Scars - Part 10
"You went to boarding school?!" A hazy chuckle stifled from Serena's lip, the story she had been intently listening to now interrupted by her freshly dissected remark. She sipped innocently at the scarlet liquid, a glint twinkling in her eyes.
"Is it really that amusing?" Her eyebrow instantly arced as she blinked repeatedly, and she suppressed a slight laugh, raking her fingers through her hair.
"Sorry...I've maybe had a little too much shiraz." Her cheeks and the very tips of her ears blushed a rosy pink, and it wasn't a flush the wine was responsible for this time. Tongue running roughly over her lips, she continued sheepishly and capped her giggle, "It's just..unexpected."
"No, no. It's fine." Bernie shrugged and persisted with an explanation, "My parents were both in the military, and they decided boarding school was the best option my education, and to provide structure. I spent holidays and some weekends with my grandparents in my mother and father's absences, but they lived out in the country and as they grew older it wasn't exactly practical."
"Did you learn latin and play lacrosse?" The question that instantly bubbled was blurted out before the brunette justified herself the opportunity to consider. Eyes shimmering inquisitively and a smirk curling her features at the thought.
Bernie Wolfe was a woman with many underlying dimensions. And she was relishing peeling away and learning more about the stages of her interesting and gripping life.
She scoffed and briskly retorted, "What do you think?!" And now it was her time to dissolve into a wave of laughter.
Serena's features frowned momentarily as she pondered before announcing her honest conclusion, "Mm, I don't think I could imagine you in one of those skirts and with the caged eye protection gear..not to mention the stick with a net attached."
"Quite right," Bernie grunted, "Give me a hockey stick, on the other hand."
"Ah, now you're talking something I do know about!" A youthful grin.
"More shiraz?" Tipping her head to the side, she didn't wait for a reply as she roughly grasped the bottle and sloshed the remainder of wine into their crystal glasses, tiny droplets of the precious drink splashing out and landing on them and the sofa.
"Oh, thank you." Serena glanced at the contents, noting as her friend gulped down another generous mouthful, "Better make this my last glass. I do need to be sober enough to find my way home tonight."
The blonde expressed a wry smirk, "Can't handle your drink, Ms Campbell?"
Lips pursed, Serena wriggled her eyebrows in reminiscence. "Let's just say that I haven't had more than a couple of glasses in one night in...quite a while." She now considered herself past the age where nurturing hangovers from hell was deemed acceptable. Not to mention how too much alcohol - and caffeine - caused her fingers to tremble which was a huge problem for a surgeon.
"That's a shame; I bought two bottles because I know it's your favourite."
The unique flavours of shiraz sliding down her throat were heavenly, and now she obliged to another top up, "Well, in the case, we can't possibly allow it to go to waste. I'm sure another glass or two won't hurt." A beat. "Oh yes! There's something else I have to share with you." Serena rummaged in her handbag, producing an A4 envelope and passed it to the army medic. "Accompany me?"
With curiosity, the blonde skilfully scuffed her index finger along the opening edge and pulled out the contents, then briefly skimmed the documents. "A six night cruise around Europe for two? Serena, you have done more than enough for me. It should be me who's treating you to something like this-"
"Nonsense! I'll let you into a secret." Her lips twitched into a coy smirk, "It was a gift to me, or more of a peace offering from Hanssen."
Bernie's eyebrows shot up, her voice laced with hints of pry and dubiousness. "Why an earth would Hanssen give you a mini cruise?!" She exclaimed, though she hadn't intended to sound so direct and blunt.
"He booked it for himself however is unable to go because it wouldn't be right for the CEO and deputy CEO to be absent at the same time. So he gave it to me, apparently hoping it would perform as some kind of diversion from the investigation. And I'm choosing to invite you along as I believe you could also do with a break from..."
"The divorce." Bernie completed the sentence, a bitterness shivering her manner as she added a humourless cackle, "Surgery acts as a pretty good distraction from it all too."
"Yes. But unlike the forces, the NHS requires you to work in sensible shifts. I know you have been fuelled by adrenaline to complete much more demanding and gruelling hours of trauma surgery, but here 12 hour shifts are maximum. And that leaves a lot of time for personal problem contemplations." Sardonic and sharp.
The older female had observed as the contrasting makeup that had concealed the darkness under Bernie's eyes had began to fade, smudge and rub off. Dark circles of imminent sleep. Perhaps is she drank enough shiraz, she would finally succumb to slumber.
Exhaling a long sigh, she knew her colleague was correct. It was impossible to completely immerse in her work with protocols and rules she had to follow. "You're right."
Orbs narrowed, Serena questioned for her presumptions to be clarified, "Do I take that as a yes you are joining me?"
"I guess so." A reluctant nod followed.
Serena smiled warmly, draining her glass with satisfaction. "Good. Plus I think a change of scenery will do you some good."