Flac~At Last

Jac

She arrived at Holby City Hospital earlier than usual as she had no Emma to get ready. Her eyelids were heavy and she had a tight knot in her stomach. Her little sleep did her no good and she had to get up half an hour early just to try and cover the bags under her eyes. It didn't work. And it certainly didn't help that she had been crying for 5 hours straight. Her lungs filled slowly up with the bitter morning air. It was not quite spring yet. Reluctantly, she made her way up to her office without anyone noticing.

It was there where she got her second message, this time it wasn't on whatsapp.

Hello again Jacqueline,

I noticed you've been crying by the look on your face. And those huge bags under your eyes suggest to me you didn't sleep. You're welcome.

Anyway, I'll be keeping a close eye on you today. Very Close. I want to make sure you don't go crying to Fletch like a little lost child.

Speaking of children,Emma's okay for now. Being well looked after. Much better than you could've ever managed. Just goes to show how much of a terrible mother you are, doesn't it.

Now for your first task of today. An easy one to kick things off. Remove Fletch from your theatre times so he's not with you. Don't talk to him unless you have to, ie for a patient. But try to avoid it. If he tries to confront you, find a way out of it.

I'll be keeping a close eye like I said,closer than you think.

Until later...

She buried her face in her hands. Her whole life was at risk. And Johnny thought Emma was safe. She had to get her back.

Knock knock knock.

Damn it. Not him. "Yes Mr Fletcher," she managed to say. The door opened to revel a tall looking figure,making his way to her sofa.
"Only me. Anyway,this new CEO wants to see you in his office. Right now apparently" he gazed at her face,a worried expression was growing fast. "Jac? Are you alright?"
Jac's gaze lifted up to meet his. There was a pleading look on her face but she nodded anyway. She had to get away. So she did. Fletch was left sat on the sofa froze,unsure of what just happened. To the CEO.

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"Ah Ms Naylor I presume." A lady had opened the door and held out her hand for Jac to shake. There was something about her that was odd. Mysterious. But Jac put it to the back of her mind.
"Yes. I'm sorry I got a message that the new CEO wanted to see me. Is he in here?" Her voice was bland,dry.
"No I'm sorry. He's not in here but I am. Abigail Tate,CEO" a smirk formed across her face.
"Right"Jac said as she brushed past her,sitting down of the black leather sofa. The office had changed since she had last been in there. It was redecorated,but it felt as though she had gone 30 years back.
" I just wanted to let you know that i am joining you in theatre today,just to see how things roll here. Is that alright?" Abi spoke with a soft,quiet voice. It was almost as if she didn't want anyone else to hear her talk.
"Yeah no thats fine. I'll see you in there."

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As the day went on,she found it easier to ignore Fletch. For most of the time, she just hide away on her office and told Frieda that she didn't want to be disturbed.Frieda was always loyal to Jac and deep down she appreciated it. It was nice to know that someone had her back and she didn't even have to explain why.
There was only so much time she could spend pretending to do paperwork until it was time to go to theatre.
As she was walking to get changed into her scrubs from her locker, she encountered a lonely looking Fletch sitting at the nurses station. Oh no. I must avoid him.
"Hey! I haven't seen you in ages!" Too late. The eager nurse had already spotted Jac when he looked up from the scan on his tablet.
"That was the idea" Jac mumbled. She continued to walk,but she found that he had blocked her path. His warm hands were delicately placed on her shoulders. They fitted perfectly, like two pieces of a puzzle. A buzz from her trouser pocket made her aware of this and snapped her out of her fantasy world.
"Fletch I need to go." Her phone buzzes again.
"Ok, but can I buy you a drink after work?"  More buzzes.
"No." And again.
"What?" The buzzes kept on coming.
"I said no. Are you deaf? N.O. Now just leave me alone." She barged last him, not turning back to see the hurt on his face. She didn't see the tears rolling down his cheeks. The buzzing had stopped. Jac didn't know who they were, but she knew they had control of her now. Indefinitely.

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"Glad you could join us Ms Naylor." The smirk on Ms Tate's face had returned, like she was enjoying it.
"Yeah yeah whatever. Let's get this over and done with."
She couldn't concentrate during surgery. Her mind felt like it had been erased of all her knowledge. All those years of hard work. Gone. And it was all because of this mystery person.
"Something...bothering you?" Abi asked,her voice quiet and soft like it had been before.
"No.Nothing. I'm good,great even." The one confident surgeon plastered a smile across her face. She wasn't sure Abi believed it,let alone herself.
"You can always take a break. There's not much left. I can close up if you'd like?" Tate gave of a weird vibe. It felt it was an unusual thing for Abi to be doing,even though they practically just met. 
"No,no, it's fine honestly."
"That was an order Ms Naylor." Her voice was now pumped full of authority and a hint of anger. Backing out of the room, Jac felt defeated. She felt like nothing could get any worse...

Until she was sat back in her office. When she received another text.

Hello Jacqueline,

Me again. But of course you don't know who I am. You don't need to. Ever.
Just wanted to praise you for being rude to Adrian earlier. I saw the tears roll down his cheek. It was like a dog who had his toy taken of him. So sweet. So disgusting. He obviously doesn't know what type of horrible person you are-yet. And that's what I'm here for. To help him realise.
And you play a very big part in that. Because you are going to show him yourself.
"But what if I don't" you say. Then little Emma here will be electrocuted every half an hour until you do. Each time more painful. More powerful. I will send you another text giving you a rough outline of what to say. Your time starts now....

"I need to find Fletch."