Waiting For Superman

Time For Change

Kara glanced at herself in the mirror before dabbing on just a little more concealer. “I can’t believe Johnny did that to you,” Sharon said for like the hundredth time as Kara turned back to her again. “Neither can I. But it did anyway,” Kara said with a sigh as she picked her bag up and they headed out of the toilet together.

“You should break up with him,” Sharon announced suddenly, turning to face Kara in the middle of the corridor. “He’s probably just another Alex.” “He’s definitely not another Alex,” Kara said defensively as she dumped her stuff on her table. “He’s different from him. I can just tell it.”

Sharon looked down at her friend who looked so drained and said, “Well, if you ever need someone to talk to, you know you have me alright?” Kara smiled up at her and shooed her out of the office before closing the door. She sank down on her chair again and looked at the photo of her and Johnny on the table. It was a candid shot, and both were caught mid-laughter.

Peeking out the window at the street below, she couldn’t help but wonder if Sharon was right. Sharon had been there when she was together with Alex, and right from the start Sharon had said she had a bad feeling about Alex. She rolled back to her desk and glanced at the photo again, before turning it face down on the table.

Just then, there was a knock on the door and James walked into her office. He sat down at her desk and stared at her for a long time before she finally said, “How can I help you James?” He sighed and said quietly, “Do you like working here Kara?”

She looked at him in confusion and said, “No James, I absolutely hate it here. That’s why I’ve been coming here almost every day for about six years.”  He rolled his eyes and said, “Point taken Kara. Well about that…”

Kara sighed and said, “I’m being transferred aren’t I?” James gave her a bashful smile and nodded. “But why? I like working at CID,” she said with a grumble. “Well, the ICA is starting a new elite team, and you’re supposed to be in-charge of them and all the other work there. Basically you’re being promoted to Home Team Liason,” James explained.

“You make it sound like I should be jumping for joy,” she said with a sigh. “So when do I leave for ICA?” There was a long drawn out silence and Kara narrowed her eyes at him. “James, when do I leave CID?” she asked again. “In 4 days time,” James said meekly. Kara sighed and said, “I better start packing then.”

As James let himself out of the office, Kara sighed and began digging through her cupboards for the boxes she always used to move. She dumped them at the foot of her desk before picking up her phone. “Still no messages,” she said with a sigh to herself.

After last night, Kara thought that the least Johnny could do was apologize to her. But this morning, he had hardly acknowledged her presence. He barely said two sentences to her before he was out of the house.

She began dumping her stuff into the boxes, starting with all her past case files. At the bottom of one of the boxes, she saw a small piece of paper and bent down to pick it up. Flipping it over, she realized it was an old photo of her and Alex.

Looking at her and Alex, memories of the two of them couldn’t help but run through her mind. She still remembered the first time he had hit her, and she couldn’t help but flinch at the thought. Suddenly, she was looking at Johnny hitting her and she gasped.

Looking back down at the photo, she ripped it up into small pieces and threw them into the paper bin, shock resonating throughout her petite frame. She picked up the photo of her and Johnny and threw it into the box, and as she did, she could’ve sworn she heard his voice whispering in her ear. “You’re useless bitch.”