She wondered if she should be worried about what she'd been told by her boss, that he'd had a few complaints about the traffic officer. That was all she needed, to have to dodge the man every time she went for the car. After making something to eat, Rose called her mother.
"You never!" Jackie laughed when told Rose had got a car. "How did ya manage that?"
"I had to offer to drive my boss to work and back," Rose had to admit. "The thing is, I've already made an enemy out of his wife, she just doesn't seem to like me. She's a DS and she used to be his work partner."
"Well ya'd best be careful then," Jackie suggested. "So did ya say ya'd made a few friends?"
"Yeah, they're friendly enough," Rose told her. "Are ya gonna think about coming down for a visit then?"
"I'll think about it. So, do ya want to hear all the latest gossip?" Jackie wanted to know.
After listening another half hour, Rose finally said goodbye and accessed her phone's map and tried to figure out how to get driving directions on it so she wouldn't get lost going shopping the next day.
Alec was about to call Daisy to see if Tess had collected her, guessing he was maybe right about Tess taking her time talking to her mother or had she sneaked off somewhere to meet with Dave Harris? Why was he so suspicious, was it the other night when Tess had suddenly said she wanted to see her sister or had he just ignored things before that?
He hated the fact that he may have cause to be worried. He had confided in Tyler that Tess might make a fuss when he was picked up for work and he'd talked to her when he was leaving. She had looked relieved at being rescued and he'd have to have words with the traffic officer again. He thought the last warning he'd given the man might have been enough but obviously not, it always seemed to be after a new female officer had arrived.
Monday morning, Rose went to park in the usual spot and kept hold of the keys, she just hoped her boss would want to go out so it was justified. She was about to open the door when Tess was behind her.
"You're lucky to have got the use of that car after only being here a short time," Tess told her as Rose held the door open and was pressing for the lift. "I didn't use it all the time."
"I was told I could take it," Rose defended herself as they got in the lift, Rose pressing for the first floor.
"You mean you asked?" Tess replied. "Let me give you some advice, DC Tyler. Don't appear to over keen, no-one likes a show-off."
"Excuse me saying so but I wasn't, I was trying to show initiative, do you want me to say I don't want the car?" Rose asked her.
She got out of the lift and walked away before she said something else that she might not get away with. "Cheeky cow," she thought as she went into the office and to the break area.
Trish and Kate were already making coffee so Rose joined them, Tess walking in behind her and going to her desk.
"What's wrong with her?" Trish asked innocently.
"She got in the lift with me," Rose replied.
"Just because she's a DS," Trish replied, trying not to glance at Tess. "We have to report to her, lucky you doesn't have to bother."
"Well I feel sorry for ya," Rose smiled. "Hardy's not that bad, I wonder why she's funny with everyone?"
"Don't get involved Rose," Kate warned her. "There are rumours about her and some DS in another division, don't know how true they are."
"Well I'll make her even worse if my boss wants a ride home tonight," Rose admitted.
"You're asking for trouble," Trish told her as she picked her drink up.
Rose thought she'd better get to her desk before Hardy shouted for her.
Alec had seen the three of them together in the corner and Rose then going to sit at her desk. What was it about her? He had considered breaking his rule of no first names when they had to go out but was it such a good idea? If he got used to it, he may forget and carry it over to when they returned. That would make Tess even worse, dare he rile her up any more?
The weekend had been a drag, especially the shopping when he'd let Tess go off on her own in the supermarket. As usual she had returned with things he either didn't like or new things to try. He supposed she'd done it to annoy him and to hint he should have gone in with her.
He decided he should get his new DC on his side before Tess got her claws into her so he got up and called for her.
"Sir?" Rose wondered what he'd called her for when he told her to sit.
"Is my wife making things difficult for you?" he wanted to know as he took off his glasses.
Rose wondered if he knew Tess had confronted her in the lift earlier.
"Well she said something about me taking the car, on the way up from the garage," Rose told him.
Alec knew Tess wouldn't have been able to resist.
"I hope you told her you had my permission?" Alec replied, raising his eyebrows.
"More or less, Sir," Rose had to smile.
This was going to be easier than he thought, Alec decided. So Tyler already disliked Tess as much as apparently Tess did Tyler, he mused.
"So how did you find your first week?" he changed the subject.
"Okay. Is it always so quiet?" Rose wondered.
"Make the most of it Tyler," Alec replied. "It will not always be so quiet."
"I thought we would be going out more?" Rose replied.
"Have you found anything worth investigating in those old cases you are going through?" Alec changed the subject.
"One or two," Rose admitted.
"Then make some more enquiries," Alec told her, wondering why she hadn't already done so.
"I was going to Sir," Rose insisted. "It was just what DS Hardy said to me earlier."
"Whatever it was, take no notice Tyler. She will try and hold you back so I will not want to work with you," he warned her.
"She'd really do that?" Rose wanted to know. "She told me not to…" Rose stopped.
"Show off?" Alec guessed, thinking that was typical of Tess.
Wait until he confronted Tess, Alec thought.
"Go ahead and next time, tell her I will say if you are showing off," Alec continued, rubbing his face, Rose noticing he'd grown a bit of a beard over the weekend, which kind of suited him.
Alec had intentional not shaved over the weekend, since Tess was obviously trying to warn Tyler to back off getting over-friendly with him at work. She had said something before she had left to drop Daisy at her mother's, since it was a teacher training day. Alec had said for her to drop him at the front of the police station.
"Thought you'd got a driver Alec?" Tess had asked him as they waited for Daisy. "Didn't she take the car on Friday night?"
"Leave it Tess," Alec had warned her. "She will be collecting me from tomorrow morning."
"That's going to give Daisy the wrong impression," Tess pointed out. "What if she looks out of the window and sees you getting in the front seat with a blonde?"
"Daisy knows the car Tess," Alec replied. "You brought it home enough times for her to recognise it as a police car."
"Well the car was doing nothing at the time," Tess huffed.
"Well it is doing nothing now so Tyler may as well use it," Alec told her. "Daisy, you are going to make us late," he told the almost teenager.
"Why are you going with mum?" Daisy wanted to know.
"Because I have a new driver who will be bringing me home," Alec replied.
"Oh, the new officer mum was complaining about," Daisy called after her, leaving Alec annoyed.
So before he had got out of the car outside the station, he had confronted Tess.
"Did you have to say anything in front of Daisy?" he asked Tess.
"Well really Alec, what do you expect?" Tess had told him.
So he had been annoyed as he'd gone to his office.
Rose got up to leave.
"Tyler," Alec called after her. "This may be a quieter place than your last posting."
"I know Sir," Rose turned and smiled, getting half a smile back.
Alec picked up his phone and called the chief.
"What is going on around here?" he asked when his call was answered.
"Good morning to you too Alec," the chief told him. "Don't tell me. Tess again?"
"She is making DC Tyler feel unwelcome," Alec replied. "I suggested to Tess that she gets a transfer to another department if she does not like someone else working with me."
"Then if you're serious, let me see what I can do," the chief had to agree to get some peace from the complaints about the two of them. "There is something that concerns me Alec," the chief added. "There are rumours going around."
"About what?" Alec wanted to know, as if he couldn't guess.
"Tess being friendly with a certain detective in another division. Were you aware Alec?"
"It came to my attention," Alec admitted. "Tess seems to have got careless since Tyler was assigned to work with me."
"Then talk to Tess about it," the chief insisted. "These things only make gossip worse Alec."
"Then make Tess move, don't give her a choice," Alec replied.
"She won't be happy," the chief reminded him.
"She is not happy now," Alec told him. "It cannot make things any worse."
"Maybe it would be playing into her hands, to put her with the other person the gossip is about?" the chief wondered. "Leave it with me. The only other thing is to transfer her to the other station."
"Then she will make me take Daisy to school," Alec complained.
"You can't have everything," the chief laughed.
Which was going to be best, Alec had to decide. It wasn't Tyler's fault, the problem was with Tess. Did he want her to go work in the same division as Dave Harris? If Tess was on the verge of having an affair, it may put them both off if they had to work together.
Rose joined her friends at lunchtime and as usual, the topic turned to Tess.
"Guess what I heard earlier?" Trish was dying to tell them.
"How come you hear all the gossip first?" Jo laughed.
"Never mind that. Tess was seen driving off to meet someone the other night. That someone was Dave Harris."
"Seriously?" Kate asked, Rose not knowing who they were talking about.
"Who's he?" Rose dared ask.
"Another DS, you've probably seen him," Jo told her.
"Tess was talking to someone in the corridor, I saw them last week," Rose admitted. "Is she for real?"
"They avoid each other in here," Trish laughed.
"What does Tess even see in him?" Kate wondered.
Rose glanced over to where Tess was about to sit with Alec.
"What do you want Tess?" Alec wanted to know as she sat down. "If you're complaining about Tyler again, don't bother."
"Charming Alec. I have to go see the chief after lunch, do you know what it's about?"
"How would I know?" Alec replied, putting his phone away.
They hadn't seen Rose was observing them. She was wondering now what Tess and this Dave Harris had been talking about. She should have maybe paid more attention.
A lot happened in the next few days. Everyone was surprised Tess was still there when word had been spreading she was about to be transferred. Tess had refused to be moved so the chief had warned her about her hostility towards Rose, to which Tess had complained but had to agree in order to stay.
At the end of the week, Rose had taken Alec out on a few calls and had continued to go back to the office at the same time, despite Rose offering to drop him out front.
"We can both go the same way Tyler," Alec had told her.
"Sorry but I still get the feeling like Tess is watching me," Rose had admitted.
"Just ignore her, she will soon get tired of it," Alec had tried to assure her. "Does it make you uncomfortable?"
"It gives me the creeps," Rose had laughed as she parked the car in the garage.
"Any more trouble with the traffic officer?" Alec nodded towards the office.
"Nah, I think he got the message," Rose replied. "I keep the keys with me."
"Sensible," Alec had to admit, holding the door open for her. "Tyler, have you heard any rumours about Tess?"
"I don't think I should say Sir," Rose told him as the lift arrived.
"That bad then?" he half smiled as he pressed the lift button.
"I just don't wanna add to it," Rose admitted.
As they got out of the lift, Alec stopped.
"Tyler. Just act normally when we walk into the office. Pay no attention to Tess."
"Won't that make her even worse?" Rose asked. Then she started to get what he was doing. "Oh. I did mean to ask if it had made things worse by me drivin' ya home."
"Trust me, it could not make her any worse Tyler. You objected to my calling you Tyler when you arrived," he reminded her.
"I got used to it," Rose replied, wondering why he was delaying them.
"Well maybe I can bend my rule slightly but only while we are out," he told her.
"Wow. I'd best not tell anyone, in case it gets back to Tess then?" Rose smiled.
"A wise decision, Rose," Alec actually smiled.
When Rose walked towards her desk, she passed by where her friends were.
"What are you smiling at Rose?" Trish wanted to know.
"Tell ya later," Rose laughed, making them even more curious.
Tess also wanted to know why the younger officer had a grin on her face, having seen Alec going to his office. He appeared to be in a good mood and she was dying to know why but the chief had warned her about mixing their personal lives with work. That had been part of her being able to stay.
Rose had noticed Tess was going into Alec's office less often and thought he must have said something to her. She hoped Tess would now pay less attention whenever herself and Alec returned. Her boss was now finally lightening up somewhat, which made her feel more at ease and if Tess was less hostile, she may even begin to feel like she belonged there.
She had been sad to leave her old station but she had wanted the promotion and to work with someone who could teach her a lot about being a detective. She just hoped something big would come along, to test her new skills.
When Alec got home, Tess was waiting for him.
"You took your time Alec," Tess started to tell him.
"Don't Tess," he warned her. "It's Friday, there was a lot of traffic and I left after you did. Is Daisy here?"
"Not yet, I was about to go get her. I don't suppose you're going instead?"
"Why?" Alec wanted to know.
Now was his chance to see if the rumours were true or not.
"Fine, I'll go then," Tess decided.
She hadn't yet arranged anything with Dave but there was still time to call him. He'd hardly spoken to her since the other day when he'd taken her by surprise but she had gone willingly into the back seat of his car again. Maybe he'd been disappointed that she'd stopped him from going too far.
She had felt all flushed as they had adjusted their clothing after going for each other hurriedly and she had got a little over-excited, which Dave probably was pleased with himself over that he had got her like that but was that all he wanted? She set off to get Daisy but stopped outside her mother's house to call Dave.
"Tess, why are you calling?" he wanted to know as he left the living room where his wife was watching an annoying soap opera.
"You hardly spoke to me today," Tess complained.
"What? It bothered you?" he sounded amused. "Come on Tess, we had fun the other night, let's leave it at that for now," he suggested.
"You used me," Tess was annoyed.
"Well you were annoyed with Alec," Dave reminded her. "You got your own back on him."
"You think I went with you to get my own back on Alec?" Tess was even more annoyed.
"Well if that wasn't the reason, what was Tess?" Dave replied. "Don't pretend it wasn't. Anyway, I can't keep meeting you after work, I'm running out of excuses for being late home."
"Fine," Tess huffed. "I was offered a transfer to your division," she admitted.
"Tess, that's not a good idea," Dave replied. "We can't be seen together, it's bad enough people pass us in the corridor. Mind you, there was that young blonde last week sometime who was paying attention. She probably fancied me," he laughed. "Don't get jealous will you?"
"Huh, I can attract other men you know," Tess told him. "I thought you were understanding? Seems I was wrong about you if you want to go chasing after some young blonde. Hold on, did she have shoulder-length hair?"
"Ah, is that the one you were complaining about?" he teased her. "You think she fancies your husband."
"Don't remind me. He didn't even bother shaving over the weekend, now he's got the makings of a beard. Maybe that will put her off?" Tess hoped.
Rose had got home after dropping Alec off where he lived having put the address in the satnav.
"You know how to use that thing?" he noticed on the way there.
"Yeah, they come in handy," Rose laughed.
Alec had just stayed quiet until he was getting out of the car.
"Night then Tyler, sorry, I meant Rose. Don't take it personally if I forget to use your first name."
"I'll try not to. Night Sir," Rose had just replied.
Now, she was wondering about his change in appearance. He was obviously trying to grow a beard but why? Was he doing it to annoy Tess or put other women off? If he wasn't very careful, he was going to fail on the last one.