Sierra

Wednesday was a typical day. I fought to listen to my six o’clock alarm for a run, but I knew that if I didn’t I would feel guilty for skipping out all day. I had to stay fit somehow. I mean, c’mon, I don’t exactly leave the office unless it’s a lunch run or coffee to please our officer overlord, Mason.

Crap, don’t tell him I said that. In fact, don’t tell anyone. Just keep it between us alright? Thanks pal.

Anyway, yeah, I got out of bed. Well, more like stumbled out, my face met the floor once my ankle caught on the sheets and well, boom, crash, and hello floor. At least I got a hello, good morning. From myself. In the mirror. I was smiling, trying to get the happy, go positive mood flowing.

I followed it with my usual morning routine of tying my hair up and brushing my teeth. Then I hunted through my room for my jogging clothes. Finally found them. Stuffed behind my dresser. Must have tossed them a little too far yesterday.

Threw on my running shoes, and I was out the door. The city was a little slow on picking up on traffic and waking up. I took my usual route this morning, detouring to see Sierra, a smile plastered on my face. I couldn’t wait to see her.

But when I slowed my jog to walk by and say hello, she wasn’t there. I blinked a few times, looking around, thinking maybe I was early or this wasn’t the stop, but it was. She was nowhere to be seen, along with no indication she had been by at all this morning.

My heart fell slightly while a frown tugged at my lips. I mean, yeah, she was a stranger and we barely met officially yesterday, but she was a friend. A companion. Yeah, a companion. Still, I wanted to see her. I crossed my fingers that she would be okay. I guess instead of taking my usual route back to my place I could back track this way and hope to catch her on the way back.

Thinking this, my mood lightened and I jogged the rest of my way to the gas station, picking up a coffee. Dark roast, yum. Yeah, it’s bitter as hell but sugar and me together is worse than just normal me. Mother always said I was a three-year-old in a twenty-six-year-old body when I had sugar. Not a good combo.

Vicki smiled at me from behind the counter, ringing me up with her usual greet of “there’s my favorite lady cop.” It made me blush, like any other morning. She was pretty cool. A little too goth for me, but her bubbly personality was my favorite any day. She only worked mornings though, so my luck of seeing her during lunch for a chat was low.

After thanking her, I wished her a good morning and returned my run back home. The energy high and hope kept my legs at a pretty fast pace, but was met with more disappointment when Sierra was still not at the stop sign. I huffed quietly, kicking at a stray rock on the concrete.

It ricocheted off the sign, smacking me in the ankle. Cursing I bounced on one ankle and tried to hold onto my coffee the best I could. It splashed on my fingers, causing me to drop it onto the ground where my bad luck continued and the lid flew off, throwing the contents on my shoes.

I sighed, pinching the bridge of my nose between my thumb and finger. I had two options, go back to the gas station for another, or suffer till lunch without one. Groaning out loud, I turned on my ankles, but stopped short when my favorite red head was heading my way.

Her hands were in her pockets while she blew a bubble, smacking her lips on a piece of gum. She wore a pair of ripped up jeans and a red tank top. Her make up heavy eyes settled on me and she smirked with the corner of her lips.

“Hey, lady cop. I know you. You waiting here for me?”

 I tried to not look too obvious and bent over to pick up my nearly empty cup of coffee. She inhaled deeply when nearing me and ran her fingers through her curled hair. The move was indeed beautiful. No, no, Alisa what are you saying? This is a woman. Ah hell, just go with it. Women call each other beautiful all the time. Yeah, but this woman was beautiful in two ways.

Oh, crap don’t tell me I said that out loud. My face must have looked funny because Sierra was smirking in amusement. Her eyes fell upon the coffee and she took the half empty cup from my hand to take a sip, returning it to me she coughed.

“Hell, copper, that is strong, and wayyyy too bitter. How do you stand that?” She drawled out, scrunching up her nose while coughing into her arm.

I dug a bottle of water from my bag, offering her way. She took it with no hesitation, pulling the lid completely off and tossing it into the street as she chugged it empty in one go. I stared in amazement, eyes widening.

“Oh hells, Jesus, that was better.”

I remained quiet, watching her toss the empty bottle back to me. I sighed and stuffed it back into my bag, leaning on my hip as I bit at my lip and cleared my throat, turning back to the street towards the gas station.

But then it hit me and I stopped in my tracks, looking at Sierra. The girl was blowing bubbles again, lips smacking the gum. Her arms were crossed over her chest and she looked so determined for something today.

Should I bother her to ask? I mean it really wouldn’t hurt, would it? Ask her if she would want to join me at a diner for breakfast? Been awhile since I had breakfast before work. Usually I just jogged, showered and then spend then extra time reading up in the latest gossip magazine and watching reruns of COPS.

I know, I know. I don’t exactly have an exciting life. Heck, even my job wasn’t exciting. Though the other day I did find out that this city has more than fifteen different gangs, all in different wars for property, drugs and women. So, hey, that’s pretty exciting, right? No? Maybe just to me then.

“You want to join me for some breakfast?” I spoke up, moving from foot to foot, keeping my weight off each.

Sierra took her time answering, eyes slowly drifting away from the streets to look at me. She stopped chewing her gum and she stood off from her stop sign, going over to me. In her heels, she stood nearly a good half a foot taller than me and I almost found it intimidating.

“What is it you really want from me, lady cop?” She teased, leaning on her hip, her permanent smirk on the corner of her lips. “Cause, no cop would really give a hooker any sort of time of day for nothing. What do you need? Information on something? Feeling lonely at night?” She ran a finger over my chest as she spoke this, leaning closer to me.

I tried not to react, clearing my throat as I stood a little straighter. And then the breath was knocked from my chest. Wait. This is what a hooker was? My mysterious red head was… no. She was teasing. She had to be. Then again… With how beautiful she was, it wasn’t surprising. Was an easier way to make money for some people. But oh hells, how many people had touched that body? I wanted to reach out and take her hand tell her she didn’t need to do it anymore. That I would help her out somehow, but that’s just it.

I didn’t know how to help. I didn’t know what to do. Honestly, I didn’t have much money either, but if there was anything I could do for her, would she really take it? She seemed to be the independent kind of woman. She wouldn’t let me help her out. Let alone, since I was a cop and she seemed to have a thing against them.

“The offer stands, Sierra. No gimmicks. I just want to make a friend,” I shrugged, moving slightly back so her finger no longer touched my chest.

She threw her head back to laugh and it was amazing. The sound was gorgeous. Butterflies lodged themselves in my throat until my heart dropped into my stomach when she shook her head, going back to the stop sign.

“Sorry, babe, but I’m not stupid. There’s millions of women and men in this city to befriend. Trust me, you don’t want me as a friend,” Her voice cracked on the last words as her voice grew quieter and then she sighed, “Better finish your jog before you’re late to work.”

I opened my mouth to argue, but all I could find myself doing was moving my legs towards my place. I decided to just finish my jog with walking instead. I tried to fight back the tears of rejection and I managed well till my front door closed behind me and the tears came.

I leaned against the door, slowly falling down it till my butt touched the carpet. I craned my head to the side, hiccupping as the tears eventually stopped. I just had to keep trying. She sounded so broken and alone as I was. There had to be some way to get passed whatever barricades she kept up. Something, or someone hurt her in her past. She shouldn’t have to hide herself away because of that.

Sniffling, I wiped my eyes and chuckled when I noticed some of my make up from last night was still on my face. It smeared over one eye and I laughed even more at the sight of it when I returned to the bathroom for a shower. I probably looked like a complete goof this morning.

I didn’t take a long shower. I was in and out. I didn’t spend any time thinking about the day or dreading on it. Instead I did my usual wash down, taking soap to my face afterwards to wash it.

After finally feeling clean I climbed into my usual police gear and dug through my pantry for my favorite box of cereal. Sadly, I dug a little too fast, and everything fell off the shelf inside as it broke off. I stared at the mess, cans at my feet, only inches from crushing my poor piggy’s. Closing my eyes and I just whispered to myself that one day my accident-prone self would improve. But who am I kidding? I was born this way. Bad luck. Clumsy. Accident-prone. Yep. Was probably going to die that way too.

Deciding to just kick them aside, I knew I would take care of it after work. Carefully, I gave extra effort into gathering a bowl and milk. Cereal wasn’t a cup of coffee, but it was better than nothing, and hey, it would hold me off until lunch.

My eyebrows furrowed in determination. I would ask Sierra for lunch with me at the same diner I invited her to this morning. I couldn’t back down this time. She needed someone. Someone that wasn’t there to give her money. But give her more. A friendship. Someone to count on. I didn’t know why, but I wanted that to be me.

I spent the rest of my time before work lounging around the house, getting distracted between the tv and my laptop. I searched for the best diners in the area and fell in love with one called Wildflower Lounge. Perfect. It looked casual enough to not seem like I was dragging her into somewhere for a date. How strange that would look.

 

Work dragged on longer than usual. The director sent me an email thanking me for my report. It was the most detailed and worthy of the three reports and the praise was good to hear. It wasn’t a typical thing to have the director give you props for something she could’ve done herself, but I wasn’t going to argue. She signed my paychecks.

Sighing I looked out the window, hoping to see Sierra. She was there, talking with some men and laughing with them. Though, even from that angle, I noticed the way her shoulders bounced that she was faking. She wasn’t enjoying their company at all. In fact, she looked almost irritated and disgusted by them, but still, she smiled through it.

For just a fraction of a moment her face moved to meet eyes with through my window and our eyes locked. But she was back to laughing at something one of the men said as if nothing happened in the beat of my heart. Which was rushing and pounding. She seemed to have that effect on me. I couldn’t figure out what it was, but it made the blood rush to my cheeks and my heart skip and butterflies flutter down my throat.

Just then, my mind was distracted when I heard yelling and one of the men had their palms on her head, shoving the back of it into the stop sign. She tried to claw his arm, back bent backwards in an awkward twist. The other male was cheering on the bigger man, digging his phone out to record.

My blood boiled and I stood so fast from my chair it fell back off the wheels. It crashed into the wall, bouncing off it to stop at a roll at my ankle. I threw everything I could from my desk drawer into my purse and equipped myself with some pepper spray and my tazor gun.

The only sound in my ears as I left the building was the pounding of my heart. It was like my feet moved on their own, hands shoving the front door open when I bolted down the street, catching the bigger man midway with his knee in Sierra’s stomach. She fell to her knees, holding onto it as she wiped some blood from her lips.

I hollered, getting both men’s attention, and their eyes widened, backing up a few feet. When I approached they raised their hands up, giving us distance. I knelt, helping Sierra up, leaning her against the stop sign again. Glaring at the two men, I tried to keep my composer. I wanted to hit them both. I wanted to show them what it felt like to be beat on, but I was the law, I had to set an example.

“I’m letting you two off with a warning. Get out of her. I catch you two beating on an innocent bystander again, your a*s is behind bars.” I pointed a finger at the two of them and they threw nasty looks at the redhead.

“You won’t always be able to hide behind someone, Palmer. Next time, you’re dead.” And with that they bolted down the street.

I looked at Sierra once they were out of sight and she was glaring at me, holding her split lip. Ok, okay, what? I just saved her life and she’s glaring at ME? Was there something I missed here?

“You alright?” I asked, nearing her.

“You had to get in the way! Hells, of course my luck would have to be having you come in right when I almost got some answers.”

I stared at her, blinking. What? Answers for what?

“I just saved your life,” I huffed, arms on my hips.

She scoffed, wiping her lip on a tissue from her back pocket, “Babe, I’ve handled a lot more than that. You didn’t have to come and be some glorified hero. I don’t need one.”

I took a step back from that blow, as though it was physical. And the words from my lips were not processed before spoken. “Well a thank you would at least be nice. You don’t have to be such a b***h.”

Our reactions were mirrored when her eyes widened alongside mine. My jaw dropped, hands covering my lips. Then her jaw set and tightened as she scoffed and glared at me, stuffing her hands in her pockets. She turned to leave towards Kennewick and she left with her back to me.

I stood there, breath from my lungs gone. Way to go Drake, you messed up. You messed up big time. Look what you did. You had a chance to take her to lunch and then you had to be just as heartless as her. You’re supposed to be the good cop. Where did this bad cop come from?

Sighing, I went to return to my office when I heard Sierra calling my name. I turned my attention back to the pavement to see her walking back, kicking at the concrete. She was chewing a piece of her gum, shoulders moving with her walks. She remained quiet until she stood in front of me again.

“I was going to leave this be, but that stupid voice in my head made me come back. Look, thanks and whatever for what you did, but don’t do something that stupid again. They had guns, and who knows what could have happened if it got any more worse than it did when you interfered. They’re the kind of people who aren’t scared to kill cops. Doesn’t matter to them if you’re hot, if they don’t like you, that’s it,” She leaned down so her face was inches from mine, “Now, for hells sake, stay out of my business before it gets you killed.”

She moved away from me, stopping at her usual place. She moved so she could sit on the concrete and sigh, checking out her split lip. It was still bleeding, but not like when I first arrived.

She rubbed at her temples, groaning. Then rubbed at the back of her head, looking at me with a raised brow. “What? I thought I told you to get lost already.”

“Your head,” I pointed and she shrugged.

“What about it?”

“Doesn’t it hurt?”

She rolled her eyes, “Of course it does. Hells, what did you think it wouldn’t after being bashed in like that?”

I frowned, biting my lip from replying with something just as venomous. Instead, I took a deep breath and fixed my stance. I held out a hand, moving to stand beside her. She stared at my hand in confusion.

“Look, it’s almost my lunch time. Why don’t we get a bite to eat? I could get that lip fixed up with the medical kit in my office.”

She shoved my hand away. “What part of ‘I don’t want you involved with me’ do you not understand?”

I huffed, puffing out my cheeks and she smirked, catching herself before it disappeared. She returned to rubbing at her temples, cursing under her breath as she rested her head back and stared at the sky.

I kept my place, unmoving. Till eventually I decided to sit beside her. She rolled her eyes and scoffed, picking herself up to stand. She dusted her jeans off, fixing her tank top.

“Fine. Fine, whatever. You don’t want to seem to listen to me anyway. Let’s get lunch. And then after that, you have to promise to stay away from me,” She pointed a finger at me, “Promise?”

“But…” I started but she crossed her arms, looking at me expectantly. Sighing I nodded. “Fine. I promise.”

Her stomach growled loud and she stood back, distracting herself with the cars in the street. Traffic had picked up pretty bad and we had to wait awhile for the cross-walk lights to turn green.

The redhead was quiet, hands in her pockets as we walked and she gained some stares, and some cat calls but I gave each of them a warning look. Once they saw my badge, most backed away but others just shrugged and walked away without another glance.

I tried my best to remember the directions to the diner I looked up earlier today. But sadly, all we did was get lost and ended up at the diner I thought of this morning before looking up more.

We were seated at a booth and though we were given plenty of room, Sierra seemed to feel most comfortable sitting closer to me. She stared at the menu, flipping through it multiple times before finally deciding on something. When the waitress approached us, Sierra seemed nearly nervous. For once. It was something I wouldn’t say I enjoyed to see, but it was. It was something new besides the venom I usually saw from her.

“What can I get for you two ladies today?” The waitress, Kimmy, according to her nametag, tapped on her notepad. She must have been new. This was my usual diner I stopped by on long nights of work and I had never noticed her.

“Can I get a soda?” Sierra leaned back in the seat. It had to be a nervous habit. She was continuously leaning on things. I noted this, and kept it in mind. Her eyes trailed over the list at the bottom of the menu, “A Pepsi?”

Kimmy nodded, scribbling it down, “And to eat?”

Sierra’s danced my way and I nodded her way, “Whatever you want.”

“Whatever I want?”

I nodded again and she moved the menu to a different page and pointed at the bacon burger. I smiled to myself when she ordered it, telling the waitress how she wanted it cooked and prepared. It was great that this was working out well. When it came my turn, I ordered my usual of salmon with broccoli and rice. Oh. Right. And a Pepsi too. Cherry Pepsi. Yum.

I fixed myself in my seat, lifting my foot to cross my legs. Unfortunately, in that process, my boot kicked Sierra in the knee and she cursed, kicking my foot away. I blushed and apologized. She glared at me till our food came and didn’t answer any of my questions beyond yes or no.

We dug into our food at the same time and she was purring to herself as she ate. Again, she was scarfing down her food like she would never eat again, and my heart broke. I set my fork down, setting my hand on hers to slow her and she stopped moving. She slapped my hand away, swallowing her bite.

“Let me eat. You invited me with you to eat, didn’t you?” She took a sip of soda, venom obvious in her voice.

I took a sip of my drink as well, giving myself a moment to think over how I wanted to respond to her. After some time, I returned my hand to my fork and used the side of it to cut up my salmon. “I invited you so we could get to know each other.”

She took a bite of her burger, talking, “Yeah, but those ideas were before I made you promise to leave me alone, remember? So, let’s just eat and pretend we never met.”

I frowned, finishing my plate of food in silence. She kept to herself, and ate everything on her plate. She downed her soda, eyes watching me as she watched me finish. She picked at her teeth with her nails, sighing when I was finally done.

Out of curiosity I peeked at the desert of the day and noticed it was homemade apple pie. I raised a brow, pushing our plates aside before asking her if she wanted a slice. She shrugged, staring out the window.

“Sierra, come on. I’m trying really hard here.” I sighed.

“Well stop trying. Are we done here? You have a job to get back to and so do I.”

I ordered a piece of pie to go and collected it while paying. I left Kimmy a healthy tip and walked with Sierra to the door. Once we made it outside she looked at me and eyed me over wish her hands back in her pockets.

“Thanks for lunch. I gotta go. If you value everything you have you’ll stop talking to me and you’ll look the other way when you see me,” With that she walked away, heels clicking as she walked.

And my heart broke again for the third time that day as I whispered, “But I can’t.”

Reviews

[danielle.]

I'm intrigued, I look forward to reading more of your stories.

[Squishy Lesbian]

Wow thank you so so much ^|^