Disclaimer: I was in the midst of claiming them, when a smack blew across my head and reminded me that, in fact, I should be doing the opposite. So there. Bite me – or don't.
Author's Notes: This was started about a month ago, and I forgot to upload it here before Alex's first episode this week! (My bad) It was written as mere playing around, not meant to be any sort of prediction as to how he would be written into the series, and what his character would be like. So please refrain yourself from comparing it too much to the real thing!
All feedback and constructive criticism (which, you may not know, is also most welcome and fed upon) can be promptly sent, where it will find a good home. Yummo.
Summary: Just when the time finally feels right, Susie and Jonesy are jerked by a new arrival... who rocks the boat just that little bit more.
Dangerous Assumptions
He looked down at her, her sapphire-blue eyes glittering like jewels in the bright midday sun, as three words rolled to the tip of his tongue, about to be spoken. She looked back at him, waiting expectantly for him to utter the three words that rang through her mind. She thought of how handsome he was, and just how perfect they were together...
"Hmmph." Susie slammed the book shut with a resounding snap of its pages. She tossed the novel carelessly onto the ground, roughly aiming for her bag, but not really caring whether it landed there or not.
Rubbish, she thought to herself as she stretched her legs out in front of her, and sat back in her chair. Complete and utter rubbish. Things like that never happened in real life, so why was she wasting her time reading it?
Despite the sand feeling pleasantly warm between her toes, the low-sitting plastic folding chair was beginning to cause her back to ache, and she could feel the sun's rays starting to creep up under her skin. Ignoring this, if only just for a moment, she sat back and looked out at the water spreading out in front of her. The rest of the stretching sand was otherwise deserted, and she was impressed with herself for discovering such a secluded find. No litter, no dogs, no screaming kids, no stray beach balls... just complete, natural beauty.
Yet in spite of all this, there was a part of her that was separate from the rest. The new, although not completely unfamiliar, backdrop of the beach was beginning to bring back memories of her childhood. Summers when her family had gathered and taken the trip down to Lorne or Apollo Bay, and all they had seemed to do was spend every day on the sand or in the water. Even when she and her brothers had grown older and led more independent lives, Susie recalled them all coming back home for their annual trip, until they began to marry others and move across Melbourne – or in her case, Victoria.
The beach hardly seemed like an option in Mount Thomas, however. So when some obligatory days of leave had cropped up, Susie had jumped at the chance to take a drive – a holiday that was by no means similar to the ones she used to have, but some sort of loose resemblance, and more importantly, time for herself – something she didn't seem to have much of when she lived in a country town.
Her destination was not clear in her mind, although she knew, logically, that if she drove east, she would eventually hit the shoreline. Even now, she wasn't certain of where she was. Rough estimate, perhaps, but nowhere near accurately orientated. But that was deliberate, and she planned to keep it that way. Then when the time came, she would drive back to the country town she now called home, her holiday destination lost.
For now, however, she was content to just relax and do nothing in particular. Except to read material that was completely unoriginal, not to mention unrealistic. Warm and fuzzy tales of love that always finished – predictably – with a happy ending. Susie screwed up her nose in disgust; she didn't even know how she had got the book. She had snatched it from a shelf as she left her room at the Imperial, hardly knowing what it was. She vaguely recalled an old girlfriend having given it to her, back in her days at the academy. Figured.
Well and truly feeling the effects of sunburn by now, Susie sighed and stood up from the chair, folding it up and tucking it under one arm, while gathering her things into her bag with the other.
She set off, back towards her parked car. The sun was starting to darken to an orangey-red around the edges, casting the long shadows of trees over the sand. The steering wheel would probably burn her hands upon contact.
Once back on the road, she headed towards the small motel room she had spontaneously booked upon arriving at the coast. Tempted to get something for dinner but not really hungry, Susie resisted the temptation and continued driving.
Involuntarily, she glanced to her left, where she had dumped her bag on the passenger seat beside her. The book lay open... damn, she had now lost her page. Not that it mattered, she quickly reminded herself, because she wasn't going to read crap like that. She wasn't sure what was worse: soppy books or soppy movies?
If only real life were like the characters' lives. Simple, uncomplicated... the characters thought their lives were complicated, but deep down, it was really quite simple. And then, of course, they would either find, or rediscover, their true love and live happily ever after. Susie was never the type of girl who dreamed of a picket-fence life, but suddenly there was something endearing about it at times. Even if she could have it for just one day – one day where she could leave the crime, the injustice, cranky bosses, a colleague who was so hard to get through...
Hell, where had that one come from?
As much as she didn't want to admit it, it was true. Since Christmas, Evan had just been... she wasn't sure. Distant, flirty, serious, thought-provoking, and as normal as anything. Susie couldn't pinpoint it, as much as she wanted to. Their work ran as smoothly as ever, with glitches that barely bumped the surface. No one knew, except for themselves. And sometimes she wasn't even sure that he knew it too.
For a month now – a long, confusing month – she had been furiously trying to decide whether she should bring it up. 'It' being Christmas, when she had thought she had finally won Evan's heart back again. Despite that, nothing had come from it, yet the debate still ran through her mind. To talk about it, to ignore it. Talk, ignore. Talk? Or ignore?
Perhaps she wouldn't need to decide. He could've met someone while she was away on holiday. Wouldn't surprise her, really. Then her answer would be in front of her, and she wouldn't have to worry about it anymore.
Her heart started beating faster. She couldn't lie to herself: the problem would be gone, but only temporarily, and she would just worry about it more. If only for the sake of herself, she had to do something.
Just so he would know. Then the ball would be in his court.
With that, she pulled up to the motel.
The buzzer rang shrilly through the Mount Thomas Police station, causing most in the main office to look up, wonderingly.
"Kelly, could you please get that," Mark told her, and the probationary constable obligingly stood and headed for the foyer.
"Constable O'Rourke, can I help you?" she asked, catching sight of a fairly tall, dark-haired man waiting behind the front counter.
"I certainly hope so," he replied, flashing a smile. "Senior Constable Alex Kirby. I'm told I'm meant to be starting here today." He held up his police identification.
"You are?" Kelly automatically responded, obviously surprised, then regained some dignity. "I'll just take you through to the boss," she added hastily, letting him through the door.
"I take it you weren't expecting me," he continued casually as he followed her through the station.
Kelly hesitated, unsure of what to answer. If this guy was here to stay, she didn't want his first impression of her to be some dumb rookie who didn't know anything. "The boss often keeps things to himself," she simply said.
"I see." The man didn't seem worried.
As soon as they stepped through the door, Mark looked up. "Sergeant Jacobs, is there something I can help you with?"
"Yeah," Alex took out his ID once more. "Senior Constable Alex Kirby; I've been posted here."
"Oh, you're here already?" Mark looked mildly surprised. "I thought you weren't coming until next Thursday."
"That's not what I've been told," Alex shrugged, unfazed. "I hope this isn't a bad time."
"No, no, not at all," Mark replied. "Look, we'll get you a desk – Peroni, instead of stuffing your face with morning tea, why don't you move that desk from the corner over to this side and -"
Evan emerged from the mess room, unaware of the new arrival as he carried out his coffee.
"Jonesy?" For the first time, Alex showed an expression of mild shock.
Evan turned. "Lex? What're you doing here?"
"Should be asking you the same question!" The senior constable strode forward, his hand outstretched. Shaking it roughly, he added, "I'm here as the new senior constable... I had no idea you were posted in Mount Thomas!"
"Yeah, 'bout four years now," Evan answered matter-of-factly. "How the hell are ya?"
"Yeah, good – climbing the ladder, dodging bullets, the usual... Claudia's just been promoted to Sydney."
"Hey, good on her," Evan grinned. "So, you're here to stay, eh?"
"S'long as you want me here," Alex grinned back.
Meanwhile, the rest of the officers were watching and listening to the exchange; some amused, and some curious. "I take it that you've already met," Mark cut in dryly.
"Lex and I were at the academy together," Evan explained. "Everyone, Alex Kirby. Constables Kelly O'Rourke and Joss Peroni -" he pointed them out, Kelly now smiling, "Detectives PJ Hasham and Amy Fox in their office over there, Sergeant Jacobs you've met, and Senior Sergeant Tom Croyden in his office."
There were murmurs of greeting and exchanged smiles. Silence.
"Oh, and Constable Susie Raynor, but she's on leave for a few days," Evan added offhandedly, as though he had just remembered.
"Ah, Susie – the one you were telling me about?" Alex smirked, as everyone else snorted and looked away. Evan looked decidedly awkward.
"Yeah, righto," he muttered.
Mark decided that was his cue to overstep the constable. "Look, I'll assign you a locker where you can put your things, and – Peroni," he snapped, "I thought I asked you to move the desk?"
"Just about to do that, Sarge," Joss replied cheerfully, his disposition nowadays immune to any reprimands he received.
Tom strutted out from his office. "I take it you're Senior Constable Alex Kirby?" he asked bluntly, raising a cool eyebrow.
"That I am, Senior Sergeant," Alex replied, looking as though he had seen more than one or two tough superiors in his time.
"I expect Sergeant Jacobs will get you sorted. Your old sergeant gave high praise for your work; I hope you can prove that same sort of diligence and loyalty to me." Abruptly, Tom turned on his heel and walked back into his office, slamming the door behind him.
"Don't mind the boss," Evan said in a low tone, "He's had a hard year, but he's slowly becoming his old self again. Just don't let anything he says to you pull you down."
"No problem." Alex seemed untroubled by this. "You people got coffee around here?"
"Follow me," Mark said swiftly, leading him towards the mess room.
Two days later...
Susie smiled as she caught sight of the sign: 'Welcome to Mount Thomas'. She was finally home – and she was so proud to be able to call it that. For months, almost a year, since she had arrived at the country town, she had almost subconsciously refused to call it home, in any shape or form. Home was with her family, not here, she had previously thought. Mount Thomas seemed like just another stepping stone of her life.
Then one day, suddenly, she found herself calling it home. And she hadn't looked back since.
She checked her watch: she was on duty in just over two hours. Originally, she had planned to return the day before, giving her a night to relax, but once there, disagreed with that idea and instantly abandoned it.
After greeting Chris and somewhat haphazardly unpacking, she changed into her uniform and inspected herself in the mirror. She cursed the sun and her skin that seemed to burn much too easily for her liking, but realising there was nothing she could do about it now.
She arrived at the station ten minutes early, planning to tell a few stories of her holiday, and in return, catch up on the gossip from Amy, who never missed an eyelash of what went on in the station.
"Suse!" PJ exclaimed upon seeing her, as he slotted a folder into a filing cabinet. "How was the holiday?"
"Great," she said, threading enthusiasm into her voice. "Really good."
"Good to have you back," Mark put in from his desk.
"Thanks," she said lightly, making her way towards the mess room to put away her things.
Opening her locker door, she breathed in deeply, almost bracing herself against something. What, she didn't know. A pang of near-nervousness hit her stomach. Without another moment to wonder what that was about, the mess room door banged open again.
"Hey, Suse."
She froze, now knowing why she was feeling the way she was. She was surprised: she never usually became uneasy around other people, no matter what they had been through.
But it was inevitable to see him again. And that realisation made her wish that she hadn't decided to tell him what was on her mind. She wanted to take it all back from herself; pretend she hadn't ever thought about it while she was on holiday. But she couldn't.
"Hey," she replied, turning to face him.
"How was the holiday?"
"Really good, I had a great time," she nodded. Evan smiled crookedly, causing her to frown. "What?"
"Been out in the sun, much?"
She held out her arms, looking at them and then sheepishly shrugged. "I guess so." Musingly, she pressed a finger on her forearm, watching it turn white, and then a second later, fade back to a burnt-looking tan. "I didn't think I burnt that easily."
"You got it on your nose," he grinned.
Susie groaned. "Like you've never been burnt before." When he didn't reply, she continued on another tangent. "How has Mount Thomas been without me?"
"Well, it hasn't completely self-destructed," Evan replied placidly. "In fact, it's been pretty quiet. However, we've got a new senior constable."
"We have?" Susie hadn't seen anyone new when she had come in.
"Yeah, Alex Kirby. He's a mate of mine from the Academy. I'm sure you'll like him."
"I'm sure I will. Look, Jonesy," Susie began, knowing that it was now or never, "I was thinking that we -" The door banged open again, revealing the detectives standing in the doorway.
"Susie, sorry to put you back at work so soon, but we've got a search warrant for Charleston's house. Can you please come with Amy and myself," PJ said, oblivious to his interruption. "Jonesy, Mark has requested that you and Joss head back down to Mrs Edgecombe's and search again for her gnomes."
"Again?" Evan exclaimed. "PJ, we've checked twice already!"
"I know, but Mrs Edgecombe's not convinced. Mate, I'd just do it," PJ added wisely. He stopped, suddenly aware of having disrupted a conversation. "Sorry, did I interrupt anything?"
"No, no," Susie quickly reassured. "We were just discussing my holiday."
"Right." PJ and Amy ducked back out to the main office, leaving the constables alone again.
"What were you saying?" Evan asked as soon as they had gone.
"I forgot," Susie muttered, suddenly having no idea of what she doing. "It probably didn't matter."
"Righto," he shrugged, gesturing outside. "Coming?"
"Yeah, I'll be out in a minute." He left her by her locker, off to find Joss.
It didn't matter, she repeated to herself. It could wait.
"I'll talk to Charleston, you start searching the house," PJ instructed once they got to the property, taking charge of this case.
"Sure," Amy agreed. "Come on, Suse." Susie, upon hearing this, had a feeling that the brunette detective had an additional agenda. Sure enough, once they were in the bedroom, and out of hearing range, she turned to the constable with a small, knowing smile.
"So, what was PJ interrupting in the locker room before?"
Susie wasn't that gullible. "Nothing."
"Oh, come on, it was obvious!"
"It was?" she automatically asked in panic.
"Well, to me, anyway. PJ... maybe not. You know men. As sensitive as a fence post."
Susie gave a small laugh. "Yeah. But you're wrong, Amy, there wasn't anything to interrupt. I was just talking about my sunburn."
"Your sunburn?" Amy looked accurately sceptical, and Susie knew that the detective didn't believe her – rightly so. All the same, she wasn't about to let down her charade. "Well, whatever it was, I'm not breathing a word," Amy grinned impishly, and Susie had the distinct impression that she enjoyed acting matchmaker.
"We better get on with searching," she muttered, turning away.
When they returned, Susie was confronted with a dark-haired man she didn't recognise.
"Ah, you must Constable Susie Raynor," he grinned, holding out a hand.
"Yeah..." she trailed off, and glanced at the name badge attached to his blue police shirt. Senior Constable Alex Kirby – of course. She had temporarily forgotten. "Nice to meet you."
Still grinning, he called back over his shoulder, "Yep, good catch, Jonesy."
Susie froze, praying that the blood rushing to her cheeks wasn't so visible. Kelly and Joss looked up interestedly, but Amy kept her head tactfully down.
"Funny guy, Alex," Evan retorted, as though the senior constable made remarks like this on a regular basis – which he probably did. The probationary constables shrugged and turned back to their work.
"So what brings you to Mount Thomas?" Susie asked politely, tactfully turning the subject around.
"Couldn't wait to smell the eucalyptus," Alex replied. "That, and that I needed a change. Got sick of looking outside the old office window and into the building next door."
"Well, I doubt you'd find that here," Susie said wryly.
Alex nodded in agreement. "You people have a watering hole around the joint?"
"There's the Imperial around the corner," Joss piped up.
"Sounds great," the senior constable answered. "First round's on me."
"Well, count me in, then!" Kelly grinned.
Susie went along with the idea, but she felt her heart wasn't fully in it. She needed to work out what was in her mind first, and meeting and establishing a working relationship with a new colleague wasn't exactly at the top of her to-do list.
But like a lot of things in her life, she found she had no control over it whatsoever.
Days later, Alex seemed to have settled into the new station like a glove. He looked like one of those people who could easily adapt to new situations without frowning once. He listened to the probationary constables, charmed the detectives, and respected his seniors. It appeared he could do no wrong.
"Catch!" Kelly called out as she tossed a brown lunch bag across the room. Joss swiftly caught it, but only to avoid it hitting something else.
"Not for me, thanks Kel," he replied, pitching it back.
"Huh?" Usually Joss was the first one to grab any form of food that was passed around.
"Got my own," he explained, pulling out a plastic tub from a desk drawer. Kelly examined it with a suspicious eye.
"What is it?" she asked dubiously, looking at the lumpy, brown concoction as it slopped around in the container.
"Osso buco."
"That's not osso buco – that's dog food," Kelly proclaimed, screwing up her nose.
"What would you know?" he shot back defensively.
"You don't know everything about it, Peroni. Did you cook it yourself?"
"Yes," he said sullenly.
She snorted disdainfully. "Figures."
"Excuse me? This recipe was my great-grandmother's!"
"Well, communication skills must not be too good, because you've obviously done something wrong!"
"Are you saying you could do better?"
While the two officers continued arguing, Alex picked up the container and scrutinised it. "I know," he muttered, not being heard by either of them. However, Susie did.
"You know what?" she asked, spinning her chair around to face him.
"It's a little known fact," he told her seriously, "but I'm actually the Master of Osso Buco."
She cracked a smile. "Uh huh."
"No, really. I'm the only osso buco connoisseur to be found in these parts."
"I don't think I've heard such crap for a long time."
"You don't believe me?" Alex looked insulted. "There's an ingredient that people almost always forget to put in. Young Joss here," he jerked his head in his direction, "most definitely forgot it."
"And what's that?" Susie asked, now just slightly curious.
"Can't tell you. Not around here, anyway. Others might overhear," he grinned.
"Hmm. I'm oddly curious," she smiled. "I can't say I've made the best osso buco either."
"You should come around, then. I'll teach you the best way," he offered.
"Are you for real?"
"As real as I've ever been. First cooking lesson is free. The others, I might have to charge you."
"Deal," she agreed with a grin.
"Tomorrow after work, then?"
"Sounds good."
Evan entered the office, overhearing her last remark. "What sounds good?"
Susie's grin faded, without her knowing why.
"Nothing, mate," Alex said lightly. "We were just, er – 'admiring' Joss' lunch."
Susie felt herself nod in agreement. She quickly turned back to her work, her heart suddenly beating a lot faster than it had been minutes ago.
Susie turned up on Alex's doorstep the next night, somewhat apprehensively.
"Hey," he said, opening the door for her. "Come in. Don't mind the mess -" he kicked a few scattered shoes out of the way, "I'm not planning on staying here for long."
She stepped over a few boxes and followed him into the tiny kitchen. On the bench lay various ingredients, much of which were chopped up and laid out in an orderly fashion.
"I'm impressed," she said, raising her eyebrows. "You cook a bit then, do ya?"
"My mum taught me that as long as I could get any sort of ingredients together and make them into a meal, I'd be alright," Alex replied.
"That's good advice," she countered. "The best I got was to always wear a pair of matching socks, and never walk under a ladder." She chuckled. "I think I like your one better."
"You would've liked her, I think," he said thoughtfully. "My mum, I mean."
"Would've?" she repeated, and then promptly wish she hadn't.
"Yeah." He looked slightly wistful. "Died six years ago of cancer."
"I'm sorry," she said automatically. "I shouldn't have asked."
"Don't worry about it," Alex waved it off, not looking the least bit troubled. "Anyway, so you've got your onions here, yeah? Before you put them in -" he strode over to the pantry and pulled out a small white packet, "you add this."
"The secret ingredient?" she asked sceptically.
"The one and only."
"What is it?"
"You'd be surprised. It's only a little bit of -"
The doorbell rang, drowning out his words. "Hang on a tic, I'll just get that," he said quickly, disappearing from the kitchen.
Susie picked up the small packet with an air of curiosity. The plastic was blank, and she so desperately wished there was a label on it somewhere. Not that it mattered, because she'd make Alex tell her what it is, as soon as he came back. She was surprised; he was good company. It felt as though he had been around the station for years rather than hardly a week. Everyone else felt just as comfortable having him around. She was envious of that. Who would have thought it – she was standing in his kitchen, learning how to cook? It was almost ridiculous. But she admitted it to herself: it was proving to be fun.
Minutes ticked by, and she grew impatient. What was he doing? Unconcerned, she padded out to the hallway and towards the front door. He was talking, casually leaning in the doorway. Something about next weekend...
"You were always one to make those promises, weren't you, mate?"
She frowned at the sudden voice change. If she wasn't very mistaken – and she would be very surprised if she was – that sounded like Evan. But what was he doing here, right now?
"Jonesy?" she piped up, looking over Alex's shoulder, to see her friend standing on the doorstep.
"Suse?" He looked equally, if not more, surprised to see her there. The surprise began to fade, as he looked from one colleague to another.
"What are you doing here?" she asked, still ingenuously curious.
He took a long moment to answer. "Should be asking you the same thing."
"Oh, I was just -"
"- learning how to cook," Alex finished, for the first time, looking uneasy.
Evan noticed. "Cooking. Right."
"Yeah, osso buco," Susie nodded.
It seemed as though he had heard enough. "Uh huh. Well, don't let me keep you," he said flatly, beginning to turn away.
She inhaled a sharp breath. "Jonesy -"
"I'll see ya around." He stalked off without a backwards glance.
The remaining two were left with silence. "Don't mind him," Alex muttered. "He gets a bit moody, you know Jonesy."
"Mmm," she murmured in reply, not sounding so sure.
Bugger, what had she done now?
'A bit moody' seemed to be an understatement as the days wore on, to the point that it was not only the detectives, but everybody, who noticed a sudden change in disposition amongst themselves. Evan had been surly, not speaking more than five words at a time. Alex still seemed to be the relaxed bloke he was, yet there was something troubling him, as well. As for Susie... well, she was just trying to get through each day. Which, she thought, was getting rather difficult. She knew she hadn't done anything wrong, but all the same, a deep feeling of guilt was running through her veins.
It was such that she found it hard to even engage in normal conversation with Alex. If she did, she was automatically afraid of Evan seeing it. Why did he do these things to her?
A few times, she had tried to step into his shoes. How would it look if he was visiting a friend of hers, completely out of the blue? She knew it was hurting him, and the fact that it was hurting him made her heart ache too. It wasn't fair. But whenever she had tried to talk to Evan about it, he didn't want to listen. He had formed his own conclusions, and was too stubborn to hear hers.
Kelly was standing in the doorway of the mess room, subconsciously staring. Her eyes darted back and forth between Evan and Susie, as though she was at a tennis game.
"You wondering too?" A soft voice spoke from behind her, and she turned to find Amy, also standing there.
"Yeah," Kelly nodded. "I just don't know – what happened? What's wrong?"
"I doubt they're going to say a word," the detective said knowingly. "Whatever it is, I hope they sort it out soon. It's starting to affect everyone around here."
"They used to be such good friends," Kelly mused, almost to herself. She couldn't help it if she sounded melodramatic. She was just a naturally happy person, and couldn't stand conflict of any sort.
"Don't worry about it," Amy reassured quietly. "They can look after themselves. The best we can do is leave them alone." With that, the detective retreated back to her shared office, closing the door behind her.
Susie instinctively looked up to see Amy leave. She had heard low voices, and somehow figured that Amy and Kelly had been talking about her. No guesses as to why, either. So, now she was the centre of gossip – last thing she needed. Great.
She was dodging around it, she knew; but for that afternoon, she let herself drown in her work.
The next day...
"Susie, Jonesy, out with me now," PJ instructed, halfway to the door. "We're off to see Mr Richards about this alleged threat."
Susie sighed, unwilling to stand. Eventually she did, following the other two out of the station.
The car trip was silent. PJ didn't see the point in engaging in conversation, and he was right. He concentrated on driving, the constables concentrating on staring out the windows.
Once there, PJ took over the talking. Susie was privately grateful – she wasn't sure she could trust her voice well enough. Evan was impassively polite, injecting with the right questions, and giving the right answers. The fact that he was conducting himself in such a professional way, yet obviously aware of her and her silence, was starting to irritate Susie.
"Damn, I thought we were so close for getting the guy," PJ muttered under his breath as soon as they had excused themselves and were out of the man's earshot. "I felt so sure about Richards blackmailing Mrs Johnson."
"But why?" Susie asked.
"Who knows? Maybe they were having an affair that went wrong. Plenty of reasons, Suse."
"Yeah, since more and more people seem to be having that tendency these days," Evan remarked, his tone mere speculation – except Susie could detect a hint of sharp sarcasm and loaded meaning. She glared at him, and he knew that she had heard it.
Evan held her stare for a moment, before raising a cool eyebrow and turning away. He knew he should feel somewhat ashamed for the remark, but truth be told, he was just so fed up. With her, with Alex, with the whole damn station. And it caused his tongue to have a malicious edge that was so uncharacteristic for him.
Susie watched him turn away, and felt an urgency to slap him, retort with a comeback, cry helplessly. She did nothing, and nor would she until she was alone in her room that night.
"...So then I said, 'Mate, if you're after what I think you're after, you're gonna have to do a lot better than that!" Everyone, crowded around the pub table, burst out laughing at PJ's story. That is, except for Susie, who offered a weak smile; but to be honest, she hadn't been listening.
Sitting next to her, Amy noticed, and gave her a discreet, concerned look. Susie shook her head as if to say, 'I'm fine', but the detective wasn't convinced.
"You're gonna have to do something, you know," she murmured, referring to the only member absent (bar Tom) – Evan.
Susie merely nodded offhandedly and looked determinedly back in PJ's direction. Amy sighed to herself. If Susie wasn't going to do anything about it – and Evan sure as hell wasn't – then was it up to her? Yet it was none of her business, and she felt as though she couldn't possibly interfere. They would be furious.
The temptation was there, but Amy bit it back firmly. Like she had said to Kelly, the constables would just have to sort any conflict out themselves. She just hoped it would make it that far.
Meanwhile, Susie was sick of sitting with her colleagues, sick of them laughing while she felt like doing anything but, sick of everything, it seemed. Muttering some words of goodbye, she abruptly got up and headed up the staircase towards her room.
Every step seemed laboured. Slowly climbing up to the landing, she extracted her keys from her pocket with surprisingly shaky hands, only to promptly drop them again. At that, she felt like bursting out in tears, yet dropping her keys didn't seem like a good enough reason to. Holding them back, she walked down the corridor to her door, only to come face-to-face with Evan, who was unlocking his own door.
Automatically, she froze. Not a word came out, nor did she ignore him. She stood there like a kangaroo in the headlights, merely blinking.
He noticed her there, but he too stayed silent. Nodding shortly, he turned back to his door, suddenly struggling with the key.
"I'm sorry." The two words spilled out of Susie's mouth, without her hardly realising it. Instinctively, a hand flew to her mouth, as though she could take the words back.
He stopped. He didn't face her, yet she could see that he was waiting, not moving.
Part of her wanted to rush back downstairs, another part wanting to get into her room and slam the door. And one more, tiny part, wanted to keep going. It somehow won out, and she didn't know how.
"I just wanted to let you know that – anything you might be thinking, is wrong," she said flatly, something steady in her tone that she didn't feel inside. Still he did not utter a word. "Are you going to say something?" she finally asked, frustrated with her inability to speak and him being as stubborn as he was.
He shrugged carelessly, continuing to avoid her eyes. "Don't see why I have to say anything."
She looked at him incredulously. "Jonesy, I'm apologising here – that's not the easiest thing to do, you know."
"Well, my life's not a piece of cake either," he snapped in a harsh tone she hadn't heard before. She became worried – he wasn't acting like the Jonesy she knew.
"What would you like me to do about it, then?" she asked calmly, but quietly.
Pause. "Nothin'. You don't owe me anything."
It was like he had thrust a nail into her heart, driving it deeper and deeper. Yet she pushed on, determined to get through to him.
"Will you at least look at me?"
He didn't.
"Fine." If he wasn't going to, then let that be. "All I want to say, is that whatever conclusions you have formed are completely wrong, and Alex -"
"Don't – I don't need to hear this," he cut in angrily, finally turning around, eyes blazing.
"Yes, you do! Alex and I are friends, that's it, and I can do whatever I want to in my free time!" she retorted.
"So you go behind my back?"
"I never went behind your back."
"You just didn't tell me a goddamn thing."
"And why should I? I didn't think it would be of any interest to you."
"Well, Susie, just in case you didn't realise, we're a pretty close bunch of people here." Frosty scorn was injected into his tone. "What we end up doing can't be kept secret."
"Why are you so bothered about this? You never have in the past -"
"Perhaps I've reached a point where I can't just sit back and take it anymore," he snapped. "Because you've screwed me around before, and I'm sick of it."
"Me screwing you around?" Susie said incredulously, not believing he had actually said it. "Are you forgetting something?"
Evan ignored her comment. "Can you just decide what the hell you're doing, before you go and do it?"
"What, is this a competition or something?" she threw back. He stared back at her stonily, and when no reply from him came, her words suddenly seemed to have more meaning to her. A coy smile of realisation slowly appeared, before melting away with her anger – but it had been there long enough for him to see it. The air had become strangely warm and still. Taking a step towards him as though in a dream, she never broke eye contact.
"And what are you going to do about it, Constable?" she murmured, surprised at her sudden change of mood. She hadn't really been angry at him, although God-knows she thought she had been – but she could never really be truly angry at him.
It took Evan a minute to answer. "I don't know," he muttered, not trusting his voice to speak any louder.
She took another step forward, until she was standing right in front of him. "I think you'd better decide," she whispered with mock earnest, letting her hand slip through his.
"What are my options?"
"You could walk away..." Susie trailed off, and smiled to herself, eyes downcast almost mysteriously. "Or," she looked up at him intently once more, "not."
And he didn't need to say anything for her to know his answer.
He looked down at her, her sapphire-blue eyes glittering like jewels in the bright midday sun, as three words rolled to the tip of his tongue, about to be spoken. She looked back at him, waiting expectantly for him to utter the three words that rang through her mind. She thought of how handsome he was, and just how perfect they were together...
"Having fun there, Jonesy?" Susie grinned as she approached the figure lying on his stomach.
He glanced up from the book, craning his neck to look at her standing above and squinting from the sun. "Do you call this literature?"
"My God, I didn't think you knew of such word."
"I've never read such crap in my entire life," he declared, ignoring her comment. "And that's after I've read 'Pride and Prejudice'."
Susie looked as though he had just committed the worst of crimes.
"What?" he questioned, noticeably wounded.
"I can't believe you just called 'Pride and Prejudice' crap!"
"So?"
"You, Evan Jones, are about as sensitive as a toothpick," she said severely, before lying down next to him. "And by the way," she added as she adjusted the towel underneath them, "you were looking pretty absorbed in that book." She bit back the bewilderment upon hearing he had actually read a classic, deciding it wasn't worth the effort.
Rather than answer, he tried a different angle. "I can't believe you actually own it."
She gave him a hard stare, and eventually shrugged dismissively. "Yeah, neither do I. Not by choice, though."
"Ah." He nodded understandingly – or so she thought. "Sure, Suse – you just can't admit that you actually like it..."
"What?" she exclaimed. "If anyone liked it, it's you!"
"I'm not the one who brought it on holiday..."
She flicked some sand in his direction.
"Hey!"
"Serves you right."
"Why am I even here?" he moaned.
"Because the temptation of me was too strong to fight against," she grinned, rolling him onto his back. "Am I right?" she murmured, hovering above him.
"Bloody women," he growled, mock-menacingly. Susie stopped just above his lips, and shrugged before lying back down, propping her upper half up with her elbows.
"Hmm."
"No, wait, Suse -" Evan protested.
"You spoke your mind, that's all." She shrugged again, now seemingly disinterested as she watched a boat in the distance.
"It's a nice beach, this," he said awkwardly, attempting to change the subject and entice her back.
She grinned and turned her face towards him once more. It had become a game between them now; she'd mockingly snub him off, until she suddenly chose to pay his ego attention again. "Yeah, 'tis."
"Oh, so you've decided to start speaking to me again, have ya?" he raised an eyebrow.
Susie didn't feel the need to reply, and merely nudged his side with her elbow. Lying closely shoulder-to-shoulder, she sighed with contentment and leant her head on his shoulder. "I could stay here all night..."
He brushed his lips on the top of her head, smelling the salty sea weaved through her damp hair. "We should come back again next year."
"Yeah, 'course."
"You're getting sunburnt again..."
"Shut up – so are you," she retorted, smothering a peal of laughter. The book lay beside them, raggedly open and nearly forgotten. She didn't need any of that, she realised. Things had turned around, and she had got her own heart-warming story. But it was better than any of those on paper.
Because she hadn't just gained what all the beautiful heroines in the novels did – happy endings. She had gotten back her best friend which, in her opinion, beat that any day.
Together, they lay on the beach and watched the sun sink under the ocean laid out in front of them. The station or Mount Thomas weren't given another fleeting thought.
finito
Author's Notes II: Okay, so I made the whole 'secret ingredient' in osso buco thing up, for the sake of the story. Although, if you have time on your hands, bay leaves do make a world of difference. ;)