Getting Sentimental

Nostalgia proves a powerful aphrodisiac for two very different women with a shared history.
*
This arose out of a romance-y-type prompt somewhere on here but has been so long in the writing that I've forgotten the details. Something about first loves, probably.

*Update, August 2025: I've been reminded that this actually grew out of a prompt ("nostalgia") suggested about a year ago by the lovely community at the overlooked, independent profile Weekend Write-In. Check them out: there's a lot of great short stories and a very warm welcome.*
*
The title and chapter headings are all swing/big band classics, for reasons which will become obvious as you read. If anyone fancies chasing them (and the other references) up, they're widely available in the usual places - personally, I've been mainlining the BBC Big Band's versions during the writing of this. That said, re 'Blue Room', there is an awesome video on YouTube of a seventy-something Benny Goodman and his band still doing it ample justice in 1985, shortly before the great man's death.

If anyone cares why my characters sometimes have the names they do: in this case, 'Chloe' is also a big band tune, and her surname is a nod to another great jazz clarinettist, Artie Shaw.

*Some swearing. Some passing sexual references*