Jane did giggle now and she didn’t really care that she did. Quickly a new silence descended. Lube might be able to help them make love, but it was hardly an arousing thing to think of.

“I—I just don’t really know how to get myself…” Jane tried to scrape the necessary words together, but failed.

“In the mood?” Annie offered.

Jane nodded.

“There are ways.” Annie shuffled a little closer. “We could watch something sexy together. Or I could read you something. Or I can hang your office full of Xena posters.”

They both chuckled.

“Shall we go home?” Annie asked, tugging at Jane’s hand.

“It’s a lovely day. Let’s walk a little longer.” Jane rose. She didn’t want to go back to the flat just yet. She needed some air to process their conversation.

Annie had gone swimming and Jane was minding the shop—again. She was beginning to feel more like a book seller than a writer. It was just her and Mia in the shop and they’d sat down for a coffee.

“How was your day off?” Mia asked. She had stopped inquiring about Jane’s next book, for which Jane was very grateful.

How had her day off been? They’d walked some more, bought a new salad bowl in a shop near their home, and cooked dinner. Jane had taken a long bath and when she’d gone into her office after to check her emails, she’d found a printed picture of Robin Wright in her leather Wonder Woman costume hung on the wall above her desk, with a post-it stuck to the corner that read: How about this?

“Not too bad.” Jane certainly wasn’t going to give Mia any details, even though, after her wife, Mia was the person she spent most time with these days. “How’s the house hunt going?”

“As I suspected, Jo’s old pad won’t do for Princess Louise. And now she has come up with the insane idea of converting a few rooms of her parents’ house into a place for us. Have you ever heard of such a silly thing? I’m crazy about Lou, and I’m dying to move in with her, but that does not include living with her parents. Rita and Reg are great, don’t get me wrong, especially with the history we have, but that is one step too far. I just want us to have a place of our own. That’s all. Is that really so much to ask?”

“I don’t envy you. Annie and I would never be able to afford a place like this if we wanted to buy it today. Property prices are through the roof.”