Summer Loving

Disclaimer:- Don't own them just borrowing!

Episode:- Old and Cold (02/04)

Pairing:- Sandra/Gerry

Rating:- T

Achieve:- . /group/new_tricksff/

Summary:- for all her money and power the one thing Kitty Campbell would never have was the one thing she did. Someone to love her and make sure that no matter what anyone said she always felt like the most beautiful, womanly person alive and that would do for her.

Author's Note:- In answer to the "Opening challenge" the parameters of which were (1) it had to be set around "Old and Cold" (02/04), it had to include a lawnmower, white roses, oranges, bubble bath and diet coke (these items are all in bold and underlined in the story), and finally it must be more than 500 words but less than 1000. The actual story taking away these notes and the title is 999 words so it makes it by one word! Enjoy and review would be lovely!

"Sandra are you not coming out? Come on it's been a terrible week I thought you'd be delighted to wake up this morning and see the sun shining! I was looking forward to watching you sunbathe in that bikini I like so much while I was cutting the grass." Gerry shouted plugging the lawnmower into the extension lead he'd pulled out from the house as he looked at her watching him from the French doors in the kitchen. They had spent the week dealing with the worst sort of overly powerful celebrity who had systematically got under all their skins but Sandra's in particular. Now that it was over he'd expected her to be happy, ecstatic even and yet now with the first truly beautiful day of summer she was standing sulkily staring out at the sunshine instead of out in the garden with him enjoying it.

"No you do want you were planning to do but you'll have to do it without a view." She replied taking a drink from the diet coke can in her hand and sighing heavily as he walked toward her.

"Baby what's wrong? You love it when the weather is like this, and we've had a crap week let's make the most of the weekend before it all starts over again." He smiled pulling her into his arms and kissing her gently as he felt her tense in his arms. "Are you going to tell me what's going on? You've been in a mood since you came back from lunch with Campbell yesterday I know it's annoying not to get her for Bertie's murder but she lives off good publicity and we've shot that to hell now so it's justice of a sort."

"Nothing's wrong I just don't want to spend my Saturday lying around in a bikini getting skin cancer while you make me sneeze by cutting the grass, now I'm going for a bath after the week I've had there isn't enough bubble bath in the world to take the tension out of my back." Sandra sighed as new watched her walk away feeling more and more confused by the moment. Sandra Pullman would walk over broken glass to spend a day topping up her tan in the back garden while she watched him work. On more than one occasion she'd told him it was one of her favourite pass times and yet today it was like he'd suggested she do the work in the garden while he popped on her bikini and caught some rays. Whatever she said something had happened and she just wasn't saying and he had every intention of finding out what that was.

"Sandra I'm coming in, I brought you a glass of wine and I peels a couple of those tiny little oranges you like the tangerines or whatever they are and brought you them I thought it might all help with your plan to relax." He said a few minutes later walking into the bathroom and setting both the glass and the small bowl on the side of the bath before sitting on the toilet lid and staring at her. "Tell me what's going on and don't tell me nothing again because I know you're lying."

"It's nothing it's just been a crap week you said it yourself." Sandra replied sighing as he folded his arms and looked at her his gaze telling her that he still wasn't buying her excuses. "ok look do you think I'm unfeminine? I mean do you think the job has made me hard and that I've given up my femininity to get ahead?"

"I beg your pardon?" Gerry laughed not believing what he was hearing. The sight before him was the most beautiful and feminine he'd ever seen in his life and he'd always thought for all her eccentricities and issues the one thing she had no problems with was knowing just how beautiful she was an how much she affected him.

"Kitty fucking Campbell informed me that I had sacrificed my femininity to get ahead, basically what she was saying was that I had spent so long in a male dominated profession that I might as well be a man." Sandra continued feeling slightly hurt by the mocking laugh he gave. She hadn't been able to get the other woman's words out of her head since the day before and right now what she needed was reassurance not laughter.

"That bitch wouldn't know feminine if it jumped up a bit her on her perfectly manicured ass. You are the most beautiful, sexy, desirable, feminine woman I have ever known and I will happily tell the world that should the need arise. In the meantime though get your perfect backside out of that bath and into the red bikini I've been dreaming about since the sun came out this morning and meet me in the garden."

"But…"

"No buts just do what you're told." Gerry smiled leaving her alone as she quickly washed her hair before getting out of the bath 10 minutes later and walking through to the bedroom stopping in her tracks as she looked at the bed.

"Gerry Standing you are such a tosser at times!" She laughed lifting the white rose she recognised from the bush in the back garden off the bed before retrieving the bikini he'd been talking about from under it and reading the scrawled note that came with it."

"You're always feminine to me but get this on and get down stairs and I promise later I'll remind you just how perfect you are."

Smiling again as she dropped the note back on the bed she couldn't help but think that for all her money and power the one thing Kitty Campbell would never have was the one thing she did. Someone to love her and make sure that no matter what anyone said she always felt like the most beautiful, womanly person alive and that would do for her.