[The Three long-time friends were in a Central London Bar for their monthly get-together]

They were discussing their different jobs and how things were progressing.

“What about you then Pheebs?” asked her long-term friend Sky Woods.

“Now that I have passed my Bar Exam and… well I don’t know what to do next.”

“What do you mean? After all this time and you have been working your socks off… Now you don’t know what to do next?” asked the third member of the trio, Lana Moore.

“You know how it is. They work you into a grave as a pupil and then once you get qualified, there is no certainty of a job after that. That is what I think is going to happen to me. For the first time in god knows how many years, I don’t have any exams on the horizon. All I get is a feeling of emptiness.”

“Are you saying that you will be out of a job or that you don’t want a job now that you are qualified?” asked Sky who was still not quite able to comprehend what Phoebe had just admitted.

Of the three, it was Phoebe who was always the most certain about her career direction.

“Yep… Well, could be the way the cookie crumbles. As you know, I signed on at the Chambers for a three-year pupillage. Everyone thought that it would take me that long to become a Barrister. Well, two and a half years in, I’m qualified and there is no certainty that in six months I’ll have a job. The ‘Times’ carried the Law Society results list. I was surprised to find that than one hundred and fifty others passed the bar exam at the same time as me. That means that a heck a lot of competition for a relatively small number of Junior Barristers roles. Ok, so those roles are not all in London, Edinburgh or Cardiff but… I just have this feeling that the writing is on the wall for me at the Chambers. Nothing has been said to me directly but… is I try to bring the topic up, it gets deflected onto something else. Add all that together and…”

“Two plus Two makes five?” said Lana.
“Bummer,” said Sky.

“Our Phoebe here needs a man,” remarked Lana.
“To take her mind off things and… well, you know… those other little benefits.”

Phoebe glared at Lana.
“That’s exactly what I don’t need. I have six months to get my career sorted or I’ll be out on my earhole. The last thing I need is a man diverting me from trying to sort out my future.”

“Have you been to see your boss…. The head of Chambers?” asked Sky.

“I did that first thing after the results were posted. He congratulated me naturally but he was non-committal about the long term. I nobbled the chief clerk and he said that the Head’s granddaughter was on the pass list just below me. You can guess the rest. They say that they want to have more women in Chambers but a healthy dose of nepotism would kill two birds with one stone so to speak. Two new female junior Barristers is probably one too many at this time in the chambers. To me, that means I’m out of the door in six months.”

“Bummer,” said Sky for the second time in as many minutes.

“So… I’ve been thinking.”

“Groan,” said Lana and Sky together with huge smiles on their faces.

Phoebe grinned at her friends and carried on.

“I’ve been coming around to the idea that this law malarkey isn’t all it is cracked up to be.”

“She needs a man in her life to give her a cuddle in bed. Too much thinking if you ask me…” said Lana.

“It’s all right for you love… Damian earns a good crust. Add to that what you get plus all the perks and you are pretty well off…” remarked Sky.

“That’s not the point Lana darling. Pheebs here is in a bind and what are we going to do about it?”

“I don’t know but I do know one thing and that is… It is your round!”

“Pah!” said Lana as she got up and headed for the bar.

Lana had an evil grin on her face when she returned with the next round of drinks.

“We have six months to get our Pheebs here, a man!”

“So…? what’s new?” asked Sky.

“Hey, don’t I get a say in this?” protested Phoebe.

“No!” said the other two together.

“Look Pheebs,” said Lana.
“We have to try to get you settled down. Then you can go on with your life with someone to be there for you when you need it. Times like this are what partners are for. We have six months to get someone into her life, don’t we?”

“I’m really not that interested in having anyone else in my life at the moment,” said Phoebe.
“I know that you two mean well but I really don’t need organising.”

Phoebe stood up and said,
“And… I have a train to catch in case you had forgotten. I’m also in Court tomorrow so I’d like to appear before Mr Justice John Deed having had a bit more than four hours sleep...”

“Ok Pheebs,” said Sky.
“See you next month?”

Phoebe didn’t answer but headed for the door of the Wine Bar. Her mind was already on getting the 21:06 train home from City Thameslink. With any luck, she’d be home by 22:30. But she’ll still have to be up in time to catch the 06:09 train back to London the following morning. She had to be back in the office at 08:00 for a legal team briefing. Phoebe needed to be on the ball for that as she was the lead counsel on the case.”

Her ability to switch her mind off of things had always infuriated her friends even back when they were at school. They knew that she was a bit different to them from an early age but she’d been a good friend to them at many times in the past. Lana especially owed her as it had been Phoebe who had introduced her to her husband Damien.

---

[one month later]

“Hi Pheebs,” said Lana

“Hi Lana. Sky not here yet?”

Lana smiled.

“She called a few minutes ago. She said that she’ll be a bit late. Her flight down from Newcastle was cancelled so she’s on the train. Her train gets into Kings Cross in just over half an hour.”

“Typical Sky. She’ll be late for her own funeral given a chance.”

They both laughed as Lana got the drinks in.

Once they were seated, Lana said,

“Look Pheebs, Sky and I have been talking.”

Phoebe groaned.

“Don’t go all groany on me. How long is it since you have had a date eh?”

Phoebe didn’t answer.

“Far too long so… we have been thinking that you need to get out there and get a few dates under your belt before anything serious.”

“And how do you propose that happens then?”

“Blind Date. If it does not work then move on. No commitments from either side but a chance for you to meet some people who aren’t lawyers. How long has it been eh?”

Phoebe didn’t answer but Lana could see a small tear forming in the corner of Phoebe’s eyes.

“Don’t go all weepy on my Pheebs,” said Lana softly.

“Sorry Lana. I don’t know what to say.”

“Errrrr. How about thank you Lana.”

“Thank you, Lana.”

“Good. Now that’s settled, I have a profile of a couple of prospective dates for you to look at.”

The pair spent a good hour going over the profiles. They ended up laughing at more than a few. Neither of them noticed that Sky had arrived as the bar. Sky saw the happiness in Phoebe’s face and decided to leave well alone. She left without saying anything. She hadn’t been delayed but she and Lana had spent literally hours talking to each other over the previous week trying to work out how to get Phoebe to start dating. It appeared that the first part of their plan had worked.

---

[three weeks later]

“Hi Sky,” said Phoebe into her phone as she prepared to leave the Chambers.

“Yes, I’m ready.”

“Yes, I did take a shower this morning and I’m free for the rest of the day. My client decided to plead guilty after two witnesses pointed the finger at him from the witness box. I’d told him that the case against him was total solid and that pleading guilty was the only way to get off with probation and not to get sent down for one to three years. He decided to avoid the prison option.”

“I know where the Hotel is. It is less than five minutes’ walk from Crawley Station. I’ll be there don’t worry.”

“No Sky I’m not taking any condoms. I’m certainly not going to have sex with a man on a first date.”

“Thanks Sky. See you Tuesday.”

Phoebe sat back down at her desk for a while thinking hard. That evening was supposed to be her first blind date with a man called Kevin Jones in Crawley. That was the only upside as far as she was concerned as Crawley was only half an hour or so from home should things go wrong. Even so, she was dithering about actually going on the date. Her history with men and dates was not exactly one of success or even second dates.

“Oh, fuck it!” she said under her breath. Then she gathered her things and went to leave the Chambers. For her to leave this early was not usual. The chief clerk, Tommy Edwards noticed.

“Going home early Phoebe?”

“Well Tommy, I’m not going home but meeting someone at Gatwick Airport. My case Southwark Crown Court finished early so leaving on time for once is allowed isn’t it?”

The Clerk smiled.
“Only pulling your leg Phoebe. Enjoy your evening.”

Phoebe smiled as she walked out of the door and into the afternoon sunshine.

---

She was still smiling as she walked into the bar at the George Hotel right in the centre of the old part of Crawley. Her smile lasted all of ten seconds after she’d stepped through the door.

The place was full of people watching a football match on several large TV screens.

She quickly scanned the bar and could not see anyone who looked even remotely like her date. She turned on her heel and returned to the Hotel reception where she literally bumped into the man who was going to be her date that night.

“Oh… Hello. Sorry I’m late. My flight seemed to take forever to get to a gate. I thought that I’d missed you.”

Phoebe looked him over. He was older than she’d been told but seemed not to have gone to seed (yet).

“Hello Kevin. I’m Phoebe. The bar is showing a football match so I left.”

“What’s the…“ He, muttered then decided against asking for the score.

“Shall we sit over there. I’m sure that we can get served there?” he said hurriedly as he pointed at an alcove that was for the moment empty.”

“Ok,” replied Phoebe slightly reluctantly.

They did get served with some drinks and started talking. Phoebe noticed that whenever a cheer or a boo came from the bar Kevin’s eyes looked in that direction. After the fourth time, Phoebe came to a decision.

“Look Kevin, it is clear to me that you’d rather be in the bar watching some overpaid prima-donnas kicking a ball around so why don’t you go and do just that eh?”

She didn’t wait for a reply but stood up and left him alone. He was going to have to pay for the drinks as well. She left the Hotel and didn’t hesitate or even look back until she’d reached the Station. When she saw that she’d only have to wait a few minutes for a train she let out a huge breath and muttered ‘Fuck that for a game of soldiers’.

The next evening, Sky initiated a video call with Lana and Phoebe.

“Well Pheebs? How did it go?”

“Disaster,” said Phoebe with a very downbeat voice.

“Why? He came highly recommended to me,” asked Lana.

“He was late. Something about a flight but he was clearly more interested in the footie match than me so I left him to it.”

“A flight?” exclaimed Lana.

“That’s what he said. Something about not being able to get a gate. You said that he was a teacher so something’s not right there. He was very evasive when it came to describing his job.”

“Don’t worry Pheebs. I’ll get to the bottom of it.”

“Lana, please don’t bother. He was clearly more interested in the Footie match that was showing on TV than in me. That was obvious right from the start. He’s not the one for me by a long, long way.”

“Want to try again?” asked Sky.

“Maybe. If we put last night down to experience, I certainly don’t want that sort of thing to happen again. Then I will get a bit miffed and you know what I’m like when that happens.”

The other two women knew only two well that a ‘miffed’ Phoebe was trouble for everyone. They’d both seen her in action in court when a witness had tried to intimidate her. She’d torn the witnesses statement and previous answers to the court apart. The phrase ‘A woman scorned’ had been taken to a new level right in front of them. At the end of the day, even the prosecution Barrister had taken time to tell her ‘well done’. Phoebe was on cloud nine for the rest of the trial. Her client was acquitted of all charges.

“Don’t give me the eye Sky!” said Phoebe as she noticed Sky raising one eyebrow.

“Thanks for trying to set me up but from here on in, I’m going to do it my way. Ok?”

Reluctantly, the other two agreed to her request but during a phone call later on that evening, they agreed to keep on trying to get Phoebe a boyfriend.

[to be continued]