The one thing Sabrina hadn’t expected was to be greeted by a fawning idiot. Where did these men come from? It must be a result of living in the backwoods of Wales, she though as Caitlin came to her rescue. Clearly not a family retainer; probably an older brother.

Still, there was a kind of crude flattery implied by his oafish lechery. Perhaps she was spoiled by the boys on the fashion Degree course. Half were gay and the other half ambivalent, to say the least. When they said ‘nice dress’ they were complimenting your taste, not making crude advances. This lout was clearly coming on to her, which was nice, in a way. But mostly boorish. Caitlin’s arrival was a relief.

And clearly Sabrina was a welcome visitor. Or mostly welcome. The smile fell, and Sabrina’s heart dropped with it. But then, her duty was clear. The girl was obviously devastated by her affliction, and Sabrina must cheer her up! Even though, frankly, she was just embarrassed now.

She nodded as Caitlin mouthed something (Sorry?) at her and catching on that she was saying something about the presumptive brother, said lightly, “Never mind. I get that a lot these days.” Not strictly true, but it let Caitlin (and her brother) off the hook.

She followed Caitlin into the room, wracking her brains for some way to make this easier for Caitlin. Too much sympathy wouldn’t be good; Caitlin was always a stand-on-her-own-feet kind of girl. Oh, well, jump in with both feet and hope for the best.

“Bit of a nuisance when it comes to having a nice chat,” Sabrina said, trying for a light touch. “But we won’t let that stop us, will we? Sioni sends his love, and says he’ll come around and visit when he gets some free time. Apparently the manager is pushing the team pretty hard, so free time is at a premium. And to tell the truth,” She glanced around as if they might be overheard, “I think he may be involved pretty seriously with someone right now. I’ll name no names, but it’s somebody he really shouldn’t be seeing at all!”

There, some good gossip, and the ice broken. Now for the hard part. “It was Sioni told me about your problem.” She paused, lost for anything more to add. Looking down she said, “It must be bloody for you. I would have come sooner, but I just got back from Italy… and…” Even the Wizard Gossip Mill ground slowly sometimes.

“Well, anyway, here I am. So how are we going to make things better?”

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