Close Protection

Cabin Fever

"Are we there yet?" Jennie whined in her best baby voice as we drove along the winding road after a long day of driving.

"You tell me," I replied somewhat huffily, not really appreciating her taking the piss like that, "Some of us still don't know where they're going."

It was true as well, after ten hours in the saddle, only stopping for comfort breaks and food along the way, I still hadn't found out where we were supposed to be staying; all I knew was that we were in the highlands of Scotland, and that we were well off the beaten track. I hadn't seen another vehicle for about three quarters of an hour, and a decent sized village for even longer.

"It's not far now actually," Jennie said stretching out and resting her hand on my thigh, "we're nearly there."

"It's about time," I replied with a sense of relief, "this better be worth it Jennie Kim, my arse has gone totally numb sitting here all day, and my legs are killing me."

"Aw babe, it'll be worth it I promise you," she said squeezing. "It's going to be one week of solid honest to goodness relaxation."

"I'll need it after this journey," I muttered, glancing at the screen on the dash and seeing that the distance to destination had ticked all the way down to five miles. Five short miles to wherever it was we were going; I couldn't wait, I wasn't lying about my arse going numb, as luxurious as my new car was, and it wasn't somewhere I wanted to spend an entire day.

Still it was better than flying, and after the endurance event that was the last time we'd travelled anywhere together I was convinced it was far better than flying.

o+o+o

A couple of minutes later Jennie was waving at me frantically, and demanding that I pull over into a small lay-by at the side of the road.

"Why?" I asked as she pointed towards the side of the road.

"Because I want to show you my surprise properly," she replied excitedly. "You're going to love it, especially now."

"Now?" I asked as I pulled to a halt and yanked on the handbrake. "What's so special about now?"

"You'll see," she said enigmatically; reaching into her bag and pulling out a scarf. "Or rather you won't, not until I'm ready for you to see it anyway."

"You've got to be kidding," I said incredulously as I realised what she meant. "No way!"

"Lili, please," Jennie said with a smile, "indulge me?"

"Oh alright then if it means that much to you," I said turning off the engine. "But if I break my leg you're carrying me to the bloody hospital."

Moments later the world was dark, and I was being led down what felt like a woodland floor, all ferns and bits of bark underfoot, catching in my trainers. With my sight taken away I instinctively allowed my other senses to take over. I could feel a cool breeze drifting past my face, a faint smell of damp grass that was only slightly obscured by the scent of Jennie's perfume as she led me through the woods down to what smelt like water.

"This will be perfect," I heard her say as my brain tried to process the myriad of things it was getting from the environment around us. I could tell we were in a clearing of sorts, the sound subtly different to how it had been as we walked. I could smell and hear the sound of water and wind and blissful, blissful silence.

Wherever the hell we were I could feel myself relaxing, wherever we were I knew it was going to be good.

"Ready babe?" Jennie said her hands on my hips shuffling me around.

"Whenever you are," I replied taking a deep breath.

"Close your eyes then love," she whispered, her hands reaching up to remove the blindfold. "No peeking now."

"No peeking Nini," I promised with a laugh as the improvised blindfold was removed from my eyes and her arms slipped around my waist.

"You can open your eyes now Lili."

Slowly I did just that, blinking slightly as I found I was staring into the evening sun, being carefully positioned by Jen to ensure that I would get that "perfect" view. As she hugged me from behind I tried to take in the sight she had presented me with. We were stood at the head of a small lake, or 'loch' as I should probably call it given where we were, the sun was beginning to set over the far end, sinking down towards some tree covered hills; it was, quite simply, stunning.

"Nice," I managed to say, the word totally unsatisfactory for the view. "Really nice."

"Do you like it?" Jen said as she snuggled herself impossibly further into my back. "This is where we're going to spend the week. I thought it would be nice to get away from it all, somewhere secluded you know? Private."

"Yeah, I like it," I murmured as I spotted the cabin that was nestled against the shoreline, set back slightly amongst the trees. "I like it a lot."

"I'm glad," she said with a relieved sounding sigh, "'cause it's a pretty long drive to anywhere else if you hate it."

"I don't hate it," I said turning around and slipping my arms around her, "I don't hate it at all."

"Worth all the secrecy then?" Jen asked looking up at me.

"Yeah, I'll forgive you the secrecy, and that drive; it was worth it...like you promised."

It cost me nothing to concede the truth, but it got me a pleased smile from my girl, a pleased smile and a soft kiss as the sun continued to set behind us bathing the land in a warm orange glow

"Want to get settled in?" Jennie asked finally as we broke apart. "It's getting late and we should really get unpacked and think about something to eat."

I nodded my agreement, biting back a comment about her and food, and reluctantly allowed her to lead me away from the loch and back through the woods to the car.

"You'll need to back up a bit babe," Jennie said after we had buckled ourselves in again. "Or probably turn around; the entrance to the cabin is about half a mile back the way we came, it's a bit of a shit path too, but we like it like that, stops the unwanted visitors."

"You own this place?" I said a little bit shocked.

"No, well not really," she said laughing as I turned the truck around; following her directions to the concealed dirt road. "I think dad wanted to buy it and use it as a hunting and fishing lodge; you know, expand it and use it to impress some of the stuck up fuckers we do business with. The owners didn't want to sell it though, they prefer to keep it exactly how it is and rent it out, so we'd hire it for a season or so whenever we needed it. If we weren't using it we'd let people come up here, friends, family, favoured people at work that kind of thing, Rosé and Dongwon have been up here for a long weekend and said it was beautiful; in fact it was Rosie that suggested this place when I was wondering where we should go when we got back, so I asked mum if she would see if it was free for me because she gets on really well with the owners. She e-mailed me while we were away and told me it was all sorted, all we needed to do then was make sure the caretakers had got it ready for guests, and that's what she told me yesterday."

"So now we get it for a week," I said turning on the headlights to work my way down the tree covered narrow track. "That works for me, I take it we have some supplies there, otherwise you're more than likely going hungry...I'm shit at fishing."

"Of course we have," Jennie said laughing, "as if I would forget that. Mum arranged for the caretakers to deliver a load of supplies for us this morning. We'll have food and drink waiting for us, everything we need really. All we need to do is top up the generator every now and again. If we run out of anything we'll just have to do a day trip somewhere, but I thought that might be fun to do anyway, if you're up for it that is. Other than that, we don't have to do anything else for the rest of the week; we're all alone."

"Sounds like heaven," I replied as we pulled up to the front of the cabin, "where do you want me to park the bus?"

"There's a barn over there," she said pointing. "It's where the generator and the other bits are stored; put it in there and then, unless we want to take a trip, we can forget about it for the rest of our stay."

"Good plan." I replied, following her finger over to a wooden building that was tucked away to one side. Pulling up in front of it Jennie pulled out a small remote control and pointed it at the doors, which swung upon smoothly.

With the BMW parked, locked, and hidden away, I carried our bags over to the cabin, Jennie practically skipping alongside me. It was funny to see her this excited about her little treat, and despite my tiredness and the beginnings of hunger, it was hard not to get caught up in it.

"Welcome to our little retreat," Jennie said as she opened the door to the cabin, ignoring my request to let me check the place out first; shushing my protests almost before they got out of my mouth.

"Nice," I said as I walked inside, dragging Jennie's heavy case behind me. It seemed that superlatives were escaping me today as I repeated my less than eloquent appreciation of the cabin. I was expecting it to be another example of Kim luxury, all expensive equipment and fancy furniture. What I saw was, at first glance at least, simplicity at its best, a huge log fire built into the centre of the room, some simple, comfortable looking furniture and nestled on the sideboard a dock for an iPod; the only nod towards technology that I could see in the room.

"I thought you'd like it," Jennie said simply, slipping her head under my arm and wrapping her own around me. "Mum said that it was very isolated up here; no phone and no mobile signal worth shit, nothing to disturb us at all. We're almost completely cut off from the world."

I had a small panic at the thought of no phone signal and quickly grabbed my mobile from my pocket and looked at it. Thankfully it was showing that I had one bar of signal, so I knew I could at least get an emergency call out if I needed one. The trouble was, according to Jennie we were as far from civilisation as I had thought we were; if we got into trouble we were on our own, this made me feel just a little bit unsettled and it must have shown.

"We'll be fine Lili," Jennie told me, resting her hand on my arm reassuringly, "stop worrying. No-one knows we're here apart from my family and Sungjae; oh and mum has arranged for a couple of things to be left for you, just in case."

Jennie pointed over towards a wall at my raised eyebrow and I saw a cabinet with what looked like a couple of hunting rifles and a set of shotguns. As I nodded thoughtfully, Jennie's hand left my side and dangled a key out in front of me.

"We'll put this somewhere out of the way I think," she said hiding it in her fist when I went to grab it. "No playing with guns on this holiday love, I want you all to myself this time."

"This time?" I asked as I took in the rest of the cabin, a few doors led off from the main room and there was a set of wooden steps leading up to another door.

"America? Duh!" Jennie laughed squeezing me tightly, "you cheated on me with all those guns remember? All that time we lost while you were training, we could have had a lot more fun in that hotel room of ours."

"Oh yeah," I replied pulling her around me and holding her tight. "I cheated on you with the toys you bought me and did all that training at your insistence."

"Well this time I insist that you do nothing but relax with me Miss Manoban; oh and cook and make tea and stuff like that."

"So be your servant then?" I teased, leaning down to kiss her forehead.

"Sounds good to me baby," she said her hands lifting to grip my hair as she pulled me back down to kiss her properly. I had the perfect answer ready, but I was in no hurry to deliver it; waiting instead until she stepped down from her tiptoes and leaned back to look at me, a smile on her lips.

"Dream on Kim," I said finally, causing her smile to broaden even more. "Dream fucking on."

o+o+o

I got the guided tour of the cabin in record time; my iPhone plugged into yet another Bose sound dock providing us with some background music as we unpacked. I was pleased to see that the rustic nature of the cabin didn't carry on into the kitchen or the main bathroom; both surprisingly well equipped much to my relief. In addition to the main room, and the kitchen and dining room, there were two guest bedrooms on the ground floor, both with their own stove heaters to keep them warm and their own en-suite shower rooms. By far the best room in the cabin though was the one I was in now, the one at the top of the small flight of stairs. Tucked away in the roof space with a fantastic view out over the lake was the master bedroom; complete with its own fireplace, well equipped bathroom and, best of all, a huge four poster bed.

"Now this I could get used to," I said as I lay back on the luxurious mattress, staring out over the loch; glowing amber in the evening sun as it continued its drift towards the headland. "Peace and quiet and a great view; do you think that water is cold?"

"I'd imagine it might be babe," Jennie replied as she closed the closet door, the last of her things neatly tucked away. "You thinking of braving it?"

"Yeah," I said absently, already thinking of a swim and then a shower before dinner.

"Right give me a second to sort something out and I'll join you," she said surprising me just a little. Jennie had made it clear that she wasn't keen on swimming in cold water, and yet here she was telling me that she wanted to.

"Are you sure?" I asked as she practically skipped across the thick carpeting to the door.

"We're on holiday Lili, you want to go swimming, and I want to go swimming with you. This is our chance to be together with no-one to bother us and I'm not going to waste a minute; freezing cold water or not!"

She sounded so passionate I couldn't help but snigger at her, resulting in a stern look followed by a stuck out tongue. "Unpack lisa," she said finally breaking out into a smile of her own. "Quicker you're sorted the quicker you can get into that water."

"Yes Ma'am," I replied with a smile, saluting smartly, "right away ma'am."

Jennie vanished, a salute of her own her only reply; a salute of the two fingered variety. Shaking my head in amusement I went back to unpacking my suitcase, tucking away my belongings in the capacious built in wardrobes. As I tucked the case into the bottom and closed the door I heard Jennie call for me from downstairs. Reluctantly I put my fancy swimsuit on the bed and went so see what she wanted

"What's up?" I said as I walked down the staircase to the ground floor, wondering where Jennie was.

"Nothing," she said walking in through the door from outside. "I thought you wanted to go swimming."

"I do," I said nodding, "I was about to get changed when you called me."

"Get changed?" Jennie said grinning and pulling off her t-shirt, revealing that somewhere along the way she had removed her underwear. "Why would you want to get changed?"

As I watched, dumbfounded, she stripped off her clothes until she was wearing nothing but a smile. With a wink she opened the door and stepped onto the wooden porch, "Coming?"

"You're kidding," I said shaking my head, still managing to admire the view as she walked away. "you want to go skinny dipping...what if someone's out there watching?"

"There's no one around for miles Lili," she called as she made her way across the grass to the loch edge, "don't be such a prude."

Quickly I stripped off my clothes, leaving them in a pile on the floor. I'd never been called a prude in my life, and I certainly wasn't averse to the idea of swimming naked; especially with my little redhead as a partner. As I walked outside I saw her skipping around on the very edge of the water, dipping her toes into the water and stepping back as if scalded.

"This is ridiculous," I heard her yelp as she stepped back onto dry land shaking her foot.

"It was your idea," I shouted as I ran across the grass towards her, a wicked glint in my eye. "No going back now Kim."

"Don't you dare Lili," she screamed as I ran towards her.

"Time to get wet Nini," I said as I grabbed her and lifted her from her feet, bracing myself against the blows and the cold water.

"I'm warning you Manoban, put me down," she said struggling in my arms.

"Yes ma'am," I said turning around to face the land. Just as Jennie stopped struggling, obviously thinking that I was going to carry her back to the beach, I let myself fall backwards and we tumbled into the water in a jumble of arms and legs and shrieks as the cold enveloped us.

"You bitch," Jennie shouted as she surfaced, dripping wet, "It's fucking freezing!"

"It's not that bad," I said privately admitting that she was right, it was colder than I'd expected; "swim a bit hun, you'll soon warm up. Race you to that rock."

We swam for a good twenty minutes or so in that cold water as the sun finally set over the hillside. To my surprise and pleasure Jennie was a very strong swimmer and matched me stroke for stroke as we swam back and forth across the bay. Eventually though, the cold got the better of us both and we called it a day, racing each other to the shore; a race I won, but only by a fingernail.

"Time for a hot shower," I said stepping shivering, but happy, into the late June evening air. "Fancy joining me?"

"I've got something better than a shower babe," Jennie said running her hand down my back and around my side, her mails scraping against my cold skin. "You just follow me; I think you'll like this too."

I didn't need much encouragement to follow Jennie's naked form across the grass back to the cabin; her arse dancing along in front of me beautifully.

"You're perving Miss Manoban," she said without looking back.

"You're right," I replied shamelessly, smiling as she placed an extra wiggle into her step at my words. "What you got planned anyway? I was looking forward to a nice hot shower."

"You'll love this, trust me," Jen said as she stepped up onto the deck and turned to face me. "I think a nice hot jacuzzi is in order after all that swimming don't you?"

She gestured to a bubbling tub that was set into the deck, steam rising gently into the air above it. I had totally failed to notice as I'd walked out of the cabin and I kicked myself for my inattention, blaming it on the luscious body in front of me; a body that was slipping into the warm water with obvious relish.


"Drink?" Jennie said leaning over the edge of the pool and pulling a bottle and glasses out of a concealed holder.

"Not for me love," I said stepping carefully into the bubbling water and easing myself down, "I still don't..."

"Sparkling fruit juice babe," she said unscrewing the bottle top and pouring the fizzy liquid into a glass, "no booze at all."

"You think of everything," I said accepting the glass from her and sitting back against the jets.

"I certainly try," she replied, pouring her own glass and dropping the bottle into the holder. "So do you like my holiday destination? I seem to remember you reserving the right to complain about it if you didn't."

"I've no complaints so far love," I told her as I looked across at her, her foot casually stroking against mine. "The views have been spectacular."

"You've hardly seen the views," she started, tailing off at my knowing smile. "Perv," she corrected herself as the penny dropped, kicking me playfully.

"You love it," I said holding up my glass.

"I do," she said, leaning forward and touching her glass to mine and taking a long sip before climbing across to sit straddling me. "I certainly do. I think we're going to have a great week baby...a really great week."

Funnily enough, so did I.

o+o+o

I had the best sleep in weeks on that huge mattress, the four poster bed being everything I could have hoped it would be. We'd had a late night Jennie and I, climbing out of the tub reluctantly in search of food.

After a rapid search through the cupboards I opted to make us a simple stir fry, the vegetables and spiced chicken gaining great approval from my hungry girlfriend. After dinner I'd expected to spend the rest of the evening quietly reading, or just listening to music, but Jennie had surprised me again, the rustic cabin showing again that its simplicity was only on the surface. Hidden away in a wooden cupboard was a large flat screen television that was hooked up to a network socket on the wall. Jennie showed me how it worked and at her insistence I'd glanced at the film titles on the screen, a fancy computer somewhere giving hundreds of options at the click of the remote control; but instead of choosing I decided that I wanted to do something else.

"You want to do a jigsaw?" Jennie said as I lifted the box that had caught my eye out of the bottom of a bookshelf. "Really?"

"Really," I said running my hand over the picture on the front, "I used to love doing jigsaws with my mum; I haven't done one in years."

"That could take us all week," she protested as I placed the box onto the dining table and tipped out the pieces. "it's got four thousand pieces!"

"Do you have anywhere else to go?" I said flipping over the tiny cardboard shapes, revealing the bright colours. "Anyway four thousand is nothing, mum and I did a nine thousand piece jigsaw once, took us ages; though I was only nine at the time."

"I think I'm going to need a drink," Jen said heading into the kitchen, "and not a non-alcoholic one....can I get you anything?"

"Coke if we have any babe please," I replied drawing up a chair and sitting at the table properly, totally engrossed in turning and sorting the shapes. Within moments a tall glass of coke with ice was placed in front of me, Jennie pulling a chair around to sit next to me, her very full wine glass balanced precariously on the edge.

"We're totally going to regret this," she told me as she reached out and grabbed a handful of pieces, starting to place them out on the table.

"It'll be fun," I said as I began to drag out the edge pieces from the collection attempting to slot them together to match the image on the box, "trust me."

It was as well; we spent a happy hour or so sat at that table, drinking, chatting, and trying to do the puzzle. Despite Jennie's reservations we made fairly steady progress, getting three quarters of the edge done and a small section of one side; we were never going to finish it in one night, but for me that was part of the appeal. When mum and I used to do jigsaws we would spend an hour or two or sometimes longer sat together messing about. A lot of the time we didn't even get much done; instead spending our time talking about my days at school and the things that I'd learnt. That simple pleasure ended when I turned into the clichéd teenage brat, all contemptuous and self-absorbed; but happily we found that simple pleasure once more when she found herself in hospital.

Just like back then, the jigsaw was nothing but an excuse for us to be together, something to occupy the eyes as Jennie and I talked, and joked, and teased each other. Over a couple of drinks I completed the process of winding down, finally allowing myself to relax and enjoy the holiday. Over those tiny pieces of oddly shaped cardboard covered with sea and land and the shapes of dragons, I managed to turn off my brain and allowed myself to become a civilian once more; I could allow myself that here, we were in no real danger.

Eventually though we felt the need to vacate the table to the comforts of the plush, comfortable sofas, curling up together and listening to the music; playfully fighting over the remote control to select a tune.

It was nice; it was more than nice in fact. If this was day one of the holiday then it had been a good one, despite the ten hour drive.

"God I'm tired," Jennie said suddenly, yawning loudly and drowning out Nina much to my dismay, her 'Put A Spell On You' being one of my all time favourite 'chillout' tracks.

"I don't know why," I teased taking a sip of the hot chocolate that Jennie had made earlier, finally finding a speciality that she had in the kitchen department. "It's not as if you did anything tiring today; unless sleeping in the car counts as exhausting."

"I wasn't really sleeping," she replied with a gentle elbow to my side, the lie blatant. "I was far too nervous to sleep; I kept thinking, what if you hated the place? What if you thought a holiday should be somewhere hot and sunny, with loads of nightlife and stuff?"

"Well that explains the constant eating then," I joked, though the amount of food she had put away on the journey had been staggering; her ability to vacuum up jelly babies had been something to behold. "But yes, hot and sunny would have been really nice; and I may have spent a little bit of time thinking about you walking along a sun drenched white beach in a tiny bikini...however I think what you wore for this evening's dip was far, far better."

"Cheeky," she replied, yawning and sipping at her own drink, "so you like it here then?"

"I love it," I declared honestly. "You and me, a roaring fire and a lake to go swimming in...what else could I possibly want?"

"Good, I'm glad," she said craning her neck to look up at me, "tomorrow, do you want to go for a walk in the hills, or take a boat out on the lake?"

"I think I'd like a long lie in and then see what happens hun," I told her, yawning despite the relatively early hour. "I'm feeling pretty knackered; all that driving and then the swimming. I think I'm ready for an early night and a lazy day tomorrow."

"Thank fuck for that," Jen said putting down her cup and twisting around so she was looking up at me, arms sneaking around my waist. "I thought I'd have to find all sorts of exciting things for you to do to keep you entertained while we were up here."

"Why on earth did you think that?" I asked as I finished my own drink and yawned again; my eyes tired, my brain starting to shut down.

"Because you're an 'all action girl' aren't you? All running and climbing and shooting, I spent ages thinking of things that we could do while were here because I thought you'd get bored sitting around doing nothing."

"Well you're half right," I said knowing that she had a pretty good assessment of me there. "But I love having moments when I can just relax and be by myself. I never got much time for that in the army, there's always someone needing you to do something."

"A sergeant's work is never done?" she teased with a squeeze of my waist. "Some tedious chore that is always needing your expert eye?"

"Something like that," I nodded, lifting my hand and running it through her vibrant red hair; clearing it from where it was obscuring her face, and revealing a pair of big brown eyes staring at me through heavy lids.

"Well, I need you to do something for me Sarge," Jennie said finally after a long silent moment.

"What's that baby?" I replied, not taking my eyes from hers.

"I need you to take me to bed, I'm tired too."

"That's hardly a chore Jen."

"What if I asked you to carry me?" she said, her eyelids lowering as sleep began to take over her.

"Won't be the first time and I doubt it will be the last love," I said with conviction, fighting my own tiredness.

"You're being sweet," she told me, reaching up to stroke my cheek her fingers soft and warm against my skin. "It makes me want to kiss you."

"Really?" I replied joining in her contagious yawning, "That makes me want to carry on then."

"Take me to bed Lili," Jennie sniggered, "and I'll see what I can do."

o+o+o

As the sun rose over the hills on the morning of our second day, I had an embarrassingly long lie in; eclipsed only by Jennie's. While she snored away I was up, and in the lake, dressed for the occasion this time. The water was still chilly, but a few minutes hard work was enough to get my blood pumping and my muscles singing. No doubt Jennie would find it strange, but not only was really enjoying myself, but I was continuing the process of chilling out that I had started the night before. I had time to myself, time to think and that was worth more than anything.

I didn't even have to worry about Jennie while I was out here. Apart from the seclusion, the cabin had quite a good security system as befitted a luxury retreat and I had no fears that we'd both know if trouble was in the offing

After my swim and a shower, using the main bathroom on the ground floor so as not to disturb the still sleeping Jennie; it was already getting on for eleven o'clock and she still hadn't surfaced. Fortunately I'd already grabbed some sweats to get changed into, and once I was dried off I went in search of a warm drink and something to eat.

"Got one of them for me?" I heard from behind me as I poured hot water into my cup.

"I don't, but I can quickly remedy that," I replied with a smile on my face as those familiar arms wrapped around me. "Would you like a cup of tea or coffee?"

"Ooh, coffee I think please love," Jen said, letting go of my waist and jumping up to sit on the countertop next to me. "You know I need my early morning coffee to kick start my system."

"Hardly early hun," I teased her as I filled the kettle again. "The morning has almost gone."

"Early enough for me," she said with a yawn as if to emphasise her point. Anyway I assume you were up early this morning babe, did you have trouble sleeping again?"

"Not at all," I said as I prepared her coffee, "I even managed a lie in which was nice."

"What time did you get up then?" she asked as she accepted the drink, sniffing at it happily.

"Just before nine," I said pouring milk into my nicely steamed cup of tea; a proper squaddies brew, one that practically dissolved the spoon, let alone stood it up.

"Nine o'clock is hardly a lie in Lili," Jennie told me disapprovingly, "not when you're on holiday it's not anyway."

"Well it is for me hun; besides I couldn't get back to sleep and that loch was calling."

"You could have woken me," Jen replied kicking me gently with her swinging foot, "we could have gone swimming together again."

"What and spoilt your lie in?" I told her with a smile, "I'm not that daft love, you're on holiday too. In fact I thought you were going to stay in bed all day."

"I gave it some serious thought," she admitted, "but then I decided I was hungry."

"Ah," I teased, "that must have been a dilemma for you, food versus sleep; I know they're two of your favourite things."

"You did make it easy for me babes. There I was, in bed all alone and then I heard you brewing up down here so it wasn't much of a contest really...what's for breakfast then Sarge?"

"I have no idea Ma'am," I replied in revenge for the Sarge comment. "What would ma'am like for breakfast?"

"Bacon toastie please, thanks Sarge," Jennie said, hopping down from the counter, kissing me on the cheek and heading off into the lounge cup in hand; leaving me standing in the kitchen. "With some brown sauce if we have any."

Shaking my head I dug through the fridge to find some bacon, I'd been well and truly stitched up but it didn't matter; a bacon toastie sounded pretty good to me right then too; and once it was made, and served, it tasted pretty good too.

After breakfast relaxation was the order of the day; with nothing planned we simply lounged around, either together or apart, just enjoying the day, the company or the seclusion. By the time we were talking about dinner though, I was starting to fidget.

"What is wrong with you?" Jennie said, finally looking up from her book and squinting at me. "Are you bored or something?"

"A little bit," I said staring out of the picture windows, "I'm not sure this much relaxation is good for me."

I didn't comment at the snort from my girl, but I had to protest slightly when she stared at me seriously, biting her lip before collapsing in peals of laughter.

"What's so funny?" I asked as she rolled back on the couch, her book forgotten; dropped to the floor, her place lost.

"This much relaxation," she repeated laughing away, "fucking hell we've only been here one day Lili, what are you going to be like by the end of the week?"

"I might be chewing my way into that gun cabinet," I said trying to keep my stony face as I looked across at her, "especially if you keep taking the piss out of me."

"I'm sorry babes," Jennie said, not sounding sorry at all, "but you have to admit it is funny. Do you want to go for a swim or something?"

"Not today," I said with a shake of the head; I didn't either, my morning swim being enough for the day. I was feeling antsy though, I needed something to do.

"What about a walk?" Jennie suggested, "Mum said there's a trail through the woods; it might be a nice way to spend the evening, perhaps work up an appetite."

"Might be fun," I replied getting up and stretching. "Where about is this trail?"

"I have no idea," she said holding out her hand so I could pull her to her feet, "but let's go and find it together."

o+o+o

Somewhere around Wednesday Jennie and I had unconsciously established a little routine that suited both ourselves and each other. Jennie opted for having a lie in, where I chose to get up reasonably early and go for a swim. We would have breakfast and lunch together as well as a late supper, but in between we pretty much did our own things, reading, watching movies and on more than one occasion I allowed myself the luxury of taking a cheeky nap, and not always on my own.

There was one constant that we developed though, from that first evening onwards. Before supper, before we settled down for the night, we took a long walk together; it rapidly became my favourite part of the day, even more than our hours in front of our jigsaw. It was a marvellous way to spend time and we found many a little path that led through the woods, some taking us down to the loch edge and around the banks, some taking us up the hillsides for a spectacular view over the little valley. We didn't do a lot of talking during the walks; we didn't need to. Instead we just enjoyed each others company and used the silence to allow nature to surround us, looking out for the animals that shared the place that we called home for the week; Jennie pointing them out to me like an excited child whenever she caught a glimpse of something.

I had everything I needed right then and there, comfort, relaxation and good company. Jennie's idea of a week long sojourn into the wilds of Scotland had worked out better than she could ever have expected. Thoughts of beaches and nightclubs and the booze filled holidays of my earlier years were now forgotten; all I wanted to do right now was stay in this cabin, isolated, for the rest of my days. It had indeed been a good week...unfortunately for us, come one glorious Thursday evening as we lounged in the hot tub watching the sun set over the loch, the magic was broken and our holiday was over.

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