And yet life has a way of weaving the past into the present, so it was that Monday morning, on her way to pick up her regular pain au chocolate from the local artisan bakery that Molly finally came face to face with the mystery woman she had seen staring out into the distance so many times.
An old friend became a new friend as Hetty ran through her well practiced surprise face on 'bumping' into Molly that Monday. Platitudes flowed between the faux shock from Hetty, and the genuine horror within Molly. Hasn't time flown! (Hetty had agonised over whether to use this line - she was happy she did, it landed at exactly the right point) Haven't you....grown! (Despite being horrified, Molly was grateful that Hetty was still at least 7lbs heavier than her, but internally noted that Hetty was sniffling and the weight loss was probably in part due to a nasty bout of flu).
The following hour swept them up in a whirlwind of catching up, the urgency of which was only matched by the howling coastal wind coming in from the west. imagine the coincidence! Hetty's new one woman business was based in the same remote village Molly now lived in. And Hetty wasn't alone. Her boyfriend had moved with her - luckily he had found work immediately at the local lidl. Molly's horror was momentarily replaced with intrigue at the mention of Hetty's love interest. "We must have dinner! Peoni would love to meet you! Do you still like everything deep fried? " She scribbled her address on an old Victoria Secret receipt "be here at 8, to eat for 9" she said breezily, only vaguely concerned that her address was written on evidence that she needed to use shape fitting lingerie these days.
