Two days after the end of their exams, Dido, Trish and many of their classmates went out to celebrate the end of their exams and with it, their first year as students. They bailed out after the fourth pub as the rest were heading to a nightclub.

Being older than their classmates, they had the 'been there, done that, got the T-shirts' and had their own reasons not to get drunk. Neither of them could afford to become loose-lipped because of too much booze.

After bailing, Dido took Trish to a small Italian restaurant on the aptly named Sicilian Avenue near the British Museum for a quiet meal between two like minds.

“When are you heading home?” asked Dido once they’d ordered.

“I’ve booked my train ticket for next Tuesday. I must be out of my place by the end of the week. I’ve arranged to rent a small van for the day so that I can take everything I don’t need until next term to a storage unit.”

“Are you sure that you are going to pass?”

“You have to be positive, don’t you?”

Dido grinned and offered up a toast.
“To next year and the hope that Toby and Jake fail miserably.”

Trish laughed.

The two jerks in question, Toby Perkins and Jake Smith, were a right PITA. They thought that they knew more about criminology than the lecturers. They'd picked a good number of arguments during the year and had lost every single one of them, but that was just like water off a duck's back to them. They had specifically not been invited out for the evening. Dido had been clear with the two organisers. "If they come, then count me out". They were not invited. Trish had backed her up on that point.

“What are you doing this summer?”

“I’m going to visit a friend for a couple of weeks. You remember her? She was assaulted last February and is still a bit of a mess.”

“Do the Met know who did it?”

“They don’t have a clue, I’m afraid. She needs a friend to be with her. So far, she has not ventured far from where she is undergoing rehab.”
That was a lie, but it was better to keep Trish from getting too inquisitive.

“Ok, then, where is this friend of yours?”

“She’s in Essex at the moment. She’s staying with another friend of mine.”

“You seem to have friends everywhere?”

Dido shook her head.
“Not really. I have a few very close friends and that’s it.”

After briefly hesitating and reading Dido’s body language, she moved the subject on.

“After that, I’m going to North Wales. I’ve rented a cottage on the coast near Carnarvon for a couple of weeks. Peace and quiet and local food. I went to Anglesey last year, but that place was fully booked, so the owner suggested this place. Very quiet and right on the sea.”

“On your own?”

Dido shook her head.
“I hope that my friend who was attacked comes with me. It will give her a nice change of scenery.”

“If she doesn’t? Come, that is?”

“Then I’ll get ahead with the syllabus for next year. Long walks in the morning, a nice lunch and then a bit of studying.”

“And if it rains? Wales is famous for that. One year, we went to Colwyn Bay for our summer holidays. It rained nonstop for five days while Whitley Bay was bathed in sunshine. My Da vowed never to set foot beyond Liverpool again and only goes there because of the football.”

“Childhood memories, when they are good ones, are wonderful, aren’t they?”

“We had some great holidays. Even our days out to places like Kielder Water were fun. What about you?”

“Nothing like you. I left home as soon as I was sixteen just to get away from the violence,” said Dido.
She was lying through her back teeth, but this was her backstory. She’d had years to perfect it. Only someone with a lot of time and money could even begin to poke holes in it.

“You, poor you. Didn’t you go to the Police?”

“And do what? My Da, as you put it, was a local magistrate. Who are they going to believe, eh?”
That part was also a lie. Her real childhood was not something to remember and would be right there front and centre until ‘he’ and his friends were behind bars for good.

Dido went back to the University a week later. It felt different from before. That was down to the lack of students. The reason for her visit was that it was the day when the exam results were posted. She'd promised to take a photo of Trish's results and send them to her on her newly acquired iPhone. The old phone had been relegated to the more clandestine side of her life.

When she arrived outside the department offices, a large group of students had congregated around the notice board. Dido felt nervous for the first time in years while she waited for the crowd to thin. None of her brushes with the law had invoked feelings of anticipation like this.

Dido, being Dido, waited for the ‘must be first’ crowd to have their moment of fame or shame in front of their friends. Some of those who had failed or had to resit were, in her mind, good students, while some of those who passed should never become a criminologist in a million years.

It was a troubled Dido who finally stepped forward and looked at the results list. Her heart was pounding.

She need not have worried. She'd passed. Not only did I pass, but I also came in the top 5% of the class. Trish was just behind her on the table. A couple of her classmates congratulated her on doing so well. Dido returned the favour.

Dido was about to turn away when she remembered her promise to Trish. She took a photo of the results. As she got the camera on her phone to focus on the right part of the sheet of paper, she noticed the list at the bottom. That was of those who had failed or had to resit one subject. Both Jake and Toby were on the ‘resit’ list. That made Dido very happy. She’d be even happier if they failed their resit exams. Her wish might come true given the plans for their summer that they’d boasted about for weeks. According to his boasts, they were going to crew Toby’s father’s yacht in the Fastnet race. The race was due to end three days before their resit exams. Crewing a yacht in a race as demanding as that one is not exactly the best preparation for an exam.

Dido took the photo and walked away from the almost constant stream of people coming to view their respective results.

Once she was outside the building, she sent the photo to Trish and added a message saying that their ‘not friends’ had to resit at least one subject before being allowed to return for their second year in September.

With her duties for the day over, she went back to her home in Surrey Keys, a very happy person. Once back there, she started to pack a bag for her visit to John Proudfoot’s home. More than once, she debated letting him know that she’d passed. In the end, she wanted to see his reaction when she told him.

---

“Here you are at last,” said John when Dido arrived at his home.
“We were beginning to think that you had decided to drown your sorrows in a pub?”

Dido grinned.
“I went home and packed a few things before coming up here.”

“Well?” he asked.

“I passed. In the top 5% no less.”

“Well done, girl. You did good.”

“And?”

Dido guessed that he was referring to Trish.
“She passed in the same group as me.”

Just then, Joanne came bounding down the stairs. For the first time since they’d met, she was smiling.
“I heard that you passed. Well done,” she said.
Then she gave Dido a big hug.

“Thanks, Joanne. I have to admit to being rather nervous, but seeing my name near the top of the list quelled that feeling in a flash.”

John was standing back with his arms folded and with a rather smug look on his face.
“I never had any doubts that you would pass.”

Dido stuck her tongue out at John and smiled at the same time.

Over a late lunch, the three talked about the summer.

“When are you going to Wales?” asked Joanne.

“In a week’s time. Why?”

“I was wondering if I could come up for a visit? John has volunteered to drive me.”
The seeds that Dido had been dropping on her last few visits had borne fruit. John was in on the plan.

Dido tried to look unhappy.

“I was sort of wondering if I could borrow your car for my trip…?”

John smiled.
“I guessed as much. Yes, Dido, you can borrow my car. I’ll borrow Tony’s Jag for our visit.”

Tony was ‘Tony Jefferies’. He ran a small building company from a site less than a mile from John’s house. Tony’s company had done a lot of work on John’s home when he bought it in 2004. John had taken a financial interest in Tony’s company when it ran into cashflow problems during the financial crash of 2008 and now owned around 20% of the company.

“Thanks, John. You know I enjoy driving that car.”

“Just be careful. You don’t know where all the speed cameras are. It would not look good to lose your licence in one trip.”

Dido grinned. John had paid for a former Police Driving Instructor to teach her to drive. She’d passed both tests with ease.

“I will take it easy.”

“Just watch the A55 along the North Wales Coast. The locals just love putting out mobile cameras and catching tourists.”

“I wasn’t planning on going that way, but I’ll bear it in mind. I was planning on going the pretty route through Snowdonia. I’m in no rush provided I can hit the M1 by seven.”

John just smiled. Dido was growing up fast and in the process becoming a more complete adult than many who had not gone through the terror of being imprisoned for years. He knew that was down to her determination, the skill of her shrink and a little bit to him for being the wise old parent that she never had.

[two weeks later]

Dido had been at the cottage for three days and was beginning to chill out when she received a phone call from Trish.

“Hey Girl? What’s cooking?”
“You are? Where are they going?”

“No… Not Whitley Bay…”

There was a definite touch of sarcasm in Dido’s voice. Trish’s family usually went there every year on holiday, even if it was less than forty miles from their home.
“So, where are you going if you have decided to do your own thing?

“Here?”

Dido thought about what having Trish stay would mean. John and Joanne were coming up as well. At that moment, she had no idea what to tell Trish about John other than the truth. That could put a spanner in the works, as could her feelings for Trish. Dido took a deep breath.

“Yeah. Why not. There is plenty of space as long as you bring some bedding. When I rented the place, I only arranged for one set of bedding and towels, and the letting agent is a man who thinks that he is god’s gift to women, but he has a bad case of B.O.”

Dido laughed as Trish reacted to her joke.
“Bangor. That would be the best place to come on the train. You could come to Pwllheli, but that takes an age from Birmingham. As far as I know, there are trains to Bangor from Manchester.”

“Tomorrow would be best. I have to do some grocery shopping in Caernarfon, so going the few miles farther into Bangor won’t be a problem. I think that there is a Tesco store there.”

“Good. I’ll see you tomorrow. Bring your walking boots! Just don’t forget to let me know what time your train arrives.”

“Bye.”

Dido put the phone down and immediately panicked. John and Joanne were due to come up the day after and would need a heads-up. Joanne was recovering well, but possibly unpleasant surprises were strictly out of the question for her.

Until now, Dido had managed to keep the two distinct parts of her life separated. That was now a thing of the past. She knew deep down that if she and Trish were to have a future, she’d have to come clean sooner or later. That day was now.

Dido sat looking out across the sea towards Anglesey. A two-masted schooner was moving graciously out to sea. For a moment, Dido wished that she could teleport herself to the deck of the schooner and sail off into the sunset, never to return.

The ship was a small dot on the horizon by the time Dido made a decision. She would have to talk things over with Trish before her other visitors arrived. That talk would mean telling Trish the truth about herself. She kicked herself for agreeing to let Trish come for a visit. Her obvious feelings for Trish had gotten the better of her, and it could signify the end of their relationship before it had really started.

[the next day at Bangor Railway Station]

“You made it then?” said Dido as Trish came down the stairs from Platform 2.

“Only just. My train to Manchester got held up outside Victoria, and I only just made it to Piccadilly on time. Then I had to stand as far as Chester.”

“The joys of travelling by train at the last minute at the end of July?”

“Ok. There is no need to rub it in. I will book a seat for my return trip at least from Manchester.”

Trish put her bags into the back of the BMW 5 Series Touring.
“This is a neat car.”

Dido grinned.
“I borrowed it for my trip. I’ll tell you all about it when we get to the cottage.”

“I looked up the place on the map, and there is nothing there…?”

“That’s the point, my friend. Lots of peace and quiet, and long walks along the sea wall. A perfect antidote to the big city.”

Trish shook her head as she got into the car.

They’d just left Caernarfon when Dido noticed a Police Car with its lights flashing coming up behind them. She looked ahead. There was plenty of space for the car to overtake them, but they didn’t.

“I wonder what they want?” said Dido.

“What do you mean?”

“Your fellow boys in Blue. It appears that they want me to stop.”

Dido signalled left and pulled into a bus stop. She wound down the driver's side window and switched off the engine.

“Trish darling, don’t let on that you are a Police Officer. It won’t go down well. Only say something if they are about to take us into custody.”

She was about to ask why when an officer got out of the passenger's side of the cop car and came towards the car.

“Good afternoon, officer. What seems to be the problem?” asked Dido when he reached her door.

“Would you mind explaining what you are doing driving this car?”

“I am insured to drive it, or at least that is what the owner told me before I borrowed it.”

“You do know that this car is marked as being a Police Car that was written off?”

Suddenly, a few bells started to ring in Dido’s mind.

“All I know is that my friend bought it and had it returned to its original state.”

“Just who is this friend of yours?”

“Retired Chief Superintendent John Proudfoot. He worked for the Met Police until he retired.”

“Pull the other one. How are you a friend of his?”

“Officer, if you are going to give me a ticket, then please do. Then we can all get on with our day.”

“Being cheeky will get you nowhere, young lady. Driving license, please?”

‘It is in my purse, which is on the back seat. Can I get it?”

The office stepped back. Dido got out of the car and retrieved her purse. She gave her license to the officer.
“I don’t have any points on my license, and as far as I know, I am insured to drive this car.”

“I will return to my car and check this license.”

“Please do.”

He left them and went back to his car.
Trish leaned over and was about to say something.
“Trish, do not say a word. I’ll tell you all about it when we get to our cottage.”

A little over a minute later, the officer returned.
“I’m sorry for detaining you. My colleague checked with the DVLA and discovered that the car was re-registered and does belong to the person you say it does. The insurance details show that you are indeed insured to drive it. I’m sorry for bothering you.”

He gave Dido her licence back and left her standing by the side of the car. Dido didn’t move until the Police car had done a U-turn and was heading back towards Caernarfon.

She gave a huge sigh of relief and got back into the car.

“Don’t say a word. I will have a few choice words to say to John when I see him tomorrow.”

Trish smiled.
“I was only going to say that this wasn’t your first encounter with my lot?”

Dido laughed.
“I guess that it is time to tell you the truth about me. It is a good job that I bought a nice bottle of wine when I did the shopping earlier.”

“You don’t have to do that.”

“Oh, Trish, but I do.”

“Why?”

“This is why…”

Dido mentally crossed herself before leaning over and kissing Trish.

The short time that they’d been apart had been hard for Dido. On the drive up to North Wales, several times, she nearly turned right and headed for Newcastle. Now Trish had come to her, and it was time to come clean. If that burnt her bridges with Trish, then so be it. She could not keep her feelings for Trish hidden for much longer.