Page 27 of Faking It (and falling in love)

Philippa peered across the room. She’d told Alex not to wait for her, as she’d be a bit later arriving. As she felt the warmth of the bodies hit her, she wondered if she’d made a mistake. She tried to peer through the crowd but couldn’t spot her date.

She looked around the room. She’d not been to this pub before, and she was struck by how many women and non-binary people there were. It made her smile. There was a safety in being there that she felt immediately. She’d never felt that about the pubs on Broad Street she’d frequented in her youth.

An arm complete with bangles appeared from the sea of bodies, followed by the rest of Alex. “Who are you smiling at?” she asked Philippa.

“Hello, you,” said Philippa. “I was just happy to see so many queer people in one place. I’m still trying to get used to this stuff.”

“That is lovely,” said Alex. “I should really be more appreciative of living so close to the community.”

“Well,” said Philippa, “it’s good to see you. I love your necklace. Is it new?”

“It is,” said Alex.

A face appeared behind Alex’s. “Yep,” said the woman. “I bought it for the birthday girl. And as for you, we’ve all been dying to meet you.”

Philippa’s mouth dropped open, but she closed it quickly at a warning look from Alex. They walked over to a table where a handful of others were sitting. “It’s your birthday?” asked Philippa in a stage whisper.

“Yes,” hissed Alex. “I didn’t want to do anything for it, but this lot insisted.”

“That would have been helpful background information before I arrived,” whispered Philippa, sitting in an empty chair and trying to organise her face into an expression that wasn’t incredulous.

The woman who had spoken to them was called Clodagh, and her blonde curly hair framed her smiling face. “So, Philippa, how did you and our girl here meet?”

Philippa looked at Alex, before launching into the story. Alex added the embellishments about how she had spotted Philippa straight away, and everyone around the table lapped it up.

“That is gorgeous,” said Clodagh. “It’s about time someone tamed her. This is my partner, Rae.”

Philippa smiled and held her hand out for Rae to shake. Their curly modern mullet made them look achingly cool, and Philippa couldn’t help feeling a little square in their presence, until they said, “I love your eye makeup. I’ve been trying to achieve that kind of smoky look for ages. Can you show me how?”

“Sure,” said Philippa, who’d been doing her eye makeup that way for years and didn’t really think about it anymore.

There was an assortment of people around the table, all of whom welcomed Philippa warmly. She was struck by howfriendly Alex’s people were. She wondered why Alex needed Philippa there with her, why she didn’t feel she could turn up to her own birthday gathering alone.

Philippa was asked the usual questions about what she did, and she also talked about Dottie. “Ooh,” said Clodagh, “I definitely need to see a pic. She sounds awesome. Have you met her yet?” she asked Alex.

“Not yet,” said Alex. “It’s important not to go too quickly when kids are involved.”

Philippa was once again impressed with the smoothness of the lie. Although, she reflected, it was less a lie, more a fact with embellishment. Again. And of course she was right. Dottie didn’t even know her mum was gay, so meeting a new partner was still some distance away. Also, she reminded herself, Alex wasn’t actually her partner.

“But I can’t wait,” added Alex, smiling warmly at Philippa and popping a hand on her thigh, making Philippa almost jump out of her skin.

“How about Seren? How’s she?” asked Rae, addressing Alex.

Philippa hadn’t heard that name before. She wondered who Seren could be. An ex, perhaps? But would Rae ask about an ex in front of Philippa, her supposed ‘current’? She had a sudden flash of jealousy and forced herself to think rationally. Alex wasn’t hers to get jealous about. Her leg tensed, and as if sensing her thoughts, Alex rubbed her palm up and down.

“She’s ok,” said Alex. Her face clouded, and Rae pressed their lips together. Alex looked around her. “But enough of all that. Where are my other presents?”

“We thought you’d never ask,” said Rae, whipping out a gift bag from beneath their seat.

Alex’s friends had bought her beautiful and thoughtful gifts. Rae had excelled themself in particular, with a tiny watercolour set that could be put in a pocket.

“This is great,” said Alex, taking her hand from Philippa’s leg to examine each of the tiny pieces of the set. “I haven’t painted properly in ages. It takes so long to get everything out, but I can just chuck this in my bag and get it out anywhere. Thanks, Rae, I really appreciate it.”

“I didn’t know you painted,” said Philippa, curious to see the sort of art someone like Alex might produce.

“Well, I don’t at the moment,” said Alex. “That’s the problem. This might kickstart me back into it.”

“I’d love to see your work,” said Philippa, momentarily forgetting the others.

---