This has been co-written by myself and Georgy-Girl. Enjoy x
Chapter One:
Zoe gave a delighted laugh as Matt showed her his party trick. The more she drank, and the more she laughed, the easier it seemed to be to forget Greta's words.
"So, how come an engaged lady such as yourself isn't wearing an engagement ring?" Matt asked with a smile.
Zoe glanced down at her left hand and was suddenly transported back to several days earlier when Max had slid a gummyring onto her finger with a smile. Zoe had smiled too, because she felt a surge of love for the man who'd been in front of her. She couldn't wait to be married to him, to wake up to that smile every day.
When Zoe's eyes flickered back open, the smile of love still on her lips, she found Matt watching her with slightly parted lips. He seemed as though he was moving in slow motion as his face moved towards hers, his hand reaching out to touch her cheek.
'You can give them to my grand-daughter one day.'
Greta's words suddenly came into Zoe's mind as though the woman was stood right next to her whispering them in her ear. To silence her, to shock her, to make this imaginary Greta go away, when Matt moved forward to kiss her, Zoe let him. She tangled her fingers in his hair, she sighed his name- Max.
The more she kissed him, the more she could hear Greta's voice in her head viciously sneering at every ounce of Zoe's personality and appearance. Matt responded by deepening the kiss. He then pulled away, quickly offering her a vodka shot and laughing as she almost missed her mouth then she tripped over her heels. Matt put his hands on her upper arms to steady her before leaning into her ear and asking 'shall we get a taxi back to yours?'
Like any child her age, three year old Maisie Walker was obsessed with Frozen and when she'd woken up from a nightmare early that morning, she had insisted on watching it. In need of sleep and unable to say no to her, Max agreed to watch it with her until she fell asleep.
"Daddy, stay awake" Maisie giggled, prodding him in the side until he opened his eyes. "It's nearly the best bit" she informed him with a grin. Max groaned as 'Let It Go' began to play into the headphones, Maisie's soft voice quickly following.
"Next time you want to watch this in the middle of the night, you wake Mummy okay?" Max teased, pretending to cover his ears at the sound of Maisie's singing. The little girl giggled delightfully.
"Mummy never wakes up" Maisie pointed out, giggling at Olaf. Max grumbled, it was impossible to wake Zoe and now Maisie never even seemed to try. She tugged straight on Max's hand and insisted he come and cuddle up until she went back to sleep. Like the doting father he was, Max always agreed. Looking up from the film he noticed Maisie's eyes starting to grow heavy.
"Night Mais" he whispered softly, taking the iPad and headphones from her as she settled back down into her duvet, eyes already closed. Climbing from the bed, Max placed a gentle kiss on her head before adding 'I love you' and disappearing from the room.
By the time they reached Zoe's parking spot outside the hospital the next morning, everyone was grumpy. Maisie was still tired and had refused to get out of bed, then both refused to eat her breakfast or get dressed, and for the whole car ride she'd been crying. While the cries were now interspersed with hiccups and yawns, the noise was still breaking into her parent's every thought.
Max climbed from the car with relief, the noise stopping momentarily until Zoe opened the back door.
"Coffee or child?" Zoe asked, their usual morning conversation.
Max considered this, glancing down at their red faced daughter. "...Just a coffee?"
"Coffee, donut and a kiss?"
Max smiled at this. "Fine!" He bent down to enter the car once more, taking Maisie from her carseat before taking the offered bag from Zoe.
"I'll see you later, sweetheart." Zoe dropped a kiss to Maisie's head and the girl attempted to grip onto her. As she made her way into the ED, Zoe could hear the girl still calling to her. Just like her mother, Maisie did not deal well with life on little sleep.
Zoe dropped her things into her locked in the staffroom before making her way to the coffee queue. She was considering what they could do to help Maisie sleep through the night when a voice from behind her broke into her thoughts.
"Zoe?"
Zoe turned to look at the man for a brief moment, eyes flickering across his features as she struggled to place him. He was familiar and hazy all at once. She attempted a shy smile.
"Sorry, do I know you?" She heard herself ask, inwardly cursing herself for such an awful attempt at being polite.
"Matt" He stated, extending a hand. "I, uh" the man began taking a step towards Zoe and bridging the gap between them, suddenly lowering his voice. "We met on your hen night" he added, his voice no more than a whisper. As if in a film, Zoe's world seemed to stop dead as the pieces fell into place. Her hen night. The tequila. Vodka. Greta. Matt. Cheating on Max. The man grinned and Zoe instantly felt repulsed, the smell of coffee almost making her want to vomit now. Zoe remained silent.
"I've got a job upstairs" Matt continued "teaching and admin" he rambled, waiting for Zoe to fall out of her daze. When she didn't, Matt smiled softly. "I guess I'll see you around?" He offered. Giving a small wave Matt turned towards the lift, his new shoes squeaking on the floor of the ED. Zoe stood, as if in a trance, silently talking herself out of throwing up. A dramatic whining caused the consultant to look around. Her eyes fell upon Max who was now beside her, a hand on her arm, Maisie in his arms. The child cried loudly and Zoe instantly wished the ground would swallow her up.
"She won't go to the crèche without another kiss from mummy" Max informed her with a sigh, holding out the small girl to Zoe. When she didn't move, Max looked concerned. "You okay?" He asked gently, bouncing softly to lessen Maisie's sobs. Zoe finally lifted her eyes to Max's, and when he saw tears in them, Max frowned, reaching out his free hand to touch hers.
"Zoe?"
Maisie reached out for her too, gripping onto Zoe's name tag to try and pull her closer. Max put his hand up to make their daughter let go, but Zoe suddenly snapped into gear and took Maisie from his arms, holding her tightly as the girl snuggled into her mother.
"I'll take her to crèche."
Max watched her walk away with a frown as, over her mother's shoulder, Maisie blew him a kiss. Max blew one back and watched until they were out of sight. He knew well enough by now that the more you tried to get something out of Zoe, the less likely she was to tell him, so Max resigned himself to an uncomfortable shift.