Chapter 34

During the next week I had three training-shifts. The goal of them was to learn the ward, as every ward has different practices and routines. Shifts like these were always so crammed with information and new people that they passed in a flurry, and by the end of the last one I felt as confused as I had on day one. But I also felt excited, happy to get some experience in a new field, one that I was truly interested in. James was busy planning and writing scripts for his new season of Man Lab, filming was set to start next week and were to last for a month. And on Wednesday he had the Top Gear studio shoot which would continue until early August.

James announced that Richard and Jeremy was coming over that sunday, they were having some food and beers and was going to watch the Top Gear broadcast. Apparently they did that every now and then. I offered to clear out and find something else to do if this was a blokes' night, but James insisted that I was welcome to watch it with them if I wanted to.

I was sprawled on the sofa when I heard Jeremy and Richard arrive. Fusker had curled up and was asleep on my chest, his head poking out of the blanket covering both of us. James had gone to greet them, and I heard them trail into the kitchen, organising the food and beer. I didn't move to help them, far too comfortable and warm under the blanket. Richard was the first to arrive in the living room, carrying a sixpack of beer and cutlery.

«Emily? You asleep?» He asked in a carrying whisper, worried he would wake me up.

«Yes.» I said simply, eyes closed. I heard him sit down in an armchair and cracking open a beer, deciding to let sleeping women lie. More footsteps approached as the other two entered the living room.

«Emily, you have visitors! Sit up, be hospitable and act like a lady!» Jezza ordered.

«No, I shan't. I'm too comfortable. And if you try to force me, I will have Fusker claw your eyes out. Or your balls off.»

«I wouldn't push it, I wouldn't put it past her to have taught Fusker the kill-command,» James warned. «See what I have to live with?»

«Oh all right, all right,» I huffed, removed the blanket and sat up. Fusker meowed his accusatory, sad 'you woke me up'-meow and jumped off the sofa. «Just know that you have dismayed the cat,» I warned. James placated me with food and beer which quickly made me forget how sleepy I was. Top Gear came on at seven, and I only half paid attention to the first piece, which was one of Jezza's car reviews. My mind kept wandering, tomorrow was going to be my first proper shift at the ward and I was nervous. Privately I kept going over the things they had told me, over and over. The piece ended and I snapped out of it, the news were coming up and I always enjoyed that bit. It began with Richard beginning to talk about a new Porsche coming out, but Jezza broke him off.

«No, no, no, shut up. I have something much more important to say,» he exclaimed importantly, waving is hand at Richard, who shut up. As silence fell, the camera focused on Jeremy. «Actually, I have a bit of a love-story to tell.» The audience aaw'ed. «And no, this time it isn't about the love between a middle-aged man and some useless piece of scrap.» A picture of Richard and his Oliver flashed over the screen. The camera cut to Richard, who sat fiddling with his own fingers, looking embarrassed. Then it cut to James, whose utter confusion was etched all over his face. Jeremy continued his little monologue. «As some of you might remember, last season James fell over and hit his head pretty badly when we had a bit of a drive around the Middle East.» At the mention of this I sat up a little straighter. On the screen the clip of James' accident was shown briefly while Jeremy still talked. «Seeing as James was even stranger than usual when he came to, we thought it best to take him to a hospital. And it was at the hospital that the miracle happened. James met a girl!» My mouth fell open as I saw the photo of me and James on the stairs of the hospital in Syria appear on the screen. There I was, sweaty and messy and in my work clothes. How many people watched Top Gear on a regular night? I cringed just thinking about it. My mouth were still open and I tried to make noises, but nothing came out and I didn't know what to say anyway. The shock had made me feel cold, like everything had stopped working on the inside. I looked quickly over at Jeremy and James, who were both far more interested in watching my reactions than actually watching the telly. My eyes snapped back to the screen when I heard Richard's voice coming from the telly rather than Jeremy's.

«Emily was the very sweet nurse who took care of James at the hospital while she was there working with the Red Cross. She moved to London a few months later to study some more, and they kept in touch.» A new photo came onto the screen, this time the one with us hugging on the stairs. The audience aaw'ed again. «Now, normally we don't comment on this sort of thing on Top Gear, but rumors have been flying everywhere and since Emily and James share the common personality trait of being slow, we thought we might take matters into our own hands,» Richard finished. The camera cut to James again, who was now squirming in his chair, torn between shock, good-humored annoyance and embarrassment at what was going on. Then the camera cut to Jeremy again.

«And frankly, this is just too staggering not to make a big deal out of. Great news, ladies and gentlemen, despite everything we have ever suspected about him: James May HAS A GIRLFRIEND!» Jeremy shouted, and the camera cut to James again who was busy hiding his bright-red face in his hands, but I could tell that he was laughing too. Obviously James had known nothing about this little stunt Jeremy and Richard was pulling, and he had no chance of trying to remain his calm, composed self. The whole studio erupted into cat-calls, jeers and cheers as yet another picture came on the screen, one that I vaguely remembered Richard taking of James and me at the Christmas party, but I had never seen it after that. We were standing next to each other, closely, James in his black suit and bow tie, me in the blue dress. James had his arm wrapped around my lower back and we looked like a couple, even if we hadn't been at the time it was taken. I was relieved to see that I looked a whole lot better than on the first photo. We both did. The audience's cheers wouldn't let up, and in the end James got out of his chair and did a self-ironic little bow.

«Yes yes, thank you, now can we please move on and talk about some cars?» James mumbled as he sat down. The segment was over and they got into the normal news. Suddenly I felt how three pairs of eyes were burning a hole through me. I looked from one to the other, trying to keep a neutral face and not give away what I was thinking about this little stunt. It was obvious that they were terrified of how I might react to it.

«Now, before you say anything, I would like to make it absolutely clear that I had no idea about any of this,» James began, raising a finger in the air. «The surprise you saw on my face was completely genuine. I am NOT that good of an actor!» Wordlessly I turned to look at Jeremy, waiting for what he had to say in his defence.

«The way you two were behaving in the studio last week we thought you wanted everyone to know! And with the rumors and the tabloids it was just a matter of time anyway,» Jezza said stubbornly, trying to keep his ground. I narrowed my eyes menacingly at him and he cowered. «It wasn't my idea, it was Richards! He had the photos!» Jezza flailed in his chair, gesturing wildly to Hammond at the other end of the table. As I shifted my focus to Richard he began spluttering incoherently. Then he turned on Jeremy.

«Aaw, Jeremy! You spineless coward! She's going to kill me now! Or get the cat to do it for her!» Looking at the three men who now seemed to be bracing for impending doom, I cracked and broke out laughing. Suddenly the absurdity of the situation hit me. My relationship with James had suddenly been made public. On the BBC. During prime time. Millions and millions of people had seen it, and it would be all over twitter and youtube in a matter of minutes. And I wasn't angry about it, I couldn't be even if I had wanted to. James and I had talked about it anyway, that we needed to make it official somehow, we just hadn't gotten around to do it yet. Richard maybe had a point there, we were a bit slow sometimes. This way we had at least 'beaten' the tabloids with the big reveal. And I thought it was a fun and rather creative way of doing it.

«That can't be a good siiiiign...» Jeremy droned, looking terrified. «Should we run?»

«So this is why you came over here to watch the show tonight!» I chuckled, suddenly coming to the realisation myself. «Oh, relax, I'm not angry.» I waved my hand airily.

«No?» All three men said simultaneously with the same wide-eyed expression.

«No, not really. It was a bit of a surprise, granted. But it needed to be done and this was a good a way as any to do it. And I didn't have to say or do anything!» I smiled.

«Seriously?» Richard asked, raising his eyebrows.

«Yes, seriously. James and I met because of Top Gear, so that seemed like a fitting way to do it, really,» I shrugged. They were all still eyeing me warily, still on edge. «Aaaw, guys, you've really been worried about this, haven't you?»

«Yes!» James was the first to open his mouth. «I didn't know about this and I had to sit through the entire news-bit while trying to work out what the hell just happened. At first I tried to get them to cut that bit out and they could have, but... I don't know, I kind of liked it, too. When I got over the first surprise.» James looked at me a little apologetically. I wrapped an arm around his neck and gave him a reassuring kiss.

«Don't worry, I'm not angry. Frankly, it's a bit of a relief. Absolutely everyone knows now. End of.» James smiled into the kiss, relieved and happy.

«Hey, where's my kiss, it was my idea!» Richard protested.

«Hands off, Hammond,» James said darkly, wrapping his arms protectively around me.

«Oh shut up all of you and get me a beer,» I smiled. Relieved that I hadn't gone through the roof, the boys relaxed again. We finished watching the show and after we turned on some music and just sat around talking.

It was only 10pm when I yawned widely and announced that I needed to go to bed, as I had an unusually early call the next day. I told Jeremy and Richard that they were welcome to stay for longer if they wanted to, I didn't mind the noise and there were more beers in the kitchen. «I'll be up in a few minutes,» James said quietly in my ear. «Wish you goodnight.» I nodded and gave him a quick kiss before saying goodnight to the boys and heading upstairs. The beer had made me fuzzy and warm on the inside, I felt enjoyably relaxed and less worried about the shift the next morning. Maybe I would actually get some sleep now. I always slept better when I heard people in the house, music and chatter and laughter. Remembering that James had said he would come upstairs to say goodnight I had a mischievous moment and undressed, slipping completely naked under the covers. A few minutes later I heard James coming up the stairs. The bedroom was dark and I kept my eyes on the doorway which was lit up from the hallway.

«Hi, baby,» I said quietly when he appeared in the doorway. He made his way across the floor in the dark and sat down on the edge of the bed.

«Hello,» he said and he looked at me through what little light was coming from the corridor, running his hand over my forehead. «You sure you're all right, Emily? I mean, with the whole news-thing?»

«Of course, James. I meant what I said, I'm just relieved about it. And, rather happy that they showed at least one picture of me where I look decent!» I added.

«You're amazing, do you know that?» He said quietly.

«Mno. Tell me again,» I said with a smirk and wrapped my hands around his neck, pulling his face down to mine.

«You're amazing,» he breathed against my lips before kissing me slowly. I hummed into his kiss and moved over, pulling him down into bed. James tried to resist, but very half-heartedly. Getting carried away by my kisses and the way I was caressing his neck, he slipped an arm under my duvet and ran a palm slowly down my back and over my hip. Then his hand froze. «Emily.»

«Mm?» I said, still nibbling at his lips.

«You're naked.»

«Mm,» I hummed, ignoring him while trailing kisses along his jawline and down his neck. At the same time I slid my hand down his body and slipped it under his shirt, caressing the skin on his lower stomach.

«And we still have visitors. Whom you invited to stay longer, I might add,» he continued in hushed tones. I kept kissing and licking the skin on his neck while slipping my hand inside the waistband of his jeans, rubbing my palm against his cock which quickly grew harder under my touch.

«I want you,» I breathed heavily into his ear and pressed my naked body up against his.

«Couldn't you have told them to leave?» James replied, his voice hitching in his throat as I rubbed my palm a little harder against him.

«This is exciting,» I whispered, quickly undoing his jeans and slipping my hand into his boxers, wrapping my fingers around his warm cock. Slowly I rubbed my thumb over his sensitive head in circles and I heard James draw a sharp breath. Encouraged by this I began moving my hand up and down his cock, pressing my body even closer up against him. From downstairs I heard how Jeremy and Richard were talking loudly and then burst into laughter. Hearing them downstairs, knowing they were in the same house and could catch us at any moment turned me on immensely. James had barely touched me and already I was breathing heavily, writhing against him. «Listen to them, they're busy having fun. We can be quick...,» I continued enticingly, still pumping him resolutely. I ran my thumb over his head again, making him wet with his own precome.

«Of fuck it,» James hissed, unable to withstand it anymore. He tugged the covers away from me and pushed me roughly over on my back. He followed quickly, pulling frantically at his own jeans and boxers to get them out of the way. I slid my hands down his lower back and over his bum, helping him pull the boxers and jeans down to his thighs. Finally freed from his clothing I felt his hard cock pressing against me and I dug my fingertips into his hips and pushed up against him, feeling him slipping inside me. James let out an involuntary moan then covered my mouth with his in an effort to silence himself. His kisses were completely different now, primal and frantic like his thrusts. I redoubled my grip on his arse, arching my back to raise my hips even more up against him. We had nothing in mind but trying to make each other climax, both way past the point of being able to stop ourselves and knowing we had to be quick. I was on edge, listening to any signs from downstairs that they might suspect something; voices, steps, anything. But the risk we were taking felt elating, a thrill I had only felt once before during a very drunken shag in an elevator. We had both been too drunk to thoroughly enjoy that, but we weren't this time. It was becoming harder to stay quiet, the urge to moan loudly was growing. Needing to do something about that urge I hissed quietly into James' ear.

«God, James... Fuck. That feels so fucking good. You feel so fucking good inside me.» James let out another involuntary moan in response to my dirty whispers and buried his face against my shoulder. His thrusts became faster and more erratic. Iwas surprised to discover that my own dirty-talk turned me on even more, heightening the pleasure. So I kept doing it, barely aware of what I was whispering. «More, James. Fuck me harder James. Please. I'm going to come so hard on you. You're going to... make me.. come...» Whispering was becoming nearly impossible as the orgasm drew nearer, all my focus went into maintaining the friction between us and trying to keep quiet. James slipped a hand around me and grabbed hold of my bum, grinding franticly against me in an effort to push himself over the edge. I dug one foot into the mattress and bent the other leg, raising it towards my own body. The slight change in angle was enough to make me come with a few more thrusts. I buried my face against James' shoulder, desperately trying to silence myself and I seized up in my climax, digging fingernails deeply into James' shoulderblades. I felt James' teeth against my skin as he followed me into orgasm, shaking and twitching against me. The orgasm peaked and washed away far too quickly, like I knew it would, but it still left me feeling content. I had wanted James, wanted him for a quick fuck, and that was exactly what I had gotten. In the silence that followed while we were trying to catch our breaths I listened intently for sounds from downstairs. For a moment I had completely forgotten about Jeremy and Richard downstairs, totally lost in James and my search for release. Laughter and music flowed from the living room downstairs and I drew a sigh of relief.

«You are very... very... bad,» James breathed and gave me a lazy kiss on the neck before trying to pull his boxers and jeans back up.

«And you love me for it,» I whispered, helping him with his clothes. James was on all fours over me, studying my face through the dim light from the hallway as I buttoned his jeans and closed his belt. «There. I think maybe you should go back downstairs to our guests...» I said with a teasing smile when I had finished buttoning his jeans.

«I am feeling slightly used,» James said with a smirk, pushing me back against the mattress. «That's not a complaint, it's an obvervation.» He gave me another quick kiss then got out of bed. He stopped in the hallway, looking over himself and straightening his clothes before joining is mates downstairs. I smiled to myself as I watched him go, still enjoying my afterglow and my beer buzz. I closed my eyes and relaxed. From downstairs I could hear voices arguing amicably.

«God, James, you've been gone for ages!» Jeremy's distinct whining.

«He was just gone for five minutes...» Richard said, trying to be diplomatic.

«Shut up, I had to read her a bed time story,» James answered mysteriously, I could picture his sly smirk as I heard him say it. «Please tell me there's more beer?»