“I’m sorry,” Jenny apologised as I stopped at yet another set of traffic lights, “it would have been quicker if I’d walked.”

“Well, yes, but then I wouldn’t have had your company, and you wouldn’t have had a chance to ride in the Porsche.”

“There is that, yes.”

“If you really want to live with me, is there much stuff to move?”

“Actually no, the flat is rented fully furnished, so there’s just my clothes and a few ornaments and bits of memorabilia, most of my stuff can go to a charity shop or something, I don’t even have a TV, just a radio.”

“Think about whether you really want to live in my madhouse, if you do, then we can move your things at the weekend, perhaps Ernie can give us a hand with his van.”

“Oh yes, I’m sure he will.”

Jenny indicated for me to pull over opposite a Tesco Express store, “this is me,” she said, “I’m upstairs above the Tesco.”