I am absolutely knackered as I've been at work all day, but I saw the prompt for this on tumblr and Freechamp just sprang to mind xD So it's probably terrible but I hope you like it anyway! -Sophie x
It was Saturday, and a bright, warm Saturday at that. It was one of those rare occasions when the sun became a spotlight; it's rays shining directly on the earth's surface and gently heating the surrounding atmosphere.
It was on this Saturday that Connie Beauchamp found herself lost in the middle of a corn maze.
"For god's sakes." She grumbled, trudging along the flattened grass until she came to a fork in the pathway. "Where the living hell do I go now?"
Both ways seemed to lead to more twists and turns, so the clinical lead just threw her hands in the air in exasperation.
"Screw it, as Grace would say. Let's go right."
She continued walking, her long, elegant black dress swishing about her bare legs. Stray trampled corn leaves wiggled their way into her sandals, and flies continously flitted about her head.
"Stupid idea." The tall brunette muttered, pulling her large floppy sunhat firmer on her head. "Stupid Felicity to bring it up, stupid Grace for wanting to come, stupid me for saying yes…"
The list of things that she deemed "stupid" seemed to go on forever as she got more and more lost in the maze, each turn looking exactly same as the last one. Why did she let Grace and her school friend even suggest the idea? Was she drunk when she accepted? The woman cursed herself as she thought back to that evening when her daughter had asked her.
"Probably was actually. Stupid stupid stupid."
"What's stupid?" She span around to find none other than a grinning Rita Freeman stood in front of her. Her mouth dropped slightly in shock, and the nurse's wasn't far behind as that smile was wiped completely from her face.
"Connie?" The blonde asked in disbelief. "What on earth are you doing here?"
"I could ask you the same question."
"I saw it advertised on BBC 1 last week." She shrugged. "I loved going through mazes when I was a kid."
Connie raised an eyebrow.
"So you're here… alone?"
"Yeah... Why, is that a problem?" Her voice took on a defensive tone as the smaller woman crossed her arms over her light blue top.
"No need for defensive-ness Miss Freeman." Connie snapped. "I was merely asking."
"Mmm. Who are you here with anyway?"
The clinical lead cleared her throat. "My daughter and her friend. Goodness knows where they've got to now though. I've been los-making my way back to the start for ages." She corrected herself. Rita raised her eyebrows and grinned.
"You're lost aren't you?"
"No I'm not."
"You are."
"Am not!" She protested indignantly. The nurse took great glee from making fun of her boss.
"You're so lost."
"Prove it."
"Don't need to."
"Why?"
"Because you're clearly lost."
"Fine, I'm lost." Connie snapped, face red from the heat of the argument and the sun. "Happy now?"
"Very. Come on, I know the vague way back."
The clinical lead crossed her arms and looked the small blonde up and down. "Why should I trust you?"
Her colleague spluttered as she started to laugh.
"Jesus Connie, I'm not some shady back-street criminal! Just come on before we bake to death!"
"Fine, fine." She sighed, following Rita as she began to move forwards, eventually falling into step with her. They walked in silence, neither knowing what to say to the other.
"What happened to that man you were treating yesterday? The one with the arrhythmia?" Connie eventually asked. Her company shrugged.
"Died."
"Oh."
Silence again.
"What happened to the elderly woman with the queried pneumothorax?"
"Serena Campbell took her to Keller."
"Oh."
"The little boy with-"
"-don't you know how to talk about anything other than work?" Rita interrupted, looking up at her boss. She blinked a few times, registering the question.
"Yes."
"Go on then. Enlighten me."
Connie paused.
"Um. How- how did you, um get your hair, like that?" She said awkwardly.
"Brushed it. Try again."
She sighed.
"Alright- That's an interesting, uh, top. Where's it from?"
"Cheap-o shop in town. Next."
"Elaborate a bit at least!"
"Ok. It was £3.50 and there was a matching necklace that I didn't buy. Next."
"Okay how about why are you being so irritating?" She said through gritted teeth, stopping and facing her head on. The nurse manager also stopped and looked up at her boss. Her long brown hair wafted gently by her shoulders, tickling the bare skin next to her dress straps. Connie scratched it absentmindedly as she glared at Rita, silently demanding an answer.
"Because you're so easy to wind up. That and this situation seems too surreal to be true. The great Constance Beauchamp lost in a child's corn maze."
"Oh bugger off." She hissed, stalking away. "At least I came with a child which is more than I can say for you. And don't call me Constance!" She yelled over her shoulder, reaching another fork in the pathway. She stopped dead, realising she still didn't know where she was going. No, her stubborn brain was telling her as she ever so slowly, turned around.
Rita stood with her arms crossed, face lit up with a picture-perfect, smug little grin.
"Which way to the exit?" Connie asked slowly. The blonde jerked a thumb to the right.
"You're welcome."
The taller woman nodded, feeling herself redden even more as she took that path, turning the corner and finding herself back at the entrance to the maze. Grace and Felicity were sat on the fence, both with bored expressions on their faces until the brunette looked up and noticed her mother.
"Mum! You were ages!" She moaned, getting up and going to her side. "We were gonna call you on the tannoy system."
"It's alright darling, let's go home. That was the worst experience of my life."
"It wasn't exactly hard, all you had to do was use the app on your phone." She grumbled, wandering off ahead with her friend. Suddenly realising, Connie's mouth dropped. She glanced over to Rita who waved her phone at her, the maze's logo flashing up on the screen.
"Devious little minx." She breathed as the nurse began to chuckle before walking away to her car.