A Midsummer Night's Scene, Chapter 3
Rating: 🍦 | They ran a boudoir studio, and I’d been admiring their work for months. The way they saw something magical in each person who walked through their door and managed to capture it on camera
Foxi’s Fancies: A Midsummer Night’s Scene
Copyright © 2025 Linn Rhinehart - All rights reserved
NSFW: Content warnings
Chapter Three
Twenty minutes later, we’d demolished a good portion of the cake and opened two more bottles of a gorgeous Alsatian Pinot Gris Steph and Gianna had brought back from their latest wine tour of France. The short summer night was sliding into twilight now. The fairy lights twinkled in the trees, and the family was settling in to hear my story.
I’d reclaimed my space in Anna’s lap. Partly because the bench was getting uncomfortable, but mainly because I’ve always felt braver with her arms around me. The others had rearranged themselves, too. Steph and Gianna sprawled like a pair of spoiled cats on the garden cushions, while Maddox leaned back in his chair with Linn curled up in his lap.
“Well then,” I said, taking a fortifying sip of wine. “Where do I even start?”
“At the beginning,” Anna nudged, pressing a kiss to my temple. “It’s usually the best place.”
“Well, in the beginning, I was fucking terrified.”
“Of what?” Steph asked, shifting against her cushion.
“Everything! I’d been Anna’s personal assistant for six years, and we were still living under her parents’ roof. Alice’s rules, Alice’s disapproval…” I laughed, though it came out a bit hollow. “The woman was like an invisible force field hanging over us. But then John died, and we finally saw a chance to escape. To build something for ourselves. But first, I had to go down to Brighton to look at this pile of rubble Anna wanted to buy.”
“The house was that bad?” Maddox asked.
“Worse,” I said. “Without hesitation. Hedgerow Hill was an absolute disaster zone. Holes in the roof, dodgy wiring, half the floors rotted through. Most of the stables and guest rooms had caved in. I took one look and called Anna to let her know she’d be stark raving mad to even consider it.”
“You never had any doubts?” Linn asked, looking at Anna.
“Of course she didn’t,” I said, giving the hand resting on my stomach a gentle squeeze. “Anna sees potential where normal people see problems, but I was terrified she was making a mistake. That I wasn’t smart enough to manage the renovations. That she could end up losing everything and it would be my fault.”
“But you went anyway?” Gianna asked. “To Brighton?”
“I did.” I nodded. “Spent a couple of days meeting with contractors and architects, trying to pretend I knew what I was talking about. I was staying in this little room in Hove with floral curtains and paint coming off the walls. I’d get back there with a takeaway late in the evenings, stressed and exhausted, feeling like a total fraud. Everything was up in the air, and I was half expecting the ground to swallow me whole at any moment.”
I paused, remembering the chain of events as clearly as if it had happened last week.
“But?” Maddox prompted.
“No but. I’d made plans to meet Destiny and Divine on the Saturday. I only knew them as a pair of drag queens on twitter back then. They ran a boudoir photo studio, and I’d been admiring their work for months. The way they saw something magical in each person who walked through their door and managed to capture it on camera.
“We’d been chatting on and off, and when I told them I was coming down for the weekend, they helped me book a room and offered me a free fantasy makeover.”
Anna’s arms tightened around me slightly, and I could feel her smile against my cheek. She knew this story, of course, but she’d never heard me tell it to an audience before.
“So you went for a photo shoot?” Steph asked.
“That was the plan,” I said. “Except I almost chickened out about six times on the way there. I kept telling myself it was ridiculous. I wasn’t the sort of person who gets a free makeover. That I was too... ordinary.”
“You are many things, sweetie, but ordinary is not one of them,” Gianna said firmly.
“I didn’t even know who I was back then. I felt ordinary. Invisible. Ashamed of myself. When my old life went up in flames and Tant Stina offered me the golden ticket to London, I was going to take the money and run. That was the only thing I could think of. I was broken when we arrived at Anna’s, but as soon as I saw her I knew she was too. She was all alone, wasting away, and nobody cared. She needed someone to look after her, so I stayed. I became Foxy the carer. Foxy the project manager. Foxy who turned out to be good at organising other people’s lives, even though she had no idea who the hell she was.”
“So, you had an identity crisis.” Maddox said. “Classic character development.”
“Trust you to turn my existential breakdown into a writing lesson,” I said, but I was smiling at him. “Though you’re not wrong. I was definitely having some sort of crisis.”
“So, what happened when you got to the studio?” Linn asked.
“Magic happened. Pure, undiluted magic.” I took another sip of the wine, letting the memories unfold properly.
“That’s not very specific,” Steph pointed out.
“Because I haven’t gotten to the juicy bits yet,” I said. “If you want to hear the story, you have to let me tell it my way.”
I looked at the expectant faces of my chosen family and felt nothing but love and acceptance. The wine was warm in my belly, Anna’s presence solid and reassuring behind me, and the Midsummer night felt ripe with possibility. A magical moment, and a perfect setting for a fairy tale. Even a real one.
“Alright,” I said, settling more comfortably against Anna’s chest. “So, here’s the story about the shrinking violet who turned out to be a voluptuous vixen.”
“Now that,” Maddox said with satisfaction, “sounds like a terrific tale.”
“Oh, trust me,” Anna murmured, and I could hear the smile in her voice. “It is.”
I closed my eyes for a moment, slipping back into that solstice afternoon a decade ago.
“It was the 21st of June,” I began...
[Last updated: 05 July, 2025]
Hi, Linn here. Like all the stories about our Spoonie Sisters, this one touches on something deep. If you’ve ever wrestled invisible illnesses and hidden desires, you’re not alone. Wanna talk about it? Message me or drop an email to linnea@aswewrite.com
Foxy’s story has three more chapters to it, and I’m making them free for all readers in July. After that, only the first chapter will be free unless you join our mailing list. Subscribe or upgrade to get the next chapter straight to your inbox. And if you're already swooning, consider telling your favourite bookish spoonie about it.
Where Do You Want to Go Next?
🏠 A Midsummer Night’s Scene
⬅️ Chapter 2
➡️ Chapter 4
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