Sunbeam

6) Who?

"That's not happening," Kezia states.

"Do you want to, Tommo?" Theresa teases.

"I was close to saying yes, then you called me Tommo," he responds.

"I knew it wasn't the right thing to say, but it rolled off the tongue so easily," Theresa says.

"At least it wasn't Candace, the worst case scenario was it being Candace, it's not her, but I still don't know who it is," Kezia states.

"She seems nice, why would the worst case scenario be her?" Theresa asks.

"Because she's married," Kezia responds.

"What happened between you two, Kez? You've never told anybody the reason you guys stopped talking," Tommy says.

"We were young," Kez shrugs, taking a sip from her drink, "she was scared of what would happen if her family found out, she didn't trust me either which didn't help. Then she met Jamie, a nice, rich Christian boy her parents would approve of who she could feel stable with. A fortnight after we stopped seeing each other, she wanted to have a conversation, she had doubts about him, didn't think she'd be happy, however... she didn't tell me she was dropping by. She walks into my room and finds me in bed with someone else."

"That's the argument we all heard?" Tommy questions, "we heard shouting but it wasn't clear what was being said. Also, how did you manage to have so many women over without being caught?"

"They'd come over when you boys were at the pub, and would leave whilst you were sleeping or at work, it was surprisingly easy," Kezia responds.

Tommy checks his pocket watch, "Ada and John will be here soon, we should probably talk about something other than your... explorations."

-

"Kez, we're heading off," John says, pushing himself out of his seat, "we'll make sure Tess here gets home safe."

"I am quite capable of handling myself," Theresa responds.

"We'll see you two back home," Tommy says, leaving Ada and Kez in the snug.

"I'm surprised you've stayed out this late," Kez says to her sister.

"I'm meeting Freddie at midnight, it's better the boys think I'm waiting for Bea's shift to finish," Ada replies, "why are you still here?"

"I'm always here till close," Kez shrugs.

"So are we going to talk about this morning?" Ada asks.

"What happened this morning?" Kezia responds, and Ada sighs, "so that's a no."

The sisters go quiet as Bea walks over to them, "everyone's off home now, I'm almost done. Do either of you want another drink?"

"No, thank you," Ada responds.

"I will," Kez says, sliding her glass towards Bea, who nods, grabbing a bottle of whiskey, "apparently Harry has hired another barmaid. I think her names Grace, or at least that's what he told me."

"Oh, the boys will love that," Ada scoffs.

"How'd you mean?" Bea asks, handing Kez the drink.

"It means, they've only stayed away from you because you're my closest friend," Ada states.

"Is that a rule for all of you? Don't go near a siblings friend?" Beatrice questions, causing Kez to snort, "is it fuck."

Both women turn to look at her, each giving her a pointed look for different reasons. Kezia reckons it's because Beatrice was worried Ada would find out about them, and Ada because she didn't want Bea to know about Freddie.