This Is How A Heart Breaks
Chapter 13: Just Like Starting Over

So sorry for the total lack of updates! Totally lost my TB inspiration but it's gradually coming back! Thanks for all your support of this fic and please review! Xxx

Three weeks later.

The night before Samantha Nixon was due back at work, she took the time for a long soak in the bath before slipping into her favourite, cosiest pyjamas and making herself a cup of tea. As a devoted lover of her job and the work she did, Sam was looking forward to going back to the nick but she also had some reservations. She had seen precious little of Phil since he visited her at the hospital and Zain spoke very little of him, or Natasha, when he came to see her. She was dreading having to face the two of them, especially if Phil and Natasha were together and loved up. She may protest that she wasn't interested in him and that she wanted Zain but there was still some part of her that wanted to be the one Phil loved.

She took a suit and top out of the wardrobe in preparation for the following morning and headed to bed with a novel. She couldn't concentrate on the book though, she stared at the pages but none of the words sunk in. Her mind was elsewhere and she felt her stomach churn with anxiety for the upcoming day.

Zain Nadir was really looking forward to Sam's first day back at work. CID had seemed different without her and although she was only one person it seemed empty when she wasn't there. He was looking forward to working with her again and he hoped she would keep up her promise of going to dinner with him.

He made sure that he was at work early the next morning and was already working through his stack of paperwork and sipping coffee when Samantha entered the office.

"Morning Sam," He said, getting up and abandoning his workload right away. "Can I get you a coffee?" he asked but did not wait for her to answer. Instead, he headed straight for the coffee machine.

Sam put her bag down and followed Zain across the room.

"You don't have to treat me like I'm made of porcelain, you know." She said with a smile as she tucked hair behind her ear.

"I just want to make your first day back as pleasant as possible." He told her as he handed her a steaming mug.

Sam smiled again. "Well, so far I can't complain." Zain smiled back, knowing that now would be a perfect moment to ask her to dinner but he was still trying to summon the courage. "So when are you going to take me to dinner, Zain?" She asked, a little playfully.

Zain breathed a sigh of relief. "How about tomorrow night? Are you free?"

Sam grinned. "I'll have to check my diary but I'm sure I can squeeze you in somewhere." With a final smile in his direction, Sam headed back to her desk and the work that had been mounting in the month since she had been at the office.

As usual Phil Hunter was late for work that morning. When he had learned from Jack Meadows that Sam would be returning to work that Monday he had been determined to get to work early in order to be able to see her, not that he had any idea what to say to her.

"Baby, it's time to get up." Natasha Rivers said, trailing her hand down his bare chest as they lay in bed together.

"I know," Phil mumbled, trying to ignore the sensation of her fingers on his skin. She was so hard to resist which could explain why he was still with her a month down the line. He had never expected their relationship to last or even develop as far as it had. When he and Natasha had first hooked up he had been on the rebound from Sam and he wondered if his feelings for the woman in his bed were real or not. One thing he knew for sure was that he could never feel the same way about Tash as he did about Sam.

A few hours later, Zain walked past Sam's desk and stopped.

"Oh Sam, the DCI wants to see you in his office."

"Thanks Zain." She replied. "Am I in trouble?"

Zain chuckled. "Not yet." He headed back to his desk, not believing that he was flirting so openly with Samantha Nixon and still had all of his anatomy intact.

Sam saved her document and headed for the DCI's office, wondering what Meadows wanted. It couldn't be too serious if he had asked Zain to come and see her rather than demanding her directly. She wondered if it had anything to do with her coming back to work so soon after a potentially life threatening issue.

She knocked on the DCI's office door and waited for him to invite her in.

"Hello Sam." Jack greeted. "Take a seat."

Sam did as she was told and took a seat opposite her boss.

"What can I do for you?" She asked.

"Firstly, I wanted to say how pleased we are that you made such a successful recovery and how happy am I to see you back here. Secondly, I have a proposition for you."

"Sounds ominous." Sam commented, trying to keep the mood light, but she sensed something bad.

"DI Manson is being transferred to MIT for a while as part of a major investigation and we need someone to step in and fill his shoes while he is away. The first person that came to my mind was you, you've proved yourself to be capable before and I'd like you to think about taking the position of ADI for a while again."

Sam was astounded; this was not what she had been expecting at all.

"Thank you." She said. "I'm honoured that you asked me first. I don't need time to think about it, I'd like to accept."

Jack's face broke into a smile and he shook hands with Samantha across the desk.