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Bernie returns from Kiev. She hadn’t expected a trumpet fanfare upon her arrival, there was an awkwardness with Serena that lasted all day. Jason locking them into their office and promptly losing the key was the push Bernie needed to be honest with herself and Serena. The kiss they shared was the best thing Bernie had experienced in her life, so far. When the door was finally unlocked, Serena took Bernie home with her.
Three nights later Bernie arrived at Serena’s with a small bag slung over her shoulder. She pulled a bottle from within the confines of the bag and placed it down on the coffee table with a gentle clunk. Serena eyed it suspiciously. It wasn’t a panic-bought bottle of airport Shiraz that had been hastily wrapped in the back of a taxi. This was something else entirely.
“What’s that?” Serena asked.
“Potato Vodka. It’s very popular in Kiev. One of my colleagues suggested I try it..… It’s not as bad as you would think.” Bernie replied.
“It’s not Shiraz.” Serena commented, looking at the bottle with distain.
“No, but I thought it might be nice to try something different.” Bernie frowned. Maybe this had been a bad idea.
“I thought all Vodka was potato based.” Serena said.
“Oh …. no … Not all Vodka is made with potatoes, some are made from grains and some from fruits and sugars.” Bernie was warming to her topic. “Do you think you might like to try a glass? I should have put it in the freezer, but we’ll have to make do with it as it is.”
Getting up, Serena sighed, “Oh, go on then! I’ll get some glasses.”
Serena returned with two shot glasses and placed them on the coffee table. Bernie opened the bottle and poured a measure into both glasses, handing one to Serena.
“Cheers”. They clinked glasses and downed their shots. It burned all the way down. Bernie refilled the glasses. “Ukrainians take their Vodka very seriously. They say, they’ll welcome you in and carry you out.” Bernie laughed.
More shots went the same way as the first and Serena began to relax, leaning back against Bernie’s shoulder she waved her glass around, Vodka sloshed over the side and she became more animated as the night wore on.
Bernie wrapped her arm around Serena and pulled her closer. Having this woman in her arms was a luxury she wouldn’t take for granted.
“Did I ever tell you about the time I threw soup in Edward’s lap?” Serena said apropos of nothing.
Bernie sat up a little and reached out to grab the Vodka bottle, “I have a feeling this conversation will require more alcohol.” She said as she refilled their glasses.
“I think you might be right.”
Serena sipped at her drink, “I’d just found out he had been cheating again, this time with a theatre nurse. I was more annoyed because she was a damn good nurse and she transferred when she realised I knew about the affair. Do you know how difficult it is to find good theatre nurses? Of course you do, you’re a Surgeon too!” Serena giggled.
“Marcus never cheated on me, as far as I know …. but when we first started going out together, he was so desperate to impress me, especially when he knew I wanted to join the Army. One night we climbed the fence to a children’s playground where he knew there was a zip wire. He went right to the top and slid down the wire, only problem was he was so drunk he let go too early on the descent and landed in a muddy puddle.”
Serena laughed, “Getting covered in mud hardly matches up to having a bowl of soup dumped on him.”
“Ah, I haven’t told you the best part yet …. The muddy puddle stunk, there must have been fox poo in it or something. Also, he’d ripped his trousers climbing over the fence, he had to walk home soaking wet, stinking so badly and with his arse hanging out of his trousers.” Bernie laughed.
Serena giggled and fell further in to Bernie, “Yet, you still married him?”
“Seemed like a good idea at the time.” Bernie sighed.
“What did we ever see in men?” Serena murmured, “Robbie was no better. Not only was he a complete prat to Jason, he expected me to take care of him after a very unfortunate burn incident.”
Bernie glanced sideways at her girlfriend, and that was a term she was still getting used to, “What did he do?”
“He and some friends had planned a ‘lads’ holiday to Benidorm, can you believe it? Lads’ holiday at their age. He didn’t want to look pasty pale in front of everyone, so he booked himself some sunbed sessions. Of course, he thought he knew better than the staff at the salon who had advised him not to overdo it and he paid the price. He’d decided an all over tan would look great and he ….. well … let’s just say he ended up with burns in some rather sensitive places.”
“What did he expect you to do about it?”
“Well, he turned up at the hospital, promptly pulled his trousers down in my office and asked me what I could do about the sunburn. Not the most romantic of gestures, it has to be said.” Serena rolled her eyes. “He said ‘You know how it is, Serena. Us boys need to unwind on our own sometimes.’ He expected me to soothe his burned bum before he left. I advised him to buy some After Sun and shoved him out the door as quickly as I could. I didn’t need any rumours circulating that I’d been up to no good in my office.”
“No, having the staff talk about you would be my specialty.” Bernie took another swig from her glass and reached out for the bottle again.
This wouldn’t do at all. Serena took hold of Bernie’s hand and tugged until Bernie looked at her again. “I think we can gloss over that. Yes, it was hard after you left, and you’re not completely forgiven yet, but you’re not Edward or Robbie and that means everything to me.” She took Bernie’s chin in her hand and placed a gentle kiss on her lips. Bernie sighed, she would never tire of kissing Serena. As the kiss deepened, Bernie’s stomach rumbled loudly. Serena pulled back and grinned, “Is someone hungry? We could order takeaway, what would you like?”
Bernie smiled, “Anything but curry.”