Sally was up as normal on Monday morning, Dave said he would be Ubering. When she was at her desk, she made a call, when finished, she went off to see her boss, “I have a meeting with HR at 10:30 this morning, I’m not sure how long it will take.” She motioned for Sally to sit down, “is anything wrong, you’re not thinking of leaving?” “No, my partner is not well, I have to take a few days off to help him, I want to talk to HR about it and get authorisation for the time off.” “If there is anything we can do to help, let me know, come and see me when you have had your meeting.”
Sally walked across the campus to the HE department. She was shown into a room with two easy chairs, and a low table, another table had a drinks machine. She was offered a drink, but said no. Sally had gone over in her mind many times what she wanted to say, she had to be careful not to say too much about what Dave did. When she had sat down, she began by telling the HR woman why she was there, tears were streaming down her face, she had difficulty talking. The middle aged woman on the other chair, Sarah, took out tissues from a box on the low table, handing them over she said not to say anything until she was ready. Sally wiped her eyes and started again, “My partner was attacked and left for dead when he was working away, he is struggling to sort out what he does next. I want us to go away for a few days to try to resolve the situation, somewhere with no distractions to allow us to talk.” “Have you talked this over with your manager?” “A little, I didn’t want to ring in sick, I wanted to make sure it was OK.” “How long do you need off?” “I only work Monday, Wednesday and Thursday, I hope it will all be resolved by the weekend.” “I’ll make a call when we have finished, by the time you get back, it will be sorted. Don’t think about work, concentrate on your partner.”
An hour later, she was sitting at home. With a coffee she was looking for a place to stay. It had to be on its own or not many other places nearby. She settled on an old farm workers cottage converted into a holiday let. Sally rang and spoke to the owner for more information. Having satisfied herself that it would be suitable she booked it until Friday morning. Where to pick up the key and details of a welcome pack were emailed over to her. Upstairs she unpacked the suitcase from the weekend and refilled it with casual and outdoor clothes. In Tesco’s later, she bought enough to take with them for a few days.
Dave received a message saying to finish by 17:00, he was thirty minutes late, he wanted to know if there was a problem as he came in, “no, we are going away tomorrow, I have booked a cottage in Derbyshire for us. We need to be on our own, away from any distractions.” Dave said nothing, it was a quiet evening when they had eaten. Sally avoided saying anything that might have started a conversation about the future, she wanted it to take place away from the house and on her terms. The next morning was busy, the final packing was done, food was put in a cool box, Dave loaded up Sally’s car, she said he would be sitting in the passenger seat. With a stop for lunch, Sally arrived at the farmhouse, she was given the key and final directions to the cottage. As Sally had hoped, it was isolated, there was no other building in site, only hills, sheep and fields. The heating was on, it was warm and cosy inside. The cottage was small, but would be just right for a few nights. Dave lit the open fire, there were chairs either side and a sofa in front. Sally was upstairs checking the bathroom and bedroom, he heard the bed creak as she sat on it. Before darkness set in, they had a walk round outside. The air smelt fresher and crisper, there was the sound of sheep bleating, other than the sheep, there was silence. Dave’s arm was round Sally, she should have felt happy and secure, but at that moment, there were doubts in her mind. In the evening, she drank too much wine, the bottle was opened as she was cooking, there was only enough for a glass each as they ate. She fell asleep as they sat in front of the fire, her head on his chest.
In the morning she apologised for drinking too much. It was time to start the conversation. “Dave, whatever it is that’s eating away at you, it’s time it was out in the open, I can see the turmoil you are going through. We can’t find a solution while you are keeping it to yourself.” “There’s stuff going on in my head, I have to make decisions and I don’t know what to do. Would you mind if I went out and walked on my own?” He was gone for over four hours, Sally had cried a lot of the time, she hugged and kissed Dave when she saw him, he looked terrible, his face was drawn, he had been crying as well. “Where have you been all this time?” “Sitting down by a small river, I didn’t know what the time was.” She didn’t ask him if the way forward was any clearer. She kept off the wine that evening, Dave, she thought if anything was the worst she had seen him, silent and withdrawn. Sitting in front of the fire, she turned towards him, “look at me, I want to see your face. Tell me now, what it is, no fucking about, good or bad, I want to know.” “I love you, you have no idea how much you mean to me. I love my job, which one do I love more? Being almost killed then seeing how upset you were, changed everything. If I carry on, when I leave to do a job, will you be sitting fretting until I come back, I can’t work with that pressure, it’s not fair on both of us.” Sally was about to say something, Dave raised his hand to silence her. “I also realise that my time out in the field won’t last forever. I have to look to the future, I want it to be with you, but I don’t know what I would do. Would I become frustrated and change if I was stuck in an office? I could have a job in London tomorrow if I wanted, but I don’t want to do that. You are settled at home, I like it in Loughborough. That’s most of it, I’ve always let things happen in my life, for good or bad, mostly good, this time I can’t do it, I have to decide, and I’m struggling.” She moved closer to hug him, “that’s enough for tonight, we can talk some more tomorrow, let’s go to bed. Dave was asleep before Sally was in bed, she stroked his face then kissed him. He was still sleeping when she woke, having made coffee, she put one on the table next to him. It was almost cold when he woke. Sally said it was raining, “no walk today, you will have to stay here and talk to me.” “I’m going to have a long soak in the bath after breakfast, I don’t think there is room for two.” It was lunchtime when he came downstairs, Sally had said she was going for more food and wouldn’t be long. He wandered round the cottage waiting for her return, she noticed a difference as soon as she saw him. He waited until she had put the food away. “Sit down please,” she took off her coat and sat on one of the dining table chairs, Dave sat opposite. “I think I may have found a way forward, but we need to talk about it, a lot depends on you. I have a plan, you may say it’s crazy, but it’s a starting point.” Sally wanted to smile and hug Dave, but waited, there was more to come. “I will see if I can work a couple of days a week for MI5 or the MOD, maybe a Monday and a Friday, or one of the other days you are working” Dave now hesitated, he didn’t want to go on. “Tell me the rest, what else do you have planned?” “When I thought about this earlier, it seemed like a good idea, but now I’m not so sure.” “Dave if you don’t tell me what it is, I can’t help you move forward.” “It was a stupid idea, forget it, I will think of something else.” “Stupid or not, tell me,” Dave said nothing for a few minutes, Sally looked at him, the look said she was waiting to be told. “I thought,” there was a long pause before he went on. “I thought, if you came down with me on Friday’s,” he stopped again. “For fucks sake, get on with it.” “On Friday’s, when I’m working, you might want to learn fieldcraft, you know, be taught how to shoot, then you could join me on a job, rather than staying at home worrying.” “It is a fucking stupid idea.” “I thought you looked confident holding the Glock in the warehouse, you looked good.” “I look good in designer clothes, not carrying a fucking gun.” “It might not be one of my best ideas, but you didn’t say no.” “Dave this is a big ask, I have no idea what would be required, I might have held a gun, but pulling the trigger is different. There is loads to think about before I would even consider it.” It was now Sally’s turn to be quiet, Dave made coffee, she sat with a mug, holding it in both her hands. “It’s my turn to do some thinking, I can’t say yes or no, you will have to do a lot of explaining, telling me exactly what I would be doing, where I would be trained and who would be doing it.” “I don’t have the answers, I don’t even know if it would be allowed, it was just a possible solution. It was another quiet evening, Sally was lost in her thoughts, she liked the idea of working with Dave, but there were loads of negatives. She wondered who she could speak to. There was one more day, Sally asked to take her to where he had sat the other day. It was cold but dry, they were both wrapped up in coats, hats, scarves and gloves. Sally sat where Dave had been, he moved to a different spot, he could see her, but unless she turned round he couldn’t be seen. Sally didn’t need as long as Dave, within an hour, she had decided what to do, “come here, I want to talk to you.” As he went to join her, he had no idea what she was about to say, “we’re going back to Loughborough, I want to go to London tomorrow, there is someone I have to talk to.” “Who?” “I’ll tell you once I have arranged the meeting.” They walked briskly back to the cottage, it didn’t take long to pack, the key was dropped off, Dave drove back this time. In the house, she said for Dave to stay downstairs while she was making a call in the bedroom. When she came back down, she asked him to take her to the station in the morning. “Don’t ask any questions, it is a private meeting, I have to be there by 11:30, a train around 09:00 will be OK.” “Won’t you tell me where you are going and who you are seeing.” “No. it is private, I can be just as secretive as you.” Dave guessed she would be going to one of two places, but didn’t ask any further questions, all he insisted on was Sally travelled first class and took taxis wherever she was going.
She was wearing a business suit and carrying Dave’s briefcase when he dropped her off at the station. He spent the day waiting for her call to say she was on the way back. The call didn’t come until almost 19:00, Sally was at Market Harborough and would be at Loughborough soon. Dave was out the car waiting for her, he tried to make out whether it had been a successful day or not. Her face gave nothing away. They sat in silence as he drove home, inside she asked for a coffee, Dave wanted to know if she was hungry. “Order an Indian for delivery in about ninety minutes, I’m going for a shower, come upstairs when you have ordered, we need to talk.” He finished the coffee, the shower had stopped, when he opened the bedroom door, the lights were off, “I’m in bed, hurry up.” She climbed on top of him as soon as he was beside her. “What’s this all about?” The room was in darkness, the only light was from the landing. She kissed him on the lips, “don’t interrupt me. I’ve been to see Jane Goodley today, I spoke to her about your proposition, I asked if it was possible, she said it might be.” I wanted to know what it entailed, there was a field worker in the building, he was called to her office to explain the different parts of his job.” Dave started to say something, Sally kissed him to stop him. “The paperwork side of it all sounded easy, the other part was what I was interested in. I was taken downstairs into the basement shooting range. I fired a gun, in fact several guns. The first was a little .22 calibre. Once I had been shown how to hold it properly, I fired at the target, I hit it twice in six shots. Next was the Glock, Dave, it felt good firing it, the power it has, it gave me a strange sensation. Towards the end of the magazine, I was hitting the target.” Dave could tell she was excited, “I liked it. I know it is different in reality, but last week I would have pulled the trigger if anyone had gone for you. There is also a load of classroom work to do and psychological assessments. I wouldn’t give up the university, it would have to be done at other times. Jane said we would make a formidable team. It’s all down to her.” She had finished. Dave sat up, Sally was still on top of him, he hugged then kissed her, “I love you, I had no idea you would do this for me.” “I love you to, and once I can shoot, you had better be on your best behaviour.” She kissed him again, it was only the knock on the door with their food which forced them out of bed. Dave had opened the door wearing Sally’s dressing gown, it was much too small for him, but covered enough. She came down with a towel wrapped round her, they swapped. Later in bed, Sally was first asleep, Dave lay wondering what he had done to have found someone like Sally.
There was no more talk over the weekend, there was shopping to be done, Olivia had booked an indoor tennis court for Sunday afternoon, when they had finished, she said Dave was better, they had talked through what had been bothering him, Sally said she hoped a solution had been found. “I might want to do a bit of fitness training in the spring, I want to try to keep up with Dave.” “You’re fit enough, you don’t need to do anything.”
© 10210ken 2025
