Chapter Text
It had been a long few weeks for Marlene and after her boss practically begged her to take some time off she had finally given in. With the case all closed she could finally relax. Her defendant would be getting the money she deserved and the abuser behind bars, she could finally take that breath she had been holding.
She stood, leaning out of the Juliet balcony in her flat and smoking a cigarette as she watched the sun set and the street lights flicker on in sync with each other, just like orbs floating down the road. As she inhaled she let her shoulders sag and her head roll back, filled with the ecstasy that she had generated from the win. The adrenaline was wearing off and she allowed herself to feel, just really feel and mull over the case in her mind.
It had been a gruelling few months, with the prep for the case and the two week long court battle before the judge had finally ruled in her client’s favour. A small smile graced her face as she remembered how the mother’s children had run into her arms as they had left the courtroom, the teddy bears they had been provided with clutched in their small fists.
She loved when she managed to bring justice to her clients but naturally her career as a defence solicitor for domestic violence victims didn’t allow for a good outcome every time. It was rewarding, sure but the emotional turmoil sometimes got too much for her.
Hearing a ping from her laptop she turned her head back towards her bedroom, settling her eyes on the open laptop on her bed and the newly lit up screen. She sighed and stubbed her cigarette out on the wooden sill of the balcony before walking back into her room and sitting on her bed watching the net curtains billow in the cool breeze flowing through the doors.
Pulling the laptop onto her lap she leaned into the pillows propping herself up before opening the email.
She read it over, twice, three times before sighing and clicking the attached document.
It was a link to a website and upon clicking on it she was met with a striking image of rolling hills in the background and a clear, pebbled lake in the foreground. Continuing to scroll through the website she started to get excited.
She twirled a lock of her hair around her finger and realised that it had indeed been a while since she had treated herself. She couldn’t even remember the last time she had had a hair cut or done her nails. Looking at them she saw that she had started biting them again. When did that happen? She had stopped that years ago after one of the prosecutors at a trial had picked her up on it, trying to get her into bed and saying she “seemed nervous”.
She shuddered as she thought about it and went back to scrolling through the website of ‘The Lakes Wellness’. It was nice, ridiculously nice. Marlene must have been doing well at her job to deserve this.
Examining the booking further she saw that the train ticket was booked for tomorrow morning at 8:00 am. “Always a catch,” she muttered, shaking her head as she settled into her pillow. Reading further her eyes widened, two weeks!
There in front of her was the start date and the end date of the booking. 29th of april - 13th of may. She knew she had made the right decision when she had agreed to work for Marauder and Co Law but this was insane.
Throwing her laptop to the side she hopped out of bed and grabbed the small suitcase she kept on top of her wardrobe. What did you even take to a wellness spa? She hesitantly threw in a few tops and trousers as well as a couple of pairs of pajamas and, in a sudden realisation, her swimwear. She would add the toiletries in the morning and anything else she had forgotten.
After a quick shower she got into her pajamas and settled into the sheets, deciding to give herself an early night. She looked at her phone screen, setting an alarm for 6:00am and sighing. Of course they would have booked the train for a typical early morning. If there was one thing Marlene hated about being a solicitor it was the early mornings, but at least this one had a reward behind it.
She fell asleep quickly, dreaming about the tranquillity that she hoped to find once she got to the Lakes and the smooth pond that had been in the website’s images. As she settled further into her dreams she felt the weeks of tension release from her body and fell further into her mattress, allowing her duvet to encompass her.
The shrill beeping of her standard phone alarm woke her up and grumbling, she rolled over in her sheets to turn it off. The harsh flash of her phone screen made her squint as it illuminated her face. 6:00 am. Time to get up. She rolled over, burning her face in her pillow and groaned as her blonde hair fell into her mouth.
After a few moments of Marlene just soaking up the warmth from her assorted bedding and blankets she groaned and sat up. Pushing her hair back from her forehead and stretching. With yawn she got up and out of bed, pushing the covers off of her legs and allowed herself to just sit on the edge with her legs swinging over the side as she woke up properly.
She got dressed quickly, debating over putting on makeup or not as she squinted at herself over the bathroom mirror as she brushed her teeth. She spat her toothpaste into the sink and rubbed a hand over her face inspecting her skin before deciding against makeup.
She was going to a spa and wellness retreat right? What use was concealer if she was going to have a facial, and that was her priority when she got there.
There was nothing that Marlene could think of that would be more beneficial for her current state of mind than having someone pamper her and massage her worn out face. No need to fake a smile or maintain a false expression. Her cheeks were about to be relaxed.
She finished her packing, adding her toiletries and zipping up her suitcase laughing at how the leopard print made her seem so outlandish, the exact opposite to how she really was. It had been one of her first purchases when she had started earning the money she deserved as a lawyer and it had a special place in her heart.
She had promised herself she would travel the world with that suitcase and as she reminisced on her younger days, when she had been full of passion and hopefulness she felt her heart sink. She had gone to a few countries but that had all been for work, thinking back to the last time she had actually made time for herself or allowed herself to take a break from the endless cases she realised that it had been at least since she had been signed on. Maybe her bosses were right in booking this, she could do with a break.
She tugged her jacket on letting the smooth leather hug her shoulders and arms as she felt its familiar comfort envelope her. She wrapped a large, warm scarf around her neck in a cherry-red colour and pulled on her shoes, double knotting the laces using the bunny-ears method. Grabbing her bag, she locked her flat and picked up her bag ready to haul it down the stairs.
After a short walk she arrived at the station and upon glancing at her watch saw that it was 7:35am. Time for a cigarette. She lit up against the station wall and leaned her body into it, resting one leg on a wall in a way that she hoped didn’t scream ‘I’m a solicitor trying to seem cool when really I'm fast approaching my thirties’.
An old man in a trenchcoat and flat cap looked over at her with a disgruntled expression on his face before shaking his head and walking to the other side of the platform. She looked down at herself confused before the realisation hit her like a truck and she slapped a hand to her head. Right. She was smoking. Understood that it wasn’t everyone’s cup of tea but she had thought that she did it far enough away that it didn’t really affect anyone else. She didn’t need to be shamed for it, Marlene was well aware it was a disgusting habit but it did wonders for her nerves, unlike people judging her for it.
She sighed and moved further down the platform, isolating herself as the man continued to scoff in her direction. She smiled at him sarcastically, shaking her head. People like this annoyed her. Hell, she probably earned more money than him and he still felt the need to judge her. She looked up, stubbing her cigarette out under her boot. He was still staring and shaking his head.
The train whooshed into the station, distracting her momentarily as she checked her ticket one final time and went to find her reserved seat. It was a 5 hour journey. She climbed onto the train (minding the gap) and sat down in her seat, stowing her obnoxiously printed suitcase above her and taking out her laptop and headphones.
Marlene allowed herself to settle herself into the seat, leaning back and putting her headphones on before opening up her work emails. She laughed to herself as she opened her emails and saw that she had another one from her boss Peter Pettigrew, instructing her that she ‘was not allowed to open her emails or send anything to any of her coworkers’ and that they ‘always kept tabs on their employees’.
Chuckling to herself she closed the lip of her laptop and set it to the side on her tray table before settling into the chair and allowing the music to overtake her thoughts as she sunk into the words flowing through her ears. Might as well start the relaxation early right?
At each station she pulled through she lifted her head, observing the people who came onto the train as well as those who left the carriages. She loved making backstories for the members of the public she encountered and this train journey was allowing her to have the perfect people-watching experience.
That man with a moustache: he became an excellent wine sommelier who was currently touring England and creating online reviews of each wine he tried.
Lady with two small children: they became a family of three travelling to tap their soldier father out of the ranks as he returned from his active service.
It was fun letting her imagination run wild when she had such a rigid structure at her job. As the train chugged forwards, further and further from London she allowed herself to breathe. Letting the stories in her head flow as she journalled them down and sat consumed in herself and her own ideas for the first time in a while.
It was nice actually, to not have the overwhelming grey cloud of her cases hanging over her. Of course she felt the guilt of being away for two weeks and all the families she could potentially help entered her mind as she tried to push them back out. She needed this. She really needed this, and she repeated this like a mantra in her mind as she worked on pushing those thoughts out.
Sometimes she wished that she could just take a ladle to her mind and allow herself to scoop out the negativity. It wasn’t fair that some people could simply forget. Marlene could still see the face of each victim she had tried to help, burned into her retinas and scorched into her mind. Their sad faces reared back into her mind with each failure she committed.
She shook her head quickly, trying and succeeding to shake the thoughts away. This was her two weeks off and she wasn’t going to allow that darkness that came with her job to infiltrate it. She was excited about this, and for the first time in a while she let herself fully feel it. Sinking into the warmth that it made her feel as she snuggled into her seat and scarf, eventually drifting into a light sleep.
It was a while before she woke up again and it was to one of the train line workers gently shaking her shoulder.
“Miss?” he said as he continued to shake her awake, “it’s the last stop. End of the road.”
Marlene sat up, wiping the drool that she could feel collecting on the corner of her mouth. She blushed, embarrassed at her deep sleep and stood up, collecting her belongings.
“Thank you,” she answered, as she tried to hide in her voluminous scarf as she excited the train, lifting her suitcase over the gap between the platform and the train.
She cringed as the encounter with the train conductor ran through her mind, echoing off of the walls of her head and deciding to stick. How embarrassing. She wiped her mouth again roughly, becoming paranoid about the fact that she may still have dried drool on her face, before scrubbing a hand over her face and rubbing her eyes. Napping always made her more tired.
She hailed a taxi and instructed the driver, ‘The Lakes Wellness’. He nodded and drove forward, leaving Marlene in silence in the back of the car. She wanted to put her headphones in but didn’t want to appear rude. For someone who spent so much of her life observing law conduct she really didn’t know much about etiquette outside of the courtroom. Leaving her headphones off, she leaned into the smooth leather of the taxi’s seats and allowed herself to just look out of the window at the rolling countryside as she passed by.
She had never felt as small as she did driving up the winding roads of the mountains in just a small tin box on wheels. They seemed to tower over her as she gazed upon them, awestruck by their natural beauty.
Marlene had previously thought that she was a city girl through and through having grown up in a city and stayed there her whole life. In fact, even her holidays had been to cities, with them being work focused and consisting of conferences rather than sightseeing or appreciating the beauty of the cities themselves.
As she sat back in the car she thought of how she had been to all of these countries but had only seen them as far as the airport and the bleak, industrial buildings that the law conferences were normally held in. The more she thought about it, the more she realised how much of a waste it really had been. She had spent so much money to go and hadn’t even experienced any of it. She had seen more of the Lake District in the short taxi ride than she had of he whole of Spain and Marlene felt the self-disappointment seep into her mind.
She felt the taxi slowing down as the driver pulled into the wellness spa and sat up a bit straighter, pulling herself from the depths of her mind. She paid the driver, tipping him well and thanking him before she stepped out of the car and onto the gravel path, looking up at the centre.
It, well it looked like the white house. Marlene chuckled to herself as she took in the monumental building. Trust the Marauders and Co Law to send her to the most prestigious spa they could find. She shook her head and walked forward, choppily pulling her suitcase behind her and getting more and more frustrated as the wheels caught on the gravel beneath it. Wasn’t this meant to be relaxing?
After her short struggle she managed to haul her suitcase up the front steps and stood, panting at the top of the stairs before noticing the revolving doors and getting excited again as she watched them rotate. This was properly fancy and Marlene could feel her posture getting sharper as she felt herself adjust to fit into the expectation of herself she believed was normal for a place like this.
Taking a breath with her new adjusted posture she allowed herself to just breathe for a bit before psyching herself up to enter. She pushed forward through the revolving doors and stepped into the reception, immediately being met with the smell of cucumber and a general fresh aroma.
All of the workers were dressed in white tunics with the company logo emblazoned on the breast along with their names embroidered in a leafy green font, written in cursive looping writing that made Marlene’s head ache just attempting to read it.
She walked forward across the smooth marble floor, feeling self conscious as her shows squeaked on the floor like a basketball court. She pulled her suitcase behind her, at least pleased that this time it was a smoother run for the wheels.
Stepping up the reception she was met with a smiling but generic face of one of the workers.
“Uh, hi,” she squinted at the name badge attempting to read the looped letters as they jumbled in her mind, “Anna. I believe I have a reservation under either Pettigrew or Potter?”
The receptionist smiled, typing quickly on her computer before flipping the screen around and showing Marlene who stared blankly at it for a beat.
“Here we are, a man called Peter Pettigrew called up about a reservation under the name McKinnon,” she reached under the desk and pulled a small key card out of a drawer, swiping it and placing it in a folder. “You’re on the fourth floor in room 405, enjoy your stay and if you need anything please either come to the reception desk or call 123 on the room landline.”
Marlene nodded, digesting the information before taking the folder and holding it carefully under her arm. “Thank you, Pandora.” she said before walking to the lift and clicking the four on the panel, tugging her suitcase in with her.
She looked at herself in the mirrors that lined the lift and sighed. She had a massive imprint on her head from where she had been asleep and then resting in the taxi. So much for appearing as a civilised adult.
The lift pinged and the doors opened, snapping Marlene out of her mind and chiving her out of the open doors, pulling her gaze away from the mirrors. Even the hallways were fancy, green carpeted flooring that felt spongy under her steps as if walking on a cloud and cream walls that you would expect to have fingerprints over but were surprisingly spotless.
She walked further down the hallway, stepping past 401 -404 before she arrived at her door and swiped her keycard. It took her a few tries (standard for Marlene who had always been terrible at swiping cards, even in her retail job) before the door finally went green and allowed her in.
She pushed down on the handle, allowing the door to swing open as she gazed, awed at the room. There was a huge bed against the back wall with crisp white sheets and an immaculately made bedspread. She walked further in, leaving her suitcase by the door and tugging her boots off. A small welcome basket was set on the poof at the foot of the bed. Upon further inspection it contained a small bottle of champagne, two glasses (Marlene had laughed at this, fat chance she was ever going to find love), a small box of chocolates, some fresh fruit and a note.
Reading it she found it said:
Marlene,
Welcome to The Lakes Wellness! We are looking forward to spending your fortnight away with us and hope that we can give you the relaxing vibe you need after the long hours at work we’ve been told about. You have six massages booked for your stay here and a facial for every other day. Included is a key to the exclusive spa open from 9 till 8 everyday.
Enjoy your stay!
Mary,
The Lakes Wellness.
Marlene grabbed a cherry out of the welcome basket and settled in against the downy pillows of the bed as she allowed herself to sink into their comforting embrace, feeling enveloped in a warm hug from them. As she spat out the stone into an ashtray she allowed herself to relax in the bed and just let the taste of it ruminate around her mouth, licking her tongue over the residue of the juice on her teeth.
The menu sitting on her bedside table caught her eye and she reached her arm over to grab it, leaning into the pillows to prop herself up. Her eyes scoured the leaflet as she turned it over in her hands, examining the small pictures of the dishes. Eventually she settled on the pasta in a tomato sauce, pulling the room service phone towards her. Dialling 123, she waited for the tone to ring and was then patched through to the front desk.
“Hello, this is Mary at the front desk speaking, how may I help you?”
Marlene listened, letting the sunny voice of the receptionist wash over her as she ruminated over her menu choices. She was snapped back to reality when the woman on the phone coughed to get her attention.
Marlene let out an awkward chuckle down the phone and started to speak, “right. Right. Uh room service!” she uttered, feeling her face heat with embarrassment for some reason.
“And what would you like?” the woman, (Mary, Marlene remembered) answered.
“Uh, the salmon,” there was a pause before Marlene remembered to add a please. “Please, thank you.”
“It’ll be with you in 10!” the sunny voice answered through the phone before hanging up.
Marlene slowly took the phone away from her ear and set it down beside her, not bothering to put it back in the holder. She leaned her head back and felt her face flush as she remembered the awkward phone call.
Some people in life are just so attractive that you tell based entirely on voice alone and Marlene knew that Mary was one of them. She had yet to see the women behind the angelic tones but she knew that when she did she would be a positively stumbling mess. Maybe she was crazy, or maybe she had met enough attractive people in her time to be quite accomplished sussing them out.
Mary. She allowed the name to float around her head, filling every crevice of her brain with what she could remember of the sweet woman’s voice. It was a name Marlene had always liked, her own court bear as a child having been named it. She had loved that bear, had taken it everywhere but (and in typical Marlene fashion) she had lost it sometime around her tenth birthday.
She wondered where it had ended up. Was a new little girl playing with it, talking to it, hugging it as she went to sleep. She hoped so, it was nicer to imagine than the alternative of the bear just being alone and in landfill, she didn’t want it to feel like she did but maybe that was just silly.
A knock on the door jolted her from her thoughts and she sat up abruptly smoothing down the hair that had become stuck up from where she was sitting. “Coming!” she yelled, before hauling herself up and sticking her feet into the free hotel slippers. They may feel like paper but she was not about to let whoever was at the door see her feet on display.
Pulling open the door Marlene was met with the sight of possibly the single most attractive woman she had ever seen. She had full, rosy lips which crinkled in the corners as she smiled up at marlene and hid the perfect white teeth which were now in view. Her hair fell just past her shoulders in tight, brown ringlets that made Marlene want to reach out and run her fingers through it. Somehow, the beige of the hotel uniforms managed to perfectly compliment her skin and her eyes shone as though they were smiling just for Marlene.
As her eyes passed over the woman’s figure they landed on her name badge. This was Mary. This was the voice on the phone. The pieces clicked into place in Marlene’s brain and she could feel the cogs turning behind her eyes as they gazed up and down, finally landing on the tray in her outstretched hands.
“Oh! Right! Uh, yes. Thank you so much for bringing my dinner,” She managed to stutter out as her brain turned to mush.
“Enjoy your dinner!” Mary said, and suddenly Marlene felt like she was floating, like a songbird was carrying her on its wings as she heard the ring of the lovely voice. Before she fell back to reality with a bump as the tray was thrust into her own hands.
“You too,” she said, panicked, before shutting the door and clocking her mistake as her face dropped. She set the tray on the bed and sighed, inwardly face-palming. She had not just seriously said “you too”. Marlene had a degree in law for God's sake and here she was making stupid, idiotic, common-sense mistakes.
Marlene sat down on the plush bed and lifted the lid of the tray, letting the aroma of the salmon fill her nose. It came with tenderstem broccoli and wild rice. Of course it was healthy, she shouldn't have expected anything less from a wellness spa. As she ate the food she could feel the drowsiness of the day's commute wash over her as the tiredness hit her in waves that made her eyelids heavy.
She settled the tray onto the floor and gave into the relaxation, deciding to just fall asleep in her travelling clothes and have a shower in the morning. She had no makeup on anyway so that was less to worry about on that front. The day's weariness had taken its toll and as she closed her eyes she fell straight to sleep, dreaming of those bright smiles and brown ringlets.
Marlene awoke slowly to the sounds of birds chirping and a sheep bleating. As she opened her blue eyes she squinted at the sunlight blaring through the open curtains. She had obviously forgotten to close them in her sleepy state the previous night and was suffering the consequences as she looked at her alarm clock. 08:37. She was awake before 9am when she didn’t even have work. Maybe this country air stuff really was good for you.
She wiped the sleep in her eyes away with a fist and stretched out in bed, her toes touching the end bedpost and her hand reaching the headboard of the bed. She yawned widely and sat up in bed, feeling the cool breeze from the open window wash over her face, chilling her body which was warm from sleep.
Today would be a spa day she surmised. She was really fancying a facial and then maybe a dip in the pool and some making use of the sauna she had seen in the brochure. Maybe if she was lucky a certain worker would be the one to give her the facial. She felt herself blush thinking about Mary and laughed to herself.
She never normally ate breakfast but with an all-inclusive package provided by her bosses maybe she would treat herself today. She got dressed into her comfiest joggers and jumper as swiped up her room card from the bedside table where she had left it before, ready for breakfast.
The retreat was bigger than she had initially thought it was and she had to backtrack her steps a little to manage to find the breakfast room. She sat down on one of the many sets of tables and chairs and for a second became acutely aware of her own loneliness as she looked at the couples around her enjoying their romantic get-aways.
Maybe James was right and she really did need some time off of work. She hadn’t realised it before today but she really had been letting her work-life consume her. Sure she took the odd weekend here and there off but overall she really hadn’t taken a break much. She really didn't have any concept of work-life balance it seemed.
She was pulled out of her thoughts by one of the waitresses catching her eye and smiling. She would recognise that smile anywhere. Mary. She shook her head as if to expel all remaining thoughts of self deprecation and stood to go and get her breakfast and coffee.
As she walked through the buffet she noticed the organic produce signs on all of the breakfast items and the lack of grease that seemed to come as a side to most continental buffet breakfasts. Trust James to not only send her to a spa in the middle of nowhere but to also send her to a one that was big on healthy eating.
She loaded her plate with the organic, locally grown fruit selection and felt thankful that at least strawberries were in season at the moment. She completed her meal with a hashbrown (oven cooked, not oil according to the sign in front of it) and a spoonful of baked beans, finishing up by pouring herself a large, black coffee from a pitcher on the side.
She sat back and started munching on her breakfast, using a slice of buttered toast to mop up her beans, of course it being a wellness spa they only had fancy bread. At least it toasted well!
As soon as she had drunk the last dregs of her coffee Mary appeared beside her table to collect her utensils. “Is your boyfriend coming down after?” Mary asked with a sunny smile, making Marlene splutter on her mouthful of warm liquid.
“B-boyfriend!” she said, amongst coughs.
“The man that the booking was under? Peter Pettigrew?” Mary looked at her with soft questioning eyes.
Recovering slightly, Marlene responded, “oh, right.” She cleared her throat, “my uh boss.”
Marlene saw a slight blush bloom on Mary’s cheeks and giggled, before immediately regretting that she had let that sound come out of her mouth and clapping a hand over her lips. “I’m single, very uh single,” she looked at her plate, willing her cheeks to cool down.
“Oh!” Mary said, her smile filling her face again, “that’s, that’s good.” Mary took Marlene’s empty plate and winked at her as she left to clear some of the other couple’s tables.