Author's note. This day after is viewed from Barbara's point of view. I have some ideas what Tommy's point of view could be. Let me know if you'd be interested to read it.

What surprised her the most was that life was going as before.

The sky wasn't bluer, the others passengers in the tube not nicer, the security agent at the entrance of New Scotland Yard had smiled at her the same way than the days before, even the secretary of the division despite her sharp eyes hadn't said anything.

Yet she was different! She felt it in the depths of her being.

The woman who was arriving at work on this chilly October morning wasn't the one who had left the evening before. The new 'She' was pretty and self-assured. Like a caterpillar leaving its ugly skin to become a beautiful butterfly, she had cast off her old bitter and restricted self to become a well-adjusted woman who enjoyed being alive. She thought of the silk cocoon that sheltered the insect during its transformation and she smiled: her cocoon had been softer than silk.

She sat at her desk and began to read the emails that had arrived during the night but rapidly she realized she couldn't focus on anything. She was still too full of him. She still had the softness of his skin under her fingertips; still had his smell in her nostrils; his voice was still in her ears, whispering sweet nothings. She still felt his hands on her, the warmth of his body against hers, the feeling that engulfed her the first time he'd taken her, the shivers of pleasure that had shaken her body when he had made her come.

She had given him everything and he had taken everything, voraciously, passionately.

Oh, of course, she had known for ages the rumours that circulated about him: he was like a racehorse put out to stud and had its endurance (1). Back then she couldn't say if this reputation of his was true to reality, if it had been embellished by his conquests or If it was only the result of the fantasies he inspired to women.

Now she knew.

He was all this and a lot more.

He was gentle and fiery. Without any taboo and considerate. Tenderly violent.

He had caressed her, kissed her, nibbled at her, licked her.

He had made her laugh, blush, cry, and moan.

She had felt beautiful, wanted, loved, fully a woman.

The memory of that night set her body on fire. She felt her breasts become heavier, her tits harden, a wetness appeared between her thighs. She was very pleased she had put on loose dark clothes this morning: her arousal would go unnoticed. She was focusing on her breathing when he stepped into the open-plan office, sweeping all her efforts to pull herself together away with just one smile.

He was breathtakingly handsome in a heather grey wool suit and a light mauve shirt but it was his naked body that she was seeing coming in her direction with the flowing gait of a man self-assured and conscious of the effect he had on the opposite sex. For years she had resented his self-important air and his mocking smile, and resented even more her incapacity to resist them. Until last evening. Until the moment when, not able to hold out any longer, she had erased the smile that was on his lips once again by kissing him. He tasted of beer and of nuoc mam from the takeaway dishes they had just shared on his sofa. She remembered the surprise in his eyes at first then the way he had drawn her into his embrace to deepen the kiss. In no time, she was sitting astride his lap, naked to the waist, moaning with pleasure as he took her breasts with his mouth. She had helped him to take off his trousers. The feeling of his hardened sex under her fingers as she'd fumbled with his zipper had finished to drive her crazy and she'd almost torn apart his boxer shorts. When she had seen his cock erected in all its glory above a thick bush of jet-black pubic hairs she had thought that she'd never seen anything so beautiful and she had taken him in her mouth. He had protested a bit at the beginning, as a matter of form, but soon enough his feeble protests had given way to moans of pleasure. He had stopped her just before he climaxed and she'd watched him ejaculate, fascinated by the contractions of his balls and the twitches of his prick and she'd thought: 'I want him to do that inside me.' He must have thought the same thing because he had taken her off to his bedroom on the first floor and had introduced her to the pleasures of the flesh.

Leaving the comfort of his arms at dawn had been a torture but she had to go back to her home to change before work. Now it was the first time they met again and she was surprised to see him so natural when her face was burning. He stopped by the desk in front of hers, near to Winston Nkata who briefed him about his discoveries. She knew she should pay attention to what Winnie was saying, they were all working on the same case after all, but all she could think of was him, his body, his burning kisses…

'Havers!'

She jumped. He must have caught her daydreaming because Winston and he were looking at her quizzically.

'Are you all right, Sergeant?'

'Yes, Sir. Thank you, Sir,' was all she could mutter. She excused herself and made a beeline for the Ladies.

Luckily the place was desert so no one was going to see her splashing cold water on to her face. Havers…Sergeant…it was strange to hear him call her so formally after all the Barbara's whispered last night. But he was right; he had the right attitude. They were at work and they mustn't change anything in their behaviour if they didn't want word of their relationship to get out.

Or it's his way to tell you you were just a one-night stand and it won't happen again, her reflection in the mirror meanly told her. No, not him, not like that, not after last night, she thought, trying to reassure herself. Not after all the caresses, all the love words; not after all the time he'd spent exploring her body, looking for the most erogenous spot, the position that would maximize her pleasure. Upset, aroused, she locked herself in a cubicle and masturbated furiously. The orgasm relieved part of the tension but it was a pale echo of the ones she'd had the previous night. She wondered if she could go back to contenting herself with self-abuse if Tommy didn't want her anymore.

When she got out of the Ladies, he was waiting for her leant against the wall by the door.

'One word, Sergeant.'

The moment of truth, she thought. She followed him inside his office, a lead weight in her stomach and her heart in her mouth. He closed the door without saying a word and planted himself in front of her.

'Why don't you tell me what's bothering you?' he asked her.

His mocking smile, his loving eyes, his tender voice…Barbara felt like the perfect idiot for having doubted him.

'Nothing, I'm fine.'

'You didn't hear a word of what Winston was saying.'

It wasn't a reproach, merely a statement of fact.

'I was thinking of you,' she replied, a bit embarrassed.

'I'm very flattered to occupy your thoughts.'

'You occupy them too much: I can't think straight this morning; all I do is thinking about last night.'

'And?'

She sighed.

'It was wonderful.'

His smile broadened.

'I couldn't agree more, my love.'

He locked the door, drew her close to him, and kissed her for a long time. Barbara's desire returned stronger than before. Slowly she freed herself from his arms.

'We must stop now. I want you too much.'

'And I you,' he replied in a voice made hoarse by desire.

He took off his jacket and his tie. His shirt followed them seconds later.

'We can't,' Barbara said,' not here.'

'Why not?'

He unbuttoned her shirt and let it fall on the floor.

'It's too risky, someone could hear us,' she insisted feebly; she had almost no force left to protest.

'Just bite me when you want to shout.'

He unfastened her bra and drew a line of kisses in her neck. Barbara's last resistance collapsed; she unzipped his trousers.

'Cos you're going to make me shout?'

'Oh, yes. You'll come so hard they're going to hear you in Cornwall if you don't take care.'

In a single move, he pulled down her trousers and her cotton knickers.

'That's tremendously presumptuous of you, Sir.'

She sat on his desk and drew him close to her.

'Wait and see,' he whispered in her ear as he thrust himself in her.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Barbara was at her desk, daydreaming in front of her computer.

The risk of being caught in the act had spiced up the sex and Tommy had been full of energy. He had taken her once on the desk and a second time, several minutes later while they had already started to put their clothes back on, up against the window with London at their feet. That sodding boaster had been right: pleasure had overwhelmed her so violently she had bitten him through the skin. She had been mortified when she'd realized what she had done; Tommy had simply laughed and had dabbed off the droplets of blood with a tissue.

However, they had agreed not to have sex in the office anymore. Too risky. Luckily today was Friday and they had their weekend off. Tommy had suggested to have dinner somewhere before going to the cinema. He knew she wanted to see the latest Tim Burton's. After the movie, she knew they would go back to his place to make love. She had a glance at the digital clock in the bottom-right corner of her screen and sighed. 10:02 am. Still at least ten hours to go before she could be in Tommy's arms again…Too bad for the cinema. She would rent the DVD.