The Glamorous Life of Pennine Frost (3)

Kate slumped herself down onto the sofa, her head banging terribly from the night before. Her mouth was very dry; to her it felt powdery. She stood, fastened the belt of her dressing gown around her tighter, and slumped back down again with a groan. Olivia popped her head around from the side of the wall in the kitchen area at the back, which led out to the downstairs toilet. “Would missy like a coffee?” She said cheerfully, although intentionally louder than she normally spoke.

“Oooh” was all Kate could muster in reply. She nodded her head, and then put her head into her hands, which were propped up elbows on knees.

“Good night then?” Olivia was no quieter. She brought over a mug of steaming coffee, and put it on the table in front of the sofa. Kate muttered a thank you, and groaned a woeful never again. “I’m surprised you’re up this early. I mean it’s only half ten. When I saw you all last night, you were well gone. At one point, you even shouted out to Petunia.”

“Who’s Petunia?” Kate sat up and asked, as an overly energetic fully-dressed Gayle bounced down the spiral staircase which was in the corner of the room, between the living room and kitchen, and at the opposite side to where Olivia emerged from earlier. Gayle jumped on the sofa beside Kate, who managed not to spill a drop of her coffee, and instead glared at Gayle.

“You tell me! All three of you were shouting her, one after the other. We all heard you on the bus!” Olivia asked Gayle if she wanted a drink, who very graciously declined.

Without a care in the world, Gemma followed Gayle down the spiral staircase, although all she wore was her bra and pants. The lower part of her garment slightly hidden by her shapely curves.

“Going naturist again, Gems?” Gayle asked.

“Nah. I’ll get me clothes on after breakfast.” She walked to the kitchen, and then returned to the living room with the polystyrene box she brought home the night before, and a fork. She sat cross-legged at the base of the stairs, and flipped open the lid to reveal a mess of congealed something or other. With her fork, she wound a long thread of something up out of the box. Kate’s colour drained from her face. She quickly put her mug down on the table and ran passed Olivia to the door to the toilet outside.

“Kate…!” Olivia didn’t manage to finish her sentence, as the door opened inwards, and a handsome dirty-blond haired man walked into the kitchen. Kate stopped mid-dash, looked at the man, then Olivia, and then continued on to the toilet, slamming the kitchen door behind her.

“Woah!!!” James shouted as he walked into the living room, coming face to body with Gemma, still holding aloft a long string of food. He quickly stepped back and walked into Olivia, followed by a humbled “Sorry”.

“Want some of this?” Gemma teased, before putting her ‘breakfast’ back into the box. “Sorry, didn’t know we had company.” She closed the lid, and ran up the spiral stairs again. James realised, thankfully, she was wearing something.

“Sorry, this is James. He ‘rescued’ me last night.” Olivia explained to Gayle. Gemma walked back down the stairs, this time loosely wrapped in a zebra print dressing gown. Kate walked back into the kitchen, and got herself a glass of water. Gemma sat herself back by the stairs, and Kate took her seat again on the sofa beside Gayle, under the window. James sat in the chair along the wall opposite the staircase, and Olivia stood just inside the living room, with her back to the kitchen.

“So, James spent the night?” Gayle asked.

“Only on the chair.” Olivia said sternly. “As soon as he sat down, he was out like a light. I didn’t have the heart to wake him.”

James looked around the room. “This looks nothing like how I thought I’d remember it.”

“Oh,” Olivia added. “James has links to the house.”