Short and sweet, but at least it offers some resolution.
Cal explained the situation to Alec, who was unimpressed at being asked how to cheer his ex-wife up. "I need a shower," he told Cal. "I'll come over and talk to her."
Cal fought the urge to tell him he wasn't bloody welcome in his house, biting his tongue. "You can't just tell me what's wrong?" he asked.
"I'll be there in three quarters of an hour," Alec said quietly, hanging up.
Cal paced nervously while he waited for Alec to arrive. He didn't know what he'd gotten himself into now. Alec seemed to know what was going on, but Cal was still well and truly in the dark. He was so desperate to make Gill feel better, though, that he was willing to risk letting Alec near her. He'd do anything to fix this. He was startled by a knock on the door, and opened it to find Alec standing there in a pair of jeans and a long-sleeved t-shirt. "Ah... Come in," Cal told him, stepping aside. This was bloody awkward.
"Thanks," Alec said politely. He wasn't feeling too comfortable about this, either. "Where is she?" he asked.
"Bedroom. I'll tell her you're here," Cal said, making for the stairs.
"It's okay, I'll go to her," Alec decided.
Cal cringed and wanted to protest- he didn't want his wife's ex-husband in their bedroom! He swallowed his pride, though, and showed Alec the way. He knocked quietly and peeked inside to make sure she was presentable before he opened the door and Alec entered the room. Gill sat up a little, visibly surprised. "Alec, what are you doing here?" she asked.
"Cal called me," he told her. "I can take it form here," he said, effectively dismissing Cal.
Cal bristled. Smug bastard. He glanced at Gill then left, not at all happy when Alec closed the door behind him. The lie detection expert paced back and forth up the corridor for a full hour before Alec re-emerged. To his surprise, Cal saw Gill behind him, the white sweater folded neatly and draped over her left arm, rather than clutched to her chest. She walked him downstairs to show him out, hugging him and whispering something in his ear before he left.
Cal felt useless. He'd tried for almost 40 hours and gotten nothing. Alec had fixed whatever it was in a fraction of the time. "Feeling better, love?" he asked quietly, not wanting Gill to see he was wallowing in self-loathing right now.
Gill nodded slightly and gave Cal a soft kiss on the cheek before walking into the bedroom and putting the sweater away carefully. "I need a shower," she informed him.
"Alright, love," Cal agree, still speaking. He still had no idea what was going on. He got his laptop out while he was waiting for her, and sat on the bed. Sighing, he opened up his email and watched as the previous night's communications filtered into his inbox. A few minutes into reading, a new message came through, and Cal switched windows to see who it was from. 'Alec Foster' the sender box read. The email contained an image attachment, and Cal opened it up. It was a photo of Sophie and, although her face wasn't in the picture, the woman holding her was clearly Gill. Gill was wearing the white sweater, with what appeared to be a fresh stain on it. Baby puke. Cal checked the date stamp. 16th July, 2008. His heart sank and a lump rose in his throat as he stared at it wordlessly. Gill was right, he was a bastard. That was day 57.
A/N: I have to admit, I'm surprised more of you didn't catch on! I'd been concerned that it was incredibly predictable!
