Desire.
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Chapter 1:
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Millie zipped up her jacket tightly, wrapping her black scarf around her neck before swinging her bag over her shoulder. Sighing to herself, she pulled out her phone and checked it. No messages. Nothing. She tucked it safely back into her pocket and started for the door of the female locker room. She reached out to grab the knob just as it swung forward, nearly hitting her in the face.
"Sorry Millie!", PC Sally Armstrong exclaimed as she peered behind the door, greeted by a stunned Millie. Sally was followed by PC Mel Ryder, who gave Millie a friendly smile.
"No worries", Millie replied with a grin. She turned around to face her friends as they opened their lockers and began to pull out their clothes. "You guys going out tonight?", she asked casually.
"Yeah Ben invited us down to the local" Mel told her with a wide smile. "First round's on him!".
"As if!" Millie laughed. "Everyone knows Ben isn't exactly a man of his word when it comes to drinks!".
Sally and Mel laughed and nodded in agreement. "You coming down too Mill?", Sally asked, taking off her shoes.
"Umm", Millie started uncertainly.
"Oh c'mon", Mel jeered. "I reckon you need something after the day we've had", she groaned.
Mel was right. Sally, Mel and Millie had been stuck helping CID with an investigation into a kidnapped child. They had been scouring a local parkland, under the direction of a certain grumpy sergeant…
Millie sighed at the memory and nodded in agreement. "Yeah, I think I do need something".
Mel let out a little cheer and departed for the showers, Sally close on her heels.
"I'll just wait for you guys out front", Millie explained, shifting her heavy handbag onto her other shoulder as she left the female locker rooms.
As Millie walked down the hall, towards the front of the station. She pulled out her phone, opening Twitter began checking her updates, scrolling down, reading each Tweet with a smile. She wasn't watching where she was going and found herself bumping into another figure. She let out a squeak as she looked up, and found herself looking directly into the dark stormy eyes of one DS Max Carter.
"Sorry!" she breathed. She felt her insides being to tie themselves into knots. Despite everything, she couldn't help it. She was madly and hopelessly crushing on the man. Her palms went sweaty as she gripped her phone tightly. They were only about 10 inches apart. Max looked down at her, directly into her eyes, remaining silent. Millie couldn't bring herself to move- as much as she wanted to, her legs were simply super-glued to the spot. The smell of his cologne was overpowering, the shape of his sharp chiselled jaw was amazing. She opened her mouth to speak, but he cut her off.
"Watch where you're going PC Brown", he grumbled, stepping back and then walking off. Millie couldn't help but watch his retreating back as she swallowed heavily. She felt like crying! She could feel her cheeks burning in embarrassment and her hands begin to shake. Yep! She definitely needed a drink.
She stood steadfast for a few more minutes before slowly making her way to the front desk, where Ben and Nate both stood laughing. They greeted Millie with wide smiles, which she returned hesitantly. The experience was yet to leave her mind, being in such close proximity to that man was deadly to her. It was like an addiction- and she had just overdosed.
"You alright Millie?", Ben asked, looking down at her with concern.
"Yeah", she replied meekly. "Fine".
Ben just glanced at her again, shrugged his shoulders and went back to talking to Nate. Millie sighed heavily to herself, "it's never going to happen Amelia Brown", she told herself harshly. "He will never be interested in you".
Soon Sally joined the group. "Mel will be out in sec", she explained, "She's just had to take a call".
As the group stood around, chatting, Millie saw Max out of the corner of her eye. He was walking down the stairs of CID, into the main lobby where Millie and the others were standing. As he walked, he shrugged on his thick coat, giving Nate and Ben a tight smile, he walked out the automatic doors and into the cold night. Millie watched him as he walked, heading off towards the car park. Suddenly a woman, a tall, slim brunette, walked over and touched Max on the shoulder. He glanced at her and Millie could see his usually flat lips, curl into a wide smile. He reached over kissed her on the cheek. The woman slung her arm under his and they continued into the night. She swore she even heard him laugh!
Millie could feel her insides dropping. She suddenly felt very ill.
"Who's that?", Sally asked, coming up behind Millie. Obviously seeing the same scene as Millie.
"I don't know", Millie squeaked. Why did she feel jealous? She had no reason to feel jealous!
"That has got to be the first time that I've actually seen DS Carter smile", Sally commented.
"Yeah", Millie breathed.
Mel walked up to group at that moment and they all left to walk down to the local pub. But Millie's mind was elsewhere. All she could think about was Max and that woman he was with. Who was she? Why was she here? The cold London air blasted against her cheeks, but she didn't care, the mystery woman was driving her mental.
As they all entered the pub, squeezing into one of the little booths, Millie suddenly felt the desire to become very drunk. She wanted to push Max and his lover out of her mind. What better way than with a bottle of tequila and a couple of pints. She placed her large order with Ben who raised his eyebrows but nodded. Before any of the other have even finished half their glasses of beer, Millie had down three shots and started on her own pint. Sally slapped her friend on the back and laughed.
"Slow down there Mills", she exclaimed. "You're going to be drinking yourself under the table!".
"Not a problem!", Millie murmured to herself as she took another large gulp from her glass. The group of PC's spent the night discussing their flatmate problems and making fun of some of the CID detectives, particularly Max Carter, whom most of them didn't like much. But Millie couldn't bring herself to join in, the moment in the car park kept replaying in her head. The woman, the wide smile, the kiss. It hurt to remember. Deep down she felt absolutely stupid for feeling this way about a man, who not only had a terrible personality, but also had no interest whatsoever in her. However, she just reserved a special feeling for Max Carter. It was something she couldn't explain herself, but couldn't stop feeling either. It wanted to slap herself.
She got up and walked over to the bar, ordering herself another two shots, downing them instantly. Millie could feel the spirits going straight to her head, her thoughts becoming muddled and cloudy. She couldn't even make out Max's face anymore in her head. Ben made his way over to her, placing a gentle hand on her shoulder.
"Millie?", he asked, getting her attention. "We're leaving now, do you need a lift home?", he asked.
"No", she slurred. "I'll make my own way home".
"Are you sure?", he asked with concern. He had noticed how much she had had to drink.
"Yeah yeah", she waved him away. "I'll be totally fine!", she turned back to the bar and started staring at the bottles arranged on the shelf behind the counter. She suddenly found herself enthralled with the different coloured labels.
"Ok", he told her uncertainly. "I'll see you tomorrow".
"Yep", Millie replied mindlessly, continuing to stare at the bottles.
It wasn't long before Millie found herself suddenly very tired, her eyelids drooping and unable to form any sort of thoughts. Although completely and hopelessly drunk, even she knew this was beyond her usual self. She decided to get herself home and into bed, hopefully to wake up and forget the night had ever happened. She stood up, probably too quick as a dizzy spell overcame her, so she clutched the nearby chairs for support as she made her way to the front of the pub and out the door. Pulling her jacket closer around her body, she shivered and began walking. It was only about 15 minutes to her flat, and she knew she was much too drunk to even consider driving. Stumbling, she began her walk home, sticking to the well-lit streets, clutching her phone in case.
She only made it a couple of hundred metres before she felt her stomach turn. Her almost abstinence from alcohol for the last couple of weeks had meant that the gallons of alcohol now swirling alone in stomach were threatening to make an appearance. She stumbled over to the gutter just in time as she started to spew. Some of the vomit getting tangled into her red hair which hung over her face as she bent over. Coughing up the last of the spew, she felt quite light-headed and decided to sit down on the kerb to catch her breath. With her body ridden of alcohol, she started to form clear thoughts and she dreaded the killer hangover that she knew she would have in the morning. That is, if she made it home first. Checking the time on her phone, she saw it was just past 1 in the morning and sighed, placing her head between her knees in an attempt to wane the dizzy spell. Staring at the asphalt road, she couldn't help but start to feel self-loathing. How could she allow that man, who didn't even show the slightest interest in her, affect her so? She couldn't allow him to affect her so.
As she remained in her position, she heard the sound of a car approaching, then she heard the brakes squeak as the car halted. She looked up blankly to see that the car had stopped directly in front of her. A pang of fear hit her in the stomach. London in the middle of the night wasn't the safest place, especially for a young drunk woman who could hardly see straight. She was about to dial 999 when the passenger window opened and Mille came face to face with the driver.
"You had better get it", DS Max Carter suggested.
"Sarge?", Millie asked. The remaining alcohol giving her some Dutch courage.
"I said", he smiled wryly "you had better get in".
"I might need some help", she told him pathetically. But it was true. Her legs had become like dead weights and her head was pounding that she was finding it difficult to focus on him, her eyes kept going blurry.
Max sighed, rolling his eyes as he pulled the handbrake, stopping the car and getting out, coming around the car, he stopped in front of her and looked down with a sarcastic smirk.
"Why are you always getting yourself into trouble PC Brown?", he teased.
"Trouble finds me Sarge", she told him with a sigh, holding out her hand to him. He took it and pulled her to her feet, she instantly stumbled and he grabbed her other arm to support her. She found herself pushed against his chest. He had a solid, body, his blue business shirt showing under his black trench coat, despite the biting cold, his body remain warm and almost comforting. Being in such close proximity to him made her swoon. Her light-headedness suddenly became ten times worse and she stumbled again, her legs failing as she headed for the ground. He caught her in time and pulled her in closer to support her weight.
"Just how much have you had to drink tonight?", he asked, a hint of humour in his tone.
"I lost count", she replied miserably. She was surprised to hear him laugh in response.
"Well I better get you home", he told her. "Can't be roaming around London in your state".
"I am perfectly able to get home!", she exclaimed indifferently as he led her to the passenger seat. He simply mumbled in response and sat her down in the car, she put her seat belt on and rested her head back on the seat. He climbed into the driver's seat and started the car.
"So how did you find me Sarge?", Millie asked with a teasing grin. "You just prowl the streets searching for stranded drunk women to drive home?".
"No", he replied stiffly. "I was driving and saw you cowering in the gutter". Millie eyes widened at the insult. "I recognised your red hair and body and thought I might stop and see if you needed assistance".
"ASSISTANCE?", she exclaimed with a laugh. "You really are a knight in shining armour DS Carter".
Max simply scoffed at her and continued to drive. "You've had too much to drink PC Brown".
"It's almost 2am", she pointed out. "What are doing out this late?".
"You ask too many questions", he smirked, looking over at her with a smile.
"Only the important ones", she beamed back, looking directly into his gleaming eyes.
He let out another laugh and nodded. They spent the rest of the trip in silence except for the directions Millie gave him to get to her apartment. As they pulled up outside her block, Max stopped the car and turned to her.
"Do you need me to walk you to the door?", he asked expectantly.
"Yes", she nodded awkwardly. "Right now, my legs are jelly, I can't see straight and my head is pounding at 200 miles per hour. This is what death feels like".
Max laughed again and nodded, undoing his seatbelt and walking over to her passenger door, opening it and helping out her of the seat. Wordlessly, he wrapped one arm snugly around her waist and the other on her elbow as he led here up the path to the flats. They boarded the lift with Max still holding her, but Millie was too ill to notice. Catching her reflection in the elevator, her skin was a pasty white, her red hair had orangey spew stuck in it and her clothes seemed tattered and crinkled. She looked downright terrible. And here she stood completely wasted with the man who she couldn't get out of her head. As they got to her front door, she stumbled and began to search through her handbag until she had fished out her house keys.
"Here let me", he offered, taking the keys from her hands, gently brushing her fingers with his, sending tingles down Millie's spine. He took the keys and effortlessly open the lock instantly.
"Would you like to come in?" she offered with a slur.
"No", he declined kindly. "You had better get to sleep. Plus, its late".
"Technically its early", she wagged a finger and stumbled, leaning back against the wall, gripping it.
Max let out a small dry laugh and nodded in agreement.
"Well thank you", she stepped forward mindlessly and planted a small kiss on his cheek. She didn't know what had come over her, but she had to thank him for his rescue. But she paused, slowly pulling back until their faces were only centimetres apart. Their lips close, their eyes meeting. Millie was frozen, unable to move. Up close, Max Carter was a completely different person. He radiated warmth and comfort, something not usually affiliated with such a seemingly cold and distant man. He was gorgeous and sexy, a fit body, well dressed and smelt amazing. The only fault Millie could find with the man was his terrible personality, but even then, the last half hour had completely changed her mind. She had heard him laugh more than three times! This was not the DS Carter she was used to!
So here they stood, frozen, only centimetres apart, Millie had just kissed him on the cheek, but found herself unable to move, she looked directly into his eyes, challenging him to make his move. Her eyes flickered to his lips. That was all it took.
Max leaned in and placed his lips on hers, gently caressing her warm lips. Her mouth opened, inviting him in and Max couldn't help but oblige, kissing her harder and deeper. A small moan escaped her and it acted like a splash of cold water. He immediately pulled away. Millie's eyes opened in surprise, she panted slightly and looked at him in total utter shock.
"Goodnight PC Brown", he grumbled, looking down at the ground. That was it as he turned and hurried down the corridor towards the elevator. All Millie could do was watch as he left.
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So just something I threw together in an hour or so. Hope you enjoy it! Please review.
Not sure whether it shall remain a one-shot or if I will continue into multi-chapter. Will wait and see what the response will be.