And here is Chapter 2.

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Chapter 2

Friday 8th September 2017

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The day had been long and Beth was nearly coming to the end of her tether. She had been working at Holby City Hospital for no more than a week, but she was shattered. She was sitting in the staffroom, her feet resting on a chair. She relaxed backwards and rested her sore muscles, but her relaxation didn't last long as the door was opened a few seconds after she had closed her eyes. She opened them to see Alex standing in the doorway. She muttered a curse under her breath. He moved, awkwardly, into room. He put the coffee machine on and then promptly ignored her. There was still a light red mark on his face, where she had slapped him.

She had hardly talked to Alex since their last discussion and then the slapping incident on her first day, but now she was alone in the staffroom with him. "Do you remember the first time we met?" Alex asked, curiously. She sure did. It had been a crisp autumn day almost nine years ago, now. She'd been standing in the hospital car park, when a man had walked into the back of her, causing them both to drop all of their things on the ground.

She had helped him gather his books up and then they had walked into the hospital. She had been shocked to find out that he was the brother of one of her friends and colleagues – there where almost no facial similarities. They'd become friends after that.

"Yes, but I wish I never met you." She said, venom dripping from her voice. "It would have been a hell of a lot easier if I hadn't." She added, quietly. "I don't think I can do this anymore, Alex." She said quietly. He turned around from the coffee machine and looked at her.

"It's just an act, isn't it? What you said before, how you acted in front of him, you didn't want him to see that you're actually hurting. You put up a front and hid behind it. You didn't show him how you really felt about what happened; you just put up a wall and hoped it would all go away, and in the end it didn't all go away; you did. You're just…broken." Alex stated, calmly. Beth shook her head.

"When did you qualify as a psychiatrist?" She said, sarcastically, before standing up and stalking out.

She walked as far as she could away from him, he couldn't know that his words were the truth, the she was hurting, and he couldn't know this fact.

She didn't know how long she'd been walking for when she found a corridor devoid of life. She slumped against a wall and tried to fight the inevitable tears. She and Jac were the same, which was why, as children, they had been friends.

Now, it seemed, they had both fallen in love and changed; because that was what love does. They had both spent too long fighting it and instead they had lost it forever. The tears came, then. She was sick of hiding everything. That was all she seemed to do, and she had done it since childhood. That was another similarity between herself and Jac – they hid behind walls – defences - so that no one ever saw the real them.

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Beth didn't usually find solace in a bottle, but that night she did. Alex Williams had gotten under her skin like no one had before she had met him or since. She hated him, she really did. She hated what he had made her become, and she hated what she had done as a result. She took the final swig of the glass of red wine that was sitting in front of her. It was her fifth or six drink of that evening, and she was starting to get drunk and lose count. She called the barman over and she ordered another.

The crowd in the bar was starting to thin, as it was getting late. Beth looked at her watch and realised she had lost track of time. Her drink was slid over the counter to her. She took a sip, just as a man pulled off his jacket and sat down on the stool next to her. In the dark of the bar, and with all the alcohol in her system, when she looked to see who had joined her, for a second she thought it was him – Neil – but then she looked closer and realised that her drink addled brain had made her imagine things. He did look similar to Neil but there were almost as many differences as there were similarities. He was about the same age as her, maybe a little younger, and he had dark hair and dark eyes. She vaguely recognised him as a doctor on Darwin but she could be mixing him up with someone else. "I'll have vodka-on-the-rocks, please." The man ordered and Beth discovered that he had a soft Irish accent.

While he was waiting for his drink, he put his head in his hands. "Your day was that bad, ey?" Beth asked, with a hint of sarcasm in her voice. He turned to look at her and smiled.

"You're the new doctor, aren't you? The one on Darwin that gave Williams the slap he damn well needed." Beth was surprised that he had recognised her. She nodded. "Good on you, I'll say."

"Why'd you say that?"

"He just gets on my nerves." He paused. "I work on Darwin too." So she had recognised him.

"He gets on my nerves to." Beth hesitated, but then spoke. "So why're you here, then?"

"Oh, it's got nothing to do with work." Beth watched as he fiddled with the gold band on his left ring finger, his wedding ring. He pulled it off and set it on the counter. "I'll have another." He ordered a drink and then sat and stared at the ring. When his drink got to him, he took a large gulp and then turned to her. "A couple hours ago I found out that my lovely wife has been sleeping with my best mate!" He spoke angrily, and rightly so.

"What a lovely lady." Beth said sarcastically, and shook her head. "So did you leave her or did she leave you for him?" If she hadn't been drunk she wouldn't have steered away from the topic but as she was she didn't.

"I left her."

"I think we need another round of drinks, am I right?" She called the barman over and ordered a round of tequila sunrises. They arrived a couple of seconds later and Beth downed hers in one.

"Whoa, slow down, love. You'll give yourself alcohol poisoning." She smirked as his inner doctor shone through. Then she realised that she didn't know his name, yet.

"As I now know the inner workings of your marriage, maybe it would be nice to know your name." Beth asked.

"Alright, but only if you tell me yours after." Beth nodded. "Tom. Tom Shields. Now you. I may know about you but no one seems to know your name."

"Beth Wilkes."

"Now, Beth Wilkes, why are you downing shots like the worlds going to end?" Beth smiled, slightly. It was the first time in a long time that a man had shown any interest in her, apart from her ability as a doctor.

"Two words. Alex Williams."

"I thought it might have something to do with him. You've only been here, what a week?" She nodded. "And you have already realised what an idiot he is. That must be some sort of record."

"Sorry to disappoint, but I've met him before this week."

"Oh, how?

"We used to work together. It took me a while to realise that under all that charm, he's just a charming idiot."

"Nicely put."

It was Tom's turn to order a round of shots, and this time they both downed them in a matter of seconds. They sat in silence for a while, before Tom spoke. "Why's a beautiful woman like you all alone? I'm just assuming here, so you can tell me to go away if you already have a fella but…"

"Nah, I'm all alone in the big wide world. There was this one guy a long time ago but it…it didn't work out." Tom nodded.

"I thought that I'd found the one. Her name is Amy. I thought that we'd make it through everything. Shows how much I know." He said, and he sounded almost defeated.

"You're better than her. She doesn't deserve you."

"Yeah, I know, but…we were married for seven years and where together for six before that so, yeah, it's hard." They lapsed into silence again. "Beth, I don't want to be lonely tonight." Even though he hadn't asked her bluntly, they both knew what he meant.

"Neither do I, Tom. Neither do I." Tom was looking at her, looking in to her eyes. "Yours or mine?"

"Yours." Beth nodded, and they stood up. They paid for the drinks. He pulled his jacket off of the back of the chair and slung it over his shoulders. Beth picked up her bag and swung it over her shoulder. They walked out of the bar together.

The cold air bit at her face and her uncovered arms. Tom noticed that she was shivering and slid his jacket off and offered it to her. She gratefully took it and put it on. Tom pulled his phone out and dialled the number for the taxi firm. As they waited for a taxi to come, Tom slid one of his arms around her waist.

It didn't take long for the taxi to arrive, and Tom opened the door for her. They got in. They spent the taxi ride in silence. It was a short ride to Beth's flat, and after she paid the driver, they stood looking up at the apartment building. "You can still back out." Tom whispered in to the cold night air.

"No. I want this. I want you." Just as she finished speaking, she turned to face him. His was almost a head taller than her, but he leant down and their lips joined.

"Okay." Tom said, more to himself than her, after they had stopped kissing. Beth walked towards the door to the block of flats, with Tom following. Her apartment was on the third floor and there was no lift. They climbed the stairs in total silence. She fumbled with her bag and removed her keys. She slid them into the lock and turned. A click signalled that the door was now open. She pushed it open with her shoulder, as her hands where busy putting her key away. She waited a few seconds and Tom entered. He hardly gave the flat a seconds glance, instead his eyes where fixed on her face.

"You've got one more chance to back out." Tom said, quietly.

"And why would I want to do that? Are you sure?" Tom didn't answer; instead he leant down and captured her lips with his. He wrapped his arms around her, and Beth wrapped hers around him. Soon they were completely lost in the moment, in each other. They couldn't back out now.

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Another chapter finished. Hope you liked. Chapter 3 will be up on Monday.