SOMETHING UNEXPECTED

Chapter 4

Tim's POV

I layed awake half the night thinking about Lucy. She had behaved so strangely today. I wondered if it was just because of the breakup. I knew I had broken her heart and it was the worst thing I'd done but it felt right to me at the time because I didn't want to drag her into my problems.

I will also do everything I can to become the man she deserves and then try to win her back.

I had found a new therapist and went there every day after work. I tried to incorporate new routines into my daily life like going jogging every morning before work and worked hard to deal with my problems.

The next morning I drove to work.
Lucy was already at the shop getting everything ready for our shift.
We drove off and had a few calls, it was the usual stuff . Theft, drug possession and trespassing. It was a normal day on patrol.

But Lucy still wasn't behaving normally.
She wasn't as bitchy as yesterday but she only talked about work when she talked to me at all.
I still had the feeling that she didn't listen to me when I gave her tips on how to become a good TO.
She chewed gum all day and it drove me crazy. She didn't even like gum.

At lunch break she sat with Celina and Nolan instead of spending the lunch break with me. I sat with Neyla and Angela during my break. But I spent the whole time watching Lucy instead of listening to Neyla and Angela. With Nolan and Celina she behaved normally except that she ordered something different to eat than usual. I resolved to speak to Lucy after work. It couldn't go on like that.

So I did the same. I wrote a message to my therapist that I didn't have time today and then waited for Lucy at her car.
She had just left the station with Celina and Angela.
She was laughing but as soon as she saw me standing by her car her mood and behavior changed abruptly.
Angela and Celina went to their cars.

Lucy came up to her car and me.
"What are you doing here?" she immediately asked me in an annoyed tone.
"We need to talk." "We don't need to."
"But it can't go on like this Lucy."
I grabbed her arm so that she wouldn't get into her car and would finally listen to me.
She gave me an angry look and I let go of her arm.
"Just listen to me." "Okay you have one minute and then I'll get in my car and drive home." She said, looking me in the eye for the first time today.

"I don't know if it's just the break-up but it can't go on with the way you're behaving towards me. I know it's hard to work together after a break-up but we need to be mature and professional enough to work as a team on patrol."

"If you don't like my behavior then ask Grey if you can drive alone or with someone else. Also how should I behave towards you Tim? You broke my heart. You just ended our relationship for no good reason even though we were doing well. It was clear that we couldn't just carry on as before and be friends again. If you didn't realize that and you have problems with the situation now, then that's your problem, not mine."
She said angrily at me and her voice got a little louder. I could also see tears forming in her eyes.

"Lucy, I knew we couldn't go back to normal but I hope that one day we can be friends again. I don't want to ride with anyone else either but I have the feeling you don't even listen to me when I give you well-intentioned tips to make you one of the best TOs. And I don't think you're just being bitchy because of your period or something. There must be another reason and I want you to tell me what's wrong with you."
"There's nothing wrong with me Tim. Besides, your minute is up" she said to me dismissively and wanted to get into her car.

I was starting to get annoyed that she was so dismissive of me.
"Stop lying to me! You've been behaving differently for the last two days. You've been chewing gum all day today and you don't even like gum. You hate chewing gum. And I feel like there are a thousand other things I've noticed in your behavior that aren't like usual. Your act like you a ccompletely another person around me and don't tell me that it's all because of the break-up or because I was an ass to you at the time. I'm tired of the lie that everything is normal Lucy, so tell me the truth."
I got louder and Lucy even flinched a little because she hadn't expected that I would get louder.

"There's nothing I have left to tell you. You've been a total ass the last days in our realtionship.You've kept almost everything from me and now you're complaining because I won't tell you everything? You've got to be kidding me Tim, just leave me alone!"
Lucy's voice got louder again and a few tears ran down her cheek.

"You can tell me anything Lucy. I never thought things would get so bad between us that you wouldn't want to confide in me."
I was about to turn around and leave when Lucy started to say something but then stopped in mid-sentence. "Tim I'm..."
I looked at her tensely because I wanted her to finish the sentence but she didn't. She wiped her tears away, got into her car and drove off.

I drove home and felt bad that I had started this argument with Lucy. I hate seeing her sad.
I just wanted to know what was going on and not make the situation worse.
I totally messed up.

Kojo greeted me as soon as I walked in the door and that's when I had the idea how I could cheer Lucy up.