Taking a fresh bottle of wine out of the fridge Alex returned to the living room where Gene had placed two glasses on the table and was now settled on her sofa, watching her.
"An eventful evening." she breathed, pouring the drinks and curling up on the sofa, bringing her legs up onto the chair. She sipped at the glass, watching Gene for a reply.
"Agreed. Not often I go for a walk with a bird to catch a bastard about to attack and rape someone." he replied.
"Really? I thought that would be your token piece. Take 'em out for a nice walk, flirt a bit and then show off your 'macho' skills." Alex said bringing back the finger waggling as she said the word macho. Remembering the memory he smiled before drinking the wine.
"Just you Bolls." He raised the glass a little before downing the last drops and re-filling without a second thought.
"And they say romance is dead(!)" Alex replied sarcastically before taking the bottle from him and emptying it into her own glass.
Within half an hour it was fair to say that both officers were a little more drunk than planned. With three bottles of wine and a bottle of whisky empty and standing on the table the two of them had returned to their old ways, arguing.
"I am telling you I'm not drunk!" Alex insisted, rocking slightly on the chair as she did so, spilling some of the wine onto the floor."And I am telling you, you are drunk. You are pissed, smashed you are anything but sober!"
"Oh no D.C.I Hunt,' Alex said, stretching out the letters as she leaned closer, her warm breath mixing with his, 'I'm 100% sobey, sob…sober!" She finished triumphantly, an expression of pride at successfully saying the word.
"You are drunk D.I Bolly Knickers and there are no two ways about it. Now come on an' get to bed. Otherwise you'll be crashed ou' on the desk at work and you're no use to anyone there." Alex sighed and rested her head against his shoulder, making no effort to go to bed.
"Come with me?" She asked looking up into his eyes, hers wide and almost pleading. As much as he wanted to say yes, he knew it was the drink talking.
"No Bolly. You'll regre' it in the mornin'. I'm not comin' ta bed with ya." Her face fell in drunken disappointment as she curled up against him, hand on his chest, only the thin fabric before skin on skin contact.
"Then I'll have to stay here won't I? Don't leave me. I'm happy. I'll be scared on my own. What if the man calls again? Or comes round? I need you here Gene. To protect…" Before Alex could finish the sentence she had fallen asleep against him, the amount of alcohol carrying her off into a peaceful slumber. Gene sat for a moment unsure as to what he should do. His detective inspector had fallen asleep on him and as much as he wanted to wrap his arms around her, kiss her forehead and watch her sleep he knew that she wouldn't be as peaceful and happy when its worn off and she wakes to see him. Slipping out from under her he stood, before bending and lifting her into his arms, carrying her gently into the bedroom. Covering her with the duvet he brushed her hair out of her face and kissed her head anyway and left her to sleep, clearing up and leaving the flat as quietly as possible.
Across town as the clock struck midnight Shaz and Chris were happy and sober, settled after what they deemed a perfect evening. A romantic candlelit dinner, before returning home and sticking a film on and cuddling up, each with a huge mug of hot chocolate, filled to the brim with marshmallows. Now, the mugs were empty, the film had finished and the pair were sat talking about the wedding.
"It's amazing Chris. Even the Ma'am thought so. Beautiful." Shaz gleamed with excitement for their big day, everything ready and the day getting nearer and nearer. It was now just three days to go.
"Shaz. You could wear a bin bag and still be the most beautiful woman in the room. Even if you'd just woken up, hair all over the place, no make-up and the first thing you could find thrown on…you'd still be beautiful." It was very rare when Chris could say all these romantic thoughts he locked into his mind without fear of being called a poof from Ray or the Guv.
"Aw baby. You'll look great too! Always do. Now Ray is wearing a suit for the wedding isn't he? Cos' he can turn around and go 'ome again if he's coming in any old thing." Shaz changed the subject slightly, understanding how Ray and formality meant buying a drink for a bird before chatting her up and not three-piece suits and brand new shoes.
"Course he is Shazza. Made 'im promise. Even the Guv's bought a new suit." Chris grinned.
"Blimey." Shaz smiled warmly, hugging closer to him as he stroked her hair softly.
"Behave yourself on your stag won't ya?" Shaz asked sleepily, drawing concentric circles on his shirt with her finger lightly.
"Will do Shazza. I'll let Ray 'ave the stripper and 'e can please 'imself. Cos' I'm fine with you." Chris kissed the top of her head and pulled the blanket further up around her as she drifted off to sleep.
"I love you Shazza." He whispered."Love you too." She yawned before shuffling into a comfier position and falling asleep.
Ray yawned. Truth be told he was bored. Sitting at home with the TV babbling in the background he couldn't be bothered to sleep, but didn't like still being awake. Tomorrow morning, as he got ready for work he'd be thinking up a huge story to tell the boys in CID.
"She'd 'ave really big tits." He mumbled to himself. Attempting to picture the blonde bombshell he'd been describing to himself for the past half an hour he grinned weakly. Happy with what he'd come up with he eventually lugged himself off the sofa, switched the TV off and dumping his glass in the sink with an ever growing pile of cups and plates in need of washing headed to bed. Alone. This was rare for Ray. He didn't like it one little bit.
The atmosphere in CID the next morning was different for everyone. Ray's face was a picture of false glee as he expressed to the boys the imaginary girl he'd 'slept' with last night, enjoying their jealousy.
Both Alex and Gene were sat at their desks, attempting to work with equally raging hangovers developing. Their memories of the night before were vague and at some point Alex could have sworn she'd called Gene macho. Just how drunk was she?
He was in just as much trouble attempting to remember the events of the previous night. Alex had definitely called him macho."Macho?' he mumbled to himself, 'What does she think I am, one of the bloody village people?" He questioned, remembering with displeasure one night a couple of years ago. Very, very drunk that night he Ray and Chris had decided with some help of some equally drunk police officers that their own rendition of the village people would be a lot better than the original.
"Thank you God that Bolly wasn't around then. I'd never live it down otherwise." he prayed quietly as he poured himself a scotch.
Shaz and Chris were sneaking small smiles to one another across the room. But Chris was feeling a lot different to her inside. Shaz was bubbling with excitement at the thought of walking down the aisle in two days time but Chris was dreading it. He loved Shaz he really did, but all those people, watching him say all this romantic stuff. What if he mucked up? Would Shaz love him? What would happen? What if something went wrong and he tripped? Or said something wrong?
All these questions were making him nervous and that hadn't gone unnoticed.
"Chris? A word?" Alex asked, stepping away from her desk and holding the main door to CID open for him to leave.
Standing outside where nobody was around she looked at him with the concerned face she saved for victims, Chris noticed.
"What's going on Chris? You don't seem too happy considering your getting married in a couple of days." Alex asked.
"I'm nervous." He replied honestly, realising that this was D.I Drake, she had some sort of mind reading skill, he'd always thought, meaning anything he hid would be find out.
"Oh Chris, its natural to be nervous! If you weren't I'd be worried. What are you nervous about?" "What if I muck up? I'll ruin Shaz's day." he mumbled.
"Chris you won't muck up. And if you do who cares? Shaz loves you for you, not how good you are at remembering lines, or getting everything perfect. That's not you Chris. Shaz loves you. Short term memory and clumsiness and everything." Chris paused for a moment, trying to work out whether he'd just been granted a compliment or an insult. Alex noticed and laughed.
"What I mean Chris, is that, Shaz loves you. She couldn't care less if you made 1 mistake, 100 mistakes or no mistakes at all. She's getting married. And this is Shaz. She wouldn't care if it was a posh hotel or a barn in a field. As long as she's there, your there and her friends and family are there…she'll be happy." Alex smiled and Chris understood that she was, as usual, correct. He loved Shaz, and Shaz loved him, that's all that mattered.
"Thanks Ma'am." Chris smiled gratefully before leaving and heading back into CID. Alex stood for a moment, watching him go.
"You two are gonna be so happy Chris." She murmured after him. The happiness was short lived though, as she remembered the man on the phone.
"the happiest day of their life Alex. Will it be the happiest day of yours?"
Well there you go, chapter 12 up and ready for you to read, review and enjoy!
Next chapter will be up as soon as I have some reviews...so you know what to do!