The potato was delish, with oodles of tuna–so my mercury levels should be up to scratch, and the salad garnish was excellent; almost equivalent to a side salad. I washed it down with a ginger beer, which woke me up.

As Tom drove us back to my house, I realised that the policewoman had tricked Stella into coming out pretending I’d been taken ill and needed to go home. I kept up the act of not being well until we got home.

A chance meeting... then, again, in different circumstances, a glimpse across a
room brings questions, possibility and longing.
Feelings you were previously unaware of. Although...

Caitlin returns home and tries to find a way to relax. It looks as if her Pledge Class isn't letting that happen.

“Where’s Simon,” I realised he was absent from our little party.

“He caught a train up to London, about midday, a little local difficulty, apparently.”

As I cleared away the dirty dishes and crocks, Stella came out to help me. “That went pretty well, all things considered.”

Veronica Nelson, a transsexual, was in her third month of her Real Life Test. She was struggling financially, cut off from her family, and someone was leaving disgusting surprises in her jeep. She hadn't expected transitioning to be free of difficulties, but this was the absolute pits. The weird hassles kept mounting until she felt like she was ready to snap!

Then one night she had a chance encounter that would help put all her troubles in perspective...

Dianne looked at me appraisingly. "She's right, Bel. It's you, and yet it's a whole new you."

"You're still winding me up, aren't you?" I said.

"Well, yes, but it *is* lovely."

Caitlin spends the night with her mother and they discuss the situation Richard had walked into. Would this help or hurt Caitlin's ability to simply be herself?

Easy As Working For Nothing.
by Angharad
part: 395

The next morning, I awoke early and decided to get myself ready for the meeting at the university and then shopping with Portsmouth’s answer to Imelda Marcos. I don’t know which worried me more, probably shopping with Stella–I was a bit out of practice of retail therapy.

Easy As Going Shopping.
by Angharad (shopaholic)
part: 394

Bike 394.

I often find that after a stimulating evening, I am too wound up to sleep. Thankfully, that wasn’t the case and despite the storm that raged half the night, I slept like the proverbial log.