A Smiffendale Christmas
"Ere you go Tom."
"Christmas cards Dale?" said Tom, taking the envelope.
"Nah, it's an invite to a party."
Tom opened up the card. He read, "Mel and Helen invite you to a Smiffendale Christmas Party."
"Mel didn't say anything to me about a party - er, not that I've seen her recently, that is."
"Oh, give it up Tom!"
"What?"
"I know you went out with her last night, Helen told me."
"Oh, so you've been seeing Helen then?"
"No, as I was leaving the section house this morning, Helen was waiting outside and asked me to give everyone an
invite.""What, everyone? Even Conway and Brownlow?"
"Be serious!"
Dale laughed and dropped an invite onto John Boulton's desk. Then, he went over to Rod who was on the phone as
usual and handed him one."What's this?"
"Open it and see."
"Hold on a minute Spirit, just opening a card here."
Kerry looked over and shouted, "Is he on that damn phone to Spirit again? Why doesn't she just get a job here and
be done with it. At least we might be able to prise him out of his chair once in a while.""Nah, not a good idea," said Dale, "she'd 'andcuff him to the chair and then he'd be totally useless to us all."
"He's not far from that already!" shouted Tom.
"Oi!" exclaimed Rod. "I'm an asset to this place."
"You're an ass all right." smirked Duncan as he walked past Rod, taking an invite from Dale at the same time.
Rod scowled at Duncan. "Dale - is this an invite for one, or can I bring a friend?"
"Have you got one then?" Kerry butted in.
"Oh Kerry, that's not nice......" said Dale, trying not to laugh, "Rod, if you're thinking of bringing Spirit, the girls
have invited her."Rod turned his attention back to the phone. "So, are you going to the party? Yeah? Great, we can go together.
"Is he really that worried about those girls?" Kerry asked Dale.
"Yeah, I think he's suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Add to that the damage his ego took and you've
got one Scared Skase!"Rod slammed the phone down. "If you've quite finished taking the pi.."
"All right Rod, calm down, it was only a bit of fun." said Duncan, although it wasn't meant as sympathetic as Rod
hoped.Rod grabbed his mobile phone from the desk and stomped out of the room.
The others could hear his mobile beeping as he keyed in a number, more than likely Spirit's number.......
"You shouldn't rib him like that."
"Awwww, come on Duncan. Remember that the MmmmPecs got me? Do you see me having tantrums if anyone
has a laugh about it? No, you don't. Why? Because I think it was funny too, apart from when Xie almost clobbered me.""Yeah, but you know that Rod can't take a joke. He's quite a sensitive guy."
Raucous laughter erupted from Kerry.
"What's so funny Kerry? Have you just read that the all over denim look is back in and finally your critics can be
Everyone stopped and looked at Tom, who was looking quite pleased with his statement.
"Now that was a classic Tom, I bet you've been saving that one up." said Dale.
"No," said Kerry, fixing an evil glare on Tom, "It was just the idea of Rod being sensitive. He's about as sensitive as a
smack in the face with a brick."Tom was on a roll now. "Well, you'd know all about that wouldn't you? I always felt sorry for you whenever you
got bashed by some scrote, but now I know why they did it."Duncan stared, open-mouthed. What was with Tom? Had his escapades with the Smiffendales turned him into a
different person to the one that they had all come to know and love? Well, maybe not the love part.Kerry mumbled something about needing the loo and left the room in a hurry to find comfort in Trev.
"Watch it Kerry!" they heard John Boulton yell as Kerry rushed past him.
He walked into the room and stood with a questioning look on his face. "Anyone care to tell me what that was all
about?""No idea sarge, probably PMT." offered Duncan.
Tom went red, thinking that maybe he went a little too far, but damn - it had felt good!
"I'd best finish handing these out and get on wiv some work." said Dale.
"Have you got one of them for Kerry, or is that not a good idea now?" asked Duncan.
Dale flicked through the envelopes. "Nope, can't see one."
"They haven't invited Kerry?"
"Obviously not. Let's just hope that she don't get to hear about the party."
"That might be a little difficult if everyone else is going. You can't expect that to stay a secret."
"We'll just 'av to see then. See ya." Dale left the room in search of Tony, Reg and anyone else who's invite he was
carrying."A party eh?" said John, "Does anyone know if Brummie is going?"
Duncan looked towards heaven for sanctuary.
"Where's Rod?" asked John eyeing the empty desk.
"On his phone somewhere as usual." said Tom, looking down the corridor for Kerry. He saw Trev walking along.
"Hello Kerry, what's up with you?" asked John.
"Nothing sarge, well, nothing that can't be sorted."
Tom shrank into his chair.....was Kerry directing that at him?
"Good, good, hey, what about this party then? Looks good doesn't it?"
"Party - what party?"
Tom slumped onto his desk and Duncan picked his phone up and quickly dialled a number to try and avoid Kerry.
He listened intently as he heard a voice say "At the third stroke, the time will be......"John looked around the office in amazement. Anyone would think that he had said something he shouldn't have
done.........."Sarge!"
"Yes Dale?" replied June.
"The Smiffendales are having a Christmas party and they'd like you to come. I've got an invite here for you."
"Me?.....er, right, thankyou, I'd love to come!"
"Good! We'll look forward to it."
June stared at the envelope in surprise. Matt Boyden looked over her shoulder, "Oi! You got one for me Dale?"
Dale handed over Matt's invite. Matt smiled, then his face clouded over.
"Wassup sarge?"
"Who should I bring? I really have to choose?!"
Dale wondered what would be happening in the BoyDen tonight when they heard about the party invite.
"I'll leave you to it then." said Dale. He had just seen Polly and Vicky walk past. He caught up with them and gave
them their invites. "Can you give these to Cass and Di too please?" he said."Who else is going Smiffy?" asked Polly.
"Not sure yet, I'll let you know later."
"What about Dave, is he going?" Polly looked hopeful.
"I haven't seen him yet, but maybe Jenny wouldn't want to come, do you fink 'e'd come on 'is own?"
"I hope it he does, I mean, just cos she don't wanna come, don't mean to say that he can't." Polly hoped she had
covered up her keeness for Dave to come on his own.Back up in CID - Kerry was on fire. (Not literally).
John, Duncan, Tom and Rod all looked at each other and then at the floor. It felt like being told off by a
"I bet the party is crap anyway."
Tom opened his mouth and spoke before his brain had a chance to catch up, "It won't be crap because you won't be
there.""Ouch" muttered John to Duncan, "that's gotta hurt."
"Yep." said Duncan.
SLAP!
Three heads turned to watch Kerry as she once more stomped out of the room. Then, three heads turned to face
Tom."I bet that hurt too." quiped Duncan.
"Nice red handmark there Tom."
"Yeah thanks Rod, I guessed there would be."
John faced Tom. "I think it's about time you and me had a little chat."
"Yes sarge." mumbled Tom as he followed John.
Rod and Duncan watched as John spoke to Tom. They couldn't hear anything and Duncan was desperately trying
to lip-read. Tom was staring at the floor like a child who had been naughty, but then Duncan realised that he was actually smirking. Tom walked back into the room laughing."Don't tell me he thought it was funny too?" asked Duncan.
Tom was about to reply when Kerry stormed back into the room. They watched as she sat down at her desk and
"Right, I'd better go and see this snout of mine then." Rod said. "You coming Tom?"
In the car, Rod turned to Tom and said "Don't you think that this is all a bit cruel? If Boulton is siding with us?"
"Have you forgotten what she said to you Rod?"
"No Tom, but it wasn't just her, you were all having a pop at me."
"Oh I get it, you can't handle a few jokes yourself, so now you are feeling sorry for Kerry."
"I don't feel sorry for her. Oh, just forget it, it's like being back at school - who's going to be picked on next, that
sort of thing."Tom sighed. He was wishing it was time to go home already.
"Helen - the party isn't today. Do we really have to get all this stuff now?"
Helen was standing in the frozen food section, deliberating on what to get next. She looked at Mel who was trying
to navigate the over-flowing trolley around a display of sage and onion stuffing mix boxes."You know what I'm like Mel, I always forget something, so it's best to do it now, and then if I've forgotten
"I'm sure that's a very practical idea and there must be some logic in there somewhere. The thing is, this trolley is
bloody heavy.""Oh, stop moaning! Mel! - watch it.....oops!"
Mel had cleared the display with the trolley, but had stepped back, hoping that Helen would get the hint and take
the trolley. She had knocked every single box over......Helen started to laugh.
"Mel - where you going?"
"To wait in the car."
"What about this mess?"
"You sort it out."
Helen stopped laughing. She looked around and saw two assistants watching her.
She heard one say "I am NOT going to stack them up, I had only just finished that display."
Jesus, Helen thought, some people just have no sense of humour. "It's all right," she called out, "I'll put them back."
"Too right she will." said one as they walked off in disgust.
Helen dropped the boxes that she had just picked up. "Sod ya then." she said quietly. The memories of working in
shops herself for years flooded back to her. The crap she had to put up with back then......quite literally considering she had worked in a pet shop. If a customer had knocked anything over, she had always declined their offer to clean it up. Accidents happened and she had no problem with cleaning things up. Maybe it was her age, but the words "In my day...." were floating around in her head.She walked away from the boxes. Grabbing hold of the trolley she began to push it towards the tills. She had to
Mel sat in the car, searching for a decent tape to listen to. She was sure she had left her Savage Garden tape in here,
but all she could see were Helen's tapes. She didn't want to listen to Buddy Holly, Eddie Cochran, Gene Vincent or for that matter, not even Boyzone. At the back of the glove box, she found a Spandau Ballet tape. Yey! she thought. Removing an AC/DC tape from the stereo, she pushed the tape in and sat back comfortably as 'Through The Barricades' started playing. She felt a thump as Helen's trolley collided with the car. Mel rolled her eyes. Maybe Helen would have been better off with a battered old heap which wouldn't notice a few bumps here and there. Mel laughed to herself as she recalled all of Helen's misdemeanours with cars. There had been so many......Helen moaned as she put the bags of shopping in the boot. "Trust me to get the till with the slowest till operator in
history, then, what happens when it's my turn? The till roll runs out, bloody typical, it always happens to me."Mel turned the stereo up.
There was a thud as Helen closed the boot. She took the trolley back to the front of the supermarket, then got into
the car. "Ere ya go sis!" she said, passing the Aero to Mel, who smiled and started the car up.Mel was singing, so Helen joined in......"and now I know what they're saying as our hearts go to their graves and we
made our love on wasteland and through the barricades."The old man sitting in the car park booth stared at Mel as she passed him the fee for parking. "Merry Christmas!" she
yelled over the music as she drove off."Bloody punk rockers." said the old man.
"What should I do Bob?"
"About what Matt?"
"The party - who should I take?"
"The simple solution would be to not take anyone with you."
"You mean, go on my own? I can't do that."
"Matt, the place will be full of your colleagues. You won't really be on your own."
"Oh, you're no help." Matt knew Bob was right, as he was most of the time, but he wasn't about to admit it.
Kerry was standing at the coffee machine when Trev walked past. "Hey Kerry, about this party. Dale's just given me
an invite.""Lucky you." Kerry said, miserably.
"I've got an idea."
Back at the flat, Mel watched Helen in amusement. Dale was on the phone to let them know who was coming to
the party so far and Helen was looking slightly flushed. She was madly pointing at her pack of fags on the table which were just out of reach. Mel was playing dumb. "Wassat Hells, you want a cup of tea?" she said, laughing even more as Helen grabbed a TaeKwonDo trophy from a nearby shelf and made like she was going to throw it at Mel's head. A pack of Berkeley menthols were thrown in Helen's direction."Cheers babe," said Helen,"oh no, not you Dale, I was talking to Mel."
Helen went red and Mel laughed again. She tried to read over Helen's shoulder as she wrote down some names.
"OK, thanks Dale, see you later then? Bye."
Helen put the phone down and passed the list to Mel.
"Are you meeting him later then?" inquired Mel.
"Oh, I might happen to bump into him down the pub." grinned Helen.
Mel tutted and started to read the list.
Dale (of course) Tom (of course)
"Maybe more, he'll let us know. Like Dave, he's gotta check with Jenny first." said Helen.
"And us lot too, which is me and you, Brums, Zena, Leigh and 833. Oh and Spirit too. Sammy and 416 are on
Helen was trying to work out how much drink they would need. "Maybe we should have held this in a pub?!"
"Well, why don't we ask Zena to have a word with the owner of the off-licence? I'm sure he'd do her a good deal.
I'll give her a call now. Oh, by the way, she said that she'll be bringing Nick with her, not Nick Klein, but her Nick.""OK." said Helen.
Back in CID, Kerry was walking around with a smile on her face. John eyed her suspiciously. What was she up to?
She had been in a foul mood earlier, and now she looked as though she was floating. John had also just bumped into Trev at the coffee machine. Trev had said hello. John had been shocked. Trev never usually spoke."SARGE!"
"Christ Duncan! Do you have to shout?"
"Well, I have tried asking you something three times, but you were miles away. What are you thinking about whilst
staring at Kerry like that?""Steamrollers."
"Eh?"
"Oh, they're relaying the road outside my house. Had problems getting passed the steamrollers this morning. Now,
what was it you wanted?""Never mind sarge, it wasn't important." Duncan decided to leave John alone. What was with everyone today? And
what was the connection with John, Kerry and steamrollers?? Duncan looked at his watch. A few more hours to go. Then another day.......ah well, at least the party was tomorrow night. That was something to look forward to. At least if Kerry wasn't going, there would be no arguments."Right - Zena can get the booze sorted, the offy owner has given her a good deal. We've got beer, wine and spirits.
She says he'll have it ready in the morning after his delivery has arrived. If you go at about 10am, go round the back, he should have it there ready.""Me?" said Helen, "On my own? And in that car? Do you really think that we will fit it all in that poor car?!"
"Oh." said Mel. "Do we know anyone with a van? And I will help you."
"You better do!"
The following morning, Mel got up to see Helen about to leave the flat. "Where are you going?" asked Mel looking
at the clock. "It's 8am!""I've gotta pick a van up. And I have forgotten something really important."
"What's that?"
"MISTLETOE!"
The door slammed and Helen ran down the stairs. She got into the car, started it, and roared off out of the car park,
narrowly missing the milk man as he crossed the road."OI! Bloody lunatic!" shouted the milkie.
Helen slammed the brakes on. She started to reverse back up to the milk man who wondered if it was such a good
idea to still be standing in the middle of the road.The milk man froze as Helen pulled alongside. News reports of road rage jumbled around in his mind, and he
He held up two milk bottles in some kind of defensive stance, but almost dropped them when Helen said "Sorry
After about half an hours driving, Helen arrived at her friend's house. Walking past the Transit van on the driveway,
she noticed that it was still full of trees. She knocked on the door. The door opened. "Morning Melanie.""Hi Helen, look sorry about this, Wesley was in a rush yesterday and didn't get to unload the van, can you do it for
him?"Helen could see that the van was jam-packed with conifers. This was going to be fun............"Yeah sure. Are you
"Helen, do you really think he will want to be cutting people's trees down on Christmas Eve? Go on, off you go!"
At about 11am, Mel heard a noise at the door. A kick at the door. She opened it to see Helen standing there with
armfuls of beer. "Give me a hand then, there's loads to bring up!""You've been gone hours! I wondered what you were doing!"
"Don't start! I had to empty the van before I could do anything else. There was no stereo in the van, and the
"Why didn't you call me, or come and pick me up?"
"I tried ringing - there was no answer."
"Oh that's strange, I didn't hear the phone." Mel wasn't about to admit that she had gone back to bed because she
was cold!"Besides, I thought that the guy at the offy would have helped me.. He told me that he had to sort out the delivery
he had just had, but then I saw him sitting at the back of the shop drinking a cup of tea! And he was laughing at me.""Did you have a go at him?"
"Nah, I thought it wouldn't be a good idea, might have asked me for more money for the booze."
"That's not like you Helen."
Helen laughed.
"All right, what did you do?"
"I finished loading the van, drove out of the yard, nipped back in when he wasn't looking and let his tyres down."
"That's more like it. No, hold on, I'm sure Zena said that he has two cars there."
"She did, and he has. But they both have flat tyres now!"
At Sun Hill, the shift was drawing to an end. A few of them where discussing the party.
"Dave," said Polly, "Can't you come to this party with us, and Jenny go to her friend's party?"
"Sorry Pol, I can't, I promised a couple of weeks ago that I'd go with her. This party is a bit short notice, it wouldn't
be fair to her if I changed my mind."Polly tried to hide her disappointment.
"You've gone soft Dave!" said Dale.
"And what would you know?"
"Dave, is she really going to be that annoyed if you said, 'right Jenny, I'll come to your party wiv you, stay a while,
then go on to see me mates at this other party'?""Yeah, go on Dave." added Cass. "Just cos you're married, don't mean you're dead."
Dave scowled at Cass. "Me and Jenny are happy y'know."
"Hmmmm." said Cass. "Sounds more like you're at her beck and call and you can't do anything on your own back."
"Nah, it's not like that Cass."
"Hang on." butted in Tony. "She's right, you haven't been down the pub with us after work for a couple of weeks.
What's all that about? Doesn't Jenny like us? Or does she think that we don't like her?""She wouldn't be far wrong." muttered Polly.
"Eh?" whispered Cass.
Polly shook her head. "Nothing."
Up in CID, everyone was worried.
"Why does she keep smiling at us?" asked Tom.
"I don't know, but I don't like it." replied Rod.
"And what has she got hanging on the coat stand?"
"Dry cleaning she told me, said she was going out after work and would be getting changed here instead of going
home.""Oh." said Tom.
Trev walked in the room and took something over to John. They stood there having a laugh and a joke.
Rod and Tom looked on in amazement.
As Trev left the room, he said "Rod." and nodded his head. And to Tom, he just scowled.
Tom felt a *shudder* go through him.
"Hey Helen, I'm just popping out for a while, I've gotta go and see someone."
"Ok, I'll get on with the food while you're out then."
Mel shut the door behind her and started to walk down the corridor. She heard music begin to blast out from the
flat. Phantom of the Opera, Helen loves it. Don't think the neighbours do though..........."Right, where do I start first?" Helen asked herself whilst looking at the kitchen which was full of food. "Aha! This
will do to start." Helen opened the can of Guinness and took a swig. She turned the stereo up and only then did she switch the cooker on and begin to open packets of ingredients. Looking at the clock, she saw that there was only a few hours until the party."So Matt, have you decided who you are taking to the party?" asked June.
"Yes I have actually - you June!"
June laughed, "Well, I can pick you up, but we don't have to go together if you know what I mean, I'm sure there
must be someone you want to take.""There is, but it would mean taking all of them, and I don't think there's enough room!"
June laughed again "Modest as always, Matt." June wondered for a moment what it would be like to have her own
group of fans. Of course most people liked her - but it would be good to have her own followers, like the Junettes or something similar."Me modest? Nah, I'm just being honest, I mean, they have impeccable taste, don't you think?!"
June groaned and walked off.
"Oi Reg!" shouted Matt as Reg walked past. "What are you wearing tonight then?"
Mel returned the flat an hour after she had left. She placed a couple of carrier bags on the settee and wandered into
the kitchen to see how Helen was getting on. She seemed to be getting on with the food quite well, but also appeared to be slightly legless."Me legless?" she snorted when Mel commented on it. "Never! I'm just happy!"
Legless then thought Mel. "We've still got a couple of hours before the party y'know. We don't want to run out of
booze and you don't want to be drunk before anyone even gets here.""Well that's enough about me, what have you been up to?!
"When?"
"Just know?"
"I went to get some more decorations." Mel pointed at the evidence sitting on the settee.
"Hmmmmm."
"What do you mean 'Hmmmmm'?"
"You told me that you were going to see someone."
"No I didn't."
"Don't start the panto thing off Mel, you know you did."
Mel remembered that she had told Helen this, "I meant the guy on the market who had the stall with the
"You're a bad liar Mel."
"I'm not......."
Helen walked back off to the kitchen, slightly unsteadily. She turned to look at Mel and said, "You shouldn't go to
see him while he's on duty." and then disappeared back into the kitchen.Mel grinned and unpacked the decorations. "You did get the mistletoe didn't you Hells?" She giggled as Helen
"Dave is coming to the party?"
"Yes Pol, I've told you 3 times now." replied Cass, "He told me that he's going to drop Jenny off at her party and
then come to our one.""I bet she's not happy with that."
"Like you really care Pol?!"
Polly grinned at Cass. "Dave's a good mate, I just can't get on with Jenny the same."
"No, I didn't think you would somehow." laughed Cass.
"Sarge?"
"Yes Rod?" John looked up from his desk.
"Is there any chance of me getting off early today?"
John looked around to make sure that Kerry wasn't in earshot, "Rod, we're all going to the party, so there's no
Rod raised his eyebrows and considered answering that, but then thought wisely against it. "No, it's not to get
"This someone being female I presume?"
Rod nodded.
"And it can't wait until later?"
Rod shook his head.
"And it's really that urgent?"
Rod nodded his head again, wishing that John would just say yes.
"Sorry Rod, I can't do that."
John watched in amusement as Rod slumped onto his desk, covering his head with his hands. He knew full well who
Rod wanted to go and see. He wanted to see Spirit, and it wasn't just to say hello, she'd been on the phone to him all day and he was looking severely uncomfortable. John found it funny to torture Rod like this. Another couple of hours at work in his state of mind would teach him not to be on the phone all day to young women. Although, John was slightly jealous and sometimes wished that one of the Listeners would talk to him the way Spirit talked to Rod. Or maybe that wasn't such a good idea he thought as he watched Rod dash off to the toilet.Mel and Helen were just finishing arranging the food and drink at the flat. "Do you reckon we should sort the music
out now, or just see how it goes?" asked Mel.There was no reply, so Mel turned round to see what Helen was doing and saw her balancing precariously on a stool
with the mistletoe in one hand and and a hook in the other which she was attempting to screw into the ceiling."Eh?" said Helen.
"Music - what shall we do?"
"Oh, er, dunno. There's some more CDs in my room, I picked some up from Spirit earlier."
Mel went to fetch the CDs from Helen's room. "Michael Ball?" she asked.
"Yeah, he's all right, Spirit likes him. Stick one of them on for now, Love Changes Everything. I like that one."
Mel put the CD on and continued to watch Helen wrestling with the mistletoe. She thought about offering to
At Sun Hill, everyone was leaving, ready to go home and get changed for the party.
Tom watched as Kerry got into Trev's car, smiling happily. Rod roared past, for some reason he seemed to be in a
hurry - maybe he was on a promise?!Dave offered Polly a lift home and said that he would come back to pick her up after he had taken Jenny off to her
party.Dale, Tony and Cass made their way back to the section house, discussing whether they should pick any alcohol to
take with them. "From what I've 'eard, I don't fink we'll need to take any wiv us." said Dale. "Zena gets a good discount at the offy, so they'll have plenty!"At the flat the girls had finished everything and were just waiting for everyone to start arriving. Soon enough Zena,
Nick, Brums, 833 and Leigh all arrived together. They were just choosing some music to start listening to when the the doorbell rang. Helen opened the door to see Di, Nick and Sam. "Hi! Come in!" said Helen, and took the bottles of wine they were carrying. "Glad you could make it." she told them. Everyone exchanged seasonal greetings and over choosing drinks, the conversation began to flow. Di said to Helen "Dale should be here soon, no doubt he and Tony are still waiting for Cass to get ready!"Within half an hour, the place was getting pretty full. Duncan had arrived, along with Tom, and everyone was
The doorbell rang again, and in walked Spirit with her arms draped around Rod. Mel eyed them suspiciously. "You're
looking flushed Spirit." she said. Spirit grinned while Rod blushed. Spirit noticed the mistletoe (like anyone could miss it!) and grabbed Rod, snogging him vigorously. "Any excuse." mumbled Mel and went to get another drink."Hi ya!" everyone heard Cass call as she walked through the door which had been left open due to the fact that Rod
and Spirit were still stood there - entwined. Dale and Tony followed Cass into the room.Helen wondered what to do - her heart was thumping so much that she thought it would drown out the music.
She couldn't really shove Rod and Spirit out of the way so she could grab Dale and kiss him under the mistletoe, much as she'd like to. Instead, she offered him a drink. He apologised for being late - something about Cass washing her hair.Before long, everyone had arrived and seemed to be enjoying themselves. Dave and Polly had arrived together and
were dancing amongst the crowd. Brums was dancing with John Boulton. Tom was looking comfortable sitting on the settee with Mel. Cass was challenging Sam to a drinking contest. Even Matt seemed to be having a good time, laughing with June.Only one person was missing - Trev.
"I saw him and Kerry leaving work together." said Tom and everyone started to gossip as to whether they were an
'item'. On cue, there was a knock at the door. "That's a coppers knock." explained Helen, "So, it has to be Trev."She opened the door and sure enough, there was Trev. Only, he wasn't alone..........
Everyone turned and watched as Kerry walked in holding Trev's hand. Silence descended over the room. Even the
music had stopped.June tried to be polite. "Nice dress Kerry, is it new?"
"No, but I thought it was a good dress for a party." came the reply.
Tom once more spoke before engaging brain. "Only you could carry off the beige denim look Kerry." Mel nudged
Tom in the ribs.Helen decided that as it was Christmas, they all should at least try to be nice to each other. "Well, now you're here
Kerry, come and get a drink."Kerry smiled and lead Trev over to the drinks.
Dale made his way over to Helen at the door and said "I 'ad no idea - sorry!" Helen laughed and told him that she
didn't care - as long as Kerry and Tom didn't start fighting!Someone started the music up again, and as luck would have it, it was a slow slushy song. Everyone began to pair off
to dance. Zena and Nick were wrapped around each other, Spirit and Rod still seemed to be entwined, Brums dragged John up to dance once more, Matt offered his hand to June and she accepted, Dave and Polly continued dancing together and Sam and Cass joined them all."Would you like to dance?" asked Dale.
Helen swore she felt her heart stop beating. She opened her mouth to say yes, but found no sound came out (now
that is amazing!!). Instead she just nodded and Dale smiled at her.As they danced, Helen remembered exactly where they were dancing. She looked up. Dale also looked up to see
"Merry Christmas Helen."
"Merry Christmas Dale."