"Close Protection"
Disclaimer – As usual I own nothing but a large amount of debt, a severe lack of talent, a distinct lack of awesomeness, a heavy case of writers block and a ex I could happily put in the Basement with Naomi right now!
I still nothing to do with Skins, (but then do we care about Skins any more? Well until that Gen 2 Movie appears anyway).
Authors Note: and here we are again, Wednesday arrives and with it, the start of my transitional chapters, (though this one I will call filler!), not much to catch up with here…
Probably d-:
Anyway, enough dribbling, enjoy!
Chapter 49 – Beginnings and Endings
It was just over a week after our American adventure and I was living in what I believe people call 'domestic bliss'.
Well sort of.
Domestic ecstasy might be a better definition of what I found myself in, it was so different to my other experience of 'living' with a girlfriend; so very different indeed.
We'd done exactly what she'd wanted after we'd landed, heading to my apartment to pick up some clean clothes before continuing our journey to her small flat in St John's Wood; collapsing in a jetlagged stupor almost the second our heads hit the plush cotton covered pillows of her bed.
Once we'd agreed the basic rules to our relationship, things went reasonably smoothly. She didn't mess me about and make me worry professionally; I did the same thing personally. We were forced by necessity to have two different lives, the personal and the professional; and it was impossible to let the personal intrude into the professional life. So we kept them separate as best we could, and somewhere in the middle we found a place where we could just be ourselves and enjoy it; and enjoy it we did.
During work time when I wasn't sat on the sofa in Emily's office watching her work, and swapping e-mails with JJ and Cook on my phone; I was stood, much to her annoyance, outside her office door as usual, doing my job as best I could protecting her the whole time, personally and professionally.
The whole protection thing didn't always go smoothly however, my general 'hanging around', as she called my guard duty, eventually frustrated her so much it prompted a change in office space; Emily moving down the corridor to a smaller room with an attached side office that Bonnie and I were to be installed in at her insistence.
"There," Emily said as she propelled me towards one of the desks, the one that was situated right next to her new office door. "You sit there from now on, that way you can do your job without standing outside in the corridor like a flaming statue, and making me feel stupid when people come to see me."
"…and what about the other door?" I said interrupting her pleased look with the question that I'd had running around my head. "The one that opens to the corridor, how do I guard that from in here?"
"I'll lock that if it makes you feel better Naomi," she replied simply, a smug grin on her face as if pleased she'd anticipated my request. It was good, she'd obviously thought about her security which was a major improvement on her usual casualness, but it wasn't good enough for me.
"I'd prefer it if it was blocked off entirely," I'd replied with just a hint of professional aloofness; "that way no-one could use it at all."
"That would look stupid Naomi," Emily had said shaking her head. "I can't just put my sofa in front of the doorway."
"Why don't you get that big cabinet moved instead?" Bonnie added looking up from her computer with a smile at our bickering. "That would cover it completely, no-one would know there was even a door there."
"Thank you Bonnie," Emily said sarcastically, putting her hands on her hips and frowning. "I thought you were on my side."
"I'm sorry Emily," Bonnie said, hiding her grin behind her monitor. "I thought the point was to keep you safe."
"Yes, but this all seems a little extreme doesn't it?" she said frustratedly, the hairs on the back of my neck rising in warning at a potentially 'pissed off Emily'. "I mean honestly, for someone to cause trouble here they've got to get past the guys on reception, and then make their way up four flights of stairs and past the security doors just to get close to my office, and then they've got to get through a locked door; I'm sure by that time Naomi would have been alerted."
"Well when you put it that way," Bonnie replied nodding away, her hair bobbing away amusingly as she agreed with her boss.
"I do," Ems said firmly folding her arms across her chest signalling that was the end of that particular exchange.
"Could we at least put a wedge under the door Miss Fitch," I asked, not wanting to let this go just yet, "once you've locked it…just in case."
"As long as it's discrete, this is supposed to be my office Naomi not Buckingham bloody Palace."
With that last shot she turned away and closed her door behind her; shaking her head as she went. With a smile I sat down at my tiny little desk and opened my bag, pulling out some of the reports that I'd been sent; reports that I tried to keep hidden from Emily. I was working my way through the latest threat analysis on her newest potential client when I noticed Bonnie, looking at me and grinning, out of the corner of my eye.
"What?" I asked not lifting my eyes from the papers in front of me.
"Oh, nothing," she replied with a little lilt in her voice that told me it was anything but nothing.
"What's so funny Bonnie?" I asked sighing and shuffling the papers in front of me, looking over at her amused face.
"Nothing Naomi," she said as she typed away, "I'm just amusing myself while I wait."
"Wait for what?" I said, before being interrupted by the phone on her desk ringing away. She grinned at me and pointed at the phone before dramatically lifting it to her ear, her eyes on me the whole time.
"Yes Emily I'll tell her…" she said winking at me, "…and yes of course I'll let you know when your next meeting arrives…of course I'll do that, drinks and biscuits as usual, I've got it all ready for you…I'll bring it straight through once I've showed them in."
"You're wanted," she said grinning at me as she put down the phone, "again…"
Bonnie made a great play of looking at her watch, smiling at me all the time, "She's getting much better you know, she did really well this time; that was nearly two minutes."
"Two minutes what, " I replied looking blankly at her.
"Two minutes before she called you into her office," she said winking at me, "like I say she's getting much better."
"Funny girl," I replied wryly, putting the reports back into the drawer and closing it firmly. "Did she say what she wanted this time?"
"Apparently she wants to discuss meeting up with her mother next weekend when she comes back from New York, but I'm sure that's not the only reason."
She grinned up at me as I stood over her desk frowning.
"Oh shut up," I told her swiping my hand at her head, faking a slap good naturedly. There was no hiding anything from Bonnie, within two hours of our arrival on Monday she was eyeing us suspiciously; by the end of Wednesday Emily and I knew that she'd rumbled us. Strangely though we weren't in the slightest bit bothered, Emily trusted Bonnie and I trusted Emily's opinion; it was just one of those things that we didn't have to discuss. Besides, I was pretty sure that the two of them had discussed me before, during and after that fateful party at Fitch Manor.
So it was with a knowing snigger from behind me that I opened the door to Emily's office and stepped inside, giving Emily a stern look as I closed the door behind me.
"You've got to stop this you know?" I said as I walked over to her desk.
"Stop what?" she said looking up from her laptop and taking off the glasses she was wearing to look at the screen; running a tired hand through her hair as she shook it out.
"Stop calling me in here thirty seconds after you close the door, I'm sure Bonnie thinks we're in here making out or something."
"She does not," Emily said looking shocked, "and I don't do that do I?"
"Every time hun," I told her, slumping in the chair next to her desk. "I think Bonnie thinks it's funny; she's just told me that that two minutes is a record for you."
"Well I did actually have a reason this time babe," she said rubbing her eyes tiredly, "I've just got a message from mum, she's coming home with Colin this Friday and she wants to meet up this weekend before she goes home. I've sort of promised we'd pick them up from the airport, I hope that's ok? I thought we could pick them up ourselves so we don't ruin Darren and Bonnie's weekend again."
"Fine with me," I replied simply, "I don't get my new car until next week though remember? Damn thing is still delayed from the leasing firm, can we take one of the ones from here or something?"
That had been the one inconvenience of the last week, not having a car and having to use the Fitch Industries drivers to get us back and forth. The leasing company were being difficult about giving me a new car, though after the state I left my last company vehicle in, I really wasn't surprised.
"Yeah, I guess so, give me a second and I'll find out if we've got one spare."
Emily picked up her phone and called Bonnie, chatting with her about arranging a car for us. I was watching her with some concern as she spoke to her assistant, rubbing her eyes again; we've only been back for a week and a half, and already she was looking beat down by everything. I actually felt guilty about leaving her alone in the flat at night while I went to see Joanna; my therapy meetings continuing, at Emily's insistence, pretty much from our first evening home. I know she was burning the midnight oil while I was out, coming home each night to find her crouched over her laptop; working away on the deals she was trying to make, and all the complicated figures that went with them.
She'd even worked over the weekend, apologising for leaving me alone; explaining that she needed to get the numbers sorted for meetings she had, and that she had no time to get things done when she was in the office. Basically, she was working too damned hard, and it looked like it was starting to get to her. What frustrated me more than anything was there was nothing I could do to help; apart from make sure she ate, slept, and be there for her if she needed me.
"Are you ok Ems," I asked her when she put the phone down, "you're looking shattered today."
"I'm feeling shattered," she said nodding her head. "It's like I haven't stopped since we landed last Sunday, there's just so much to do you know?"
"Well not tonight," I told her making the decision instantly, my tone brooking no argument. "Tonight I'm going to cook, and you're going to relax and have an early night. No working until midnight on that fucking laptop of yours."
"I'll get a couple of hours in while you're in your meeting with Joanna tonight," she said sitting back in her chair and rolling her neck. "But an early night sounds really good, I might even soak in a hot bath for an hour or two if you're promising to cook."
"I'm not promising much more than field rations," I said laughing at her, "But there's no appointment tonight, I'm not due to see Joanna until next week now, she thinks weekly appointments will be more than enough for now."
"You didn't tell me that," she exclaimed sitting up quickly, "that's really positive!"
"I think she's just sick of the sight of me to be honest."
'Or sick of having to deal with the constant changes in our relationship as well as my other issues,' I thought to myself, thinking back on how much time Joanna had spent talking about Emily and I over the last few sessions.
"No, it's really good news Nomi, it means you're making real progress," Ems said proudly, "and field rations sounds fine, as long as I don't have to do it. I have to admit I'm getting sick of takeaway food now."
"No takeout, I'm sick to death of takeouts too and I'm sure my body hates me for forcing it to eat them," I said patting my stomach. "I think we'll stop off and get some supplies on the way home, and I'll try to cook us something nice; but I'm still sending you on a cookery course one day," I said getting up from the chair and heading over to the door. "Now stop distracting yourself, and me, and get some work done; because when you leave here tonight, you're not doing another thing and that's final."
I closed the door behind me and winked at Bonnie, "she's working too hard," I explained as I sat down and dug out the papers I'd been reading.
"She always does," Bonnie said, clicking away on her keyboard.
"Yeah well hopefully I've sorted that." I told her, diving headlong into my report.
"She's also very distractible at the moment," Bonnie said pointedly, ignoring my attempt at concentration, "which really isn't helping."
I looked up from the document and fixed her with a frown before smiling slightly at her concern. "Yeah well," I repeated, "hopefully I've sorted that too."
o+o+o
Field rations turned into a nice piece of chicken stuffed with Philadelphia cheese and wrapped in some bacon that I carefully prepared while Emily took the bath she'd promised herself in her tiny bathroom. It was adventurous for me, but the recipe on the internet seemed simple enough and it didn't take me too long to prep it and pop it under the grill. When I was done, I took a glass of wine in to my girl, only to find her lying back in the suds, a damp hand towel folded and draped across her eyes. I got a smile as I silently placed her glass down next to her head and I left her with a kiss on the forehead and an instruction not to drown herself by falling asleep.
While she relaxed I busied myself in the kitchen, preparing the salad and some boiled new potatoes to go with the chicken. I'd just drained them and drizzled on a little olive oil, thinking how nice it all smelt, when I heard Emily getting out of the bath. Sure enough, the smell of freshly cooked food meant that Emily's stomach overrode her desire to soak away for the threatened hour or two, and quarter of an hour later we were sat with a couple of drinks, chowing down happily.
"This is really good Nomi," Ems said as she sliced into the chicken, the cheese oozing out onto her plate to be captured by her knife; "thanks for doing this. Did you really learn to do this in the army?"
"Sort of," I admitted taking a drink to clear my palette, "Mum taught me a lot about cooking when I was growing up, and I did learn some basics when we weren't on base and getting things cooked for us. I learnt a lot from Gill, mate Paul's missus, she taught me a few things along the way as well, she was a really good cook. It's nice to get into the kitchen again," I said as she grinned across the coffee table to me. "I could always show you if you'd like."
"Well you can cook for me any time babe," Ems said raising her glass to me. "especially if it tastes this good. You can even try to teach me if you want, getting steamy in the kitchen sounds like a lot of fun to me."
"Cheeky, you're supposed to be relaxing you know; not thinking about sex in the kitchen."
"Who mentioned sex?" Ems said, smiling properly for what seemed like the first time in days. "It would be a bit cramped in there though, but not as cramped as that shower cubicle back in that hotel…."
"Emily…" I said warningly, "…relaxation and an early night remember?"
"Yeah, I know," she said yawning away, "I'm only messing about, I think curling up in front of the telly is a far better plan than shagging in the kitchen tonight."
"Then to bed…to sleep," I added at her smirk. "You need a good nights rest."
"That I do," she nodded back, "it's been a long week."
"It's only Wednesday hun," I told her sympathetically, getting up from the table and clearing away our bowls."
"Like I say, it's been a long week."
After doing the washing up I joined Emily on the sofa, sitting next to her as she watched a trashy rom-com that was on Sky. Within a minute of my arse hitting the cushion I had her head on my lap, pinning me down and stopping me from escaping from the TV torture. As I allowed myself to relax, for the first time that day, I absently ran my hand through her thick red curls, stroking gently and forcing myself to endure the rubbish that she seemed enthralled with. To my relief though it wasn't long before her head was lolling to the side, tiredness taking over. Five minutes after that she was fast asleep, resting her cheek on her hand and snoring away. Reaching for the remote I switched channels, eventually finding something that appealed to me; I turned the sound down low so as not to disturb the sleeping girl and allowed myself to relax, enjoying the feeling as the tension in my muscles drained away. It was less than an hour later when my own tiredness got the better of me; carefully I eased myself from underneath Emily and, not for the first time that week, carried her exhausted form to bed.
o+o+o
For all the sleep she got on that Wednesday night, Emily's week didn't get much easier; and it was half past nine on Friday night before she managed to escape from her last conference call and we headed down into the underground car park to make the drive across town to Heathrow. To my surprise I saw a familiar looking black Range Rover parked in Emily's private bay by the lifts.
"I thought you'd want to drive something familiar," Emily said with a smile pressing the keys into my hand as we walked over to the big bus, "luckily Richard drove Mum over here in it the other week, so I commandeered it for us."
"Good idea," I replied, blipping the remote and carefully opening the back door for her; checking the vehicle was empty before ushering her in. One quick five second check of the boot later I was starting the powerful engine and, slipping it into gear, heading off into the warm London evening and heading West. The only advantage to our stupidly late finish was that the roads were pretty clear, and we made great time as we headed out of the city; threading our way along the A4 passing the brightly lit frontage of Harrods before heading right just after the Fullers Brewery so we could hop onto the motorway at Chiswick.
"We're going to be late," Emily muttered to herself from the back seat glancing at her watch worriedly, "she'll be landing like now."
I pressed my foot a little closer to the floor, causing the big old bus to accelerate, I didn't want to push it too far and risk getting pulled over, but I didn't want to be late either. I knew Jenna's CPO would be with her and that Heathrow was a pretty secure location; but Emily wanted to be there for her mother and it was my job to make sure that happened.
"What time does their flight touch down Ems?" I asked turning down the stereo and pretending not to have heard her comment.
"Just about now babe, how far away are we?"
I glanced at the sat-nav and swore under my breath, according to the 'bird in the box' we were still fifteen minutes out, Emily's worry not improving when I told her the score.
"She's going to be so pissed off with me, I told her we'd be waiting for them when they landed," she fretted. "Can't we go a bit faster?"
"I'm doing nearly ninety now Ems, we don't want to get a ticket. Why don't you look up her flight on your phone and see where it is ok?"
"Yeah, good plan…"
There was silence from the back for the next few minutes, enabling me to focus on my driving, pushing the speed limit as far as I dared, looking around for both signs of danger and indeed the Police while she searched the net for information.
"You can slow down a bit babe," I heard eventually, "according to this they haven't landed yet, we've got a bit of time."
"How much time?" I asked easing back off the accelerator, fixing my speed at eighty.
"About twenty minutes, the flights been slightly delayed, I hope they're ok."
"I'm sure they're fine love," I said, relaxing slightly and bringing our speed down to the legal limit. "Our flight was delayed on the way out if you remember; headwinds over the Atlantic or whatever excuse it was to keep me in the fucking air."
"I don't think it was deliberate babe," Ems said and I heard her chuckling from the back, my little rant having the desired effect of distracting her.
"That's as maybe, but it's probably something like that that's holding them up. Anyway, we'll be there in about five minutes," I said as I turned off the motorway, following the directions on the fancy screen towards international arrivals.
o+o+o
The car was a little cramped as we drove back towards London, Jenna, Colin and Emily squeezed into the back seats. I was sat up front with Richard, the CPO that had been assigned to Jenna for the duration, and the guy that had covered for me when I'd had my one day off. Emily was right, he was a lot less intense than me, in fact he was annoyingly familiar with all of them and I was fuming the whole way to the hotel, promising myself that I'd have words.
I mean it's one thing to be relaxed when you're four thousand miles away from any likely danger, it's another when you're back in the thick of it. They'd come wandering through the airport like a family on holiday and he had shown not a care for the things that were going on around him. It scared the shit out of me that I'd allowed Emily to be in his charge for one day, let alone placing her mother with him; as a member of my team he was my responsibility and I was going to make sure he didn't fuck up again.
To my relief he got the message straight away, my quiet conversation in a corner of the hotel lobby having the desired effect. Richard was actually a very professional operative, he recognised his shortcomings immediately and apologised for his laxness. It was exactly the reaction I wanted from him and I dropped the matter for now; vowing to keep a closer eye on the team in future. We didn't stay with them for much longer that it took them to get checked in, time was getting late; and, with a promise to meet Jenna the next day Emily and I left them to their jetlagged sleep.
"What was all that about Nomi?" Ems said as we drove back to our flat, "you and Richard were very cosy before, you didn't look very happy though."
"It was nothing Ems, I was just reminding him of a few ground rules that's all."
"Why? Has he done something wrong? He seemed like a really nice guy when I spent the day with him, and mum thinks he's brilliant."
"He's become a bit familiar that's all, I just wanted to remind him that there are lines we shouldn't cross you know? It's part of my job to remind my team of that, I don't want anyone getting hurt because we might screw up, especially any of you."
"If you say so."
"I do. We're right back in the firing line now, and those fuckers that have been hunting you down won't have gone away. It's no time for him to be stupid and putting everyone at risk because of it. It was stupid and careless and it's not happening again, not on my watch anyway."
There was a silence from the back of the vehicle, a silence that reminded me that I too had crossed a line; spectacularly crossed it in fact, and now I'd just admitted that it might be putting Emily at risk. I frowned at her silence and continued to drive us home, trying to focus on what I was supposed to be doing, watching the roads for signs of danger; and tried not to consider what she might be thinking about.
Emily made no move to get out of the Range Rover when we pulled up, just as I'd taught her, waiting until I could open her door and safely escort her into the building. As we walked through the empty hallway to the lifts she silently reached out and grabbed my hand; as the lift doors closed in front of me though, that silence was abruptly broken.
"Nomi are we ok?" she said quietly, looking up at me as we stood surrounded by the mirrors.
"We're fine love, or at least I thought we were. Why do you ask?"
"Oh nothing," she replied unconvincingly as the lift came to a standstill and the doors opened. "Doesn't matter."
Once I'd checked the way was clear, Emily led me down the corridor to the flat; opening the door and walking in. I frowned as she walked over the switch on the light and closed the door firmly behind me, making sure it was locked closed. The second I turned around Emily was on me, shoving me back against the door with a bang and kissing me passionately, demandingly even; as if trying to convince herself that we were in fact ok, as if unconvinced by my reassurances.
"Ems," I panted as she broke away, taking a hurried breath. I held her back as she pushing herself towards me once more.
"Ems, " I said as she fought me; "Ems, stop it, talk to me,what's wrong."
"Nothings wrong," she said again breathlessly, struggling to escape my grip; "just kiss me Nomi. Kiss me, take me to bed and make love to me, I need you to make love to me tonight."
"No Ems," I told her forcefully, holding her tightly to me, "not until you talk to me, about what's wrong. You're scaring me hun, this isn't like you."
It wasn't either, it was more like Amy than the woman I loved, and she really was scaring me; it almost a relief when her petite frame slumped against me and I was able to ease her into the living room and sit her down on the sofa.
"Are you going to tell me what's going on in that head of yours love?" I asked finally, running my hand through her hair once more. "Tell me what's just happened?"
"I guess I got scared again Naomi," she said simply and I believed her, being scared after my stupid admission in the car made perfect sense.
"Don't be scared Ems," I replied, as reassuringly as I could. "I'm here, no-one is going to hurt you. Just because they're still out there doesn't mean they're going to get a chance to get near you."
"I'm not scared of that Naomi, I'm just worried that you're going to end us because of what you said. You had a right go about Richard for being over friendly ,and then you went all silent and ignored me. I know you were having second thoughts about us, it was obvious that you were thinking how stupid you'd been getting involved with me."
"Ems, that was the last thing that was going through my mind," I told her seriously. "I thought you were thinking about how stupid we'd been, how much I might have put you at risk."
"Have you put me at risk Nomi?" Emily asked letting out a breath and sniffing.
"Well I don't think I have, but..."
"Will you put me at risk," she interrupted me.
"Only if I fuck up Ems, and that's not likely to happen any time soon."
"But you said…"
"I know what I said Ems," I reassured her, knowing what I was about to tell her was the absolute truth; "but Richard isn't me. He hasn't got what I've got, a real reason to want to keep you safe; this 'us' makes me want to make sure you're safe all the time. It makes me not want to switch off ever, and as long as you keep working with me I won't, all right?"
"But…"
"But nothing," I interrupted running my fingers across her cheek. "Just stop it Emily ok? Richard got a bollocking because he wasn't doing his job, nothing more. I've not stopped doing my job from the moment we met, not here, not in America, not even when I thought you hated me. Just because I fell in love with you somewhere along that journey didn't stop me doing my job."
"I know that Nomi," Emily said quickly, "it's just…"
I silenced her quickly, gagging her with my hand, placing my fingers across her lips; barely touching them but getting my message across effectively.
"Enough Ems, I'm sorry if I scared you, but I'm not going anywhere, ok? And I assure you, if I ever have a worry about our relationship jeopardising your safety I'll talk to you about it."
"Promise?"
"I promise," I said leaning down to kiss her sad looking face; "now, do you want a drink, or do you still want me to throw you on the bed and shag you senseless? I'm quite happy with either option I have to say."
"Actually, I'd like a drink if you're offering to make one love," she said smiling up at me weakly. "Perhaps we could save the shagging senseless part for later."
"I can live with that," I replied with a wink, "tea or hot chocolate?"
"Hot chocolate please, with some of those mini marshmallows we bought," she said, at least sounding a little happier. I sighed dramatically and rolled my eyes, rewarded from my theatrics with a broader smile, one that touched her eyes with the spark I knew and loved.
"Why did I even ask?"
"I don't know baby, I guess you're as stupid as I am."
o+o+o
That silly little crisis averted we spent the rest of the evening quietly sipping our drinks before going to bed. As Emily slept next to me, her breathing deep and regular, I thought about the little lie I'd told her. I had become a little sloppy when we were in America; not dangerously so; but I had allowed myself to take my eye off the bigger picture, that couldn't happen again.
As I had bollocked Richard earlier, I mentally bollocked myself; making sure I was I was on top of my game. Just because I was in a relationship with my package didn't mean that anything had to change, I could totally do this.
Quite frankly I had to…I didn't have an option. The reports that JJ had sent me didn't make good reading, the messages of hatred were still coming into Fitch Industries and though the team were still confused about the nature of the threat we faced. In fact the only ting we were sure of was that it was still out there.
Still lurking away, still as deadly as ever.
With that worrying thought still gnawing away at the back of my mind, I lay back into my pillows and drifted into a restless sleep.
o+o+o
I was rewarded on Saturday morning with a cup of tea and a smile from a rested looking Emily before we headed over to the Savoy for breakfast with Jenna. I was pleased to see that Richard was sat with her when we arrived, blending in with the environment but clearly paying attention to everything that was going on; spotting us less than a second after I saw them. I was also pleased to see that they were seated away from the windows, tucked away in a quiet area of the restaurant exactly where I would have chosen.
"No Colin?" Emily said as she kissed her hello's to her mother, Richard standing politely as we sat ourselves down.
"No dear, he's gone back to the club, they're running a competition this weekend and he's already used up the owners good graces with the late notice for our little trip. Besides, I don't think he'd appreciate our little girly day at that Spa you mentioned Emily."
"Can't say I blame him," I muttered to Richard who nodded at me meaningfully.
"Sounds like my idea of hell too," he whispered, "I'm glad you're looking after them today rather than me."
I stared at him suspiciously as he grinned at me knowingly. "Mrs Fitch wanted me to make arrangements for us to return to Bath; so she said it would be best if you kept an eye on them so I could sort out a car and everything. I think it's a great idea personally."
"I don't," I said with feeling, "I remember the last time that shit was inflicted on me. I think I'll just leave them to it and sit outside."
"Sounds like a plan Naomi," he said sipping at his tea, "though I doubt you're going to get your wish." He nodded across the table and I turned my head to see both Jenna and Emily looking at me appraisingly.
Frowning at the look they were giving me I turned back to Richard.
"You just watch me," I said firmly, squinting my eyes, "not a hope in hell!"
o+o+o
Our second Sunday living together saw me arranging some of my personal items around my room. I'd moved all of my meagre possessions from Close Protection's apartment to Emily's place during the previous week. I'd placed my clothes in drawers and on hangars. Shoes were slipped onto fancy little racks that were built into posh wardrobes and underwear was placed carefully into cloth boxes in a cupboard drawer.
With my jacket hung over a chair and my jewellery and make-up scattered across the dressing table, the room looked totally lived in.
Something it most certainly was not.
In fact I'd spent only one night in here since I'd moved in, and Emily was with me then. It only took one night on that double bed to get us to agree that her luxury king size was obviously the better choice for us. It wasn't that it was uncomfortable, it was more that Emily fidgeted so much in bed she kicked me out twice. Personally I'm sure she did it deliberately, I know she had no real intention of giving up her bed, or me.
So the main reason for me taking over the spare room like this was twofold, appearance and space. It gave us the appearance that what we had here was nothing more than a professional relationship, and the space to be apart for a while when we needed to be. Twenty four seven personal protection was one thing, twenty four seven in each others company would likely add just one more strain to what we had.
I finished my homemaking by putting up the picture frame I'd made for my mother all those years ago, putting it on the wall in pride of place. I smiled as I looked at the three familiar photographs, of three different periods in my life. It felt good to have it somewhere stable again, at least in the short term anyway; it felt good to have my mum somewhere I could perhaps start to call home. It was a hell of a lot better than having her in a storage locker that was for sure.
I looked around the completed room and, patting myself on the back for a job well done, I walked into the living room to see Emily stretching to take down a photograph of her and Katie taken at some fancy event somewhere.
"Need a hand hun?" I said walking up behind her, catching the photograph as she dropped it from the wall.
"Well I was doing fine before you came in doing your ninja impression," she said turning and taking the picture from me.
"What are you doing? Other than taking down a picture," I added quickly as her lips twitched at my obvious question.
"I'm putting this up," she said holding up a framed picture. "We don't really have one of us, and it probably wouldn't be a good idea if we did; but I got this one printed, it's better than nothing."
I took a close look at the picture, it was of Cook and Effy, and me and Emily; it had been taken on our big night out in America, the four of us stood with our arms around each other, smiles present on all of our faces. It was a good picture of two couples that were also friends; and it had been taken by someone that really should have been in the picture with us.
"Nice," I said simply as she reached up to hang it on the hook.
"Yeah, it looks really good babe, nice to have something of us here in some way."
"See you've nicked one of my pictures too," I said spotting another arrival on a side table, "I've been looking everywhere for that."
"Yeah," Ems said walking over and picking up the small print in its cheap frame. "Sorry, I thought you'd want something of yours in here too, seeing as you're my roomie now."
"Thanks," I said, slipping my arms around her and kissing the base of her neck, "I appreciate the thought."
"You look really happy there Nomi," she said, "you must have loved those guys a lot."
"I did," I said, leaning me head on her shoulder and looking into the smiling eyes of a younger, less broken, me; stood around a lightweight Land Rover with the rest of my unit. I remember the day it had been taken as if it were yesterday, we were all kitted out and ready to head off on patrol; guns held casually over shoulders, thumbs raised, each and every one of us thinking we were totally bullet proof.
"They were a great bunch," I said needlessly explaining my affection for them, "we were a really good team."
I slipped my hands up from her waist and took the picture from her hands, placing it down on the table again. "Thanks for doing that hun, I really do appreciate you making me want to feel at home here."
"Well it is your home now Nomi; next weekend I think we should take a trip to that lock up of yours so you can get some more of your stuff to bring here."
"Perhaps," I said noncommittally, I couldn't really think of anything else that was there that I wanted to bring with me, except perhaps for my table and that wouldn't fit, let alone fit in, here.
"I have something here for you as well babe," she said spinning around in my arms and kissing my throat. "It arrived yesterday actually, I was going to give it to you right away, but I was…well I didn't think it was the right time. Don't be mad at me ok"
"Why would I be mad at you love?" I asked curiously, spotting that she had a look that just said 'guilt'.
"Because I promised you this ages ago, and I've been waiting for it to arrive, I just didn't want to ruin anything yesterday; we were having such a good time."
I didn't really understand what she was on about, but she was right, we had been having a good time on that lazy Saturday. I had successfully avoided having to take part in the spa sessions she had booked with her mother. I had allowed Emily to treat me to a session with Franco only after a small, fairly half hearted, argument about the cost versus the state of my darkening roots. Happily though I missed out on the salt rub and the sauna session as well as the massage therapy; opting to wait outside with my headphones on, wishing I could make use of their pool while I waited the day away. From the spa we went for dinner and drinks before dropping Jenna off at Fitch Industries; meeting up with Richard once more so he could drive her home.
Once Jenna was safe, secure and on her way back to Bath, we drove back to the flat and just chilled out; Emily with a glass of wine and me with a nice cup of tea. With a silly film on the telly and a comfortable sofa we were content until we made our way to bed. It had definitely been a good day all in all; Emily had been happy and relaxed for the first time since we'd got home, and I totally understood not wanting to ruin it, especially after the misunderstanding we'd had on Friday.
"I won't be mad at you Ems," I promised, kissing her softly, "well not for very long anyway, depending on what you've done that is. Though if you've invited your Dad, your sister and her husband over for dinner I might be a bit cross."
"No chance of that love," she said shaking her head dramatically, her hair thrashing about like a model in a hair care advert. "I very much doubt they'd come even if I did."
"Well I guess you're ok then," I replied smiling. "That's the only think I could thing that you could have done that would have ruined yesterday."
"Aw, that's sweet, come on it's over here," she said linking her fingers with mine and leading me over to the sofa and sitting me down. "Here," she said handing me a largish cardboard box, "I'll be in the bedroom if you need me."
She went to walk away, but I managed to reach out and pull her back, dragging her down onto the sofa next to me.
"Not so fast Miss Fitch, you can't give me a box like this and walk away." I teased, "you can't fool me, it's a bomb…if I'm going down, you're going down with me Fitch."
I was expecting at least a smile, possibly even little dig at the deliberate double-entendre that I made; but to my surprise I got nothing but a little squeeze of my arm. It was so strange it made me really curious about what was in the box, and really concerned about her reaction. Wanting to make her feel better I wrapped my arm around the lovely woman that was sitting next to me and kissed her on the head, feeling her snuggle into me as I pulled her close.
With my free hand I lifted the lid of the package and lifted out the smart silver laptop that was nestled within.
"You bought me a computer hun?" I said putting it onto my lap, and squeezing her tightly, "thank you."
I had no idea what the hell I was going to do with a computer, but it was a lovely thought, Emily obviously wanting to get me hooked up to all this social media stuff I heard her talking about.
"It's not just the laptop baby, open it and turn it on."
There was a seriousness to her voice that made me frown and fumblingly I lifted the lid to the computer, pressing the power button to start it up. Within seconds the Windows logo appeared and then the desktop with all the usual icons…
All the usual icons bar one that caught my eye, one simple addition that was sat squarely in the centre of the desktop. It was an icon that indicated a folder, a folder that I was drawn to like a magnet, a folder that had the simple title 'Memory Tapes'.
As my finger shook across the touchpad, moving the mouse to hover over that folder, I heard Emily speak next to me, the words barely registering on my mind.
"I'm sorry it took so long baby, but there were a lot of tapes they had to convert…and it took them far longer than I thought it would…and I know I should have told you yesterday but like I said I was being selfish and…"
I stopped her babbling, by pulling her into me and kissing her hair once more; my feelings were pretty jumbled at that point and I knew I needed her presence to keep me calm.
"Is this…does this…are these my mums tapes," I heard myself stammer, "all of them?"
"Yes," she said quietly, "I said I'd get them converted for you and I have. The originals are safe as well, Darren is going to collect them, but I wanted you to have this now so Bonnie dropped it off when we were out yesterday."
"Thank you," I said simply, opening the folder and looking at the numbers and names that were once a box of videos that I'd ignored and then lost the ability to watch. The words weren't enough, thank you could never be enough for what she had just done; and I prayed that she would understand that. Emily had just given me my mother back and I hoped that I was strong enough to handle it.
"I'll leave you to it love, shout me if you need me," she said, and before I could react she had slipped from my grasp and walked out of the door.
"Emily!" I called quickly, and to my relief her head appeared at the doorway within moments. "Please," I said stretching out my arm and patting the warm spot on the sofa that she had so recently vacated, "I think I might need some help with this."
With a sad smile she sat down and slipped back into my arms, resting her head on my shoulder and laying her arm across my stomach. "Whatever you need love," she said hugging me tightly, "I'm here for you always Nomi, whatever and whenever."
I bit back a tear, let out a sigh, and double clicked on the very first file, tape number one – 'Beginnings and Endings' within seconds the pale face of my mother appeared on the laptops screen; sat on her hospital bed and looking as sick as I remembered her being.
"Hello Naomi love," it started, her voice sounding so weak, and yet still so strong and powerful…
…and my tears finally started to flow.
.
.
.
Authors Note – was that a cliff hanger? Surely not; I'm not totally happy with this one, but it gets me from A to B as they say, see you next week – it's chapter 50 that's a big number even for my OCD, so no pressure then! (-:
