Kate thought that Steve's announcement that his hotel room was 'alright' was a bit of an understatement when she walked in to it.
They had decided to talk in his room seeing as Kate's flat was all the way across the other side of the city and Steve was in the city centre. They had gone via an off license to purchase two six cans of beer on the way.
"Are you trying to get me drunk and in to bed?" Kate teased as they walked to the offy. She wouldn't usually go to a strange man's hotel room at night, but for some reason she felt safe with this particular one.
"No! Not at all," Steve rebutted quickly, horrified that that might be how his suggestion would be construed.
Kate raised her eyes at the speed of his response and Steve then realised she might have taken offence at his words. She shouldn't have. She was an attractive woman, one that Steve would be interested in if it wasn't for his recent heart break.
"Not that I wouldn't -," he added before he saw Kate raise her eyebrows again at his words. Oh shit! he thought. Now she would think that he did want to sleep with her. "I mean…umm,".
"Stop digging yourself a bigger hole," Kate advised, giggling. "I was just joking," she told him as she followed Steve in to his hotel. They went in the lift to the top floor where Steve's room was.
"Oh wow," said Kate as she entered. "There's a balcony," she continued, impressed.
"You can go out on it if you like," Steve said as he deposited the beer cans on the table in the corner of the room. "Just need a quick piss," he said before disappearing into the small bathroom.
Kate took Steve up on his offer and stepped outside in to the balcony, resting her forearms on the top of the safety rail. The city lay sprawled before her, lit up by the street lights against the now dark night sky. The church spires dotted across the city poking up above the rest of the buildings although they were dwarfed by the large dome of the City Hall.
"You ok?" Steve asked as he stepped out on the balcony beside Kate and took in the sight.
"Yeah," replied Kate. "I guess I forgot how beautiful my home city is," she admitted quietly. It was just what she needed after the sadness of the day.
"You lived here all your life?" Steve asked.
"Yeah," Kate replied. "Just the few years away whilst at training college,".
The two new acquaintances stood side by side in silence for a while looking at the vista before them. The odd car horn or drunken shout from a pedestrian punctuated the silence.
"You want a beer?" Steve asked eventually. "We can drink out here if you want. It's a nice evening,".
Kate saw there was a small table with two chairs on the balcony. "Ok," she agreed. It was a nice warm summers evening and they might as well make the most of it whilst it lasted.
Steve disappeared briefly but soon returned with the cans in his hands. They took a chair and helped themselves to a can each before opening them. "Cheers," said Steve as he tapped his can against Kate's.
"Cheers," she replied before taking a sip and felt the liquid slide down her throat. Silence returned as the days events returned to Kate's thoughts "I really thought I was getting somewhere with that boy today," she admitted to Steve as she looked out over the city. "We were similar in age, I think that's why the Sarge asked me to talk to him," she continued. Steve stayed silent, letting her get her story out. "And then he looked me in the eye and I knew he was going to do it," she revealed as she turned to look at Steve. "He jumped before I could do anything," she confessed, remembering the sound as he had hit the ground below. Kate didn't think she'd ever forget that sound as long as she lived.
"There was nothing you could have done, Kate," Steve told Kate.
"It's what the Sarge said as well," Kate revealed.
"Doesn't really help though does it?" Steve said and Kate shook her head.
"You've had the same thing happen?" Kate asked.
"Not suicide but an RTC involving a car with three young lads. Two killed instantly. One died as I talked to him whilst the firemen tried to extricate him from the car," Steve revealed, remembering back to one of his first shifts as a police constable. "Makes you evaluate why you joined the force, doesn't it?".
"Yeah," sighed Kate.
"Well this is cheery isn't it?" Steve asked after a while and Kate smiled. "Wouldn't want to be anything else though," he revealed.
"No," Kate agreed. She'd wanted to be a police officer since she could remember.
"It gets better," Steve told her from his experience.
"Good," Kate answered. "So….what are you hoping to achieve in your career?" Kate asked, changing topics to something more lighthearted. "Any plans? Chief Constable of the Met?".
"God no!" Steve replied as he took a sip of drink. "I'd like to try counter terrorism," he admitted.
"Ooohhh," Kate said, impressed. "Hard core," she said. "Or is it all the gadgets that tempt you?".
"I'll leave that to the expo's," Steve retorted. "What about you?".
"I'm thinking about applying for undercover training," Kate replied. It was something that had interested her since Ryton.
"Undercover cop," Steve said, equally impressed. "You could do a lot with that," he acknowledged.
"I was thinking anti-corruption," Kate confessed whilst looking to gauge Steve's reaction. "Jayne my flatmate thinks I'm mad,".
"AC work looks good on the CV," Steve pointed out.
"True," Kate admitted, "but I think it's essential that the public can trust us. I would like to know that I'm doing what I can to make that happen,".
Talk flowed easily between the pair over the next couple of hours, possibly aided by the beer. Four cans down and Kate had a really full bladder.
"Can I use the bathroom?" she asked.
"Sure," Steve said as he took another sip of drink.
Kate got to her feet and instantly felt dizzy. She grabbed on to the balcony rail for support. "Head rush," she explained, although the four empty cans on the table were more likely to be the cause.
She headed inside, tripping over the slightly raised surface that the balcony door travelled on.
"You ok?" asked Steve as he heard her stumble.
"Yep," replied Kate as she headed for the bathroom using the bed and walls for a bit of support.
Washing her hands she glanced at her wrist watch. It was 2am! Where had the evening got to? She was going to have to call a taxi as the buses would have stopped running by now.
"Have you seen the time?" Steve heard Kate ask as she exited the bathroom. "I'm gonna have to call a cab," she continued. There was silence as Kate located her phone. "Hi," Steve heard her say. "Can I book a taxi please?" before another silence as the person on the other end of the phone said something. "How long?" Kate asked, sounding incredulous. Steve got up and headed in to the room to see what the problem was. "Yeah, I know," she said. "Forget it," she said as she hung up. "Two hours for a fuckin' taxi," Kate informed Steve.
"What?" said Steve in disbelief. He knew he wasn't in London but surely this city had a better taxi service than that.
"They're very busy," Kate explained, repeating what she had just been told by the taxi controller, "because some large charity do at The Irish has just finished. It'll be two hours before anything is available,".
"Oh," replied Steve. Their colleagues were preventing Kate from getting home.
"I'll have to walk home," Kate said.
"I'll walk with you," Steve offered.
"I'll be fine," Kate replied although she knew that wasn't exactly true.
"You just about managed to make it from the balcony to the bathroom," Steve countered.
"But I live other the other side of town," Kate pointed out. "You'll be walking all night by the time you get back here,".
Steve paused as he tried to think what else to do. "You could stay here," he suggested. "King size bed," he explained pointing to the furniture in question.
"Umm…..," hesitated Kate as she thought through her options. She wouldn't normally share a bed with a relative stranger.
"I'm not gonna try anything, I promise," Steve added to try and help Kate make a decision.
It was probably safer to stay here than trying to do a drunk stagger home, Kate realised.
"I don't snore," Steve continued.
Fuck it, thought Kate in her inebriated state. This way she could get a decent amount of sleep. "Fine. OK," she said as she toed off her shoes and removed her socks.
Steve watched on as Kate undid her jeans and let them pool on the floor. She then did some sort of manoeuvre where she managed to undo her bra and remove it through a sleeve of her T-shirt without revealing any skin to Steve before dropping it in the floor on top of her jeans.
"Which side do you want?" Kate asked.
"Umm….," replied Steve. He was still processing what he had just seen and was trying to ignore Kate's erect nipples that were visible through her T-shirt, "either," he eventually replied.
Kate decided to take the side nearest her, flipped back the duvet and crawled in to bed. Steve realised that she had decided it was bedtime. "I'll just go use the bathroom," he said before disappearing off.
"Bed's comfy," Kate informed him when he reappeared a bit later.
"Great," said Steve as he shed his jeans and socks and got in beside Kate in his T-shirt and briefs.
The pair lay in silence for a while with the light still on. "Looks like you managed to get me in to bed after all," Kate said.
"I think you got in to bed yourself!" Steve retorted, rising to the bait before he realised Kate was teasing again.
"Night," she said.
"Night," Steve echoed before trying to work out which of the switches beside him turned the lights off. Eventually he prevailed.