smallhobbit

Title: Preparations
Fandom: Matthew Bourne, The Midnight Bell
Rating: G
Length: 261 words
Summary: Nearly everyone is getting ready for the evening

George Harvey Bone watched mesmerised as Netta Longdon brushed her hair preparatory to going out.  He wondered again whether she would permit him to kiss her before they left, although in his heart of hearts he knew she wouldn’t, that she was just playing him along.

At the same time, Miss Roach brushed the jacket of her drab tweed suit.  She was meeting Ernest Ralph Gorse for a drink and maybe more.  She knew she meant nothing to him, but she had little enough opportunity to go out, so why not make the most of it while she could.

Meanwhile, in The Midnight Bell, Ella was down on her hands and knees brushing up the worst of the dirt left behind after the lunchtime opening.  It was a wet day, and the customers had traipsed in mud from the street, with little concern for who would need to clean it up.

Ella looked up as the side door opened, and Bob came in.  “You’re back early,” she said.  “I thought you were meeting that Jenny.”

Bob shrugged.  “She gave me the brush off,” he sighed, “so I decided I might as well come back.  I’ll go and read in my room.”

Ella nodded.  She would never treat Bob like that if he planned to take her out, but that wasn’t going to happen. 

And while all this was going on, Albert was having an unusually close brush with the law.  Fortunately, the law, in the person of Frank, was not in uniform, and equally positive about their relationship, despite its illegality.