Helen was dragged under the water, groping for the surface. She kicked out at her unseen attacker and caught something with the heel of her foot. It let go and she struggled to the surface. She ran screaming towards the safety of the beach.

Once on the sand, Helen turned around, half expecting to see the water churning with Chloe’s blood and body parts like a scene from Jaws. There was blood, but not that much of it, and it was dripping from Chloe’s nose.

‘You idiot!’ she shouted as she waded in from the water, pinching her nostrils together, ‘What did you do that for?’

Realisation dawned on Helen. She had connected her foot with Chloe, not a great white shark.

‘What sort of a childish prank was that?’ Helen screamed. She was still trembling with the shock, ‘I hope I broke your bloody nose, you twat!’

She stormed towards their belongings, picked up her sarong, shook off the sand and wrapped in around her waist. Chloe jogged up to her, still holding her bleeding nose.

‘I wish to go home now, Chloe,’ she demanded, picking up her bag.

‘Stop being a drama queen. It was only a joke. I’m the one who got hurt,’ she protested.

‘It serves you right,’ Helen retorted, however she couldn’t help but feel a pang of sympathy, ‘Are you OK?’

Chloe dabbed at her face with a tissue. There were tiny droplets of blood on her breasts.

‘I’ll live,’ Chloe grumbled, ‘Look, I'm sorry. I just wanted to have a bit of fun. Can we just enjoy the rest of the day?’

Helen was adamant. She’d had enough of the beach for one day...and Chloe for that matter.

‘No, I wan’t to go home,’ she repeated.

Chloe dressed and snatched up her things and they had a very sullen drive back to Carlisle Street. Once home, Helen politely thanked Chloe for the ride. Chloe ignored her and stormed into her apartment, in search of ice for her nose.

As Helen jiggled her key in the apartment door, the phone started to ring. She ran in and answered. It was Lee.

‘Hey, baby, I thought I’d spend my lunch break talking to you. How has your day been?’ she asked.

Helen smiled at the sound of her lover’s voice.

‘It has been eventful to say the least, honey,’ Helen sighed.

She enlightened Lee of her morning. When she finished telling her tale she noticed that Lee was silent.

‘Are you there, Lee?’ she asked, thinking that they may have been disconnected.

After a long pause, Lee said that she was and that she had to go and hung up without giving Helen a chance to say good bye.

Helen frowned at the click and the dead line on the phone. Before she had time to think about what was wrong, Jules appeared like a zombie from her bedroom.

‘Good...afternoon,’ Helen greeted as she checked her watch.

‘Mmppphh,’ Jules replied and headed to the coffee maker. Helen kept out of her way until she became semi conscious and partially human.

By the time Jules had partaken in her second coffee and cigarette she was capable of putting phrases and syllables together. She noticed Helen was in her swim suit and her hair was damp.

‘Have you been in the pool?’ Jules asked, sipping on her coffee. She personally hadn’t gone near it since the eye scorching episode. Nan had gone through the yellow pages from her hospital bed and organised another, more qualified, pool cleaner.

‘No, I went to the beach with Chloe,’ Helen informed her.

Jules nearly choked on her coffee,

‘You did WHAT?’ she said incredulously,

Helen frowned and repeated herself,

Jules shook her head and grinned,

‘Lee’s gonna kill you if she finds out.’

Helen thought back to their phone call and a feeling of dread reached into the pit of her stomach,

‘And why would that be?’ she asked, trying to sound nonchalant.

Jules chuckled knowingly,

‘Oh trust me, Helen. Lee and Chloe have bad blood between them. Lee hates her guts.’

‘Why?’ Helen asked.

Jules smiled and lit another cigarette,

‘Lee didn’t tell you about her last grrfriend?’ she asked smugly,

‘No,’ Helen answered. Lee didn’t talk about her past and Helen didn’t want to push her. She figured that Lee didn’t like to be pushed so she decided to wait until Lee was ready to share more of herself.

‘Lee was madly in love with a grrl called Sharon,’ Jules told her, ‘They were together for a few years. That was until Chloe fucked Sharon and Lee found out. She nearly killed them both. Lee hasn’t had another grrfriend since.’

Helen’s mouth dropped. No wonder she had gone so quiet when she had told Lee about her morning with Chloe. She began to panic and ran to the phone. She dialed Lee’s cell phone and got a recorded message that the phone was turned off.

‘Damn!’ she yelled, slamming the phone back in its cradle. Jules yawned and stretched, grinning like the Cheshire cat. Helen glared at her. Her reserved British demeanor gave way to a week of frustration with Jules.

‘Why are you looking so smug? Jules, you’ve treated me like dirt since I arrived, even before Lee and I happened,’ Jules stopped smirking and looked at Helen shocked. She opened her mouth to retaliate and Helen stopped her with an outstretched hand,

‘Don’t you dare open that smart mouth of your’s or I’ll slap it shut,’ she warned but Helen’s eyes dared Jules to speak, the palm of her hand itching for an excuse to belt her. Jules’ jaw snapped closed and she just stared at Helen wide eyed.

‘I swear Jules, if you try to cause Lee and I any more trouble...’ she left it at that and stormed into the bedroom and slammed the door.

Jules sat quietly, not daring to move. Eventually she got up and turned on the TV and began smiling to herself again. She couldn’t wait for Lee to get home.

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