'Oh for God's sake,' yelled Harry from the confines of his office as the grid went into lockdown, earning him a stern look from Ruth.
She was now heading at speed towards Alec's desk as his expletives reached proportions that even Harry wouldn't use.
'It's Christmas,' she said 'so please moderate your language.'
Beth and Dimitri both with grins on their faces, watched on as the usually quiet Ruth had seemingly stopped not only Alec but also Harry mid rant.
The computers and phones had apparently died and with them their only means of communication. Harry's phone which was programmed to give him ten minutes to ring all but the Queen, had been picked up and put down at an alarming rate as he called his daughter, security and then maintenance where Bert whoever the hell he was had used expressions such as possible malfunction, blip and finally Happy Christmas mate which had turned Harry's face a quite dreadful shade of red Ruth thought. Having Harry suffer a heart attack at Christmas with no possible chance of medical help, she would quiet possibly have to act out one of her fantasies and give him the kiss of life. She certainly wasn't about to let Beth do it, especially if it worked and he came round to find Miss Bailey almost on top of him. He might well embarrass himself and she couldn't let that happen.
Meanwhile in accordance with procedure Dimitri, Beth and Tariq had started to check supplies. Everyone it appeared had done their last minute shopping, so even if they had to live on shop bought Christmas cake, mince pies, fruit and some nuts for a couple of days there was enough to go round. Alec's shopping consisted almost entirely of alcohol, great thought Beth, this might be fun. The water cooler had been filled just before the power went off so the rest of them weren't going to dehydrate either.
Ruth she noticed was now in Harry's office, trying to soothe him or whatever these two called it. There had been a couple of months during which time the atmosphere had been dreadful but it had improved recently so perhaps there was hope yet she thought. She loved living with Ruth but hated the way she moped about in the evenings, especially as she seemed to spend most of her time talking to Harry. It was obvious that they fancied each other everyone could see that, so why didn't they just get on and do something about it?
Half an hour later when it had been confirmed that there was indeed a malfunction, the lockdown was no longer and exercise and Bert had apparently gone home, Harry was still behaving like a bear with a sore head. Ruth had been very sweet he thought and had come to see him proffering a mince pie and a small glass of something that looked suspiciously like Ribena but was in fact was Alec's mulled wine. Alec himself appeared to be drinking something far stronger and if this carried on much longer he'd be joining him.
His staff appeared to be treating the situation as some sort of party and Tariq had already stuck his head round his door to ask if he fancied joining them in some games they were devising. About to tell him that this was a place of work he looked at his watch to see that had they not been stuck here they would quite probably be at home, and in his case on his own.
He gazed across at Ruth who was sitting at her desk and apparently quite relaxed. It was his favourite pastime to watch her, he loved her he just wished she loved him. He hated this limbo that they were in, she no longer angry about his ill-timed proposal and he although he was still hurt by the fact that he had been rejected, thinking that just maybe in time and if he wasn't so stupid as to ask her at a funeral, that she might change her mind.
Five minutes later the heating went off.
'Blankets,' said Harry looking directly at Ruth as he got up from his desk and walked out onto the grid, 'that's what we need.'
'Us or them,' smirked Alec looking between Harry and Ruth and winking at Dimitri.
'Shut up Alec,' hissed Beth as she saw Ruth's face colour. None the less, Ruth was on her feet as she and Harry appeared to be heading towards the medical room.
'Isn't there a bed in there?' asked Dimitri, this time earning him a slap from Beth
Once inside and away from prying eyes Harry chanced his luck. 'We need to keep you warm,' he said as he proceeded to unfold a blanket and wrap it round her shoulders. Ruth was starting to hyperventilate and felt anything but cold. She had started to shake which Harry took to mean that she really was cold and held her even tighter. Heart attack, kiss of life and lying on the floor were back in her mind, but this time it was her and it was Harry doing the kissing.
'Are you alright?' he asked leaning in even closer. He's going to kiss me she thought although quite who moved first neither of them was sure as seconds later with the blanket on the floor, they were doing just that. Why the hell didn't I do this before proposing he was thinking, as her hands which had been round the back of his neck had worked their way into his hair.
Back on the grid all but Tariq had long given up the hope of being issued with a blanket and had donned their coats and in Beth's case gloves as well, which was making it difficult to shuffle when you were playing cards.
'Do you think they're alright?' asked the ever naïve Tariq 'I think someone should go and take a look.'
Three stunned faces looked up from their cards and towards him. 'What?' he asked.
'Harry, Ruth, blankets, a bed, been away a long time, said Dimitri watching a wide eyed Tariq struggling to coming to terms with what he was saying.
Struggling was an understatement as far as Tariq was concerned, horrified was how he felt. Up until then he had never imagined Harry did that sort of thing and with Ruth, it wasn't possible was it?
Meanwhile in the medical room Ruth was beginning to panic. They had been missing for almost half an hour and although she was far from cold anymore she didn't think she could face going back onto the grid. Telling her colleagues that she and Harry had been working in the registry which was what he had come up with, no 'come up' wasn't what she meant at all. Her fantasies had resurfaced again and he was gazing at her with that look I his eyes, she was beside herself.
'We'll continue this later he whispered as he leant in and handed her a pile of now folded blankets.
Walking as close to Harry as she dared, she followed him onto the grid. The rest of them appeared to be enjoying themselves playing cards although she was concerned about Tariq because he didn't look at all well.
Plonking the blankets down on the nearest chair, 'warm drink anyone?' asked a cheerful Harry.
Tariq was staring at him with a most peculiar expression on his face but the others just said cheers and continued with their game.
'Just you and me then,' he said to Ruth as he headed towards the kitchen. She grabbed the top blanket and wrapped it round her shoulders as she followed him out.
'Seconds out round two.' said Alec.
'Bloody Hell.' said Dimitri.
'Shut up!' said Beth
Harry was filling the kettle and Ruth trembled again as he leant round her to plug it in. Oh God she thought completely forgetting that according to her, any mention of God was supposed to have some religious significance.
'What do we do now?' she asked, hoping that he had some plan as to how they could get themselves out of the situation that was now quite probably the main topic of conversation on the grid. 'Beth knows,' she added 'she keeps making suggestions, especially when you phone me in the evenings.'
'What does Beth know and what sort of suggestions,' said a smiling Harry, as he leant in and made her squirm even more.
'Well you know,' said Ruth, wondering if she should have pulled up a chair and played cards with her colleagues rather than be pressed up against the sink by an apparently sex fuelled Harry.
'Yes, I suspect that I do,' he whispered 'but until we get out of here, there's not much we can do about it.'
Back on the grid, Alec, Beth and Dimitri now wrapped in blankets were opening a third bottle of wine and eating mince pies. Tariq had gone for a lie down they told Harry and Ruth, he had started to imagine things, probably due to hyperthermia.
'Right,' said Harry, 'it's a good job we've got those blankets then.'
Harry and Ruth were sitting very close together, thighs touching in fact and Beth was trying to see if two pairs of hands were visible. If Harry developed wandering hands at home then good for him, but if he was groping Ruth under a blanket on the grid then surely the boys would notice.
'I'm dreadfully hot,' said Ruth suddenly, completely forgetting that they had an audience.
'Lucky you.' said Alec who was getting bored and the thought of winding Harry up again was far more appealing than playing cards. Dimitri got the message, Beth wished he hadn't and had another look to check on the number of hands.
With the game at a standstill as an increasingly inebriated Beth tried and failed to shuffle the cards, Alec struck.
'So what are you two going to get up to over Christmas? He asked.'
'Up to' repeated Harry.
'Yes, up to,' said Alec. 'I've got nothing on.'
'Best way.' added Dimitri as he winked at Ruth and put his arm round her.
Keep your hands to yourself thought Harry as he watched Ruth blush. She was adorable and he was imagining all sorts of things that they could get up to if she were to agree to spend Christmas with him, none of which included Christmas dinner.
Ruth stepped in to save him apparently forgetting that she currently lived with Beth, that they had stocked up for Christmas and had less than fifteen minutes ago been paralysed with embarrassment.
'The buses will have stopped running by now, so I'm going home with Harry.' She announced.
'Lucky Old Harry.' said Alec, which earned him another glare.