Not Your Cinderella

Chapter 1 - Part 8

"I'm going to miss you, Jess." Mo was looking at her through the smoke. "I'll have no one to call a softy southerner ... except Felix, obviously."

Jess thought of her dad, working long hours on-site, back-breaking labour all day and thought that there wasn't anything soft about his life. She thought about him coming home to cook her dinner, help her with homework and read her a bedtime story until she was way too old for them. Her home was a loving one, but it was built on her dad's hard work.

She didn't say it this out loud, though. Instead she said, "Mo, you're the softest person I've ever met. You just admitted you'd miss me. How soft is that?

"Damn, Jess. See what I mean Rob – always back chats, doesn't she?" Mo said.

"It's called not taking any bullshit, Mo" Rob's deep Valleys accent was measured and you could barely trace the humour in it, but Jess laughed. She'd miss them all.

"How about a reunion next year sometime? Come on, you lot. We've got something special here, yeah? It can't just be me that thinks that, can it?" Mo looked at each of them, the question as much in his dark eyes as his furrowed brow."

Tears came eagerly into Jess's eyes again. Not because of the words, even though they touched her heart, but because of the distance that would come between them from tomorrow. After she left. She looked into the sun and let the tears burn out then she said, "Definitely. I'm going to take that as a promise, Mo."

"Great idea, Mo. I'll need a bit of a rest after battling my way through all that University pussy for a year," Rob's mouth didn't even twitch. But they all knew he was lightening the mood as always.

"You'll get through fuck all with comments like that, you misogynistic twat," Jess said, and she meant it too, but there was laughter in her voice.

"Jess, mate, you'll be amazed at my skills, know what I mean?" Robbie's wink was slow and obvious. "You can test them out first-hand any time."

"If I had known you were going to Bath too, I wouldn't have put it as my first choice," Jess replied.

"Shut it, Rob, or you make Felix jealous," Mo added.

As usual, Felix just raised his eyes to look at the huge Welshman with a slow smile and shake of the head. Jess knew jealousy wasn't something Felix would indulge in. He trusted her completely. But that didn't mean she wished he didn't show it sometimes. She didn't like her mind being fickle like that.

A clattering of metal bowls split the peace as some of the families started to gather for dinner. They knew this was her last meal with them and they had come for the food but also to wish her a safe journey home. She was determined to smile and enjoy her last night. She dropped her pile of green leaves into the pot and turned to greet them with the best smile she had.