This one shot was written as part of the facebook fan group Scarleteers 2021 Xmas Mistletoe Berries fanfic challenge. The prompt was to write a story that has a kiss in it. More stories can be found on the Scarleteers website.
A Tale of Files and Kisses
William's Office
"Why can't I read it?" Eliza asked, frustrated as she followed William into his office while he kept the police file she wanted annoyingly just out of her reach.
"Because it's police property," William told her simply as if that should be enough for her.
"So…?" It wasn't enough.
"So, you are still not a police officer, and this is private evidence." William informing her that she wasn't an officer was the only thing he could hold over her these days. She'd more than proved her abilities as a detective working on his cases with him recently.
"But I need it for my case…," she argued.
"You know, you can't keep assuming I'm just going to give you police information every time you ask me for it."
Eliza rolled her eyes. They always did this dance when she asked him for something that helped her but inconvenienced him. William would pretend to refuse to give it to her, she would find a way around him, and he would always give in, and she would get what she needed. It was annoying, having to play this game first, but William always liked to think that he was making a choice when it came to helping her, even if the reality was quite different.
"You know I'm going to figure it all out anyway, so you might as well just give me the file, it only makes it quicker for me." Eliza smiled and almost fluttered her eyelids at him.
William grumpily shook his head in an attempt to ignore the look she was giving him, while he slumped down in the chair behind his desk and he dropped the manila folder down with a loud slap. He looked at her unimpressed with her argument, as he took a moment to flick open the file with his fingertips and browse through its contents.
Stretching his legs under his desk, he noted that Eliza was still standing, indicating she was in a hurry. She hadn't revealed the case she was working on or why this file was so important to her. Purposely moving slowly, he checked there was no overly sensitive information she shouldn't see before he closed it and held it in his hand towards her.
He stared at her teasingly, willing her to reach over the desk and just take it from him. Her eyes darted from his face to the file and back while he pursed his lips and rubbed the side of his beard with the back of his free hand. She thought he might try and steal it back if she dared move, so she waited, their eyes fixed on each other as if in a duel.
Eliza gave him an innocent smile before moving quickly to grab it from him. William chuckled, barely flinching from her action. He watched her as she stood up straighter and opened up the file, her green eyes darting over the words, eagerly taking in its contents.
This is what he liked about her, the dedication to her craft and the intense concentration on her face. It was beautiful to watch her when she was ultimately on her game if he was honest. Despite his complaints about helping, he did enjoy being needed by her.
"I need to borrow this," Eliza told him as she read. She couldn't decipher the messy handwriting nor determine if the constable's report was coherent enough to be helpful.
"No," William said firmly in his prominent Scottish accent. "That doesn't leave my office." It was a warning because she'd stolen files from him before.
"I promise I'll bring it back tomorrow," she said while thinking, or perhaps the day after.
"No, you can read it here, and then leave." It was bad enough to let her read the damn thing; he couldn't risk her getting caught leaving the building with it.
She ignored William's words since she was too busy reading the file to pay him much attention as she turned the page. She didn't notice how he was sitting back in his chair, intently staring at her with a smug grin on his lips.
He gave her a few minutes more to find any information that might be helpful to her before pushing himself out of his chair to take back the folder. There was no trusting her not to try and run off with it; she had priors.
Eliza raised her eyes to glance over the top of the page, noticing William was on the move, so she turned her back to him to keep him from taking the file from her.
William swaggered around his desk, and Eliza side-eyed him while moving away from him as he approached.
"I need that back now," he said firmly.
"I just need a few more minutes," Eliza said innocently.
"I'm sure, knowing you, you've already read that twice!"
She was almost in the middle of his office as his hand reached out to grab the folder, but Eliza turned her shoulder to him. He moved the opposite way to try and grab it from the direction she'd turned, but then she folded her shoulders around it to protect it from him.
There were a few moments of back and forth between them; William moved one way while Eliza turned the other. They were almost dancing as he tried to reclaim the file, and she kept it just out of his reach. While Eliza curled herself small around it, William was suddenly tall and large, towering around her, his arms almost hugging her body. If his concentration hadn't been so focused on retrieving his paperwork, he might have noticed just how intimately close they were to each other.
"Give that back," he warned her.
"I need it," she told him firmly.
Eliza was smiling and squirming to keep the file from him. She held it close to her body, but somehow, she'd turned herself and was unexpectedly facing his chest and they were almost laughing as they fought for control.
"Eliza!" he warned.
"William!" she imitated.
Just as William got a hand on the file, they stilled, and he caught Eliza looking up at him with her perfect crystal clear eyes. He stared down at her while letting out a soft sigh and shuffled his body fractionally closer. Then, she did the one thing he never expected. She moved to her tiptoes, placed her free hand on his shoulder and, closing the small distance between them, she gently pressed her lips against his.
He jumped a little at the sensation of her lips against his own as shock flooded his body. He felt the tension on the file they were both gripping loosen as Eliza dropped her arm a little but kept her fingertip grip on the folder. He quickly relaxed into the kiss, closing his eyes and moving his head to the side slightly to capture her lips more firmly. Surprising to him, she seemed to let him do it! He curled his mouth around hers and slowly drew her bottom lip in-between his.
Eliza wasn't sure what had propelled her to kiss him. She almost felt it was a complete out-of-body experience. She gave no resistance to him deepening their kiss, for once letting herself enjoy the feeling of what was happening and the warm bubbling sensation she was experiencing. Only the feel of William gently placing his hand on the small of her back and pulling her body closer to his made her return to her senses. She suddenly pulled her lips away from his, and if she could, she would have taken a significant step backwards, but his hand restricted her from doing so.
She instantly let go of the file she'd been protecting just moments earlier like it was burning the skin on her fingers. She stared at William wide-eyed in complete shock, wondering what exactly she'd just done and what she'd let him do. He looked down at her in his arms, his eyes twinkling with curiosity, and he smiled gently at her.
"I erm…"
"Eliza…" They both spoke softly at the same time.
Sensing she was uncomfortable with their closeness, William dropped his hand from her back, and Eliza quickly stepped backwards, removing herself from his embrace. He instantly felt cold without her in his arms.
"I should go…." Eliza said, hastily moving on the ball of her foot and turning around.
"Eliza wait…," William reached out to stop her, but she moved too fast and was out of his grasp before he stood a chance of catching her.
"I'll see you later," Eliza said without looking backward.
She hurried out of William's office, cringing as she realised, not only had she kissed him, but his office door had been wide open for any officer in the corridor walking past to see it.
William watched her leave and stood motionless as his mind attempted to process what had just happened. She had kissed him, and it had felt like everything he remembered and more.
He stared down at the unimportant file in his hand that moments earlier they had been fighting over. He had two choices, let Eliza run from him and spend too much time arguing over this kiss, or go after her.
He'd allowed her to run away last time, and he often wondered if that was a mistake. So, in a split-second decision, he stepped forward, grabbed his hat and overcoat from his coat stand, and walked out of his office.
Eliza's Office.
Eliza caught a carriage straight to her agency; her mind was racing. She needed the calm quiet of her office to think. Narrowly avoiding Herr Hildegard, she let herself in, hung her hat and with her hands on her hips she started pacing back and forth in front of her desk in a mild panic, while every single unladylike word she'd ever heard her father mutter ran through her mind.
What in God's name had she just done?
She couldn't quite believe that she'd kissed William. She'd kissed him. Worse than that, she couldn't even explain why she'd done it.
She couldn't blame him this time nor slap him for taking advantage of her. She couldn't even ask him why he hadn't asked her permission because it was all on her this time. Her head was spinning as she tried to process what had just happened between them. She had given him so much grief over the years for that one innocent kiss that she knew he wasn't going to let this go.
Despite all the why-had-she-kissed-him questions running through her mind, she was most surprised by how it made her feel. In honesty, it wasn't an unpleasant kiss in any way at all. Once she momentarily let herself relax, she found it quite enjoyable kissing him. She smiled as she touched her lips with her fingertips, reliving the feeling of William's warm lips on hers and his soft beard brushing against her skin. She felt a shiver as she thought about it.
She was pulled from her thoughts when she heard the one thing she really didn't expect or want to hear. It was the heavy sound of William's footsteps on the floorboards of the corridor outside. Eliza held her breath as the fear and dread that he'd come after her flooded her whole body. She watched helplessly as her office door opened with a loud crunch of the handle.
William appeared determined as stood in the doorway and stared directly at her. He thought she resembled a frightened animal, as she remained wide-eyed staring at him and frozen to her spot. He closed the door and placed his bowler hat next to hers on the coat hooks.
"You forgot this," he said, holding the file up whilst keeping his eyes firmly locked on her as he moved across her tiny office. He dropped the file on her desk and waited for her to say something.
Eliza squared her shoulders and folded her arms across her stomach to regain some of her dignity. Words seem to be escaping her. Aside from wanting to say she didn't think she was supposed to take the file, what else could she say? Was he expecting a thank you, perhaps?
"What was that?" William asked when he realised Eliza wasn't going to speak up for a change. His words sounded far calmer than he felt because he was almost desperate to hear what she was thinking.
"What was what?" she shrugged and instantly regretted it because William suddenly looked angry.
"You just kissed me!"
Eliza wanted to wince because, yes, she had, and she had absolutely no defence for doing it.
"And then, you ran away!" His words confused her because he seemed angrier that she'd run than he was for the kiss.
"If you came here looking for an apology, then I apologise…." Eliza started to say, but that seemed to make William even angrier.
"Why on earth would I be here for an apology?" He asked, exasperated.
Was she really that blind? Did she have no idea how he felt?
"I don't know!" she slightly yelled back at him completely confused. "What else would you be here for?"
William did a double-take. How on earth could Eliza be such an intelligent and infuriating woman, yet also totally oblivious when it came to him? He took a breath because one thing he wasn't there for was to fight with her.
"Why did you kiss me?" He asked simply, hoping that maybe she would lower her guard even just a fraction. He looked directly at her, trying to get her to give him some sort of sign that maybe underneath all their bickering, she felt like he did. That perhaps she wanted to kiss him.
Eliza looked at him helplessly. She couldn't explain why she'd kissed him. He had been almost holding her, staring down at her like he always did in those rare moments between them. They were so close that she could smell his wonderful cologne, and something just came over her that she had no control over.
"I don't know why," she said quietly and looked to the floor, unable to take his intense gaze any longer.
William sighed. He realised if he wanted some truth from her, he'd have to take some control of what he wanted and drag her kicking and screaming over that imaginary line that always seemed to keep them on the side of friendship and nothing more.
Cautiously, William took a few steps closer, watching her for a reaction, and Eliza snapped her eyes off the floor, wondering what he thought he was doing. He stopped in front of her, toe-to-toe, as he slowly reached his hand to her waist. She stiffened as a hand rested on her side. Then, he placed his other hand on her cheek, gently touching it with his thumb.
He stared down at her, wondering if she would stop him or slap him, but she did nothing. She was almost immobile, waiting for what he was about to do. Since she wasn't pushing him away, he took it as a sign that maybe he was right, and she wanted him to kiss her, though God knows, he'd read the signs from her wrong before.
William leaned down and noticed Eliza close her eyes as if she couldn't watch what he would do next. He stopped close enough that he could feel her soft breath on his lips.
"You'd kiss me in my fathers office?" she whispered a hint of fear in her voice. William just smirked.
"No," he said in a soft low growl that sent shivers up her spine. "I'd kiss you in your office."
Then he closed the gap between them and pressed his lips firmly against hers, and he could have sworn he heard a quiet hum from her as he did so.
After a moment, William adjusted his stance whilst not wanting to overwhelm her, because this wasn't appropriate and Eliza probably needed to be persuaded that kissing him was okay. He skilfully tugged gently at her bottom lip, then her top lip while his thumb stroked her cheek. His hand pressed tightly into her back pulling her into his body because he needed her to feel him in the hopes she might respond.
Eliza cautiously unfolded her trapped arms from in-between them and grasped the bottom edges of his waistcoat in an attempt to hold onto reality. She gripped both sides so firmly she unintentionally loosened the bottom button. She heard him sigh and then inhale deeply, as they just seemed to fit together like two pieces of a puzzle.
She wasn't supposed to enjoy this. Yet, she couldn't quite explain how something that she'd always been taught was wrong and immoral out of wedlock, actually felt warm and inviting, and so tantalisingly delicious. She felt herself let go of her fear and turned her head, opening her lips a bit more drawing him closer to her, letting him capture her lips completely. She wasn't sure how she knew how to kiss a man like this, but it was almost like her mouth just instinctively knew how to dance with his.
Without leaving her lips, William pulled them backwards to rest himself against the edge of her desk, so they were comfortably a more similar height. She didn't pull away or give any objection to him lowering his hand to caress her neck gently. Her pulse was racing, and he smiled into their kiss relishing that it was because of him. Licking at her lips, he knew he was pushing her for more than perhaps she was willing to give at that moment.
Growing in confidence, Eliza uncurled her fingers from William's waistcoat and pressed a hand against his heart, feeling it beating firmly in his chest. Following his lead, she lightly touched his beard, feeling the soft bristles on her fingertips. Slowly accepting the inevitable, they teased each other with their lips and the gentle strokes of their fingertips.
Reluctantly they slowed their movements, both needing desperately to get some air and stop before their moment spun out of their control. They rested their foreheads together whilst they tried to catch their breath and slow their beating hearts. William gave a smile because if someone had told him that he'd be kissing Eliza in her office when he woke up that morning, he would have laughed.
Silently, they slowly drew back and held each other's eyes but kept their hands where they were. William enjoyed the feeling of Eliza gently stroking his beard while he touched a little patch of silky skin on her neck. He didn't want to speak, didn't want to break away from what felt like a dream.
Eliza herself was trying to put what she was feeling into words. She was kissing William, her friend, and it was unexpected. They had become closer in recent months, but the idea of what was happening between them still scared her greatly.
"Eliza…"
"William…"
They both started to speak simultaneously, and each gave a soft chuckle.
"Ladies first," William offered, attempting to be a gentleman while moving his hand up to rub her cheek. He needed to know what was going on in her mind before he admitted to more than perhaps she was ready to hear.
Eliza smiled and turned slightly into his hand, brushing her lips against it before raising her eyes and taking a deep breath. What did she want from him? She wasn't sure, but unlike the last time they had kissed, they were older and wiser, and maybe this change between them wasn't a bad thing.
"I'm not some girl you can kiss and forget about," she warned gently.
William laughed, his eyes sparkling because she'd not backed away this time; she'd not even tried to slap him for what could most definitely be considered an inappropriate kiss.
"Eliza Scarlet, I have never forgotten about you," he told her seriously.
It was a small piece of honesty because he'd never forgotten the day he'd kissed her all those years ago, and he wouldn't forget this day in a hurry either.
"You're a rogue," she teased him with a roll of her eyes.
"And you like kissing me." He responded feeling as though he'd finally won a battle he'd been unwittingly fighting for years. He leaned back in and softly kissed her once again, and she didn't fight him, accepting the gentle way he pulled at her lips.
After a few more minutes of indulging in their unexpected kisses, William finally pushed at Eliza's waist, enabling her to step backwards, and he stood up once more. They'd crossed a line kissing in their offices like this and he wasn't about to push his luck any further.
"Just, stop running away from me," he told her sternly. He rubbed her cheek with his thumb one last time before finally letting her go.
Eliza nodded, and they both put a little space between them. Something had changed, and maybe when they were next alone, they would talk and assess what this change meant, but for now, they quietly accepted that what had happened was okay and mutual.
"Oh, you can return that tomorrow." William nodded to the file he'd left on her desk as he moved towards her office door, and he picked up his hat with a smile all over his face.
"Thank you, William," Eliza whispered, with a slightly nervous wavier to her tone.
Was she thanking him for the file, not arguing with her, or perhaps the kiss? He wasn't sure, but whichever it was, he'd take it. He gave her a nod of acceptance as he left her office, and deep down, knowing he would be riding high with a smile back to Scotland Yard.
The End.