Note: I am sorry for the delay in this fic, I lost interest and preferred my other two stories. Still not sure how long I will keep this going, I have other (in my mind, better) ideas.


I want to love and never look back
But I can't that's just a simple fact
How come it's so easy for some
To kiss and forget?
An Ocean - Deacon Blue


Malick had tried to put a large amount of fear into him about the new Keller consultant but he honestly thought he could handle anyone. He had to begin a rethink when he turned and saw the woman treating his patients on his ward.

As he followed Chantelle's gaze, his breath caught in his throat. Knowing he had to get closer to confirm his suspicions he left Malick and the young nurse rooted to the spot. He would have recognised that body anywhere baring in mind it had barely been a fortnight since they were in the same bed. For the past few days he had questioned whether she had been as nice to look at, or if it had been the wine, but now there was not a single doubt in his mind to argue. She was stunning.

Nobody had called her by her first name when describing the fierce new female on wards, so she had not once crossed his mind in relation to the position.

When she had been shown around, Serena had read the name of the Clinical Lead on Keller several times. The man from that evening flickered in her thoughts but she did not want to truly consider that life would be that cruel. He had not left her mind since they spent time together in the mediocre hotel room - she had felt complete for the first time in years but it was a one-off event. Literally a once in a lifetime interaction; she was happy to give the stranger that title as he had been nothing less than incredible.

As she turned on her heel she was forced to live the exact nightmare she had not allowed to play out in her mind. Until that moment she had relied on him spelling his first name the conventional way, or that it was a false name which he had plucked from thin air as they flirted.

"Mr Griffin, I presume?" Play the innocent, don't dare let him see how this is affecting you.

"Ms Campbell... Welcome to Keller." She was the woman. He had wanted to find her from the second they parted the morning at the hotel but not like this. There was no worse way it could have turned out. She didn't expect this either, it is not a sick joke. Her smile makes everything about her shine outwardly. Don't even go there.

She couldn't stop talking when she realised it was him. Not one to be nervous this appeared from nowhere for Serena and caught her unexpectedly. Explaining herself for clearing patients was never in her usual practices yet it spilled from her lips involuntarily.

"A Ric Griffin masterclass, that's the best offer I've had all year." He could hear the flirtation in her voice and he couldn't decide if he welcomed it or not; her methods were everything he was against but she brought out long-absent stirrings of desire in him.

For the duration of the patient saga that was 'Mushroom-Gate' she found the exact buttons in him to wind him up, and took great pleasure in doing so. It was just that for hours before she took him to the theatre space where her 3-D stack had been stored. They were truly by themselves for the first time all day and it was over an object the hospital would use rarely.

"I do love my gadgets." Serena found it natural to say comments such as this but she momentarily forgot who she was with when it left her mouth. Although they had gone the whole way, she was a little uncomfortable with him thinking about her with any sort of other gadget so she carried on talking. Ignoring the little part of her who could see his grumpy expression and thinking how adorable it was, she spoke lovingly of the beautiful piece of technology opposite them.

"... Maybe I'll let you take her for a spin." Even in his irritated state the tone she employed made Ric want to do nothing other than press her against the wall and kiss her.

A few hours following the disastrous resolution of their case she was settling into the office she now seemed to share with a man who had seen her in the most personal of ways. When he entered they were alone with little chance of being interrupted so could put all their cards on the table and confront what was clouding the air between them.

"So do you think this could this be the start of a beautiful friendship?"

She was the last thing Keller needed; that he needed.

"Let's not get ahead of ourselves." For him, that was enough of a line drawn on the matter - they would disagree, she wouldn't be the first or the last to do so with him.

After a short period of covert looks across the room to the other Serena instead broke the silence, "Of all the coincidences in my life, this may be up there with the best." She was trying to make the day have a light-hearted twist, to ignore that this was in fact the big deal her head was telling her it had been.

"You did not say you were a doctor." That was the problem he had with her. Under the assumption she was a business consultant he had found himself opening up to a stranger and although his opposite there had been a connection.

Logging into the computer on her new desk, she raised an eyebrow, "I was at a medical conference, it doesn't take a genius to put two and two together."

The serious attitude she had wished to convey disappeared as quickly as many of the other changes to her life had in recent months. He was clearly not impressed with her, yet she was becoming more amused by the situation at hand.

"I will pay for half the room." As soon as the words left his mouth he knew it had came out wrong.

Looking up sharply, a couple of strands of dark hair fell across her face as she glared across the small room.

"I am not some cheap prostitute! We were drunk and had sex, I don't recall you having complaints." It was the first time he had witnessed her somewhat angry and didn't know how to react. Serena knew he had not expected her to get so defensive but it was always a little hilarious to see people consider what they thought she would want to hear.

"That is not what I am am saying!" Thinking on the stop was not always a strong point of his in conversation as opposed to facing almost the unknown in theatre.

"What? Do you want a repeat performance," She asked with a wink, "because unfortunately I am not sleeping with a colleague in my first week."

He could not work with her. It was not because they had slept together - hell, he had got used to working with past flings and wives - but her attitude was unbelievable. How she could be put with real patients was beyond his comprehension as seemed to simply want them out of the ward to make her life simpler. Her disregard for subtlety was an additional black mark in his fast growing mental list of things that should make her less attractive.

All the things she had said before they kissed that night came back to him; all the nonsense about performance management and business strategies. He had put up with it because it had been a nice evening and he had found it interesting to see the thought process of somebody in that line of work. It was completely ridiculous for her to try and implement her ideas in Holby.