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“I’ll see you tomorrow, Miller.”
“Fine. I’ll see you tomorrow then.” Ellie turned with a smile and started to walk toward home. She hadn’t gotten very far when she heard footsteps coming up behind her.
“Miller! Miller, wait!” Alec Hardy was running to catch up to her.
Ellie stopped. “Everything alright?” she asked, voice full of concern.
Alec slowed as he approached her trying to catch his breath. “Pub’s not…” Alec took a deep breath in, regaining composure. “Pub’s not really my scene. Do you want to eh…grab a take away and go back to mine or something? I think I’ve got some scotch at home or whatever.”
Ellie couldn’t contain her surprise. “Oh wow. Yeah, sure alright. Are you sure?”
“Yes, definitely. I didn’t want you to think–” Alec looked down awkwardly, not meeting Ellie’s eye. “I didn’t want you to think– I– uh– didn’t want to spend time with you. I just really don’t like pubs. They’re too…peopley” Alec said, repulsed.
He looked up to see Ellie’s beaming smile. “I should have known. A take away and a drink sounds lovely. Lead the way.”
Ellie and Alec began to walk toward Alec’s house. They decided to get Thai food at a place nearby. Ellie had already told her father she may be home late so the boys were all set. Alec decided to call Daisy and see if she wanted anything to eat with them. He figured she’d likely just eat and hide out in her room anyway as teenagers do.
“Hey, darlin’. Ellie and I are headed to the house in a bit. We’re going to get Thai. Can I get you anythin’?”
“Hey, Dad. You and Ellie? Are you working?” Daisy questioned.
“Uh, no we don’t have any work on. Just going to grab some dinner.” Alec replied.
“Hold on a sec, dad.” Alec heard some rustling on the other end, giggling, and then silence. The call hadn’t disconnected so he was pretty sure Daisy just put herself on mute. He waited a minute before she came back on the line.
“Sorry dad. I’m over at the Latimer’s. Would it be okay if I stayed over here for the night?”
Confused, Alec agreed. “Sure, darlin’ as long as it’s alright with Chloe’s mum.” Alec could hear Beth and Chloe in the background confirming.
“Thanks, dad. Have a good time with Ellie tonight.” she said, giggling.
Alec hung up and put his phone back in his pocket. He really did not understand teenage girls.
“You alright?” Ellie asked concerned.
“Oh yeah. Daisy just asked if she could stay over at Chloe Latimer’s house tonight. There was a lot of giggling going on."
“Oh I didn’t realize they were friends. How nice!” Ellie said excitedly. “Making friends and having sleepovers. It sounds like Daisy is on the mend then?”
“Yeah. I guess so.” Alec said hopeful.
They stopped at the Thai restaurant and ordered their food. Alec paid. They made their way back to Alec’s house on the hill chatting amiably about their families.
When they arrived at Alec’s he hung up their coats and went to find the bottle of scotch he had somewhere in the kitchen. Ellie settled in on the sofa and laid out the food. Alec came back with the bottle and two glasses pouring one for both of them. “Cheers.” Alec said, handing Ellie her glass.
“Cheers.” Ellie said, taking the glass from him and smiling as she took a sip. “Oh that’s smooth. I haven’t had scotch in ages.”
“Aye, neither have I.” Alec said, taking a sip. “Isn’t there some old saying about a proper scotch for a proper Scot or something?”
Ellie laughed heartily
They settled in eating their food. They talked a bit more about the Winterman case and next steps, but there was an effort by both to keep it short and light. They both needed some time to recuperate from such a heated case. Ellie was now in the middle of telling Alec about some of Ollie’s recent exploits in London when Alec reached over and stole one of her dumplings.
“Oi! Get your own food mister!” She said, swatting him on the arm. Alec, mouth full, just smiled guiltily.
After swallowing he said “Sorry they're one of my favorites.”
“How come you didn’t get any then?” Ellie questioned.
“I didn’t want to indulge too much.” Alec admitted. “And besides I saw you were getting them. You’re always griping about my eating habits. I didn’t think you’d mind.” Alec quipped, trying to look innocent.
“You’re right you do need to eat more.” She said, poking him in the stomach. “ I hardly ever see you eat and we’re together most of the time. It worries me.” She looked at him, sadness flashing in her eyes for only a second.
“Is this all I need to do to get you to eat? Get Thai takeaway more often?”
“I wouldn’t be opposed to us getting more takeaways together or, you know, dinner together after work sometime.” Alec said sheepishly. Ellie, who had just picked up her glass to get a drink, tried to hide the blush creeping over her cheeks as she sipped her scotch.
“So, how’s your da’ been? I haven’t heard much about him recently.” Alec said changing the subject.
Ellie groaned. “He’s fine. He’s depressed of course after losing mom. I get that. He just goes about spouting off his old man nonsense. I have to constantly keep him in check and make sure he’s not telling the boys things that aren’t acceptable. Like the other day he said some shit like ‘If you ask me, everyone has been raped these days’ or something like that. Makes me furious.”
“He said that?!” Alec said, shocked. “What did you say back? And with the case we just had on. Unbelievable.” Alec exclaimed, shaking his head.
“Exactly! I told him off!” Ellie said proudly. “I told him he cannot be filling my boys’ heads with any outdated, victim blaming, bullshit narratives. And that his opinions are not welcome in my home. Then I made Tom have a conversation about consent again.”
“Ha! I’m sure they both loved that one.” Alec said as he reached over and stole another dumpling. “I envy you Ellie Miller.” he said before popping the dumpling in his mouth.
“What do you mean? Not sure why anyone would ever envy me?” Ellie said genuinely perplexed.
Alec finished chewing and took a sip of his scotch. Clearing his throat he said “You are always so confident. You always tell everyone exactly what you’re feeling. You don’t take anyone’s bullshit. When we first met I was a proper bastard and you told me as such. A more fragile man than I probably would have had you sacked. I thought it was endearing.”
“You thought me calling you a knob every time you pissed me off was endearing?!” Ellie said laughing.
“I admired you for sticking up for yourself, your beliefs, your town even though I was your superior. I still admire you for it. I could never do that. Especially not to my da’.” Alec said, looking away.
“Oh.” Ellie considered her next words for only a second. “Well, from what you’ve shared your father sounds like a real twat who could use a good bollocking.”
There was a brief moment of tense silence then Alec laughed heartily. “You’re certainly not wrong.”
“You don’t have to answer, but I’ve often wondered, was he violent with you and your mum?” Ellie asked, turning her body to face Alec. He was staring down at his feet, wringing his hands. It was a minute before he spoke.
“He wasn’t violent with me, no. He treated my mum like proper shite. My da’ had no respect for women. He treated them all worse than dogs. My mum, she stuck up for herself and they got into it a lot. She always told me he wasn’t what a real man was. I think she wanted to leave him, but she didn’t work, had no income other than his. He threatened her that he would take me and leave and she’d never see me again. I was a pawn.” Alec took a shuddering breath in. Ellie could tell he was crying, though she could not see his face.
He continued “It didn’t matter in the end though. She got sick and passed away during my first year at uni. I never went back to Scotland after that. I haven’t heard anything from my da’. I don’t even know if he’s still alive. I always vowed I would never be like him” Properly crying now Alec buried his face in his hands.
Ellie moved closer to Alec. She placed a comforting hand on his back. When he didn’t flinch away she began rubbing soothing circles up and down his back. She was crying now herself. “It’s alright Alec. Let it out.” She said softly. Alec’s body shook as he sobbed.
“You’re nothing like him. You are a good man Alec Hardy. Much better than most.” Ellie assured him continuing the soothing motion on his back.
When he started to calm Ellie reached over and grabbed some napkins so they could dry their eyes. “Thanks.” Alec said as he took the napkin from her outstretched hand. He blew his nose. “Wow, I’m sorry. I’ve killed the mood.” Alec said, trying to joke.
“No, don’t apologise.” said Ellie softly. “Thank you for sharing that with me. I know it’s hard for you to open up.”
“Aye.” Alec nodded then downed the rest of his scotch. Ellie did the same. “Thank you for listening.”
“Always.” Ellie said, squeezing his shoulder comfortingly.
“You know, tell me if I’m overreaching, but do you want to know what my therapist told me to do since Joe isn’t around to tell off properly?”
“What’s that?” said Alec.
“She had me write a letter telling him all the things I would say to him if he was here, to get my anger out. Then you don’t send it to them or anything. You can either tear it up or burn it. It helps purge those negative things from you and then you can destroy them. It obviously doesn’t take away the trauma, but it does feel good.” Ellie continued. “I could help you write a letter to your dad if you wanted.”
“I might like that.” Alec said. “I’m going to clean this up.” he motioned to the food. “Can I get you more to drink or anything?” he desperately wanted to steer the mood back to before he spoke about his father.
“Oh thank you. Just one more. That’ll be enough to make me feel warm and fuzzy, but not drunk.” Ellie said laughing. “I’m going to have a wee.” She got up and made her way to the bathroom while Alec cleaned up. When she returned Alec was sitting comfortably on the sofa, right arm stretched out over the back. He was searching for something to watch on the television.
Ellie grabbed her topped off scotch and sat close to Alec again folding her legs underneath her. They decided to put on a film they had both seen previously. Before long their scotch was gone and Ellie had leaned her head onto Alec’s inviting shoulder.
“Is this alright?” She asked hesitantly
“Hmm? Oh yeah. I’m comfortable if you are.”
“Yes I am very comfortable. Thank you.” Ellie said, nuzzling into Alec’s neck a little.
“I take it you’re feeling warm and fuzzy now?” Alec said with a chuckle.
“Oh yes. How about you?”
“I guess you could say that. I’m definitely not drunk, but I feel much better than before. More…loose.” Ellie giggled. Alec took his left hand and placed it over Ellie’s where it lay on her lap. “Is this okay?”
Ellie looked down at their hands. She flipped hers over and laced their fingers together.
“Is this okay?”
Alec’s breath hitched. “Yes, quite.” he said, voice just barely a whisper. Ellie smiled broadly, though Alec could not see it.
They stayed this way for a while, both comfortable in each other’s company. Ellie had forgotten how nice it was to just hold someone’s hand. She was deeply lost in thought when her phone buzzed in her pocket. It was a text from Beth that read: How’s the date? Am I interrupting any snogging?
Ellie responded: Date? to Beth before questioning aloud “Hardy, is this a date?”
Ellie felt Alec stiffen next to her. “Did you intend for it to be a date when you asked me to the pub earlier?”
Now that she was thinking about it Ellie wasn’t really sure what her intentions were when she asked Alec to the pub earlier that night. She answered him honestly. “I guess I didn’t really give it much thought. I was just feeling very raw from this last case and – like you said it earlier– I wanted to spend time with you. I feel safe with you.”
Ellie felt Alec practically melt back into their previous position of warm and fuzzy. “Well. We don’t have to put labels on anythin’ we don’t want to. We’re just us, spending time together. However you want that to look.”
Ellie didn’t have time to give what Alec said much thought. Beth had texted back. Ellie read aloud: Daisy says Hardy never calls you Ellie in front of her. Says he only reserves first names for people he has intimate relationships with. Earlier on the phone he called you Ellie ..
Another text came in: Daisy figures you two must be on a date. I thought I’d check in and see if you needed saving. Girl code.
Ellie couldn’t help herself. She burst out laughing until there were tears flowing down her face. “First names, Girl code” she choked out in between waves of laughter.
“Get yourself together woman.” Alec said “What’s so damn funny?”
“Sorry.” Ellie said, regaining composure. “Do you remember you said that exact thing to me the first time you came round for dinner at mine?” Alec was silent.
“You said using first names implied some sort of false intimacy. Have you said that same thing to your daughter?”
“I might have, yeah. She asked why I was calling you Miller all the time.”
“Well now you’ve blown yourself in. I’m Ellie now. After all we’ve been through together I think I deserve it.” Ellie squeezed Alec’s hand.
Alec squeezed Ellie’s hand back in response. A silent validation. “Aye, you do.” he continued. “If you want me to call you Ellie from now on I will make an effort.”
Ellie thought for a second. “Maybe only outside of work. I don’t know how any of us could cope if you weren’t yelling ‘Millarh!’ to me all the time.” she said using a mock Scottish accent.
Alec chuckled. “That’s fair.”
Alec’s phone buzzed in his pocket now. “I swear if this is Beth…” he said checking his phone.
It was a text from Daisy: Dad Ellie is texting back with Chlos mum. I hope ur not messing this up!!
“Great now Daisy thinks I’ve got you out on a shite date because you’ve checked your phone.” Alec said jokingly. “How do we get them to leave us alone so we can get back to bein’ all warm and fuzzy or however you put it.”
Ellie smiled. “Hmm. We could send them a picture. Maybe if they see us together they’ll drop it. Or we can just ignore them.”
“No, let’s send them a picture. How do we do that? Is that what they call a selfie?”
“Yes, granddad, that’s a selfie.” Ellie teased, laughing.
“Oi! You know I’m shite with technology.” Alec huffed.
“Ok here. Like this.” Ellie positioned herself more on Alec’s chest. “Now you bring your head in closer to mine.” She said, leading Alec’s head down so they would both be in frame. She had to let go of Alec’s hand to hold the phone and he frowned. Ellie snapped a picture.
“Hey! That’s not a very good one.” Alec said, offended. “Take another. Let’s both pull a face.”
Alec and Ellie both pulled silly faces and disgruntled ones; Ellie snapping pictures of them all the while. When she reviewed them there were laughing pictures, pulled faces, and the last one just of them snuggled close together smiling.
“That last one is my favorite.” Alec said warmly. “But don’t send that to them. Send it to my phone so I can have it.”
“I don’t think we have any pictures of us together besides news clippings and tabloids. This is a nice change of pace.” Ellie said, smiling.
“There. I’ve sent them this.” Ellie said, showing a picture where they both look quite disapproving.
“Good. Maybe they will take a hint.”
“I sent them all to you as well.” Ellie said, putting her phone on the table and settling back onto Alec’s chest. “Is this alright?”
Alec hummed in approval. “Is this alright?” He wrapped his arms around Ellie’s and laced their fingers together, hands resting on Ellie’s stomach.
“Quite alright.” Ellie said. “Feels quite…intimate.”
“Aye, Ellie.” Alec said, voice low in her ear making Ellie shiver.
“Alec.” Ellie said after a while. “I would be open to –um–more nights like this in the future.”
“Really?” Alec said in disbelief. “I would– I would be open to that as well. Whatever you’re comfortable with. As long as you don’t drag me anywhere too peopley.”
“Deal.” Ellie said, smiling. She wrapped Alec’s arms tighter around her and snuggled into his chest.