Disclaimer: I do not own City Homicide or its characters.
11.
Jen woke to an empty bed, and her heart sank with the realisation that Nick had left her alone, once again. She couldn't believe that after last night, after their conversation, after their deep expression of love and longing, that he had slipped out quietly again, leaving her to face the morning alone.
She sighed, and got out of Nick's bed, padding over to his tallboy. In the second drawer, she found one of his t-shirts, which she slipped over her head, to cover her nakedness. She knew that she had underwear and work clothes in his wardrobe, but she needed a coffee and shower before she got dressed for work.
She picked her watch up off his bedside table – it was only 6.30, still early; she had enough time to not rush. She didn't feel like going in to work at all. She didn't want to face Nick after his disappearing act, and she certainly didn't want to face Debbie Pellman. Jen was usually a good natured and gentle person, but Debbie brought out the worst in her, and she had an overwhelming urge to want to hit the other woman right between the eyes.
In the kitchen, she filled up the kettle and turned it on, spooning coffee into a cup and settling herself on Nick's couch to wait. She tucked her knees up beneath her chin and looked around. Just last night, on this couch, the passion between them had been intense, it had been exquisite. Jen felt herself blushing at the thought, but her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of the front door opening.
Nick waltzed in, looking hot and sweaty, dressed in his running clothes. Under one arm he carried the morning papers, and in his other hand he had a bunch of flowers, everlastings in hues of pink, yellow and white.
Jen felt guilty at having thought the worst of Nick, assuming that he had left her without a word for a second time. She leapt up off the couch and moulded herself against him, inhaling the sweet smell of his sweat and wrapping her arms around his waist, her hands stroking his back.
He tipped her chin up towards him and looked into her eyes with a puzzled expression on his face. "Jen?"
She smiled sheepishly. "I thought you'd gone. Again."
"I woke up early, felt like a run. I picked these up for you at the market while I was out." He held the small bunch of flowers out to her and she took them from him, smiling, and placed them on the kitchen bench, wrapping herself around him once again. Her lips found his as she mumbled her thanks against his mouth.
Nick pulled back and grinned at her, realising that Jennifer had something more on her mind and he wanted to take full advantage of it. He ran his hands up under her t-shirt and groaned in defeat, all too aware that this woman before him had the power to make him crumble. He lifted her up, hooking her legs around his waist, and kissing her deeply, he began walking down the hallway with her wrapped snugly around him. He manoeuvred into the bathroom, and half whispered, his voice hoarse with desire. "Jennifer. Let me soap your back."
He pulled up outside the house in his van. He was ready and his heart pounded wildly in his chest with the realisation of what was to come. It was almost too much for him to bear.
He had driven past last night, stopped, looked in the windows. She lived with a man and there did not appear to be any signs of children.
He looked around now. There was no sign of the man's car.
Good. She was alone.
He got out of the van and walked up to the front door. He knocked.
She opened the door and looked at him. "Oh good. You're right on time. I've been waiting for you."
I've been waiting for you too, he thought. "I'll just get the equipment out of my van."
She smiled and walked back into the house. He fought the urge to do it right away. He needed to get the job done first, and then he could have his moment. He began to perspire. It was close now.
Nick and Jen stood together in the elevators, waiting to reach the fifth floor that was Homicide. He smiled at her and took her hand in his, bringing it to his mouth to plant a small kiss on her knuckle.
She felt herself go weak at the knees with his touch, that morning's passionate encounter only further fuelling her desire for him. She closed her eyes, and leant against him, burying her head into his chest, momentarily forgetting that they were at work. Their fingers entwined and caressed softly, losing themselves in the moment, until the 'ding' of the lift indicated that they had reached their destination, and sighing, they pulled themselves apart.
Walking into Homicide together, they both scanned the floor for Debbie Pellman. She was nowhere to be seen, and Nick breathed a sigh of relief.
"Morning guys" Duncan was at his desk with a coffee. "Matt's pushing for results on the James case, Jen. Says we need to step it up a bit."
Jen hung her winter coat over the back of her chair, and smoothed her shirt over her hips. Nick gave a small smile, admiring the curve of her waist and thinking back to his hands running over her hips that morning in the shower. Jennifer was all he thought about and he wondered if they would ever lose the spark, the desire they felt for one another, and he hoped that they would not.
"Well surely Matt realises that we can't make something out of nothing?" Jen exclaimed, sitting down behind her desk. "How much more can we step it up?" Jen felt deflated as she saw Debbie come out of the break room, and walk over to them, sitting down in her chair.
"Dunno. I think he just wants results."
Jen smiled sardonically. "Well," she began, glancing sideways over at Debbie. "We can't always get what we want, can we?"
Duncan looked at Jen with a puzzled expression, sure that he had just missed something. "No, I guess not. Anyway, we need to get over to Sarah's workplace. Matt wants us to talk to her work colleagues again, see if they've remembered anything else."
"Sure" Jen sighed, getting up and putting her coat back on. She looked at Nick raising her eyebrows at him. He realised that he should not be left sitting alone with Debbie, so he made his way to Matt's office and knocked on the door.
Inside, he sat down and looked at Matt questioningly.
"Serge – this is not going to work. I can't get up and leave every time I'm left sitting alone with her. Can't she be moved somewhere else?"
"Nick, she's the one making the allegations. I can't move her out of the squad unless she requests it."
Nicked sighed and rubbed his forehead. He wondered whether he should ask for a temporary deployment elsewhere. He didn't want to remain with Debbie for any longer than he had to.
As Duncan drove towards the law firm where Sarah James had worked, he glanced over at Jen sitting in the passenger seat. She had been very quiet and he suspected that something was wrong. He wondered whether she and Nick were fighting, although he thought back to their entry together that morning, and he didn't think that was the case. They looked completely comfortable in each others' presence and still totally smitten with one another, but he did think that perhaps they had both seemed a little stressed. He wondered to himself whether Jen had got herself in the family way.
"Jen? You okay mate?" he asked quietly.
She turned to look at him, shaken from her thoughts. "Yeah. I guess so." She smiled.
She turned back to stare out of the window. "Dunny? What do you think of Debbie?"
He looked at her. "Debbie? I don't know. She's alright, I guess. Truth be told, I haven't talked to her all that much. Maybe I should make the effort to get to know her a bit better, eh? What about I organise drinks after work today?'
"NO!" Duncan was somewhat startled by Jen's reaction to his suggestion. She was the one who had brought up the subject of Debbie Pellman.
"Sorry" she said quietly. "Dunny...she's a bitch. She's accused Nick of trying to touch her up in the car. She's going down the whole sexual harassment line."
"What?" Duncan was incredulous. Now it all made sense. The tension and stress that Nick and Jen both seemed to be under, it was all clear to him now. He knew Nick well, and he knew that Nick was a complete gentleman when it came to women. Duncan knew that Nick would never try to make a pass at a work colleague. Not to mention the fact that he was completely in love with Jen and would never do anything to jeopardise the relationship. "You gotta be kidding me, right?"
Jen sighed and held her head in her hand. "I wish I was. It's a complete nightmare. She's trying to destroy him. And I suspect that she's trying to break us up, as well."
"But why?"
"It's a long story."
He drove through the traffic. It had all gone smoothly, better than he had hoped.
She was now safely bundled in his boot. He had driven the van home, with her in the back, and had transferred her to his car. He couldn't take the risk of transporting her in his work van.
He already knew where he would take her. He had thought about this, planned it out. He had thought about the different places that he would take all of them. Because there would be more.