(Helen’s perspective)

I paced in front of the warehouse. It had been a long, sleepless night waiting for William to call. I pressed redial on my phone.

“Hello! I’m calling about someone who was brought in last night. They were supposed to call me when they…”

“Is this the same young lady that called thirty minutes ago about William?”

“Er - yes…”

“I’m sorry, miss. We don’t have that information. He will have to call you, or you will have to come down to the courthouse and ask there for his case number. I hope you get sorted. Goodbye.”

The line went dead and I pressed the phone to my head in frustration. Leaning back on the brick wall, I didn’t even see them coming.

“Good morning, Verity!” Sneered Harold, flanked by his two favorite subordinate classmates.

My eyes went wide, and my feet pressed back toward the wall. “What are you doing here? You’re supposed to be in jail.”

“I know, I know. But I’m no butterfly. You can’t keep me caged. Now poor William…he’s a man without connections or money. Good for me, I have both,” he stepped toward me.

My recent training having become reflexive, my hands went into fence position, nearly eye level with Harold. As I did, I saw Ms. Candor walk toward the classroom, giving me a brief look, then quickly looking away, continuing to class.

“Hasn’t he called you yet? That’s so sad. It feels like maybe he’d rather stay in prison than spend more time with you?”

“He’ll call,” I replied in defiance. “He hasn’t had a chance yet. That’s all.” My eyes darted between Harold and his two bought-off thugs. I was confident that Harold one-on-one was no longer a threat to me, but with the three of them, I wasn’t confident in my Krav Maga.

“You know,” Harold continued, “I feel like we got off on the wrong foot so long ago. We should try another kiss. You know, give it a second go. Let’s call the first one a rehearsal for the real thing.”

The prickles on my neck and shoulder were oppressive, adrenaline pumped as I waited on defense for their next move.

“Oi, Helen! Am I late for class? William called me and asked if I could pinch hit for him while he’s unavailable.”

I looked past Harold, and saw Digger approaching. I let out a breath so loud it was visible.

“Hello, mates!” he said as he slapped both of the thugs on their backs at the same time. Their faces betrayed the sting the slaps brought with them. “Hardly a fair go, three on one, now, is it?”

The pair looked at each other. One of them muttered to Harold something about not enough money as they both turned and left.

I turned my attention back to Harold - hands still raised. I cocked an eyebrow and looked him straight in the eyes, “Ready when you are.”

It was the first time I had seen Harold flinch. I had seen him angry, but wavering confidence was not one of his defining traits. He looked at me, then to the ground, then back at me. “This isn’t over,” he muttered as he started to back away - right into Digger.

“Oi! Nah, mate, reckon you’re gonna cop a serve. Miss Helen here is going to give you what you’ve been asking for. I reckon she might kiss you the way William kissed your bike.”

Harold’s face turned up as if he’d smelled some bad cheese. It wasn’t a look of fear, but of pain - as if he had miscalculated and his ego had been damaged. I looked at him and dropped my hands.

“Harold, I’m not going to hurt you, but you should know that I could. And you should know that I also have connections,” I looked up and winked at Digger, who grinned back. “I’m choosing to take the high road, Harold. It’s something you should try sometime.”

I began walking off, not looking back, when I heard, “Crikey! I never could find the higher road.”

Turning to see what was going on, I saw Digger reach down and pull Harold’s pants to his knees.

“Oi! Mate! Wear some blinkin’ bloomers!”

Laughter erupted from the students on their way to class. Harold quickly reached down and pulled his pants back up. Having done so, he surveyed the laughing faces, scanning from one to the other as if taking mental notes of who had wronged him. Then, suddenly, as if losing complete control, he began punching Digger. Eyes closed, he threw punch after punch in a relentless flurry. It must have lasted a full 30-seconds until Harold, breathing heavy, arms sagging, had nothing left. He opened his eyes, and it was as if I’d watched his soul leave his body. He seemed absolutely stunned that Digger was standing tall, virtually unfazed.

I was close enough to hear Digger as he wrapped his hand around Harold’s neck and pulled him closer. “That was your freebie, Mate. The next time, I’ll reply in kind.”

Harold looked at Digger, then the other students. I couldn’t say what he was thinking in that moment, but watching him run to his bike and leave the parking lot felt like the clouds parting on the darkest of dark days.

(William’s perspective)

It was a long process, but when it was over they gave me my phone to make a call.

“Oi, William! What’s going on, mate?”

“Not much, Digger, but I’m in a bit of a spot. Do you think you could pinch hit for me tomorrow?”

“Sure! No worries, Mate! Whatcha need?”

I filled Digger in and he promised to be at the school on time in the morning.

After the call, they took me to my cell and I did my best to get some sleep.

They called me in the morning to get me in before a judge. It wasn’t a quick process, but in the end, I was released, as no charges were pressed. I took my stuff and grabbed an Uber to class.

(Helen’s perspective)

Digger stuck around for class, and we tried to run some lines.

“Ok, so did William tell you that this scene requires some kissing?”

“Crikey! He did not! He asked me to pinch hit, not play the field!”

I chuckled a little, “Ok, we can skip that part. Let’s just read some lines. Here.”

I passed him a script and he looked it over.

“…eyes are limpid pools of blue? Who talks like that?”

“Everyone, Digger. It’s a very common American phrase when you want to tell a girl she has beautiful eyes,” I teased.

“Really? All the time, then?”

“That’s right! As common as ‘blimey’ in Australia. Girls love it.”

“I’ll have to remember that one. Thanks!”

“Ok,” I started - planning to let Digger in on the joke, when from behind me I heard, “Hey, how’d you get a new partner so fast?”

I leapt up and spun to see William. Throwing my arms around him, I said, “You missed the kissing scene, but we can catch up.”

Digger came over, “Oi, glad to see ya, mate. But I’m kinda liking this stuff. I might stick around.” He walked off headed toward a few of the other female students, “Hello, ladies.” I heard him say before turning back to William.

“Are you okay? What happened? You didn’t call!”

“I called Digger instead. I didn’t know how long I would be in, and I had no idea about where Harold was. I thought it was a good idea for Digger to be here. They dropped any charges once the court heard what had happened. I’m guessing that Harold’s still in the hospital or behind bars by now. His attempted murder charges should stick.”

“Well, they didn’t.”

“What do you mean?”

I retold the mornings events to William.

“So he left?” William smiled.

“Yeah. I don’t know for how long, but after trying to clobber Digger and barely making a dent, I think he knew that today was a wash for him.”

William grinned, “I sort of wish I could have seen it.”

“Ask around - surely someone got it on their phone.”

“That’s a truth.”

(William’s perspective)

I arrived at class and snuck is as best I could, hoping to surprise Verity. I saw her and Digger practicing lines across the room and crept up behind her. “Hey, how’d you get a new partner so quickly?” She spun around and gave me a big hug.

She relayed the morning’s events and I couldn’t help but give a stifled laugh at Digger’s pantsing of Harold. “If anyone ever deserved it,” I thought.

The rest of the day was thankfully uneventful. Heading toward the door with Helen, I heard Digger talking to blonde-haired, blue-eyed student. I stopped to watch.

“Your eyes are limping pools of blue water,” he attempted to flatter her. She giggled a little at the comment and then slid her arm through his.

I nudged Verity. “Looks like Digger had a good day too!” He saw me and trotted over.

“Hey, guys, this class is something else! I’m coming back on Monday. I may just stay for the whole blinkin’ rest of it!”

Verity and I looked at each other and laughed. “If Digger is really planning to stay, it’s my turn to make a phone call,” she said with a wink.