Daytime Friends and Night Time Lovers
By
Kate Benson
Author Email: kate-benson
Rating: PG-13/Teen, possibly slight M for sexual references
Published: 24th February 2018 (Republished on 18th March 2018)
Pairings: Andrea/Neil
Summary: Inspired by the song of the same title. Just a little Andrea and Neil fluff. (Andrea/Neil)
Disclaimer: As of this point in time ... I still don't own The Bill or any of its characters. Oh well, I guess I'll just have to keep dreaming then.
Authors Notes: This is pure fluff, not really much of a plot, just some good old fashioned Neil/Andrea loving. The song lyrics mentioned at the end are from 'Daytime Friends and Night Time Lovers', I'm not sure who sings it, I heard it on the radio a couple of weeks ago and the idea for this story came to mind.
In the midst of darkness hands roamed over bare skin, touching, kissing, caressing and making love deep into the night. Only the sounds of their deep breathing and lustful moans could be heard in the flat; the rest of the world forgotten for the night.
This has become rather a habit for the two, almost every evening after work they both find themselves back in her flat, talking about their day, before moving to the bedroom and making love all night long until exhaustion and sleep eventually overcomes them.
In the early hours of the morning, he gets up and reluctantly leaves for his own house, in the hopes no one will ever find out about the things that go on between them in the depths of the night.
Later in the morning, they are both at work, the large difference in rank means they only cross each other's paths occasionally, and it is this that helps them to keep their relationship a secret. Most would call what they have an affair, he is married after all, but they both know that what they have is much more than that.
"I think that is everything for today," Inspector Gold announces to the relief, the morning briefing well underway, "Oh, one last thing, the DCI has asked for a couple of people to help up in CID for the day; they are very understaffed with so many people away at the conference. If nobody has any objections, I would like for PC's Dunbar and Hemmingway to do that."
As the relief is dismissed from the briefing room, Andrea smiles slightly, secretly pleased, but also nervous about the fact that she is one of the people who have been picked to help up in CID for the day. She enjoys helping CID because it means that she gets to put her investigative skills to good use, it also means she is closer to Neil for the day, but neither of these things can she reveal to anyone else, for fear of her secrets being discovered.
Yvonne walks up to her and begins a conversation about some random topic that Andrea doesn't really pay much attention to, too focused on her own thoughts. They walk up to CID together, where they are greeted with the DI yelling at DS Hunter and DS McAlister.
"Looks like we are in for an interesting day of making tea and doing paperwork for the detectives," Yvonne whispers to Andrea conspiratorially.
Andrea laughs at Yvonne's words but adds no further comment. According to Yvonne and many of the others when they have been tasked to help CID, they spend most of their time making tea and running errands for the CID team, a job that Andrea herself has only been tasked with a few times.
The sound of her laugh alerts DI Neil Manson to their presence, the sound of her voice so familiar to him that he would recognise it in a crowd of thousands of people. He dismisses Phil and Debbie back to work, before turning his attention to the newcomers to the office. "PC's Dunbar, Hemmingway; I'm glad Inspector Gold managed to spare you both for the day, as you know, we are very short staffed up here today and we need all the help we can get. I am working on a very important case that I need your assistance on, but before we sit down to discuss it, I would appreciate it if one of you would be able to make us all a cuppa; PC Hemmingway," he states, indicating for Yvonne to go and make the drinks, "I will have a tea, milk and one sugar. Join us in my office when you are done."
Yvonne heads over to the tea making station to make the drinks; meanwhile Neil leads Andrea to his office, closing the door after them and indicating for her to take a seat. He himself, perches himself on the edge of his desk, taking advantage of the few minutes they have alone together to share an intimate touch and a heated look.
Knowing they have to be incredibly careful about showing any kind of familiarity in front of anyone else, they are both on high alert; Neil jumping up and returning to the other side of his desk the second the door handle makes a sound.
Yvonne enters the office with a tray of hot mugs of tea, placing one down in front of each of her colleagues; she quickly returns the tray to its proper place before returning to the office. Sipping his tea quietly, Neil indicates for Yvonne to take the other empty seat in the room.
Once they are all settled he starts discussing the intricate details of the case he is working on and what he needs each of them to do. His gaze rests on Andrea slightly longer than necessary as he explains what he needs her to do today, luckily though, Yvonne doesn't pay any attention to the extra attention he is paying her or the longing look that is displayed in both of their eyes.
When all the details have been exchanged, and their assignments given out, Neil dismisses the PC's from his office. Yvonne steps out of the office first, followed closely by Andrea, whose attention is still on the DI. Once they are out of earshot, Yvonne whispers, "See what I mean about making tea and doing paperwork."
Andrea smiles secretly to herself, knowing that the only reason she's doing paperwork is to keep up appearances, and the paperwork she is doing is directly related to investigating the case.
The day passes quietly, the sound of telephones ringing, printers printing and keys tapping. Sometime around lunchtime, the DI emerges from his office wearing his coat. Looking quickly around the almost deserted office, he fixes his attention on one person in particular. "PC Dunbar, come with me," he calls out, in the most professional tone he can come up with. After a beat he adds, "PC Hemmingway, it's almost time for refs isn't it, you may as well go now while it's quiet."
"Sir," both PC's state together, closing down their computers and gathering their things.
Both Andrea and Yvonne follow the DI down the stairs, "Good luck," Yvonne says to Andrea when they part ways at the bottom, before heading for the canteen.
Andrea follows Neil into the carpark, wondering what he is up to. They both get into his car and maintain a comfortable silence until they are a few streets away from the station and away from prying eyes and ears.
"Where are we going?" Andrea asks curiously.
"Lunch," is all Neil says in response, driving around another corner; "if anybody asks, I took you with me to interview a suspect," he adds.
"Ok," Andrea confirms relaxing back into her seat.
They drive for a few more minutes before stopping at a café off the patch, where hopefully no one will recognise them. "We will call this a working lunch," Neil says as they get out of the car and head into the café to make their orders.
They settle into a seat away from the window, but where they have a clear view of the door, so they will have plenty of warning if anyone they know comes in. Their lunch hour passes quietly, with light conversation, avoiding any heavy or personal topics, due to the public location. You can never be too careful after all.
Once they have finished with lunch they drive back to the station, stopping a few streets away to share a few heated kisses before returning to work, knowing the afternoon is going to drag on, and both eagerly awaiting the time they can knock off for the day and retreat to their own little world.
Back in CID, they each retreat to their own desks, Neil to his office, Andrea to the computer she was working on earlier, to continue with their work. Yvonne briefly stops by Andrea's desk to enquire about what the DI wanted her for earlier.
"He took me with him to interview Mr Jones," Andrea informs Yvonne, sticking to the cover story they concocted in the café.
"Have you had any lunch," Yvonne asks her, knowing it was lunchtime that they went out.
"We grabbed a sandwich on the way back," Andrea informs her, slipping up with the 'we' instead of 'I'.
Yvonne seems satisfied with her response and ambles back to her paperwork. "Fancy a drink tonight," Yvonne asks from her position back at her desk.
"I'll think about it," Andrea replies noncommitting, knowing that with the sexual tension building up in her from the day, the only thing she will want to do at the end of the shift is crawl back into bed with the DI.
As if reading her thoughts, Neil appears in his office doorway, and calls out, "PC Dunbar, a quick word."
"Sir," Andrea replies, quickly getting up and joining him in his office.
He shuts the door behind her and shuts the blinds, a silent message to the rest of the team that he doesn't want to be disturbed; an action he usually resorts to when he is telling somebody off for something. For a few moments, the pair just stares at each other silently, trying to work out the others intentions. Walking around his desk, Neil picks up a file and pretends to be reading it. He walks over towards the filing cabinet, resting the file on the top, before reacting quickly and pulling Andrea into his embrace, kissing her deeply and passionately; leaving them both gasping for breath.
Once they have regained control, Andrea begins speaking, "What was that for?"
Neil doesn't respond verbally; instead he pulls her back into his arms and kisses her deeply again, his hands slipping under the edge of her blouse to rest on the waistband of her trousers. They remain like this for a few minutes, kissing heatedly and sharing little intimate touches. After a few more minutes, they both remember they are at work and someone could walk in at any minute. They reluctantly pull away from each other with one last kiss. "I should go;" Andrea states, knowing that if they don't break the heated atmosphere soon, somebody is going to catch them out.
"I know," Neil mumbles reluctantly, "We can finish this later," he adds with fire burning in his eyes.
They each take a couple of minutes to compose themselves before Andrea leaves the office. "I better never hear of this happening again," Neil calls loudly, to make believe he was telling her off about something.
"Sir," Andrea replies meekly, the professional mask back on now that she's back at her desk.
The rest of the afternoon drags on slowly, and all of the officers are anxiously awaiting knocking off time for various reasons. "If I have to make one more cup of tea today…" Yvonne grumbles miserably.
Shortly before knocking off time, Phil Hunter and a couple of the other detectives come ambling back into the office looking pleased with themselves. "Drink anyone," Rob Thatcher asks loudly.
A few yeses and nods of confirmation are exchanged from the other officers. "Andrea, Yvonne, you girls are coming too right," Rob flirts.
"Sure, why not," Yvonne replies for them both, pleased about being invited to actually join in with something CID related for once.
DI Manson steps out of his office, wondering what all of the commotion is about. It's not long before Phil and Rob spot him, and he too is persuaded to join them in the Canley Arms.
"Ok, but just the one," Neil agrees, not really wanting to go, but not wanting to be too obvious about it. He would much rather be going home with his favourite PC to continue where they left off in his office earlier.
All of the officer's finish off their work, close down their computers and head on over to the pub to round off the day.
In the pub, they all spread themselves out around a couple of tables. Somehow, Andrea ends up sandwiched between Yvonne and the DI, a position that she's both pleased and uncomfortable about. She tries not to give her feelings away, but with the memories of the heated moment they spent in his office earlier fresh in her mind, she finds the tension between them almost unbearable.
Neil is feeling similarly uncomfortable and wishes the two of them could have snuck straight out of there, however, to maintain the cover that they are only colleagues and friends, they decide to stay a little bit longer. He casually lets his left arm rest on the seat between them, and when he is sure no one else is paying attention, he moves it gradually closer to Andrea's leg, stroking it gently with the edge of his fingers, encouraging her to connect their hands under the cover of the table.
Neither let out any outward signs of their thoughts, both pretending to pay attention to the conversation going on around them, the slight touch of their fingers, also well hidden. They are forced to move from their current positions when Yvonne has to move them so she can get out to go to the toilet.
Reluctantly breaking the contact of their hands, they both stand up and step out from their seats to allow Yvonne to move. Seeing this as the perfect opportunity, Andrea decides to join Yvonne in the toilets, and whispers to Neil to wait a few minutes and then meet her outside.
Their plan in place, Neil sits back down to finish his drink, and Andrea heads to the toilets with Yvonne.
"I will never understand why CID likes to think they are so much better than the rest of us," Yvonne says to Andrea in the toilets, "I am sick of the sight of tea after all the cups I've made for them all today. It's like the only thing we are any good for is the donkey work. Well at least you got a slightly more interesting task to do, even if the DI did have you skip lunch to work. Does that man ever eat?"
"We did stop to grab lunch on the way back," Andrea reminds her.
"I'm surprised you managed to convince him to do that, although he does seem to have a bit of a soft spot for you. At least you got away without playing tea maid."
"He's not that bad," Andrea tries to reassure her, "Ok, sometimes his methods are a little harsh, but he only does it so people will respect him. Underneath the tough exterior he's a big softie."
"Right, if you say so," Yvonne replies grumpily, "I really don't know how you can put up with his moodiness; it's almost like you enjoy being CID's slave. Ok, so they may take you with them to the occasional interview, but it's only so you can do the paperwork for them."
'If only she knew,' Andrea thinks; aloud all she says is, "it's not like that, but anyway, I'm tired and have got an awful headache, I think I'm going to call it a night. Give my apologies to the others will you?"
"Running out on me," Yvonne jokes, "Yeah ok, see you tomorrow; have a good evening."
Leaving the toilets together, Yvonne heads back to the table and Andrea heads outside, hoping that Neil managed to escape too.
When she steps outside, she spots Neil's car in the corner of the carpark with the engine running, he must be waiting for her. Checking around to ensure she hasn't been followed, she walks over to his car and gets into the passenger side. They drive off to her flat in comfortable silence.
They barely have time to close the door before they are all over each other, discarding clothes haphazardly throughout the flat on their way towards the bedroom, with only one thing on their minds; continuing where they left off from earlier in the day.
Daytime friends and night time lovers,
Hoping no one else discovers,
Where they go and what they do
In their secret hideaway.