Officer Evans 💙

Chapter 2

Kara heard the door open before she felt the little monster jump onto her atop the bed on Sunday morning. "Who is that?!" She threw the blanket over the squealing child, tickling his sides as he laughed.

"Auntie Kara! It's me! Spencer!"

She laughed, pulling the blanket down, "oh Spencer! I thought you were a monster. You scared me." She wrapped her nephew in a hug. "How's my favorite little man?"

He giggled, "good." He brought his hand up to her cheek where the bruise under her eye sat, "what happened?"

She shook her head, removing his hand, "Auntie Kara is clumsy. What are you doing in here so early in the morning?"

Spencer laughed, "it's ten in the morning. Mama told me to wake you up."

She looked at the time, "well I guess it is, huh? Go on. I'll be out in a few minutes." She sighed as she pulled the blanket off of her, hanging her feet off the side of the bed. She stared down at the floor before finally setting her feet upon it. She changed quickly into some jeans and a t-shirt before finding Elisa and Spencer in the kitchen. "Morning."

Elisa kissed her sister on the cheek, "morning. How are you?"

Kara shrugged, grabbing herself a cup of coffee, "fine. Thanks for keeping the coffee warm for me."

"Sure. I'm taking Spencer to the park today. What are you going to do?"

"I'm going to go to the store, get some stuff for myself. Anything you want?"

"Um..." Elisa thought for a moment before looking into the fridge, "I'll text you. Take it easy, okay?" She turned to leave before turning back to her sister, "how long are you staying?" Kara hesitated, retreating inwards as she looked up at her sister. She started to say something before Elisa interrupted her. "That came out far more combative than I intended. You can stay as long as you like. I meant more, is this temporary, or are you moving in?"

Kara nodded, "I'd like to move in. Until I find a place of my own nearby?"

Elisa grinned, "that's great. I'm happy to have you here. Really. And Kyle? You're done with him? I can't take you in just for you to go back to him..."

Kara hung her head down, staring at the ground again, "I'm not going back to him."

"Okay." She approached her younger sister, rubbing her arm, "then really, stay as long as you like. I miss you and so does Spencer."

"Thank you Elisa." She smiled up at her sister to see her give her a small nod before leaving the house with Spencer. Once she finished her coffee, she finished all the dishes in the sink before putting on her tennis shoes. She grabbed her phone, sliding it into her back pocket before grabbing her purse, throwing it over her shoulder.

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Kara navigated slowly through the unknown grocery store as she filled her cart little by little. She didn't really have anything better to do today than to learn the layout of the store. So that's what she did, making sure to stroll slowly through each aisle. She turned the corner of an aisle, almost colliding with another cart, groaning as she looked up to see the soft eyes of Chris. "You again."

Chris laughed, moving to stand beside her, facing the opposite way of her, "Kara. How are you?" He not so discreetly inspected her face to see she had used makeup to cover most of the bruise, making it hardly visible. He looked down at her jeans, "how's your leg?"

She sighed, avoiding his eyes, "it's fine Officer."

Chris laughed again, resting his hand on her arm gently as she pulled away. He sighed, pulling his hand back, "how about when I'm not in uniform, you call me Chris?"

She looked up at him to see a small smirk, making her let out a small chuckle, "fine. Chris."

"See. I knew you could do it." He heard a small giggle as she nodded, "plans today?"

Kara shook her head, "just learning the lay of the land really. You?" Before he could answer, she heard her phone ring. She pulled it out of her pocket as she felt her heart racing, nausea overcoming her.

Chris watched her tense as she stared at her phone. He took it from her hands to see the name Kyle on the screen. "Is that him?" He saw her only nod as she looked up at him, fear in her eyes.

She watched him swipe away on her phone for a few moments before giving it back to her, "what did you do?"

"I blocked him so he can't contact you. And I added my number in there and messaged myself so I have your number."

"Oh." She stared back down at her phone as she nodded, feeling slightly relieved before placing her phone back into her pocket. "Thank you Chris." She looked back up at him, "a little sneaky though, taking my number like that without asking." She saw him give her a flirty smile as she chuckled.

"Well how about I promise not to use it until you use mine first then?" He saw her nod as he looked back at his cart, "I have to get going. I have lunch at my mom's house that I think I'm now late for."

She shook her head, suddenly flustered, "oh. I'm sorry for keeping you Chris."

"Don't be. I enjoyed talking to you. I hope to see you again soon." He smiled as she blushed and nodded, "enjoy your afternoon, Kara."

"You too, Chris." She turned, watching him walk away from her before she went back to finishing her own shopping.

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Elisa found Kara in the kitchen putting stuff away when she returned with Spencer from the park. "Hey. How was shopping?"

Kara shrugged, "it was fine." She avoided her sister's gaze as she continued to put stuff away, finally turning around to see her staring at her, "what?"

"I don't know. You seem different. Are you okay?"

Kara nodded, "I'm fine Elisa. I know you're the older sister, but you have to stop fussing over me like I'm a child. I'm 30 years old."

Elisa sighed, "I know you are sweetie. Mothering is what I do. I can't help it. I'm sorry." She continued to watch her sister avoid her gaze, "has Kyle tried to contact you since you left?"

"Today. Yes."

Elisa grabbed Kara's arm to make her look up at her, "what happened?"

Kara shrugged, "Chris blocked him so he can't contact me anymore."

Elisa grinned, "Chris? As in Officer Evans? You saw him again?" She saw her sister blush as she nodded, folding up the paper bags from the store.

"Yes. I ran into him at the grocery store."

"So.." Elisa nudged Kara's shoulder, "what happened?"

Kara scoffed, "nothing. We chatted for a few minutes. That's it." She watched her sister grin at her, "please don't. I'm a mess and I don't want to fuck up anyone else."

Elisa nodded, "I know. But when you're ready, I think he's a great choice. He's very kind. And his family is known in the community; doctor, police officer, school teachers. You could do worse."

Kara sighed, "just leave it. Please."

"Fine." Elisa watched Kara saunter off to her bedroom as she heard the door slam shut.