When Buckell's had told the team that if they wanted the swanky new coffee vending machine for the office they'd have to find a way to fund it, Jo definitely didn't expect it to come down to this. It was 8pm on Friday night and the function room of Fredrico's was filled with familiar faces from The Hill, chatter and laughing commencing as Buckell's took to the stage and tapped obnoxiously on the microphone 3 times.
"Ladies and Gents may I have your attention please" he commenced with his dull tone, gaining the attention of quite literally nobody. "LADIES AND GENTS! The auction will be commencing in just a few moments. Do we have any volunteers for somebody to go first?".
Jo groaned and she heard Lomax chuckle next to her. She shot him a look that perfectly projected the 'don't you bloody think about it' she was thinking in her head and he was soon silenced. Somebody over the far end of the room volunteered after a few moments and the event was in full swing. The auction wasn't the only thing going on that night, with different members of the team taking a lead on different activities. Lomax, of course, had opted for running a kissing booth in the corner and Jo was certain a few of the younger members of the team had been back more than once. Farida had done some baking that was being sold somewhere in the room and in typical Kate fashion, she had opted for a penalty shootout in the carpark which had been a huge success so far. Jo herself had done the decorating and arranged the location, hoping it would keep the rest of the team off of her case for the evening. This was not her idea of fun.
The first victim of the auction had raised a respectable £32 thanks to the generosity of one of the receptionists in the room. Jo couldn't hold back the snort of laughter as the poor man was greeted with a drunken sloppy kiss on the cheek as he exited the stage. She watched the interaction for a few moments longer then felt suddenly self conscious. Realising the eyes of the room were suddenly on her, and hearing Buckell's say "come on DCI Davidson you can't let your team have all the fun" Jo stared down in to her wine glass and squeezed her eyes shut. This could not be happening. She felt a familiar figure stood behind her and could see the shit eating grin without even having to turn around and look at it.
"Shut up Kate." She brushed past the sniggering woman and feigned a confidence as she made her way towards the stage. If looks could kill, Buckell's would be a pile of limbs on the floor by now and the slight recognition of that fact behind his eyes was enough to make her smirk slightly as she made to stand next to him. Taking another glance over to the bar she saw Kate, now stood arm to arm with Chris, still laughing away to herself at Jo's misfortune.
"Good people of the room here we have your beloved DCI! Measuring in at 5 foot nothing-" Jo elbowed him straight in the ribs, "alright alright, 5ft 1 maybe, DCI Davidson is quite the catch. Any takers? Who's going to make the first bid?". In that moment Jo would happily let a stray bullet take her out. This was so embarrassing on so many levels and everybody was staring. She felt her cheeks grow red and it had only been half a heartbeat since Buckell's finished his little speech.
Looking at the only people in the room she felt even remotely comfortable to, Jo's eyes widened in silent warning. Kate stood smirking as Lomax reached in to his pocket. "Put me down for a fiver sir! I'm sure I could stretch to taking the lady out to the local kebab house!" Lomax winked in her direction and the blush settled in deeper. Then she groaned. There was every bloody possibility she would have to go on a fake date with a MAN after this. Jo shot daggers in the general direction of the bar and Chris's smug smile was the reassurance she needed that they reached their intended target. Kate gave her a pitiful smile but there was still a teasing in her eyes.
"£15!" Tim from forensics called out from just in front of the stage. Jo hoped she had managed to surpress her grimace as she realised who it was. The £15 was followed by a £20 from Chris, a bid of £25 from the bar from a man who's name Jo failed to remember and then a bid of £35 from Tim. Just when she thought her night couldn't get any more complicated, she heard a female voice bid £50. Fucking Farida.
Jo wasn't ashamed of being a lesbian, not by a long shot, but did she want it making the rounds at work? No. Institutionalised homophobia was still a thing and she had worked bloody hard to get to where she was. Farida knew she wasn't out. Farida knew what her privacy meant to her. Farida was a fucking psycho who Jo was glad to be rid of. She knew she was overthinking, and she knew they could play it off as just a friend trying to save a friend but the thought still made her seethe. What she wasn't expecting was the next voice to pipe up to also be female.
Kate Fleming.
The two of them had struck up an unlikely friendship right from Katie's very first day. Jo liked the way Kate didn't try to kiss arse or make anybody like her, she was just so unapologetically herself. She knew Kate liked her too, and liked how she had trusted her to do the job without any baby sitting. Mutual respect led to pleasant conversation which extended to shared coffees and more recently drinks in this very bar. Jo couldn't pinpoint to you exactly which was the part where she developed THOSE feelings but she imagined it was somewhere around the time that Kate left her coffee order on her doorstep on the day she'd had to call in sick. Then again, maybe it was when her car had broken down at an ungodly hour in The Hill car park and on a whim Jo had checked to see if Kate was online. She knew she was in love when Kate's car pulled in to the carpark, she opened the door and Kate was still in her pyjamas, bleary eyed but offering a smile. Whilst she had no hopes pinned on Kate ever feeling the same, she knew they had a friendship that rivalled any other she had ever experienced in her lifetime. She still wasn't expecting the confident declaration of a £60 bid or the look of pure disgust she was giving Farida.
Jo had never openly told Kate that she was gay, nor had she told her about Farida but now more than ever Jo was sure that Kate had at least some of it all figured out. She was partly relieved, it was one less awkward conversation she hoped she wouldn't have to have. She mouthed a thank you to her friend, and the nod she got in return was enough to make her heart soar.
Farida had countered with a bid of £70 and Kate fought back without a moments hesitation; the rest of the room shocked in to silence. They bartered back and forth until Kate bid £100 and Farida took a seat and admitted defeat. The room erupted in relieved cheers when Buckell's did his best auctioneer impression declaring Kate the winner. Jo kept her eyes trained to her feet as she headed back towards the bar trying to ignore the cheeky remarks being throw her way.
"Well well well, what a turn of events tonight has been!" Chris smirked before taking a swig of his beer. Jo dared to look up at their faces, first clocking Chris's shit eating grin and knowing eyes then sneaking a glance over to her 'Knight in shining armour'. Their eyes locked, and Kate blushed.
"Sorry if I was out of line there boss, you just didn't look too pleased when Farida started her bidding" Kate stuttered over her words which made Chris laugh even harder than he had been before. Kate tried to shut him up to no avail. "Lomax pack it in mate" she tried again.
Jo looked between the two confused, her pondering puppy expression making Chris laugh all the harder. She maintained his gaze, waiting for some punchline to the joke he was obviously finding so funny. "It's nothing bad Boss, promise. Just hilarious that you two have been pining after eachother for months and it's taken an auction and the green eyed monster to confront it!"
The red glow from both Kate and Jo's cheeks could have lit the entire room. Neither acknowledged the auction win until closing time when Buckell's came round to collect everybody's payments.
"Cough up then Fleming! A ton wasn't it?" He held a white envelope out in front of him, already overflowing with notes. Kate reached in to her bag that was slung over the bar stool and pulled out her wallet. As she pulled out the 5 purple notes from her purse, Jo put a hand over hers to stop her.
"Let me pay half Kate? You were just doing me a favour after all." Jo's words were shy but honest and it made Kate stop in her tracks. She studied her Boss's face intently, weighing up how best to approach the conversation. She would be lying if she said that the 4 glasses of wine weren't contributing to her bravery.
"Boss I wasn't doing you a favour, I was doing myself a favour. I've been wanting to ask you out for months!" She stuffed the money in to the envelope and sent Buckell's on his way. Chris had already taken the hint and moved away from the bar. Jo was still blushing profusely, but her hand remained on Kate's as she spoke.
Jo had to remind herself to breathe and speak instead of just staring at Kate with heart shaped eyes. "Kate you only had to ask, now look at all the money you've spent. Oh and drop the boss, I can't go on a date with you if you're calling me boss". That made the younger woman chuckle as she interlaced their fingers.
The room emptied out around them as they drained the rest of their glasses. Chris bid them goodnight with a kiss on Kate's cheek and a wink in Jo's direction. It was only a few minutes later when they stumbled out in to the street, Jo swapping her grip on Kate's hand to loop their arms together. They walked in relative silence but basked in eachothers company and in Kate's opinion the doors to Jo's apartment block appeared too soon. Neither was sure who initiated the kiss goodbye but it was soft and chaste and everything they needed it to be.
"I still can't believe you've paid £100 to take me out!" Jo chuckled, arms still looped around Kate's neck from the kiss they had just shared. Kate let out a quiet laugh, leaned back in and captured Jo's lips between hers again. Pulling back and finally releasing their hold on eachother Kate shot Jo a wink.
"Worth every penny Boss! Pick you up at 7 tomorrow?"
and the date was set.