Taking CONTROL

Kate was perfectly capable of taking care of herself – if only her husband realised

Come on, David, please. I don’t want to miss seeing Lynn.’

Kate held out her hand for the TV remote. When her husband teasingly moved it further away, she stretched past him to make a lunge for it, but their height difference meant she was never going to get anywhere near and she gave up.

‘It’s only the ads, love,’ David said, giving her a peck on the cheek. ‘I’ll switch back in plenty of time. Although, if she’s wearing the sort of clobber we’ve seen up to now, I don’t know how you’re going to recognise her.’

‘She’s 5ft 11in, David. Add a wig and bonnet and I think she’ll be easy enough to spot.’

He googled and Kate grinned. She’d forgotten he’d never met her old school friend and only knew Lynn from photos.

‘That’s what brought us together in the first place. We both got ribbed at school about how we looked – our nicknames were Stick and Stack – and we sort of bonded over it. We were friends right through to sixth form, but then Lynn went to uni and I started work at the bookshop, and we just lost touch. It wasn’t until the class reunion that we met up again.’

She snuggled into his side and dug him gently in the ribs.

‘What is it with you and adverts, anyway?’

‘It’s the guff they try to con us with I hate,’ he answered. ‘The fake “science” and scare tactics really get my goat.’

As a biology teacher, David knew what he was talking about, even if he was selective about what to get steamed up about. Lager ads with promises of refreshment unrivalled throughout the known universe seemed to slip past him just fine.