By the time I was twenty years old a number of things had occured in my life to more or less mess me up in the head and I had a string of years that w...re rather self-destructive. This is an example of one of my less-than-stellar moments. I had been twenty-one for a couple months and was doing my part to keep the profits up at the Jack Daniels distillery. My favorite drink was the JD Long Island Iced Tea and I had no problem putting them away. I'd spent this particular hot summer night at a bar. Never really been a cold weather girl, and I certainly don’t like the rain either. A hot day is my thing, so when the weather report said that the next few days were going to be rainless and hot I thought I’d make the most of it. I dusted off the sun lounger, nipped out to the shop and bought a bottle of gin and a bottle of tonic, found my bikini, and I setup outside.Perfect.My house is a typical mid terrace with a fence along both sides to separate me from the neighbours. Pretty secluded. Ms. Rannigan was widowed and lived alone, having retired five years previously from her job as the Principal at a girls’ reformatory. Katherine was slightly nervous around the woman, knowing that in the past, part of her job had been to administer corporal punishment to those girls in her care who had broken the rules.“I can see their car on the drive, so I’ll go and have a word with them once I’ve finished my coffee – they won’t be playing loud music all night once I’m finished, Ms. Rannigan.”. She looked over at me, and asked, “Grim, what’s the matter? What’s wrong?”“I ... I’m sorry. I thought ... I don’t know...”“What’s wrong?”I looked over at her. “Ever since you went off to college, it’s been like things are different. I was wondering if you had changed your mind or something.” I looked down at the floor of the car again. “I wasn’t sure you’d be here,” I said quietly.Kelly reached over and smacked me on the side of the head. “Grim, you’re an idiot! Of course, I’d come. I love you!.