Smoke

He lay on the sofa in silence, smiling to himself as he recalled moments from the night before, the sun was just beginning to rise and swept the houseboat with a dim orange glow, his head began to ache as the inevitable hang over set in, he stood slowly, making his way to the kitchen on the hunt for some painkillers,

“Kevin?” The voice from behind him made him jolt, dropping the paracetamol he had in his hand he, turned to see Marnie stood at the kitchen door, her arms folded across her chest and eyes burning in to him “Where have you been?”

He swallowed hard, blinking a couple of times, he leaned down picking the tablets up from the lino floor, trying to look as casual as possible,

“Pub, you frightened the life out of me!”

“Kevin it’s nearly 6 in the morning, what pub stays open that long? I’m not as stupid as you think!”

“Jaffas place! He done a lock in”

He shrugged

“Are you sure you weren’t with Scarlett or George?”

His face screwed up, taking a moment to take the pills

“Why would I be with George? And no I wasn’t with Scarlett either” he sighed rubbing his eyes “Look Marns I’m working tonight can I go to bed now?”

He walked towards her putting his glass on the side,

“Not until you tell me where you’ve been!”

“I Just told you Marnie for fucks sake!”

“I don’t believe you!”

“Don’t bloody believe me then but I’ve got nothing to hide!”

She walked on to the station with her kit bag on her shoulder her stomach fluttering as she noticed Kevin’s car parked,

“good night?”

Billy smirked as she walked in,

“Yes thank you”

She winked, Billy laughed

“I can’t wait to see Kev! I’m gonna shake his hand!”

She rolled her eyes, laughing with him,

“Or we could just get ready for roll call and leave well alone?”

Bayleaf stated as he walked in tying his tie,

“Alright mate I was only joking!”

Billy scoffed and walked away from the group making his way downstairs, Kevin concealed a laugh as Bayleaf huffed out of the room, he looked up from tying his lace, towards Scarlett,

“Alright?”

She smiled warmly towards him feeling her cheeks flush,

“Not bad, spent the night with a bloke last night”

Kevin walked over, quickly kissing her lips,

“Lucky bloke”

He laughed as they walked down to roll call.

Weeks passed, Scarlett was swept in to Kevin’s arms and completely enamoured by him, enjoying the thrill of the stolen kisses on station and counting down the minutes until their evenings together.

Kevin smiled to himself as he watched her bright red Capri pull in to the car park, folding his arms he leant against the door frame, smiling as she walked over to him, his brow furrowed as she gave him a quick hug,

“Whats up love?”

He asked following her up the stairs,

“Nothing” she sighed “just feeling a bit rough, think it’s a cold, that and I’ve not slept very well, I’m sure it will pass”

“You sure?”

He asked wrapping an arm around her shoulders, kissing her temple, she smiled, as they walked in to the mess room.

As they stood for rollcall she felt her stomach churn, she took a deep breath in an attempt to settle herself, she waited for the sudden bout of nausea to pass, a voice suddenly snapping her back to reality,

“Drummond! Are you even listening!”

Georgiadis shouted,

“Sorry sir I’m not feeling well”

She replied quietly

“I didn’t ask for you to answer back! Go and wait outside my office, I want a word with you”

She sighed and turned out, taking her helmet off.

She sat at the desk in front of him, his eyes burning in to her, he began to speak, his words faded out around her, she stared forward, placing a hand on her now cramping stomach,

“Drummond? Are you even listening to me!”

She gasped and began to stutter,

“Sir I’m sorry I’ve got to go!”

He softened to her, watching as her face began to flush,

“IS everything okay?” She dived suddenly, her knees landing on the hard wood floor as she desperately reached out for the waste paper basket, she wretched, vomiting suddenly, Georgiadis jumped from his seat, “Oh god, John! Bayleaf, Can I have some help in here?”

She sat her self up, resting her head on her hands,

“I am so sorry sir!”

She whispered looking up at him, he cleared his throat, as Bayleaf and Sub walked in,

“Whats going on here?”

Sub asked not knowing where to look,

“Can we get rid of this please” Georgiadis said monotonously handing the waste paper bin to sub “and get her a glass of water and some tissue please Bayleaf!”

Bayleaf nodded leaving the room,

“Give me ten minutes sir and I’ll be back on duty!”

“Not tonight Scarlett, go home get some rest and we’ll try again tomorrow”

She sighed taking his hand, and steadying herself to her feet,

“Yes sir”

She made her way to her car, stopping when a voice called behind her,

“Dolly?” she turned to see Bayleaf jogging towards her “Everything alright? What was that about?”

She shook her head,

“Nothing just a bit ill that’s all”

He placed his hands at the top of her arms,

“Scarlett?” she couldn’t look at him, focusing his gaze anywhere but at him “what’s wrong?” He had a gnawing feeling in the pit of his stomach, he took a few deep breaths trying to steady himself and keep his own emotions in check, his stomach dropped as he looked at her, eyes brimmed with tears, her sleeve covered hand covering her nose and mouth as her eyes screwed shut, she leaned forward resting her head on Bayleafs chest, without a word she had confirmed what he thought, he put his arms around her for a moment, “Does he know?”

“Who?”

“Now I know you don’t think I’m that stupid!” he laughed trying to keep himself from going and inflicting serious damage on Kevin “I’ll ask again, does Kevin know?”

She shook her head her tears coming a little quicker now,

“How can I bloody tell him Bayleaf! I’m not fucking stupid! I know about Marnie and I still let it happen, like some dirty little slapper!”

He could feel himself getting angrier, he knew she wasn’t blameless, but he also knew that Kevin had a charm to him, a charm that he had no doubt inherited from his jail bird father, she should have asked but he could have told, Bayleaf had always felt paternal over Scarlett, knowing her own father was a heavy drinker, who had a penchant for laying hands on his wife and daughter and had seen the inside of a cell more than once, he felt protective over her, she had proved her balls to the crew many a time, working at height and in extreme conditions, she had earned a firm place in his heart and he in hers, she had said to him the past he was the closest thing she had to a father,

“You know that’s not true!”

“Well I may as well fucking own up to it now! Before the rumours start and Marnie gets her claws in!”

“Now you listen to me! If Marnie has any bloody sense she’ll bin him off before she goes after you! And if she does come after you we can all play stupid! We can all pretend we didn’t have a clue what was going on and you can act as though you’ve never even heard of her alright!?” She nodded shocked in to silence “Now get yourself home have a bloody bath and I’ll see you tomorrow!”

He gave her a quick squeeze and watched her back to her car, sighing before walking back in to the station.