Vicki

I didn’t bother with my usual jog this morning, feeling down. I knew it would only be a rub in my face if I did. Sierra didn’t want to talk to me anymore, and that soured my mood just thinking about it. I sat up in bed, looking around my room with a sigh. I peeked at the clock. Four am. I couldn’t sleep. My mind was buzzing too much with thoughts.

So, instead, I kicked off the sheets and left to take a shower. The shower was nice and relaxing, till my foot slipped on my bar of soap and I went tumbling backwards out of it and smacked my knee on the toilet. Cursing I rubbed my knee, sliding the shower door closed behind me as I entered it again.

More bad luck soon followed when I got shampoo in my eye and I managed to poke the same eye with my eyeliner pen. Today was just not my day. I groaned to myself and threw my brush in frustration, tying my hair back into a ponytail to get it out of my face.

Sitting my butt on the bed, I finished dressing into my uniform and tied my shoes on. I grabbed my purse while heading out the door and quickly locked it behind me. A walk would clear my head. And who said I had to go down Sierra’s street?

I eased my mind with some music while putting in my earbuds and playing my favorite playlist from my music player. The beat was slow and the instruments playing in the back were relaxing. I felt my shoulders let loose and the muscles unwind.

Closing my eyes, I took a deep breath and carried on down the pavement. And where did my subconscious take me? To the one person I wasn’t allowed to see. Sierra. She was in her usual position, arms folded across her chest, her spine curved so she could lean against the stop sign. Her face was towards the streets, eyes looking lost. I almost reached out to her but kept my distance.

Instead, I tried to walk by unnoticed, but no her ears caught on to me quite fast. Her head spun my way and her eyes narrowed at me. I raised my hands defensively, innocently, and continued my walk, holding my purse closer to me.

“I’ve given you my warnings,” She called after me, “It won’t be my fault if you get hurt!”

I stopped in my tracks, looking back at her. Our eyes locked, I got my usual mix of things whenever that happened, and then it was gone the moment she looked back at the streets. My heart sunk, feeling like a rock in my stomach. Sighing I made my way over to my usual gas station for coffee. And to my surprise Vicki was there. She grinned at me, before seeing my sad mood.

Her grin fell slightly and she leaned towards me on the counter. “You alright?”

“Just a bad morning. I can’t sleep,” I tried to sound convincing. To her? To myself? Maybe both, but my words were strained, and even she could hear it.

She rang up my coffee and threw in a box of donuts on the house. When I thanked her, and turned to leave she took my wrist, smiling slightly. Kind of like Sierra. Thinking of the red head had me almost smiling again, but then her words echoed in my head and it all shattered.

“Hey, I’m free tonight. You want to, maybe catch a movie or something?” Vicki spoke up, breaking me from my heartbreak.

I met her eyes, “Are you meaning like, a date?”

She shrugged, beating her long eyelashes, “Well, I mean if you want to take it that way. But we could go just as friends. No pressure.”

I smiled a little wider at that and nodded. Her smile matched mine as she gave me a thumbs up and told me she would pick me up around six tonight. And just thinking about it made my day better. It would be something new and a distraction from Sierra.

Speaking of the red head, she completely ignored me when I passed by her to my house. And that was totally fine with me. She wanted me to stay away, then fine. I would stay away. As much as it crushed my soul to think about. Could I really do it though? I mean there was something so thrilling about being around her and the effects she had on me… I don’t know.

I bit my lip and forced myself to think about something else while picking up the kitchen and searching for my tool box to fix the pantry shelves. I somehow managed to fix them near perfectly with only hitting one thumb while working. Hey, maybe my clumsiness was wearing off! Yeah, when penguins fly.

So, my date with Vicki, would I wear a dress or something? I mean, I didn’t really own any dresses that would suit a date. They were all party dresses for office parties or something professional.

But then again, she said no pressure. So, should I wear something casual? I walked to my room and raided my closet, tossing things onto the bed. Think, think! What should I wear? And then my eyes caught on my favorite blouse and skirt. Professional and casual. Thinking it over I hung it on my drawer. Perfect. Now for the heels. Did I have a good pair of black heels? Only way to know is to check.

Getting down on my knees I crawled into the back, shoving boxes of old clothes aside. Then I came to my somewhat rather, big collection, of shoes. Tossing each over my shoulder until I came to the pair I was looking for. Perfect.

After getting my outfit ready, I peeked at the clock. Seven twelve. I had enough time to sleep for a couple of hours before I was expected in. So, I climbed out of my gear and set it beside me on the bed and slept in my underclothes.

 

Work was the same, though Mason gave me a report to file. More gang activity, it had been on the rise, and though we had dispatched plenty of police force into the area, they had been outnumbered. Some were in the hospital, others weren’t so critical. My job was to report what I could and interview who I could for more details on the suspects to file and hopefully help the case.

Sounded important, but I wasn’t listening completely. Mason’s voice droned on and on in our staff room and I noticed even some of my co-workers were trying to stifle their yawns. One of them, Norman, even fell asleep, head resting in his hands as if he were still paying attention.

My eyes peeked at the clock and I sighed inwardly. It was only one forty. I had seen Vicki during lunch, surprisingly, and we had chatted some about our plans for tonight. Honestly, I couldn’t wait. I was buzzing in my seat for something new.

She wanted to take me out to the movies and then maybe, if it didn’t end too late, a tour of her favorite places around the city. I didn’t get out much, and more than half the city was unexplored to me, so just hearing about it had me ready to get up and go.

“Drake.”

I jumped, my knees smacking the table. There was a collect of laughs when I groaned and looked up at Mason. He was staring directly back at me, eyes intensely focused.

“Yes, sir?” I asked sheepishly.

“Do you have anything new to report on?” He wouldn’t take his eyes off me.

“No sir. Nothing new,” Except maybe that there was a gang of kids threatening a beautiful hooker that I know. Yeah. Let’s not mention that.

“Alright. Newman!” His eyes looked over at Norman and the man’s eyes opened. He seemed un-phased by the yell though as he yawned and answered with.

“It’s Norman, sir.”

They continued to argue with one another for a solid thirty minutes before Mason gave up. He asked the others their reports for anything, but nobody else had anything to report and we were soon released from the meeting.

When I returned to my desk I was greeted by a bouquet of black roses and I had to smile. Hanging off them was a tag with a ‘Guess who?’ and a smiling face. Vicki must have sent them to me while I was in the meeting.

I brought them to my nose and inhaled the earthy scent, smiling to myself. It was super sweet of her to drop off roses for me. Though when I pulled my nose back from the roses, a spider was sitting on the tip of it, waving one of its many legs.

I screamed, stumbling out of my chair and swatting the thing off my nose. My legs bolted me to the corner of the room where I stared at it crawl across my desk and out the door like a gentleman. The roses lay on their side, almost falling off my desk top.

My chest was pounding, and when Zeus poked his head into my office I jumped again. He looked at me with concern, but also confusion as his eyebrow raised and he looked between me and the roses.

“Everything okay in here? We heard you scream so the guys sent me to check on you.”

Places a hand over my heart, I tried my best to relax, panting while I nodded his way. He took the nod and said his goodbye, giving the guys a heads up on my condition.

Spiders. Ick. I hate spiders. Why was that little guy in there anyway? Just to be safe I put the roses in the far corner of the room. To, you know, admire them at a distance? That’s my excuse and I’m sticking with it.

 

Work couldn’t have ended quick enough. I packed my things, locking up my desk drawer and the door behind me when I left my office. The others were doing the same. Some stood by Mason, talking to him about the reports of gang activity. I caught wind of some things they said, but not much.

Apparently, gang activity had picked up badly in our part of the city and we were sending in more back up from other parts of the city to help out. That kept my hopes up for a chance at actually being on a team and being out in the city during some action.

My walk home was quick, and Sierra wasn’t found at her usual spot. This made me crinkle my nose at the thought of some guy picking her up and taking her home. Ick. I didn’t need to think about that. It was her job, but it was not a job I needed to think about.

Once home I put away my uniform and showered. I spent a longer time in the shower than I did this morning and made sure I was shaved, scrubbed and completely clean. I dressed into my outfit not long after, and decided on curling my hair to keep it out of my face.

My eyes kept bouncing to the time whenever they could. Five fifteen. I had plenty of time to spare. I practiced walking in my heels. I hadn’t worn them since the last office party, and that was a few years back. I stumbled about the room, but in a rough thirty minutes I got it almost down, and I wasn’t stumbling as much.

Maybe I should’ve just stuck with my boots. They were more practical. But then I would have to change my outfit to match. And I had already spent so much time picking this one out.

Determined, I went to finish up my make-up when there was a knock at the door. I raised a brow. It wasn’t six yet. Maybe Vicki was early? I gave myself a quick check in the mirror before tapping my heels over to my door. The knocking didn’t stop until I opened it.

And I wasn’t met with Vicki’s smiling face, but instead, you guessed it, Sierra’s. She looked like a mess. Her mascara ran down her face like she was standing in the rain too long, and her shirt was torn, along with her jeans. I could see the swelling imprint of some knuckles on her hip.

But my biggest question was, how did she find my house? Did she just come to this neighborhood and knock on every door hoping it was me? I opened my mouth to speak but she beat me to it.

“Lady cop, you gotta help me.”

I raised a brow, glaring slightly, “I’m sorry, I was told to stay away from you if I remember correctly.”

“Yeah, but whatever, I need your help right now.”

“Sorry, no can do, you made me promise,” I went to close the door but her hand stopped me. Whoa, she was strong.

“I’ll do anything. Please.”

What could she have possibly done?

“Tell me what you did first,” I moved the door back slightly and she struggled to stand with the sudden movement.

“I can’t explain right now, but you gotta let me in.”

The roar of a car down the street made her scramble by me into the kitchen, nearly knocking me over. She ran down the hall to my room, where I heard the door slam and I watched the black car trail at a snail’s pace down the street.

The windows were slightly down and I could see well enough inside to notice a group of men all armed to the teeth. The woman who drove was too, a pistol in her lap. The metal reflected off the windows and I stood where I was till they disappeared from sight.

Crap. That was one of the gangs Mason had mentioned earlier. What in the hell did Sierra do?

I was ready to shut the door when there was a honk and I looked back to the streets again to see Vicki shutting off her car and exiting to come my way. She was dressed in a long sleeve black shirt with matching skinny jeans and all sorts of different belts and chains. Her purple hair was down, but out like a lion’s mane. She grinned at me, flashing me her teeth as she walked up the steps. Suddenly I felt over dressed and too professional.

“Hey there. I hope I didn’t make you wait too long.”

I shook my head inviting her inside. She thanked me while walking by, making herself comfy on my couch. Then she smiled her usually bubbly smile and waved a hand towards me.

“You look great. But you really didn’t have to dress so classy. It’s going to be chilly tonight. I can wait if you want to change into something warmer.”

I blushed slightly, looking down at my attire and nodded to her, excusing myself to my room. When I opened my door, Sierra was nowhere to be found, and I noticed the window was open. Fluttering on the glass was a sticky note with a kiss mark and a sharpie ‘Thanks. Owe you one, lady cop’. I sighed and rolled my eyes. I have a name. Yet she ignores to it.

I quickly put together a pair of old jeans and a long sleeve myself. Then traded my heels for my boots and everything felt much more comfortable. Returning to Vicki, she was looking through my collection of COPS DVDs.

I could hear her talking to herself while doing so and it made me smile as I tapped her on her shoulder. She jumped slightly, spilling some of my DVDs to the floor, but I only shrugged and told her I would clean them up later.

We made our way to her car, which is the coolest car I had ever seen. I didn’t own one myself. Unless you counted the cop car given to me by the company, but I was only allowed to use it once I was put on a team. And at this rate, I knew that would be never.

We were weaving through the streets for some time before Vicki spoke up, eyes still on the street, “You’re quiet. Is everything alright?”

I perked up at the sound of her voice and nodded, “Of course. Just thinking about work.”

“You’re always thinking about work,” She teased, “You don’t have to worry about it until tomorrow, so why not just think about tonight with me?”

I felt the blush creeping on my face again and nodded, “Of course. Sorry. I will try to not think about work.”

We went to chatting about small stuff, and played some question games to learn more about the other until she pulled up to the theater. When I went to step out she made a mad dash to my side of the car, and opened it herself, helping me out. Wow. Such a gentle… um gentlelady? Is that a word?

We agreed on one of the most popular action movies and paid little attention to it while we continued to whisper to one another throughout the movie. I was really starting to enjoy her company. I never knew she could be this fun and nice.

Once the movie was over, we made our way back to her car until she stopped us. She looked around, watching people pass by. Then her face moved towards mine and she smiled.

“I want to show you one of my favorite places. Is that alright?”

I smiled back, nodding and she gently took my wrist to guide me away from her car and towards a pathway that lead down to the park some ways down the street. When we finally walked in sync she dropped my wrist and in its place, her hand slipped into mind.

It surprised me at first, but the warmth of her palm was inviting to the chilly air. She smiled when she stared at the trees surrounding us in the moonlight. She pointed at some of the trees, telling me about her favorite memories with them. A lot were childhood memories, but others were moments from high school.

Listening to her so excited to share with me her favorite things made my heart beat a little faster. The smile on my face wouldn’t go away, and neither would it for her. Though, I could notice how she would love to look my way whenever she spoke and it made me happy. But when our eyes met, it did not give me the same rush as it did with Sierra. Thinking of her, my smile faltered and Vicki stopped us.

“Hey now. Is everything okay?”

Was it? What was this feeling? I tried to shrug it away, squeezing Vicki’s hand until I yawned and she smiled again.

“You must be tired. You were up pretty early and did work all day. Come. I want to take you to one of my most favorite ice cream places to eat before I drop you home.”

I only nodded in response as she took us back to her car and we were on the streets again. I rested my forehead against the window and yawned again. My eyes struggled to stay open and Vicki didn’t seem to mind when I dosed off.

She gently shook me awake when we parked in a rather busy parking lot and I groggily opened my eyes to look at her. She gave me a half smile, rubbing my back until I woke completely. I wiped the sand from my eyes and peeked at the sign above the door. Melties. I giggled at that.

“Hey, sleepy head. You ready for some ice cream?”

Suddenly my stomach growled. It was in the mood for some ice cream. I nodded to her and waited for her to open my door for me and offer her hand to help me out. I took it, squeezing gently and didn’t let go until we entered the parlor.

It was brightly colored and had a fifties vibe to it. Very retro and it fit perfectly with the ice cream flavor names. We found our own seat, and saw a waitress rollerblade our way to take our order for ice cream. I ordered the traditional rocky road, while Vicki chose a banana split.

“You seem pretty distracted tonight. I hope our time tonight was fun.” She spoke up, playing with her spoon on the table. “I know I had fun.”

I nodded, trying not to yawn while smiling, “It’s been great. Really. I guess I am pretty distracted.”

“Is anything troubling you?”

Well. There’s a confused red headed hooker that can’t make up her mind if she wants me in her life or not. And I’m getting sick of working at an office desk instead of doing what I trained to my whole life.

“Just work. We’ve been given a big task to do and not everyone is thrilled to be doing it.”

She nodded, but her eyes told me otherwise. She didn’t believe me. Not completely, but she didn’t push it. Instead, her hands took mind and she blushed under her make-up, making her usual pale cheeks glow slightly. It was beautiful to see.

“I said no pressure, but I had to tell you, this night has been amazing. And I’ve had a lot of fun. You’re a fun woman, Alisa.”

It’s been awhile since I’ve heard someone use my first name and it threw me off slightly. I blushed as well, looking at her holding my hands. “Thank you. You’re great company yourself, Vicki.”

Her eyes lit up and she smiled, “Do you think we could do this again? Say, tomorrow night?”

           I had no plans. At least none I could think of. I nodded and dug into my ice cream once it arrived. “That sounds great