Disclaimer: Spooks and all it's characters belong to Kudos and the BBC.
Author's Note: This takes place after the Series 4 Final, so beware of small spoilers
This is the Second and Final Chapter. Chance is the first part in a Christmas Trilogy, so keep looking for the second part.
Please Read and Review. Thank You and Enjoy! (Edited on the 6th of July 2006 to make it easier to read)
Chance - Chapter Two
The café was crowded, buzzing with Christmas chatter. The tables were too close together, waitresses running up and down them, trying not to spill coffee as they went. The word claustrophobic came to mind. Even though the heating was stuck on full blast and the coffee tasted burnt, Harry was glad to be out of the snow.
Their table had been chosen towards the back of the café in attempt to minimize the chance of being recognised. Though Ruth had insisted upon a table near the window, so that she could look out at the snow. She said it was calming. And as she had pointed out there was nothing wrong with two colleagues talking over a cup of coffee. She was right, he knew that, but he couldn't stop the tension from running down his spine every time someone walked through the door.
Ruth sat across from him, huddled around her coffee, using the polystyrene cup to warm her hands. With the coat had gone the red of her shirt was in stark comparison against her skin. Her eyes wandered to the sugar shaker yet again as she thought about pouring more into her already sweetened coffee. Not that it needed it; it just gave her hands something to do.
Their conversation, to say the least, had been an awkward one. Besides the odd phone call, or meeting on a bus, they hadn't spent time together outside of work. Ruth had started babbling about the book she was reading, all but giving him a word for word summary. Not that Harry had complained, he enjoyed listening to her. At times, her voice had such soothing tendencies.
Harry looked at her across the top of his coffee and sighed. Even in the harsh glare of the café, she looked lovely. Her hair looked darker somehow, more of a chocolate brown. The clear cut blue of her eyes that always stole his breath away. The warm scent of hazelnut coffee mixed with the faint hint of vanilla that she always wore.
At work he could distance himself from her, shut himself in his office and lock away his feelings along with every legend of his career. But sitting across from her, Harry couldn't bare to. All he thought about was how much he wanted to reach across the table and take her hand in his. How much he wanted to hold her close, feel her heart beating against him. All he could think about was how much he wanted to kiss her.
"Can you believe it's December already?" Ruth asked, staring out of the window. Her voice snapping Harry back to reality. "The past year has gone so quickly."
"Hell of a year though."
She rolled her eyes, and stirred her coffee. "Don't remind me." As she sighed, a tiny smile started to turn up the edges of her mouth. "Christmas will be over soon, at least."
"Something to be thankful for," he said, sipping his coffee.
"Are you doing anything nice?" She asked; raising her gaze.
"Catherine's back from Tel Aviv. She's roped me into spending the day with her," he said, simply. Ruth smiled but it didn't quite reach her eyes. "What about you?"
She cringed. "Oh I drew the short straw this year, so my dad is coming to stay for a few days."
He could tell by the tone of her voice that she was less than happy about it. "I would have thought you'd be glad to spend some time with your father, after this past month," he said, carefully.
She straightened, tension sang down her arms. She wouldn't meet his gaze. "Hmm, well maybe I'd rather spend this Christmas with my cat," she said, somewhat defensively. "It's bad enough I have to survive this bloody get together next week."
"Been bombarded with Christmas party invitations?"
"Something like that," she said. A smile breaking through her cooled expression.
Outside the snow had stopped, though the wind still raged on. The white blanket that had covered the road had almost been cleared to one side by the traffic. Grit had been put down on the pavement to stop it resembling an ice rink.
Ruth frowned. "Do you think there's even a remote chance that we could be snowed in at work?" she asked, staring out of the window.
"Well if we are, Malcolm and Colin will be the first ones to start digging a way out."
Their eyes met across the table for a brief moment. Ruth was first to look away. She felt the heat rise up her face and found something interesting to stare at on the floor.
"Right, well I'd better be getting home," she said, almost regretfully. "Things to do, presents to wrap, that sort of thing."
Harry nodded. "It'll be impossible to find a taxi in this weather," he said, reaching for his mobile. "I'll phone…"
Ruth cut him off with a wave of her hand. "There's no need Harry," she told him, a smile plastered across her face. "The bus stop's only around the corner."