Monday morning. Jay and Erin's first day working at the Ruzek meth lab had arrived. Jay had felt upbeat while eating breakfast and enjoying his first coffee of the day, not because of the change in job, he didn't particularly care about that. The reason he was upbeat was because he was going to be spending the day with Erin. He had already decided to invite her to join him for a drink after their day of work at the lab. Since this was a non-Clem week for him, there was no reason not to.

When the time came to leave, Jay walked around to Erin's house and rang the doorbell. Moments later, she opened the door, dressed in black joggers and matching t-shirt. She was dressed for comfort, not style. Yet she still looked incredible, he thought. And she greeted him with one of those smiles that was so beautiful it made him feel weak.

"Jay. Morning. All set for the day?"

"Hey, Erin. I am. We'll take my car."

"You know where the lab is?" she asked in mild surprise.

"I know it's at the food plant, but I don't specifically know where it is. First job is to get there. Shall we go?"

"Let's do it," Erin said, stepping out of her house. She locked the door, then walked with him down the driveway. "You might want to bring a book with you or something. It's going to be a long, boring day for you."

"You're not going to have me help you?"

Erin laughed. "Uh, no. You're not going to touch a thing. So, like I said, bring a book or something. There will be no phone service."

"Okay, you win," Jay said, unlocking his car. "I am actually reading a book. I'll run inside and get it. You can wait for me in the car."

It wasn't long before he returned, book in hand, and got into the driver's seat next to Erin.

"What are you reading?" she asked as he dropped the book on the back seat.

"It's a world war 2 book. History interests me."

She grinned at him. "History does? Or war does?"

Jay looked her in the eye for a moment and smiled back. They were talking about a war book, yet somehow he felt sexual tension. It was best ignored for now. There was work to be done, and had no intention of pissing off Kim Ruzek.

He fired up the engine. "Let's get this show on the road."

"Park in the employee's lot," Erin said while Jay waited to make a left turn into the food processing plant's entrance. "We'll enter like we work here."

"We do work here."

She looked at him and raised an eyebrow slightly. "You know what I mean."

There was a gap in the traffic, so Jay made the turn and entered the factory's premises. He had been there before of course, and knew where to park. He also knew that Adam Ruzek would likely be there, running the legitimate side of the business as usual.

Jay parked up in the employee's parking lot. He had enjoyed the journey, although there had only been idle chit chat between them. Now it was Erin's turn to take the lead, since she knew how to access the lab.

"After you. You know where we're going and how to get into the lab."

"We'll go in through the employee entrance. Again, we make like we work on one of the production lines or something. When we're inside, just follow me."

They got out, Jay remembering his book, and walked over to the factory entrance. Other members of staff were there, clocking in for their shift. They were mostly woman, mostly Hispanic. Cheap labour, he assumed. What struck him was how they showed deference to Erin, moving aside and allowing her to pass. They knew, or at least had an idea, who she was and knew she was way higher up the ladder than they were. It did occur to Jay that it was potentially dangerous that some of these people were no doubt aware of some kind of secret area or room in the factory. But then they would also know how stupid and dangerous talking about it would be for them and their families.

"This way," Erin said, heading off across the factory floor. Jay followed her, walking past machinery, conveyor belts and packaging stations. As they approached one of the packaging stations, it began to slide sideways, revealing a hidden metal staircase below. Obviously that was they way to the meth lab. Before the machine moved, there had been no way to tell it could do so, or that it concealed anything.

"How did you open that?" he asked Erin.

"I didn't. Only Adam can open it. Without him, no one goes in, or out for that matter."

Jay looked around and noticed a CCTV camera. It wasn't pointed directly at them, but it did give a view of the lab entrance. It was all very cleverly done.

"Come down quickly," Erin said, hurrying down the steps.

Jay followed close behind, discovering that the steps led to a heavy, thick metal door with a small frosted glass window in it. The door had a key pad for a numeric code to be entered in order to unlock it.

"The code is four, two, nine, one," she told him as she entered it into the keypad. There was a loud click as the door unlocked. When Erin opened the door, there was a hiss as the seal was broken. The door was airtight when closed, which would prevent any chemical smells leaking out when a cook was in progress.

Jay followed Erin into the lab and the door banged shut behind them. Above them, the entrance had already been covered back up. He found himself on another flight of metal stairs, leading down to the floor of the lab. There were all kinds of chemical storage barrels and containers down there, along with all manner of lab equipment. He didn't know what any of it was. Pleasingly, he didn't have to.

Then his attention was attracted by someone walking into the lab from a door near to the bottom of the stairs. It was a woman, dressed in a light blue rubber hazmat suit, with the hood currently down. Attractive, Latina, almost ridiculously tall for a woman, and with a muscular physique. She was quite the imposing figure.

"Ah, Raquel, I'm glad you're here already," Erin said. "This is Jay Halstead. He's on guard duty for the foreseeable. Jay, meet Raquel Gonzalez, my lab assistant."

"Hi," Raquel said, looking him up and down. She didn't seem particularly friendly.

"Hey," he replied, figuring two could play that game.

"Let me show you around," Erin said. "That's the main lab area, obviously. You can sit at the desk over there in the corner. You'll be out of the way there, but close to the stairs if you need to jump into action."

"Good enough," Jay agreed, noticing a phone on the desk. Adam could call down to the lab if necessary, he figured. He had also spotted a camera above the door, which explained how they would be able to leave when they were done.

Erin led the way through the door that Raquel had emerged from. "Here's the changing area. Chemical suits, masks and gloves are here. You'll need a suit and a mask, but you can do without the gloves as long as you don't go around touching stuff while we're working."

"I'll try to avoid doing that," Jay said dryly, starting to bristle a bit at her bossy tone. This was her lab though, he supposed. In a situation where he was in charge, he would likely seem bossy to her.

Erin looked at him and moved closer, her expression dead serious. "Don't treat this lab like a joke. Do what I say, when I say. If you come into contact with some of the stuff we have in here, or breathe in some of the fumes while we're cooking, you'll die. No ifs, no buts, dead. Even if someone called an ambulance, which we both know wouldn't happen, you'd be dead before it got here."

"Fair enough," Jay said more respectfully. "Down here, you're in charge. Outside of here, you show me the same respect you want from me in here. Agreed?" He had that inappropriate sexual tension feeling going on again.

She nodded. "Agreed." Then she continued on with the tour, not that much was left of it, pointing to the things that she referenced. "Changing room there, with a shower. We'll shower before we leave. Bathroom there. There's only one toilet. You make it dirty, you clean it. There's a water cooler and a fridge with soda there if you need a drink. There's usually sandwiches and chocolate bars in there too. They make sure we have no reason to want to leave while we're down here."

That level of attention to detail had Kim Ruzek's name all over it. That woman was as sharp as a tack, and never missed a thing.

"Nice setup," Jay commented. "What's Raquel's story. Scary looking woman, that one."

"Don't know much about her. Only met her a couple of weeks ago. We've done several test cooks. She knows enough to assist me, and she can handle any heavy lifting. Other than that, I know she's originally from south Texas and she's worked for Kim for several years. Now, let's get ready. We're not being paid to stand around talking."

That was very true. Kim would have a quantity of meth that she expected to be produced each Monday. If that quantity wasn't delivered, it would probably be all three of their asses.

"You're right. I'll let you get on, and I guess I'll do some reading."

Erin handed him one of the rubber hazmat suits. "This one should fit you. Try it on."

Jay put the suit on, while Erin did the same with a similar but smaller one. Then she put on a pair of thick black rubber gloves, likely special chemical resistant ones, he assumed.

The door behind him opened and Raquel walked in. "Everything's set, Ms Voight," she reported. Jay heard a Mexican accent, hardly surprising for a south Texan. He imagined she spoke Spanish as fluently as English.

It dawned on Jay that until then he hadn't known Erin's surname. He watched Raquel glove up, then she and Erin picked up their masks. There had been four hanging on coat hooks on the wall. They were respirator masks that covering the entire face, with black silicone interiors that fitted around the nose and left only the person's eyes visible. Jay looked at Erin for a few seconds too long. When her eyes were all he could see, they seemed even more beautiful than before. She was truly stunning. But she had caught him staring.

"Today would be nice, Jay," she said, her voice now muffled inside the mask, and her breathing now audible through the mask's filters. "Put it on, get the seal right on your face, then pull the top and bottom straps to tighten. Like I said before, do not take it off under any circumstances until I tell you to."

"Fair warning, your face will get warm and sweaty, and you won't be able to do anything about it," Raquel said, now wearing her mask also. "It's unpleasant at first, but you'll get used to it."

Not looking forward to any of that, Jay picked one of the masks up and put it on. As soon as he secured it on his face, his nose filled with a rubbery smell that wasn't particularly pleasant. Something else to get used to.

"Let me check," Erin said, quickly examining to make sure he had it sealed correctly. Apparently he had, for she headed for the door. "Let's go," she instructed Raquel, sounding like a natural leader. Jay started getting turned on again. There was something about her that really revved him up. Unfortunately, today's experience was going to be about as far from sex as it was possible to get.

For the next several hours, Jay sat at the desk, dividing his time between reading his book and watching the women work. The confidence with which Erin worked, and with which she instructed Raquel, was very obvious. Apart from having to wear the mask, which did indeed make his face sweat a bit, it wasn't the worst day of his life. Not least because he was making good money to sit there.

"Jay, we're all done!" Erin called over to him, removing her mask as she did so, then pulling the hood of her hazmat suit down. She looked warm and sweaty too, explaining why a shower had been installed in the changing area.

With the cooking and cleaning processes that had to be done, with only a short break in between, it seemed to Jay that it had been a long day. He was looking forward to going home, and thought better of his earlier idea to ask Erin out for a drink. One day, yes. But not today.

"Raquel, you can shower first. I'll go after you," Erin said. "Do you want one, Jay?"

"I'll wait until I get home," he decided.

Jay changed out of his hazmat suit and enjoyed a bottle of water from the fridge while he waited around for the women to be ready to leave. He killed some of the time by imagining joining Erin in the shower. Standing behind her under the water, fondling her tits. Then bending her over and taking her from behind. If only.

Eventually, the time came to leave. Jay drove home with Erin. There was more chatter during the journey, and a lot more sexual tension. Maybe it was because it had been a long time, but he felt almost desperate for sex. Not just sex though. Sex with Erin. Erin with the gorgeous smile, the stunning eyes, the amazing ass and the sexy voice.

"Thanks, Jay," Erin said when he parked up on his driveway. "I'm sure it was a boring day for you, but thanks for being there. On the outside chance that Kim is right about me needing protection, I'm glad it's you who's doing it."

"My pleasure," he replied, wondering if that sounded stupid or not. "I enjoyed watching you work. You're obviously good at what you do, I mean," he quickly clarified.

"Umm hmm," Erin said, smirking at him as if he had been trying to flirt with her. "I guess I'll see you tomorrow then?"

"You will," he assured her. With that, he killed the engine and got out of the car. They went their separate ways, and Jay watched her walk down his driveway for a few seconds before going into his house.

Dinner ought to be his next focus, he supposed, making his way to the kitchen. Then he could call Clem before she went to bed.

Barely had he got the cooker going when there was a knock at his door. Somehow, he knew it was Erin. He cursed himself for not walking her home and going in to check it was safe before leaving her. That was his dick doing the thinking and taking his focus off his job. That had to stop. Now he hoped she was okay, and jogged to the door. When he opened it, he found Erin standing there holding up a six pack of beer.

"It was a long day. Wondered if you'd like a beer?"

"You'd better come in," he said, standing aside to allow her to enter.

A/N: Are things about to start heating up between Jay and Erin?