fic: The Penalty Chapters 2&3/?
Title: The Penalty
Author: xenalvr
Fandom: Original
Pairing: I kinda want this to be a surprise, so... Nell/?
Rating: NC-17 eventually
Summary: Sequel to/Spinoff from Burnt Sugar but it isn't necessary to read them in order. This story is set in Sydney.
Warning and Disclaimer: These characters belong to me so no borrowing, ripping... I can allow fantasising but I draw the line at that. :D This fic is not beta-ed and was written till the wee hours of the morning so if there are any glaring mistakes, please let me know.
2
The couch on the veranda was Nell's favourite hang out spot in her house. She loved the leafy view of her relatively quiet street and the false sense of privacy the bamboo shades created. Almost everyone who had lived in this house had left something behind, adding to its character. Crystals of different colours, shapes and sizes sat in a wooden plate by the couch in front of a stone Buddha head; candles of various heights lined the length of the veranda; a string of Tibetian prayer flags hung from the beam above the couch; some of Frances' books still lay on the low coffee table.
Not for the first time, Nell wished that her best friend was around.
Frances and her girlfriend, Kristen, had gone on their round the world adventure; their first stop was East Timor. Nell smiled at the memory of Frances' excitement when she heard back from a friend of a friend who owned a coffee plantation there. They were offered room and board in exchange for working at the plantation. She imagined Frances and Kristen with matching straw hats, working their way through the field. The squeaky sound that her rusty gate made interrupted her reverie.
"Hey," Nell called out when she saw Isobel Tang climbing up the steps to the veranda.
"Hey, how's it goin'?"
"Same old," Nell answered with a shrug. Isobel and she had spent a drunken night together a few months ago after a party, but had resumed their friendship after that. Isobel had still been hung up over Frances then and she herself had only been up for a bit of fun.
"How was your weekend?" Isobel asked conversationally, kicking her shoes off.
Nell shrugged again, hardly believing that it was mid-week already. Time truly passed quickly after a person hit thirty. She had sent Marianne a text the day before but had yet to hear back from the woman.
"I am so over work," Isobel huffed as she pulled out two bottles of beer from her bag, handing one to Nell. "I don't know how Frances taught at this school for five months because I'm ready to pull my hair out!" She had recently started working at the same English school that Frances was at. "The students are such snobs and they think they're king shits of the world just 'cos they're paying to do this course."
Nell gulped down her beer, nodding sympathetically at the ranting woman.
"They complain about not progressing in the course. I mean, really? They don't do their work, don't converse in English, and they're complaining that I'm not doing my job? I'm a teacher, not a miracle worker!" Isobel threw her hands up in obvious frustration.
Nell swallowed her beer and cleared her throat. "All right darl, I think you should take a deep breath before you combust. Drink your beer. Think of something soothing..."
"Sorry," Isobel apologised as she twisted the cap off her beer bottle.
"No worries. Did you wanna kill something? I could turn the Playstation on and you could kick some ass if you wanted," Nell offered. At Isobel's negative shake of head, she pulled out her bag of tobacco. "Smoke, then?"
Isobel sighed and shook her head no again. "Is Ruth in?" she asked, looking around for Nell's housemate.
"Nope. She's gone away for the week... which reminds me, I gotta feed the cat. Be right back," Nell said, jumping up from the couch. She pulled out her mobile on her way into the house and decided to write another text to Marianne on the off chance that the first one didn't reach her.
"Hey, do you wanna grab dinner at Taters?" Isobel asked when Nell returned to the couch.
Taters was one of Nell's favourite haunts run by Frances' Dad, Russell, but she wasn't in the mood to leave the house. "Nah. What about pizza instead? I'm feeling really slack."
"All right then. What do you want on it?" Isobel asked, reaching for her mobile.
"Cheese."
Isobel shot Nell a look. "That's it?"
Nell nodded. "A lot of cheese. Mm..." Her mouth watered just thinking about it. While Isobel spoke to the operator on her mobile, Nell snuck another peek at her own mobile and was disappointed to find the screen blank and was annoyed that it was bugging her.
"What's with the look?" Isobel asked as she tossed her mobile into her bag. "They'll be here in 30 minutes."
Nell shook her head. "Just annoyed about something," she said vaguely.
"What? Tell. I just unloaded all my work bullshit on you so... come on," Isobel urged.
Nell touched a hand to her hair unconsciously. "Well... I hooked up with this chick at a party and she asked to exchange numbers so we could hang out again so I texted her... twice... and she hasn't replied," she said, stressing on the word 'twice' as though it was a huge number.
"Ooh." Isobel lifted a brow and smirked. "I didn't think that something like that would bother you, Miss I-Don't-Do-Relationships," she teased.
"It doesn't... I..." Nell frowned as she righted herself on the couch. She began rolling a cigarette. "It's not that. I'm just annoyed that she's not replying my texts when she was the one who asked to exchange numbers. I was happy to never see her again," Nell grumbled and licked the cigarette paper.
Isobel shrugged. "Maybe she's busy?"
Nell's frown deepened. "Too busy to type a text? Come on. She could at least write 'No thanks', right? Or just a 'no' would do. Or whatever 'no' is in German."
"Wow, you're really bothered by this, aren't you? You must really be into her," Isobel commented.
Nell sighed loudly. Why did she think that Isobel would catch her drift? "I'm not... it's basic courtesy to answer someone, Izzie. That's all." She lit her cigarette and reached for her beer. "Anyway, end of conversation. Wanna watch a movie when the pizza arrives? I rented 'Dead Man'."
"Okay, is that you channelling your anger towards this girl?" Isobel asked, making Nell roll her eyes.
"Keep that up and you can hang on your own," Nell warned, regretting confiding in Isobel.
Isobel smirked. "Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned."
Nell threw her bottle cap at Isobel and got up from the couch. She paused to stub out her cigarette. "When you finally understand what 'end of conversation' means, I'll be in the house," she said, ignoring the laughing protest behind her.
*
Nell scoffed. Miss 'I-Don't-Do-Relationships'.
She hadn't always been this way. When she was much younger, she and her older brother, Paul, had hung on her mother's every word. Their father was a strict man, so Paul and she used to run to Jena whenever he raised his voice at them. Jena was the one who tucked them into bed, gave them cuddles and read them stories every night. She was their world; Nell could still remember burrowing into her warm embrace and letting herself be lulled to sleep by her mother's steady heartbeat and comforting presence.
Then everything changed when Paul died.
It was as though someone had snuffed out the light in Jena's eyes. Nothing Nell did was good enough for her mother. She began relying heavily on her friends and the people she dated for affection; that backfired on her from time to time. She learnt that being too needy drove people away. So over the span of a decade, she tried to teach herself to be self-sufficient, to see that life wasn't about holding on to everyone, but rather, only those who mattered. It was a steep learning curve, and from time to time, she still found it hard to cut people loose, but...
"Pizza's here!"
Nell grabbed some money off her dresser and went out onto the veranda. She was just in a cranky mood these days. Maybe pizza would cheer her up some.
3
The usual Saturday crowd at Taters meant that she had to wait for a seat. Nell hung around the counter area, chatting with Tammy whilst she drank her cappucino.
Frances, Teagan, Eleanor and she had started hanging out regularly at Taters after all the drama that had centred around the small restaurant blew over and business had begun to pick up again. Kristen, Frances' partner, was a chef at Taters until they left for their adventure. Her successor was a quiet, rather serious looking woman called Jo who picked things up quickly and was excellent at what she did. Her nature suited Russell fine and Ramsey, the other chef, was glad that they had managed to find someone who was decent and competent.
"How's the housemate situation?" Tammy asked as she wiped her hands down her apron. "I do miss France and Kristen. I'm sure they're having a ball right now," she said with a sigh.
"We're still looking," Nell said ruefully. "A few people are gonna come check out the room when Ruth gets back from Newcastle tomorrow. Why? Do you know of anyone who's interested?"
Tammy shook her head no. "You should put something up on the bulletin board here," she suggested.
"Why didn't I think of that?" Nell asked, throwing a hand up. "It's a brilliant idea, Tammy. Can I have a slip of paper? I'll write something down right now."
Teagan looked around Taters and made a beeline for Nell after spotting her. She peered over her shoulder, making Nell jump when she breathed into her ear. "Gee, Teags. Ever heard of personal space?" Nell joked, leaning over to kiss Teagan's cheek.
"Housemate hunting still? I thought Ruth said she knew someone who was interested in the room?" Teagan gave Tammy a smile hello. "Ooh, someone just left the couch. Is that reservation card on the table for us?"
"Yeah, Tammy put it there for us. She's a darl," Nell mumbled as she chewed the tip of her pen, scrutinising her ad. "Um. Yeah, well, Ruth's contact fell through, so." She shrugged. "I'll go pin this up."
"I think the new chef's gay," Nell heard Eleanor saying to Teagan when she got to the couch. The striking redhead looked up at Nell with a smile. "Hey you."
"Stalking another unsuspecting prey, Eleanor?" Nell asked, amused. She sat down facing her friends and picked up her coffee. "Leave the poor woman alone. You don't have much luck with the chefs here, if I remember correctly," she teased, making Eleanor stick her tongue out at her.
"Hey, I was only ever interested in one chef here," Eleanor said.
"Why do you think Jo's gay anyway?" Nell asked, turning to give cast a surreptitious look on the chef. Her long, dirty blonde hair was tied up in a pony tail and she was wearing a white singlet and chef pants. Nothing about her appearance said anything about her sexuality to Nell. Perhaps her gaydar was malfunctioning.
"My gaydar went off big time," Eleanor said, shooting a speculative look in the direction of the kitchen. "I'm not gonna hit on her or anything," she said defensively. "Just pointing it out in case anyone's interested."
Teagan rolled her eyes. "Your gaydar picks up on anything female with two legs," she said, shaking her head. "By the way, Drea's birthday's coming and we're thinking of a barbie in about two weeks so please come. Bring whoever."
"Ooh, how old is Andrea turning?" Eleanor asked, then smiled up at Missy, who arrived with their breakfast order. "Thanks, sweetie," she said with a wink. Nell caught the shy smile on Missy's face and smirked. Sometimes she wondered how it felt like to be Eleanor, with her charm and confidence.
Teagan cleared her throat, looking around in mock caution. "35, but you didn't hear it from me."
Nell chuckled. "Is she touchy about her age?" she asked as she tucked into her breakfast of poached eggs and zucchini fritters topped off with rocket leaves and a dark dressing. "Oh, God, this is so good," she mumbled around a mouthful of food.
"What are you getting her?" Eleanor asked, slicing through a piece of grilled haloumi cheese.
"A surprise holiday to the Fraser Island," Teagan said, reaching for her juice. "I've called her work and got her some time off. Fingers crossed it'll all happen without a hitch!"
"Wow, didn't know you were such a romantic, Teags," Eleanor said.
Teagan shrugged. "It all goes to hell when people think that they don't have to try anymore in their relationships. There's always a turning point in every relationship, no matter how long you've been together."
Nell's brow rose. "All hail the wise and worldly Teagan Pritchard!" Then she smiled self-depracatingly. "That's some advice. Maybe that's why I'm alone."
Eleanor lifted a hand and caught Nell's eye. Nell chuckled and leaned over to give her friend a high five. "Yeah, same. Not complaining though," Eleanor said, shaking her head.
"There's definitely more to life than falling in love," Teagan said diplomatically.
"Yeah, a lot of hot sex with a lot of hot women!" Eleanor said, making her friends laugh. "And here comes one of those right now," she said in a lowered voice when a brown haired woman walked through Taters' entrance.
*
Ruth and she were showing their third candidate around the house. The first woman had been nice enough but a little too full on for their tastes--neither Nell nor Ruth appreciated being referred to as 'rainbow people' even if theirs was a rather hippie household. The second woman had seemed politely interested and had said that she would give them a call when she made up her mind. Nell had a feeling that they weren't going to hear back from her.
The third woman had introduced herself as Teresa. Coincidentally, she was the woman Eleanor had pointed out at Taters' the day before. Teresa's smile was warm and felt somewhat familiar; Nell attributed it to having seen her before.
"Ruth, Nell," Ruth said, pointing first to Nell, then herself. "Come on in," she said, leading the woman through the door. "It's a three bedroom house with one bathroom. The kitchen and lounge is communal, and you've seen the veranda," Ruth said.
"We're pretty slack about chores, and only ask that you try and keep the place clean and tidy," Nell said, sticking her hands into her pockets. "We're not anal about sharing but we appreciate asking if you wanna use someone else's stuff."
Teresa nodded. "Sounds about right. It's a beautiful house," she said, looking around. "I really like it."
"Would you like some tea, Teresa?" Nell offered, thinking that they might get to know the woman a little better.
"That would be lovely, thanks!" Teresa said, her face breaking into a smile that had Nell responding almost immediately. "And call me Te--everyone does."
TBC
Author: xenalvr
Fandom: Original
Pairing: I kinda want this to be a surprise, so... Nell/?
Rating: NC-17 eventually
Summary: Sequel to/Spinoff from Burnt Sugar but it isn't necessary to read them in order. This story is set in Sydney.
Warning and Disclaimer: These characters belong to me so no borrowing, ripping... I can allow fantasising but I draw the line at that. :D This fic is not beta-ed and was written till the wee hours of the morning so if there are any glaring mistakes, please let me know.
2
The couch on the veranda was Nell's favourite hang out spot in her house. She loved the leafy view of her relatively quiet street and the false sense of privacy the bamboo shades created. Almost everyone who had lived in this house had left something behind, adding to its character. Crystals of different colours, shapes and sizes sat in a wooden plate by the couch in front of a stone Buddha head; candles of various heights lined the length of the veranda; a string of Tibetian prayer flags hung from the beam above the couch; some of Frances' books still lay on the low coffee table.
Not for the first time, Nell wished that her best friend was around.
Frances and her girlfriend, Kristen, had gone on their round the world adventure; their first stop was East Timor. Nell smiled at the memory of Frances' excitement when she heard back from a friend of a friend who owned a coffee plantation there. They were offered room and board in exchange for working at the plantation. She imagined Frances and Kristen with matching straw hats, working their way through the field. The squeaky sound that her rusty gate made interrupted her reverie.
"Hey," Nell called out when she saw Isobel Tang climbing up the steps to the veranda.
"Hey, how's it goin'?"
"Same old," Nell answered with a shrug. Isobel and she had spent a drunken night together a few months ago after a party, but had resumed their friendship after that. Isobel had still been hung up over Frances then and she herself had only been up for a bit of fun.
"How was your weekend?" Isobel asked conversationally, kicking her shoes off.
Nell shrugged again, hardly believing that it was mid-week already. Time truly passed quickly after a person hit thirty. She had sent Marianne a text the day before but had yet to hear back from the woman.
"I am so over work," Isobel huffed as she pulled out two bottles of beer from her bag, handing one to Nell. "I don't know how Frances taught at this school for five months because I'm ready to pull my hair out!" She had recently started working at the same English school that Frances was at. "The students are such snobs and they think they're king shits of the world just 'cos they're paying to do this course."
Nell gulped down her beer, nodding sympathetically at the ranting woman.
"They complain about not progressing in the course. I mean, really? They don't do their work, don't converse in English, and they're complaining that I'm not doing my job? I'm a teacher, not a miracle worker!" Isobel threw her hands up in obvious frustration.
Nell swallowed her beer and cleared her throat. "All right darl, I think you should take a deep breath before you combust. Drink your beer. Think of something soothing..."
"Sorry," Isobel apologised as she twisted the cap off her beer bottle.
"No worries. Did you wanna kill something? I could turn the Playstation on and you could kick some ass if you wanted," Nell offered. At Isobel's negative shake of head, she pulled out her bag of tobacco. "Smoke, then?"
Isobel sighed and shook her head no again. "Is Ruth in?" she asked, looking around for Nell's housemate.
"Nope. She's gone away for the week... which reminds me, I gotta feed the cat. Be right back," Nell said, jumping up from the couch. She pulled out her mobile on her way into the house and decided to write another text to Marianne on the off chance that the first one didn't reach her.
"Hey, do you wanna grab dinner at Taters?" Isobel asked when Nell returned to the couch.
Taters was one of Nell's favourite haunts run by Frances' Dad, Russell, but she wasn't in the mood to leave the house. "Nah. What about pizza instead? I'm feeling really slack."
"All right then. What do you want on it?" Isobel asked, reaching for her mobile.
"Cheese."
Isobel shot Nell a look. "That's it?"
Nell nodded. "A lot of cheese. Mm..." Her mouth watered just thinking about it. While Isobel spoke to the operator on her mobile, Nell snuck another peek at her own mobile and was disappointed to find the screen blank and was annoyed that it was bugging her.
"What's with the look?" Isobel asked as she tossed her mobile into her bag. "They'll be here in 30 minutes."
Nell shook her head. "Just annoyed about something," she said vaguely.
"What? Tell. I just unloaded all my work bullshit on you so... come on," Isobel urged.
Nell touched a hand to her hair unconsciously. "Well... I hooked up with this chick at a party and she asked to exchange numbers so we could hang out again so I texted her... twice... and she hasn't replied," she said, stressing on the word 'twice' as though it was a huge number.
"Ooh." Isobel lifted a brow and smirked. "I didn't think that something like that would bother you, Miss I-Don't-Do-Relationships," she teased.
"It doesn't... I..." Nell frowned as she righted herself on the couch. She began rolling a cigarette. "It's not that. I'm just annoyed that she's not replying my texts when she was the one who asked to exchange numbers. I was happy to never see her again," Nell grumbled and licked the cigarette paper.
Isobel shrugged. "Maybe she's busy?"
Nell's frown deepened. "Too busy to type a text? Come on. She could at least write 'No thanks', right? Or just a 'no' would do. Or whatever 'no' is in German."
"Wow, you're really bothered by this, aren't you? You must really be into her," Isobel commented.
Nell sighed loudly. Why did she think that Isobel would catch her drift? "I'm not... it's basic courtesy to answer someone, Izzie. That's all." She lit her cigarette and reached for her beer. "Anyway, end of conversation. Wanna watch a movie when the pizza arrives? I rented 'Dead Man'."
"Okay, is that you channelling your anger towards this girl?" Isobel asked, making Nell roll her eyes.
"Keep that up and you can hang on your own," Nell warned, regretting confiding in Isobel.
Isobel smirked. "Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned."
Nell threw her bottle cap at Isobel and got up from the couch. She paused to stub out her cigarette. "When you finally understand what 'end of conversation' means, I'll be in the house," she said, ignoring the laughing protest behind her.
*
Nell scoffed. Miss 'I-Don't-Do-Relationships'.
She hadn't always been this way. When she was much younger, she and her older brother, Paul, had hung on her mother's every word. Their father was a strict man, so Paul and she used to run to Jena whenever he raised his voice at them. Jena was the one who tucked them into bed, gave them cuddles and read them stories every night. She was their world; Nell could still remember burrowing into her warm embrace and letting herself be lulled to sleep by her mother's steady heartbeat and comforting presence.
Then everything changed when Paul died.
It was as though someone had snuffed out the light in Jena's eyes. Nothing Nell did was good enough for her mother. She began relying heavily on her friends and the people she dated for affection; that backfired on her from time to time. She learnt that being too needy drove people away. So over the span of a decade, she tried to teach herself to be self-sufficient, to see that life wasn't about holding on to everyone, but rather, only those who mattered. It was a steep learning curve, and from time to time, she still found it hard to cut people loose, but...
"Pizza's here!"
Nell grabbed some money off her dresser and went out onto the veranda. She was just in a cranky mood these days. Maybe pizza would cheer her up some.
3
The usual Saturday crowd at Taters meant that she had to wait for a seat. Nell hung around the counter area, chatting with Tammy whilst she drank her cappucino.
Frances, Teagan, Eleanor and she had started hanging out regularly at Taters after all the drama that had centred around the small restaurant blew over and business had begun to pick up again. Kristen, Frances' partner, was a chef at Taters until they left for their adventure. Her successor was a quiet, rather serious looking woman called Jo who picked things up quickly and was excellent at what she did. Her nature suited Russell fine and Ramsey, the other chef, was glad that they had managed to find someone who was decent and competent.
"How's the housemate situation?" Tammy asked as she wiped her hands down her apron. "I do miss France and Kristen. I'm sure they're having a ball right now," she said with a sigh.
"We're still looking," Nell said ruefully. "A few people are gonna come check out the room when Ruth gets back from Newcastle tomorrow. Why? Do you know of anyone who's interested?"
Tammy shook her head no. "You should put something up on the bulletin board here," she suggested.
"Why didn't I think of that?" Nell asked, throwing a hand up. "It's a brilliant idea, Tammy. Can I have a slip of paper? I'll write something down right now."
Teagan looked around Taters and made a beeline for Nell after spotting her. She peered over her shoulder, making Nell jump when she breathed into her ear. "Gee, Teags. Ever heard of personal space?" Nell joked, leaning over to kiss Teagan's cheek.
"Housemate hunting still? I thought Ruth said she knew someone who was interested in the room?" Teagan gave Tammy a smile hello. "Ooh, someone just left the couch. Is that reservation card on the table for us?"
"Yeah, Tammy put it there for us. She's a darl," Nell mumbled as she chewed the tip of her pen, scrutinising her ad. "Um. Yeah, well, Ruth's contact fell through, so." She shrugged. "I'll go pin this up."
"I think the new chef's gay," Nell heard Eleanor saying to Teagan when she got to the couch. The striking redhead looked up at Nell with a smile. "Hey you."
"Stalking another unsuspecting prey, Eleanor?" Nell asked, amused. She sat down facing her friends and picked up her coffee. "Leave the poor woman alone. You don't have much luck with the chefs here, if I remember correctly," she teased, making Eleanor stick her tongue out at her.
"Hey, I was only ever interested in one chef here," Eleanor said.
"Why do you think Jo's gay anyway?" Nell asked, turning to give cast a surreptitious look on the chef. Her long, dirty blonde hair was tied up in a pony tail and she was wearing a white singlet and chef pants. Nothing about her appearance said anything about her sexuality to Nell. Perhaps her gaydar was malfunctioning.
"My gaydar went off big time," Eleanor said, shooting a speculative look in the direction of the kitchen. "I'm not gonna hit on her or anything," she said defensively. "Just pointing it out in case anyone's interested."
Teagan rolled her eyes. "Your gaydar picks up on anything female with two legs," she said, shaking her head. "By the way, Drea's birthday's coming and we're thinking of a barbie in about two weeks so please come. Bring whoever."
"Ooh, how old is Andrea turning?" Eleanor asked, then smiled up at Missy, who arrived with their breakfast order. "Thanks, sweetie," she said with a wink. Nell caught the shy smile on Missy's face and smirked. Sometimes she wondered how it felt like to be Eleanor, with her charm and confidence.
Teagan cleared her throat, looking around in mock caution. "35, but you didn't hear it from me."
Nell chuckled. "Is she touchy about her age?" she asked as she tucked into her breakfast of poached eggs and zucchini fritters topped off with rocket leaves and a dark dressing. "Oh, God, this is so good," she mumbled around a mouthful of food.
"What are you getting her?" Eleanor asked, slicing through a piece of grilled haloumi cheese.
"A surprise holiday to the Fraser Island," Teagan said, reaching for her juice. "I've called her work and got her some time off. Fingers crossed it'll all happen without a hitch!"
"Wow, didn't know you were such a romantic, Teags," Eleanor said.
Teagan shrugged. "It all goes to hell when people think that they don't have to try anymore in their relationships. There's always a turning point in every relationship, no matter how long you've been together."
Nell's brow rose. "All hail the wise and worldly Teagan Pritchard!" Then she smiled self-depracatingly. "That's some advice. Maybe that's why I'm alone."
Eleanor lifted a hand and caught Nell's eye. Nell chuckled and leaned over to give her friend a high five. "Yeah, same. Not complaining though," Eleanor said, shaking her head.
"There's definitely more to life than falling in love," Teagan said diplomatically.
"Yeah, a lot of hot sex with a lot of hot women!" Eleanor said, making her friends laugh. "And here comes one of those right now," she said in a lowered voice when a brown haired woman walked through Taters' entrance.
*
Ruth and she were showing their third candidate around the house. The first woman had been nice enough but a little too full on for their tastes--neither Nell nor Ruth appreciated being referred to as 'rainbow people' even if theirs was a rather hippie household. The second woman had seemed politely interested and had said that she would give them a call when she made up her mind. Nell had a feeling that they weren't going to hear back from her.
The third woman had introduced herself as Teresa. Coincidentally, she was the woman Eleanor had pointed out at Taters' the day before. Teresa's smile was warm and felt somewhat familiar; Nell attributed it to having seen her before.
"Ruth, Nell," Ruth said, pointing first to Nell, then herself. "Come on in," she said, leading the woman through the door. "It's a three bedroom house with one bathroom. The kitchen and lounge is communal, and you've seen the veranda," Ruth said.
"We're pretty slack about chores, and only ask that you try and keep the place clean and tidy," Nell said, sticking her hands into her pockets. "We're not anal about sharing but we appreciate asking if you wanna use someone else's stuff."
Teresa nodded. "Sounds about right. It's a beautiful house," she said, looking around. "I really like it."
"Would you like some tea, Teresa?" Nell offered, thinking that they might get to know the woman a little better.
"That would be lovely, thanks!" Teresa said, her face breaking into a smile that had Nell responding almost immediately. "And call me Te--everyone does."
TBC