Page 2 of Faking It (and falling in love)

Charlie’s mouth formed a small ‘o’. He blinked a couple of times. “My goodness, Phil,” he said, finally. “I had absolutely no idea.” Then he put his hands up as if to apologise. “But this isn’tabout me. I guess the first thing I should do is to welcome you to the wonderful world of the queer community. You’re part of the family now.”

Philippa heaved a huge sigh of relief. She’d come out to a few people already, but telling Charlie had felt particularly charged because he was gay himself. She didn’t know how he would feel about someone coming out later in life. “Thank you,” she said, “although I’ll be honest, I haven’t really met many of the ‘family’, as you call it. I’m glad to be part of it, though. I feel more me than I’ve ever felt, even though I’ve not actually changed anything about my life.”

“Apart from giving Paul the elbow,” said Charlie with a wink.

“Well, yes, apart from that,” admitted Philippa with a wry smile.

“Tell me everything,” said Charlie. “And I’m going to order some of that balaclava, because I suspect we’re going to need it.”

Philippa relaxed and smiled. This was the kind of thing Charlie was good at. “I think you mean baclava, Charles.”

“Tomayto, tomahto, let’s call the whole thing off,” countered Charlie, his hand already up to summon the waiter.

It wasn’t until they were onto their second coffee that Charlie asked through the honeyed pastry crumbs if she was dating anyone.

“Oh heavens, no,” said Philippa. “I’m far too busy for that. Between the firm and Dottie, I don’t even know where I’d fit anyone else.”

“Damnit,” said Charlie, “I was hoping for some kind of erotic awakening from an uber-lesbian of note.”

“What’s one of those?” asked Philippa, incredulous.

“Oh, you know, Sue Perkins, Sandi Toksvig…” he trailed off.

“Well, sorry to disappoint you, Charles. Besides, I’m not twenty any more, I can’t just go to a bar and just meet someone.”

“Oh my God,” said Charlie, “we’re going to have so much fun. I am going to introduce you to every eligible lesbian I know.”

“You’re incorrigible,” replied Philippa, pursing her lips.

“So I’ve been told,” he confirmed. “And we can get you on the dating apps, too. A friend of mine did that a while back.”

“No,” interrupted Philippa. “Absolutely not. I am not going to be swiped upon.”

“Oh, you are so delightfully haughty,” said Charlie with a laugh. “I can think of legions of women who’d go weak at the knees for that.” Philippa rolled her eyes. “Ok, so I won’t try and set you up, but perhaps I can help you widen your social circle? Or perhaps to widen your?—”

Philippa interrupted. “Thank you.” She glared. “But helping me widen my social group would be lovely.” She felt a happy warmth growing inside her.

The conversation was easy, and Philippa was relieved to have said those words out loud to her friend. They spent an enjoyable hour catching up.

“Well, my dear, I need to dash. I’ve got a meeting at the Children’s Hospital, so I’m going to head over there.”

“Thank you, Charlie.”

“Don’t thank me, thank yourself for letting you be you,” he said, kissing Philippa on the cheek before walking swiftly across Pigeon Park.

Chapter Two

“Mummy!” Dottie shouted from the classroom door. Philippa smiled. She wondered at what age she would go from being called ‘mummy’ in an excited voice to becoming ‘mum’ in a more sullen one.

“Dottie, how are you doing? Did you manage to get your volcano sculpture finished today?” she asked, grabbing the rucksack her daughter had dropped unceremoniously at her feet.

“Yes,” she said breathlessly. “It’s drying over there in the window. Look.”

“Ooh, yes,” said Philippa, “I can see it in the corner there. What a fantastic achievement. Well done.”

“Thanks,” said Dottie. “I think it looks good, but Hardev says it looks like an exploding toilet.”

Philippa gave a wry smile, remembering the cheeky boy well from her experience supporting Dottie’s class on a school trip. “Ignore him,” she said, “he’s definitely not looking at it from the right angle.” Philippa looked back at the sculpture, and decided never to admit to thinking it did look very slightly like an exploding toilet.

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