afterthought

and her name was isabel

Hailey figured Jay had left after twenty minutes of staring at his empty desk. The bullpen housed only herself and the light in Voight's office, which never seemed to go off. But the remaining desks were empty, and now Jay's was added to the list.

It shouldn't have bothered her really, Jay was free to do what he wanted, with whoever he wanted, Hailey knew that. So she tried not to think too far into who this 'Isabel' woman was.

It was no use, she thought of it all anyway.

Grabbing her stuff, she turned to leave the bullpen before something caught her eye. Jay's jacket, the one she had grown pretty accustomed to seeing, pitch black and rugged. It was weird to see it draped over the leather chair and not on his broad shoulders.

She walked over smoothly, picked it up, and left the district, the dark jacket cradled in her arms.

She tried not to think about how much it smelled like him.

Much like weeks earlier, Hailey's night consisted of her bed, some beer, and maybe a good book. When she entered her apartment she reached for the lights, set Jay's jacket down neatly, and turned towards the kitchen for the aforementioned beer. Her fridge was practically empty and she reached through it to pull out the last of four beers Kim had gifted her. They tasted of bitter radishes and Kim and her had laughed about the awful sensation. Hailey drank them anyway.

She chugged half the bottle before placing it on the counter and twisting her mouth in disgust. She slid it aside and drew in a breath, glancing around the apartment, and nearly scowling at the small package on her counter.

Right... that.

Finding the package in all its rotten glory too much to unravel at the moment, and the beer way too putrid to dissolve her sudden feeling of loneliness, Hailey threw on her jacket and left the apartment.

The brown packaging glared at her the whole way out the door.

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Molly's was unusually packed for the time of night and Hailey could hear the chatter through the patio door.

So when she swung open the door she was unsurprised to find herself fighting through a sea of people on her way to the bar. She was practically panting by the time she reached the hardwood counter. "Herrmann." The blonde called.

"Hey, kid." He threw a small rag over his shoulder and walked to where she stood. "What can I get ya?"

"About ten glasses of whatever's on tap." she grinned.

"Damn, day that bad?" he asked. "Coming right up, kid."

"Thanks, Herrmann." Hailey smiled in his direction and moved away from the bar, turning back into the sea of people. She fought her way through the crowd and into the back of the room.

She was once again unsurprised to see the unit in the same booth, despite the lack of seats in the area. It was practically designated as their spot, anyone who dared to take it would be met with a shield of badges. She curved around people on her way to the seat and stopped dead in her tracks, staring at the missing spot in the group.

Oh.

She shouldn't have been surprised really, he clearly had plans. It wasn't unusual, despite having a job like theirs, Jay had managed to fit in quite a lot of social time, and had easily the largest amount of friends outside of Intelligence (Kevin far too busy, Hailey far too disinterested, and Kim and Adam far too infatuated with one another to even pretend to have some sort of social life). So it was very customary for Jay to be the one missing at the bar, even if it rarely happened. But even now at nearly 10 in the evening, his seat was still empty, and Hailey felt.. lost. And sad?