come away with me, tags: forest

[Victoria Pryce]

Some days were longer and harder than others. They stretched, endless and exhausting, into the distant future, and seemed to worsen with every turn. For Victoria one of those days was finally drawing to a close. Multiple situations had risen through the day that had tested her patience to the limit, from awkward members of the public, to troublesome colleagues, topped off by a difficult arrest at the end of the day, which had involved her staring down the barrel of a gun. Usually after a day like that, Vicky wanted nothing more that to be at home, with a glass of wine and a good book or dvd to entertain her for the evening, allowing her to unwind. However, all things considered her day had been bad enough that even that didn’t appeal to her, a vague surge of dread filling her at the thought of going home to her quiet apartment and passing the time until she was tired enough to get into her empty bed. Strange how she so often valued having her own sanctuary to retreat to, but on occasion her solitary home could turn into a lonely one. As much as she liked her independence, that didn’t mean she didn’t want other people in her life, and on occasion she needed them.

Luckily for her, she had Forest, and she was hoping for the chance to spend time with him, seeking out the calm assurance of his presence. He was far removed from her job, from the patrols, the crimes, the desperate people. There was very little that was in any way glamourous about her job and it was certainly not the heroic, dynamic job that so many tv shows and films convinced people that it was. Forest allowed her to escape these things. Walking into the women’s locker room, Victoria allowed herself a few moments of despondency, letting herself feel it, so that she could then accept and dismiss it. Or that was the plan, she thought, wryly. The room she had just entered was largely empty now, with those ending their shifts and those starting already moved on while Vicky was held up with finishing off some last minute paper work. Pulling out her phone, she sent off a quick text to Forest, checking that he was free for a visit, before beginning to discard the outer-most layers of her uniform.

Waiting for the text that would send her either in the direction of the pub where she knew some of the officers who had been on shift with her would be winding down, or towards the North, and her boyfriend’s office, Victoria made her way into the shower cubicles, deciding that whatever option she went with, she wanted to freshen up first. Pulling her hair up into a bun, to keep it dry, she made full use of the warm water to wash the long shift away from her skin. She would have preferred the privacy and better facilities of her own shower at home, but it would have been more of a hassle to head home first, and after roughly five years in the police department, she was quite comfortable with the idea of using them if necessary.

Some time later, Vicky emerged from the showering area, feeling clean and refreshed, dressed in a casual, suitably spring-like dress, with dark tights covering her legs. Not quite enough to settle nerves disturbed by facing up to a suspect with a drawn weapon, but it helped a little, to have changed out of her uniform, and, as she did a few moments later, to check her phone and see that she would be spending the evening with Forest. After quickly storing her uniform in her bag for washing, she used the mirror in the inside door of her locker to apply some subtle make up, and ensure that her hair was lying in it’s usual neat waves. The finishing touch was perfume on her throat and the insides of her wrists, and Victoria was ready to go. Bag in one hand, and car keys in the other, she made her way to her car, and wasted little time in leaving the police department behind, heading towards the North.

The city flowed steadily and easily by, her mood lifted in anticipation of time spent with her boyfriend. Minor delays caused by trying to find somewhere to park were wasted moments that Victoria tried not to dwell on, when she finally halted her car and stepped out. She slipped her arms into a light trench coat, leaving it open, as the weather was in that strange transitional period of Spring, when it seemed unable to decide whether to be warm or cool, raining or sunny. With her handbag securely hooked over her shoulder, she made her way towards her boyfriend’s place of work, stopping only briefly to pick up coffee for both of them. Stepping into the perfectly climate controlled offices of A-Line magazine, Victoria was struck, as ever, by the differences between where she worked and where Forest worked. It would be hard to find more dissimilar occupations, but that was something she appreciated; the differences between the their lives, and how it seemed to help keep them together rather than drive them apart, for around a year now. The length of their relationship allowed her to be easily recognised by the various security personnel in the building, so she was able to pass without a hitch all the way to Forest’s office.

Holding the small paper bag, with the two coffee cups encased inside, in one hand, she knocked lightly with the other to alert him to her presence, and waiting a few beats before entering. “Hello. Do you have time for a small interruption?” Vicky teased gently, with a warm smile, as she crossed the distance between the door and the desk that he was sitting behind. “I brought coffee.” Vicky explained, elevating the bag slightly, and then setting it carefully on a clean space of desk, ensuring that nothing would be spilled. Moving towards her boyfriend, she bent to press a kiss to his lips, lingering over that contact for a moment before she pulled back a little, leaning her weight against his desk. “My day just improved exponentially.” She informed him, smiling.

[ooc: I hope that's okay for you to work with, let me know if I need to change what Forest was doing.]

[Forest Sanford]

Angular monochrome shadows sank slowly into the piece of paper he crushed into his hand; it sat there heavy for a minute until it begrudgingly tumbled onto the table as he upturned his palm and let it fall like a fat ice-chunk falls in an avalanche. He sighed, deeply. Small tatty pieces of paper littered his desk; beside him half a cold coffee lingered unappetisingly in a happy printed cup that warned him the contents was hot in a twisted paradox. He hadn't done any work for twenty minutes or more; his mind was elsewhere, jumping from one thing to another, skimming across faces. He knew which one he wanted to see the most. When a knock fell at the door he rolled his eyes and hoped it wasn't just an intern been let up to pester him. They didn't need lessons from him in procrastination; they got on pretty well with it themselves. Sharp irritable words were already forming behind his tongue, pushing gently at his lips; he rolled his eyes, started,

"Oh, just gimme f-" and abruptly stopped when Vicky swung into the room, smiling. He felt his heart expand in his chest and scrunched up his nose in apology.

“Hello. Do you have time for a small interruption?” She teased, and got rid of the distance between them, pulled up next to him, smiling warmly. “I brought coffee,” She went on, indicating a paper bag that crunched like the ball of paper he had so recently torn apart, and he could smell it, the coffee, and that aroma and her aroma when she kissed him gave him a kick that he couldn't describe, only revel in. “My day just improved exponentially,” she said, and he smiled, sliding an arm around her hips as he stood up and pulled the bag from her hands which he placed beside her on the desk. He contemplated her mouth for a moment again before he kissed it once more, hesitantly, before he pulling a hand through his hair and wandering across his office towards the window, inspecting a droplet of water on the clear pane, the first sign it was going to rain.

"Actually, I'm kind of glad you came," he said, and glanced over his shoulder to smell at her a little sadly.