Disclaimer: I do not own Rookie Blue or any of the characters…
So I was only ever going to write one Gail and Holly story, then I wrote this thing this afternoon and decided to post it. I've had this story idea kicking around for a while and if you like it I'll continue.
Hope you enjoy. Apologies, as always, for the mistakes.
….
Holly glanced around the crowded room. Most of the women were frocked-up and bejeweled. Dripping wealth. Designer labels and diamonds. The men were clearly well heeled too. The cut of their suits expensive. Waiters in white shirts and black bow ties were milling around the room carrying trays laden with champagne and canapés. Dunant and Co sure knew how to throw a party.
Did she really want this job, she wondered. She could run her own lab. The salary was huge. More than she needed. Holly wasn't entirely convinced about working for a private company. But year after year budget cuts had put the squeeze on the forensic department. The equipment was ageing, there had been job losses and people cut corners because there was not enough time or staff to do the work properly. Holly suspected the sloppy practices of some of her colleagues may have allowed some criminals to go free. So the offer from Dunant and Co was attractive, especially the promise of her own state of the art lab.
Problem was this just wasn't her scene. She wasn't a schmoozer, and she suspected it would be expected of her if she took the job. Holly looked around desperately for someone to talk to. Someone who looked a little more like her. It was then that she caught sight of the platinum hair. Shoulder length now. The green dress was definitely designer, off the shoulder and low cut at the back, revealing that smooth spine that Holly remembered trailing kisses down, the skin firm but soft and oh so creamy. The memory was dizzying.
She wanted to look away, but found she couldn't. A couple standing in front of Gail shifted and she saw that Gail had her arm linked through that of a handsome man. Urban and distinguished, he was a cross between George Clooney and Don Draper from Mad Men, his silver hair close cropped, his suit fitted to perfection, and his air of extreme confidence unmistakable, even from where Holly was standing across the other side of the room. Holly watched as he placed his hand on the small of Gail's back and then Gail turn and flash a warm smile at him, then laugh at something Julian Crozier, the CEO of Dunant and Co, said.
Holly couldn't help the bitterness. Had Gail gone back to men? When they were together, in fact the very first time they had sex, Gail said that was it, she was gay. No turning back now, girlfriend, Holly thought sourly. As a waiter passed, she swiped a flute of champagne and drank it in one long gulp. Immediately feeling light headed, she went in search of the restroom.
'Looking for the ladies,' a young waiter asked, 'there's a queue in the main one, but there's a bathroom just around the corner there. It's not marked so no one knows about it. Second door on the left.' Holly nodded gratefully and thanked him.
She had just entered the bathroom, when she felt a rush of air as the door was opened. Then almost immediately she heard the sound of it being closed and locked. Spinning around she came face to face with Gail. God, she was so beautiful it took Holly's breath away. She noticed the wedding ring immediately, sapphire and diamonds, tasteful but expensive.
Then Gail was pushing her against the wall and kissing her and she couldn't help but kiss her back. Before long the sound of their moans was filling the tiny room, and Holly pulled Gail closer, reveling in the feel of her, in the smell of her that was so familiar and so alluring and it was almost like they were back in the interrogation room at 15 all those years ago. Then abruptly Gail pulled back. 'I'm sorry,' she said softly, tenderly and suddenly looking vulnerable and a little deflated. Then she was gone, making Holly wonder if she'd imagined her.
Holly gripped the bathroom sink to steady herself. She looked in the mirror and saw her hair was mussed up and her lips already swollen from kissing. Straightening herself up and reapplying lipstick, she went back out to the party. She scanned the room but there was no sign of Gail.
...
'It's been a long time, Holly. Three years?' Traci said over the phone, 'are you still in San Francisco?'
'Yeah. Traci, I know it's strange for me to call out of the blue, but I think I saw Gail the other day. Do you know if she's moved here?'
'Still hung up on her, huh,' Traci said with an unexpected edge to her voice. Holly wondered what it meant. Was Traci just annoyed she'd clearly only called to find out about Gail.
'Just curious.'
'Yeah?' Traci said doubtfully.
'Do you know if she got married, um, to a man?'
'To a man? Unlikely. She had a couple of flings with women after you left. Seemed pretty definite she was gay.'
Other women. Now why did that hurt, Holly thought, knowing full well why it did. She must have said other women out loud because Traci said 'Yeah. Do you remember that Detective Frankie Anderson. They had a thing for a while. It was a disaster. I think they spent the whole time trying to out mean each other.'
'Frankie Anderson,' Holly repeated, remembering the brash and rather overbearing detective. She'd tried to hit on Holly once and seemed reluctant to take no for an answer. Narcissistic and sour. What was Gail doing with someone like that?
'I hadn't heard anything about her getting married though, but to tell you the truth I haven't seen Gail in over two years.'
'What do you mean?'
'Steve was arrested for corruption, the Pecks senior were implicated and forced to resign or face investigation. There were questions hanging over Gail, a lot of rumors and outright hostility, so she quit the force and, as far as I know, left Toronto.'
Then Traci explained everything that had happened and how Gail had turned her parents in after Bill tried to make her lie for Steve on the stand. It made Holly's heart ache for Gail. If only she'd been there to support her. What must it have done to her to be betrayed by the family who had bullied and belittled her, who had made her feel like she was never good enough. And then to have her colleagues doubt her. It must have crushed Gail, especially as Holly knew the soft, knew the vulnerable Gail that lay beneath the tough girl front.
'So you and Steve?' she asked.
'Oh that ended then and there. He's serving 10 years. I've finally met a nice guy though. Not a cop, thank god,' Traci laughed, 'we're getting married next month.'
'Congratulations,' Holly managed to stutter. 'I can't believe Gail would leave the force, leave Toronto and I don't believe she'd be mixed up in corruption.'
'For what it's worth, I don't believe it either,' Traci said, 'you know you two were good together. I'm not saying this to make you feel guilty, but Holly it would have been good if you'd been here when it happened. Gail needed someone in her corner.'
After she ended the call, Holly sat for a long time. Night had begun to fall and she hadn't turned on any lights in her living room. She felt numb and yes guilty, even if Traci had said she didn't want to make her feel that way.
Had Gail got married to escape what had happened in Toronto? Had marriage to someone who was clearly a corporate big hitter allowed her to block out and move beyond her past, including her past with Holly? Had she been there, could Holly have provided that escape, that salvation?
She felt a single tear roll down her cheek. Oh yeah, there was no doubt about it; she was still hung up on Gail Peck. Except she wasn't Gail Peck anymore. She was Mrs something and even further out of Holly's reach then ever before. Holly knew she should be angry with Gail for kissing her at the party, but she couldn't bring herself to be.
A week later, as Holly walked to her yoga class, she couldn't shake the feeling she was being followed. She kept looking around but didn't see anyone suspicious or who struck her as out of the ordinary. All the other pedestrians seemed to be purposefully going about their business, completely oblivious to Holly's furtive glances.
It was on the way home, only a few blocks from her apartment, that Holly was grabbed and dragged into a narrow alley. Her heart began to pound so fast she understood what people meant when they said their heart was beating out of their chest. Then the adrenalin kicked in and she was about to try one of the self-defense moves she'd learnt way back at college when she realized it was Gail. Looking much more like the Gail of old. Her hair was cut short and she was wearing a battered leather jacket and jeans and those ubiquitous combat boots. Instinctively, Holly glanced at Gail's hand and saw the wedding ring was missing.
'Don't sign that contract with Dunant. They're bad news, Holly,' she said urgently.
'Says who? Your husband? He seemed pretty cozy with them the other night.'
Gail shook her head. A quick, irritated movement. Holly couldn't tell if it was in annoyance or to dismiss the mention of the husband.
'Just don't do it. Please.' Gail said and then she was gone.
Fuck, what had just happened?
…
Should I continue?
