A Shed Home

"So, what do you think?" Neville asked with anticipation. Standing in the living room/bedroom of the shack - which is what everyone liked to call it.

Jane looked around to try to find the words to describe this... shed. "Well... er... it's um... very..." She trailed off, noticing something large. "Is that a tree? Inside of the house?" now pointing at the unexpected tree quite dramatically. She was shocked, an actual tree appeared to be sprouting upwards through the roof.

"Yes, well, I was equally as shocked as you when I first moved in." He replied, almost facepalming himself, remembering when he first spotted the tree himself. "You'll get used to it eventually." He teased.

"Right... well, I guess I should unpack my stuff." She continued, trying to find the direction of where she would be sleeping. "Do I have a room? Don't tell me I'm going to sleep on the floor or something like that."

"No, no! Don't worry, I'll take you to your room." He said, now walking towards the veranda. "The previous Inspector - or rather - your boss, turned this storage area into a spare room."

"Oh right, I had no idea DI Mooney was a DIY guy." She admitted, liking that she knew something new about her boss.

"Well, us Inspectors always have tricks up our sleeves." He laughed. Neville was holding Jane's luggage in his hands, as he figured Jane had had a long day. The air travel itself was 11 hours with two planes, not to mention the horrifying business that is built up before that, such as going through security and dealing with the public. He tried not to shudder at the thought. "Here, this is your room." He announced, placing the suitcases in the tiny room. "I wish I could have had time to tidy it up a bit beforehand."

Jane could really tell this used to be a storage room, the place consisted of a less-than-secure door, opening to the single bed shoved against the wall. There was a large window at the side of the bed, letting in the warm breeze, causing the unmade bed to move a little. "It's cosy, I like it!" She remarked, which was only a half-lie, thinking that this might feel quite claustrophobic, but was still trying to stay positive.

Neville smiled. "I'll get the pillows and bedsheets for you then." He said, walking out of the room.

"Thank you!" Jane called out, making sure he could hear her, to show her appreciation. She sat on the bed, taking it all in while waiting for the sheets. She could hardly believe it, there she was, on an island, thousands away from her home. It was so out of character for her, she was used to shying away in her flat, sitting on her sofa and drinking a cup of her favourite tea. Suddenly, Jane was home-sick, her memories of being comfortable were too far away from her. The adrenaline of landing in a new place had worn off and it started to become overwhelming. As her thoughts became like her usual ones - worries started to enter her mind at the speed of light.

Jane panicked.

She started to shake, and as waves of anxiety haunted her, it became too real. She tried to keep it together, noting that her boss could be back at any moment, but the tears had already started to form. Finding a way to distract herself, she started unpacking her suitcase. T-shirts and trousers flew out of her bag into the dresser, socks too. She whipped her toothbrush and toothpaste onto the top of the dresser, to remind her to put them into the bathroom for later, books were stacked on top of each other, her laptop laid carefully next to them. During her frantic movements, a green blob landed on her arm. Jane paused, as her thoughts caught up to her.

Neville was just finishing picking out the bedsheets for Jane, but dropped them on the ground as he heard a blood-curdling scream. Shaken to his core, thinking someone had just possibly died, he ran to Jane's new chamber. "Jane? Are you alright?" He howled while bursting into the room.

"I was unpacking my bags and-" taking a big breath in, "There was a bloody lizard that fell on my arm!" She cried out, unable to see through her tears, from her previous situation.

"Ah... that must have been Harry." He confessed, trying not to be distracted by how teary she was. "He's kind of my lodger." He awkwardly added, trying to lighten the mood.

"Harry? Lodger?" She shrieked, still a bit frantic.

"Are you okay? You're crying..." He said, trying to be gentle. "I know it was a bit of a shock, but I'm suspecting you might have been a bit teary beforehand." He deduced.

Shit. She was hoping she could blame it on that damn lizard, but the Inspector had caught her red-handed. "I'm a bit overwhelmed, to say the least, sir." She finally confessed.

Neville stood there, listening to her and nodding, letting her continue.

"It's this island, I feel so out of my comfort zone here. I'm finding it hard to grasp." She admitted, wiping the tear out of her eye. "I've never even been out of London before, everything is just so... different." She hesitated, wondering if it was best to go on, but decided to continue. "And then the commissioner said I was going to live with my boss for a few weeks, It all getting too much, to be honest." Jane looked down, finding it hard to make eye contact with Neville and frowned. She realised she had been talking about personal matters with her temporary boss. "I'm sorry... you don't need to hear about that, especially in your own house. I ranted a bit there."

"Look, I want to show you something." Neville said, to break the silence. He turned out of the room and hurried to his bedroom.

Jane, stood there confused, unsure of what was about to happen.

Neville finally came back into the room with something in his hand. "Here," He said, showing the container to Jane. "I bet you know what this is."

Jane looked at it, then looked back at Neville. She was shocked, unable to say any words. Jane quickly fumbled around in her bag, trying to find a familiar bottle. "Yes." She finally said. "Yes, I do." She held it in front of her, matching next to Neville's. They were both anxiety pills.

They both stood there, next to each other, holding their bottles. Jane finally felt at peace, the duo smiling.

They understood each other a lot better now.