Week 5 / Friday

At the end of the day on Friday, she arrived back at headquarters early; there were finally enough staff working that she could take a couple of hours to talk to marketing and meet with the operational team.

And it wasn’t just the service either; across the board Larissa could feel for sure that they’d turned the corner. Case counts were done, the number of people needing help from the church was down, the proper counselling and other social services were back to keeping up with the work, and she wasn’t getting new girls to talk to through Church, just finishing up with a couple she’d talked to earlier. Supermarkets were full, tests were back in pharmacies, hospital case counts were stable, Paxlovid was now available, and people were just more relaxed generally. Larissa felt like a giant weight had been taken off her life, and she was just really relieved.

Mark and Bob reviewed her performance, and said it was top notch, and at one point – that worst day of all – she’d just about held the service up all by herself; she wasn’t the only one working, but the others working that day weren’t emotionally as robust as her, or as experienced, since Mark himself had been working on the road from necessity. Well done, Larissa.

We licked covid, she couldn’t help thinking. Though it wasn’t over, there were still thousands of cases day, and it certainly come roaring back in winter, or with a new variant, but those things couldn’t take away from their victory.

She arrived home, looking forward to their party. She’d talked to Fiona, inviting her, but nothing in the world was keeping them home – they were gone for the next two nights, camping in the wilderness somewhere, and getting some solitude before Fiona went back to uni on Monday for her final year. So for tonight’s party: Hannah and her man, Ross and Amelia, Layna and Joe, Jaiden and Asha, and the two of them. She’d also invited Steph and Xander, but they’d had to go down to Sale for a work-related victory celebration. And the party was simple: once everyone was there, go for a swim on this lovely day, then dinner on the deck, and then dancing in their underwear. In order to make it real for Hannah, they were all going to get dressed after swimming, not just dance in their bikinis. And sometime later in the evening, the fishing video should be out, so they were all going to watch it together on a big screen that Alan had just finished setting up in their living area.

Ross and Amelia were already there, so she hugged them, and then had a quick shower. Amelia had brought some drinks so they checked and agreed that the party fridge was well stocked. They prepped some food, and as they did that, the rest of the crew arrived. Last to arrive was Hannah and her boyfriend Nickopolous. When they arrived, everyone went down to see Hannah. “Welcome to our home, Hannah, we’re really glad you’re here, and lovely to meet you, Nick,” Julian said. Then he introduced them to everyone. Hannah knew Layna, but no one else, and Nick didn’t know anyone. Then Julian said, “Hannah, our home is great for the party tonight, except in one particular respect, which is that our stupid stairs are totally not good for you. I’m sorry about that.”

Hannah smiled and shrugged. “I know. I’ll just have to suck it up. I trust you to carry me up your stairs and Nick or someone can help with my chair.”

Once up the stairs, Hannah wheeled herself out on to the deck and said, “This is an awesome place! I love love love it. And I’m really looking forward to dancing.” The girls sat around her, and she got to know them while the guys stood on the side of the deck doing the male equivalent.

After a few minutes, Larissa said, “Hannah, Julian told me that you love to swim. You brought bathers, right?” Sure did. “Julian said it’s kind of tricky to get you to the water’s edge without everyone looking.” Hannah didn’t like to stand out as crippled, Julian had said, and the wheelchair which was her lifesaver was useless in the sand. “So Julian’s going to carry me, laughing and squealing, and Nick’s going to carry you. Joe’s going to try the same for Layna, though he’s not confident he’ll make it. But everyone will be looking at me, OK?” Hannah grinned, she liked the sound of that. “Ok. Let’s go change.”

When everyone was changed into their bathers, they went downstairs. Julian carried Hannah down, and then Nick helped her walk slowly and gingerly to the edge of the sand. “I can stay standing up, but I just can’t get enough control to balance,” she explained to Amelia. “Nick will carry me, he’s done it before, but everyone looks, you know?”

Suddenly, Julian picked up Larissa. She squealed, “Julian! No! Don’t! I’m not ready! Monster, I’ve got my phone!” She kept that up, alternating with laughter, as Julian carried her towards the sea. She kicked her legs and made realistic attempts to escape, but Julian had her good, carrying her high off the sand. Behind her, Nick was carrying Hannah, and Joe was doing good with Layna. No one was looking at them though, she had everyone’s attention. “Help!” she cried out. “Doesn’t anyone want to save the helpless maiden? Julian, don’t dump me in the water!” When she got right to the water she said, “Someone! Anyone! Save my phone!” The dorky teen from next door came and took her phone off her – that was a set up – and then Julian yelled, “Right! In you go”. “No! Julian!” she screamed, and he actually threw her up in the air – her awesome strong man – and she screamed all the way till she hit the water.

When she came up, she was greeted by Hannah’s smiling face. “That was awesome! It looked so real! You almost looked like you really wanted to get out of it, but no one took you seriously. I loved it!”

Larissa grinned at her, and then at Layna, who grinned back and said, “Joe got all the way and dunked me too. That was lots of fun!”

Larissa stood, bowed to her audience on the beach and said loudly, “Don’t worry, I’ll get him back! Ice in his jocks in the middle of the night if nothing else!” The audience on the beach laughed.

“Right,” she said to them, “let’s swim.”

Hannah was very confident in the water, and very happy, so they spent a long time bouncing in the waves, playing with the guys, and talking. Sweet, what a lot of fun this was. And Hannah had a lovely smile because this wasn’t something she got to experience very often at all. For a while, they cuddled their guys in the water. Larissa should’ve known better because as soon as she did, Julian got his hands down her bikini. They were all talking, and she did her best to talk, but eventually it was too much, and she came. Silent, she was sure, but damn that was good.

“Emergency sex again?” Layna asked her, with a grin.

She shrugged. “I’m not sure what you call it. Ask Julian.”

“Did you really just come, Larissa?” Hannah asked her.

“Yes,” she said, ruefully. “My best friend, well one of the many, dared Julian to make to come in public this week, and he just delivered. Again.”

Amelia laughed. “You’re got great friends, Larissa.”

Larissa shrugged. “I do like all my friends. But tell me I’m not going to be the only one?”

It appeared she was for a few minutes, and then she realised, Amelia had shut up, and then she came, silently. Even funnier, no one else noticed. No, really, even Layna didn’t notice. Way cool. She shared a laugh with Amelia about it later.

Finally, Larissa said, “OK, must be time for us to start dinner,” and there was general agreement. “Hannah, are you up for a nice loving cuddle with Layna and I, and we’ll get you back? People will just think we’re good friends.” Hannah really liked that idea, and Layna and Larissa cosied up to her, put their arms around her, and slowly walked back across the sand. They had their faces and bodies as close together as they could, talking, and Larissa figured it would be an observant watcher indeed that realised how much they were carrying Hannah, who was concentrating on walking with them. When they got to the end of the sand, Nick was there, and he gently took Hannah’s weight.

“Thanks,” he said, “I can see how much Hannah loved that.”

“I sure did,” Hannah said. “I’m sure they all think we’re lovers on the beach now, but I just loved how close I was to two of the most awesome women I’ll ever meet.”

“Bah, let them think that,” Larissa said, “we know the truth, and Hannah, we think you’re more awesome than we are, achieving what you do in spite of everything.”

Julian handed Larissa her phone. “Babe, you made that kid’s day!”

She laughed. “He’s always on the beach looking at my tits. He couldn’t believe it when I actually talked to him.”

Upstairs, Larissa asked Hannah if she wanted a quick shower. “Well, it would be good, but I have a special shower at home.”

“Ours is big enough for two – Nick can help you?” Sure, so they did that. Once they were all showered and dressed, they sat out on the deck eating, and talking, and laughing. And also almost crying because Russia had just invaded Ukraine. Very sad for everyone, but most of all the Ukrainian people. This was a lovely group. After dinner, the guys tidied up and said the girls had to sit on the deck and watch the sunset, which was another beauty tonight.

Then it was time for dancing. Hannah wheeled herself inside, and they all stripped to their underwear, and danced, with Nick holding Hannah up. Hannah was loving it, with a huge smile on her face.

After a few songs, Larissa stopped the music and said, “Hey Hannah, we’ve got some ideas. You saw Asha on our wedding video, right?” Certainly did. “Right, she’s a world class dancer. So Asha and I reckon that between us, we can hold you up from the side, so that you can dance looking at Nick, not just hanging on him. Want to try?”

“I’d love that!”

“OK.” They got on either side of her, and she let go of Nick, and they experimented. If Larissa and Asha held on to each other, linking their arms, with Hannah’s arms over theirs, Hannah could move and sway, and she enjoyed that, so Layna turned up the music and they did a song like that. Whoops, Asha and Larissa slipped, they were a bit sweaty.

“Larissa, just stick your hand in my bra, and I’ll do the same?” They tried that, and that worked better. Hannah really loved that, dancing face to face with Nick, who had a huge smile of appreciation. They did a couple of songs like that, and then Nick burst into laughter – their bras had finally slipped out of place. He took Hannah back so they could hitch themselves in.

“Well, Hannah, I don’t mind my tits falling out if you want to do that more, but Asha reckons we can teach you to shuffle. Game?”

Hannah was looking at her in disbelief. “You serious? I mean, that would be awesome, but how?”

“Well, we can only try.” For this, Larissa pulled Hannah off Nick, and held her from behind, arms holding her torso tight, carrying her whole weight. It stressed her core, but that was what she was good for. Asha stood in front of them, and showed Hannah the basic moves, and Hannah did them with Larissa copying her as much as possible. They had to move in unison, and it took a few minutes for Hannah to get the feel of it, but yeah, she could do it slowly, as long as Asha was calling the steps in front of them, and Larissa didn’t expect her to do it that well.

Eventually Larissa needed a break from that, because it was super hard work, so Layna volunteered to give it a go, since it was obvious how much Hannah was enjoying that. Layna didn’t last long – “Nowhere near as strong as Larissa, but who is?” – so Nick had a go, and then Larissa called the sequence with Asha doing it.

“OK. Back to dancing with Nick, please,” Hannah said, “and can we have slow music? This is like a dream for me, and I want to end it this way.”

They did, holding their guys tight and swaying in the music, letting Nick and Hannah lead, the girls copying Hannah as much as they could. Larissa could see how much Hannah liked that. Finally, Layna pointed out to her that Nick was flagging, since he really was carrying her weight, and she stopped the music, and Nick lowered her into her chair.

She had tears flowing. “Layna, Larissa, Amelia, Asha, that’s nearly the most fun I’ve ever had. Thank you so much for setting that up, it was awesome. But I am really tired now!”

“Well, it’s good that you’re tired, because guess what’s available!” Layna said, looking at her phone. “Callum told me our video has been released while we were doing that.”