Revenge

Chapter 1

The day Connie had been impatiently awaiting and dreading at the same time had finally arrived. It was the day of Steph Sims' trial.

A week had passed since she had split up with Jacob and as Grace had predicted, she had thrown herself back into work, hoping it would help her forget.

Charlie had been keeping an eye on her, knowing that despite the cold, uncaring act she always put on, she was silently suffering. He knew her well enough by now to know that burrying her head in paperwork was her way of 'coping'. He also knew that it never lasted very long and she always ended up breaking down, although she would never admit it.

He had been keeping a close eye on her that day but for once he didn't know what expect. He knew that she had waited so long to watch Steph finally be put behind bars, but he also knew how hard it would be for her to face that woman again.

He could tell she hadn't slept well the previous night due to her slightly dark eyes and constant yawning. He would usually leave Jacob to sort her out but now that they weren't together anymore, he decided it was time he stepped in.

"Connie," he said, gently pulling her to one side. She looked at him expectantly, wide eyed, wondering what he was going to say.

"You've only been in an hour and you've already managed to do more than some of the staff round here do in a day," he said in a concerned voice.

She should have known he would say something like that. She hated how everyone always seemed to watch over her as though she were a child. She had coped just fine on her own most of her life, she didn't need anyone interviening now.

She pushed her tongue into the side of her cheek and looked away for a second.

"Unless you've suddenly been offered a promotion that I am unaware of, you don't get to tell me what and what not to do," she replied coldly.

"Connie-" he pleaded. He wasn't at all surprised by her reaction and it didn't affect him - he knew not to take it personally when she was in that mood. With time, he had learned to simply disregard those type of comments.

"You're tired," he pointed out. "You need a rest, you have Steph's trial later-"

"Don't you think I'm aware of that?" She barked back, raising her voice slightly. "Don't you think that's all I've had on my mind this week?" She began to walk away before turning back to him. "It's my life, Charlie. My life. And I don't need some- old man constantly telling me how to live it. Is that understood?"

"Woah!" Duffy said, walking over to the pair, not quite sure she'd heard that right. Placing a hand on Charlie's shoulder, she looked up at him, wordlessely asking if he was alright.

Charlie was suprised at her choice of words. He'd rarely seen her this angry. He could usually get through to her after a minute or so but it hadn't seemed to have worked that time.

He turned to Duffy and gave her a reassuring smile before watching Connie walk off, towards her office.

"You can't let her talk to you like that-" Duffy said.

"Don't worry about it," he paused, "she's just having a bad day, that's all."

Connie slammed her office door shut and made her way over to her desk chair. She slumped down into it and held her heavy, tired head in her hands.

She looked down at her watch and realised she only had two hours before the trial started. She turned to the photo of Grace on her desk and sighed, knowing that Charlie was right - again. She needed to get home to Grace. She hadn't seen her as much as she should have in the past few days. She hadn't stopped once to think about how this must be affecting her and what she might be going through.

All of a sudden she felt overcome with guilt, not only for Grace but for her argument with Charlie. She knew he was only trying to help but lately everything had been so hectic, it felt like she hadn't had anytime to just stop and breathe.

After sitting there for a while, she decided to go apologize to Charlie and then to head home and get ready for court.

Just as she was about to open her door, a knocking came from the other side.

"Hello Connie," he said as she opened the door wider.

"Sam," she replied. She knew he was coming over to support Grace but she hadn't expected to see him before the trial.

"Charlie said I'd find you in here," he added, noticing the slightly 'caught off guard' look on her face.

She never knew whether she was pleased to see Sam or not. She was glad he had come over to support Grace but always felt rather awkward in his company.

"I didn't expect to see you until this afternoon," she confessed, still standing at the opposite side of the door to him.

"I thought we might have lunch, before we have to go to court," he said. Her slightly confused face prompted him to clarify his intentions. "We as in the two of us and Gracie, of course. I only landed an hour ago and I can't check into the hotel until this afternoon so I thought I might kill some time."

At first she had been slightly confused as to why he would want to take her for lunch but after further explanation, it all made a lot more sense. Even though she wasn't thrilled about going out for lunch with him, she did need a break from work before the trial and she knew that it would cheer Grace up.

"Just give me a minute," she replied, "there's just something I need to do first," she added, remebering Charlie.

"I'll wait for you downstairs," he said.

She picked up her coat and bag before closing up her office and heading over to the nurse's station where she knew she would find Charlie.

As soon as he saw her coming over, he knew what her intentions were. He giggled to himself before putting on a straight face for her.

"Charlie-" she said in a much calmer and friendlier voice than before. "About earlier-"

"Don't worry about it," he said, putting a objective hand up and smiling. "Just do me a favour," he said.

"Anything."

"Give Steph a smile from me after she gets sent down," he said, jokingly.

Connie laughed and shook her head, placing a loving hand on Charlie's arm.

"And keep me updated," he shouted as she walked away, her expensive heels clicking on the floor beneath her.

To be continued... very soon hopefully!
I really hope you're enjoying it.. Thank you so much for the wonderful reviews so far! Let me know what you think about this chapter.