Every time you make a move

Shades of Green-Pt.2

Dunseverick, Northern Ireland

"Easy on the gin, Mo," Paula remarked, "It's not even midday yet!"

"Give a girl a break!" Monica dismissively retorted as she poured from the bottle of Gordon's into her empty glass for a few more seconds, then set it down on the bistro garden table and reached for the Schweppes tonic water.

Ms McIntyre waveringly shook her head, and from her spot on the edge of the Brannigan's garden she watched her friend's twin son and daughter as they both played and scampered across the front lawn in the sunshine with her pet dog Max, their cheers and laughter filling up the background.

She looked back to their mother, whose attention was focused elsewhere other than Johnny and Roshni as she tightened the woollen tartan blanket loosely draped around her shoulders and threw back a large amount of the gin and tonic in her hand.

Unbeknownst to Paula, her friend was in fact happy to be where she was. When on tour with Freddie, Monica had been to plenty of coastal cities in her time; Los Angeles, Nice, Sydney, Rio... But she couldn't remember the last time she had been to a place beside the sea where she was given enough time to stop and enjoy it, and perhaps the alcohol was only enhancing the warm, wonderful feelings of being back to her homeland.

"So..." Paula made conversation, slipping her hand through her cropped peroxide hair, "Do you think that they will adjust to being away for so long?"

Monica burped and slammed her glass down onto the table, "Who?"

"The twins and boarding school, of course!"

"Oh! Well, it's hard to tell," Monica answered, thinking aloud as she lazily rested her head on her elbow, "Boarding school is not originally what he wanted for them"

"You mean Freddie?" Paula quipped, anxiously lifting the bottle of Gordon's out of her friend's reach.

"Mmhm," she nodded, "But he told me that it gave him independence at a young age. I can't see why he wouldn't want that for Johnny and Roshni either"

"Maybe that means Freddie's actually worried for them after all," Monica silently hoped, "which could mean that he will actually be more interested in how they're doing now that they'll be away from home..."

"Which one out of the two of them do think would settle in the quickest then?" Paula leaned in closer to her.

"Are you trying to therapize me for free?!"

"I just want to know what you think, Mo!" her friend put her hands up in defence.

But she couldn't bear the thought of them both getting homesick for London or missing their family for long periods, especially when they didn't have much luck in their last school. Roshni already got locked up in the coal shed by some mean, jealous bullies, and it wasn't unlikely to happen again anytime soon. After all, their father happened to be one of the world's greatest rock stars.

Needless to say she sighed gently, and complied:

"Okay, well I think that Roshni will get used to it soon enough, although I can tell that she's scared of missing home and the cats... On the other hand, Johnny might take time to settle."

"Is that so?" Paula probed.

Monica nodded, "He doesn't always like big changes."

"A few of my child clientele are like that, especially when they move house or change schools," Her friend explained, "According to experts that could also be a symptom of mental disorders or learning difficulties such as Autism or OCD, but obviously we don't know enough about those yet"