Matthew drove Alice back to her house and when they drew up, Alice reached over and said, "will you come in Matthew? Please?"
Matthew nodded, removed the keys from the car and made sure the doors were locked before following Alice up the path to her door. When they crossed the threshold, Alice locked the door behind them, dropped her bag and cardigan to the floor and walked over to Matthew. She moved her hands up to cup both sides of his face and looked into his eyes, "make love to me Matthew".
It was not a question; Alice took Mathew's hand and directed them to her bedroom, where she leaned up and kissed him soundly on the lips then proceeded to divest him silently of his clothes. Matthew was caught up in it all, and suddenly realised he was wearing only his undershorts and Alice was still in her skirt and blouse.
Matthew reached to the top button of Alice's blouse, but the confidence Alice had previously displayed suddenly disappeared. She reached up to cover his hands with hers.
"Matthew…before we…Matthew you know I told you my mother was mean…my father was too. Before you take my clothes off, you should know that I have scars on my back from where they…we don't have to do this if you don't want to."
Matthew placed a finger under her chin and lifted her head so she was looking at him.
"Alice Harvey, you are beautiful, you are funny and a little awkward!" he smiled at her and kissed the side of her mouth before continuing, "I love you Alice…all of you. I want this, more than you know but if you're not comfortable with it, then we'll wait." He kissed her soundly on the lips. "You are so brave Alice and I love you for it."
The confidence returned as she took her own blouse off; Matthew saw scars on Alice's back and the sides of her ribs. He ran his hands over her back and asked, "are they painful?"
Alice shook her head and said, "no, they haven't caused me pain since I was young. These are the reason I was taken away from my parents."
Matthew kissed his way down her back and her sides as Alice told her story, "I had new shoes for school but one of boys who bullied me pushed me and I fell; my new shoes were scuffed at the front. I tried to fix them with shoe polish before my parents came home and found the shoes. Mother saw them first and slapped me, she didn't usually touch my face but I moved and well…"
Matthew stopped what he was doing and took her in his arms, holding her to him, "tell me Alice. I'm listening to you."
"I was holding my face when father arrived home; he saw the shoes, took off his belt and beat me." Alice started to cry and pulled herself as close to Matthew as she could before continuing.
"Between the two of them, they beat me till I blacked out. It was my sister Marjory who called the police. I woke up in the hospital with belt marks all over my back. The police brought Marjory to see me before they took her away. That was the last time I saw her Matthew." Alice sobbed her heart out; she had told no one this story and felt like all of the years of keeping it inside had taken it out of her.
"I'm sorry Matthew, so very sorry."
"Alice don't you dare apologise. Thank you for telling me and trusting me with this…What happened to you after you were released from hospital?"
"Foster care."
"Oh sweetheart, come here."
Matthew took her skirt, her shoes and her stockings off and helped her into bed.
"Don't go Matthew."
"I'm just going to the bathroom, but I'll be right back." He looked over at Alice lying there, looking so broken; he leaned over and kissed her on the cheek and said, "wait for me."
When Matthew returned, Alice had pulled the covers back for Matthew to join her, "this is not how I had intended this night to go…well, I did intend for you to be in my bed!" she smiled back at Matthew as he pulled her close to him so that she could lie her head on his chest.
"I meant it when I said I loved you Alice. Have you told others your story?"
"No Matthew, just you. Please don't…"
"It's your story Alice; it's not mine to tell but if you ever want to talk, know that I'm always here for you."
Matthew kissed Alice on the top of her head and said, let's get some sleep. After work tomorrow, I'll pop over here and we can make some dinner together, if that's alright with you?"
"Yes, let's do that." Alice leaned up and kissed Matthew on the lips and they both lay there silently till they fell asleep.
The next morning, Alice's alarm clock went off at 6.30 am; neither one wanted to move but Matthew moved first.
"Listen love, I need to run home and get changed, I need a clean shirt for work. I'll be round after work, I promise."
Matthew kissed Alice on the lips before heading to the bathroom and returning to pull on yesterday's clothes. Alice lay there till she heard Matthew close the door behind him. Last night was most definitely not what she had planned for her and Matthew but. She felt better that she had told Matthew of her past and was grateful that he hadn't run; it was comforting that he had held her all night and when they woke that morning, Matthew was still hugging her from behind and she was happy he had stayed.
Alice moved, got washed and ready for work then had some coffee and toast before driving to the morgue.
There's was nothing of any significance that required Alice's attention that morning, she found herself writing a few pathology reports based on slides she had analysed but she found her mind wandering to thoughts of her and Matthew. Alice chided herself for foolishly wiling away her time instead of getting on with work. After she had finished her reports, she was filing them to be sent to the appropriate doctors when she heard the door to the morgue go and in walked Matthew and Lucien.
"Hello Alice, busy day?" asked Lucien.
"Not really, how are you both?" Alice looked at both of them but settled her eyes on Matthew.
"There's a body on the way Alice, we've just been at the hotel and examined the scene and the boys are transferring the body here. Shouldn't be long."
Alice asked if they wanted some tea and both agreed but Matthew offered to make it so that Lucien could fill her in on what had happened.
"It's definitely suspicious Alice; he was found in the bathroom, slumped in the bath. No signs of struggle but he does have a bruise on his head, but we'll probably need to leave it to form overnight."
Alice was nodding her head, but Lucien noticed that Alice was watching Matthew, "don't worry Alice, Matthew knows how to make a decent cuppa!"
Alice felt herself blush and knew she was bright red but just looked at Lucien and said, "I was just checking the Chief Superintendent was tidying up after himself!"
Matthew walked over with three mugs of tea and placed them on Alice's desk, he leaned over and kissed her cheek and said, "of course I did; I don't want to face the wrath of Dr Alice Harvey, do I?!"
Alice patted his arm and said, "Matthew, we're at work."
"Don't worry Alice, I won't tell." Lucien responded, "you two are feeling better then? Kissed and made up?"
Matthew looked at Lucien and said, "we've had a talk and I think we're both on the same page, don't you love?"
Alice looked at both of them and said, "I do believe Matthew and I are thinking along the same lines now. Matthew is coming over for dinner tonight."
Just as they finished their tea, the morgue door opened and in came the police and the body from the hotel. They all got down to their work, Lucien and Alice in the morgue and Matthew left to go back to the station and follow up with some leads.
