A Dreamlike Nightmare
Chapter 1
Strike had been looking forward to this evening since Robin had mentioned having a curry that morning. He felt he had earned a relaxing night with friends after such a long and frustrating investigation. It had been many months since that first chaotic visit to Denmark Street by Billy Knight. On top of that he was so pleased, although not a bit surprised, that Robin was getting on so well with Nick and Ilsa since going to stay with them. It was going to be a good night.
It had not gone unnoticed that this would also be one of the only times he and Robin had socialised together outside of work. They had spent plenty of time together just the 2 of them in the office, out in the land rover and on various surveillance days but tonight it would be just her and him with Nick and Ilsa. Everything seemed so much better now all the tension that had been between him and Robin after her wedding (and that hug) had all gone but he couldn't deny nice wine and good food was going to make it very difficult to fight the feelings that he should be trying to suppress. It was even more dangerous now that she and her arse of a husband had broken up. Still, he was determined to not overthink anything and to just have a lovely evening. If he was really lucky they may even let him stick the Arsenal match on the telly.
Strike had arrived at the door just after 7pm with a bottle of red and a 6 pack of Tennants in a plastic bag. Robin had been getting gradually more frustrated with herself for checking the time every 5 minutes since 6:30pm. She did not want to admit how excited and slightly anxious she was for spending the evening with Nick, Ilsa and Strike. She had moved in with the couple 2 weeks ago and they had been getting on really well. They were interested but discreet about the work she and Strike did and she felt infinitely more comfortable than she had at home with Matthew judging everything she did. Robin was incredibly grateful to Strike's friends for offering up their spare room but now she was looking forward to moving into her new flat share in Earls Court. That was going to be a proper new start for her.
Nick and Ilsa had known Strike from when they were younger growing up in Cornwall. They didn't talk about him much with Robin except for sometimes telling her not to take any notice of something he might have said or done because 'he does this sometimes' and boosting her confidence with a 'he'd be lost without you now'. She realised how nice it was to have someone to support her even if they did not know her particularly well. She already felt like they were her friends as well as Strike's which had never happened with any of Matt's friends. She was thinking this whilst setting the table for dinner and realised that once again she was failing in her resolution not to compare Strike to Matt.
Strike walked into the sitting room and gave Ilsa a brief hug and a kiss on the cheek; he then headed over to Robin and did the same.
"Evenin', you alright?" he said in his usually deep voice.
"Yeh, good thanks" she replied with a smile and she looked up at him and then down at the bag. "What have you got there then?" she asked, taking the wine out of his bag. "Spending your money on frivolities already?"
He grinned and said "well, I thought you deserved a treat". Both of them stopped for a second realising he had said 'you' rather than 'we' and she replied with a nod "Lovely, thanks. Do you want some?"
"Nah, I've got my Tennants, ta"
She headed over to the cutlery draw to find the bottle opener and then poured into one of the glasses already in place on the table.
He turned away and headed back to the living room section of the open plan room. Nick was just changing the TV channel over to stick the football on.
"You boys don't need the football on tonight" said Ilsa rolling her eyes at Robin whilst knowing that she didn't really have any say in the matter. "They gang up on me when their together, it's been so nice having another female voice in the house" she whispered to Robin who had looked over at the 2 men standing in the middle of the room cracking open their first beers of the evening.
Nick turned round and replied 'We'll stick it on silent, don't worry!"
Robin could not remember the last time she had had such a great evening. The food from Strike's favourite Indian takeaway had been amazing and the conversation had flowed so easily. As they were sat down on the sofas, Nick and Ilsa on one, her and Strike on the other, she considered her boss for a minute. She realised she had never seen him this relaxed, laughing and chatting so much. She supposed this was because he had not got a frustrating mystery buzzing around the back of his mind and he wasn't trying to get information out of the people he was talking to. Here he was completely at ease. He was even telling stories of when he was younger with Nick. It could have been easy for Robin to feel a bit left out, not knowing the places and people that the three of them were talking about, but she didn't. Strike had such a descriptive expression and was surprisingly quick with an impression, that she felt she knew exactly what he was talking about and could laugh along.
After finishing 3 bottles of red between her and Ilsa and the men filling the recycling box with tins followed by few glasses of whisky, Robin found herself yawning widely.
"Oh, I'm so sorry!" she said still mid yawn and checking the large clock on the wall. "Bloody hell its 1am. I think I'd best go to bed before I doze off here."
She got up of the sofa and Strike went to do the same. She automatically held her hand out for him to help him up. She knew his prosthesis had been playing him up again recently and the booze probably wasn't helping either. He placed his big hairy hand in hers and she helped pull him up. Once he was standing she didn't let go. "Are you heading off or going to crash here?" she asked him.
He looked over at Nick who replied whilst rolling his eyes "Ill go get you some blankets".
"Right then", said Robin through another yawn "I guess I'll see you in the morning" and she leaned up to Strike and kissed him goodnight on the cheek.
"Goodnight" he replied.
Whether it was her own imagination or brought on by the way alcohol can sometimes slow your perception, but she felt they had lingered somewhat cheek to cheek at the kiss. She let go of his hand, shouted "goodnight" to Nick and Ilsa who she had the feeling had scuttled away to the kitchen, and proceeded out of the room and up the stairs to her temporary bedroom.
She lay her head down and could hear the rumble of the men's voices downstairs still chatting as they arranged the sofa for Strike to sleep on. She was so tired it did not take her long to drop off to sleep. Her last thoughts were of a laughing Strike and the feel of his unshaven cheek held against hers for those extra half seconds.
It had taken Strike a little longer to doze off. Although he had plenty of experience sleeping on sofas, this particular one was a little too short for him to get comfy on. He had taken off his prosthesis and all the various padding and tubing he has to wear around his stump, to let it breath for a while. It was still red raw. He could do with putting some cream on it but he had not brought any overnight stuff with him.
He lay back and thought about the evening. It had been one of the best he could remember for a long time. The food from 'Taste of Delhi' was as delicious as ever, Arsenal had come back from 2 goals down to beat Man Utd and Robin had appeared to get even more beautiful as the evening went on. He had never seen her laugh like that and was pleased to think some of his old stories had contributed to that. He had enjoyed telling stories tonight which he found strange because he had always been a very private person. To date, He and Robin had only really found out personal stuff about each other when one or the other was either distraughtly drunk or post panic attack. Whereas tonight he had openly offered up stories he had never even told Charlotte.
He realised he had done it again; compared Robin with Charlotte. He knew it was futile because they were such completely different people. There is no doubt though he could never have had this evening with Charlotte. For one thing Nick and Ilsa had never taken to her and that's putting it lightly. The best times during those 16 years were when it was just him and Charlotte, alone, hidden from the rest of the world, admittedly, usually in bed. It amazed him how, despite being so determined to not blur the lines between business and personal, he had Robin had become so close, so dependent on each other, had become friends. He thought with horror about how close he came to turning her away that first morning. He was sure to this day that he had cancelled the temp position from Temporary Solutions. His mind drifted to her holding his hand this evening and the goodnight kiss. He could still feel her cheek against his and sense her fingers in his hand. A grin spread across his face and he allowed himself to just enjoy the remembrance before everything goes back to normal in the morning.
