Officer Maria glances over to the passenger seat that is occupied by her temporary partner. She is here but barely present. Her eyes are out the window while her ears keep track of the radio that has been reporting one thing after another. Karishma has things on her mind that she has yet to share and Officer Maria is too afraid to ask of the things she keeps hidden. However, the silence in the patrol car is killing her. It is quiet and it is empty like there is this giant black hole forming next to her. It is about to suck her soul if she doesn't do anything.
"How are things with that actress?" Officer Maria asks from behind the wheel with the high hope that she will be able to kill this uncomfortable void that Karishma is generously sharing.
Karishma finally turns away from the window in her LAPD navy blue that she hadn't worn for a while. She already forgot the feeling of these equipment she has to carry around in her duty belt, the body cam that is on her chest and the ballistic vest underneath the uniform. "She has at name, you know? And. I don't know. She doesn't. answer any of my calls. She did reply one of my texts saying 'don't want to talk. Stop calling.' We broke up, I guess."
"What did you do?" Officer Maria asks with her eyes facing forwards as she cruises the patrol car along LA street.
"I" Karishma is about to tell her patrol partner something that is not exactly the truth but
she is willing to go very close to it when the dispatcher announces a harassment situation through the radio. Karishma responds and activates the siren. "I did what I was supposed to."
"It seems to me that you were supposed to talk to her before doing whatever you did."
Officer Maria is pulling over by the sidewalk when a guy rushes his way out of the building to the patrol car. He is glad the help he needs arrives a little bit faster than he has expected. Karishma lowers the window to hear what the guy with worry and panic on his face has to say.
"We found him hiding inside. One of our staff caught him. He bailed. There is a photoshoot set inside and they said he has been stalking them restlessly." The guy explains as he tries to catch his breath. By the look of it, he doesn't try to catch his breath because he was tired from chasing the mysterious man; he was tired from the mini-encounter he had with him.
"Alright." Karishma responds while thinking how absurd this whole thing is. She has to chase a paparazzi who probably has done nothing wrong but doing his job a little bit too determined. "Did you get a good look at him?"
"Quite tall. Tan skin. Slicked back hair." The guy describes what he can remember before pointing down the street. "He's gone that way."
"Alright. Stay put." Officer Maria turns the wheel and pulls out onto the street again. She doesn't exactly step on the accelerator as the description is too vague. Half of LA is quite tall with tan skin and slicked-back hair.
"There he is." Karishma mumbles and points out the window to the man who blends into the crowd with a camera hanging from his shoulder. "It's Owen."
"Owen?" Officer Maria repeats without any surprises. The name and the situation have come hand in hand so many times before. The fingers on their hand combined cannot count the times that they have had conversations with Owen regarding his paparazzi-life aggressiveness.
"I'll get him." Karishma waits until Officer Maria pulls over a bit behind the man before getting out. She takes the steady steps on the sidewalk. Her hands are on the duty belt while her eyes are on Owen, the paparazzi she has encountered once too many times. Karishma doesn't identify herself right away but she takes her time to follow Owen along the sidewalk. She has to step aside a few times to make way for tourists and local pedestrians. Even so, her eyes don't leave her target. She keeps them on him until his pace is slower and there are no alleys or gaps for him to run if he wants to. "Owen."
