Many, many thanks for the wonderful reviews. I don't usually dedicated stories or chapters but I'd like to dedicate this chapter to all the actors and crew who have brought The Bill to our screens over the years without whom, I'd never have met these characters who inspire my muse so. On a more personal note, I'd also like to dedicate this to a wonderful lady whose funeral I attended today following her brave battle against cancer. The sooner a cure for all cancers is found, the better.
As always, I do not claim to own any characters from The Bill, that privilege belongs to Freemantle Media and Talkback Thames. If I owned them, I'd have taken the show to the web if needs be and continued it as a web-series to make sure it lived on!
Read, review and enjoy. Whatever you think about the chapter & this story, all feedback, be it good bad or indifferent, will be gratefully received.
The doorbell rang as Sam was sliding the garlic bread into the already aromatic oven. Quickly closing the door and wiping her hands on a nearby dishcloth, Sam moved to greet her guests, whichever of them had arrived first. Opening the front door, the pocket-sized blonde woman saw an exhausted-looking Lucy leaning heavily against the doorjamb. She reached out to her and beckoned her into the warmth of Sam's house, peeling away her jacket and hanging it behind the door before finding herself enveloped in a crushing hug.
"It's ok love, it's alright." Sam continued to hold Lucy, murmuring heartfelt reassurances to the distraught young woman in her arms as she steered her towards the kitchen.
"I'm sorry, Sam, I didn't mean to…" Lucy began but was interrupted by Sam shaking her head.
"Don't you apologise for doing exactly what I asked you to do. You've had a hell of a day, it's been long, it's been fraught and it has been a rollercoaster of emotions. This is the very least that I can do for you right now."
"Are your other guests here already?" Lucy felt guilty for monopolising the older woman's time.
"No, not yet, they should be here any time now. Would you like to go and freshen up?" Sam still held a gentle hand on Jo's lover's shoulder.
Lucy nodded with a rueful watery smile, "I must look a complete mess."
"Not at all. Bathroom's first door on the left at the top of the stairs, take all the time you need, ok?" The doorbell rang again as Lucy left the kitchen. Sam waited for her to be a good way up the stairs before opening the door once again and admitting their remaining two dinner companions.
"Hi Sam, the food smells wonderful." Lorna greeted her friend warmly with a brief hug before turning to make formal introductions. "Sam, this is my daughter, Katie. Katie, this is Sam, my good friend and colleague from work."
"Nice to meet you, Katie." Sam smiled gently.
"Hello, nice to meet you too." Katie replied, eyes darting around the entrance hall nervously.
"Why don't you both go through to the lounge, I'll bring us something to drink. What would you like to drink, Katie? I've got Coke, lemonade, orange juice, blackcurrant cordial, apple juice."
"Orange juice, please." The miniature version of Lorna did manage to offer a tentative smile to their blonde host as she replied.
Sam nodded and turned to the girl's mother, "Lorna, how about you? Would you like a glass of wine or I can get you a soft drink or a tea or coffee?"
"Orange juice would be lovely for me too, thanks Sam. Can I give you a hand with anything?" Lorna guided her daughter towards the room Sam had indicated was the lounge.
"No, everything's pretty much ready. Lucy will be down in a few moments and then we can eat. I hope you're both hungry, there's plenty. I'll be through with the drinks in a minute. Make yourselves at home."
Sam fussed about in the kitchen, tweaking the side salad she had prepared to go with the lasagne and fetching the coleslaw she had bought to go with Katie's pizza from the fridge and placing that on the table in the adjoining dining area. When she returned to the kitchen, she spied Lucy hovering in the doorway.
"Hey, want to give me a hand dishing up and serving while I take these orange juices through to Lorna and Katie?" A look of relief crossed Lucy's face at being given something to do, something to focus on. The young brunette nodded and entered the kitchen more fully. "You'll find a pizza slice in the top drawer by the sink and anything else you might need is either in that pot on the side there or hanging up behind the kettle." Sam issued instructions as she filled two tall tumblers with rich citrus juice.
The evening passed with easy conversation ranging over a wide variety of topics. Katie had taken a while to relax in the company of her mother and two strangers but once she had, the young girl had proven to be insightful and knowledgeable, more than capable of holding her own. Lucy too had begun the evening quietly but had been coaxed out of her shell by Lorna and Sam's combined efforts to engage her in conversation and distract her from her lover's absence. By general consensus, the quartet retired to the lounge after clearing up, opting to continue the evening with a few competitive rounds on the Wii that Sam had invested in to help keep Abi and Jared entertained whenever they visited. Katie had fallen asleep where she had sunk into an armchair to watch as her mother and Sam grow more competitive as they challenged each other to a game of virtual table tennis, each woman trying to put the other off her game in order to win. Lucy observed with amusement, wondering if they realised quite how their easy banter and frequent physical contact appeared to an independent observer. The olive-skinned brunette stifled her own yawn behind a grin as Sam emerged victorious from the latest battle.
"Well played, Sam. Although I still think it's an unfair you had given that it's your game in the first place so you'll have had chance to practice. Lorna, that was an admirable performance for a first timer. Another few games and I think you could have Sam!" Lucy deliberately phrased her praise ambiguously, fairly certain her eyes were not deceiving her.
"All the more reason for a re-match some time soon then," Lorna rejoined with a wry smile.
"Don't think I'll give up my crown that easily!" Sam laughed, nudging the redhead playfully with her shoulder.
"I think all this excitement has worn my daughter out," Lorna mentioned softly as she spied Katie curled up in the generous armchair.
"The bed in Jared's room is made up, why don't you get her settled in there? It'd be better than having to drag her out into the cold and run the risk of waking her up properly." Sam's voice was sincere and warm as she offered accommodation for the night to her guest.
"If you're sure it wouldn't be any trouble?" Lorna found that she really didn't want to leave the smaller woman's company, despite her intentions earlier that day to keep her distance.
"Of course not. It's the second room on the right as you go up the stairs. The bathroom's the door at the end of the corridor, straight ahead of you as you get to the top of the stairs. There are spare towels on the bed, I took the liberty of getting some out for you both in the hopes you'd stay. There's plenty of space, you're welcome to stay as well Lucy – there's a bed in Abi's room and one of you can take my bed."
"I'm not kicking you out of your bed, Sam, the sofa will do me just fine," Lucy exclaimed, aghast that the diminutive blonde would even consider giving up her own bed for her guests.
"Nonsense, I can't invite you to stay and let you sleep on the couch. I've a double bed in my room, if you can put up with sharing and so long as you don't snore like a jet engine, there'll be more than enough space for us all," Sam stated, knowing that she was safer offering to share a bed with Lucy than with Lorna, with whom sleep would be the furthest thing from Sam's mind.
"If you're sure…I'd actually really appreciate not being on my own tonight," Lucy confessed softly, her eyes watering a little as the reality of why she was not with her lover encroached on her conscious mind once again. Sam went to embrace the young brunette tenderly as Lorna roused Katie and led her from the room to get her settled in Jared's bedroom.
Once they were alone, Sam brushed dark bangs back from Lucy's weary face before placing a motherly kiss against her forehead. "Come on you, I think it's time you got into bed as well."
"I don't care how you do it, just make sure that this latest investigation is stopped before it gets and further." The man's voice was stern and clipped, a sure sign of his fury at the impudence of the latest batch of officers to investigate their enterprise.
"Sir, with all due respect, I cannot order my officers to abandon a missing child investigation without good cause. It would arouse suspicions, not just in those officers but in higher ranks too." Heaton's colour rose in direct correlation with his nervousness in the face of the irate man before him.
"As I said, I don't care how you make it happen, but it must happen or you will be directly responsible for the fate of those asking awkward questions, whomever they might be. We have come too far to allow our secrets to be exposed, we will not stand for it. You have 24 hours to make this go away or we shall be forced to take matters into our own hands." The man dismissed Heaton with a derogatory wave of his hand. Even in his flushed state, there was a sickly pallor to Heaton's face as he considered the implications of the coming hours and what that might mean for his own future. Striding as confidently as he could on shaking legs from the imposing looking room, he rifled through his pocket in search of his mobile phone as soon as he was outside, dialling a number he had used only scant few times before.
"I need to speak to you," he said as soon as the call was connected.
"Good evening to you to. I thought we agreed you wouldn't call unless it was a dire emergency." The voice on the other end of the phone didn't sound at all amused to have her evening interrupted.
"It is a bloody emergency. I need something taken care of; I need a warm body who knows how to keep their mouth shut." The Chief Inspector unlocked his car and climbed inside, sheltering from the bitter evening air.
"How soon?" The woman knew not to ask any questions, knew that the less she knew, the less she would be implicated in should anything go wrong.
"As soon as possible. Within the next 12 hours preferably, 18 hours maximum." Heaton wanted to give himself a few hours leeway in case of any last minute catastrophes.
"I'll contact you soon with a name and a place for you to meet the willing person, make sure you have all the information you need to give them. My terms are the same as always." Without waiting for a response, the woman ended the call and got to work finding a suitable candidate as Heaton blew out a shaky breath and started his car, pulling out into the light late night traffic and heading back to the station to review what was known about the missing child case so far.
Having made sure Lucy was settled, Sam made her way back downstairs, aiming to clear up from the evening and have a quiet cup of tea before turning in herself. On entering the lounge, she was greeted by the sight of Lorna collecting up dirty glasses and mugs and making to take them through to the kitchen.
"Hey, you're a guest, you shouldn't be the one doing that!" Sam called softly.
Lorna started a little, not having heard Sam enter the room behind her. "Nonsense, I helped make the mess, I wouldn't feel at all right leaving you to clear it up by yourself." Sam grabbed the bowl which earlier had held the popcorn they'd all shared and a stray tumbler before following Lorna through to the kitchen.
"Just throw them in the dishwasher, I'll set it going in the morning after we've all had breakfast. I'm going to have a cuppa before bed, care to join me?" Sam asked her guest as the Scots woman leant over to place her cargo in the dishwasher, affording Sam a clear view of her cleavage. The slim blonde felt her face flush as her abdominal muscles clenched in reaction to the sight and she tore her attention away, concentrating on thoroughly checking the water level in the kettle.
"Oh, that sounds wonderful." In truth, Lorna wanted to check Sam was alright before they turned in for the night, not having had chance to catch her on her own during the evening. "How's Lucy doing? She seems like a lovely young lady."
"She is, she's perfect for Jo, absolutely what she needs to help her through this and to build a life with. They're adorable together, so natural and affectionate. It's hitting Lucy hard, the waiting and the feeling helpless. I just keep trying to assure her that she's doing plenty for Jo just by being there for her, by supporting her and standing by her." Sam reached down more mugs as she spoke, tossing teabags carelessly into them and pulling the milk from the fridge. She held up the sugar pot, silently asking if Lorna took sugar and receiving a shake of the head in response.
"That sounds like the kind of connection we all hope we'll find one day," Lorna commented wistfully.
"Is that the kind of connection you and your husband had?" Sam enquired, genuinely interested to discover more about the older woman. The kettle clicked off and Sam turned her attention to pouring the boiling water into the two mugs she had prepared, letting the teabags steep for a few moments before she added the milk.
Lorna took her time to consider her answer, choosing to wander back through to the lounge and make herself comfortable on the sofa before she spoke. "To some extent, James was my ideal partner but can I say with certainty that if I had been in Jo's position he would have stood by me like Lucy is standing by Jo? No, I don't think I can. James was very stoic, never one to wear his heart on his sleeve. Heck it took me ages to work out that he even liked me! We had a solid, respectful relationship and I did love him and I will always be grateful to him for giving me Katie. Was I in love with him? I've thought about it a lot and the more I think of it, the more I realise that I was in love with the idea of being loved by him. He made me feel wanted, he made me feel safe and I was happy to share my life and my home with him but I never got that butterflies-in-my-stomach type feeling when he touched me or when he simply looked at me, not like I have with… other people since." Lorna was careful to keep her statement gender-neutral whilst censoring herself from admitting she felt stirrings whenever Sam looked at or touched her.
"I know what you mean; obviously you'll have heard about my history with Phil and Stuart, amongst others and whilst it was fun and nice to feel attractive to them, there was just something that always told me I'd be on my own if I found myself in a tough spot. Perhaps it's a man thing, maybe it's because Lucy and Jo are both women that they intuitively know exactly what support they need to give," Sam pondered from her own seat next to Lorna.
"Maybe that's where we're going wrong," Lorna grinned, her tone teasing and jaunty, her eyebrows raised suggestively. Sam blushed and hid her grin behind her mug as she took a sip of her still scalding tea, eyes watering as the liquid burned a path down her throat. The combination of that and the sudden bolt of arousal which had flooded through her at Lorna's words, rendered her voice deeper than normal.
"Oh that it was that easy!" she quipped, voice shaking a little nervously.
"Have you ever thought about another woman that way? About sharing your life with a woman rather than a man, sharing your bed with one?" Lorna pressed gently, leaning towards her companion, head tilted to one side as she awaited the response intently.
"I hadn't, not apart from fleetingly when Jo and I first became close," Sam admitted shyly.
"Hadn't? As in past tense? Meaning that you have now? Or just a turn of phrase and it's something you might consider now the idea has been planted in your mind?" Lorna wondered where her bravery had come from. The thought of Sam declaring she would consider a relationship with a woman both excited her beyond belief and terrified her. If the notion that Sam was unequivocally straight was removed from the equation, it gave Lorna one less defence against acting on her current crush for the diminutive DI.
"Hadn't…until recently, until I met a woman who has made me consider all those things." Sam's eyes darted around the lounge, focusing on anything other than the woman sat beside her.
"Oh." The note of disappointment was evident in Lorna's tone as she heard Sam admitting that there was a woman for whom she had developed some kind of romantic feelings.
Emboldened by their frank discussion and hopeful that the tone was disappointment and not distaste, Sam asked, "have you ever looked at another woman and thought about being with her?"
"Once, but she's unavailable so it doesn't really count for much," Lorna confessed sadly, idly playing with the rim of her mug.
"How do you know she's unavailable? Have you asked her?" Sam suddenly wondered if she had read Lorna wrong, if it was Jo in whom she was interested and not herself but their casual and affectionate banter throughout the earlier part of the evening had led her to at least strongly suspect she was not the only one feeling something.
"Not directly, no," Lorna sighed, wishing she had never started this particular conversation. "It's late, we should get to bed…umm I mean…I should let you get some rest."
"Ask her, Lorna." Sam reached out and caught Lorna gently by the wrist, preventing her from fleeing as she was wanting to do.
"Sam, I… I can't," Lorna cried, trying desperately to wrest her hands from Sam's grip before the tears which were threatening began to fall.
"Yes you can, you can ask me and I will tell you that I recently acknowledged that I have feelings for you; feelings which leave me breathless and excited and petrified all at the same time. And I know that now is not the ideal time to be exploring anything and if you don't want to, we don't need to act on this at all but if Jo's illness has reminded me of one thing, it's that life is too short and we should all take our chances at every tiny shred of happiness which comes our way." Sam took a gamble and laid her heart on the line, caressing Lorna's, now still, hands with her thumbs as she spoke.
"Me? Sam, you… I… me?" Lorna was genuinely shocked to hear Sam's heartfelt admission. Her heart began to thud in her chest as primal instinct overtook her self-restraint. She pulled Sam into her, freeing her hands long enough to wrap them around the shorter woman's frame, holding her to her tightly. She peppered gentle kisses along Sam's head and jaw before she reached full, inviting lips. Looking deeply into Sam's eyes, she drew closer still, their breath mingling and the most feather-light of touches applied. Each woman lost herself in the explosion of sensations, mutually, by silent agreement, deepening the kiss. A tiny groan of pure pleasure escaped from Sam's throat as her hands caressed Lorna's back and sides. Lorna stroked the sensitive skin on the back of Sam's neck with soft fingers, her other palm resting against Sam's hip, holding her close as their tongues duelled for supremacy.
When the need for oxygen forced the women to part, they were both panting and breathless, skin flushed and pupils dilated in tandem arousal. Their eyes locked, each weighing the other up warily, assessing if there was going to be a sudden flood of regrets, recriminations and rejection. Sam leant her head forward, resting her forehead against Lorna's own.
"Wow," she murmured softly. "If I'd known one kiss could feel like that, I'd have kissed a woman a damn sight sooner!" She was keen to break the uneasy tension hovering in the air around them, taking Jo's preferred route and hiding behind humour.
"I don't think just any woman could make a kiss feel like that, Sam. I think that was because it was you and it wouldn't have mattered if you were man, woman or beast." Lorna's words were whispered reverently, her breath tickling the fine hairs at Sam's temple.
"Is it something you want to do again?" Sam's voice held an uncharacteristically uncertain tone as doubts began to seep into her own mind; was Lorna simply curious about what it was to be with a woman? Was she just lonely? Did Sam want to run the risk of opening herself up to be hurt again? What would it mean for them both career-wise if they pursued a relationship?
Rather than answering immediately, Lorna cupped Sam's cheek with an open palm, seeking out her lips once again in a sweet, tender, almost chaste kiss. "Very much so," she replied at length, "but I want us to be able to talk things properly through before we leap into anything." Seeing a faint crease still troubling Sam's brow, Lorna pressed her full lips against it wishing to soothe the other woman's fears and worries. She felt Sam's body relax against her, revelling in the sensation and sense of belonging it brought.
"I'd like that too," Sam murmured, her lips brushing against the sensitive skin of Lorna's neck as she spoke causing a bolt of fire to course through the red-head's body which threatened to test her resolve to the limit.
"But talking is for another time, when neither of us is exhausted or overwrought. For tonight, could I just hold you for a bit, while we drink our tea?" Lorna wanted to cool things down a little for fear of moving too fast and ruining their chance at a lasting, meaningful connection with her impatience.
"That'd be nice, yeah." Sam leant forward, picking up her discarded mug before settling back against the cushions of the couch. Lorna retrieved her own cup from the side table beside her, leaning back against the plush sofa close to where Sam rested. She draped her arm over the back of the settee, making a space which Sam needed no invitation to fill, moving instantly to cuddle against Lorna's warm body, tucking her legs up beside her. The contented blonde felt Lorna drop a sweet kiss against her hair and sighed happily. "Mmm, this I could definitely get used to."
"Me too," Lorna agreed. "I think I've missed this more than I realised, just having someone to be close to." She struggled to put into words how she felt, how wonderful and fulfilling it felt to simply hold Sam against her, to have a warm body in her arms. Sam seemed to understand the sentiment however and snuggled slightly closer still, mumbling her assent. They remained that way, quietly content to just sit with one another, until the last dregs of their drinks had been drunk, neither feeling the need to rush anything or to make pointless small talk.
"I suppose we ought to get some sleep." Suddenly, Sam wished that Lucy wasn't in her bed and she could remain in Lorna's arms all night, despite knowing that would not be conducive to taking things slowly. As soon as the thoughts flitted through her mind, she felt selfish and uncharitable, knowing that Lucy was struggling with not having Jo beside her.
"Yeah, as much as I'm enjoying this, I'd hate for you to be too tired to concentrate on finding that little boy tomorrow." Lorna rubbed her hand across Sam's back tenderly before settling to play with tendrils of her fine, blonde hair.
"Could I be so bold as to request a goodnight kiss?" Sam asked hopefully, her expression sparkling with just the tiniest hint of mischief.
Lorna offered a blinding smile in return. "I'd be offended if you didn't." She leant down and covered Sam's lips with her own, offering a gentle yet passionate kiss to the woman who had unwittingly captured her heart.