CHAPTER 68
I tried to distract him and commented that the Penarth ferry was possibly not a job with the broadest of horizons, but Clara was already laughing.

“It would be a help in all sorts of things, everything from being an air hostess to working on cruises, but, well…”

The laughter stopped, and she looked at her hands for a moment, then glanced quickly at LC.

CHAPTER 21
I ended up enjoying the evening, impressed by the stage mechanics, props and scenery rising and falling on cue, and it was clear that the audience were of the same type as I had encountered at a showing of the ‘Rocky Horror’ film, in that they clearly knew every line of the script. When the male lead came out with that line Jacky had quoted, about babies and corners, almost everybody in the theatre cheered.

Part 19 Penny Black

I woke up feeling ‘different’. I couldn’t put my finger on it for a while, but I remembered the discussion as I was going under, and when I felt around my groin, I realised that I actually had nothing there to put a finger on.

So much for reversible cosmetic alterations! My face had the swelling and bruising going down; my breasts were still swathed in bandages and now I was uncertain just how much different my groin was.

CHAPTER 20
We spent the next day walking, and I mean the day, because we weren’t back at our hotel till six in the evening. Lunch was taken in a coffee place with outdoor tables, where my memory sniggered yet again over Albany, but all of us were in sensible walking shoes rather than stiletto courts. Jacky did the steering, at least after she had found a suitable guide book, or at least more suitable than the Good Beer Guide.

CHAPTER 46
I didn’t get back to the Smugglers for a couple of weeks, partly due to shift patterns, but also because of nerves. I was dancing from one state to the other over Amina, and despite the good wishes from Ange’s family, I still felt as if there was one of those cartoon angels sitting on my shoulder, whispering ‘Betrayal’. Not just of Ange, of course, but of Lil.

The bathroom mirror at six-thirty on a Sunday.

Part 18 The Clipped Penny

We all went off to get changed so that we could start the ‘Tuesday’ filming. With this one we would be bringing Tony and Steve back into the story.

We had a scene where Barry asks us if we knew any guys who wanted to make a little bit of money helping him, and I said I may have a couple who could help.

CHAPTER 45
We all ended up in the Smugglers, of course, for various values of ‘all’, as the family members were still sitting gossiping as we brighter, younger things shared taxis into town. Amina was by my side, but we kept our distance through unspoken agreement. I still didn’t know what to do about her, for while she was, well, my boxes of desire were very fully ticked, there was still the matter of Ange, and always would be.

CHAPTER 44
The weather remained as shit as it always is in January in Cardiff, and we were handed another death from despair, once again not far from Queen Street. I would never get used to dealing with such cases, as they all seemed to happen almost in the doorway of such places as posh coffee shops and designer sandwich places.

He was still chilled, though the garage and the car had provided some insulation. And he was famished, and in need of a bathroom. The solutions to all of those problems were just a few feet away . . . if he was willing to risk it.

CHAPTER 43
When I got home after the shift, there was something that had been niggling my memory right from my first sight of that news report. I pulled it up on iPlayer on my telly, and paused it at one of the clearer views of the team and scanned along their faces. They were a right mix of types, some clearly more ‘physical’ than others.

CHAPTER 18
I watched the two of them dancing round each other, and felt my worries start to ease. Jacky had timed her visit to coincide with Mary’s summer break, and I would have two weeks in the middle of it, but it had still been a worry, leaving them together without me there to moderate, or perhaps shush one of them when I could see a secret about to be divulged that I would rather keep private. A bit like having your parents to stay, knowing that as soon as you leave them alone, they’ll be looking for your more embarrassing possessions.

Mark Lansing never wanted to stand out. He was perfectly happy disappearing into a football huddle with the rest of the team until one play made him the talk of the town. Thrust into a spotlight he never wanted, every choice can reshape his future, and every decision could transform him in ways he never believed possible. Mark’s destiny will be determined on the field … assuming he can figure out how to dress the part.

CHAPTER 42
Not good news at all, I thought, wondering if we were going to see a repeat of schooltime fallings-out, where friends were pushed hard to take a side, pick the ‘real’ friend over the ‘false’ one, but Amina had been clear on that issue. Same people, just no longer a couple.

The weather wasn’t helping, my birthday having flown past as unnoticed as I could manage. There was too much bound up in such an occasion, none of it calling for celebration. I was off the next day, so it was another evening of tears before and during bedtime, as well as waking up in a chair again, as the light slowly emerged outside my living room window.