Walk In On Me
Nikki sighed as she pushed the door to the changing area open. She had just come back from a crime scene, which just happened to be in a muddy field. The body had been dumped into a stagnant pond, and to top it off, it had been raining. When she was done, almost all of her was caked in a layer of mud.
She had come back to the lab in a bad mood, wanting nothing more but a nice, hot shower. So Nikki was not amused when she found out that the women's showers were flooded. Knowing that the only other choice was to stay muddy for the day, Nikki had made her way to the men's instead.
Fortunately, Leo was away at another crime scene, his empty office evidence of his absence. However, Harry was here. His coat was draped on his chair, yet he wasn't in the science room or the layout room. Nikki had checked everywhere except for the cutting room itself. She could only presume that Harry was in the middle of an autopsy, and hoped that he wouldn't finish anytime soon. After all, she was gate crashing the men's showers, and she definitely did not need Harry to walk in on her as she showered.
It would just be... awkward. Not to mention the fact that Harry would most probably never live it down. They were best friends after all, and he would just take it as an opportunity to tease her endlessly, knowing fully well that Nikki would never take it to heart.
Hoping that Harry's body had died in a thoroughly complicated way so that it would keep him busy for at least the next hour, Nikki started to take her clothes off. Grabbing a towel from the rack, she wrapped it firmly across her body before folding her mud-stained clothes and placing it next to her handbag on the bench.
Taking one last look at the door leading outside, Nikki walked over to the frosted door to the showers and closed it shut behind her.
Glancing around, she could see that the men's shower booths were absolutely different from the women's. While they both had separate shower booths, the women's had the separating walls from ceiling to bottom. The men's however, were only about five feet high, which meant that it would only covered up to Nikki's neck. Frowning at this, Nikki stepped into the middle booth, slamming its door shut a little too forcefully than required before sliding the lock home. Taking her towel off, she draped it over the door. Turning towards the taps, she turned them on, letting out a sigh of relief as jets of warm water rained on her skin.
Ten minutes later, Nikki was covered with soap from top to toe, relishing on calmness that engulfed her as she scrubbed herself clean. As she started to wet her hair to shampoo it, she heard her mobile ring. The voice of Kelly Clarkson belting out Already Gone could be heard from the changing area.
'I want you to know, that it doesn't matter, where we take this road, someone's gotta go.'
Nikki swore slightly. She had set that ring tone for only Harry and Leo's calls; and with Harry elbows-deep in a body, it had to be Leo. Which meant that it was highly probably a very important call that she must take.
While she was completely nude. In the middle of the men's changing area. Which any male, especially a certain Harry Cunningham, could walk into at any given moment. Just Nikki's luck.
Knowing that she only had about ten seconds left before the call ended, Nikki ran out of the shower and into the changing are, praying fervously that no one would walk in on her at this unfortunate moment. She managed to get to her mobile just in time, and pressed the Answer button. "Hello Leo," she said mutinously, her eyes on the door at all times. "I'm in the middle of a shower, and I am currently stark naked in the men's showers. So hurry. Please."
Nikki heard Leo chuckle at the other end. "Why are you-" Leo started, but changed his mind, "Never mind. I won't ask."
"Leo!" Nikki bleated. She wrapped her right arm over her breasts, trying to both cover herself up and to stop herself from shivering at the coldness at the same time.
“Alright, alright! I was just calling to say that yours’, mine’s and Harry’s case could all be connected. DCI Hollander rang me up to say that the murder weapon for all three bodies was a machete, of the South East Asian kind. How were the stab wounds on your body?”
“Well,” Nikki paused as she recalled her crime scene. “We didn’t find the murder weapon, and the stab wounds were-“
Whatever she was about to say was cut off, as Nikki suddenly realised a little too late a creaking noise. Her eyes widened in fear, frozen like a deer caught in the headlights as she watched the door pushed open.
And Harry Cunningham walked in.