Iris' P.O.V:
I finished work and headed for CCPD to see Barry. I thought about how I could avoid my dad when I was there. I've been thinking for a while about joining the police academy but I know he wouldn't let me. I haven't even spoke to him about it yet but I know what he'll say. In my defence, I can easily protect myself. He raised me to be tough and that's what I am so I might as well put it to use and besides, I'm starting to get bored of journalism. It's really not something I want to do for the rest of my life.
I have my application with me just in case I chose to definitely hand it in. I want to speak to Barry to see what he thinks about it.
I enter and go to Barry's floor. I see my dad at his desk but manage to dodge him.
I walk into Barry's lab and see him at his computer, his face expressing deep concentration.
"Hey, babe." I say.
He comes out of the zone he was stuck in and smiles at me.
"Hey." He says.
I kiss him and sit down on the couch. I don't know how to start the conversation so I just sigh hoping he'll ask me what's up.
"You okay?" He asks.
I sit up and straighten my back and try and look serious so he knows I'm being real about this.
"I've been thinking... I don't think I want to do journalism anymore." I say.
He looks confused.
"Why not? Is this about Nathan, because I swear to god iris if he's intimidating you I will report him myself!" He says, getting agitated.
"No, it's not about Nathan it's just...boredom." I explain. "I think I wanna do something else?"
"Like what?" He asks in interest.
"I wanna be a cop." I blurt.
He stops everything he's doing and looks at me with no expression.
"Why would you wanna do that?" He asks me.
I knew it was gonna take some persuading to get Barry to be okay with it but I know eventually he will be but my dad... I'm not so sure.
"Well you told me that journalist get all the fun but you're wrong. Journalism is boring. I'm bored and I don't intend to stay that way. I wanna see some action!"
"Yeah but it's really dangerous, Iris." He says looking genuinely concerned but trying to be supportive at the same time.
"I can handle myself, you know that!" I say.
I get up and go and sit on his lap and wrap my arms around his neck. "And it's what I want. I wanna be happy with my job." I say, looking in to his eyes.
He looks back in to mine.
"Well if it's what you want then I say do it. I know you're tough enough but I think Joe isn't going to be easily enough convinced." He says.
"I know." I shrug.
"What are you working on?" I ask, changing the subject.
"Nothing. There's no cases I need to be working on at the minute accept my moms."
I look at him with a sympathetic smile. "You want me to help you?" I ask. I know how badly he wants to prove his fathers innocence.
"No thanks. You got any food?" He asks.
He literally ate a whole big belly burger and large fries along with dessert only 2 hours ago.
"No, sorry. I can go get you some if you want though?" I say, trying to be helpful.
"Nah it's okay." He says, screwing up his face.
"Okay..." I say. "So what exactly do you do now if you don't have any cases?Surely you can go home?" I ask, knowing it's a waste of time.
"I guess. I'll see Singh and see if there's anything he needs doing and if not then maybe we can spend some time together before Joe gets back?" He asks.
"Yeah okay."
He goes to walk out.
"Wait-" I stop him, remembering about my application.
"I need to hand this in." I say, taking it out my bag.
"For real? Like now?" He asks.
I nod.
"What about Joe?" He asks.
"It's okay, I can dodge him for now"
"Okay." He shrugs.
We enter Captain's office and Barry asks if there's anything he needs and he says no and tells him he can leave if he wants to which is good because it means we can spend time together without my dad around.
"You okay, Iris?" He asks me.
Here goes nothing.
"Yeah, sir, um..." I want to sound professional even though he's heard me talk normally 100s of times before, "I was just wondering if there is any possibility that I could join your police academy? I have my CV and application forms here for you." I hand him the piece of paper.
He looks at me, in slight dissaproval. He knows my dad won't let me. But it's not up to them what I want to do with my life. If I'm offering good ability to keep people safe and have the qualities to be a good cop then there is no reason why he can't hire me. I'm not the scared little girl that needs her dad or brother to protect her, I can handle my own.
"You wanna be a cop?" He asks.
"Yes, sir." I say, standing taller.
"What does your Dad think of this?" He asks looking over at my dad's desk.
"It's not up to him." I say.
"Okay, I'll have a look. Thank you, Iris." He says.
That was easier than I'd anticipated.
Barry smiled and we walked out of CCPD.
"You think he'll let me join the force?" I ask, now nervous for Singh's reply.
"I'm sure he will. You're tough, you're smart and you care about people and you're not afraid to put yourself out there when others are in need and to me, that sounds like a good officer." He says, getting in his car.
I sit in the passenger seat and sigh, still not convinced I'll be hired after seeing Singh's reaction. Not because I'm not good enough but because of my dad.
Barry put his hand on my shoulder to try and reassure me.
"It'll be fine." He says. "Give me your phone." He says.
I'm confused but hand it to him anyway. He unlocks it (he has his fingerprint saved) and connects it's Bluetooth and once we are further away from CCPD he blasts out music, knowing it will make me feel better. Which it did.
He parks up in the drive and my mind is now completely off of being on the force and focused on mine and Barry's relationship. I realised that I don't want to hide from my Dad anymore and think about asking Barry about telling him about us.
We go inside and he goes straight to the kitchen and gets out a big bag of chips.
"You weren't kidding, you were hungry." I laugh.
"When am I not?"
He chucks himself on the sofa and flicks on the TV. I sit down next to him and he puts his arm around me.
"Barry..." I say, all serious again.
He sits up and looks at me.
"I was wondering... maybe-"
I go to speak but am cut off by my Dad walking in from work.
"Hey kids."
Barry sighs and then tries to act happy.
"Hey Joe, I thought you weren't gonna be home for a while...?" He asks.
"Yeah, but my plans changed."
Barry and I look at each other, screwing up our faces.
"Why, where are you going?" I ask.
He looks at us and smiles.
"I'm going on vacation. So are the both of you." He says, as if we were kids.
"What about work?" Barry asks.
"Singh gave us both the week off and I spoke to your boss, Iris and you have the week off too and I hope you guys don't mind but I invited Cecile as well." He says, getting excited.
"Yeah that's awesome. When and where are we going?" I ask, already thinking about what outfits to pack.
"Were going in a couple of hours, to a relaxing vacation park on the coast. It's great, I've hired a pretty little log cabin were gonna stay in and there's a load of activities we can all do together as a family as well." He explains.
2 hours. I am excited but that's not enough time for me to pack, or Barry for that matter.
"Dad, I might not be able to pack in 2 hours." I say, being honest.
"Yeah, me either." Barry says, raising his hand and laughing.
"It's okay, you can help each other." Dad says.
Barry and I look at each other and smile.
"Okay." We both say in unison.
"Right. Well... Cecile is gonna be here in half hour so if you guys wanna hurry."
"Yes!" I say, jumping up and taking Barry's hand. I hug my Dad, "thanks daddy." I say and run up the stairs with Barry.
