We do not own Eastenders, Ashes to Ashes, Waterloo Road, Doctors, Emmerdale or River City
Chapter 4
Shaz smiled as she watched Denis lead Olivia away and chuckled lightly at Claire. She turned back to Rowan with a smile and a shrug.
"He shares our love for John Barrowman, and he's lonely without Simon," she chuckled as she passed Rowan some plates and pointed to the fridge.
"Help yourself to beer," she smiled.
Shaz turned to Ginger and gave him a playful smack on his shoulder. "And you, stop winding her up, otherwise she might not feed you!" she grinned. "And woe betide you if your rumbley tummy distracts us from our marathon," she said.
"Awwww, poor Ginger. Don't expect too much sympathy on my part," Rowan said and gestured him to help himself to the tacos finally. She walked to the fridge and got herself a beer and then nodded along.
"I won't put up with any rumbling stomach noises, so you best behave," she said to Ginger, who was already stuffing his face.
He carefully finished chewing his mouthful. "With food this good, I will only be in danger of stuffing myself to the point of explosion," he told her and took another huge bite. Rowan looked and Shaz and put a soppy expression on her face.
"He's such a nice boy," she remarked and patted Ginger's cheek. "He says such nice things about my food."
She winked at Shaz and went into the front room.
"So, where did we leave off last time?" Rowan asked as he picked up DVD cases. She held up a case. "I think we're on this one aren't we?"
Shaz glanced at the DVD case as she picked another taco off her plate and looked at the cover. She smiled as she nodded. "I think we got about half-way through before I fell asleep," she admitted with a chuckle.
Ginger took advantage of Rowan distracting Shaz to grab three more tacos onto his plate. He picked up his beer and sat down on the couch, chewing happily as he watched them discuss the DVDs.
Shaz shot a look at Ginger and frowned. "I saw that," she murmured to him as she sat herself down on the sofa and curled her legs underneath her. She took a quick look at the time and sighed, she would need to keep an eye out for when to put Olivia to bed. She had at least an hour before she absolutely had to be in bed.
Ginger put on an expression of excessive innocence and Rowan chuckled. She quickly sat down and grabbed up her plate, keeping one ear out for the twins.
She brushed her hands off as she reached for her can and took a sip, she replaced it and grabbed up the remote as Rowan put the DVD into the player.
"Here we go" she said gleefully.
/\\/\\\/\/\/\/\\\/\/\\\/\/\/\\\/\/\/\\/\/\\\/\/\\/\\\/\/\\
Molly walked up to the pub and smiled as she spotted Ray coming from the opposite direction.
"Hey, Ray," she smiled. "How're the twins?" she asked. "And Rowan? I haven't been to the Restaurant in ages," she said and Ray smiled.
"Good, ta, Molly, you alright?" he asked as he opened the door to the pub and stood back to let her go first. Molly stepped through the door first and Ray followed behind her, his gaze instantly finding Chris at the bar.
"Yeah, fine," she said back absently as she left him and weaved her way towards her friends.
"Boo," she said with a smile as she took the seat by Whitney.
Ray headed towards Chris and leant against the bar. "I was planning on picking you up and driving down here, but now I think about it, it's probably a good idea to walk back to yours," he said with a sigh. "Ro will have to drive home," he added.
Annie walked over as Ray sat down.
"Hi, what can I get you?" she asked him brightly and looked at Chris. "I assume you'll want another now that your mate is here?" she added. Chris nodded and put the money on the bar.
"Ta, love," he said and looked at Ray.
"My round," he said. "You're sure Ro doesn't mind being the designated driver?" Chris asked.
Ray shrugged. "If I return unable to drive safely then she won't have much choice," he said back. "I'll make it up to her if she is mad at me for it," he added with a grin.
Ray looked up at the barmaid and then back at Chris. "When did the Vic get new staff."
"We started just today," Annie told him. "Charlie and I," she added and gestured where Charlie was getting Whitney a glass of wine.
"Now, if you're done discussing me, what can I get you?" she joked.
Ray looked up at Annie, he'd briefly forgotten she was standing there.
"Sorry love, pint please," he said with a small grin at her.
Annie winked at him. "It's fine, I get used to it,"she told him and poured their drinks.
Chris thanked her and glanced over at Lucy before looking back at Ray.
"So, new PC, what do you reckon?" he asked. "I know I heard she'd been a troublemaker in the past, but she seems all right. They seem to be being a bit rough on her, though."
Ray glanced over at Lucy and shrugged at Chris. "I've seen her around but not really met her," he said. "She's Peter Beale's sister though, I know that much. I used to see her a bit when Peter worked for Ro in the Cafe," he told him.
He sighed. "They always go hard on the new kid Chris, you know that," he frowned.
"Yeah...but..." he trailed off and shrugged. Ray would just think he was going too soft if he said he thought they were being harder on Lucy than usual. She seemed to be bearing up, he had to admit.
"Nemmind. So, what's new with you?"
Ray shrugged. "Not much, Ro wants to convert the attic for the kids, into a bedroom for them," he told him. "She's got the design all sorted, we've just got to get round to sorting it out," he said with a small smile.
"Nice one," Chris commented. "At least you don't have to move. Finding that new flat to keep Shaz happy was a nightmare, mate," he told him.
Ray shrugged. "Shaz is a nightmare anyway," he grinned and nudged Chris lightly to show he was teasing.
/\\/\\\/\/\/\/\\\/\/\\\/\/\/\\\/\/\/\\/\/\\\/\/\\/\\\/\/\\
Whitney turned when she heard Molly and smiled up at her.
"So, Bolton has agreed to help out with the show. It's sure to be good now. He's going to model and DJ so I'll have like a club theme," she said.
Lucy put her glass down and glanced at Lauren. "And Lauren fancies the new barman," she added.
"Stop!" Lauren hissed and blushed.
Lucy and Whitney chuckled at Lauren's discomfiture. "She does."
Molly glanced at Whitney suspiciously and nodded. "That's good," she commented as she continued to watch her friend's face.
Molly grinned at Lucy and Lauren then glanced over at the bar, she caught sight of the barman and then looked back at Lauren.
"You have good taste!" she said. "But what about James?" she prodded.
Lauren shrugged. "You can fancy more than one bloke at a time. It's not like James even notices I'm alive," Lauren said with a sigh.
Lucy shook her head. "Yeah, and what makes you think Cute Scottish Bartender will? That's his girlfriend he's working with."
Lauren shot a frown and Lucy and stuck out her tongue.
Molly looked back at Whitney. "So, whats going on with Bolton?" she asked curiously.
Whitney shrugged. "I don't know. But I get the impression after lunch earlier today with him that he just wants to be mates. It's fine. He's cool so I don't mind being mates with him."
She glanced down at her watch. "In fact, I can only stay here another hour tops. I've a lot to get done so I can spend tomorrow working on the stuff for the show."
"We'll drink the drinks for you that you couldn't have," Lauren offered and Whitney made a face.
"Thanks so much," she snorted sarcastically.
"Sure, happy to help. Would you like us to snog Bolton for you if he shows up after you leave?" she teased and Whitney's jaw dropped.
"Don't you dare do anything!" Whitney gasped.
"I was only joking!"
Whitney took a deep breath and drained her wine. "I'll get myself one more and maybe, just maybe I won't tell that bloke that you fancy him," Whitney threatened and headed for the bar.
"Whit!" Lauren gulped and looked at Molly and Lucy. "She wouldn't. She knows I wouldn't do anything. I was kidding. She knows that…right?"
Molly gave Whitney a sympathetic smile and patted her arm gently.
Molly shrugged. "Maybe," she smiled. "But now we know that she's not at all happy with being just mates with Bolton," she said with a grin. "We may have to do some matchmaking."
Lauren raised her eyebrow at Molly and grinned conspiratorially. "You think so?" she asked, mischief in her tone and looked at Lucy.
Lucy looked from Lauren to Molly and then over at Whitney at the bar. A wicked smiled curved the corners of her mouth. "Oh, definitely."
Molly grinned excitedly and drummed her fingers on the table thoughtfully as she watched Whitney's back.
Whitney thanked Charlie and came back with her wine. Her brow furrowed as she took in the expressions on her friends faces.
"What's going on?"
"Oh, nothing," Lauren replied dismissively. "They were having another go at me about Cute Scottish Barman," she added.
Whitney nodded. "Well, I didn't say a word, so you're welcome."
"Good thing, cause I'd have to kill you if you did," Lauren retorted.
/\\/\\\/\/\/\/\\\/\/\\\/\/\/\\\/\/\/\\/\/\\\/\/\\/\\\/\/\\
Rowan finished her second beer and went to toss the can in the recycle bin. She turned to go back into the front room to see Denis standing behind her.
"Tummy hurts," he complained and she saw his expression change just in time to snatch him up and hold him over the sink. She groaned and quickly rinsed off his face before putting him back down and then cleaned up Shaz' sink.
She picked him back up again and walked into the front room.
"Looks like Denis isn't feeling well. I better take them home. Will you survive the Barrowman fest without me?" she asked and peered into Olivia's room long enough to gesture at Claire they were leaving. Claire, realizing her brother was sick, soberly nodded and picked up the small bags they had brought.
Ginger got up and got the door for Rowan.
"Thanks, Marc," he said and put Denis down long enough to give Shaz a hug.
Olivia followed Claire out curiously and watched Rowan go with Denis and Claire. She sighed and then sat herself down on the floor, a yawn escaping her as she picked up one of her toys from the floor and began to play again.
Shaz sighed and nodded.
"Well, two episodes is better than none," she remarked and picked her son up again and headed out to the car to take them home.
"We'll do it again next week, or whenever," she smiled as she waved.
She shut the door behind Rowan and looked over at Ginger with a shrug.
Ginger grabbed two more cans from the fridge and dropped onto the couch. He put one down in front of her.
"Maybe you should put yours to bed and then we can seriously start drinking," he suggested and grinned mischievously.
Shaz smiled and looked over at the floor at Olivia.
"Livvy," she sang and Olivia looked up curiously. "Bedtime, sweetheart," she smiled and Olivia held up her arms.
"Story?" she asked as Shaz moved around the sofa and picked her up. "A quick one, though," she said back as she carried Olivia into her room and put her into her bed. Shaz grabbed up a book and read Olivia a story.
Shaz closed the book with a small smile and stroked her daughter's head, then reached over to put her CD player on quietly: that way if the TV was making too much noise Olivia would not hear it over the soothing music. Shaz stood off the bed and replaced the book on the shelf and crept out of the room. Closing the door behind her.
"Right," she said as she sat back down next to Ginger and grabbed up her beer and gave Ginger the remote.
Ginger held up his can and tapped Shaz' with it.
"Let's get car-parked," he suggested and drank down the can in one go. He let out a long sigh and smiled before going to get several more cans from the fridge and arraying them on the coffee table. He sat down next to Shaz again and put an arm around her shoulder and squeezed her tight.
"We'll be like Thelma and Louise, jumping off the cliff of drunkeness," he told her and kissed her cheek sloppily before letting her go and cracking open another can.
He looked back over at Shaz and winked. "I'll be Thelma."
Shaz chuckled and grabbed up her can and took a large gulp.
"Fine," she said with a laugh and she took another gulp and finished the can then squashed it and put it on the floor. Shaz eyed the cans lined up on the table and then looked back at Ginger with a grin, she leant towards him and tapped his shoulder.
"I bet I can down my share of those faster than you!" she challenged him as she prodded his shoulder again.
Ginger looked at her.
"Oh, you are on," he accepted her challenge and grabbed up another beer.
/\\/\\\/\/\/\/\\\/\/\\\/\/\/\\\/\/\/\\/\/\\\/\/\\/\\\/\/\\
Ray fished in his pocket and pulled out his phone with a sigh "Give him a hug from me x"
He looked up at Chris. "Denis is poorly, looks like I'm walking home, you don't mind me leaving the car at yours?" he asked.
Chris frowned in sympathy.
"Why not just phone a taxi?" he asked. "And why would you leave the car at ours? Surely Rowan would have driven the kids home," Chris wondered. He looked at Ray. "How many have you had, mate?" he asked jokingly.
Ray frowned at Chris and punched his shoulder lightly in retaliation.
"Shurrup," he said and pointed at his glass. "Look, haven't had that much!" he added as he grabbed up the glass and took a gulp.
"You've had enough," Chris shot back. "Oi, blondie, how much has he had?"
Annie whipped around and looked at Chris. She opened her mouth but Charlie got there first.
"What did you say?"
Chris blanched. "Sorry, mate. Just banter."
Charlie frowned but went back to what he was doing. Annie frowned at Charlie.
"I can handle myself," she snapped and looked at Ray and Chris.
"I think you should get a taxi," she told them.
Ray frowned at the man behind the bar and looked back at the girl.
"Yeah, Ro's not gonna be 'appy," he said with a sigh as he heaved himself up off his seat and planted his feet firmly on the floor.
"'mm gonna walk, s'not that far," he told Chris as he stumbled carefully through the bar to the door.
Chris nodded and slid off his own barstool and grabbed the bar to stop himself falling.
"Laters, mate," he said and staggered off towards his flat.
/\\/\\\/\/\/\/\\\/\/\\\/\/\/\\\/\/\/\\/\/\\\/\/\\/\\\/\/\\
Rowan sighed as she let herself into the flat. She sat Denis on the kitchen counter in case he got sick again and made him some chai tea. She put Claire to bed and then sat with Denis while he drank his tea and then put him to bed then texted Ray that she'd had to come home already because Denis had been ill.
She looked around the empty flat for a moment, her gaze stopping a moment on the mysterious flowers. She frowned and went into the kitchen and threw them in the bin before heading for bed.
Ray twisted the lock in the door in the flat as quietly as he could and let himself in. His foot connected with a toy that had been left lying around and he swore under his breath as he shut the door a little louder than he'd intended.
Ray put the lock back across and made his way to the bedroom. He poked Rowan as he got into bed behind her and pulled her close.
"Ows Denisss?" he mumbled to her.
Rowan rolled over and winced at the smell of beer coming off Ray.
"He's fine, Ray, go to sleep," she told him and shifted around to get comfortable again.
Ray grunted and rolled onto his back, he shut his eyes as he pulled the covers up closer and grunted again before falling asleep
/\\/\\\/\/\/\/\\\/\/\\\/\/\/\\\/\/\/\\/\/\\\/\/\\/\\\/\/\\
Whitney sighed as she looked around. She had quite hoped Bolton might turn up. She laughed along with the others at a joke Lucy told them and drained her glass.
"I should get going. Lots to do," she said around a yawn.
"Okay, I'll be quiet coming in," Lauren promised and Whitney nodded. She looked at Molly.
"See you at 10am sharp," Whitney said to remind her and then headed for the door.
Molly grinned up at Whitney and nodded.
"Promise," she smiled and then waved her off.
Molly looked at the others with a sigh. "I'd better get going too, I've got to drop Sam home in the morning before going to Whits," she said and drained her glass.
"Sees yas later," she smiled as she headed off.
Molly crept into the house and glanced in the spare room to check on her brother. She smiled as she headed over and turned off the bedside light that he had been using, she shut the door behind her and went along to her room, she shed her clothes and crept into bed next to Peter with a sleepy sigh.
/\\\/\/\/\/\\\/\\/\/\/\/\\/\\/\/\\/\/\/\/\\\/\/\/\/\\\/\\/\/\/\/\\/\\/\/\\/\/\/\/\\\/\/\/\/\\\/\\/\/\/\/\\/\\/\/\\/\/\/\
Rowan waved to the twins and went back inside the restaurant.
"How goes the plan for the attic conversion?" James asked as he walked up behind Rowan, causing her to drop the pan she was holding.
"James! Please don't creep up on me!"
James chuckled. "I wasn't creeping, honest."
She punched him in the shoulder and he cringed back.
"Awww, it's so cute when you two start flirting," Syed teased.
Rowan rolled her eyes. "Don't you start."
"Yes, Rowan knows she's the love of my life, and we'll run off together one day," James sighed dramatically and pretended to swoon.
Rowan groaned.
"I think I'm going to be sick."
/\\\/\/\/\/\\\/\\/\/\/\/\\/\\/\/\\/\/\/\
Jack slogged excitedly through his paperwork. Soon, it would be time for Alyssa's appointment. He knew it was just a preliminary for a referral, but still, it was exciting.
/\\\/\/\/\/\\\/\\/\/\/\/\\/\\/\/\\/\/\/\
Shaz wandered into the kitchen, rubbing her eyes slightly. Chris had opted to drop the Twins and Olivia off this morning so she was the one that had to be in work early. She grabbed down a mug and yawned as she sat on the counter and waited for the kettle to boil. She glanced out the door and saw Ginger wander into the office. She bit her lip and shuffled back so that he wouldn't see her in the kitchen.
/\\\/\/\/\/\\\/\\/\/\/\/\\/\\/\/\\/\/\/\
Alyssa smiled excitedly. She had worked yesterday's shift for Tanya in order for Tanya to take today's shift for her. She just didn't think that she'd be able to concentrate today. She was far too excited. She glanced down at the time and grabbed up her bag, firing off a text to Jack as she slammed the door behind her.
"On way to Surgery now :D"
She pocketed her phone and smiled as she headed towards the Surgery and sat down inside to wait for her turn and Jack to show up.
Alyssa looked up at the nurse at the desk as her name was called and sighed.
"Can we wait for a bit please? My husband still isn't here" she explained. She watched the nurse look at her watch, tut and then reluctantly nod.
Alyssa tapped her fingers anxiously on her knee as she fiddled with her phone.
/\\\/\/\/\/\\\/\\/\/\/\/\\/\\/\/\\/\/\/\
Ginger looked around, glad he couldn't see Shaz. He had no idea what to say to her after Friday night. He still wasn't sure how what had happened had actually happened. He went back to his desk and stared blankly at his computer.
Shaz sighed as Ginger vanished from view. She was pretty sure what had happened had happened, but her memories were hazy, and she wasn't entirely sure how it had happened. She looked at the kettle as it boiled and made herself a mug of coffee.
Shaz dawdled in the kitchen for a moment, she didn't really want to but she couldn't stay in the kitchen all day. She wandered out of the kitchen with her mug and glanced at Ginger's desk for the briefest of moments as she made her way to her own desk. She glanced up at him again as she sat down.
"Morning," she mumbled to him.
Ginger glanced up as Shaz went to her desk.
"Morning," he greeted, his voice barely audible. He gazed at her for a few moments and then walked over to her desk.
"Look, Shaz, um, I'm...uh...I'm sorry," he told her. "I'm not sure how what happened actually happened."
He scrubbed at his face and then stared at his feet and sighed.
Shaz looked up at him and swallowed anxiously.
"Alcohol, a lot of alcohol," she muttered and her hand flew to her mouth, she started biting her thumb nail as she watched him.
"We tell no one, and it never happened," she told him decisively with a sharp nod. "I'm just relieved that Olivia stayed asleep all night," she mumbled.
"Well...we're agreed on that score at any rate," he remarked. "And yeah...I'd like to just forget it happened if it's all the same, not that it wasn't...I mean...but...well...I'm gay and you're a woman and..." he trailed off and heaved a heavy sigh.
"What I wouldn't give for some Retcon right now," he groaned.
Shaz chuckled at him and shook her head. "It's fine, Marc," she said softly. "I'm not offended, it shouldn't have happened," she told him.
"Or the TARDIS, go back and stop drinking while we still had some control," she sighed.
/\\\/\/\/\/\\\/\\/\/\/\/\\/\\/\/\\/\/\/\
Lucy stood outside the door, holding the files she was carrying tight to keep from dropping them the way her jaw had dropped open. She took a quick peek around the door. They were definitely talking about what she thought they were talking about. She heard voices down the hall and quickly crept away from the door just in time to see Chris come around the corner.
"Morning," he greeted her. She nodded.
"Morning. Um, they asked me to bring these files over," she said and held them out to him.
"Ta very much. They going easy on you today?"
She shrugged. "I'm not going to complain. I'll just keep ignoring it until it goes away."
"Probably for the best," he agreed and gave her a small wave before continuing down the hall. Lucy watched him go, wondering if she should tell him what she knew...that his wife had shagged a fellow officer. She bit her lip. The old Lucy would be immediately plotting to use the information to her advantage, but Lucy was trying to change that image of herself. She sighed and went back to join up with Blake.
/\\\/\/\/\/\\\/\\/\/\/\/\\/\\/\/\\/\/\/\
"Got the kids dropped off fine," Chris announced as he entered the main room. He looked at Ginger and Shaz and chuckled. "Are you two still talking about your sci-fi shows?"
Ginger flushed, but tried to force it away before looking at Chris.
"Yeah, you caught us," he gave a nervous laugh and walked back to his desk. "Better quit goofing off and get to work."
Shaz looked up at Chris and attempted a smile as she sat back in her chair and pulled her gaze away from Ginger.
"How's Denis? He got ill on Friday," she told him and kept her eyes firmly fixed on her husband and off Ginger.
Chris shrugged. "He seemed fine to me. Must have got better over the weekend."
Ginger glanced over at them and then back at his screen.
Chris put half the files on Shaz' desk. "That PC trainee Beale brought them over."
Shaz nodded at Chris. "Good," she smiled at him. "He wasn't well on Friday at all."
She looked at the files and sighed heavily. "Okay," she said as she looked at them disdainfully. She hated paperwork at the moment, and there always seemed to be more of it. She half-smiled at Chris as she grabbed the top file
/\\\/\/\/\/\\\/\\/\/\/\/\\/\\/\/\\/\/\/\
Jack read Alyssa's text and smiled.
"Leaving in a minute," he sent back and quickly piled his papers aside and stood up. He walked out of the office and came face to face with an angry looking teacher and two students. He sighed. He clearly wasn't going anywhere.
Charlie frowned as he looked out on the Square. He had the day off but he didn't know what he wanted to do. He wasn't all that impressed with London. He missed Shieldinch and his friends. He wanted to go home.
He knew they'd only been here a few days, but he still wasn't warming to it. Annie seemed right at home.
/\\\/\/\/\/\\\/\\/\/\/\/\\/\\/\/\\/\/\/\
Jack stepped away from the argument for a moment. He quickly pulled his phone from his pocket.
"Crisis at school-gonna be late," he hurriedly sent. He sighed and went back to it. He hated having to leave Alyssa in the lurch.
/\\\/\/\/\/\\\/\\/\/\/\/\\/\\/\/\\/\/\/\
Whitney yawned hugely and looked at the rack where she had hung the finished outfits. Three "party" dresses, a formal, a business dress, a men's suit and a men's "party" outfit. She rubbed at her eyes. She stood up and hung the nightgown on the rack and then stretched.
She glanced at the clock and went upstairs to get herself a cup of tea before Jodie arrived.
"Late, late, late, late, late," Lauren muttered as she ran into the kitchen. She gave Whitney a little wave and grabbed up her bag.
"Byeeee," she sang as she ran out the door. Whitney waved but found her head drooping to the table. She was so tired! Her head snapped sharp upright at the sound of the bell. Jodie had arrived. She walked to the door and picked up the handset.
"Jodie?"
"Lemmee in," Jodie said into the speaker. Whitney hit the button.
"Come in, Jodes," she yawned and put the handset back down. She dropped back onto the chair and pillowed her head on her arms on the table.
/\\\/\/\\/\\\\/\\\/\\/\/\\\/\/\\/\/\\\/\/\\/\\\
Annie walked up behind Charlie and slid her arms around his waist.
"Morning, darlin'," she greeted. Charlie grunted.
Annie slid around in front of him and looked up at him.
"What's the matter?" she asked.
Charlie sighed. "I'm just not sure this is the place for us."
"Charlie, I thought you were starting to like it here. We've only been here a few days, can't you give it a chance?"
"I'm trying, Annie, I really am, I just...I miss home. All this traveling around, it's not my lifestyle," he told her.
"But you're a writer, how are you going to find things to write about if you don't travel around and experience them?"
Charlie's shoulders slumped. "I know, Annie, but..."
"But nothing, Charlie. We talked it over and we both agreed this would be for the best, that it's what we both wanted."
"I know what I said..."
"So, I don't get what's wrong," she broke in again. "I like the pub, I like the people we've met so far. Don't you?"
"I don't know," he huffed. He was tired of the way she kept interrupting him. "Look, today's my day off. I'll wander around and see. But, I just don't know about staying Annie."
"Fine, do what you like," Annie snapped and threw her hands up in the air. "I have to get to work."
She stalked out of the flat, slamming the door behind her. She really liked Charlie, but she hadn't realized how staid and sort of...boring...he could be. She shook her head as she hurried to the pub.
Charlie watched Annie slam out of the flat. He knew he was disappointing her, but he really wasn't sure he was happy here at all. He went into the bathroom to have a shower and think about what he was going to do today.
/\\\/\/\/\/\\\/\\/\/\/\/\\/\\/\/\\/\/\/\
Alyssa grabbed out her phone and read Jack's text. She sighed heavily and her smile faded completely. She glanced up at the nurse and nodded reluctantly. The nurse swept around the desk and pointed at Simon's door.
Alyssa heaved herself up out of the cold plastic chair and knocked gently on Dr Bond's door. She wished Jack was with her, she could only imagine how excited he would be. She knew he would be upset to have missed it. It was times like this that she hated his job. But then the 6 weeks holiday he got every year made up for it. She shook her head and sighed as she went into Dr Bonds office and took a seat.
"So, Mrs. Rimmer, what seems to be the trouble?" Simon asked.
Alyssa smiled at Simon.
"There isn't a problem, exactly," she told him. "I'm pregnant," she said, letting her grin spread over her face. "Jack insisted that I come for a check up, but it seems he can't make it," she sighed.
"Well, congratulations. Let's give you a bit of a physical and then I'll get you a referral," he said brightly and picked up the cuff to check her blood pressure.
Alyssa sat in front of Simon once all of his examinations were complete and raised her eyebrows at him.
"So?" she asked him.
Simon gazed at Alyssa steadily for a few minutes and got onto his computer.
"I'm going to schedule you in for an emergency scan. I want you to go over to the hospital right now, go right to the ultrasound tech lab. I'll make sure they get you in as soon as. Don't ask me any questions because I'm not absolutely certain at this point. Go and have the scan and then I want you to see Dr. Lancaster. I'll let him know you're coming," Simon told her.
Alyssa listened to Simon her face fell and a hand closed over her stomach worriedly. She nodded at him.
"Doctor Lancaster," she repeated quietly as she stood up.
She cast her eyes over Simon again and took a deep breath as she nodded once more and left his office. She hurried out of the Surgery and hailed a cab as she reached the road.
Alyssa sat in the cab and held a hand over her stomach. Something was wrong, something was wrong! She held her head back against the headrest in the car and took a deep breath. Simon had said not to ask questions, he wasn't sure. It was just a precaution. It might be okay.
She got out at the hospital and made her way to the front desk and told the receptionist what Simon had told her. She was directed to the ultrasound room and waited.
/\\\/\/\/\/\\\/\\/\/\/\/\\/\\/\/\\/\/\/\
Ray drained his coffee and finished up his breakfast. He sat and watched Rowan and her staff sorting out everything for the morning, then stood and put his plate and mug by the washer. He stretched and yawned then caught Rowan and kissed her forehead.
"I'm gonna make a start," he told her.
He let her go and smiled at her before turning to go back upstairs.
Ray stood in the doorway to the twins room looking around. He was trying to decide where to begin. Today was the day when they moved the twins up into the attic. Rowan had spent the majority of yesterday cleaning it while he entertained the twins.
Ray ran his hand over his face as he sorted out an order and began to move the bigger things out of the bedroom and along the corridor.
Rowan nodded and quickly went back to finishing up the morning prep. Ray was going to need help. She made sure things were as caught up as she could make them and then left her competent staff to it and hurried upstairs.
She stood with her hands on her hips a moment and looked at the things in the hall.
"Well, the beds come apart and the other things are small so I can help with all that, but I'm not going to be able to help with the dresser," she said as she gestured at it. She poked her head into the nursery. "And if you keep piling everything out here, we won't have any room to move to get things up there."
Ray glanced over his shoulder at her.
"Hey!" he growled. "I'm creating a system!" he retorted as he stood up straight and looked at her.
"Heavy stuff goes up first, so we can get that wherever you want it, then we put in everything else, and you arrange however you want it," he said. "But first the heavy stuff," he said decisively with a firm nod of his head.
"So, I'll get that dresser up there first while you get the beds dismantled, then we put them back together up there and I'll get stuff up for you to put wherever you want," he told her.
He turned around and grabbed the side of the dresser to pull it out of the bedroom, then stopped in the corridor and opened the drawers to empty them into neat piles on the floor: the lighter it was, the easier this would be.
"Right then," he said under his breath as he carefully lifted the dresser and began to ease it up the steps into the attic.
"A system, I see," Rowan said. She folded her arms as she listened to him. She went over and moved the drawers so he could shift the dresser and then gasped.
"Ray, you'll kill yourself trying to get that up there by yourself!" She hurriedly grabbed the other end of the dresser to help. "Why couldn't you just wait?" she grunted as she began to push while Ray pulled.
She sighed as they finally got it into the attic and she walked over to Ray and smacked his arm.
"I know you're a big, strong bloke, darling, but will you please not do that again?"
Ray rubbed his arm where she had hit him and frowned at her. "I got it up here didn't I?" he grumbled back as he looked at the dresser. "It's not scratched or broken or anything!" he added.
She wound her arms around his waist and held him tight before letting him go.
"Okay, let's get this finished and then see if we can't find some other 'stuff' to get up and where we might put it," she purred.
Ray's eyebrows rose and he held her tightly to him and brushed a kiss across her forehead with a chuckle.
"Better get this sorted quickly then," he said as he rushed back down the stairs and started to dismantle the beds to hand up to Rowan.
"We should probably get another one, soon enough they're going to have more clothes than we can keep up with," Rowan remarked. She quickly began helping with getting things upstairs.
She looked around and sighed when they'd finally got all the twin's things upstairs.
"So, all we have left now is putting JT's old bed into the spare room," she said happily. "And then I have to get busy downstairs, Syed needs to leave early today."
She looked up at him and tossed her hair over her shoulder with a smile.
"Has anything come up yet?"
Ray grinned at her and grabbed her hand.
"The bed can wait," he told her. "Especially if you have to go downstairs early," he added as tugged her hand and then pushed her gently in the direction of the bedroom. "Stuff in there," he added as he pushed her again and shut the door as he followed her.
Rowan raised an eyebrow at him. "Stuff in there?" she asked curiously and giggled as she let him push her into the bedroom.
/\\\/\/\/\/\\\/\\/\/\/\/\\/\\/\/\\/\/\/\
"No."
"Come on..."
"No!"
"Sammy!" Alex frowned at her son. "You have to go to Nursery today."
Sammy shook his head resolutely. "No."
"Well where are you going to go then? You can't stay with me or your Daddy, we're both working," she told him.
"Molly," he said shortly.
Alex shook her head. "Molly's working today, too," she told him and watched him open his mouth again. "And Peter's at work today, too," she said and his mouth closed.
"Not going," he said.
Alex pointed to the building. "We're here Sammy, all you have to do is get out of the car and walk over there!" she told him and he shook his head again. "No."
Alex got out of the car and went to the back and opened his door. She clicked his belt open and pulled him into her arms, ignoring his flailing fists and protests. "I promise it's only for the morning, this afternoon I'll find someone to look after you okay?"
Sammy changed tack put his arms around her neck, clinging to her desperately. "Don't like Nursery, Mummy," he said into her shoulder. Alex hugged him tightly and refused to let herself give in. "I know you don't Sammy, but it's only for this morning okay?"
Sammy looked up at her and sniffed. "Promise?"
Alex kissed his nose and smiled. "I promise," she said and put him on the floor.
Alex led Sammy inside and handed him over to the woman in charge before heading back to her car, trying to ignore the look of betrayal on Sammy's face.
Alex went and sat down at her desk with a heavy sigh, she held her face in her hands and looked at her desk blankly.
/\\\/\/\/\/\\\/\\/\/\/\/\\/\\/\/\\/\/\/\
Annie wiped at the bar, lost in thought. Was Charlie going to leave her and go home? Would she mind if he did? She was startled from her thoughts by a hand on her shoulder.
"You all right darlin?" Peggy asked her.
"Yeah, just...Charlie and I had a bit of a disagreement this morning and so I'm a little distracted," she admitted. Peggy glanced at her watch.
"Look, we won't get busy really until lunchtime, why don't you take an hour break and go talk to him? You've got everything sorted here now, so it's fine."
Annie looked at her.
"Are you sure?"
Peggy patted her hand. "Course I am darlin', now go on, go talk to him."
Annie smiled and nodded. "Thank you," she said and headed out. She went to the flat first, he wasn't there. She gnawed her lip a moment and wondered where he might have gone on his day off. She glanced at the sink. No dirty dishes or recently washed ones. He might have decided to go out to eat. She nodded to herself and left the flat and went to the cafe first. Not there. She walked out of the cafe, stood outside and folded her arms. Where might he have gone?
The High Street. Had to be. They'd been all around the Square over the weekend, so if he was going to explore, he'd go where they hadn't been yet. And there was supposed to be a good restaurant near the High Street. That had to be where he was, she decided and set off at a brisk walk.
/\\\/\/\/\/\\\/\\/\/\/\/\\/\\/\/\\/\/\/\
Charlie walked into the restaurant and sat down and ordered some breakfast. He pulled out his laptop and began to read over something he'd been writing earlier as he waited for his food.
Lauren glanced over as she saw Charlie sit down and smiled to herself. He looked a bit down, she noticed. She leaned over in his direction.
"You all right?" she asked and he looked up at her.
"Er, yeah, I s'pose," he replied, "why?"
"You just look a bit down," she said and picked up her tea and moved to sit across from him at his table. "So, what is it?"
Charlie looked at her, a bit taken aback, but shrugged it off.
"Well, bit stuck on what I'm writing and had a bit of a row with my girlfriend this morning," he finally said.
"You're a writer?" she asked him in surprise. "Nice one," she added and grabbed his laptop and turned it so she could see.
"Hey..." he began to try and stop her and decided not to.
"This is really good," she said after a few minutes.
"Wow, thanks," he said.
"So you're homesick," she observed and looked at him sympathetically.
"Yeah, I just really...I'm not sure I like it here."
She reached over and patted his hand.
"You know, I lived in America for quite a while, and I was homesick at first, but then I got used to it and I didn't want to leave," Lauren told him and she pushed the laptop back around to him.
"You should give it more than a weekend before you give up on it. And I'll tell you something else, why don't you and your girlfriend come out with me and my friends this weekend? Maybe if you make some friends here, you might not be so homesick."
Charlie looked at her a moment and then smiled. "You're on. I just hope not all your friends are as pretty as you, my girlfriend will be jealous."
Lauren blushed.
Annie walked into the restaurant and glanced around until she spotted Charlie. She nearly walked over until she noticed he was sitting with a young girl and it looked like they were holding hands.
Her brow furrowed and she turned and left. Of course, the girl was closer to his age than Annie was. Charlie had never minded before that Annie was a little older than he was. She swallowed hard and half-ran back to the pub.
/\\/\/\/\\\\/\/\/\/\/\\\\/\/\/\/\/\/\\/\\
Chris noticed Alex arriving and handed some of the files to Ginger, left a few on his desk and then walked over to Alex.
"Ma'am, can I have a word?" he asked.
Alex lifted her hand off her hands and rubbed at her eyes. She looked up at Chris and nodded.
"Sure Chris, what's up?" she asked him as she pulled herself off her desk.
"It's just..." he trailed off, taking in how upset Alex looked. "It's nowt really, don't worry about it."
He turned and headed back to his desk. He would worry about the trainee later. Surely it wasn't as bad as he thought.
Alex frowned after Chris and pulled herself out of her misery, she couldn't spend all of her time dwelling on her problems while she was at work. She stood up from behind her desk and wandered over to Chris.
"What's going on, Chris?" she asked him. "It's got to be something if you're worried about it," she said as she looked down at him.
Chris cleared his throat and then looked around to make sure no one was paying attention.
"It's just, I don't know, ma'am, it shouldn't bother me, but that new PC seems to be getting a more than usual hard time," he told her softly. He held up a hand. "I know, I know, it's normal for the trainees, it just seems to be more than usual with her, that's all. And I remember hearing the Guv say he wanted you to mentor her with all that," he waved a hand at his head, "stuff so I thought you could…you know…help her out."
He sighed. He knew it wasn't really his business, but she seemed a good kid and the Guv seemed to think highly of her.
Alex nodded at him. "I'll keep an eye out Chris, thanks for letting me know," she smiled at him.
Chris nodded and glanced around again before turning his attention back to his monitor.
Alex left his desk and began to wander the corridors until she spied Lucy. She lifted the files out of the young trainee's arms and handed them to a passing PC.
"PC Trainee Beale?" she asked. "DI Drake," she introduced with a friendly smile.
"Superintendent Hunt tells me that you'd do good learning about Criminal Psychology," she said. "Is that something you'd be interested in doing?" she asked. "I'd be prepared to mentor you," she added.
Lucy gaped at Alex in surprise as she took the files. She hoped this wouldn't mean cleaning the cells again.
"Hello," she said and gave Alex a smile. Her eyebrows flew up at Alex's words.
"Um, yeah, I've been looking into courses already, actually," Lucy told her. "Ever since he suggested I think about it. I'd be honored if you wanted to mentor me."
Alex beamed and nodded. "Okay then. I'll clear it with who ever is looking after you and we'll get started," she smiled.
"I'm training with Sergeant Blake, ma'am," Lucy told her.
Alex chewed her lip for a moment before looking around and leaning a little closer to Lucy. "I've heard that the officers are being a lot harder on you than they should, you have any issues tell me okay?" she said softly.
Her eyes widened a bit when Alex leaned towards her and shook her head slightly.
"Um, everything's okay. Nothing I can't handle," she told Alex. That would be the last thing she needed.
Alex nodded at her and sighed.
"I'm there if you need me" she said as she headed off. First she'd talk to Sergeant Blake about training Lucy in Criminal Psychology, then keep and eye out for the girl around the station
"Okay, thank you, ma'am," Lucy said and hurried off to meet up with Blake before he came looking for her. If he asked people where she was, they often gave him the wrong information and Lucy didn't want to get any more lectures for doing something wrong that she hadn't been actually doing.
/\\\/\/\/\/\\\/\\/\/\/\/\\/\\/\/\\/\/\/\
Jack looked at the clock and then at his phone again. Still no word from Alyssa. Surely she was done by now? He sighed and dropped back behind his desk. Now that the crisis was over, maybe he should just go to the surgery.
/\\\/\/\/\/\\\/\\/\/\/\/\\/\\/\/\\/\/\/\
Lucy avoided her locker again, she knew there would be more garbage in it. She learned quickly not to keep anything in it. She had thought by ignoring everything that it would stop, but it hadn't. She was not going to let it bother her. She was far more worried about DS Skelton. He was so nice, he'd been so nice to her, the only one who'd been nice to her in fact. His wife and fellow officer had treated him shabbily.
/\\\/\/\/\/\\\/\\/\/\/\/\\/\\/\/\\/\/\/\
Annie forced a smile and tried to act like everything was fine as she served.
"You all right, darlin'?" Peggy asked her.
"Yeah, fine," Annie lied.
"Did you get to talk to your young man?"
"No, I couldn't find him. He said he was going to go explore though, so, you know," Annie shrugged and faked a sunny smile.
Peggy patted her on the back. "Okay."
/\\/\\/\/\/\\\/\\/\\\/\\\/\/\\/\/\\\/\\\/\/\\\/\\\
Whitney raised her head and looked around the kitchen blearily. She'd fallen asleep at the kitchen table! She rubbed her face and went into the bathroom to shower. She looked at herself in the mirror and groaned. She was still so tired.
She got dressed and went downstairs to the shop.
"Hey, Sleepyhead, didn't think I was gonna see you today," Jodie remarked.
"I'm so tired, was up all night working on the stuff for the show. But it's all done."
"Oh, that's brilliant, Whit."
"Well, look, you're down here now, can I go on a break?"
"Of course you can, I'm sorry I left you down here on your own."
"Oh, it's fine, really. It's not like it's busy on a Monday. There's just something I need to talk to Darren about, so..." Jodie trailed off.
"Go, go, then," Whitney said and shooed at her. She sat down behind the counter and propped her chin in her hand. She would stay awake until Jodie got back. She would.
/\\\/\/\/\/\\\/\\/\/\/\/\\/\\/\/\\/\/\/\
Alyssa hurried out of the hospital and sat down on a bench outside, shaking. She couldn't believe it. She rested her elbows on her knees, and her face in her hands. She had been told to come back again tomorrow, they were going to get rid of the baby: an ectopic pregnancy. Just as Jack had convinced her that having a baby would be a good thing she had to get rid of it anyway. It was so unfair.
Her breath caught in her throat. Jack, he had been so happy over the weekend, so excited. Tears trailed down her face. How on earth was she supposed to tell him and ruin his good mood?
She rubbed at her eyes furiously and let out an angry breath. This was so unfair! Two days ago she had been all set to get rid of this baby! Now she had to do it anyway, and this time it would hurt both her and Jack. She lifted her face from her hands and clenched her fists, she caught sight of a cab and hailed it over; she would go home and sort her head out, then wait for Jack to get home and tell him. She nodded as she fidgeted with the hem of her top. She would not cry in the back of a taxi!
She pulled her phone out of her pocket after a moment and typed a text.
"Appt home. x"
She hesitated a moment before scrolling down to Jacks number and hitting send. She swallowed as she sent it and sat back in the seat.
/\/\/\\\/\/\\/\/\\\/\/\\/\/\/\\\/\/\\/\/\\\/\
Jack read Alyssa's text and sighed. He'd fully missed out then. He frowned at his desk a few minutes and then flipped open his appointment book. Nothing going on today. He slammed the book shut and stalked out of the office.
"I'll be out the rest of the day," he told his secretary in a curt tone and then left. He blew out a long breath as he pulled up outside the house. He could hardly contain his excitement. He bounded inside, a huge smile on his face.
"Lyss? I'm so sorry about earlier. There was a nasty fight and things got way out of hand. How was the appointment?" he called out as he walked inside.
Alyssa looked up as she heard Jacks voice and she came out of the front room. She took a deep breath before turning to face him and took one look at his happy face before bursting into tears again. she moved forward and threw her arms around his neck, burying her face in his shoulder, clinging to him as she sobbed.
"I've got to go to the hospital tomorrow," she choked out as she loosened her grip on him a little "Simon sent me there today already," she added as she let go of him with one hand to wipe at her eyes and look up at him. "I'm sorry," she said as more tears took the place of the ones she had just wiped away.
Jack's eyes widened at Alyssa's tears. He quickly wrapped his arms around her and began to stroke her hair.
"What's going on?" he wanted to know. "Why do you have to go to the hospital? Why are you crying?" he asked insistently, fear etching his features as he looked back at her.
"I've got to get rid of the baby," she sniffed as she clung to him. "The Doctor said that...," she stopped and rubbed at her eyes again. "He said it's an ectopic pregnancy," she told him and she took some deep breaths and tried to calm down.
Jack took Alyssa's face in his hands. "Are they absolutely sure? I mean….oh Lyss," he said softly. He swallowed against a lump in his throat. "You might not…." he tried again and his voice faltered. There was a much slimmer chance she would ever be able to catch pregnant again. Though, look at Rowan. The odds had been against her, too.
"I had to go for an ultrasound," she told him. "They've got to get it out of me," she said to him as she looked into his eyes and felt her heart crumple. She knew that this would hurt him, and now looking into his eyes she could see it.
She closed her eyes and let out a breath. "If I'd just got rid of it in the first place then this wouldn't be happening," she mumbled quietly.
Alyssa looked back up at him and took his hand in hers. "I don't want you there with me tomorrow Jack, I don't want to be worried about you," she told him earnestly, she didn't want him waiting around outside and worrying the whole time. It was better he was distracting himself at work, she could call him when the operation was over.
Jack gasped and stroked her face. "Oh, Lyss, love," he began and then paused to let her continue.
He felt his heart began to freeze at her comment. How could he not be there for her? It was surgery! They were going to cut her open. Unless…..he shook his head and dropped his hands to his sides and narrowed his eyes at her.
"Why shouldn't I go and be there for you? Or, maybe you're not really having surgery? If you don't want me there, I have to wonder if you're being entirely honest," he suggested, his voice slightly cold. He hadn't meant to say it, but why else would she not want him there, if she was telling the truth.
Alyssa's face crumpled in shock at his accusation. Her shock and horror was quickly replaced by anger and her fists clenched. Her face set itself in frown as she bristled.
"You really think I'd do that to you, Jack!" she asked him slowly, her tone dangerously angry. "You really believe that I'm that heartless? That I'd not have an abortion, let you get all excited and then tear it all away from you!" she growled at him, her nails were digging into her palms painfully but she didn't care. She couldn't believe that he thought she could be that cold.
She glared at him, it hurt that he thought she was capable of something so cruel. "I kept this baby because I knew what it would mean to you, and because you convinced me that I could do this! So don't you dare accuse me of something like that! This is not my fault! In fact, it's your fault for getting me pregnant in the first place! And then for convincing me to keep it!" she told him, her voice growing more and more hysterical as she went on.
"And you know what! Because of this my chances of getting pregnant in the future are going to be reduced by 50%, Jack!" she said, shaking as she spoke. "So you know what? I wish you hadn't managed to talk me out of the abortion in the first place!"
"I don't know, Lyss, you've always made it clear. I told you from the beginning I would respect your wishes, so don't act like I made you change your mind. I told you I would support you no matter what, but you have to admit, it sounds a bit odd, you not wanting me to go with you. If you have nothing to hide then my going along to still try and support you shouldn't be a problem," he snapped.
"And yes, I'm well aware that any chance of more children is now smaller. But you made the choice. You went to the surgery, all ready to do it and then changed your mind. Don't turn all this on me, Lyss."
He stepped back and tilted his head at her. "And what would it matter to you that it's going to be harder to get pregnant again? I should think you would be ecstatic. You're the one who didn't want them in the first place. You must be so happy about this," he added. He could feel a lump in his throat, but swallowed past it.
"Just because you supported my decision doesn't mean that you wanted it! And I don't want you to go with me because I'd rather you take your mind off it at work than stand inside a Hospital worrying about me! Rowan and Alex told me exactly what you were like the last time I was in hospital, and I don't want to put you through that again! So excuse me for caring about you!" she snarled at him
"I know you. wanted to keep the baby Jack, even when I first told you! That's part of the reason why I couldn't get rid of it in the first place! Because you wanted a baby and I wanted to make you happy!" she retorted.
Alyssa's face fell further. "So now I'm not allowed to change my mind! How am I supposed to be ecstatic about something like this? Before I always had the option, now I might not!" she told him, half a sob escaping her. "So don't you even dare to presume what I'm feeling right now Jack because you haven't got a clue!" she added, her voice cracking as she spoke.
"Last time was different, they didn't think you were going to live," he shot back. "So, I think I should be allowed to care about you.'
"That's not the point. You're saying I made you do it, like I was stood there holding a gun to your head. And no, maybe I don't have a clue, and you don't have a clue how I'm feeling either! You never wanted the option. What happened was an accident, now you won't have to worry about it ever again," he said sullenly.
"See it from my point of view here, though. If you don't have anything to hide, then there shouldn't be any reason why I can't go with you," he accused.
"I never said you couldn't care about me!" she said in frustration. "I just meant that I don't want you snarling at nurses and doctors while I'm having the operation! I'd rather you go to work and try to keep your mind off it!" she tried again to tell him. Why couldn't he just listen to her!
"I'm not saying that you made me do it! I did it because I just wanted you to be happy!" she snapped back at him. "I know I never wanted the option, but when given the option I chose to keep it, who says I'm not going to want children in the future Jack? I'd like to have that choice!" she said as she unclenched her fists and took a step away from him. He was too close, she didn't want to suddenly lash out at him.
She gaped at him. "I haven't got anything to hide!" she said in exasperation "I'd just rather you weren't there Jack! Why is that so difficult for you to accept?"
"It's different this time," he fired back defensively. "How could I possibly work? You'd rather I go and snarl at everyone at the school?"
"So, suddenly now you might want to have kids, where before you said never? Or are you just saying that because you're getting rid of this one and you don't want to feel guilty?" he accused and clenched his teeth.
"I can't accept it because it's my baby too and you're my wife and I should be there. The only reason I shouldn't is if you're feeding me some excuse."
"No! I'd rather you go and take your mind off it" she told him. "I know it's different this time Jack, because it's not me that's dying this time is it? It's our baby that isn't going to live," she said, her voice cracking.
"You know why I didn't want kids Jack, I told you why," she said between gritted teeth. "And then you convinced me that the thing that I was scared of most was unlikely to happen," she told him. She could feel herself beginning to break down, she wasn't going to stand here and let him accuse her.
"Yes, and I don't want to lose you," he told her. She was being so cruel, denying him being there for her. Why couldn't she see that?
"I know you did and I understood it and I accepted it and moved past it. How do you think I'm supposed to feel about all this?" he demanded as he watched her grab her coat.
"It's not an excuse, Jack!" she said, her voice getting louder as she shouted at him. "I don't want you there, Jack! Please just accept that and stop accusing me of doing something that isn't true," she told him as she turned and grabbed her coat off the banister. She marched to the door.
"And I'm not going to stand here and try to reason with you when you're clearly not going to listen to me," she said as she pulled open the door and marched out.
He stared at her, open-mouthed as she marched out the door.
"Lyss!"
He stared after her a moment and then dropped to the floor with his shoulders slumped.
Alyssa stalked through Walford and headed to the Salon. She didn't want to talk, not to anybody. And she wasn't going to go Rowan: it was Ray's day off and the Twins would be home soon enough. She didn't want to be there.
She pushed open the door to the Salon and met Tanya's surprised stare. "Alyssa...you're not working today," she said curiously. Alyssa nodded. "I know," she replied as she marched up to the counter and tapped the free spot on the appointment book.
"I want my nails done, please" she said as she pointed to Gayna's schedule. Tanya nodded and smiled. "Go on up," she said as she watched Alyssa climb the stairs. Something was wrong.
Jack finally straightened up. She would be back. Of course she would be; she had to come home. And she would agree to let him go with her tomorrow for this surgery she said she was supposed to have. He got to his feet and went into the kitchen and cracked open a beer and swiftly drained it. He grabbed another and it followed the other down his throat. He leaned against the kitchen counter for a few minutes and sighed.
He looked up at the clock, it was well past lunchtime, but he wasn't hungry. He couldn't eat now if he wanted to. He turned on the tap and scrubbed at his face. He would go to the pub. He was not about to go trailing after her just now. She'd come back to him.
He yanked his jacket from the hook by the door and set off for the pub at a brisk walk.
/\/\/\\\/\/\\/\/\\\/\/\\/\/\/\\\/\/\\/\/\\\/\
Alyssa sat and stared off into space. She made to attempts to follow Kim's incessant chatter, though she was grateful for the background noise, however pointless it was. She hoped that this would give Jack a chance to calm down. She hated it when he was angry, especially when he didn't listen, all she wanted was for him to listen. She couldn't deal with having him there, she just couldn't deal with it! Why didn't he get that?
She pulled herself out of her head and looked up at Kim as she droned on, nodding here and there to convince Kim that she was listening as she looked back at Gayna who rolled her eyes and imitated Kim as she continued with Alyssa's nails.
/\/\/\\\/\/\\/\/\\\/\/\\/\/\/\\\/\/\\/\/\\\/\
Annie watched Jack worriedly. He'd been drinking steadily since he'd come in. He clearly wanted to keep to himself so she didn't pry, but his behavior was getting worrying.
At the end of her shift, she bit her lip and walked over to him and put a careful hand on his arm.
"Are you okay?" she asked and her brow furrowed as he lifted his bleary gaze to meet hers.
"I'm fine," he replied shortly.
"Look, I don't mean to pry…"
"Then don't," he told her flatly.
"But, if you don't stop now, Peggy is probably going to ask you to leave."
Jack frowned at her. "I would care why?"
"Surely you don't want her to call the police and get you locked up?"
"I don't care what she does," he said, his tone still low and flat.
"Here," she said and put her hands more firmly around his arm. "Why don't I help you to a taxi and see that you get home all right?" she offered.
"No, don't want to go home. She won't be there anyway," he disagreed and tried to jerk his arm from her firm grasp.
"Then, I'll take you somewhere else, the B&B perhaps?"
She took in his muley expression and sighed. "Look, you really don't want to get on Peggy's bad side, okay? So take my advice and let me help you."
He finally blew out a long breath and stood up and let her help him outside. He quickly dropped onto the bench outside and lit up a cigarette. He'd decided to quit when Alyssa told him about the baby, but now, there was no point. Annie nearly growled in frustration and grabbed his arm again and hauled him to his feet.
"Let's go, I'll get you there and then you're on your own," she told him and wafted a hand in front of her face at the smoke.
"Thank you, that's very kind of such a lovely lady," he told her. She rolled her eyes before tilting her head up at him.
"Just doing my job," she said and helped him stagger to the B&B. She helped him lean against the counter so he could fill out the card and then after repeated attempts to get his wallet from his pocket had failed, she reached in and got it for him. She cleared her throat and quickly put the wallet on the counter when she felt his reaction to her reaching into his pocket. She took the key Denise held out.
"All right, almost there, Jack," she urged, using his name now that she knew it. He slung an arm around her shoulder and let her help him to the room. She managed to get the door open and got him inside, almost losing her grip as he lost his balance. She grabbed hold of his waist, knocking the door shut in her haste to keep him from falling.
"Well, I could use some company," he said and before she could move, his lips were on hers. Her hands came up to push him away, but the push became a caress. She'd never been kissed so intensely and she found herself kissing him back. The drink didn't seem to be affecting him in other areas, she noticed. He certainly hadn't lost his earlier reaction to her inadvertent touch. When he fell with her onto the bed, she almost pulled away, but then his hands were on her and she gave in willingly.
/\/\/\\\/\/\\/\/\\\/\/\\/\/\/\\\/\/\\/\/\\\/\
Alyssa sighed once she had paid for her manicure. Sure she got a staff discount, but now she would have to go home. Back to the house where Jack probably still was. She really didn't want another row, she wasn't sure she was up to one. She thanked Tanya and Gayna before heading off back to the house.
She opened the door carefully and listened. Silence.
"Jack?" she called out curiously. She was half relieved when she got no response. At least she wasn't going to have to deal with whatever mood he was in straight away. She went through to the kitchen got down a bottle of wine and then dug in the freezer for the ice cream. Seeing as she was losing her baby tomorrow afternoon she saw no harm in drinking. So drink she would. She grabbed a spoon and a glass and headed to the bedroom. Alyssa sat herself down on the bed and wrapped herself in her dressing gown as she grabbed one of her favourite films and played it on the TV. A small niggle of worry began to plague her. If Jack wasn't here then where the hell was he? He wouldn't have gone back to school, not after their row. She dug in her pocket and pulled out her phone, she rang him.
Alyssa frowned when she got no reply and sent off a text.
"Let me know where you are."
She sat back against the pillows and took a sip of the wine before digging into the ice cream tub.
/\/\/\\\/\/\\/\/\\\/\/\\/\/\/\\\/\/\\/\/\\\/\
Alex moved to Gene's office and knocked on the door softly before going in.
"I'm going to pick up Sammy from Nursery, the only way I could get him to go in today was by promising that I'd pick him up around lunchtime," she explained. "Do you need me here or can I take him home?" she asked.
Sammy wasn't too much of an issue when he was in the Station, he knew to stay away from the cells, and to stay away from interview rooms. He would quite happily sit in Gene's office and watch his Daddy work while playing with office stationery and drawing pictures.
Gene looked up at Alex and he pursed his lips at her question.
"I'll go," he decided and stood up. "I'll take him to lunch and maybe to the park," he told her and strode from the door, swinging his coat over his shoulders as he went before she could say anything against it.
He drove to the nursery and went inside.
"I'm Gene Hunt, I'm here to pick up my son, but first, I want to know what's being done about my son being bullied. Because if a stop isn't put to it, I'll have to do something about it," he told the woman at the desk.
/\/\/\\\/\/\\/\/\\\/\/\\/\/\/\\\/\/\\/\/\\\/\
Charlie watched Annie leave the pub and help an obviously drunken punter across to the B&B. He gave a small smile. That was just like her, to help someone. He shoved his hands in his pockets and walked over towards the B&B, ready for when she came out so he could take her to a nice dinner. That girl Lauren had got him to give the place another try, and he couldn't wait to tell Annie. His smile fell when she didn't come back out right away. He huffed out a breath and furrowed his brow as he waited longer. Still no Annie. He felt his skin grow cold as time passed and she still didn't emerge.
He turned from the B&B and headed for the flat, turning back every so often to see if Annie was walking out of the place, but he'd been standing there far too long. He thought about dinner, but realized he wasn't really hungry.