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14th February.
Oh dear.
Liz never really paid attention to this particular date. Well- she never had a guy, and if she did it didn't last very long. Granger was probably her longest relationship. Relationship? Meh, more like on-off meet-ups. As harsh as it sounded: he served his purpose well. Of course, if she ever voiced that opinion she would be derided as a power-hungry, opportunistic hussy.
From a PR perspective, Valentine's Day is a prosperous time of year for the gift industry and Liz appreciates that. If she worked in said industry, there is no doubt that she would invent ingenious methods of encouraging the public to indulge in their (dormant) sentimental sides.
But she doesn't work in the gift industry. Nor is she single.
Liz Garvey is officially taken.
She doesn't want to curse it by calling it a relationship, nevertheless it certainly has more bearing than what she had with Granger.
Finn Kirkwood. They certainly are a match made in Hell.
That hand-grab in the car marked the moment of change in the way that they interacted with each other. They didn't agree on everything (why would they? They had completely different approaches to similar viewpoints), but they acted more cohesively in the interests of the Met. Liz would never, ever be friendly with Charles the way that Finn was; they got on well enough.
Lingering stares between Liz and Finn increased. Liz often found herself gravitating towards Finn, standing or sitting beside him in meetings and discussions absent-mindedly.
Her heart would pump savagely whenever they were pressed against each other in the Range Rover. Finn was always stiff at first, in the face of contact with his ex-mortal enemy. Each time he would remain this way for the first six minutes into the car ride. Then he would un-tense his muscles and ease against her.
She was soft and warm and oh so tempting.
Liz found the hand that had been splayed on his left knee on the night of the riot, moved over so that his little finger placed itself against the bare flesh of her thigh. She almost elicited an orgasmic sigh. He almost released a torturous moan.
Both would find it difficult to breathe or even think.
Once, Liz dared to dart her eyes at him. She felt safe and protected with him- despite being next to the Commissioner and attended by two cars' worth of bodyguards, it was Finn's close proximity that comforted her. Out of a group of highly-trained, beefy, intimidating officers it was her Deputy of Communications whom provided her with security; a bizarre feeling that Liz sometimes grappled with in understanding.
Next followed working in each other's offices. Sometimes in the evening.
With low lighting they were always doomed.
Liz remembers the feeling of her lips being captured by his, and, for once in the work environment, she let him dominate.
That was where the dilemma lay: Finn was more expressive in his kisses, touches, looks and lovemaking. Liz was certain that whatever he felt, he would be reluctant to vocalise it. There was no way he was going to celebrate Valentine's Day. Even thinking about the possibility of him doing so was ridiculous.
Regardless, she bought him a card.
Signing the damn thing proved more challenging than she thought; Liz was interrupted whenever she tried to sign it. When Mia was out of sight Liz allowed herself a cackle at the card's message on the front.
You'll Do.
It summed up the biting humour that Finn appreciated. Much better than any simpering declaration of love. If only Liz could come up with an effective way of delivering said card to him without making it so obvious.
'Liz, the Twitter Q&A is ready,' came the pixie-like receptionist.
She appeared so suddenly that Liz had slapped the card between two nearby files for Charles' attention. Liz nodded rapidly as she raised from her chair reluctantly.
Liz returned to her desk 30 minutes later, head buzzing with the usual online abuse and how to overcome it. Her eyes clapped onto it almost immediately.Nudging out of a pile of papers was a card- not hers though.
It read: I Dislike You Less Than Everyone Else.
It was clearly a card forged through the methods of online customisation. The design just smacked of Finn. Liz was beyond overjoyed that he had even bothered today; she would have felt like a fool if he had rejected her and her card.
Her eyes flickered upwards in the hope of catching him lurking. He wasn't, but she was so giddy with excitement that she decided to seek him out. Finn's eyes rolled up when she helped herself into his office, beaming like a goofy idiot.
'You found it then,' he stated in his best attempt to sound nonplussed.
'I feel honoured,' Liz countered, still radiant.
Her smile was a genuine, non-PR smile; he wanted to devour it and her with a succession of smothering kisses.
'Don't- you stand out from a shoddy line up.'
'I didn't think you'd do anything today.'
'Neither did I, but I couldn't resist reminding you that I dislike you.'
'Well I'm glad you did, because I would've felt like such a dork if it were just me.'
Finn did well to hide his pleasure at hearing this. 'Oh really? You don't seem to have arrived carrying bountiful gifts.'
'That's because-' Liz halted when she remembered what she was doing before the Q&A.
'Because . . . ' Finn prompted, his hands gesturing for more information.
'I left yours on my desk.'
Finn followed her out of his office, still as nonchalantly as possible. Liz's search was leisurely at first, when she couldn't find it her hands sifted through the mess in panic.
'It's fine, Liz,' said Finn. 'I believe you: you are terribly attentive to romance.'
Liz shot him a weak glare before biting her lip.
'I put it in the pile with the folders that were to go to Charles,' Liz admitted with anguish. 'That pile is gone.'
Liz watched the horror seep into Finn's smirk as it dawned on him that their secret affair was about to be exposed to the one person he didn't want to know yet. If it were department members then at least he could threaten them.
'Shit.'
Finn immediately went over to the window and popped some gum into his mouth, remaining there until Mia made her entrance into the office. Liz pounced on her.
'Mia what happened to the files for Charles that were on my desk?' she interrogated without pausing for breath.
Mia's sandwich lowered. 'You said it was more or less completed so I delivered it to Charles' desk.'
Her expression was so innocent that Liz couldn't bear to reprimand her. Mia was also fortunate that she was the only person Finn liked; a major accomplishment.Liz hurried down the corridor with Finn in tow.
'I know for a fact that Charles is in office right now,' Finn reported in the lift. 'We need to devise a plan to retrieve evidence of your ineptitude without arousing his suspicion.'
'Ineptitude?' Liz repeated. 'Arousing will be a word you won't experience for a very. Long. Time. For that.'
'Your words are so punishing,' Finn countered flatly. 'Meanwhile, we're about to be punished in the most pleasure-less way possible.'
'I know Tom isn't Charles' personal assistant anymore,' Liz thought aloud, 'But surely there is a way to get him to retrieve it for us . . . '
'If word gets out that I got a Valentine's Day card, my reputation here is finished. I might as well pack for Siberia and start learning how to hunt bears and avoid being eaten by snow leopards.'
Liz ignored his hyperbolic mutterings and tried to rack her brains for a solution.
Tom. Tom.
'I have an idea.'
'Hi Tom,' Liz greeted him, her voice like silk.
Tom returned his greeting with amiability, watching her as she breezed in. Unfortunately for Tom, he didn't pick up on where this was heading, despite it happening before. Liz was a certified expert, knowing how to utilise her femininity to influence certain people. It worked on Finn didn't it? (Ha!)
She judged that it would be better for her to begin half-way into the room in order not to frighten him off; he already looked like a startled deer.
'How are you, Tom?'
'Splendid thank you, and yourself?'
'I have a little problem, actually,' Liz admitted smoothly.
'Oh? I'm sorry to hear that.'
'Yes. I was wondering if you could help, Tom. You'd be a great help if you do: I'll even get Finn to back off.'
The latter produced a nervous laugh from Tom.
'You see, Mia and I had a miscommunication - yes, funny I know- and she delivered some files for Charles' attention to his desk. Well, I wasn't done with those files, in fact: they're incomplete.'
The penny dropped. 'You want me to get them back for you?'
'Yes.'
'I don't want to sound rude,' Tom began tentatively, 'But why can't you do it?'
'It would look really bad to Charles if I admit that the file on his desk is only a basic idea that hasn't been developed. We get on but we're not on fantastic terms yet, but if you retrieve it for me then Charles is more likely to be ok with it than if it's me.'
Liz made sure to use a wide-eyed stare to hypnotise him. While he deliberated she closed in on him; a second away from fluttering her eyelashes. His flinching, to Liz's satisfaction, made it obvious that her charms were working.
'Help me out, Tom,' Liz bit her lip.
After playing out his agony on his face Tom finally relented.
'Thanks, Tom,' she said, giving his arm a squeeze, possibly inducing a heart attack.
She sauntered out.
'Finn, it's all sorted: Tom's going to go in and get the files for us. I promised him, though, that you'll leave him alone. No snarky comments, sarcasm or all-out venom. Yeah?'
Finn rolled his eyes. 'Fine. But if he asks me what something like BAE means, I'll have to flush his face down the gent's toilet.'
'I don't think you appreciate what I had to do to orchestrate this rescue mission,' Liz countered, 'I had to utilise my feminine gifts to save our asses. You might have to fight off a queue of men . . .'
Finn's eyes darted around to check that the coast was clear, before dragging her into an embrace and nuzzling her neck.
'I'll be rewarding you later,' he murmured into her left ear, causing her to shudder, 'and I'll easily take Tom and any other man who thinks he's got a chance with you.'
'What makes you think you have a chance with me?' she fired back playfully.
'Who else is your equal in all matters of war?' Finn moved in to plant a kiss on her plump lips, only to shove her away at the sound of footsteps.
Tom appeared, flustered but in one piece; Charles didn't have to inflict his heavy training.
'Thank you so much.' Liz slid the files out of Tom's reluctant fingers. She checked if her card for Finn was in there.
'There was a Valentine's Day card in that pile,' he announced uncertainly.
Liz side-eyed Finn.
'Charles asked me why there was a Valentine' s Day card in a file discussing new PR initiatives. Because I wasn't coached to expect this, I wasn't able to offer an explanation. Now Charles is trying to work out who is an item in this department.'
It occurred to the both of them that their office romance was now in jeopardy; Charles would screen anyone and everyone for potential coupling. No more stolen hugs or burning stares. Their new-found closeness was bound to set off his Rottweiler-like personality.
'So how long have the both of you been courting?'
Finn snapped and lurched forwards. Liz had to catch him before he did serious damage to Tom (which actually seemed likely, given the demonic glare Finn was directing at him).
'Remember what we promised, Finn.'
Finn relaxed his hunched posture but continued to glower at a triumphant Tom.
Liz delicately put: 'We'd appreciate it if no one found out: we're not ready to tell just yet.'
'Of course,' Tom complied airily, 'but I do need assurances.'
A hand snatched out to prevent Finn from going into full attack mode.
'Sure,' Liz agreed pleasantly, 'what would you like?'
'I know I'm attached to Sharon's department now, but I would like to accompany the Commissioner on certain outings.'
The thought of having to share the Range Rover with Tom all over again surged the lava rising under Finn's skin. When Liz communicated forceful eye contact he was forced to reduce himself to a bitter pursing of the lips. Tom beamed a winning smile and saluted them on his way down the corridor.
'You're lucky this is you and not some other woman,' Finn commented when the department emptied once more. 'I would rather end the relationship than be under the throe of Tom Oliver.'
'Aww, so sweet,' Liz retorted half-sarcastically. 'I'm still surprised that he one-upped us; Tom never does that. He's too nice to do anything like that.'
'I'll get him later,' Finn retorted, pecking her on the cheek before striding powerfully away.