In Her Head - Collision Course

Panic Stations I

Thursday morning came, Elle had no idea how to dress.

Just be practical, what about Jeans? What if I have to move about too much? What about trousers? Same argument, thanks head! Sod it, jeggings and top. I will take work wear and jeans in a backpack and it can be left with the driver if need be. What if he comments on the way you’re dressed? Oh screw this! I am going to be shattered before I get there if I keep going on like this! Sod em, sod em all. Who cares? Just wear what you feel, what you wear doesn’t show you, just what you think might be coming. Elle battled.

Elle showered and got ready, she wore black jeggings and a coral t-shirt with her black reebok classic trainers. In her backpack, Elle placed her light cropped jeans, black trusty boots, black trousers and her blue satin blouse, she opted for the blouse as it could be dressed up or dressed down. Her uncertainty over where they were going for lunch had her in a spin and she didn’t think to ask for the dress code. She would ask Peter when they finished the panic.. ..Escape Room and he could wait 5 minutes for her to change. Belinda had called it a panic room yesterday and it stuck with Elle, not in a good way, but they were in fact called Escape Rooms.

Elle, poured herself a coffee and sat at the kitchen island to wait for the children to get up. Billy would be there in 45 minutes to collect her and then they could be on their way.

Why am I doing this? Because you cannot keep that trap of yours shut, Elle groaned inwards. Sod it, just do it and get it over with, it isn’t your job, it’s just a puzzle day. What if I get them all wrong? You cannot get them all wrong but the idea is that you work together so try it. What if I fail, what if I am so dumb I have to rely on him and not give any valid input? I will never live it down, he’s going to think I am a dunce, How stupid! I don’t care! Elle continued the internal battle until she heard the sound of her children getting up.

Elle got up and sorted their breakfast while she waited for Emily and Michael to get ready and come downstairs. She moved into the front room and sat in the middle of the sofa for morning cuddles, Elle always told them they had one arm of hers each or they created an infinite circle between the three of them. They were the best! "Morning Mummy," Emily shouted. "Morning Mummy," Michael shouted. Elle opened her arms waiting for the oomph of them both crashing into her, the children loved their cuddles, it was good because, so did Elle. “Good morning poppets, I love you both,” she said affectionately while kissing their foreheads. “Time for breakfast, Nancy will be here in 10 minutes,” she told them. After the bickering, they settled down to finish breakfast. Once they were all cleared away, Elle checked the time. Frowning she decided to go and knock at Nancy’s door, she was late and Elle prayed she was okay. When Elle went to step outside she saw Nancy talking, with none other than, Peter Skeel himself. Elle was relieved, she grabbed Nancy for a hug but she wondered why Peter was there, she thought it would just be her with the chauffeur, Elle didn't ask Belinda so she only had herself to blame. “Elle, I’m good, sorry I didn’t let you know I was outside,” Nancy said, giving Elle a kiss on the cheek. Nancy was never late, in fact she was always early and she was aware of Elles anxiety. “I didn’t realise it was Peter that you worked for Elle, I used to babysit him when he was younger,” she offered after the quizzical look from Elle to both of them. “Oh, I didn’t know,” Elle said although, she was sure she mentioned his full name to her. "I might go to see Belinda when I drop the children to School, it has been years," Nancy said happily, it gave Elle the impression that Nancy couldn't wait and probably hadn't listened to Elle when she told Nancy who she worked for. “Would you like a quick coffee Mr.. ..er Peter?” she asked, he smiled and nodded, “I cannot wait to meet the children,” he said beaming. Nancy laughed, “still love children, eh Peter?” Nancy asked teasingly, Peter let out the brightest grin and Elles' heart skipped a beat. Peter looked like a Greek God, he wore a black ribbed long sleeve top, it had 3 buttons from the neck to the middle of his chest, they were open. He also wore black jeans and trainers, they looked expensive but Elle paid no attention to that she could barely move her eyes away from how his top was clinging to his muscles and they were.. ..exquisite. Elle didn't think she had ever seen muscles quite like that.

“Oh s**t, I’m done for,” Elle told herself.

The kids were having a cushion fight, of all things! Elle told them to put the cushions away and tidy up. “Nancy!” they shouted, running to her and almost knocked her to the floor, Elle groaned. “Who are you?” Michael questioned, his face was inquisitive although he was trying to make it tough. Peter chuckled covering it with a cough, “I am a colleague to your Mother, we work together,” Peter explained to him. “Are you the one she looks after?” Michael asked full of innocence, “Yes, she looks after me very well,” Peter responded amused. “Mummy,” Michael shouted, “do you get paid to look after us?” Michael asked.

Oh God ground, swallow me now, Elle thought, her face was beet red. Thank God I am in the kitchen, she rationalised.

Nancy jumped in and answered for Elle, “no my darling, Mummy loves you both very much and you bring her so much joy. She gets her payment in cuddles and kisses from you both,” they giggled.

Thank you Nancy, Elle thought. She will thank Nancy to her face later, once there was no Peter there.

Elle walked out handing a caramel latte to Peter and an americano to Nancy. Elle was thankful she had the krups coffee machine. “Have a seat,” Elle motioned to Peter. The children took that as a cue to bombard Peter with questions. “Kids, stop questioning Mr Skeel.” Elle warned, “It’s Peter, please, and I am fine with questions,” he assured. “You are so going to regret that decision,” Elle stated amusingly. “So you are really old like Mummy, how old are you?” Michael started. “I am 41,” Peter told them. “Do you have children,” Emily, her social butterfly, asked hopefully, “No, I don’t. I haven’t met anyone to have a family with” Peter answered honestly. Elle was shocked. “What do you do?” Michael asked. The questions were personal and funny at times, this went on until they left. Elle found out more about Peter through her kids questions than she ever would, he was even more appealing to her and she was scared.

His favourite colour is emerald green, ahhh, Get it out of your head girl, he’s off limits! She warned herself

Elle was right, by the time they left Peter regretted letting them question him. Now though, he understood how Elle was so good at thinking quickly, she had tons of practice. “I did warn you,” Elle laughed as they were walking to the car. Peter let out a chuckle, “Elle, they are fantastic kids, but I think I now have what’s called a brain fart, not sure how much help I will be today.” Elle laughed, she was aware that her children were a lot of work, you always had to think on your feet, it would be difficult, especially to someone without children. “Take 5 minutes to refresh, I normally sit in silence for a bit to rest my brain,” Elle told him. "They are too smart for their own good, I bet they ask how to deal with journalists tonight," Elle laughed. 

“Good morning, I am Billy, your chauffeur today Ms Collis,” the mini warrior lookalike introduced. Elle stopped in her tracks, he smiled kindly at her, she was trying to place his face. She had definitely seen him before. “Ah ha! Artigo!” she shouted remembering. She remembered, yesterday she was on her way home and stopped in at Artigo, Billy nearly tripped over a table, he seemed to be looking for someone. Billy blushed and Peter looked puzzled. “I saw him in Artigo when I stopped there on my way home yesterday,” Elle said to Peter, not wanting to embarrass Billy. Billy looked relieved, “Yes I like the coffee there, I was supposed to meet a friend,” he smiled at Elle, turning to Peter, he carried on, “the coffee shop is very dark, while I was looking, I knocked into a table,” he chuckled. Elle, held out her hand. “Please call me Elle, it's nice to meet you Billy,” she smiled. Billy smiled back and shook her hand, “okay Elle, shall we get going? He said while walking to get the door for her. “Yeah, just ignore me,” Peter grumbled, “love you too, Petey,” Billy said laughing. Elle laughed,  thinking she will get on well with Billy. Peter blushed while he laughed.

After a five minutes or so of silence, Peter spoke, “that was needed, thank you,” he said sincerely. "The children are extremely bright and they remember everything, have you had their IQ checked?" Peter enquired. "No, they are children and they don't need a test, as long as they have a good knowledge of themselves and self belief, they will be fine, they don't need competition or too much work, we learn more in our spare time but they need the social experience just now." Elle responded. “So, do they see their Father?” Peter asked, Elle started panicking and took a deep breath, her chest was starting to pain, turning to him, hoping her face was nonchalant. “No, they haven’t seen him in around four years,” she started. “I’m not sure what happened, he just moved abroad and gave up his Parental resposibility, the children are fine though, I thought they would be devastated but, they honestly haven’t even asked after him,” Elle said dryly. "They have good role models in myself and Nancy plus I have a friend Mark who treats the kids as his own, he is a great guy who is the male figure in their lives but the children don't see him as much as they should, him and his boyfriend are always jetting off," Elle informed him, not sure why she was opening up so much. Peter looked out of the window, “did their Father take that picture you have hanging up?” He asked, his voice a little hoarse. “Oh good God no! Erm.. no he didn’t, he doesn't even know where we.. erm, it was Nancy that took the picture,” she said mentally face palming and tensing hoping he hadn’t picked up anything. Peter looked at her, “It is an amazing picture, it isn’t often you can capture moments like that, Nancy is very talented,” he complimented. Elle, smiled with pride, she loved Nancy and was pleased someone else could see her skills, Elle would be sure to let Nancy know later.

They continued in silence for a few minutes, then they started discussing work, likes, dislikes and what they do to relax. The car came to a halt, both Peter and Elle looked shocked, they missed the journey during their conversation and hadn’t realised how much time had passed. They looked out at what looked to be an old warehouse and it was huge, Elle had no idea what challenges would face them, but she would face them head on. Billy went round to Elles door and opened it for her. “Thank you Billy but, you really don’t have to open the door for me,” She said. "Still forgetting about me Billy," Peter said getting out of the car. "Don't worry, I won't forget about it on the Christmas bonus," he added walking round to stand beside Elle, Billy and Elle chuckled, Peter looked like a child who just lost his toy.

All of a sudden a tannoy echoed giving that long screech before a voice sounded. “Attention! You are about to be faced with the most challenging mission of your life! You must retrieve a classified file from the stronghold of the largest militant army in the world! They have just abandoned the building and you will need to move quickly, if they get back there before your mission is complete, you will be taken captive and we will be unable to help you. The security of your comrades is in your hands! May God be with you.” It announced, Elle and Peter looked at each other with raised brows. “Your Mother has a lot to answer for,” Elle said to him dryly, “she most definitely does,” Peter agreed. At that, Billy doubled over laughing, Peter and Elle folded their arms and pouted, Billy laughed harder. Once he was composed he told them he would be back later to pick them up for lunch. He chuckled getting in the car, they watched it leave. “You know, we could walk off and just tell Mum we got lost,” Peter suggested. “Somehow, I don’t think she will take kindly to that, there isn’t a hope I am getting on the wrong side of your Mother.” Elle reasoned, Peter sighed “true, looks like we are going to have to do this,” he said despondently. “Good morning,” a commanding voice announced, snapping them out of their thoughts. 

Here we flipping go! Welcome to the weird. Elle thought. 

The man looked like a former bodyguard, he was full of muscle, not as muscular as Peter but still huge and he looked at least 5ft 9” tall, he was wearing all black combat gear. He had grey eyes, a bald head that looked as shiny as just polished gold and his face was stern. Elle and Peter just looked at him, “you have 30 minutes to get through each room. You will need your brain in gear and you will need stamina.” He barked, “You will be given a 30 minute induction and then you will have breakfast. You will be taken to the changing rooms and then you will begin,” he further informed them. “Any questions?” he asked, without missing a beat “What are we changing into?” Elle asked, Peter smiled proudly. Not a question he would have thought to ask but it would give them a look into what they are facing. “You will be changing into wetsuits and climbing shoes,” he answered, Peter chimed in, “are we likely to be immersed in water?” He asked. “If you are not fast enough,” shiny head stated flatly. They both groaned. Shiny head led them to another building, Peter and Elle looked at each other but followed him anyway. “This is the extreme mission building,” he informed them.

A spa would've been nice Belinda, that would have been fine. We could have communicated that way, a double massage would have been great, but oh no, had to be a bloody assault course type thing run by power tripping, obnoxious twits! Elle fumed internally.

He led them through the entrance straight into a room with chairs at the front, they went to sit down and shiny head left them. Through a door at the other end of the room another guy came in, this one had long, dark hair tied back in a small ponytail. He was shorter and was of a smaller build than shiny head, he was also dressed in the black combat gear, he looked to be in his late 20s. He looked intimidated after glancing at Peter, Elle giggled. He snapped his head round to look at Elle and she straightened up, still giggling. Peter joined in, Elle didn’t want the guy to feel they were laughing at him so she coughed to stop the giggles. “Sir, we have been thrown in at the deep end, so to speak, his Mother booked this for us and I am not too sure if she knew what she was getting us into. We are aware we face challenges we will need to work together on but, please, don’t for a minute think we will be getting into character. You can be at ease” Elle told him. They guy laughed, “I like you two,” he told them. After that it was straight forward, they were given tips and instructions on how to use the equipment, they also came up with a safe word they needed to shout if they were stuck. They were both thankful there were toilets in between each room, they would be on their own in the rooms but someone was on hand if they needed. After the briefing they made their way to the next room for breakfast, there was a table laid out with fresh fruits, cereal, pastries, various jams and orange juice. Tea and coffee was on a side table in the corner of the room. There were a few tables around where they could choose to sit, they helped themselves to some, fruit, pastries and coffee, then sat down and tucked in.

When they were finished, shiny head came in to show them to the changing rooms.

And so it begins, Elle thought.

“Doors are electronic, to get to the next one, complete the challenges based on the rooms and what the rooms would be used for.” Shiny head told them. “See you on the other side,” he said with a smug grin.

I will wipe that smugness right off your face you arrogant excuse for a man. Challenge accepted d**k head, Elle promised herself. Time to get your game on girl!

He opened the door, “good luck, you both look like you will need it,” he chuckled nastily. Peter and Elle smiled at each other with a competitive glint in their eyes, they both understood what it meant, it meant that they will show him. They walked through the open door, it was dimly lit, Elle turned to shiny head and asked, "can you stay to illuminate the room for us?” He didn’t look amused and slammed the door, Peter was laughing. “I cannot believe you said that!” he exclaimed in between breaths, Elle looked to Peter saying “well he shouldn’t have looked at us like we were pieces of sh.. ..er crap,” Peter laughed harder. “You are one hell of a woman Elle Collis and, just as I wouldn't my Mother, I wouldn’t want to, nor dare, get on the wrong side of you,” he told her. Elle felt a little hurt but pleased she was similar to the formidable Belinda, as long as she used it in the right context, she didn't want to be a nasty cow. Not that Belinda was, Belinda was just confident within herself. “Peter I am not always a hard snappy cow, I have to be provoked to get to that point,” she pouted. “Okay then sweet, let's get this done and we can have a nice lunch.” he suggested. Elle looked at him, “why sweet?” she asked. Peter gave her a genuine huge smile like he was king of the world. She hasn’t objected to him calling her sweet, he thought. “Elle, you are the most considerate person I have ever met but you have a tongue that could take down the most spiteful of people, you are certain of yourself that you speak the truth, you will only insult those who have treated you in the same manner but you can do all that with the sweetest most innocent look on your face and anybody worth two pennys wouldn’t take it as an insult because, I for one know it’s not. You can mirror people and show them what they have done without causing offence, the only time it would cause offence is when someone does you wrong deliberately, all because they probably wouldn't want to admit they are in the wrong. Yes, I heard all about Becky on your first day and I am telling you, you acted better than most and didn't even mention it to me. I need that, I need you” He told her. His speech made her smile, he actually sees her, not just the face she puts on for show, but, he has seen that she cares about people and only goes so far to let them know of their rudeness. Elle was feeling better that she could be herself because of the monologue that he just gave her, he knows she has feelings but also knows she doesn’t want to hurt anybody unless she absolutely needs to. He understood her.

This is weird, he sees me. I am so used to being told I am a nasty person when I have only ever been sticking up for myself or mirroring the other person. How can he see this and not many others can? Belinda and Nancy get it but they are older women, nobody else does, She thought to herself. Cop on, he’s off limits and probably has a convenient friend! He would want someone far more sophisticated, who is easier work and less damaged, he will want his own children and probably someone who hasn't married before. She shouted warningly to herself. Okay, professional walls! She finalised her thoughts on that. With a new mindset that there wasn't ever going to be anything else, but she would trust him as a friend, she opened up a bit.

“Erm.. Peter, thank you,” she said with a genuine tone. “Why are you thanking me?” he asked softly, she looked him in the eye. “You are seeing the real me and if you knew what that felt like then you would understand, everyone I have come up against has twisted things on to me and called me rude or nasty, even though I have only done what they have done, that's why I told you in your Father's office that I am brutally honest but I don’t mean to be rude, not a lot of people want to admit to their mistakes” she stated. “ Only Nancy and, somewhat, your Mother understand that side to me, I don’t think I have had that kind of conversation with your Father but…” Elle trailed off with the conversation. She wanted Peter to be aware of the impact actually seeing another person can do. It would lift them up where they have some confidence again. It was an amazing quality that Elle tried to use as much as she could to help other people as she knew what being comfortable with yourself means for your emotional health. “Look, it is an exceptional quality to see the person beyond the facade, it is a greater strength to tell the person about it too, so thank you. If you are this way with your team, you will be a force to be reckoned with. Honesty and loyalty can mean a great deal.” She finished. Peter contemplated that for a while and Elle looked around the room. 

How can she be so thankful for the truth and why the hell would she explain something so very straight forward? Did it really mean that much to her? What the hell happened to her? She just complimented me back but, why would she spin it back to me taking the spotlight off of herself? What the hell is she going to do when she finds out the truth and I knew? He asked himself. 

Elle turned to him, “okay so this looks like an office, the clues must be in the information, offices deal with correspondence, maybe we should start there. It looks like there is a keypad at that door so we should start looking through the documents on the desks.” Elle reasoned. they got to work straight away, they had lots of speed reading practice over the years so they were going through the papers quite quickly. Elle found a memo that stated the four digit code for sensitive files room is hidden throughout the following rooms, they would be spread across the following locations:

Power Room

Sleeping Quarters

Biological Laboratory

Training Room

Special Operations Training Room

Elle showed Peter and they smiled, at least they wouldn’t miss anything. The code they needed for the door was four digits so one of the rooms wouldn’t have a digit, Each digit for the current door came from memos on each desk, four of the memos contained an out of place digit, together they decided to first try the memos in date order, it worked! They were out of the door within 16 minutes, they would have been faster if they hadn’t decided to have that complimenting talk, they had a point to prove to shiny head. You could be sure they would try their hardest.

If this was just the first room and they wasted time, they could imagine what the rest of them might be more difficult but it should't be too much trouble. Peter and Elle were very pleased with themselves.