Free Training Days by Jane Frances

have you been together?” she asked.
    Nick shot a worried glance to Kitty and start biting on the nail of his little finger.
    “Not long,” Morgan said quickly, also shooting a glance toward Kitty.
    “No, not long at all.” Kitty seemed unfazed by the continued filthy stare she was receiving from Morgan. “They’re still at that stage.” She winked at Ally. “As you probably gathered from last night.”
    Ally had been in the process of taking the last piece of crispy duck skin to her mouth. She let the fork hover a few inches from her face, more than a little interested to see the others’ reactions to what she knew to be an outright lie.
    Morgan turned her attention for the first time to the view as seen through the slats of the micro-blinds. Mark sculled the last of his beer and placed the empty glass with a thud back onto the table. Most astonishing of all was Nick. Although still chewing on his fingernails, he registered no surprise at the news he was supposedly with Morgan last night.
    Apparently all four were in collaboration.
    “Okay.” Suddenly furious, Ally placed her fork, which still held her last piece of duck skin, next to her knife on the plate. “Thank you for lunch, but I find I am no longer hungry.”
    “Ally?”
    “Alison to you, thank you very much.” Ally glared at Kitty, wishing for the world she could slap the plastic smile from her face. “Look”—she addressed the table in general—“I don’t know what the hell you’re all playing at and why you’ve involved me, but”—she held her hand above her head—“I’ve had it up to here! First I get thrown out of my room before I even step foot in it. Then I get shoved into stinking cattle class where I have to slum it with the great unwashed. And now, for some totally unknown reason, I’m being lied to by an entire TV crew. What is this?” She peered around the carriage and even lifted the red tablecloth and had a look under the table. “Am I on Candid Camera or something? Or do you all just get your kicks from tormenting random members of the public?”
    There was a stunned silence around the table.
    Ally noticed Kitty open her mouth to speak so she cut in before she could get a word out. “Save it for someone who cares.”
    She pulled her chair away from the table, only narrowly missing a collision with an unsuspecting waiter who was delivering a tray of dessert delicacies to another table. Increasingly pissed that she would now miss out on the lemon tart she had already chosen from the menu card, Ally threw her napkin onto her plate and, without looking back, stalked down the corridor.

    Just as Ally had done two seconds prior, Morgan threw her napkin onto her plate and glared at Kitty. “Look where your big ideas have got us now. Nick”—she motioned for him to stand— “let me get out please.”
    Kitty made the same shooing motion to Mark. “I’ll go after her.”
    “Like hell you will.” Morgan slid quickly across Nick’s seat to the corridor. “You’ve done enough damage already. I’ll go.”
    The corridor of the restaurant car was empty except for a waiter serving drinks and another presenting some delicious-looking desserts to some very Poe-faced Brits who obviously wouldn’t be impressed even if the Queen herself was serving them. Morgan strode out quickly, hoping to catch Ally before she got too far ahead.
    There was no sign of her in any of the Gold carriages, and it wasn’t until Morgan stepped into Red that she caught a glimpse of her. Morgan broke into a half-trot. Her own compartment was in the next carriage. Ideally, she would like to speak to Ally in the privacy of her room, not wishing an audience for what she had decided she would say. Because what she had decided to say was the truth. Whether that was to be for good or bad, Morgan did not know. She may have known the woman for only a few brief hours, but there was something about Ally that struck a chord deep within her. And the resonance of