This is mostly scene setting and character development. Feedback would be very welcome.
*****
The hammering came on the front door of the flat, loud and urgent, and Sarah woke from her afternoon nap with a very literal jump. There was a blossoming shadow of panic growing quickly at the back of her mind in direct response to the sound and her heartbeat accelerated as a flood of adrenaline washed into her bloodstream. As she began to put her thoughts together, already rising toward a state of panic, she started to seriously consider whether the building was on fire.
There had been a series of tragic fires in the aging tower blocks spread across London over the last couple of years. Everyone around town who made their home higher than about the second floor was living with an elevated level of day-to-day paranoia, and everyone had, after their periods of reflection for sympathy and survivor guilt, quietly thought out their own plans in case the next disaster were to strike closer to home. So Sarah wasted no time and was immediately on her feet heading out to attend to the knock.
Her wife Ray (and it was still so new and so wonderful to be able to say wife, and she'd try to keep it that way for as long as she possibly could) had always taken a very practical attitude to planning for emergencies. This meant, amongst other things, that there had been grab bags full of essentials packed for each of them since long before this recent cause for concern. They were stored unobtrusively under the side table in the hall next to the front door. Ray even spent a few earnest minutes every month or so (she had a calendar alert to remind her about it) making sure they were still readied to her satisfaction and that the perishables were up-to-date. Or present at all for that matter, Sarah did have a habit of stealing the cereal bars when she was hungry.
Today though none of this careful organisation was going to be needed because when Sarah opened the door it was only Lizzie standing there. Only Lizzie with her eyes puffy and red, moss green hair bedraggled and darkened almost to black by the rain. Only Lizzie looking desolately in at her and pleading wordlessly for refuge and support. So what was she going to do but hold out her arms and gather the poor damaged creature in.
They stood there in the doorway while Lizzie took her time, and shook and sobbed into Sarah's shoulder. Sarah could vaguely feel the small prickly area of hot breath and tears soaking through her summer top, as well as the more widespread cold clammy dampness leaking through from LIzzie's drenched clothing. Even more all-pervading than that though she could feel the waves of despair resonating out from the other woman. Despair, and beneath that loathing, and a sort of shame. Sarah used her weight to rock them slowly from side to side where they stood and she hummed in long, drawn out tones, quietly and resonating deep in her chest so that Lizzie could hear and take comfort from the sound.
Well Lizzie and Amy had finally reached the end of the line and split up then, Sarah thought. There seemed no doubt of that. But there was something much worse lurking down there as well. She could catch the basic shape of it and she had thought initially that Lizzie might have caught Amy sleeping around. Maybe that Amy might have found someone else, decided to move on, and not as it were, kept her affairs in proper order. But that didn't quite seem to fit the shape of the emotion. No, there was something she wasn't reading properly, something even more miserable which she didn't yet understand.
She kissed Lizzie on the side of her head right above her ear, to remind her that she was still there, then she edged them back from the doorway into the flat. The sprung door which she'd been propping open with one foot swung to a close behind them and the latch clicked shut. Manoeuvring them clumsily into the living room she guided Lizzie over to the sofa, and sat them down there, side saddle. They drew back a little from their embrace and looked toward each other. Sarah stroked Lizzie's arm and smiled across at her wanly.
"We don't have to talk yet if you don't want. You just have a sit down here and I'll go make us something to drink ok?"
This proved to be a rare misstep from Sarah, and she winced, realising her own carelessness before she'd even seen the chagrin flash across Lizzie's face. She recovered impressively quickly and nodded nervously in acknowledgment of the comforting tone in Sarah's voice and in acceptance of the basic plan. Still though, the message Lizzie had taken from those words, which had made all the rest largely incidental to her, was that sooner or later she was going to have to talk.
While making the tea (peppermint for both of them she decided, caffeine wasn't going to be anyone's friend right now) Sarah kept moving back over to the kitchen door to spy on Lizzie. Each time she was still sitting hunched forward and motionless where she had left her. She was worried that the other woman might lose her nerve and run away while she wasn't looking, and she didn't intend to let that happen if she could possibly prevent it. Lizzie was obviously very fragile right now and needed somewhere safe and someone who could look after her. Her unfortunate slip of the tongue notwithstanding, Sarah was entirely confident in her ability to provide that place and be that person. She dropped Ray a quick line at work while she waited for the tea bags to finish steeping in the hot water.
Hello Wife of mine, Lizzie's here and she's not doing well, she's pretty upset. Can we give her the spare room for a bit if she needs somewhere to stay? x
The reply came back almost immediately - it always did.
No problem, chuck my kit up on the wardrobe in our room, I'll buy extra for dinner.
Sarah smiled happily to herself as she read the message. Even these few words, ordinary as they were, could still manage to make her heart skip. They summed up Ray so perfectly for her that they could practically have been a love letter. Her Ray would get things organised first, then deal with the complex emotional issues she found more difficult once everyone was fed and rested. Or actually these days she'd more likely leave Sarah to sort that side of things out - so she had better get back to the living room and see what she could do to help.
*****
Ray and Sarah had first met the other couple at one of the first of the many barbeques which Angela and Andy, their friends in common, had been holding since the weather had turned warm. Amy was introduced as some kind of friend of Angela's younger sister. She had been gifted the invite as a way of getting to meet a few people in a new city and she'd brought Lizzie along as her plus one.
They had been the only two same sex couples there that day but it wasn't really that which had brought them together as a group - it had been far more about their ages and social links. They had all been rather on the periphery of the mix, so the way it had panned out was that everyone had seemed to know everyone else pretty well with the exception of the four of them. Naturally enough in the circumstances they had ended up joining forces and they'd staked themselves out a beachhead within easy striking distance of the food and drinks.
After enjoying each other's company for the afternoon they'd gone through the dance steps of exchanging contacts and this in turn had spawned the inevitable Whatsapp group. Then following on from that they'd met up for the evening at a friendly pub a couple of weeks later. It turned out they lived in adjoining boroughs of South London so it had been easy enough to decide on a spot which was relatively convenient for both parties. The conversation that night had again flowed easily and they'd all had a good time so these evenings out had gone on to become a regular series of events.
