The Bolt from the Blue (Working Title)

Chapter 5- Lorna

John arrived at work exactly on time, as per usual: it was very hard to find an excuse for being late when you could teleport. He sat down at his desk and let loose the massive smile that wanted to engulf his face. He was still buzzing from the previous evening, the thrill of the connection he made warming his entire being and making him feel very invincible and energetic, despite his lack of sleep.

"Lorna wants to see you."

John's reverie broke and he looked up to see Alex standing beside his desk, a brown folder in her hand.

"Lorna wants to see you," she repeated, and then folded her arms and leant forward, "But first I wanna know what happened."

John stood up, "Nothing happened."

"So, you're smiling like a moron because of nothing?"

"I guess so." He took his jacket off the back of his chair and shrugged it on.

"You met someone?"

"I need to see Lorna." He started walking, but she followed him, clasping the folder to her chest.

"You did meet someone- what's his name? "

"Alex, please, it's too early for this."

"So, there was a late night involved? Scandalous."

He turned the corner to where all the higher-ups' offices were and here Alex could follow him no further; she stopped short just at the threshold where the ordinary became the executive. He turned and stared her down, daring her to take one more step. A grey-haired woman leant out of one of the cubicles and peered at them both, "Do you two have a reason for being here?"

"Lorna asked to see me," John said brightly.

Alex tried to think of an excuse, "I...um...well-"

"Back to work, Miss Tropas," the woman trilled, retreating back into her office.

"Back to work, Miss Tropas," John parroted and walked backwards towards Lorna's office with a smile, sticking his tongue out at Alex.

"Close the door please, Jonathan," Lorna didn't look up from her screen as he shut the door and then took a seat opposite her. "Good night?" She still hadn't seen his face, but Lorna had always been eerily good at sensing what other people wanted to hide.

"Yep."

"Daria was away." Lorna was normally quite terse anyway, but John knew that she was working up to something.

"I know."

"Where did you sleep?"

"A friend from school's."

Now Lorna looked up at him, "Have you been home this week, Jonathan?"

John shifted in his chair.

"Have you been home?"

"No."

Her expression didn't change- it rarely did. "When was the last time you slept there?"

John shrugged, "Two weeks ago. Maybe more."

She sighed, "You can't keep doing this."

"I'm sorry."

"Don't apologise. Make a change."

He looked down. He'd be thinking about this for a while; he'd convinced himself that it had started even before Benji  died, but he wasn't really sure about that deep down. He took a deep breath and then said the words he really didn't want to say, "I think I'm going to quit the force."