Lovers and Lawbreakers

Sort Of Fired

Mari found herself in the parking lot of David's office building.

She took a deep breath and pulled the keys out of the ignition.

"You can do this," she told herself.

She walked through the doors and through the hallways and up the elevator and to the door that said "Moss" beside it.

She knocked lightly, half hoping he wouldn't hear it.

But he did.

It swung open and there David stood, fuming.

"Hi, David," Mari whispered.

"Mari."

There was a silence between them, David standing in his door and Mari guiltily looking anywhere but his eyes.

"I'm sorry," she blurted out, finally meeting his gaze.

David scoffed. "Sorry?"

Mari nodded slowly, questioning her apology.

"Mari, are you aware that what you did was not only disrespectful, dishonest, and selfish, but also illegal?"

Mari bristled. "What?"

David let out a breath of exhaustion and dropped his gaze to the floor, shaking his head. He lifted his head again and told her, "listen."

Mari perked up slightly.

"I'll get rid of the security tapes, forget anything ever happened, and claim Ian left because he hadn't heard my instructions clearly."

Mari visibly relaxed before tensing up again when she heard him add, "but, I'm afraid I have to fire you."

Mari shook her head.

"Not that you technically worked for us."

"No, no, you can't just- you can't just fire me!"

"Watch me."

Mari swallowed and shook her head. "Please, David-"

"Detective Moss."

"David -"

"Detective Moss, Ms. Takahashi!"

Mari recoiled and looked at the ground.

"Now go. I'll solve the case alone."

And then the door was closed.

*

"And-and he just- he just- fired me! Just like that!"

Mari was pacing in front of Melanie, wearing down the rug and wasting her time as she calmly sipped her mug of hot chocolate.

"He just slammed the door in my face, he wouldn't let me call him David- 'Detective Moss, Ms. Takahashi!'- and he just left me standing out there!"

Melanie traced the edge of the mug with a single painted red nail.

"He can't do that, can he? He can't just fire me!"

Melanie cleared her throught.

"Mari, he did risk his job letting you work for him anyway. And then you broke the law. And I thank you, Ian and I thank you over a million times for that, but what they would've eventually found was that he didn't kill Peter and they would've let him go. Mari, you let your emotions get the best of you."

Mari shook her head. "You too?"

"Mari-"

"I can't believe this, you're taking his side?"

"No, Mari-"

"I saved your husband!"

"Mari Takahashi! You didn't save anyone! You let your emotions cloud your judgement! You're so fucking stubborn, you think it's your way or the highway, and it's not! They would've found out it wasn't Ian, you should've trusted them to do their job! Stop being so damn stubborn!"

Mari stood there silently as she watched her friend stand up angrily.

"I mean, you're so... controlling! You once forced me to watched all eight Harry Potter movies! I don't even like Harry Potter! You're the one who picks where we go out to eat when we do, you made me eat an entire cheesecake at a party once so you wouldn't look bad! I love you, and I would eat 100 cheesecakes for everything you've done for me, but damn it Mari, you were bound to get into trouble with this stubborn attitude, and now you have! Face it, Mari, you're a steamroller."

Mari watched as Melanie turned away and stormed into the kitchen where she could hear the water turn on and the clanking of dishes.

The television was still turned on, the sound of a laughter reel reverberating through Melanie and Ian's new, mostly unfurnished house. Mari sat down on the chair behind her and listened as her best friend angrily mumbled and cleaned the dishes.

Why did you have to leave me, Peter?

Guess who's back, back again, Jess is back, tell a friend.

DO YOU GUESS LIKE THIS CHAPTER I KNOW ITS SHORT BUT DAMN A LOT HAPPENED

Also credit for a lot of the things Melanie said while arguing with Mari to Parks and Recreation!! No copyright issues here!! Some of those things are not my original content I just thought I'd use some of the things because it was relevant to Mari's situation okay thanks!!

See you next chapter *kisses your head and tap dances away*