My One and Only

1. Only Bought This Dress So You Could Take it Off

Lucy checked her phone to reread the text on her screen. It was finally going to happen- she was about to go on a date with Tim Bradford! In anticipation for what felt like a momentous occasion, she wanted to find the perfect thing to wear. After emptying practically her entire closet onto her bed and even trying on some of Tamara's clothes, she came to the conclusion that she had absolutely nothing that was appropriate for this date, which made her groan in frustration.

"What's the big deal?" Tamara asked with a scrunched nose as she regarded the stack of clothes taking over Lucy's bed.

"It's not...it's not a big deal. I just want to look nice," Lucy feebly explained.

"You care about looking nice on a date with some mystery guy Sergeant Grey set you up with?"

That was the lie Lucy told Tamara about her date tomorrow night. It was sort of true- Grey had assigned her to ride with Tim on her first day, which set their whole story in motion. And she WANTED to tell Tamara that she was going to be on a first date with Tim, but saying the words out loud felt too real; she couldn't face the truth quite yet, let alone tell someone else. A first date with Tim felt a little bit strange. He knows everything about her from her relationship with her parents, to her favorite comfort foods, to some of her deepest secrets she only ever told him, to her menstrual cycle; he knew it all about her, and she knew enough facts about him that she could fill 100 journals about Timothy Bradford.

Naturally, that meant that she had NO clue how the date would actually go. What would they talk about? Should they try not to talk about work?

"Lucy?" Tamara asked her friend whose eyes seemed to staring off into the distance.

"Yeah...sorry. What did you say?"

"I asked if Grey gave you any details about this guy."

"Nope. It's a set up."

"You've been on plenty of first dates, and you're freaking out over some date with an absolute stranger? I would expect you to care this much if you were going out with Sergeant Zaddy."

"Okay, please stop calling him that."

Tamara waved a dismissive hand. "You like Tim, so why are you going on a date with some other guy? Shouldn't you just walk up to him at the station and ask him out?"

Lucy let out a huff. "You know what? I need to go shopping for an outfit for tomorrow, so I'll see you later." She couldn't be more eager to stop talking about Tim with Tamara.

"Wait, Lucy," Tamara's voice softened knowing that she touched a nerve. "I want you to be happy. Don't tell me you haven't considered that he could make you happy?"

If only she could tell her friend the truth; sometimes Tim was the only person who could make her happy depending on the situation. In the past, he had made her smile on bad days more times than she could count, and when she was feeling down and Tim was not by her side, that's the person whose voice she craved to hear. But talking about him right now might give away her secret.

Because Lucy didn't know how to answer, Tamara felt triumphant that she had tripped up her roommate enough to FINALLY admit her feelings for Tim. But then, crushing reality occurred to her. "Wait, are you not dating Tim because he's your boss?"

"No," Lucy said quietly.

"That was almost convincing," Tamara replied sarcastically.

"He's technically not my boss anymore. I'm not his aid. My real boss is Grey. I can take orders from Tim as my superior officer, but..."

"But technically it means you could date him."

"I'm still a P2, and Nolan who graduated with me is a Training Officer. My career isn't where it needs to be, and I shouldn't jeopardize it by dating Tim."