This is another drinking, smoking, and wetting type story.
Feedback is always appreciated, but never demanded.
Jane and Sue
Martin blew a kiss and shut the door and jogged off to the waiting taxi dragging his suitcase behind him on yet another foreign business trip. It had been two in the last two months. Jane waved him off and leaned forward in her 1930's bay window pulling the net curtains aside watched and waited for the taxi to get to the end of the road. The orange indicators flashing for turning left, as the black fumes of the diesel taxi poured out of the exhaust as it accelerated from the junction from their cul-de-sac. Jane released the curtain, then fussed and straightened it, turned on her heels and headed into the kitchen.
Jane smiled to herself as she got the wine bottle out of the fridge and twisted the top end poured a generous overly fulk large glass. Bending over she slurped it, and then licked her lips. She looked up and stretched and opened the cupboard and groaned as on tip toes and moved the large bolognaise jar in the far right hand corner of the cupboard slightly to the right and using her manicured fingernails grabbed her pack of Marlboro Lights. Triumphantly she brought the back down and placed it on her centre island. She had fought Martin for years to get her modern kitchen with centre island and bi-fold doors in to the large garden.
She rummaged around in Martins "man draw" of rubbish, the kitchen was only a couple of years old. The draw was already a mess, eventually she found the old gas stove lighter. He had tried to throw it out once the new kitchen stove was put in with the electric lighting function, but Jane managed to keep hold of to it just 'in case'. These were certainly the 'in case moments.'
With the cigarette perched between her lips she bent down, opened the cupboard beside the sink and moved the 1kg bag of rice out of the way and extracted her grandfather's old crystal glass ashtray and placed it on the kitchen table.
She then gently jogged around the table and opened up and separated the bi-fold doors, they were installed at great expense to enable in 'inside outside and vice versa' or a "bloody big draft" as Martin suggests. In her defence every single house doer upper programme on television explains the benefits. The windows looked out on to a patio, and then the sun loungers a little further out in middle. Martin tuts and growls as has to drag them around when he cuts the grass. She then relaxed into her designer kitchen chairs as the noise of birds tweeting in the garden competed with the roar of main road a couple of blocks away. She picked up the stove lighter and managed to get her cigarette alight and her cheeks collapsed around the cigarette as she inhaled on her first cigarette in a fortnight.
Her shoulders relaxed as she exhaled the cone out through the open doors, she subconsciously wafted with her spare hand the exhale and then smiled as it dissipated in the gentle early morning breeze coming through the open door. She then shuffled up in her chair, had a gulp of wine and picked up her phone and messaged Sue.
'Hey Sue, as its maybe a hot and sunny day, do u fancy a spot of lunch in the garden? xJx'
After hitting send she placed the phone back on the table and then smiled and focused on enjoying and drawing again on her cigarette.
***
This cigarette 'thing' was all Sue's fault. A few months ago on a late afternoon early evening during the end of an extremely boozy "ladies that lunch afternoon" in the Fox and Hounds. The two of them had migrated to the beer garden as it was sunny, they had been there for a mutual friend's 40th birthday lunch but by now everyone including the birthday girl had long since gone home to tipsily do the school run or attempt to drunkenly sort out the husbands.
The reason Sue had dragged Jane out in to the beer garden was soon admitted as she rummaged in her bag- that she was desperately craving a cigarette all afternoon and with everyone else gone, she could now enjoy it.
After Jane had almost spat out her gin and tonic mid swig, as Sue had produced the pack out of her handbag. Jane finally got her raised eyebrow levelled and Sue explained with a cigarette between her fingers how she had found her daughters pack only a few months ago and had 'accidently' confiscated it on purpose in a cross mummy sort of way. One thing lead to another and the pack in her bag was now her tenth, or eleventh. She wasn't really counting anymore.
***
The phone silently vibrated on the weathered dark oak kitchen table. Jane flicked the ash from the cigarette in just the same way she had watched her mum do time after time all those years ago and then left it burning in the ashtray, she hadn't quite mastered the art of dangling, it still hurt her eyes. She focused on the screen as she picked up the phone.
'Hey Jane, wasn't planning on anything special, so absolutely, how about I come around to yours for 12?' Sue replied.
'Great, I will make sure there is some wine in the fridge xJx' Jane looked at her half empty wine glass and smiled.
'Ahh, ok, do you need me to bring anything?'
'No, I have everything covered, see you later xJx'
Jane out down the phone and picked up the cigarette smiled at it watching the acrid smoke twisting off the top and placed it between her lips then drew in the smoke and enjoyed the momentary comfort it produced, as it travelled deep in to her lungs.
***
Jane was sitting there in awe of prim and proper Sue, her eyebrows recently plucked, evidently coloured and shaped along with her hair perfectly done for the party. Watching on as she necked her gin and tonic and impatiently indulged herself continuously sucking and dragging like a pro as she smoked the cigarette quickly down to near the filter. What confused Jane was that it was in front of real people in the beer garden, granted it was practically empty, but the Sue she knew would never do such a thing. She watched as another cloud was exhaled Sue then picked up her nearly empty gin and tonic swirled it so the ice clunked the side of the glass and sipped it. She stylishly flicked the cigarette as if it was an extension of her long manicured fingers as ash fell into the ashtray. Sue turned and faced Jane who was sitting there with her mouth wide open and asked the pertinent question "Do you want one too?"
***
Jane was pleased with herself step one was accomplished - just a couple of hours to wait. After looking at the time Jane was good to herself for now. She topped up her now empty wine glass with water, just to be safe- and then busied herself with housework. It seemed silly to worry about her reputation for keeping a tidy home given what her potentially messy afternoon plans, but old habits die hard and as she had recently discovered new her habits die even harder.