DI Rachel Dawson was not what you would call a romantic woman. Always putting the job first, she thought it silly and almost degrading for a woman to be all lovey-dovey. That, she thought, was why most men were sexist idiots. If you give 'em a reason, they'll use it. Such as tarting yourself up, and flirting with half the world. Rising through the ranks of a police job was tough enough for a man, but for a woman it was an achievement to be proud of. One which would hopefully show lots of misogynistic prats that women were just as capable, or more, of doing a mans job. It had been especially hard for her, with her raven coloured curls and pale complexion, she was often the centre of attention, but in an entirely unprofessional way. Wearing her hair in a tight ponytail and with a serious expression carved into her blue-grey eyes, men had learned the hard way.
Walking up to the hospital ward doors, she stepped to one side to let the doctors through. Through the little window in the door she could see the head of the last person she wanted to see.
Nurse Carol Cassidy. With her sweet, beautiful smile and a flutter of eyelashes, she had most of the men in the local area lost for words. Said woman was now before her attending to one of the wounds the victim of a burglary had sustained. Rachel's face contorted into a frown for a fraction of a second. It wasn't that she didn't like Carol, but there was something quite infuriating about her, a kindness and softness she possessed which her own hardened personality lacked. Something which always made Carol a better person in everyone's eyes…
Shaking her head to get rid of these thoughts and remembering she was on duty, Rachel pushed her way through the doors and walked up to Carol.
As usual, Carol turned around with a smile. However, seeing who it was, she let it slip, until it almost looked like she was leering. It couldn't be said that they were on the best of terms. Carol did not really agree with her harsh way of treating criminals and wrong-doers, often defending them until the end. She's too trusting, Rachel grinned inside. That's the problem with her personality.
Of course, they both knew it was more than just that issue. It also had to do with PC Joe Mason. But neither of them were going to voice their issues over that right now.
'Patrick is still recovering for a nasty blow.' Carol said sternly. 'He's not really in any state to be interrogated.'
Rachel sighed frustratingly. Why can't the damn woman let me do my job? 'It'll only be a few questions, Carol. We need to follow this up as soon as possible.'
Carol stood her ground. 'Well, he's still unconscious. I'll let the station know when he wakes up, and he can be questioned then.' She half glared at Rachel, with a familiar suspicious gleam in her eyes that indicating jealously. Oh. Rachel thought. I was wondering when I'd see that look.
Giving Carol a small smile, and heading out the door, she was just about to ask the receptionist if she could use the hospital phone when she felt a light tap on her shoulder. She turned around and her stomach did a small somersault.
'DS Dawson!' Joe Mason half-grinned. 'I see you've wasted no time, as usual.'
Joe Mason was handsome. It disturbed her that she thought so, just as it disturbed her that she sometimes found herself staring at him, that his perfect smile made her happy, that sometimes when she talked to him she found her hard features softening into a smile and her voice started to sound sweet and most of all, that he could make her go red. It was weird and unprofessional. It made her vulnerable.
'PC Mason.' She grinned. 'Are you on of off-duty?' His grin faltered and he put a hand up to ruffle his coal dark curls. 'Ah…You caught me.'
Rachel couldn't help feeling a little bit disappointed. He was here to see Carol, of course. She knew they were dating. Although from her point of view, it really didn't seem like it. They just acted like friends. Or maybe she was the only one who could see that because she wanted to.
She was happy to see that they didn't seem to have reconciled following a rather petty argument last week. Mason and her had been working on a case involving a young hippie mother and child, and Carol, as usual, had acted like 'the defender of the people'. In the end, it turned out that the mother had tricked her, leading to her arrest, but Carol was furious with Joe and with her for having taken such a hard approach. Even though it was their job.
She wondered if they would reconcile, and found herself thinking about what would happen if they didn't. Her thoughts were interrupted by Joe's voice.
'What?' he said indignantly.
Ahh, shoot! I've done it again! She realised she had been staring at him. She hoped she didn't look too stupid. At once, though, she thought of an appropriate excuse. One which would allow her to shift the embarrassment.
'Hmm…' she mock-mused. 'Lovers-tiff still ongoing?'
To her surprise, he didn't seem in the least embarrassed. It was as though he had an inkling of the real intention of her question. 'Sarge?'
She realised she had been a bit out of line. Interfering in someone elses personal life. Oops. She shifted awkwardly. She couldn't think of anything to say. In the end, she decided to make it simple.
She cleared her throat and made sure she was smiling sweetly. When did smiling sweetly become part of this? 'Ermm….sorry. Didn't mean to interfere,' she shrugged apologetically and met his gaze briefly, then looked away.
Joe was completely bewildered. He didn't often see Rachel smiling like that, and it made him feel…strange. Like it was something private which she only shared with some people. Her whole face lit up and her pretty face lost its strict look and made her look almost…girly. He laughed to himself, as that was the last word that anyone would use to describe her.
But there was something else there…the way she looked away…it was almost as if…
He considered the possibility that she liked him. A Sergeant in love with a simple bobby. But this was Rachel Dawson. She was too proud to make a mistake like that. Suddenly, he saw her through different eyes. Without the police I.D, or the high powered job.
She was still capable of human emotion. She could still have feelings for someone, regardless of their job. Incredulously, his subconscious asked him if he liked her, and he didn't know what the answer was. And so, within milliseconds, he formed a plan that would confirm his hypothesis. Or not.
'You know, you look cute when you're flustered. You should smile like that more.' He saw the change immediately, her eyes opened wide for a second and she blushed and bit her lip to stop herself from smiling. Gotcha. He felt a small pull in his heart and laughed without realising. At once she returned to her normal, spiky aloof self, stern hawk like complexion reassembled. She tantalisingly raised an eyebrow and looked at him sideways, trying to see how to react. 'Flirtatious compliments don't work on me, Joe Mason,' she said, and he decided it was about time someone pointed out she was mistaken.
'Oh…I don't know Sarge, you looked pretty pleased,' his eyes twinkled. ' Are you sure about that? Or maybe you have been around us men for too long and you have really forgotten how to be a woman.'
This touched a nerve. He could feel it in the air. And by the angry look in her eyes. 'Well, that's what being in a world full of sexist people does to you. If men can't take the fact that you're bossed around by a woman, then a woman has to become a man. It seems like that's the only way to make it in this life,' she huffed.
He lowered his gaze. 'Sorry Sarge, I didn't mean to disrespect you in any way.' He knew how touchy she was about her circumstances.
She laughed, and he turned red. He hadn't heard her laugh before. It caught him by surprise and made him feel elated. 'You're right, Mason, I have forgotten. It's just that…' she looked down at her hands.
He frowned. 'What?'
'No-one has ever said that to me. Well, they have, if you count the overwhelming number of senior officers whose advances I had to reject. This is going to sound silly, but when you said it, I….um… liked it.'
Joe didn't know what was redder. His face, her face or the colour of the door.
Rachel realised she was finding this situation both unbearably awful and amazingly captivating. However, Joe suddenly fixed his gaze on her.
'Do you like me, Rachel?'
She found it hard to believe she already knew what to answer without acting like a total idiot. She smiled in a way that she hoped was seductive and leaned closer to him.
'I wouldn't go that far, Joe.' She winked at him and sauntered away, looking back to find him staring after her.
'This conversation isn't finished, Sarge!'
'In that case we can continue it at eight o'clock, in the Aidensfield Arms.'