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She was going to say no, hold it all in like she always did, but then she looked into Polly’s warm, concerned eyes.
And she knew that Polly was the one person who could advise her on her next move.
“Yes, yes I do.”She nodded fervently.
“Great, meet you at eleven in the staff canteen.And thanks for this.”Polly ripped off the jacket, stuck her arms in the coverall and fastened it with the tie around her waist.“How do I look?”
If Judith had been Polly she’d have said, “Like a well-fucked woman.”But she wasn’t, so she beamed and said, “Lovely.”
As Polly walked out, one of the patients, Esme, chortled.“Love the look, Polly.Are you helping run art therapy today?”
“No, Esme, it’s my new boho chic social worker uniform.”Polly grinned and sashayed off, her yellow dress swishing beneath the hem of the paint-stained coverall.
Judith turned back into the storeroom.The leather jacket was looped over a stool where Polly had left it.She examined it.Thick black leather.A biker’s jacket.As she flipped back the collar, she saw a name, scrolled in texta on the label.
Solo Jakoby.
Judith grinned her head off.
An hour and a half later she took the lift to the eighth floor, located Polly sitting in the far corner of the staff canteen and, strolling over, dropped the jacket onto the chair next to her.
“You left this behind.”She quirked an eyebrow in what she thought was a very good rendition of Polly.Polly tossed her head but a smile played around her lips.And a stray curl bounced out of her makeshift bun.
“Maybe we should workshop whatyouwere up to last night?”Judith suggested.
“I reckon your need is greater than mine right now.”
That, Judith reflected as she grabbed a cup of coffee from the self-serve espresso machine, was probably true.
“I’ve only got twenty minutes,” Polly explained as Judith sat down opposite her.“I’ve got to run a counselling session.”
Judith took a deep breath and launched in.“Carts came to dinner last night.”Polly’s eyebrows waggled in an I-thought-as-much gesture.“And I cooked this amazing meal from Ottolenghi.”
“Who?”
“Never mind.And then we listened to music—did you know he’s into collecting eighties LPs?”
“Yeah, it’s been a thing of his ever since uni.”
“Well, it was fun and we danced and he mimed his—”
“Mark Knopfler?”
“Oh yes!You’ve seen him do that?”
“Every karaoke evening since 2011.”
Judith felt her insides melt.“That’s so sweet.So anyway, then we danced, and um, one thing kind of led to another and…”
“You know I won’t be shocked Jude.Just as few or as many details as you like.”
“Well, he um, how can I put this?”Judith leaned over the table and hiss-whispered, “He did things to me, really lovely things…” Her hair fell over her shoulder and a strand nearly made it into her coffee.She moved the cup.“But he wouldn’t let me doanythingto him, past the kissing stage.”She cast a swift glance at Polly, who was looking thoughtful.“I just wondered if that’s—normal.”
“Depends what you call normal.”
“Oh, um—” Judith looped her hair behind both ears.Her earlobes were hot, which meant she must be blushing madly.
Polly clasped her hands together and leaned in too.“If you mean, is this what can happen to guys when they’re anxious and maybe a bit out of practice, yes.Jude, it’s not just us girls that have issues with the big O.Men do too.Much more than they let on.”
