Smoke & Mirrors

Chapter 3 New Year, New You.

Chapter 3

Elliot woke up to the alarm clock screaming 6 am, his phone blinked with 7 missed messages, one from Allison and 6 from the head of the newspaper.

ALEX (TEXT)

ANOTHER BODY WAS FOUND IN THE AREA.

ONLY TWO DAYS INTO THE YEAR AND WE HAVE OUR FIRST MURDER.

I NEED YOU AT WORK TODAY.

SORRY TO CUT YOUR CHRISTMAS HOLIDAYS SHORT.

STRIKE THAT, TWO BODIES.

6 AM, ELLIOT, I NEED YOU IN THE OFFICE.

"SHIT" Elliot looked again at his clock, how was he supposed to know they were going to find two bodies overnight. He opened his message and quickly typed a message to Alex.

ELLIOT (TEXT)

ALEX, I DIDN'T GET THIS UNTIL NOW. I AM ON MY WAY.

ALEX (TEXT)

THANK YOU, I'LL BE BACK IN THE OFFICE ONCE I AM FINISHED WITH THE SCHERIFF.

Elliot took a quick look in the mirror; this will have to do he thought as he looked over himself in dark denim and a black long-sleeved V-neck sweater, his gold cross dangled from his neck. He pulled on his white winter jacket and headed out the door.

He parked right outside the office and went for the stairs rather than wait for their cheap elevator. Elliot took the steps 2 at a time all the way up to the 4th floor. When he walked through the door and into the office, the smell of shitty coffee and paper filled the room. Elliot scanned the room first for Alex, then for Allison. Elliot peeked into Alex's office and noticed her jacket and car keys were not on the desk, and he figured she was still with the Sheriff. When he saw the coast is clear he passed by Allison desk and stopped to ask if she wanted to do coffee at lunch.

***

"Coffee?" He catches her attention and smiles widely when she looked up at him. Just like at the club she had a little makeup on, and it caught him of guard. "Wow, new year, new you?" Her cheeks burst into varying shades of red and it sent a shock all the way down his body, and feeling his stomach tighten, followed closely by his jeans.

"Yeah, coffee sounds good." she said. Like nothing ever happened she thought.

"Now get back to work and stop flirting with me." He winked at her, now he was definitely flirting with her, and she couldn't help but smile.

"You wish." She flirted back.

The hours till lunch ticked by slowly, there may have been a breaking news story, but it doesn't take long to write an article when nothing is known about the victims or the killer. By 9:30 am Allison was losing her mind with boredom. She let her mind take her to the club, the music, Elliot's body against hers, his mouth, hot and ready for their kiss. She felt herself getting turned on at just the memory of him.

***

"Fantasizing, Allison." his voice pulled her back to reality and before she could answer she felt her face flush. "Are you okay?" He asked as he noticed all of the colour from her face was gone.

"Yeah, I mean no, fuck, yes, I am okay, and no I wasn't fantasizing, perv!" she stumbled through her words as she answered both questions simultaneously.

The smile on Elliot's said he didn't believe her, but that maybe he liked the idea of her fantasizing. He looked at how flustered she was and couldn't help but think maybe she was fantasizing, and he began to flush red to because that's exactly what he has been doing all morning. Since he found out she was finally single if he was being honest.