The entire day had just been shit for Alec. Dealing with incompetence at the station, a belittling and shouting phone call from Tess about Daisy, Daisy ignoring his calls and texts, and finally, he had gotten home only to realize his fridge was empty after taking his shoes off.

“Christ,” he scoffed to himself, putting his shoes back on and trudging out into the chilly November evening.

He hopped in his car to grab some essentials. “Just get in, get out, get home,” he told himself. But inside the supermarket was no better. Fluorescent lights, crying children, a checkout line that crawled. By the time he reached his car again, his patience had been worn to threads.

And then, just as he was backing out, he heart the sickening crunch and jostling of his vehicle colliding with another.

“Oh, you’ve gotta be bloody kidding me!” he cursed in annoyance, climbing out and whirling around to give this driver a piece of his mind.

“Why the hell weren’t you watching where you were goin’?!” he seethed in his brogue, his tone icy enough to freeze water.

But then the person he’d been addressing came into sight.