Rose got out of Alec's bed and retreated to his bathroom, gathering her clothes on the way. Knowing he had to get dressed and go out, she hurriedly got sorted and was just in time to catch him pulling his trousers on, his shirt was still unbuttoned. She smiled at him, it was after eight and she really should get going, her belongings from home were arriving just after ten and she still had her packing to finish and her key to hand in and she was only just going to make it but the removal men had her mobile number and would wait for her, Pete had everything arranged, it was a private firm that Torchwood used all the time.
She went to put her arms around Alec's waist as he started to fasten his shirt and she kissed his cheek. They hadn't spoken much since they had woken up over an hour ago, they had been too busy doing something else. Alec spoke first as he gently moved her arms from his slim waist and he turned to face her, brushing her hair from her cheek and kissing it.
"I really have to go Rose, you have your packing to do. I don't suppose you want to give me your full name do you? Last night and this morning were incredible, no woman has made me feel like that for a long time."
He had previously made his mind up this was going to be a one night fling with her, no complications but was quickly now changing his mind.
Rose backed away from him, how could she tell him who she was? He would go looking for her and complicate things and she didn't want complications, not when the man looked liked the one she had lost.
"You don't need my name Alec." She stepped back up to him and kissed him. "I'd best go now and let you finish getting dressed, I still have a lot to do or I'll be getting charged for another night in my hotel room. I thought you were incredible and thank you, you made me feel wanted, it's been a while since a man has actually wanted me."
Alec knew how she felt, no woman had actually wanted him either, they were either a bit drunk or desperate, Rose was the first woman who had actually been interested him and now she was leaving, so much for it not getting complicated. The question was though, was he going to just let her walk away? Would he have a choice?
He let her go reluctantly and Rose could see his eyes were sad again, he'd looked happy earlier and now she was the one causing his sadness but she couldn't go for a long distance relationship if he was going back where he came from. She didn't want any complications and didn't think he did either. She picked up her purse which she had taken off her shoulder and thrown on the dresser when they had been in a hurry to undress each other last night and turned the key in the lock. She was about to leave but turned one last time, ran back and kissed him, leaving him with his eyes closed, trying to make the kiss last longer.
"Rose", he called as she was going through the door, "Thank you, you were amazing. If you won't tell me your name, at least let me tell you mine, I'm Alec Hardy."
"Bye, Alec Hardy, it was more than nice spending the night with you," and with that she was gone, back to her room.
Alec stared at the door for a few minutes, thinking she may come back and throw her arms around him and tell him she had changed her mind and was staying but he knew it wouldn't happen. Women like her didn't change their plans for someone like him, she was probably just on holiday and was going back home, to her job, her family, maybe a boyfriend, what did he have to offer her to make her stay? Nothing, women like Rose were very rare these days and what would she want to stay with him for?
He closed the door and went back to finishing getting dressed. He would have to skip breakfast, maybe just as well since Rose might be in the dining room and he'd make a fool of himself asking her to stay. He decided he would leave by the hotel's side entrance, he didn't want to risk bumping into her and made his way down to the police station, walking to clear his head of all thoughts of the night he had spent with Rose but that was going to take some doing, he didn't think he would ever forget her.
ooooo00000ooooo
Rose had got back to her room, kicking herself for not saying what she really felt, that what had happened between them last night and this morning had been special and she felt guilty about leaving him when he had looked so sad when she had kissed him goodbye and looked like he really needed someone but that couldn't be her, not if he was going back home anyway which he probably was, what would a Scotsman be doing in Broadchurch? She finished her packing, thinking she would take her cases down with her and try to catch breakfast, it was already nine and she didn't know what time it was served until, she may have already missed it.
So dragging a large and small case along and waiting for the lift, she wondered if Alec had left yet, he probably had if he had a meeting. Why was she thinking about him, it was over and done with, she had spent one incredible night with him and that was it, he probably didn't want anything else anyway. The lift arrived, Rose stepped out on the ground floor, asking if she could get some breakfast and just made it in time, leaving her cases in reception, tempted to ask if Alec had left yet but deciding it wasn't a good idea after all.
Lifting her cases into her car, her phone rang. It was Pete to say her belongings were on their way and the van should be with her on time. She just had time to get there before they arrived. Taking another look around, she recognised Alec's car parked just opposite and thought he must have gone on foot to his meeting or he was still in his room, which she doubted since he had said he was sorry he had to leave in a rush. She backed out of her parking space and drove off from the hotel for the last time.
ooooo00000ooooo
Alec tried to get some work done but wasn't getting anywhere. There was hardly anyone in the squad room thankfully and he'd made some tea and some toast, it would have to do him until lunch. He sat staring at his screen, not caring much about reading it, why was he still thinking about her? She was just someone he'd met at a service station, thinking he'd never see her again and then by pure luck he had met her again, what had been the chances of meeting her here?
She must have been on her way here when he had seen her on Monday and he'd been away two days and missed his evening meals so he wouldn't have seen her around but he wished now that he had. He could easily have spent a few more nights with her but he still would have had to let her go. Maybe a few more nights would have been enough but maybe not, any man in his right mind would want to spend more than a few nights with her.
He was interrupted by a tap at his door. It was his DS, Ellie Miller. What was she doing here?
"What?" he snapped as she opened the door.
There, he was back to being his usual grumpy self after one night with Rose.
Miller scowled at him, just like she had been doing since he got there. She asked what he was doing in on a Saturday morning to which she got a gruff reply. He finally got rid of her by telling her it was not his first choice of spending his weekends but he needed to know all the facts about cases in the town that were ongoing and he went back to staring at his computer screen again and thought about putting Rose's description into the search and see if she appeared anywhere. Should he? Then what? So he discovered who she was, she would be back in London and he was stuck in this place until he could get a transfer out and back to civilization but going back to a big city was not good for his health, he had to take things easy and storming back into a crime-ridden big city or town was not classed as taking it easy.
He sat back in his chair, his arms behind his head. Should he look her up? Would it just make things worse, make him dwell on the subject of his sudden desire and make him snap at everyone again. Miller hadn't deserved to be snapped at, he should apologise to her first thing Monday morning or sooner, send her a text saying he was sorry for snapping at her but then she would think he had gone all soft and he had an image to maintain.
No, leave it, just buy her a coffee or something on Monday and not be so quick to lash out at her again. It wasn't Miller's fault Rose had gone back home. Listen at him, one night with Rose had turned him to a quivering wreck, what had she done to him? He hadn't felt this bad since he had been pursuing his ex all that time ago and look where that got him.
No, he had best leave things alone, he was now meant to be on his own, stuck in this place doing penance for whatever reason and wondered what he had done that was so bad he had got in this state. Let his ex carry on behind his back with another DS for starters, then covering everything up to protect his daughter for another so why had Rose come into his life when he didn't deserve anyone like her?
He'd had enough, he switched off his screen, put his glasses back in his pocket then put his jacket on and left, forgetting his empty cup and plate on his desk and got halfway down the corridor when he stopped. He thought at first he'd forgotten to take his pill but he had, right before leaving the hotel but a feeling came over him, not panic but something else, something new.
He was missing Rose. His heart was slightly racing but not the usual when he had an attack coming on but that feeling you get when you're a teenager and you see a girl or boy you fancy for the first time and can't get over it, you want to see that person everywhere you look and your stomach does somersaults when you get a slight glimpse of them that's what she had done to him, made him feel like a bloody teenager again and he knew it wasn't going to go away.
He turned back to his office again, getting a funny look from two officers who had the misfortune to have drawn weekend duty and who thought they had got rid of DI Grumpy for the day. He switched his screen back on, went to the national database and typed in 'Rose' and of course, millions of results came up, how many women were called Rose? Well not exactly millions of results but it may as well be, a few hundred before he typed in her description, medium height, slim, blonde, fair complexion, London accent, nursery school teacher. It narrowed his search down to one result. Staring in disbelief that the database had tracked her, her picture came up in the centre of his screen and the name beside it in capital letters ROSE MARION TYLER.
Alec let it sink in. Of course he knew who she was, he would have to pick the Vitex chairman's step-daughter out of the millions of women in the country nice one Hardy. He just was thankful he had used protection last night but there again, not used any earlier that morning but the heiress to the Vitex fortune wasn't likely to go around sleeping with strange men if she didn't take her own precautions. What must he have looked like to her? Had he just been a distraction to her while on holiday and why was she even a nursery school teacher when she didn't have to work at all?
He just knew he should have left it, why had he been so bloody stupid? It just made it ten times worse and he felt like a kid who had had his toys taken away from him. Rose Tyler would probably never even think about him again, he had been a one night stand to her and even if he had met her a few days earlier, who was to say she would have gone to his room with him then? Switching off his screen again, he did now feel as bad as when he had a panic attack so he went out of the station's front door and down the steps and found himself on the esplanade and started walking. It was almost lunchtime and he was hungry with skipping breakfast but he needed to clear his head first, he'd get something on the way back from one of the many food stalls around the harbour or the caf . He walked along, looking out to the sea he hated so much and sat down on the wall and looked over at some houses across the way.
One house in particular stood out, one just by the cliff path, one with a patio and a white garden umbrella, the patio door open and he swore he could see Rose standing there, her arms around a tall blonde man, she hadn't moved out of town, she was moving into a house with another man. How could he have been so bloody stupid? She had just wanted a one night fling before she moved in with her boyfriend but why him? Why had she picked out Alec Hardy, of all the men she could have being who she was.
"Why me?" he asked himself. Should he go and confront her? Maybe it wasn't even her, maybe it was another blonde woman, it could be anyone from where he was sitting but he was reasonably certain it was her as he watched the two figures standing there holding onto each other, the woman leaning onto the man with their arms around each other. Of course it was her, who was he kidding? He was only kidding himself to think Rose Tyler would want more than a one night stand with him. Maybe she had done it to see what it was like. What was it she had said before she left? That it had been a while since a man had wanted her? Maybe her boyfriend had been away and had just come back? He had forgotten whatever else she had said.
He got up and made his way back to the caf next to the harbour and ordered some lunch, trying to forget everything that had happened. She had used him but he had used her too and they had both been to blame but it had been one hell of a night, that he wouldn't forget. If she was still in Broadchurch, he would have to avoid her at all costs. He had led her to believe he was here on business, she had probably thought he would be leaving, just like he had thought she was leaving town, they had both mislead each other and now, he realised they had intentionally mislead each other, even more so on her part, she had mislead him into thinking she was leaving town when she was moving in with another man.
His lunch arrived, the door opened. Alec looked up. A dark skinned man with close cropped hair was holding the door open, behind him was the blonde haired man Alec thought he had seen earlier outside that house on the cliff and behind him was Rose Tyler. Alec suddenly lost his appetite as she walked in the door and saw him. Then she stopped and in a surprised voice just said, "Alec."