Thank you everyone for your kind reviews and support, hope you enjoy chapter 12!
Alex was tossing and turning all night, images of Evan lying in a morgue running through here head. The last words he had spoken to her repeating over and over again until his voice became muffled, the way he looked at her; hatred and disappointment as she walked out on him and Molly for the final time. Alex sat upright in her bed; her vision blurred only making out the time '7:10' she had to get up soon otherwise she'd be late for work. She rested her head back down on the pillow, her head pounding and spinning, her vision still not becoming clear. That's when she heard it, a strong whisper rang through her ear, she couldn't quite make out what the person said but it sounded like 'Goodbye' she closed her eyes hoping that she would open them and everything would become clear but as she closed them tighter she saw a large group of people all dressed in black and white standing around; as though they were waiting for something that was no longer there. She spotted three familiar faces in the distorted crowd of people, Pete, Molly and DCI Haynes. Alex blinked quickly and held her eyes shut trying to shake the image away, she knew what it was; it was her funereal. She watched despondently as the lowered her body deep in the ground; watched as her coffin hit the soft floor with a gentle thud. Alex's eyes tried to seek Evan, but he was nowhere to be seen, Pete was holding Molly close to him; stroking her hair gently trying to comfort her and stop the never ending tears from falling. Then she heard the whisper again; gentler this time 'Goodbye Evan.' Alex's heart started pounding, as she got a closer look at the flowers 'Evan White'. This wasn't her funeral, it was Evans; he had died in 2008, maybe that's why he was found dead in 1983; it was unexplainable but not impossible. Everything began to fade away as she heard Molly whisper one last thing 'I lost my mum, now Evan. I lose all the people I love, and mum thought I hated her when she left; I wish I had told her how much I loved her. I loved her so much now I'm never going to see her again and the only person who ever understood me was Evan; and well…now he's gone too, I'm all alone. What will I do dad?' Molly's tears became more frequent as Pete pulled her into a tight embrace.
Alex opened her eyes again to find a damp patch on her pillow where she must have been crying, her headache had suddenly disappeared; as she looked up with wet cheeks and red bloodshot eyes she spotted Alexandra looking at her considerately in the doorway. She took a deep breath and tried to compose herself. She opened her mouth to speak but all that came out was a sob, she was unable to form a coherent sentence. She couldn't have Alexandra seeing her like this; she was already full of grief and hurt, with Alex acting like this it could only make her worse. Without saying a word, Alexandra Price enveloped her in a hug her for a few seconds, Alex returned the hug even though it felt strange knowing she was hugging herself but the little girl didn't know that, she was trying her best to comfort Alex. After a few moments of sitting in silence; preparing herself for the day, Alex managed to get herself up and make some breakfast for Alexandra.
Alex and Alexandra arrived through the double doors of CID just in time; Alexandra went and sat herself next to Shazz again; who she seemed to have taken a strong liking to, while Shazz wasn't busy she'd do Alexandra's hair up all nice for her and talk to her about 'Adam and the Ants' who they both appeared to be big fans of. Alex sat herself at her desk and began to start work on the pile of paperwork that seemed to get bigger by the minute, she attempted to look through Gene's office window but as soon as Gene caught her eye, he pulled the blinds down. She knew that Jim was probably in there giving him a bollocking, Gene loved winding Jim up; he'd put a load of rubbish in his office just to get a reaction out of him, which clearly must be working.
'I hate you; I hate what you stand for, what you do.' Jim spat at Gene who seemed uninterested as to what he was saying.
'You finished Jimbo.' Gene couldn't stand Jim; he got annoyed just looking at him; now he was in his office shouting the odds.
'I know what you did three years ago; you thought you could cover it up.' He laughed coldly. 'You may have them fooled; but not for long. I'm going to dismantle this station around you, and when I do, you will know.' He got further and further into Gene's face as he spoke, and with one quick turn headed out the office.
Alex could tell that something had gone on between them in there, but they argued about ridiculous things, then again so did Gene and herself. Alex made her way over to Jim who had taken Alexandra into the kitchen to get some biscuits; he appeared to be laughing at something the little girl said, a serious look then swept across his face as he looked up and fixed his on Alex. She realised they must have said something about her because Alexandra smiled weakly at her and hurried off as soon as she entered the room.
'Alexandra tells me that you're feeling a bit up set today, she says you were crying this morning; is everything okay Alex?' He rubbed her back gently, making Alex feel slightly awkward.
'Yeah, I'm fine – just a bad dream.' She smiled before quickly getting on and making a coffee.
'You know, if you're struggling to cope then you don't have to look after Alexandra; Gene should have never given you that responsibility so soon after coming out of a coma.'
'It's not that I can't cope Sir, it's just I don't know if I'm the right person for the job.' Alex continued stirring her coffee as Jim smiled at her.
'I'll have a word with Gene for you; see what we can sort out.' He winked as he walked out, Alex seemed to be getting along really with Jim; he was a gentleman, he was caring and took his job seriously. She could feel herself developing some sort of attraction to him, she was undecided whether it was his looks or his charming personality; what she did know was that it wasn't love, she knew what she felt for Gene was love but not Jim.
Jim spent another twenty minutes in Gene's office, this time it was down to her. She felt guilty for letting Jim go and do her work for her, she should try reasoning with Gene herself but she couldn't bring herself to do it. Gene just had to look at her these days and she would go weak at the knees, she tried to distance herself from him a little; the musky smell of whisky, cigarettes and aftershave made her want to kiss him right there in front of everyone. She had to be professional she couldn't just go and throw herself at Gene, she was unsure as to whether he felt the same way; she knew he was physically attracted to her, but with Gene she could only ever imagine him wanting a one night thing not love; the Gene Genie doesn't do love.
Jim left Gene's office quietly, smiling at Alex as he passed her 'Shazz will now take care of Alexandra, you don't need to worry. I have it all sorted with Gene' he then continued out the double doors and made his way to his office.
'DI Drake!' Gene hollered across the office as he swung the door open. Alex knew that she was in trouble; that was the only time that he'd ever call her DI Drake; it would usually be Bolly Knickers, or Madame Fruitcake. She made her way into his office, not wanting to make eye contact because she loved it when Gene got angry and agitated, and she certainly didn't want him finding out how she felt.
'Guv.' She looked at him, standing their smoking his cigarette; watching the smoke rise slowly.
'I'm just curious as to why you felt like you couldn't talk to me and sent in that smug bastard to my office.' He placed his cigarette in the ash tray, he didn't seem too angry.
'I tried to yesterday, and you wouldn't listen. Jim offered to help me and-'
'JIM!' He shouted, Alex really shouldn't have said that; it annoyed him that they were on a first name bases. 'I think you're forgetting whose side you're on.' He poured a glass of whiskey and downed it in one.
'Don't be like that Gene. I know you don't like him, but there's no need to take it out on me.' She spat back at him, they were back to their old ways; shouting and arguing with each other.
'I should have known you couldn't take care of 'er. You can't even take care of yer own daughter; where is your own daughter, Alex? Oh that's right you don't care enough to find out' He roared. Alex bowed her head, after what she had seen today; Molly all by herself, she couldn't deal with Gene talking to her like this. Alex couldn't control her emotions and she burst into floods of tears right in front of him; something she had never done before.
She ran out of CID; tears falling from her eyes, she couldn't believe what Gene had said. She noticed Jim heading her way after hearing them both shouting at each other, he placed a caring arm around her and pulled her into a tight hug which was reluctantly accepted by Alex. Gene observed the scene from inside CID, he couldn't believe how Alex had broken down in front of him; he half expected her to punch him in the face for his comment, he certainly didn't intend on making her cry. He'd never seen Alex cry like that, she was usually a tough bird who didn't take any nonsense from men. He was going to apologise but seeing her in Jim's arms like that made him angrier so he decided otherwise.
The whole team were down at Luigis, even Jim attended. The team all heard the argument between Gene and Alex previously and by the looks of things they still hadn't sorted it out; the two of them would usually be sitting together at their usual table; but not today. Instead, Alex and Jim sat together at one end of the room while the rest of them sat at a table together at the other sharing jokes and embarrassing stories. Alex was unaware of the large amount of alcohol that she had consumed but she could tell that she'd had too much. Her eyes were becoming hazy, she was swaying on her chair and she was outrageously flirting with Jim, who wasn't stopping her. Jim could see Gene glancing at the two of them from the other side of the room; Jim knew how much they loved each other, and while Gene was in Alex's bad books he decided that he quite fancied Alex too. Jim put and arm around Alex's waist in order to pull her onto her feet but Alex misinterpreted his signal and pushed herself to him; brushing his lips with hers and Jim decided that he quite liked it; as it would make Gene jealous, and joined in. Gene and the rest of the group watched in complete awe as the two of them kissed. As she kissed him flashbacks of that night in the hotel with Jack came flooding back, she knew that Jim wouldn't hurt her and she really wanted to annoy Gene so decided to go along with her head anyway. After stopping to catch her breath, Alex led Jim up to her flat, stumbling up the stairs which drove Jim crazy; he couldn't stand drunk women falling all over the place, and he really didn't fancy Alex as much as he made out; but he had to go through with this if he really wanted to bring Gene down…Gene would never forgive Alex for sleeping with him; he was sure of it. Jim didn't care that the whole time they were together Alex was saying Gene's name instead of his; all he cared about was the fact that he now had something to use against Gene.
I don't even know why I did this; I hate the pairing Jim/Alex it just seemed to fit. Feel free to throw things at me for making Alex trust Jim and betray Gene!
Please review, as always I'd like to hear what you all think! :D
-Lifeinthe80s xxx