Thanks for all the reviews everyone. I am writing this as quickly as possible, but I've also been working on some HR fan videos so time seems to have run away from me.
Ruth woke up at six after experiencing some very disturbing dreams. Then the events of last night came back to her. Sighing, she wrapped her dressing gown around her and went downstairs, her first thought being to check on Lucy. Ruth was pleased to see the girl was still asleep so she went through to the kitchen, poured some orange juice and flicked through yesterdays paper. By the time she got passed the headlines she heard padding feet and she turned around.
"Hi," Ruth said, smiling at her.
"Where am I?" Lucy said looking around, more curiously than with fear of the unknown.
"You're in my house," Ruth said. "You remember me from yesterday don't you?"
"Yes," Lucy said firmly. "Ruth. With the boats. Where's daddy?"
"I think he's still asleep," Ruth replied, at the same time wondering if that was the first time she had called Harry daddy. "I can get him, or I can make you some breakfast? What would you like?"
"I'm hungry," she said simply.
"Breakfast it is then," Ruth said with a smile. "What do you normally have?"
"Mummy used to make me eggs with soldiers," Lucy said, clambering up onto a kitchen chair. She wasn't quite tall enough to be sitting at the table so Ruth quickly got some cushions for her and then started boiling the eggs.
"Thank you Ruth," Lucy said as a plate was put in front of her. "You made them all funny!" she added with a giggle. Ruth smiled because she had drawn faces on the egg shells, and she was pleased that Lucy liked them. Ruth ruffled the girls hair lightly, unaware that Harry was watching from the doorway. "He likes you," Lucy said in between bites.
"Who? Harry?" Ruth asked quickly.
Lucy nodded. "He watches you. He likes to watch you."
"You're very observant," Ruth said trying to hide her hammering heart.
"What's ob…what's that word mean?"
"It means that you notice things. You see what's happening around you," Ruth said quietly. Lucy smiled before going back to her breakfast. Harry came around the corner, already dressed in yesterdays clothes and Ruth blushed, remembering Lucy's comments as Harry ruffled her hair.
"Sleep well?" Ruth asked.
The honest answer was no, because he kept waking up, both because he was listening out for Lucy and because his mind kept wandering to the brunette sleeping just down the hall from him. "I slept fine, thank you," he lied. Ruth nodded, suddenly aware that she wasn't wearing much. "How about you?" he asked Lucy.
"Ruth made funny eggs," she said happily. Harry looked at the now empty shells and smiled.
"You're wonderful," Harry said quietly to her. Ruth blushed again. "Can I make myself a cup of tea?"
"Oh, help yourself," Ruth nodded quickly. Harry opened the cupboard and then stilled immediately.
"I wouldn't have taken you for a whisky drinker," he said, eyeing up the bottle on the top shelf. Ruth looked down, because she wasn't, the only reason she had it was in the very small possibility that Harry would come around and drink some. "Glenfiddich, my favourite." She knew perfectly well it was his favourite, which was the reason she had a bottle of it in her cupboard in the first place.
"I should probably get dressed," she said to change the subject, getting up from her chair.
"Please, not on my account." The look in his eyes was very intense and Ruth quickly left the kitchen so she didn't do or say something that was inappropriate around a three year old. Harry smiled at her retreating back and then turned to Lucy who was watching the grown ups with curiosity.
"Can I talk to Towers again today?" Lucy said innocently.
"What do you mean, again?" Harry asked quickly.
"You went to talk to Ruth yesterday. The phone rang. I picked it up and it was someone called Towers. He was funny."
To Harry there were so many things wrong with that sentence. Firstly that she'd answered the phone and said God knows what to the Home Secretary, secondly Towers, funny? He didn't think so somehow. "I don't think that would be the best idea," Harry said.
"Please daddy?" she asked with wide eyes.
"We'll see," Harry said in a low voice as his heart thumped almost painfully in his chest at the word "daddy."
The next couple of days passed relatively peacefully, if anything could be considered peaceful while working in Thames House. Ruth felt dismayed that Harry hadn't tried to kiss her again. He hadn't asked her out to dinner, nothing. She tried to deny to herself that it really mattered but she wasn't convincing her heart one little bit. Trying to ignore her feelings she picked up her desk phone before the first ring had fully died away.
"Ruth? Can you come into my office for a minute?" She looked through the glass and saw Harry watching her, so she nodded and hurried through. "I have to go to the hospital today," he said quickly after she shut the door.
"Is everything alright?" she asked at once.
"Fine," he assured her. "Lucy needs her stitches taken out, that's all." Ruth nodded. "I want you to make sure that everything runs smoothly here while I'm gone."
"Of course," she said and the cold note in her voice was clear to both of them.
"What's wrong?" he asked in a voice which demanded honesty from her.
"You don't say anything to me for days," she eventually said. "You kiss me the other night, and you haven't even mentioned it. I… I just don't know what to think Harry."
He sighed heavily. Over the past few days he had been giving this a lot of thought, and painful though it was, he knew what he had to say. "You don't want me Ruth," he said sadly. "I'm too old and have too much baggage for someone as incredible as you. You should have someone who deserves you. Who knows and appreciates just how beautiful and intelligent you are."
Ruth was stunned into silence, but only for a minute. "You're just assuming you know what I think and how I feel," she said. "I don't care that you're older than me, or that you have "baggage" as you put it. I don't want anyone else Harry, I want you." He looked at her, surprised by her bluntness, but he also saw that it was true. What she said might actually have been the truest thing she'd ever told him about her feelings. So he got up from behind his desk, and without even letting either of them have time to think about it, he wrapped his arms around her and he kissed her deeply. She stayed perfectly still for a second or two but he didn't stop. And then she responded to him wonderfully. Neither wanted to ever let go.
More when its written...