Dust to Dust
Another day in the office
I don't remember exactly what made me fall for Chris; it never occurred to me that we had so much in common, he was just one of the blokes who I made weak tea for with the odd digestive. When I first noticed Chris he was complimenting my Tea making skills and how the paperwork had never been managed so well since I arrived, from that moment on I knew I had made a friend in Fenchurch East. At first I felt that I could not even get a look into his category after all he was a DC and I was only there to organise the office , but I soon came to realise he was going to be more than a friend to me.
"Corr this has to be another cracker of a cuppa from you Sharon ", Chris applauded one early morning.
I looked up from the stacks of paperwork that littered my desk amongst all my other clerical supplies.
"Glade you like it, and please call me Shaz ", I blushed glancing back down to my paperwork from his wide grin.
"Well Shaz, this is the best cuppa tea I've had in a long time ", he slurped in mid-mouthful.
I knew Ray was about to say something when he started to fiddle with the large rubber band ball he had been working on, I almost knew his reactions by clockwork. I counted down to five as Ray parted his lips.
"You'd like piss in a pot if she made it for you ", he jeered bouncing the rubber band ball off the wall.
"Someone woke up the wrong side of the cabbage patch "; Chris laughed as he expected the pile of bourbons I had placed on his desk noticing the extra two I slipped on the quiet.
Ray ignored Chris's joke and continued propelling the rubber band ball of the wall, just as I noticed the famous slow footsteps echo down the hallway. As if Zeus himself had roared into the heavens Gene barged through the doors of the open plan office and strode heavily towards Ray's desk. Each thud from his classic leather boots made ripples in the Tea that quivered on my desk.
"I can hear that poksy thing half way down the hallway, if you don't get rid of it by the time I reach my desk I'll ram it where the sun don't shine. "
As entertaining as Gene's rant was I couldn't help but laugh as Ma'am stepped in, elegantly she made her way into the room with the infamous white jacket perched over her shoulder resting on the glossy blue material of her blouse that was nipped in at the waist with a metallic silver belt.
"Ladies save the bitching for the playground please. We have work to do "; she said impressively keeping a straight face as she looked onto Gene with his fist wrapped round Ray's tie.
"It's not my fault you had a rough one at Luigi's ", Ray snapped almost falling backwards of his rolling chair as Gene reluctantly released his grip on Ray's tie.
"Good morning Ma'am! The files on James Pike are on your desk as requested" I announced trying to ease the boiling tension that was emanating from Ray's desk.
I caught her inspecting Gene's outfit as she normally did in the mornings, her glazed expression only lasted a few seconds but in that short time I assessed her behaviour thoroughly concluding that she had a thing for DCI .My work was often monotonous so I spent the majority of it puzzling all the relationships going on right under my nose, or lack of relationships.
"That's great Shaz, you're a life saver. Honestly I don't know what this bunch would do without you ", she overpraised as normal.
"Chris would get more work done, and piss less often "; Ray announced grinning boldly in DI Drake's direction.
"I'll have to try some of this famous Granger Tea, Chris never stops going on about it ". She giggled clicking her neatly filed nails on the wooden surface.
Chris flushed red as Gene swung his car keys out of his deep coat pocket. "Enough of the small talk pansy's, how about we pay Mr Pike a little visit".
"Sounds good to me, it's about time we got some hard evidence ", Drake announced tugging the leather jacket over her pale shoulders before swiftly leaving the room beside Gene.
I watched eagerly as Chris made an effort to rummage through his desk like he had lost something incredibly important as we both waited for Ray to leave.
"Lost anything good ", I smirked pulling myself over to help.
"Oh um ", he stuttered as he fumbled about in his desk, "Just my Lucky dog tags".
I edged closer to admire the chain filled with colourful plastic and metal trinkets.
"Wow, they look lucky ", I said enthusiastically.
"I got one for every concert I've been too, actually what I really wanted to find them for is to give you this one ", he said sheepishly unlatching a single chain that held a bright blue dog tag from it.
I admired the gift as Chris pulled the clasp at my neck, "I've never seen Blondie before".
"Maybe I can take you one day "; he called as he grabbed his coat from the Rack.
"That would be great. Good luck today and be careful "; I sighed as he departed still clutching the plastic tag hanging loosely around my neck.