Sorry for the delay again. I didn't get that many reviews at first and then I got caught up in other stuff so yeah :( please review :) i wanna know what you think of it...and maybe a sequel??? Xxx
Emma paused outside the station, her heart thumping painfully hard in her chest as she drank in the cool air around her. That had been close, too close for comfort. When she was away from him there was a rational part of herself that knew he was bad news and that at times he was stroppy self-centred git. However, when she was close enough to feel his breath on her cheek, count the freckles on his nose she forgot herself, her doubts and her worries – until she came crashing back to Earth with a bump.
He was her sullen Sergeant, off limits and out of reach. The Met's firm frown at office relationships made it impossible for them to really be together even if they got that far. Then there would be the tortuous supposed 'favouritism' and the 'fact' that she was just using him to get a leg up the career ladder. To be quite frankly honest, she knew they'd have been doomed from the start.
There was just that niggling 'What If' though. The one that told her there was a reason Callum was why he was and that behind the stony exterior there was something special, worth waiting for.
As she walked along in the dark following the street lights in the vague direction of The Seven Bells she allowed these 'What Ifs' to roam free, untamed. Something inside her, the way she felt about him had changed. Somehow the moody, callous man had become a handsome mysterious stranger and his silences and secrets had become unexplainably interesting and sexy.
Pushing open the door and falling forwards into the embracing warmth of the pub Emma grinned. Tonight wasn't for pining after Callum and fulfilling her selfish need to 'What If' herself to death. It was Sally's night to celebrate just as much as hers, and there was a whole table full of people just waiting to congratulate her.
As Sally watched her approach their eyes connected and in that one look she could see her heavy heart, the burden of decision that now weighed upon her. Smiling slightly, Emma sank down beside her. "Don't even ask." She whispered, their hands clasped together.
"What makes you think I want to?" Sally replied as she bent forwards to pass Emma a glass of wine. "It's a dry white…I thought you'd be sick to death of bubbly by now."
Smirking, Emma turned in to face her. "Sick of bubbly, boys and bullshit wisecracks." She agreed. Even the thought of spending more time in the company of the three city slickers made her want to gag. "Why are men so complicated?"
Sally shrugged as Will leant in towards Emma, his arm around her shoulders. "It's because we're superior to you darling." He laughed jokingly, squirming away as Emma dug her fingers into his ribs. A hot stare on the back of her head drew her away from head to head combat with Will as she turned back to Sally's accusing glare.
"I thought your feelings for him were 'purely platonic'. You look more than a little friendly to me!" She hissed softly.
Rolling her eyes Emma groaned. "How many times do I have to say it? Will and I are friends. We're totally through with getting horizontal. Friends right? Nothing more." Emma turned between Sally and Will – who was nodding along with her.
"Yeah." Will slurred. "She's too much like hard work and I don't think I could stand having her clutter up my bathroom with all her crap."
Smirking at Emma who was trying her very best to look offended Sally giggled. "Okay, okay I believe you…but you still won't tell me what did or did not happen after I left today will you?"
"No, no and just no." Emma replied annoyingly as she let Will pull her to her feet and drag her across to the pool table.
As they began to walk home from the pub, the rain softly pattering around them, Emma sighed. "Why so glum chum?" Sally joked lightly. "You got a confession outta that guy. If you hadn't done what you did 'e mighta got away."
Nodding slightly Emma turned, her face twisted in a bitter expression. "Shame the Serge doesn't think that way."
"Oh so that's what this is about?" Sally teased. "You're all miffed because you haven't got dear old Callum's approval."
"No!" Emma replied quickly, making herself look even guiltier than normal. "Well…maybe a little bit." She conceded eventually.
"What happened with you two in that office anyway…or do I even wanna know?" Sally asked, her hand on Emma's arm, pulling her back.
Twisting and turning uncomfortably Emma groaned. "Look Sal…I don't even know what happened. Well, I think I don't." She sighed as she took several steps forward. "He wasn't happy about what I did tonight. He thought it was reckless and that I did it just to disobey him." Emma murmured as she pulled Sally along beside her.
"And did you?"
"No…yes…maybe a little." Emma grinned. "I guess I wanted to show him that he couldn't boss me about and put me down forever. I wanted him to think that I was a worthy officer."
Sally smirked as she pulled Emma to a halt. "You've got a crush on him don't you Em?" Glad for once of the darkness Emma blushed. "Oh my god…you didn't kiss him did you?"
"No. No I didn't…but he was gonna." Emma replied, laughing as Sally squealed excitably.
Callum rubbed his hand tiredly across his forehead, trying to clear his mind as he stared at the blank screen in front of him each time picturing Emma's face, upturned to his, her eyes darting between his eyes and his lips. Screwing his eyes shut he winced. He'd been here far too long.
She'd made a fool out of him. She'd backed him into a corner and got him so worked up that he had no choice but to show her a little more of himself. Opening up slightly to her she'd slapped him in the face – this time not so literally although it hurt him just as much.
Emma Keane. She was one of those people who as hard as you tried you couldn't sum up in a few words. She was funny yet serious, kind but harsh, beautiful yet terrifying and just about as stubborn as they come.
When he'd first met her he'd passed her off. She was a Daddy's girl, a spoilt little brat who got everything her own way. She was popular and polite to Top Brass, she looked like a model officer but got away with far more than the others would have dared. Now…he knew a lot more about her than he had previously it wasn't like her private life and the break down of her marriage weren't common knowledge.
For someone who'd been through all of that she was surprisingly strong. She'd armoured herself against it according to Gina and had had a pretty rough couple of months following the incident that landed her in custody. Now however she was back to normal, her tough shell broken away by Beth and Sally who opened her up and turned her back into the twenty-five year old she should have been.
God – why was this so difficult? He'd been turned down by girls before. He'd been made a fool of plenty of times so why was this occasion so different, so hard to get past?
The door swung open and his head jerked up from where it had been resting on the keyboard. "Callum?" Nikki asked uncertainly, her head tipped to the side as she peered at him through the gloom in the office. "Cal what are you doing here, your shift ended about two hours ago!"
"Uh…I…uh." Callum shook his head, ducking back from his chair and picking up his jacket. "I was just going." He concluded as he walked across to the door.
Nikki smiled slightly. "Night Callum." She called as he trudged along the corridor and out of sight. Sometimes she thought she'd never work him out!
Callum sat in the car, nervously twisting the small scrap of paper in his hands. Eyes darting up towards the flat as he saw the curtains being pulled across, the flickering glow of TV being masked by the rich purple material. Taking a final deep calming breath he opened the door and began to walk up the pathway.
The door had been left ajar so he slipped though unnoticed. A few minutes later as he continued to climb the twisting and turning steps he cursed Emma's parents for their wealth, of course their daughter would have one of the penthouse flats. Stumbling up the last few steps he paused, brushing himself down as he slid aside the glass door and stepped into a kind of open air hallway where the doors to Flats 12A and 12B were lined opposite one another.
As he approached Emma's door he stuffed the scabby slip of paper into his jeans pocket and rang the doorbell, his heart rate nearly doubling in time as he heard footsteps approach. The bolt slid across and the door flew open to reveal Sally standing in a pair of skimpy pyjamas, her dressing gown abandoned limply around her shoulders. "Serge?" She squeaked, pulling the cords together as she blushed.
"I uh…yeah um isn't this Emma's place?" He asked nervously, his fingers twisting around the paper deep in his pocket.
"Well yeah but we share the flat." Sally grinned as her face returned to it's normal colour, more pressing matters – like teasing Callum – on her mind. "You want me to go get her." She left the sentence hanging as she disappeared along the corridor. "Oi Emma get your butt out of the bathroom." She called before returning to flash a cheeky grin at the Sergeant.
There was the sound of a lock scraping before the flap, flap, flap of Emma's slippers on the wood before she appeared around the corner, her toothbrush still hanging from her mouth. "Oh." She whispered softly. Pulling the toothbrush from her mouth she laid it on the table beside her. "I uh…wasn't expecting to see you." She stumbled over her words as Sally slunk into the living room, clearly still listening to every word.
"No. I wasn't really expecting to come round myself." Callum replied, his eyes still trained on Emma's fluffy slippers.
"Do you…wanna go outside? I get the feeling that Little Miss Subtle is just dying to hear what we have to say." Emma grinned slightly as she heard a muffled thump as Sally slid sideways off the sofa. Nodding Callum pulled open the door and let her shuffle out underneath his arm before he closed it behind them.
Smiling, he watched as she walked over to the railings that surrounded the rooftop, shrugging the sleeves of her pyjama top down as she went as the cool night air enveloped her. Joining her he looked down to the roof of his car and then up to the crystal clear sky with all of the stars shining brightly down upon them. "I'm sorry…" They both began at the exact same moment, a small smile stretching at their lips.
"I'm sorry that I went against your orders." Emma said softly as she turned away from him once more, easier to admit to her errors when the darkness was shielding her.
"…And I'm sorry I got angry at you for doing that." Callum replied, his arm brushing hers as he hung over the side of the railings. "I shouldn't have lost my rag with you it was stupid but I meant what I said back in the office – I want someone I can rely on."
"Well…I didn't mean what I said. I told you I'd got you sussed but I don't. I don't have a clue where you're coming from…I don't know a thing about you." Emma admitted shyly.
Callum exhaled – now or never. "You know I like you."
"I do?" Emma breathed, feeling Callum's arms hook over her own, his chest pressing against her back as he moved to stand behind her, his fingers intertwining through hers. "I was so sure that it wasn't that…that I had to prove myself wrong."
"I was trying to prove myself wrong too…to prove that I didn't like you the way I thought I did but I was wrong. I know that now." He whispered in her ear, his breath tickling her neck.
Smiling to herself Emma blushed. "And what way do you like me?" She asked, teasingly trying to draw it out of Callum.
"I think you already know the answer to that." He murmured as he turned her in his arms, one hand cupping her cheek as he pressed his lips softly to hers. As the moon emerged from behind a cloud it lit up the couple, Emma's arms already winding around his neck as his hands settled on her waist, pulling her in closer to him. Biting down gently on his lip she slipped her tongue through the gap between his teeth, pushing the kiss to the next level like she knew she wanted. "Wow." Callum breathed as he pulled back from her.
"Yeah…night Cal." She grinned as she reached up on tiptoes to plant another soft kiss against his lips, before turning and disappearing through the front door, pushing the bolt across slowly as her smile spread across her whole face.
Sally's footsteps echoed around her as she ran through, joining her at the door. "Emma! What happened between you guys?" Her friend squeaked as she bounced up and down at seeing Emma's happy face.
Rolling her eyes slightly Emma giggled. "Well…now that would be telling."
From outside Callum smirked, hearing Sally chase Emma along the hallway their laughter echoing through the flat. Tilting his chin up to the stars he let a smile escape his lips also. "No more 'What Ifs'." He murmured. "No more 'What Ifs'."