Week 1
"Everyone, quiet down!" Oliver's voice carried through the halls of 15 Division, startling Gail from her work. She looked up from the report she was reviewing as he rushed into the bullpen and snatched the TV remote from the hand of an unsuspecting rookie. A hush fell over the room as everyone focused their attention on one of the big screens.
"Last weeks modelling showed that if nothing was done, we could face six thousand new daily cases in the coming weeks, overwhelming our ICUs shortly after that," the premier explained from a podium alongside the chief health officer and health and finance ministers.
Gail felt hands grip the back of her chair. "Shit, this does not look good," Traci murmured.
Gail's could only nod in agreement, her anxiety levels rising to all new heights.
"Effective Monday 23rd at 12:01am, Toronto and Peel will be moved into lockdown," the premier announced, and a collective groan echoed around the bullpen.
The more details that emerged, the more weary everyone grew. With the stay at home orders and heightened border restrictions, authorities would be stretched thin trying to enforce the new rules and mandates. Gail just hoped they could avoid a curfew, having seen on the news the unrest occurring in other countries that hadn't. With all these imminent changes, Gail knew she needed to be on top of her game, and made a mental note to call her therapist and fill that anxiety prescription she'd been avoiding.
When the press conference ended, and the crowd dispersed, Gail spotted Dov ignoring social distancing rules as he hugged an upset-looking Chloe. He must have said something reassuring because when he pulled back, Chloe's eyes were bright and hopeful. They both looked in Gail's direction, Chloe nodding, agreeing to something Dov had said.
"Oh, hell no," Gail mumbled to herself when Dov started walking in her direction with determination in his eyes. The last time he'd looked this determined he'd asked if Chloe could stay with them while the waterlines in her apartment were being replaced. Those four days were the most painful of Gail's life, so there was no way she was going to agree to Chloe living with them indefinitely. She opened her mouth to protest but Dov got in first.
"Save it," he held up his hand in a stopping gesture. "I've decided to go stay with Chloe at her apartment during lockdown, so you'll have the house all to yourself."
"Man, do I miss having a house to myself," Traci commented before picking up her coffee and heading towards the D's office.
A mix of relief and apprehension washed over Gail. On the one hand, she was thrilled that she wouldn't have to put up with an annoying house guest, but the prospect of being home alone and not seeing or talking to anyone face-to-face outside of work was rather upsetting, which surprised Gail considering her general disdain for people. "You're not taking the PlayStation," she blurted in an attempt to hide her swirling emotions.
"Tough tiddie's, it's happening," Dov replied.
Gail wondered if her day could get any worse.
Apparently it could.
She didn't get a chance to argue with him for rightfully taking his own property because Oliver interrupted them. "Peck, where's Collins? I have an assignment for you both."
For fuck's sake! The last thing her and her anxiety needed was to spend another shift with her ex-boyfriend with whom she'd barely acknowledged in weeks. "But I have a very important report to finish, sir."
Oliver picked up said report. "You mean this report, which you likely finished an hour ago but have been needlessly revising because you're a Peck and you expect nothing less than perfection? That report?"
Grudgingly, Gail nodded while internally cursing her mother for instilling such high standards in her.
"Well, Peck, in the wise words of Officer Epstein: tough tiddie's."
By 8pm, after two hours of overtime, Gail was about ready to drop. With her phone pressed to her ear, she dragged her flagging body into the women's locker room and laid on the bench nearest to her locker.
She pulled off her mask with a sigh. "Mom, for the last time, I am not shacking up with you and dad again." I only escaped from you four months ago, Gail thought to herself as her mother proceeded to 'talk some sense' into her. It had taken the entire day, but Gail had finally talked herself around on the whole living alone situation, and wasn't about to cave to her mother's demands. "Look, I know you're worried, we all are, but it's safer this way. Think of dad's shitty lungs, and the fact that you'd drive me insane." Gail kept that last part to herself. "The risk of me bringing the virus home is too high – I really don't need yours or dads death on my conscience." While her parents could easily work from home, Gail was still working the beat and didn't have that option. "Yes, precisely. You can't run for police commissioner if you're six feet under."
"Knock knock."
Gail strained her neck backwards to see who the voice belonged to. From her upside down position, it took her a second to recognise that it was Holly standing in the doorway. Gail hadn't expected to see her, having exchanged a few text messages about their shitty days less than twenty minutes ago.
She got to her feet, a little too quickly, and as a result her head started to spin. She squeezed her eyes shut as the room moved around her. A hand that wasn't her own closed around her wrist, steadying her. When she regained her balance and opened her eyes, Holly stepped away to a safe distance.
"Yeah, I gotta go now, mom. Gotta track down a perp for Nash." She instantly regretted the lie as soon as it left her mouth, her mother inevitably following up with more questions. "Thirty three year old white female." Gail looked Holly up and down, determining they were roughly the same height. "Five nine. Doctor. Very dangerous. Poisoned her colleague for being inept." Holly raised her eyebrow as Gail's eyes widened. "What were they poisoned with?" Gail repeated the question she was asked in hope that Holly would have a suitable answer seeing as one of her own eluded her.
"Iocaine powder," Holly offered quietly.
Without questioning it, Gail repeated the information back down the phone. It sounded vaguely familiar but Gail would Google it in the off-chance her mother questioned her about it later. Gail rolled her eyes. God, the lengths she went to get her mother off the phone.
"Yes, they probably deserved it. I agree, incompetence is the true crisis," Gail found herself quoting Einstein.
Holly doubled over laughing and dropped the file she was holding, the contents of which scattered across the floor.
"Okay, bye, mom. Yes, we'll talk again soon. Or you'll talk and I'll not listen," Gail added after she ended the call. "Well, at least I can still make you laugh, especially on such an epically shitty day as this." Gail slipped her mask back on and knelt to gather up the Holly's paperwork.
Holly regained her composure and squatted to help. "Even if the world was ending, I think you'd still manage to make me laugh."
"So the world isn't ending then?" Gail hadn't meant for the question to come out sounding so foreboding, but they were literally living in her worst nightmare right now.
She held out the paperwork she'd collected.
"Not today," Holly smiled, tentatively taking it.
Gail could tell Holly wanted touch her in some way, reassure her. Holly was a tactile person, after all, and was probably having a difficult time with all the social distancing measures in place. Gail, however, was relishing in the fact that people couldn't come within six feet of her. Well, except for when it came to Holly – she really missed their physical contact, in the purely platonic sense.
Gail cleared her throat as they both stood. "So, what are you doing here anyway?" They'd been hanging out more often than not for about a month before the pandemic had started, and less frequently the following few months, but unlike Gail, Holly had never visited her at work, or at least had the opportunity to. "I thought you and your bathtub had important plans?"
Holly fiddled with the frames of her glasses, something Gail noticed she did when she was nervous. Gail thought it was cute, in an endearing sort of way. Holly gestured to the file in her hand. "Oh, uh, the courier was sick?"
Gail cocked her head to the side. "Was that a question?"
Holly dropped the file on the bench with a sigh and regarded Gail with a faint smile. "Truth is, I just wanted to lay eyes on you."
"Oh." Gail wasn't sure what to make of that statement.
"Yeah, before we all turn into pumpkins at midnight."
"You know we'll still see each other at work, right?" Gail didn't know who she was trying to reassure, herself or Holly.
"Actually, they're still working up the guidelines but I overheard my boss say they'd be limiting access to the lab, and that I was likely one of three pathologists who wouldn't be assigned field work, at least for the next month, so…" Holly's voice trailed off.
It made sense. At 15 that afternoon, the powers that be had announced that starting tomorrow, Gail and her colleagues would be divided up into smaller groups, limiting contact between each other so that if one person contracted COVID, the entire shift wouldn't have to isolate.
Gail put her hands on her hips. "Well, that sucks balls."
"Yep, major balls."
"Epic balls even." Gail grinned.
"Unquantifiable sized balls," Holly added, and they both chuckled. "If you become desperate to see me, you could always switch careers, become a courier. I'm pretty sure a select few will still have access to the lab."
"I guess they might have some casual openings, I hear they get sick a lot." Gail smirked. Even with her face covered by a mask, Gail could tell Holly was blushing.
"Anyway," Holly ignored her, "fingers crossed this lockdown doesn't last too long. I'm rather envious that you have roommates to go home to and interact with. All I have is a cat who only uses me for food and sits on my head when I sleep."
Gail laughed at the mental image she'd conjured. "Well, I had roommates. Chris moved out a week ago, remember? And Dov informed me earlier that he would be staying with his girlfriend."
"So you'll be all by yourself? Have you ever lived alone before?"
Gail thought on that for a second. "No, actually." Before moving into the frat house with Dov and Chris, she'd always had one foot permanently in the door at her parents place, even when she was "staying" with boyfriends.
"And how do you feel about that?"
"I was weirdly freaking out about it earlier but then I remembered I would be able to sleep naked." Gail shrugged.
"Ah, yes. One of the many perks of living alone: no roommates barging into your bedroom unannounced."
"Sounds like you learned that lesson the hard way."
"Yeah, and pretty quickly too. I lived with my best friend Lisa during med school who didn't know the meaning of boundaries. Still doesn't, come to think of it."
"I guess we'll just have to rely on FaceTime a bit more for human interaction."
Holly sighed. "It's not the same." She looked like she wanted to say something more on the subject but then changed her mind for some reason or another. "I should probably go. It's been a long day and if I make Lucy wait for dinner any longer, who knows what she might do to me."
"Probably suffocate you in your sleep."
"That does not sound appealing."
"I'm a bit hangry myself. If you wait a minute while I get changed, I'll walk out with you. Unless you need to actually go deliver that." Gail pointed to the file, grinning.
Holly rolled her eyes as she swiped it from the bench. "Shut up. I'll go wait out in the corridor."
A few minutes later, Gail accompanied Holly out of the station. Their conversation stalled once they stepped into the parking lot, both likely realizing it would be the last time they'd see each other in person for a while.
When they reached Holly's car, Gail went to open the driver side door but Holly stopped her, grabbing Gail's forearm. "Wait!"
Gail turned around, eyes widening slightly.
"This is going to sound like a crazy idea but did you maybe want to come stay with me and be in my bubble?"
"Yes," Gail answered without a second thought but Holly continued to talk.
"With the world feeling so uncertain right now, I could really do with the company, and extra support, and I was thinking maybe you did too? I mean, we're friends, right? We talk about things, and laugh, and have fun, and I always feel better for it. So, what do you say?" Holly took a deep breath. "Am I crazy?"
Gail tried not to laugh. "That is yet to be determined, but you are definitely hard of hearing because I already said yes."
"Huh. And I assume that happened before all the rambling?"
"Yup," Gail confirmed, grinning.
Holly's eyes lit up. "Lucy will be so thrilled! She will have new socks to play with!"
Shit. Lucy. She had met Holly's cat a couple of times, albeit from a distance. Lucy had been as weary of Gail as Gail was of her, and had spent most of Gail's visits hiding in Holly's bedroom.
Not wanting to renege, Gail decided to think of this as an opportunity to work through some of her childhood cat trauma. "Do you want to start our bubble now?" She was already making a list in her head of everything she needed to pack.
"Sure."
"When were you last tested?" Gail asked.
"At lunchtime, when the new intern mixed up my sandwich order for the second day in a row."
"Very funny, but testing your patience is not really what I meant."
"No?" Holly smirked. "Alright then. My last test was around a year ago."
Gail knitted her eyebrows together. That didn't make sense. The zombie apocalypse had only started a few months ago, and Gail had lost count of how many times she'd been tested for COVID during that time.
"What can I say? I've kinda been going through a dry spell, sex-wise, but rest assured, I got the all clear." Holly gave Gail a double thumbs-up.
"Christ. I didn't realize I'd be moving in with a comedian." Gail finally opened the door for her, and Holly slid into the drivers seat.
"Nope, just a horny doctor."
Gail held the door open while Holly settled in. "There are toys for that, y'know."
Holly looked up at her. "I guess that is something I should look into."
Gail laughed and glanced at her watch. "See you at your place in about an hour?"
"I look forward to it."
"And you're sure about this, right? Because I'm around a lot of people everyday and I'd hate for you to get sick because of me."
"Gail, you're the biggest germaphobe I know. Come to think of it, you're the only germaphobe I know, so I trust that you'll be taking every precaution and staying as safe as you can, as will I." She pointed to Gail's glistening hands. "Besides, you're practically wearing hand sanitizer as gloves at this point, so I think we're good."
"Fair point," Gail said, feeling somewhat reassured.
"Maybe it's me who should be asking you if you're sure? You're probably forgetting I work in an environment where there is always a risk of exposure to unknown viruses and blood-borne diseases."
Had Gail forgotten, or had she pushed it to the back of her mind, like she did the risks of her own job?
"I'm thinking we should both quit and start our own courier business."
Holly nodded emphatically. "Absolutely. That three year undergrad degree, four year medical degree, and five years of specialist training I did was purely for fun. Being a courier is where my real passion lies."
"I'm glad we're on the same page."
"Me too," Holly replied, and they both chuckled. "As much as I like bantering with you, I'm going to go home and get the guest room ready. How about I order Indian for dinner?"
"That sounds great." Gail smiled as she closed the door, and kept smiling all the way to her car. It only disappeared when her phone vibrated, alerting her to a voicemail from her mother. She hadn't realized she'd missed a call from her.
She hit play and mother's voice filled the car stereo system. "Iocane powder? Really, Gail? I expect better from you! Grow up!"
Gail stared at her phone in bewilderment, and then burst out laughing. Her new roommate had some explaining to do.
"I never knew one person could own this many suitcases," Holly said with an air of disbelief as she entered Gail's room the next morning.
Gail sat up in bed as Holly tackled the suitcase obstacle course with a coffee in each hand. As soon as the steaming hot mug was in Gail's hands, she gave it a good sniff. "Just a dash of iocaine powder, right?"
Holly ran a hand through her unruly hair as she sat down on the opposite end of the bed. "Have I told you how sorry I am?"
Gail peered over the edge of her mug and snickered. "Once or twice."
Last night, as they'd sat down to dinner, Gail had slid her phone across the dining room table and surprised Holly by playing Elaine's voicemail. Holly had nearly choked to death on her samosa before admitting that in the moment she'd panicked and said the first poison that came to mind - a fictional one from The Princess Bride, a movie she just happened to rewatch the night before. Holly had been mortified and extremely apologetic. For her own amusement, Gail had let Holly twist in the wind for a few minutes before assuring her that Elaine's outburst was nothing new, that Gail disappointed her on a weekly basis, and it would have already been forgotten. That personal tidbit had appeased Holly's mind somewhat, but Gail couldn't help but notice the pity in Holly's eyes.
Gail took a sip of her coffee. She hummed her approval. "Can I expect this kind of service every morning?"
"Only on the days where Lucy has torn a hole in one of your socks. Or I've gotten you into trouble with your mother." Holly had a guilty look on her face as she reached into the pocket of her flannel pyjama pants and pulled out one of Gail's navy work socks. She tossed it into Gail's lap.
On closer inspection, Gail discovered it had not one, but four holes in it. "Lucifer is lucky it's not one of my favorites," she said as she balled it up and threw it over Holly's head into the hallway.
A white ball of fur streaked past and the sock was gone.
Holly chuckled. "I'll reimburse you."
"No need. I have twenty nine others just like it. Speaking of money, since I'll be staying here, I want to pay my way. I could give you rent, among other things."
"Yes to paying for some "other things", absolutely not to rent. This was my idea and you'll already be paying rent on an empty house. Besides, I own this place outright."
"Look at you, miss fancy adult. Very impressive."
"Yeah, don't be too impressed. My grandfather bought this house for me on his deathbed."
"Wow! But also, sorry."
"Thanks, and yeah, total surprise. I didn't find out what he'd done until after he was gone. Bastard." She smiled. "I'd already put down a deposit, and my mother, the sneaky shit, helped him do the rest."
"Well, it's a nice house." Gail had always thought so. "It's very… You."
"And by "you" you mean, smart, sexy, and beautiful?"
Gail looked at her with bemusement. "I was thinking more along the lines of warm, welcoming, and a little bit gay."
"Only a little bit gay? How disappointing. I must rectify this as soon as possible and find a store that sells homosexual furniture."
Gail chuckled. "Or you could fill your walls with more photographs like this," she pointed above her head at a framed black and white photograph of three naked women whose bodies were intertwined like vines. Gail had studied it before bed last night, not knowing where one limb ended and another began.
"They're just gal pals." Holly smirked knowingly.
"Uh huh. Gal pals whose hands are buried between each others legs. Lunchbox, it's bordering on pornographic!"
"Which is why it lives in the guest room that rarely gets used. Lisa gifted it to me for Christmas. I didn't have the heart to tell her my tastes were a lot more subtle than hers."
"Like this ceramic boob mug?" Gail turned said mug around in her hands. "Another gift?"
"Nope. I just really like boobs."
"It fits perfectly in my hand." Gail grinned as she positioned her fingers above and below the two little protruding mounds and moved the mug up and down as if she were feeling the weight of them.
Holly shook her head, clearly amused.
"You know what I like most about your house?"
"Besides the boob decor?"
"The fact that it doesn't smell like boys. But it is missing something. Here, hold this." Gail handed Holly her mug, and then scrambled over to the other side of the bed. She reached for something on the floor, her ass up in the air. Luckily she'd remembered to put sweatpants on earlier when she'd gotten up to go to the bathroom.
She came back up with a large carry bag and placed it between them.
Holly's eyebrows rose in surprise. "A gift? For me?"
"Uh, not exactly. Something we can both enjoy."
"Reeeally?" Holly raised her eyebrows in quick succession.
"Would you get your mind out of the gutter?"
Holly handed Gail her mug back with a smirk, and then placed her own on the floor. She settled onto her knees before reaching inside the bag and pulling out the new Nintendo Switch Gail had purchased on her way over last night. Knowing Holly wasn't a gamer, Gail thought it would be a good idea to start her off on something less overwhelming than a PlayStation or Xbox. And if she hated it, Gail could at least use it as a handheld.
Holly turned the box over and read the back of it. "You'll have to teach me. I think the last game I played was Mavis Beacon in Grade 7 Keyboarding."
Gail laughed, because of course the game would be educational. "I was thinking since you're a menace behind the wheel of a car, we could start you off with Mario Kart. At least you don't have to type to make the kart accelerate."
"Pity, because I can touch type a solid 100 words per minute." Holly put everything back in the bag and rolled off the bed. "Thank you. I look forward kicking your butt. In the mean time, I have to get dressed. I have a zoom meeting in ten minutes and my pj's don't exactly scream professional." Holly's black flannel pyjamas were covered in constellations.
Gail sighed. "I should probably get up too."
Holly picked up her mug from the floor and walked to the door. "Oh, before I forget," she turned back, "I was going to print out my work schedule and stick it on the fridge, in case you needed to know when I'm not home so you can walk around naked."
The corner of Gail's lips rose up into a smirk. "I can do the same if you like, though mine changes a lot."
"That'd be great. You home for dinner?"
"I should be finished by 7, but you don't need to cook for me or anything."
"Did you cook or eat with the boys at the frat house?"
Gail nodded. "We pretty much took turns cooking and doing the weekly grocery shop."
"Did you want to try that here?"
"Sure. I hope you like cheesepuff casserole."
Holly's mouth twisted into a grimace.
"That was a joke," Gail laughed. "Wow! I don't think I've ever seen someone look so appalled. Why we don't we write up a list of foods we each don't like and go from there. I'm guessing cheesepuffs will be on the top of your list."
"And I already know you can't eat tomatoes." At least someone remembers, Gail thought to herself as she got out of bed and adjusted the blanket until it was somewhat tidy-looking.
"Maybe on the weekends we could do some meal prep together, for when we can't be fucked cooking during the week? We could do some baking, too."
"I am a terrible baker, but I am certainly willing to be your sous-chef and/or official taste tester." Gail extended her arms above her head, interlacing her fingers together as she pointed her palms towards the ceiling. Her top rose up, and she could feel cool air on her stomach as she settled into the stretch. She watched Holly eyes roamed her body for a few seconds before shaking her head. Gail held back a laugh. Such a lesbian, she thought to herself.
Holly stepped out into the hallway as Lucy ran past. "Someone is ready for their walk," she commented before disappearing around the corner.
"You can't be serious?" Gail dropped her arms. Did Holly really walk her cat? That was a thing people did?
Holly popped her head back around the door. "Now who looks appalled?" Holly grinned. She kept staring, seemingly lost in thought.
"What? Do I have bad bed hair?" Gail ran her fingers self-consciously through her long locks. They only got caught on one or two knots.
"I was just thinking how nice it is to see your actual face again, sans mask. I missed your smile."
"Same," Gail wanted to say but waited too long as Holly had already disappeared.
"Are you ever going to stop pouting?" Holly placed a container of almond flour on the kitchen counter in front of where Gail was sitting.
"I am not pouting," Gail huffed. "I'm sulking. There's a difference."
Holly rolled her eyes. "Well, stop sulking and come help me."
Gail grudgingly got to her feet and went to stand beside Holly. After their somewhat awkward socially distanced hangouts the past few months, she was still getting used to not having to stand six feet apart.
Holly slid a bag of carrots towards her. "Can you peel and grate four of those, please?"
"Sure," Gail agreed, grumbling "cheater" as she picked up the peeler.
Holly snorted. "Seriously? I beat you fair and square!"
Gail scoffed. "You completely hoodwinked me into believing you'd never played Mario Kart before!"
"I hadn't!" Holly argued. "You said so yourself, I'm a menace behind the wheel of a car, so why is it so hard to believe that I'd be good at it? It's not my fault you got cocky, made a bet and lost." Lucy chose that exact moment to jump up onto the barstool Gail had previously occupied. "Hey, baby," Holly cooed. "Gail will take you for your walk just as soon as we've finished baking this yummy carrot cake."
Gail stopped peeling.
"A bet is a bet." Holly side-eyed her.
"But-"
"No excuses. If you'd won, you definitely would have made me wear your clothes for a week."
Holly wasn't wrong. Gail huffed. "How am I supposed to take her for a walk when she doesn't even like me?"
Holly shook her head. "She warmed to you within, what? 24 hours? I think it's more that you don't like her."
"Look!" Gail pointed at Lucy who had sunk down low, her head barely peaking above the top of the bench. "She's giving me a death glare! She wants to murder me!"
"Calm down, she just wants some carrot." Holly touched the small of Gail's back as she leaned across her to pick up a slither of peel. She dangled it in front of the cat's nose. Lucy took a swipe at it and the peel went flying out of Holly's fingers. Lucy scrambled off the barstool and took off after it.
Gail scrunched up her nose. "What is she going to do with that?"
"Eat it, probably. Or leave it under your pillow as a present."
Gail playfully punched Holly in the arm.
"You really shouldn't punch someone when they're wielding a knife." Holly waved hers around in the air, then went back to chopping some toasted walnuts. "After you grate the carrots, you'll need to pat them dry with some paper towel."
Over the next 10 minutes, Gail continued to follow Holly's instructions to the letter. When she finished lining two cake tins with greaseproof paper, Holly divided the batter between the two before placing them into the pre-heated oven.
"Hey Siri, set timer for 45 minutes," Holly called out.
"Now playing Only Time by Enya," Siri responded.
"Oh, for fuck's sake." Holly moved closer to her HomePod speaker, which lived on top of the fridge. "Hey Siri, set timer for 45 minutes," she asked again, this time making sure to enunciate each word.
"5 minutes, starting now."
"Motherfucker," Holly mumbled as she balled her hands into fists. "Hey Siri, why are you such a little bitch?"
Gail's eyes widened, taken aback.
"Now playing Bitch by Meredith Brooks."
Once Gail's initial surprise wore off, she started laughing, hard.
"Why you piece of-"
"Shit!" Gail quickly reached for Holly who looked like she was about to rip her HomePod apart. She wrapped her arms around Holly's waist from behind, and pinned her arms to her sides, then shuffled their bodies forward until the front of Holly's body was pressed up against the fridge.
"Hey Siri, delete timer," Gail instructed as Holly squirmed in her arms, giggling.
"It's cancelled," Siri replied.
"Hey Siri, set timer for 45 minutes," Gail repeated, and this time Siri understood. Gail wrestled Holly's arms behind her back as "Bitch" continued to play in the background.
Holly eventually tired herself out and stopped struggling. "You're much stronger than you look."
"What I lack in build I make up for in willpower."
"Y'know, I've never been restrained by a cop before," Holly admitted.
"I would hope not. Though, I am tempted to arrest you for attempted murder."
Holly huffed, "Siri has it coming."
"You should probably remain silent before anything you say is used against you."
Holly took a second to think on it, then whispered, "I won't say another word."
"If I let you go are you going to behave?"
Holly shook her head, remaining silent.
"Not really the answer I was looking for." Gail was in the middle of readjusting her grip on Holly's wrists when Holly quickly turned in her arms, catching Gail completely off-guard; such a rookie mistake. She tensed as Holly enveloped her in a hug.
"Sorry, I just…" Holly took a deep breath and nestled her head against Gail's shoulder.
Gail relaxed into Holly arms. "Missed human contact, I know."
"Thanks," Holly all but squeaked. "I really needed this."
"Anytime," Gail whispered, even though this wasn't usually how she communicated, but she was willing to make the exception for Holly, to support Holly.
Holly pulled away first. She cleared her throat and fixed her skewed glasses. "You're going to regret you ever said that."
"Probably." Gail put some distance between them. Six feet to be exact. Her body was tingling all over from the prolonged contact. She felt weird, anxious and excited at the same time.
She wiped the smattering of flour from her t-shirt that had transferred onto her from Holly's dirty apron. "Now what?"
"Well, I'm going to wash up. And you?" Holly disappeared into the the entryway and returned carrying a lead and small harness of some kind. "You're going to take Lucy for that walk."
Gail stamped her foot like a petulant child. "I can't believe you're sending me out there when there is a plague in the city!"
"It's Sunday, everyone is inside, and you only have to go around the block. It will take you all of five minutes."
"But it's…embarrassing." Gail crossed her arms over her chest. "What if I refuse?"
Holly mimicked Gail's stance and stepped into Gail's personal space, trying to intimidate her. Holly was close enough that their elbows were touching. "Then you will endure some very serious, and possibly lasting, consequences."
Gail frowned. "Like?"
"Well, for one thing, no cake for you."
Dammit! While she may not regret telling Holly she could hug her anytime, she did regret ever telling her that she'd do practically anything for food.
Gail completely changed her demeanour and flashed Holly a sickeningly sweet smile. "Lucifer?" she called out. "Come to step mother!"
Gail was enjoying the fresh air, and the fact that the streets were basically deserted, as Holly said they would be. It made Gail's decision to walk a few extra blocks all the more easier.
Lucy had been surprisingly well behaved, especially for a cat who spent all her time indoors running up the walls. As instructed, Gail had let Lucy lead, and they'd barely broken stride in the past fifteen minutes, not even when they'd passed a pet rabbit in a neighbor's front yard.
As they reached the park at the end of Holly's street, Gail let an eager Lucy jump up and walk along the narrow wall enclosing it. It was obvious that this was a part of Lucy and Holly's daily routine.
Gail was in the middle of pulling a treat out of her back pocket when she felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand up. She had an eerie feeling that someone was watching her, and it wasn't the first time either. But when she looked around, she saw nothing, and brushed it off and rewarded Lucy with a treat.
They were turning the final corner towards home when Gail's phone rang. The sound stopped Lucy in her tracks. Gail thumbed the treats in her pocket, praying this wasn't going to turn into some kind of emergency situation. With a watchful eye on Lucy, she took out her phone and accepted a FaceTime call from Traci. "Hey, Trace, what's-"
"Leo! I am. On. The. Phone!" Gail could hear Traci shouting at her 6 year old son but all she could see was Traci's ceiling.
Traci turned the back phone onto herself and shot Gail an apologetic look. "Sorry, 'bout that."
"Everything okay?" Gail took a tentative step forward and breathed a sigh of relief when Lucy did too. They continued slowly along the footpath.
"Just a little disagreement about the lesson plan for tomorrow. It's the first day of homeschooling. I do not envy my mom. She is going to have her work cut out for her, that's for sure."
"It's dumb! I'm not doing it!" Gail heard Leo protest in the background and she bit down a laugh.
Traci rolled her eyes. "You heard it here first, folks! Math is dumb!" She moved the phone closer to her face. "So how are you dealing with an empty nest? Is it glorious?" Traci laughed, sounding a little envious.
"Actually, I'm not alone. I'm staying with Holly." They were four days into lockdown and Gail had only mentioned her new living arrangements to Dov. When Traci didn't respond straight away, Gail clarified. "You know, Dr. Stewart?"
"Your friend from the morgue?"
"Yeah."
"Huh. I didn't realize you two were that close."
Gail shrugged. "She wanted some company during lockdown. And as it turns out, so did I. She's cool, and smart, and weird."
"Hey! Just like you! Minus the cool and smart part."
Gail rolled her eyes. "I walked right into that one."
"So, have you driven her to insanity yet?"
Gail shrugged, not taking offence. "I mean, she hasn't kicked me out on my ass, yet. I have been on my best behaviour, that's for sure."
"And what does that look like exactly?"
"I've probably vacuumed more times in the last two days than I have in my entire life."
Traci laughed.
"I think it's going to take me a while to get used to the different dynamic. She is actually an adult, y'know? Unlike-"
"The two man babies you've been living with?"
Gail snickered. "You took the words right out of my mouth."
"She's friends with you for a reason, right? Just relax and be yourself. No more, no less," Traci advised. "Okay, maybe less."
"Shut up," Gail snorted.
Traci squinted. "Where are you right now? Those are trees."
"Wow! You should be a detective," Gail joked. "I'm out for a walk. Actually, we're nearly home."
"We?"
"Lucifer and I." Gail switched her phone from selfie-mode and pointed it at Lucy.
"Gail, that's a cat."
"You never cease to amaze me with your perceptive insights. Are sure you don't want to be a detective?"
Traci ignored her. "Gail, you're walking a cat!"
"Believe me, I am well aware of what I am doing."
The sound of hysterical laughter carried out of her phone and into the street. "Hey Leo, come look at this. Gail is walking her cat."
"Not my cat," Gail grumbled.
Leo was having none of it. "No! Cats are stupid!"
Gail turned the camera back on herself as she approached Holly's front gate.
Traci's face popped back into view. "Don't 'spose you want a kid? He's free to good home."
"Sorry, but I've got my hands full being a new cat mom."
Traci sighed. "Fair enough. I guess I should probably keep him. For now."
"You got this," Gail offered in support.
"Thanks, Gail. We'll muddle through like always. Anyway, I'll let you get back to your new family. Have a good rest of your Sunday."
"You too," Gail said before hanging up. Lucy lead her towards the front door, eager to get back into the house.
"Honey, we're home," Gail called out once inside, then laughed at herself at how ridiculous she sounded.
"Back here," Holly's voice carried through from the other end of the house.
After freeing Lucy from her harness, Gail scooped her up into her arms and made her way towards the laundry where she found Holly shoving clothes into the dryer.
"So, how'd you go?" Holly turned around, face flushed and out of breath. The back door was wide open and Holly's knees and elbows were covered in dirt.
"It went," Gail eyed her curiously, "fine". Something seemed off. She suddenly twigged. "Did you– were you spying on us?"
"Mmm, no, definitely not," Holly insisted, her cheeks turning a deep shade of red as she avoided making eye contact.
"I knew it! I knew someone was following us! My spidey senses were tingling and– Wait! How did you get home before us?"
Holly glanced at the floor and kicked at some imaginary dirt. "I may have sneaked through Mr. Freeman's backyard and bound the back fence like a gazelle."
"Bound?" Gail pointed at Holly's dirty jeans, not believing her.
"Fine! I scrambled up it and plummeted to the ground like a walrus diving off a cliff."
Gails eyes widened as she flashed back to the end of the David Attenborough documentary they'd watched in horror the other night.
Holly bit her lip. "Too soon?"
"Ya think?" Gail shook her head but there was a hint of a smile on her face. "So why were you spying on us? Do you not trust me with Lucifer?"
"I trust you." Holly stepped towards them and scratched Lucy's ears. "I just didn't trust her."
Gail suspected Holly was still holding something back. "What else aren't you telling me?"
"Nothing! I swear!" Holly backed up into the dryer and fumbled for something under a towel behind her.
Gail placed Lucy on top of the washing machine but continued to stroke her silky white fur. "Lunchbox, you are possibly the worst liar I have ever met. And I'm actually counting the guy I pulled over at a checkpoint yesterday who claimed he doesn't watch the news and had never heard of the coronavirus."
Holly scoffed. "I am not that bad."
"Sure you're not," Gail deadpanned. "So?"
"Okay, don't get mad."
Never a good sign. "What am I not getting mad about?"
Holly pulled the towel off to reveal a camera with a decent sized lens on it.
"Me? Mad? Why I absolutely love having my photo taken without knowing it." Sarcasm dripped from her mouth.
"You should. You're a beautiful subject. You both are."
Gail threw her head back and laughed. "Flattery will get you nowhere." She held out her hand expectantly. "Hand it over."
"No." Holly shook her head in quick rebuttal.
"No? What were you planning to do with those photos anyway?"
"Besides blackmail? Not much." Holly shrugged, then quickly grabbed the camera and ran out into the backyard.
Gail stalked after her like a predator tracking its prey. "Extorting a police officer is a jailable offence."
"Only if you catch me."
"I'm so sorry, Hol." Gail walked back into the bathroom and tentatively pressed an ice pack to Holly's forehead.
Holly patted Gail's hand, and then took hold of the ice pack. "It's not your fault."
"Uh, kinda is."
They'd circled each other in the backyard for a few minutes before Gail had chased Holly back into the house. Unfortunately, when Holly had turned into the kitchen, she'd run straight into the door of an open overhead cupboard.
"What if you have a concussion?"
"I think you're forgetting that I'm a doctor."
"Of dead people!" Gail was spiralling.
"Relax, will you? I don't have a concussion." Holly removed the ice pack and looked in the mirror to survey the damage. "It's nothing, just a little bump. Look, it's not even bleeding."
Gail wasn't convinced. She needed to do a vision test. "How many fingers?" She held up four.
Holly smirked as she looked back at her through the mirror. "I prefer two, sometimes three."
"Oh my god!" Gail mouthed. "You really suck!"
Holly bobbed her head from side to side. "Well…"
"You could be dying! This is not the time for sex jokes!"
"Who's joking?"
Gail huffed and left the bathroom while Holly proceeded to laugh her ass off.
"Mmm," Gail moaned as the sweet and luxurious cream cheese frosting disintegrated on her tongue. "This is so fucking good." She quickly shovelled another spoonful of cake into her mouth and made some rather crude, appreciative noises.
"Is now the time for another sex joke because I have a good one." Holly sidled up next to her on the sofa.
"Shush! Let me enjoy the fruits of my labor."
"Uh, I think you mean our labor?" Holly tucked into her own piece of cake. "I can't believe we're eating cake for dinner. You're a terrible influence."
"Haven't you heard of the saying, 'Get a boo boo, eat some cake'?"
Holly touched her injured forehead. "Can't say that I have. And who coined that, a seven year old?"
"Obviously the smartest person on the planet." Gail was talking about her ten year old self.
They continued eating in companionable silence. When Gail finished, she barely stopped herself from licking her bowl and looked over at Holly. She sighed in contentment. "Lunchbox?"
"Mmm?" Holly mumbled through her last mouthful of cake.
She waited for Holly to look at her. "I'm really glad I'm here."
"I'm really glad you're here too," Holly echoed Gail's sentiment.
Gail looked from Holly's smiling face to the new newly framed photograph of herself walking Lucy. It sat proudly on the shelf above the TV between a bone of some kind and a photograph of Holly's deceased grandmother – Gail hoped those two things weren't related.
When Holly had presented her with the photo that afternoon, she had been mortified at first – the photo was creepy as fuck, and she looked utterly ridiculous walking a cat. But ultimately it was a hilarious, kind of sweet, candid photo of someone who looked happy, and to be honest, Gail hadn't really been feeling that emotion much in the last few months.
Well, except for when she was with Holly. Their friendship was evolving into something special, something rare, and Gail wasn't entirely sure what to make of it.
"Want to play Mario Kart again?" Holly asked.
The question turned Gail's smile upside down. Did she really want to be humiliated again?
"I'll even give you an advantage." Holly removed her glasses.
Gail pinched them from Holly's hand and put them on. Holly's face blurred before her eyes, and the rest of the world with it. She bit her inner lip to contain her smirk. Holly really couldn't see shit. She had this in the bag. "Care to make it interesting?"
Holly looked at her with sly grin and handed her a controller. "Okay," she replied, "but only if we raise the stakes."
"You're on, nerd." It was an answer Gail would ultimately live to regret.