Chapter 4
Sam sighed, "She's gone off shopping to blow the latest wage packet. Said she'd join us for dinner."
"She's a profiler isn't she?" A hint of a smile tugged at Debbie's lips as she remembered Samantha's wish to be a profiler, and found herself slightly amused at the thought of daughter succeeding where mother failed, particularly where the mother in question was one Samantha Nixon.
Unfortunately for her Samantha was adept enough in reading people to know exactly what she was thinking.
"Yes." She replied crisply, "Now stop smirking Debbie, you're making yourself seem like a bitch."
Duncan Lennox was fed up. He'd got up at the crack of dawn, driven all the way from Glasgow to London, getting stuck in every possible traffic jam along the way, to arrive at the hotel bar to find it totally devoid of the former colleagues he'd come to meet. He was not only annoyed but somewhat surprised to find them gone, even if he was late, normally once you got a copper in a bar they didn't move until they'd drank the bar dry.
He supposed he should have let them know he was coming but he hadn't really made up his mind until the night before, mainly because he knew that Samantha was going to be there and wasn't sure how he felt about seeing her again. In the end though his curiosity over what everyone else was up to had won over and he'd decided to make the long trek South.
Deciding to get himself a drink, then go down to reception to check in and try and locate the others, he went up to the bar and ordered a pint. He'd barely started drinking it when a very attractive looking blonde, who was loaded down with shopping bags, joined him. He felt a momentary flicker of interest but quickly told himself not to be so ridiculous since she looked young enough to be his daughter.
Then, she smiled at him.
And she had a very nice smile.
He smiled back, "Hi. Can I get you a drink?"
"Nice of you to ask. I'll have a vodka and coke please." She placed the shopping bags on the floor and held out her hand, "My friends call me Nix."
He shook her hand, "I'm Duncan. My friends call me 'The Fat Scottish Bastard'."
"Well it's a pleasure to meet you Fat Scottish Bastard."
He looked her up and down again and there was no doubt about it, she was absolutely stunning.
"The pleasure's all mine." He admitted.
She gave him a saucy looking grin, "Oh it will be. Trust me on that�"
Back at the leisure club Jack and Mickey sat at the poolside, watching Cathy with great interest as she power swam up and down the lanes.
"She ain't dying." Mickey said with great certainty, "I mean look at her. Brandon's a bloody fool if she thinks he is."
"You're right." Jack agreed, "Poor guy."
"That's the problem with women though. The Devil in disguise most of them. Speaking of which�" Mickey tailed off as Debbie walked towards them clad in a very revealing red swimsuit.
"Don't push your luck Mickey." Jack shot him a warning look just as Debbie arrived at his side and sat on his knee, at which point he turned his attention to her, "Are you ok?"
She nodded, "Yeah. Just wanted to tell you I buried the hatchet with Nixon." She smiled at him sweetly, "So see I can be a good girl when I want to be."
Mickey watched the exchange with a mixture of disgust and amusement, even more so as Jack told Debbie that he 'knew she was a good girl' and kissed her on the top of the head, an action that she appeared to have no grouse with at all.
When Debbie had left them to go and get showered and changed he turned to Jack.
"You do realise she's playing you for a fool as much as Cathy is Brandon?"
"Debbie's not like that."
"No." Mickey snapped, "Debbie is not like THAT. Like she was with you just now - all that sitting on your knee and crap. What's it all about? She's no more a girlie girl than I am."
Jack stared at him for a long time, pondering his response, and leaving Mickey wondering if he was about to be the first man in history drowned by a Borough Commander for insulting his would be fancy-piece. Eventually though he came out with a very calm and controlled response.
"You've not seen her for a long time Mickey. Debbie's different. Chandler changed her, Andrew changed her. She's not the girl she was. And as for her relationship with me, don't knock what you don't understand - it's very complex, but very special. She wouldn't hurt me. Trust me on this."
Any intention Mickey had to respond (mainly using a number of expletives and lots of character assassination) went out of the window when Robbie who was quite obviously in search of gossip joined them.
"I didn't know you and Debbie were an item Mr Meadows." She said lightly but in a way that blatantly meant 'I want info and I want it now, from the first kiss to the number of times you've shagged' leading to her being very disappointed when Mickey informed her they weren't. Still, it was hard to keep a good gossip down and instead she turned her attention to the subject of Cathy.
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