Rose didn't get along with Tess when she seemed to get on with everyone else and Tess had gone out of her way to instantly dislike Rose. So on Monday, he would see how things went and if Rose wanted to go out more, since it was fairly quiet, he may consider following some of the leads she'd come up with.
Then he'd see how Tess reacted and if she blew up about it, he was going to either get her transferred out or have Dave Harris moved to the other station across town, see how Tess liked that. He had no proof yet that Tess was actually cheating on him, only the fact she had kept making up excuses to not get Daisy on time recently.
Rose had been left wondering how come her boss had just decided to keep using her first name. She had been hoping he would but it had happened all of a sudden. Maybe his wife had something to do with it, like he was doing it to annoy her. Well if he wanted to do that, she was willing to go along with it for a laugh with her friends, they would find it amusing.
She hadn't thought Alec Hardy had much of a sense of humour but maybe he did have after all? It would make things interesting she supposed. She decided over the weekend she was going to explore the area and maybe tempt her mother to join her but the next morning, she had a surprise call from her mother.
"Rose, how are you sweetheart?" Jackie wanted to know.
"Fine Mum. Is something wrong?" Rose wondered.
"Well, ya asked me to come and visit, remember?" Jackie reminded her. "Are ya sure there's room for me?"
Rose wondered what had come over her mother suddenly. Was it because she'd mentioned driving her boss around? Why would that bother her mother? Then she realised what it was.
"Mum, this ain't got nothing to do with me saying I don't get on with my boss's wife?" Rose had to be sure.
Jackie tried not to let on.
"Well, I was just worried ya weren't settling down," Jackie had to admit. "Why don't I come down for a few days?"
Rose had to agree, her mother might not offer again.
"Yeah, that would be great Mum. Anyway, how's the hairdressing? Has it picked up?"
"Not really, don't know what to do about it. I suppose if I had a car it'd help?" Jackie wondered.
"Why not try working in a salon?" Rose suggested.
"Ya know I'm not keen on that, well not around here," Jackie laughed.
It had been a difficult Sunday so far for Alec. He was already bored and Tess didn't want to go anywhere when he suggested something. How much more was he able to put up with? So he was sort of glad when Monday morning came around and Rose was waiting outside.
"Before we set off, I have an unusual request," Alec told her as he put the seatbelt on.
Rose was curious so she just waited for him to continue.
"You can say no," he added when she looked at him.
"Well it depends what it is," Rose replied cautiously.
"Don't look so worried," Alec told her. "I thought maybe when we get back to the office after being out, well there is no need to suddenly stop talking when we go inside?"
"Oh," was all Rose could say, as if they said much anyway. "So ya want Tess to notice?" she wondered.
"Ah, well yes," Alec admitted. "Is that too much to ask?"
"Suppose not?" Rose mused, setting off or they would be late, since he liked getting there early. "No, I don't mind, she hardly can complain about me, can she?"
"No, not to me," Alec tried to assure her.
"Hey, maybe when we get back I can bring you coffee?" Rose smiled.
"Mmm, don't get too far ahead," Alec smiled at the thought of annoying Tess even more.
"Well it doesn't help when ya keep calling me into your office – Sir," Rose laughed.
Alec knew she was going to be trouble, now he was giving her some leeway. So as agreed, Alec insisted on going into the garage with Rose, daring the traffic officer to say anything and secretly hoping Tess would be early for a change instead of stopping to gossip to other parents outside Daisy's school.
He knew Tess always did it on purpose but she had crossed the line last week when she'd been early and warned Rose, Tess had no right to do so. What had been her point? Had it been she really was trying to get him to refuse to work with the young officer?
As they went up in the lift, Alec was already stuck for something to say, which wasn't going to help him when they got in the office at the same time. Rose's friends had seen Rose disappear through the door as they had come through the front door.
"Did I just see Rose with Hardy?" Jo wanted to know as they passed reception.
"I always thought she dropped him outside," Kate replied.
"Seems we were wrong," Trish laughed. "I bet they're doing it to annoy Tess."
"Well that should be fun," Jo laughed as well.
So for the rest of the week, Alec would continue to call Rose into his office, seeing Tess was trying to ignore the fact and Rose had started taking him a drink when they'd been out, Rose sometimes laughing at something as they'd gone back in. On Friday lunchtime, her friends wanted to know what was going on.
"It's nothing, really," Rose had insisted. "Well he just wanted to annoy Tess a bit."
"That's nothing?" Trish laughed, trying not to look at Tess, who was sat on her own.
Tess was on her own because she'd sent a text to Dave saying she wanted to talk to him. He appeared in the doorway and ignoring Alec looking up from his meal, sat opposite Tess.
"This isn't a good idea Tess," Dave warned her. "What was so urgent then?"
"You've been ignoring me," Tess complained.
"I said to hold off," Dave corrected her. "My wife was getting suspicious, I wanted to throw her off."
"What was I supposed to do?" Tess asked him. "Wait for you to call me?"
Dave was about to get up.
"Meet me after work then," he told her, then he went off.
Tess didn't like being treated like that but Dave had her hooked and he knew it. She had wanted to talk to him but knew he had more than talking in mind. She should break it off before things went too far but she needed him on her side.
Rose had been watching as the others talked.
"Are you with us Rose?" Trish wanted to know.
"What? Oh, yeah. Seems like Tess has fallen out with that detective."
"They were probably arranging something," Jo disagreed. "Be careful what you get involved with Rose."
"Yeah, she's right," Kate agreed.
"Hardy's the one who suggested giving Tess a taste of her own medicine," Rose reminded them. "Besides, he's lightened up a lot this last week."
"That's true," Trish agreed with her. "Looks like going along with him's paid off Rose."
Rose hoped so, it had been hard to judge what he was really like, since he stayed quiet most of the time. There had been awkward silences when they hadn't been discussing the reason they'd been sent out by the chief. At the end of the day, Rose went to ask Alec if he wanted picking up outside as usual.
"No, I will come down with you," he told her as he took his specs off.
"Can I ask ya something?" Rose wanted to know. Alec nodded. "It's just, well before I started taking ya home, ya always stayed behind."
"Don't worry about it," Alec replied. "I only agreed to leaving early as I did not want to keep you working late."
"Oh. Well I wouldn't have minded waiting a while for ya, except now, my mum's comin' for a visit so I can't now," Rose told him.
"Right. Well if I have to stay behind for any reason, I will make other arrangements," Alec decided, getting up and putting his jacket on.
He picked up his phone, letting Rose go out first. He noticed Tess had already left but that was usual for her. Tess was waiting for Dave down in the garage. The traffic officer was watching as Dave joined her.
"Meet me where we went last time," Dave told her as he opened his car doors with the remote. "You do remember where it was?"
"Yes, I remember but I needed to talk to you," Tess reminded him.
"Come on Tess, what's to talk about?" he wanted to know.
"We used to talk at lunchtime," Tess replied. "What's the harm in that?"
"When people pass us in the corridor?" Dave laughed. "Geez Tess."
He got in his car and Tess stood back. She was about to get in her car when Rose came through the door, laughing. Alec was following her.
"So your mother did not want to come down here with you?" Alec had been asking her as they waited for the lift.
"Nah, she didn't want to leave but she's worried about me now," Rose had admitted.
"Why, new boyfriend maybe?" Alec had raised his eyebrows again, making Rose smile.
"No such luck," she had laughed as the lift arrived, with several people already in it.
They had stood side by side, Rose dying to laugh again but waited until they were getting out, followed by Alec and those behind them. Tess had waited for them to pass by to the car Rose was using, seeing if Alec had noticed she was still there. He had but didn't stop by her car to talk to her.
"Right," Tess thought to herself. "If he wants to just ignore me and laugh about something with Rose Tyler, let him."
Alec heard Tess start her car, then screeching the tyres, she went off in a hurry.
"Blimey, what's wrong with her?" Rose asked as she started the car.
"Take no notice," Alec advised her.
"Was she mad ya didn't stop to talk to her?" Rose wondered.
"Don't get involved Rose," he told her as she drove off.
"Excuse me saying but I think I already am," Rose spoke up, since they were outside working hours. "At my last station, everyone was friendly but since I got here, she's gone out of her way to dislike me, without giving me a chance. Sorry, Sir."
"You don't have to call me sir outside work," Alec replied. "There is no need to be sorry Rose, Tess was annoyed the chief stopped us from working together. It did not bother me but she took it badly. The chief was tired of all the complaints. Tess was always arguing when we returned."
"Was that why you wanted us to be talking when we got back from anywhere?" Rose wondered as she stopped at some lights.
Alec didn't reply at first. "Leave it Rose," he insisted, seeing she was glancing at him through the mirror.
He ran his fingers through his hair, Rose thinking he looked tired so she let it rest but it wasn't over as far as she was concerned. She couldn't leave it, her boss was having trouble at home and it affected the way he worked. One thing she had learned was he didn't seem to have that many friends at the station, he was always sitting on his own at lunchtime and even Tess sat elsewhere.
She didn't see anything wrong with him but if he preferred being alone, nothing could be done about it. As she dropped Alec outside his house, she noticed there was only one car in the driveway, as did Alec.
"Night then Sir," Rose told him as he got out.
"Yes, have a good weekend Rose," Alec replied. "Any plans?"
"Just getting ready for my mum's royal visit," Rose laughed. "Extra shopping to get, she'll probably just turn up with no warning."
"See you on Monday then," he told her as he closed the car door.
When Rose got home, she made a list of the extra things she'd need from the supermarket and then made sure the spare room was tidy. It was only a single room but it would be comfortable enough, she had been lucky she'd got an apartment with two bedrooms.
When Alec got inside, he expected Tess had gone to get Daisy early for a change but in the back of his mind, he couldn't help thinking otherwise. Did Rose and her friends already suspect something else? He'd seen them talking at lunch time and had noticed Rose looked miles away. They must have noticed he and Rose had been talking when they'd gone back in the office, even if Tess was trying to ignore them.
Why had Dave Harris stopped to talk to Tess, he wondered. Had they thought he'd not noticed? If he said anything to Tess about it, she would be in a bad mood all weekend. Harris was getting bold though, maybe he should warn the man about it? Would it do any good though?
Jackie had been packing to go spend a few days with Rose and had called her friend Howard from the market to say she'd be away, since he had suddenly started offering to deliver what she bought from his stall on a Saturday. She had wondered if anything was going to come of it but nothing so far.
Rose was a bit surprised when told her mother would be arriving the following afternoon.
"How long are ya staying?" Rose wanted to know.
"Well, that depends," Jackie was telling her. "I mean since you're at work all day? I hope that boss of yours won't keep ya working late?"
"No, he doesn't Mum and if he does work late, he said he'd make other arrangements to get home," Rose assured her.
Tess had followed Dave to the remote spot they met in before and he was already out of his car.
"We'll have to go in your car Tess," he told her as she was about to get out.
"You're kidding Dave," Tess protested.
"If my wife suspects anything, she'll kick me out," Dave insisted. "Haven't you got a blanket in the back?"
Tess huffed and went to the back, bringing out a Tartan cover they'd got on a visit to Scotland when Daisy had been younger, seeing Dave grinning as he held the back door open and taking the blanket from her, spread it on the seat. Then he indicated for her to get in first, looking around the deserted spot to make sure no-one would be likely to wander nearby, even though they had parked behind some bushes that hid their cars from the opposite riverbank. Tess had left her work bag on the front seat and heard her phone ringing, she knew it would be either Daisy or Alec, both would be wanting to know where she was.
"Leave it Tess," Dave insisted as he went to kiss her roughly, fumbling for the zip of his trousers while Tess was trying to get back up.
"Whoever it is will keep trying," she told him.
"Well let them," Dave replied as he unbuttoned her shirt.
Afterwards, while Tess was trying to compose herself, Dave was already sat up.
"We'll have to keep this to once a week Tess," he told her.
"Huh, is that all I'm worth?" Tess was annoyed.
"We can go for a quick drink after work a couple of times," he offered as he watched Tess fasten her shirt buttons. "Maybe a quick snog if we park behind the pub," he then laughed.
Tess dug his side with her elbow.
"Hey, want to play rough?" Dave laughed even louder. "You'd better hope my wife doesn't do an inspection."
"Is she still off you?" Tess replied sarcastically. "You think I don't know why you're having sex with me in the back of a car?"
"Stop complaining Tess," Dave told her, trying to push her down again and put his hand up her shirt.
That had been the first time they'd done it properly and he'd want it that way now, Tess knew.
She tried to resist but he was too fast as he went for the zip of her trousers again. He succeeded and rubbed the top of her underwear and was about to pull both down when her mobile rang again.
"If I don't answer and it's Alec, I'll have some explaining to do," Tess insisted.
"Tell him you're out at the pub with your friends," Dave replied as Tess tried to move his hand.
She couldn't get him to move his hand as he went to lie on her again and kissed her roughly, his other hand trying to pull both her garments down at the front. Tess stopped struggling and went to do the same to him. When they finally got out of the car after getting dressed again, Tess stared at the clock on the dashboard.
"I'll have to call Daisy, she might have called Alec to get her," Tess complained.
"Chill out Tess, I told you what to say. Does Alec know any of your friends?" he asked her.
"Well not really," Tess had to admit.
"There you go then. I'd better go, unless you want another repeat?" Dave grinned.
"Go then," Tess huffed.
"Anyone would think you and Alec don't have sex any more," he laughed as he got out.
Tess felt like throwing something at the jerk, if she'd had anything nearby to throw at him. He was a smug, egotistical, self-centred something beginning with 'B'. He had also pinpointed the problem she had with her husband and she had half a mind to try to put that right over the weekend but Alec would then wonder what she was up to. Not that he didn't already suspect something as she checked her phone and discovered it had been him trying to call her.
She got in the front seat and tried calling him back.
"Where have you been Tess?" Alec wanted to know.
"At the pub, my friends were going so I thought I'd join them," Tess replied, seeing she was still flushed as she looked in the mirror.
Now, she did need a drink before she faced him or Daisy.
"I've been trying to call you and so has Daisy," Alec tried to keep his temper. "Don't bother going for her, I've already been to collect her. You could have said something Tess."
"It was spur of the moment Alec," Tess tried to tell him. "I never heard my phone ringing."