The Whipping Turn

Paris - My place

A week of rehearsal's passed and when Jenna woke on the Saturday morning with a free day, her mind, body and ankle gave a sigh of relief. It was almost like an overflow of gratitude and joy knowing that she did not have to put on those shoes, tie the ribbons around her leg and push her body to the brink.

She limped to the kitchen for coffee and food, to  down some voltaren and paracetamol with codeine, the first two tablets dealing with the swelling and the second two dealing with the pain. The kind of contented warmth the pills gave, while keeping the pain at bay, seemed like a fantastic idea for a free Saturday. Jenna strapped the foot and ankle tightly, preventing movement and managing the swelling. That would help too.

Where was Shawna? The flat was quiet and still, unusual for a Saturday morning, which was usually filled with Shawna's roller derby friends or Henri bringing pastries to regal tales of debauchery or flagellate some poor unfortunate one-night stand. Perhaps Shawna had her own one-night stand that had been good enough for the morning too. Jenna gave her a quick text, to check on the wellbeing of her friend.

Eating cereal, standing on one foot, leant against the bench while waiting for her coffee to percolate on the stove, Jenna sorted through the mail and advertising leaflets that had been nicely piled up on the counter. Power bill, insurance, ah! A postcard from Rick and Emma. They were in Tokyo for a conference and Jenna had a small spike of joy to know that the card had beat them home. She read through Rick's terrible scrawl; they had been to temples and sake bars (there seemed a clear preference) and been visiting examples of minimalist and sustainable design. She knew how passionate he was about his profession and she loved hearing that they were getting a lot out of the visit. She loved it that he thought of her too. She flicked the card back over to look at the picture - a giant Hello Kitty dressed in a Kimono, and smiled. He knew she liked the character.

Taking her coffee and card back to her room, Jenna tucked the smile-less face of the cartoon cat into her mirror, propped her strapped foot up on a couple of cushions and snuggled back under the covers with an old, worn copy of War and Peace. She knew it like the back of her hand, and flicked through the pages to find a part she liked, enjoying the backdrop of the Napoleonic wars against Natasha Rostova and Pierre Bezukhov's love story.

It was 2pm before, apart from Shawna's reply about a big night, Jenna heard from the outside world. Her phone pinged loudly, jolting her back to the present. God, why was that so loud?

Jean: hey gorgeous. You free? Want to hang out with us?

Hm, that was unexpected and welcome. Did she want to hang out?

Everywhere in her body gave a very desirable YES...except that ankle which pinged a sharp pain, reminding her.

Well, maybe if she didn't leave the house. That might work.

Jenna: hey. I do...but my ankle doesn't want to go anywhere. Do you guys want to come here? I've got a nice big bed.

Jenna watched the three little dots on her phone jump up and down while Jean replied. It didn't take long.

Jean: That sounds very inviting. How kind of you ;)

She smiled at his cheekiness and typed out a quick response.

Jenna: I'm a kind person.

Jean: We would love to come over. Where are you? And what time?

All she really had to do was have a shower. Maybe change the sheets after lazing in them all day.

Jenna: Come anytime, I'm just chilling out.

And she gave them her address, it wasn't too far from theirs.

Jean: Hmm, I'm sure Oliver likes a bit of afternoon delight ;) and so do I. How about we bring some food and bubbles?