Nikki turned and closed her front door softly behind her. She began to unbutton her coat. She felt warm.
"Its warm in here" she thought and smiled. Usually upon return from a call out at 4am she would rush to her kitchen to turn on the boiler, leaving her coat on, her heels clacking loudly , the sound echoing off the walls in the cold, dark house. The smell of toast and coffee wafted into her nostrils. She was unaware that a contented smile was beginning to turn the corners of her mouth. She pushed the kitchen door open tentatively as not to startle him. He was standing with his back to her buttering toast. Clad only in a pair of jockey style white boxers and navy t shirt. A slight lump formed in Nikki's throat.
"I'll be doing your post mortem soon if you don't lay off that butter". Her tone was light but she felt the familiar delicious tension creep into her.
"Jesus Christ!" he exclaimed, whipping around to face her, the butter knife clanged loudly on the tiled floor.
She giggled. Harry was suddenly very aware he was wearing tight boxers. He held the toast in front of him. "It's not the butter that'll kill me its you, bloody hell Nikki you almost gave me a heart attack".
"High praise" she said still smiling as she reached for the other slice of toast on his plate.
"I was trying to be quiet in here and everything, I didn't want to wake you. I never heard you leave". He glanced at the clock. 4.05am
"What time you get the call out?" he asked taking in the dark circles beneath her eyes as he turned on the kettle to boil some water for her.
Nikki's hand found the back of her neck and shoulders. "12.30, about half an hour after I fell asleep…double suicide. Elderly couple. She had very severe MS….he couldn't bear to be without her I suppose. Or bear the thought of prison…what about you where are you off to?"
"Two car RTA. Boy racers playing chicken I think. Both lost….better get going actually" he said before swallowing a gulp of coffee. The kettle clicked off and he retrieved her favourite mug from the cupboard. He dropped a teabag in it and made her sweet milky tea the way she liked it as she slipped her boots off. He presented the cup to her as she stood before him smiling gratefully in her stocking feet. "She's so small without her heels" he thought, fighting the urge to pick her up.
"Thanks Harry" she said taking the mug and swallowing with appreciation. She knew she shouldn't get too used to this. Their living arrangements were only temporary. Harry had been in her house only a week….his flat would be ready soon. Her hand found her neck again. "Oh I think I pulled something, I turned a funny way at that scene…trying to reach a box of pills that rolled under a bed".
"Here let me" he said softly without even thinking. His mouth had engaged before his brain had a chance to catch up and within seconds he found his hands moving her hair to one side and his fingers kneading her flesh.
"God Harry that's good" she whispered rocking back against him. "Oh Shit" Harry thought trying to fight the inevitable before she felt it against her lower back. The sound of his mobile buzzing across the counter top rescued him and he sprung away from her as if she was a hot plate. He put the phone to his ear. "Harry Cunningham…..great…thanks…yes….I know where it is….I'll be there shortly".
Nikki stretched her neck and turned away from him, her face flushed. She pretended she didn't notice the increased bulge in his boxers and sipped her tea. "Dangerous dangerous dangerous" echoed around her head. Harry drained the last of his coffee and made for the door "Better get dressed…there's some volterol in my room I'll get it for you". Harry bounded away and Nikki rubbed her face. Maybe it was just the tiredness taking over. It's Harry for god sake. My best friend Harry. Best friend of almost a decade. "He was just being nice and you are being a fool" she scolded herself. "So what if he was getting a hard on, he's a man….its early…its prime erection time….god he looked good in those boxers". Sexual tension or not she was enjoying the domesticity they had fallen into. Her house was warm. The tea was great. The company was great. The massage had been great. Harry was great. Harry is great. She munched on his toast and swallowed it with mouthfuls of tea. He returned to her five minutes later dressed in his windbreaker and hat. It was freezing outside and rain with high winds were forecast later that morning. With one week before Christmas the chance of a white one was slim. Poor Harry, he was probably going to get soaked.
"You look like a burglarer" Nikki said grinning at him. He grabbed the last of his toast from her hand and shoved it in his mouth. "And you look like a slut" he said cheerfully and ran towards the door. In spite of her outrage she giggled heartily. When he reached the front door Harry quickly turned around and made his way back towards her. She was exhausted looking with no make up but her eyes were shining, her smile radient. She had two odd socks on. A navy and a black one. One was his he realised recognising a small logo. For reasons he could not grasp this made him smile broadly. He loved being the only one to see her like this. Harry dug into his jacket pocket and retrieved the volterol. He placed it in her soft, warm hand. "Here, it'll help a bit. I'll pick you up some Difene on the way back".
"Thank you" she said softly "Be careful its getting really wild out there", the concern genuine in her voice. He nodded. "Go to bed ok, get some rest. I'll see you in the office later. Make sure there's buns …..and don't let Leo eat the pink ones. Or at least hide one for me" and he winked at her. He closed the door before she had a chance to reply. Nikki left the kitchen and stopped outside Harry's bedroom door. Her spare room. The door was ajar. She pushed it open. He hadn't made the bed. She didn't mind. She wasn't thinking of that. She was thinking "the bed is probably still warm. It looks warm". Her own bed would be cold. She was too tired to fight her own wishes or to stop and analyse them. Tiredness was conquering her. She was due in the office at 11. She had to get some sleep. She consciously ordered herself to stop thinking and stripped to her underwear. She retrieved the t shirt Harry had been wearing minutes before which was discarded at the end of the bed. She slipped it over her head. His scent filled her nose. Nikki pulled back the duvet and sunk into the bed and into a deep sleep.
Nikki woke fifteen minutes before the alarm on her phone sounded. She looked around the room and with more embarressment that she cared to admit at that moment realised where she was. She sat up. "God why did I sleep in Harry's bed? In Harry's clothes?". As she pushed herself up the muscles in her neck sung and snapped a memory like an elastic band. Ah yes. Now you remember. Nikki swung her legs out of the bed and looked down at herself. Harry's T shirt came to the top of her thighs.
"What on earth would he think if he saw you now?" she began the internal lecture. Her mind flashed to an image of him in white boxers. The material tightening around his crotch. "That wasn't you that was evolution" she said aloud and began making the bed quickly, overtaken with the sudden fear that he might walk through the door any second and demand a restraining order when he saw her. She whipped his T shirt off and left it folded neatly at the end of the bed. "I need to go on a date" she thought as she hopped into the shower. It smelled like Harry's hair/body wash. The lone bottle stood amongst her scrubs, shower foams, shower gels, shampoo, conditioner, masks and body oils. She closed her eyes.
"Please don't leave". She opened her eyes. Her brain was fiercely pushing unwanted thoughts to the forefront of her consciousness. She remembered the feel of Harry's long fingers kneading her skin. His large hands enveloping her narrow shoulders. She wondered how her breasts would feel in those hands. Nikki pressed her forehead to the wall of the shower. She wasn't going to do it. That would be the undoing of her. She was not going to fantasise about Harry in the shower. She found herself wondering if he did it. If he touched himself in her shower. She turned the water to a cooler setting and finished washing her hair. Nikki turned to her wardrobe and began pulling out clothes. She settled on a figure hugging navy jersey dress and black heels. It was comfortable and always made her feel good. No. Not good. Sexy. She needed to feel sexy today. Wanted. Desired. Whatever it was about this little number, police flirted with her more, lab techs did all her photocopying and Paul the baker gave her two extra buns (Harry always ate them - "You should sleep with him, I'll get one of those cake sized ones". "You mean a cake?"…."No a cake sized bun. It's a bun but the size of a cake". "But wouldn't that make it a cake?". "No no woman it's a giant bun, you know the ones I mean", "They are not buns Harry they are cupcakes", "Shut up Leo you thief, if I want your two cents I'll ask you, this is between me and Nikki - so when are you shagging Paul?". Nikki went to the kitchen and groaned when she saw Harry's mess. Well she conceded it was really her mess too since she stole half his breakfast. She couldn't believe it was only six days to Christmas. The house remained undecorated. Distinctly unfestive. Neither of them had brought up the issue of Christmas Day. They weren't actively avoiding the subject she thought, they had just been so damn busy this week. The Christmas period was always bumper to bumper bodies. Homeless people freezing to death, suicides, drink drivers killing themselves and other poor buggers unlucky enough to be in their paths, bad domestics evolving into murders. Herself and Harry had been passing each other like ships in the night. Unspoken rituals had emerged. Whoever had to get up set the heating to come on. Tea/coffee would be made for whoever was called out - well this only happened when Harry was on call - Nikki would always hear him leave and rose instantly when he returned. They'd lost hours in the kitchen drinking tea and chatting before announcing "Shit! I've to be in the office in two hours!". They were both on call the past two days and she enjoyed the extra facet of intimacy the late nights/early mornings gave their conversations. He was gentler, less prone to outrageous jokes and prodding, he stood closer to her and spoke in almost hushed tones as if they were in danger of waking some other unknown occupant of the house. On more than one occasion they had both asked "Why are we whispering?!". She liked the way he looked when he first woke up, his hair unruly, his jaw unshaven, sleep in his eyes, the way he made her tea just the way she liked it. The Harry brew it was coming to be known. Her mind drifted back to the few minutes by the sink, when he had turned her gently by the shoulders so that she was standing in front of him, his breath warm on the back of her neck. The feel of rough fingers against soft skin. The rise and fall of his chest as she leaned back against him. The distinctive hardness pressing gently at the base of her spine…Nikki swallowed and released a breath. She definitely needed a date. Nikki resolved to get some decorations and a tree on her way home that evening. She dreaded asking Harry what his plans were. She hadn't brought it up with Leo either. She was completely alone this Christmas. It was a strange feeling. To be the sole surviving member of a family. She didn't want to think about it. It would be a relief being on call Christmas day. It was only one day. 24 little hours. She had worked on Christmas a few times over the years and it wasn't so bad. It was always so busy the day flew by.
Leo was in a boisterous mood as Nikki entered the office. He grabbed her gently by the arm and steered her towards her desk. "Look! We did it, so glad we got this in before the new year". Leo was pointing excitedly at the latest edition of the American Journal of Forensic Medicine and Pathology. He picked up the publication "Page 34, there we are! Well done. I'm taking us all out for a curry and drinks tonight if you're up for it". Nikki beamed at him. The three of them had spent two months working on the paper. She flung her arms around him "That's brilliant Leo, this is great!". She pressed a kiss to his cheek just as Harry walked in "Don't mind me, would you two like some privacy?". He looked exhausted. His face slightly weather beaten and reddened by the wind. He took off his coat and flopped in his chair, well Nikki's chair, as Nikki had one knee balanced precariously on his chair as she clung to Leo. She turned and grabbed his hand, attempting to pull him up and failing miserably. She pulled and he pulled back, easily causing her to loose her balance and fall towards him. She placed one hand against his chest. Their noses were almost touching. Leo smirked. "We got published Harry!" she exclaimed, pushing herself off him. He gripped her arms and pushed her backwards so she was standing straight. Fuck he loved that dress. He rose with her and lifted her up and spun her around once. "Woo! Bout bloody time! We are definitely going on a piss up Leo, not taking no for an answer".
"He's bringing us for curry aswell!" Nikki shouted over Harry's whoops. "He is?" he spun and made a lurch towards Leo "Come here till I give you a spin too!". Leo was rescued by the phone which started to ring just as Harry made a dive at him. "Pathology, Professor Dalton speaking".
Harry moved towards Nikki, pointedly looking her up and down "Now…" he began as he entered her personal space "where are my buns?"
"Leo has eaten-" she started
"The bastard-" he hissed through gritted teeth. She could smell the peppermint gum on his breath as it tickled her face.
Nikki didn't flinch and continued whispering "I've saved you some though, Paul gave me an extra two this morning. I've hidden them from Leo". Harry moved his body in line with his head which had been leaning towards her. "That's my girl, and where have you hidden them?" he looked pointedly over her body again and Nikki collapsed into a fit of giggles which won a disapproving look from Leo "I'm sorry Chief Inspector could you repeat that-".