Chapter 1

 
 
It was rainy day and Yaz's alarm wouldn't stop beeping by her bedside. She kept pressing snooze over and over again and rolling around the bed.

"Yaz honey you're gonna be late!" Nadja yelled from the kitchen

"I know" she yelled back rolling on the other side

The door opened suddenly "Yaz...you're late...get up now"

"Alright mum..." she rolled one more time moaning into the pillow pulling duvet over her face

Alarm sounded off again and this time she knew she had to get up. She crawled out of bed dragging her feet to the bathroom. Her head was pounding and she felt nauseous.

"OMFG...the state of me" she looked in the mirror releasing she hasn't taken her makeup off a night before and now she looked like a panda with leftovers of mascara smeared across  her face. The Alarm on her phone wouldn't stop, the noise was perching her brain. She had way too much to drink the night before and her head felt like a pumpkin. The phone rang and Yaz looked at the screen.

"Fuck" she rolled her eyes and relased she was late for work "Hello, yes....Of course sir..I'm  sorry I got stuck in a traffic taking my nanny to the doctors. I'll be there in 20 min" she hangs up the phone and zoomed into the bathroom frantically getting ready.

"Yaz, aren't you gonna have..."

"No no I'm not mum, no time. Bye" she slammed the apartment door and ran out

....

"Yaz you're late!"

"I know"

"Almost an hour"

"I know sorry. Please don't give me a hard time come on...It was Jenny's birthday, I never do that"

"I'll let you off the hook just because you're one of the best here Yaz. But I have people above me as well and I'm not getting my ass kicked. Here just go and sort this out will ya"

"Thanks..." she sat in a car and sighed shaking her head "Of course I will...because why the fuck not...I'm thriving on this shit. I'm surprised it's not a parking dispute" she mumbled to her chin pulling a seat belt across.

She drove up the narrow road having trouble seeing house numbers from the rain hitting the windscreen of her car. But then she noticed two cars smashed up in front of one of the houses.  She parked up and got out of the car getting absolutely drenched with rain.  There was a BMW on a street and another car half way into the driveway. It was already clear to her what happened given the weather.

"Morning sir" she said politely to the man standing outside with an umbrella "What seems to be the problem?"

"What seems to be problem? Don't you have eyes girl?"

"PC Yasmin Khan to you sir. And yes I do have two perfectly god eyes in my head. Could you please explain to me what happened?"

"What happened is that a stupid cow ran into me and mangled my car"

"Sir I would kindly ask you not to use that kind of language"

"Well I would kindly ask you to get a proper fucking police officer"
"And I would kindly suggest that you do not verbally insult a police officer iff do not want to be charged" a woman's voice came behind him
"Not to mention it would be highly embarrassing for you"

Yaz raised an eyebrow smirking a bit to the guy as a sign that what the woman was saying is highly possible

"Madam?" Yaz addressed a tiny blonde standing in a pouring rain herself in a long black coat

"Morning officer. I'm so sorry for this" she  scrunched up her face "Here I already filled up insurance report" she leans towards the man "And said it was my fault and I will pay for the damage. Besides it's only a bump in a door...I could do that myself in one afternoon"

"Fine...But you should be at the cooker and not behind the wheel" he points a finger at her

"Don't threaten me" she said in a surprisingly calm voice considering the man was so close to her face she could swear he spat on her as he spoke. But she couldn't tell from the rain

"Please sir I really need you to calm down" Yaz stepped between them. She really couldn't cope with a drama given her headache and the weather
"Please let's get the paperwork sorted so we can all go home and dry out"

She managed to finally settle the situation and the man drove off.

"Sorry about that" the woman scrunched up her face "I don't understand what his problem is I said I'll pay for it"

"Misogyny madam" she replied "Off the record" she smiles "I'm sorry you had to go through that"

"Neah I had much worse...Blimey you're soaking wet. I tell you what, would you like to come for a tea?" she looked at Yaz's soaking trousers and she was blinking from the rain falling on her face. She felt sorry for her and kept thinking how she must be absolutely freezing given it was a middle of November and rain was cold. On top of it it was a windy day.

"Thank you, I should really get back to work"

"I am your work.." she grins

"Excuse me?" she asked confused

"Well you came for my car...so technically you are here working" she makes a smug face "Come on" she nods her head towards the house

Yaz smiled, she found her attitude quite funny. The truth was she didn't feel like working today and she wouldn't mind to get away from the rain either, and tea sounded so appealing she couldn't say no.

She rolled her eyes smiling "I shouldn't be doing this but I'm absolutely soaking" she looked down at her trousers and a distinctive wet line on them by her knees

"I'm not gonna tell anyone iff you won't" the woman smiled and Yaz followed her inside the house

She walked inside and wanted to take her boots of when she saw a beautiful wooden flooring at the entrance.

"Oh, no please don't bother" the woman waives her hand "Unless you're more comfortable that way but not on my account"

"But your floor?"

"Neah...it's just a foor...I can get another" she reached out her arm and Yaz looked at her confused "Jacket...take it off you're dripping"

"Oh...yes...sorry" Yaz took it off giving it to her

"And a hat...go on" she waives her arm waiting for her to pass it on and hangs both on a wooden hanger by the door then took her own coat off as well "Come in please" she points towards the living room on a right

She walked her into the big living room with a fireplace and two massive sofas. It was only then that she noticed the woman's unusual style  of dressing. She literally looked like she stepped out of some other time. Brown checked high waisted trousers and a white shirt with braces over her shoulders. Her hair was also wet from the rain and it was curling a bit. The fire was on and the room was warm. Yaz felt a bit uncomfortable seeing the beautiful burgundy sofas. She didn't want to sit down knowing she will leave wet marks on them.

"Please, sit down" she moved some books quickly just slinging them on a wooden table by the window

"Oh, no...I...I'm all wet"

"So?" she looked at Yaz as iff she dropped from Mars "It's not like you have space squid slime on yourself. That would be a serious problem"
"The whaa?" she looked confused

"Please sit down...I'll be back in a minute." She zoomed out of the room to the kitchen next door.

Yaz slowly sat on the sofa but she sat on the very edge just in case. Room was filled with books. Wooden shelves stretched to the ceiling. There were some even stacked up on the floor in the corners

"What kinda tea do you like?" she yelled from the kitchen

"Any will do, thank you. Your house is beautiful"

"Not mine" she yelled

"Oh"

"University is renting it for me"

"You're a professor?"

"Physics actually" she came back to the living room holding two steaming cups of tea "Right...I hope you like this one apple and cinnamon..." she passed her a cup and it smelled delicious and as it happens  it was Yaz's favorite. Also holding a hot cup in her hands really helped her to get warm.

"Waaaw smart then" she smiled

"Neah" she scrunches her nose "Sometimes...most times...the rest I just improvise" she sat down on the other sofa resting her arms on her legs

"Must be nice" Yaz said sipping a tea

"I love to teach. If you know something why not share it with others, it's a way of progress, it's how stuff evolves. You know like story telling"

"Story telling?" Yaz didn't quite know what she meant by that

"Story telling...Some cultures in a world don't have a written language so they pass their knowledge by stories...Uuuu so sorry...I completely forgot...I'm Clara" 

"Yasmin Khan...Yaz to my friends" she smiles

"I like that name, like the flower Persian origin actually. Well I'll call you Yaz then, cause now we're friends" she smiled

"Alright" she replied thinking that was a bit weird but she went with it "Lots of books" she looked around

"I like books...can't remember when I got all of those...I think I did read all of them. Some several times. Are you having a back ache?"

"Nooo madam...why?"

"Then why are you sitting like you do?...All stiff?"

Yaz laughed "Cause my uniform is wet madam"

"And why do you call me madam?"

"Cause...your a woman?" she replied confused

She chuckled "Right...So I am...Just call me by my name for god sake. And sit properly...if you don't have a back ache you're definitely gonna get one by sitting like that"

Yaz laughed

"Why are you laughing Yaz?" she looked at her a bit sideways frowning just a bit

"Don't care about the floor, don't care about the sofa. It's just...well you're pretty relaxed aren't you?. Most people wouldn't be"

"It's just stuff Yaz. There's more important things to worry about about in life...like why does the Moon sound so hollow when it's mass indicates that it shouldn't....But then again it's way to early for that. You'll get to in about 150 years"

It made Yaz giggle how quirky she was. Like one those silly scientists and she spoke so fast as iff she had a serious case of a sugar rush.

She takes a sip of a tea and Yaz couldn't help but notice how she had very beautiful hands. She couldn't help but notice how she was all together beautiful, in fact by this point she noticed pretty much everything, how her eyes were hazel but when they were outside they seemed more green, and how her hair is obviously naturally curly but she's had it straight when she first came out of the house and then it curled up from the rain, she also noticed how tiny her frame was, but she didn't seem fragile at all. She had a presence about her and could definitely hold her ground judging from how she handled that man previously who was at least a head taller than her.

"So Yaz, how come you're a police officer?"

"Dunno...just suppose wanted to help people"

"That's very nice Yasmin...good quality to have"

"I should really go back to work" she rested a cup on coffee table

"Right...You haven't finished your tea" she looked at her a bit disappointed

"I know...sorry"

"You don't like it?"

"No, no I do in fact that's my favorite...I'm just gonna get into trouble at work that's all. It was a nice tea. Thank you"

Yaz got up and walked to the door "Thanks for that. That was really nice" she said getting dressed

"Well it was nice meeting you Yaz. I hope I see you again"

"It was nice meeting you as well and if you have any trouble or whatever regarding the accident you can reach me at the police station"

"I will definitely have that in mind Yasmin Khan"

Yaz left and walked towards the car. The rain has stopped and she felt even more grateful for that tea. The woman left a strange impression on her. Quirky but warm and kind. She kept saying Yaz's name in almost every sentence and Yaz found it strange but in a same time nice. She started up the car and left, for her day has just begun.

Later in the afternoon Yaz was finishing with her work. It was a long day but at least that tea from earlier helped with a headache. She was just about to leave through the door when a colleague called her back.

"Yaz, someone left a message for you. Sorry I thought you already left"

"For me?" she turned around at the door

"Yeah, Clara" he red the note "She said you were at her house this morning something to do with a car accident. She left a number for you"

"Oh, thanks" Yaz took a note confused and left. She thought she better call back and picked up her phone before she sat in her car. It only rang once before the woman picked up.

"Hello?"

"Clara, it's Yaz...You left a message for me at the station. Is everything alright?"

"Yeah why wouldn't it be? Just thought you might wanna finish that tea from earlier"

"Oh" Yaz said completely confused

"Iff you want to?...But iff you have other plans..."

"No..." she shot out

"Oh, I see well I'm sorry I just thought"

Yaz frowned "No, I meant I don't have other plans" she laughed

"Oh, brilliant...Seven alright for you?"

"Ah....Yeah, seven is ok...I suppose"

"Anything in particular you would like to eat?"

"I eat anything" she smiled "I thought it's a tea not a dinner"

"Is there a difference?"

"Suppose not"

"Alright then...that's settled. Come over to my house and we'll go from there I know just a place and it's local. Lovely, I think you will like it"

"Alright then, see ya"

"See ya Yaz"

Yaz hang up the phone laughing, it was the weirdest thing ever. But then this day seemed strange and she couldn't explain why.
 

….
 

Yaz parked Infront of Clara's house. She had no idea what the plan was for the evening so she thought she dress casual. Black jeans with a white shirt and a leather jacket. It was November but they were only going for a meal. Her hair was in a braid and falling a bit over her shoulder. All the rain from earlier made air smell of wet ground and grass throughout the street, and evening was pleasant. She saw the light was on in the living room and the hallway as she walked up the driveway. She was about to nock on a door but was left standing with her hand up in the air as the door suddenly opened.

"Hey, saw you through the window" Clara smiled "Come in...sorry...I just need a minute"

"Hey...no problem take your time"

"Make yourself comfortable Yaz" she shouted running up the stairs

Yaz returned to the living room, but this time she didn't sit down. She walked around and looked at all the books stacked on the shelves and noticed that there were more things on those shelves than books. There was a smaller display case like those in museums with a glass top. She peeked inside and saw a strange steampunk looking contraption, an old broken watch and another one encased into a special glass container, it was one of those old fashion pocket watches, and next to it was another strange object that Yaz had never seen in her life.

"Ready?" a voice behind her broke the silence and she jolted. Clara was standing at the entrance hands in pockets of her trousers. Yaz had no idea how long she was there for before saying something.

"Yeah...sorry I was just.. I didn't mean to" she pointed to the cabinet

"Didn't mean to what Yasmin?"

"Snoop around" she said embarrassed

"I didn't think you were" she smiled "You look very lovely. And dry"

"Thanks...You look very lovely yourself. I like the braces"

"Thanks.." she smiled  and grabbed a coat from the chair

Yaz didn't just think she looked lovely, she thought she looked stunning, but she was going to die before ever saying it. Her blonde hair reached her chin, neatly straightened this time, high-waisted dark blue pants that reached almost to the floor and were much wider at the bottom, a white shirt with cuffs and dark blue braces. She looked amazing. She looked even more amazing when she pulled on the dark coat and straightened the lapels. Yaz suddenly felt underdressed and hoped they weren't going somewhere fancy.

"My car is mangled so.." she scrunched her face

"Yeah sure...no problem. Just tell me where to go"

"Brilliant" she hopped around the room and put few things in her pockets then just slammed the door behind them

Yaz noticed how Clara went from being extremely calm to very hyper in a second and she found it cute because and also quite welcoming because when she was calm it felt almost intimidating for some strange reason and as iff she would look straight into her soul.

"So, where are we going?" Yaz asked as they sat in a car

"Turn left down the road...then fifth on a right and second left and then first on left"

"Right...I think you may have to repeat that" Yaz laughed

"Oh, sorry...I'm good with directions I sometimes forget"

"No worries" she started up the car and they left

As they drove, Yaz smelled a sweet, distinctive scent coming from Clara. She thought it was her perfume or body wash, but it was a scent she could have sworn she'd never smelled before, yet it seemed so familiar and soothing to Yaz. Like when you're in a perfume store and you're looking at all the samples, and then that one perfume just says your name and you feel like it was made just for you.

"There..." Clara yelled making Yaz jump and pointed with her hand right Infront of her face

"Blimey...you're gonna make us have an accident girl!" Yaz shook her head

"Sorry...well that would be embarrassing...not to mention painful"

Her silly comments made Yaz laugh. She parked the car in front of the restaurant. It was a nice place not far from the high street.

"This looks nice" Yaz said slamming the car door

"Had to book the table. Its a small place and I didn't want us coming for nothing. Come on let's go" she nods her head

"Evening Doctor" the woman said as soon as they came in "I took a liberty of booking your usual table I hope that's alright"

"That's more than fine Alice, thank you"

"Doctor?" Yaz leaned towards her as they were walking towards the table

"Yes" Clara answered shortly

"Why is she addressing you as the doctor?"

"Cause I am the Doctor Yaz" she said pulling a chair for Yaz. A move that distracted her for a moment. She wasn't expecting a woman to pull a chair out for her.

"I don't understand" she said as she sat down

"Doctor of physics...science...engineering" she said as she was taking her coat off then continued as she sat down opposite Yaz "...candy floss...lego...philosophy...music... problems"

Yaz started laughing "Sense of humor" she added

"I should hope so" she says taking a menu "Right...what would you like to eat Yaz?"

One look at the menu and Yaz knew she would need help with this one. It was in French with English translation but she had no idea what she was looking at "Ah...dunno...I...I'll let you choose"

"Alright"

"Just please no snails and frogs"

Clara chuckled "Alright...I'll go for something nice I think you'd like"

"Evening Doctor...Would you like to order some drinks?" the waitress asked

"I'll have my usual Alice...Yaz?" Clara turned towards her

"What's your usual?"

"Orange juice"

"Right...I'll have the same"

"If you'd like something else, maybe some wine?" Clara asked

"No, thanks I should probably stick to just juice for today" she said remembering how much drink she had a night before and juice was probably a good choice

"Right...I'll need few more minutes with a food" Clara said to the waitress

"No problem, take your time" she took the order and walked away.

Yaz sat at the other end whiles Clara was concentrated on the menu. Suddenly she felt nervous and didn't know how to start the conversation. Clara seemed a lot more confident in communication than she was.

"Why did you call me out for dinner?" Yaz shot out the question and regretted a second it left her mouth

"I wanted to get to know you better" she answered not lifting her head from the menu "Aaaa...Ok I think I got this...that seems nice" she closed  the menu and looked up "Isn't that what what you're supposed to do when you like someone?"

"I suppose so" Yaz answered confused about her answer "Do you this often?"

"I don't understand?" she tilted her head

"Call strangers out for a meal?" Yaz asked boldly

"No...just you"

"Right" she nods

"Do you often go out with strangers when they ask you out Yaz?" she lift her brow leaning back on a chair

"No...your the first one"

"Aaaa...I'm flattered" she smiles

Her attitude was completely throwing her out. She had no idea what this even was, dinner, date just casual meal with the stranger she just met few hours ago. It was so confusing she decided not to think about it at all and just go with it. Not that she was complaining about having a dinner in a French restaurant with a gorgeous woman.

The waitress brought drinks and Clara was making the order. Yaz had no idea what she was saying because she spoke half in English and half in French. She just left her to it and hoped the food was going to be nice because the last thing she wanted was to embarrass herself twirling a fork around the plate and forcing herself to eat when Clara went through all this effort.

"So how was your day Yaz?" she asked pouring her a drink. Another thing Yaz did not expect a woman to do

"Not bad..." she stopped for second and thought she really needed to relax or this evening isn't going anywhere

"You alright Yaz?" Clara asked looking up to her as she was still pouring the drinks

She signed "Honestly it was bloody horrible"

"Whaaa?" Clara smiled

"I was at this birthday party last night and I got absolutely waisted. By the time I got to your place in the morning my head was exploding. That tea really helped"

Clara leaned back on a chair. There was a subtle smile from the corner of her lips. She was glad to see Yaz was getting finally relaxed 

"Honestly I just thought you were absolutely frozen. I'm so sorry for that guy"

"I know what a wanker...sorry...a have a bit of a potty mouth on me"

"That's fine...I though I'm gonna jump out of my skin when he said I should be behind the cooker. He would change his mind iff ever tried anything I make...bloody mess I tell you"

The evening was flowing nice from that moment on. Yaz relaxed with time and found Clara quite an interesting person. She was very chatty and told her practically her whole life story in one hour. All about her travels and different places she's been and worked and Yaz realized she wasn't joking about the amount of degrees she mentioned either at least not half of them, although she thought Lego and candy floss was probably a joke but at this point she wasn't really sure.

"How old are you Clara?  If you don't mind me asking"

"37 or 40...I think...I stopped counting. You?"

"27 in a month"

"Are you married?" Yaz asked bluntly

"Would I be here if I was?" she raised eyebrow

"Oh..." penny dropped for Yaz, her answer clearly defined what this dinner was. At least she hopped she got that right. It could also mean she wouldn't be out with a mate if she had a husband and kids at home, so now she realized it didn't really clear out anything

"Well you're definitely not...married I mean"

"How do you know that?"

"No ring.." she points lightly with her hand that was resting on a table "Unless I got that wrong?"

"No you got it right"

"Aaaa...good then...I was before"

"Excuse me?" Yaz asked confused

"Married..."

"Oh I see" she didn't feel comfortable asking more but she did wonder and Clara saw her pondering it in her mind

"I had a wife...she died"

"Oh...I'm so sorry" Yaz said blown away a bit looking down at the table.

"That's ok Yaz it was a really long time ago" she sat back into her chair "What are your plans for tomorrow?"

"Tomorrow?" Yaz lifts her gaze

"It's Saturday" Clara clarified

"Oh, shit...so it is" Yaz laughed

"So...do you have any plans?"

"No, not really...Why?"

"I have a lecture tomorrow in Oxford, I thought you might join me for the weekend?"

"Right...Weekend in Oxford?"

"Yeah...it be nice. We would be in a hotel I can book extra room it's out of the season it shouldn't be a problem. Lecture is only for two hours and then I'm free after that. If you're up for it?"

"Yeah...you know what...actually I am...yeah why not"

"Brilliant..." She smiled with such excitement Yaz was glad she agreed to it. It made her wonder what her disappointment would be if she declined
 
Yaz looked around the restaurant and suddenly released they are the only once left in it.  "Aaah...I think we should slowly go...unless we want to be seeped out of here by the stuff" she laughed

"Oh...I think your right actually...where did the time go....It always runs out when you need it the most" Clara got up really fast zooming around  the table to pull her chair, then held up her jacket

She grabbed her coat from the chair quickly slinging it on. As they walked outside she would hold the door for Yaz as well. She wasn't used to this kind of attention, she never had that before.

They kept talking all the way to her house and when Yaz parked the car Clara turned towards her cheerfully "Thank you for this evening Yaz. I had a lovely time"

"I'm the one who should be thanking you. That was lovely."

"Come by my place at 8 and we can slowly hit the road. It's quite a drive"

"Alright. Just...what should I pack?....I...don't know"

"Just casual Yaz...and something nice for the evening. Don't stress"

"Alright"

"Well I suppose I should be going now...get some sleep" she held the door gazing at her for a moment. The car was deafeningly quiet, the only noise coming from Yaz's leather gloves gripping the steering wheel so hard she thought she was going to rip it off.

Yaz gulped getting lost not knowing how to react and she was absolutely  sure she had the the most idiotic expression on her face at this point. Unlike Clara's that was absolutely breathless.
She had no idea how this strange evening was really supposed to end, and a million possibilities ran through her mind, some of which she deliberately ignored. She admitted to herself how she hadn't thought as far as this moment until she parked the car in Clara's driveway. She also admitted to herself she really liked her and was hoping to god she wont make a complete idiot out of herself the way she normally does.

"Right.." Clara blinked and broke the silence in then got flustered fidgeting and scrunching her face "I should be leaving and you're probably tiered...exhausted really...and...yeah...nightie night Yasmin" she got out and closed the door behind her turning towards the house. Then Yaz realized she was frozen in time and space and didn't even say anything to her before she left

"Clara!" she yelled and pulled the window down quickly

"Yes" she turned around

"I really had a wonderful night. Thank you" she said leaning through the window

Clara flashed a massive smile. There was a sight of relief in it as well and Yaz couldn't help but notice "Me too Yasmin Khan. I'm looking forward to tomorrow"

"Nightie night" Yaz smiled

"Night" Clara waived and turned back towards the house