LONDON'S BURNING

The Great Escape

Chapter 3: Falling 4 U

It had taken Frank Mooney a long time to realise that he despised the person he had become. It had taken him so long because he had been trying to hide from it, he knew that now. But now he felt ready to take himself on, that was part of the reason he wanted to confess to the arson of Roebuck's car. Although he was seriously reconsidering that move now. He had realised the consequences it could have.

But maybe, he thought, I deserve them…

He used to have a lot of reasons to change, but like everything else in his life, they had been taken away from him. Like his brother always used to take toys and pocket money away from him, and his father took a lot more than that.

But instead of blaming other people for his problems, Frank decided that now was the time to tackle them head on. He realised he had hardly given a second thought to Sally. She seemed desperate to help him, although he couldn't fathom her reasons why. Even Adam seemed keen to give aid to the lost cause, which unnerved Frank if anything.

He didn't really want their help, he was too proud for that. But he didn't know if he could cope alone. He didn't know if he could trust himself not to hurt someone else, if the price was right. He knew that Sally and Adam knew that too.

Elaine Reeve had been watching her son as he leaned dreamily on the shining wood panelled bar of the Oliver Twist. She felt a sense of pride wash over her when she saw what he had become. She was proud of the way he had grown up over the years and developed into a sensible, mature man. Well, maybe not so mature or sensible at times, still Adam was her son and something she could be proud of.

At the moment though, she knew something was troubling him. She decided to have it out with him, while the pub was quiet. That was something that was troubling her at the moment, still it was only the beginning of the week, trade always picked up by weekend.

"Right, what's wrong?" she demanded. "You look like you've lost a fiver and found a penny! That Frank Mooney isn't getting to you again is he?"

"No, Mum, he's… well he's been acting a bit weird."

"Nothing about that man surprises me," Elaine didn't hide her distrust of Frank Mooney.

"He's not the problem anyway. It's…" Adam sighed. "Women!"

Elaine smiled. "I should have guessed! Who is it this time?"

"Just a friend… well I thought we were friends but… oh I don't know, I don't even think she feels the same."

"Perhaps you should find out?" Elaine suggested helpfully.

"Mmmn," he wondered if she had any idea who he was talking about, even though he refused to give away too much detail. "How?"

"Ask her."

"I can't… I mean I don't… well you know me, I don't do talking!"

"Maybe it's time you tried," Elaine replied, she had a twinkle in her eye that suggested that maybe she had noticed something after all.

However, Adam decided not to pursue it, but he knew his mum was right. He had to find out one way or another, this not knowing was driving him mad.

As much as he had enjoyed the attention his heroic actions had brought him, Craig Ross was glad that things had finally calmed down. He was also glad that he finally had the respect of his colleagues in Blue Watch, with the exception of Frank Mooney, but he didn't seem to have respect for anyone at the moment, least of all himself.

Craig's father, Divisional Officer Dexter Ross, was the only person left who loved to remind everyone that he had an award-winning son. It seemed to be the chance the D.O. had been waiting for ever since Craig had been born. Craig didn't know if it was just because the D.O. was proud or because of his liking for showing off, or both.

He knew how much his father liked to show off, especially to the neighbours, the milkman, the postman, his colleagues, and just about anyone he came into contact with. Even Blue Watch's boss Mick Callaghan. Craig had overheard a recent conversation between the two officers.

"I know I told you not to give the lad any special treatment…"

"And he hasn't been getting any, sir."

"But the lad has just performed an extreme act of bravery."

"I am aware of that, sir."

"And I am proud to call him my son."

"And I'm proud that he's part of the Watch," Mick had replied. "And I like to think that he is treated the same as the rest of Blue Watch. Surely you don't have a problem with that?"

"No, no of course not!" Ross could see that his hints were not being taken. "And I wouldn't expect anything else of you Station Officer Callaghan."

"Thank you sir."

Craig could have died of embarrassment at that point. How dare his father ask Mick for special privileges! Especially after pointing out the exact opposite to Craig on his first day at Blackwall.

"You won't be getting any special treatment, you know that don't you son?"

"Yes, Dad, I don't want any!"

"Good, that's my boy."

Craig often wondered what his father's agenda was. Being the only boy in a family of five did have its downside. He felt he constantly had to prove himself to his demanding father, who seemed to keep moving the goal posts. One minute he was being really strict about things, the next he was looking for favours to give Craig a helping hand.

However, Craig had decided that he didn't need to live in his father's shadow anymore. Where had D.O. Ross been that day on the roof? Tucked up in the lush surroundings of his office no doubt, with the only threat to his life being the very low probability that a wild animal would break in and attack him. To which the D.O. would probably respond by yelling at the animal so sternly that it ended up cowering in a corner.

Craig knew that it was time to stand up to his father, although he wasn't too sure about what he was going to say.

There were times when Sally Fields wondered if she could really change Frank. It was true that he had showed another side to him when she told him about the baby, a more caring side, she liked that. But she knew she couldn't trust him any more than he could trust himself.

She had put her trust in too many men, who had let her down one way or another. Her father, Joe, Sean, and now Frank, to name but a few. Even her best friend Rob had left her in the lurch when he announced that he was selling his flat so that he could afford to live in the luxury surroundings of Hampstead Heath (he had joked that he was never going to actually set foot on the Heath, he just liked the scenery!).

Her head was telling her to get out, move on, but something was keeping her at Blackwall, making her stay. At the moment though, her mind had been distracted by her mobile phone and yet another cryptic message from Adam, who, she decided, was probably lounging around somewhere, drunk.

They had started off friendly:

"Hey, how r u? I got a txt from Rob yesterday, did u?"

To which she replied:

"Yeah, I'm glad he's decided to settle down at last!"

After the ice breaking niceties, the messages became a little flirtier in their nature. Adam told her that he wished he could find a girl to settle down with, she told him that he hadn't been looking in the right places!

"Like where?" he wanted to know.

"Try wine bars instead of clubs."

"And what sort of girls go in wine bars?!"

"I do."

There was a pause in his reply then. It occurred to her that he was probably wondering how to take that. It was then that she thought he had been drinking, because his reply was:

"So u think I should go out with sum1 like u then?"

She carefully considered what her reply would be. Did she think that? But she didn't need to press the Reply button because her mobile received another text. She pressed 'read'.

"You're too good for Frank Mooney, you know that don't you?"

She had a strong urge to ask him how much he had been drinking! Yet she found this method of flirting both exciting and intriguing. She wondered if it was the sort of thing Frank would be into. Although, Frank's bedroom preferences were a little out of the ordinary already!

She wasn't going out with Frank because she didn't trust him. He said he wanted to change, but she wondered if she really believed that. She wanted him to change, but she knew she had been kidding herself. Frank Mooney had been going down the wrong track for too long to be able to find his way back to the crossroads again.

Frank hadn't flirted with her for a long time. The pregnancy had suddenly made things serious; she wasn't ready for that, even if Frank felt he was. She didn't trust him, and she knew there would never be a basis for a serious relationship.

The 'beep-beep' of her mobile set her mind soaring back to Adam's crazy text messaging. She smiled to herself. It was a great feeling to be able to do that after such a long period of misery. Adam acted the clown most of the time, and she never considered him to be serious about anything.

"So where r these wine barz?"

"Do you even know what a wine bar is?"

"Um no, I can't say I do, maybe you could show me?"

It was then she realised how serious he was being. She wondered if he would remember it with the hangover he would have tomorrow.

Blue Watch rolled up for their day duty as usual. Adam looked as though it had taken him all the effort he could muster to pull himself out of bed and drag himself across the road to work that morning. Geoff Pearce clocked him immediately.

"I do hope you're in a fit state for duty, Firefighter Benjamin?!"

"Yes Geoff."

"Sub Officer," Pearce corrected him pompously. "And don't you forget it!"

"No Geoff, um I mean Sub!" Adam managed a cheeky grin.

Pearce wasn't impressed but moved off to pick on Sally, who had just rolled into the station yard.

"Ten minutes to role call, Firefighter Fields."

"Yes Sub," Sally muttered wearily, she risked a quick glance at Adam as she walked past him into the station.

Adam felt a slight wave of embarrassment wash over him. He wondered what her reaction would be to the aftermath of his text messaging. He was also annoyed with himself that he had to have a few drinks before plucking up the courage to ask her out! But this morning, she blanked him, and he was sure that was not a good sign.

He followed her up the stairs as Charlie Mead bounded up to him, grinning from ear to ear around his shining billiard ball head.

"Guess what?!"

"You've won the lottery?"

"Better than that! I got a date with Lisa!"

"Bully for you," Adam wasn't interested in Charlie's love life.

"I mean a proper date!" Charlie ignored his colleague's lack of enthusiasm. "I knew she was more interested in the mature man!"

"Mature man?" Sally echoed on hearing the conversation as it drifted into the locker room with her. "I don't see one of those around here!"

Adam felt she was looking straight at him, but neither of them were going to do or say anything with Charlie in the room.

Frank Mooney was next to arrive, grunting his usual 'uh' that constituted 'morning' to anyone who bothered to acknowledge him. He didn't stay long in the locker room, leaving Adam and Sally alone. Adam wondered if she was going to say anything, but she followed Frank out of the door.

"Frank, wait…"

Adam felt slightly annoyed by that, surely she didn't still fancy Frank Mooney?

London's Burning – Falling For You © Karen Moody 24/11/2003