Oh, what a help this would have been to him a few years ago. What a help this would have been for most of his life, in fact, though perhaps it would have meant life wouldn't have led him here. And he was quite enjoying the here.

A sigh, of the happy sort, left Dennis Merton's lips as he leaned back in his chair.

…

"Something is going on if you ask me." Phil offered quietly, eyes on the open office door.

"Well whatever it is, don't upset it for pity's sake. I need time off to help Mrs Ventress' sister move house." Alf offered as he picked the shell from his third boiled egg of the day. "Actually-" He looked up with a smile. "I could do with some help on the day if-"

"No chance, Alf." Phil replied, focusing on his paperwork.

"…Mike?" Alf asked hopefully.

"Sorry, Alf. I've got plans." Mike smiled apologetically.

"I haven't told you when yet!" Alf protested.

"Have you finished planning your social life, Ventress?" A voice suddenly came from the corridor. "Or perhaps we could put your plans in the official diary so we can all remember them in future."

Alf's face lit up. "Oh, that would be nice, Sarge!"

"I'll get right on it!" Dennis replied as he walked from the building with his jacket over his arm.

Alf smiled down at his eggs and continued peeling for a few moments before he frowned. "We don't have an official diary."

Mike and Phil shared a grin.

…

Dennis looked at the door to the surgery and then in the mirror, smiling at himself. He must be going soft in his old age to be doing this in the middle of the day.

Pushing himself from the car, the Sergeant walked towards the surgery and opened the door, holding it open for a patient who was leaving before he entered. He was surprised but happy to see the waiting room was now empty.

Biting back a smile, he studied the back of a blonde woman with perfectly coiffed hair before clearing his throat. The hair swished as the woman turned.

"Sergeant! To what do I owe the pleasure?" Jenny smiled.

"I ah..I have a bit of a conundrum, and as I recall you are the woman to come to." Dennis smiled back, the corners of his eyes crinkling.

"Oh, well fire away. You have my full attention." Jenny leaned her elbows on the counter.

"Well, I have an officer with a problem, and I thought if I told you about it, you might be able to recommend something for him, only none of the other officers can find out about it, or that I came here to discuss it." Dennis toyed with the corner of a magazine.

"I'm intrigued." Jenny straightened her back.

"Well, you see, this officer was always in a bad mood. Always. And he often kept his door shut so he didn't have to listen to the prattle going on which annoyed him even further, but then something happened, he found some way to relax. Now, however, people keep leaving his door open, thinking he's happy and relaxed and won't mind, which means he's forced to listen to prattle all day."

"Oh, the poor man." Jenny said sympathetically.

"Aye. And he's concerned he might become grumpy again."

"Well, we can't have that. Thankfully, I happen to have just the thing."

….

Dennis smiled and held the door open for the next patient, then strolled down the path whistling to himself. What a help this new way of relaxing was proving to be.

"Sergeant!" Came a call behind him. When he turned, Jenny smiled. "I suppose this officer could also get up and close his own door."

"Aye, he could. but where would be the fun in that?" He asked as she wiped the smear of her lip colour from his smiling lips.