Starlight

Chapter 10

"Would you like to explain to me why Theo never came back to the station last night?" Mae asked the minute I opened my door. She was just standing there wiggling her eyebrows. I had texted her this morning and asked if she would like to go house hunting with me today. Obviously she said yes.

"It isn't what you're thinking. He took over the patrol last night." I said letting her in.

"Um no, he didn't. We had the same guys out there, we don't rotate." She said. So what did he do just wait in his car?

"He isn't still here is he?" I asked looking out my window.

"Paula has no reason to worry about cheating, when she meets you she'll see how hopelessly straight you are." Mae laughed. I just ignored her comment, like always.

"Mae, is Theo still here?" I said more assertively. She just rolled her eyes at me.

"No, he texted me at seven telling me he got home okay." She said sitting down on one of my bar stools.

"I have no idea why he even bothered if someone else was keeping watch." I mumbled and began pulling out some breakfast.

"It's because he loooooves you." She said in a girly tone that just didn't fit her nature. I rolled my eyes at her antics.

"Stop it Mae, he does not. Theo is just a detective who made sure I got home okay." I said, but I jumped when I heard her squeal.

"What? What's wrong?" I asked turning around, suddenly on high alert. Damn it, I left my bat in the bedroom.

"He told you to call him Theo didn't he?" She asked. I just sighed and relaxed, I can't be on high alert the whole day, I just need to calm down.

"Yes but what's the big deal? I'm sure loads of people call him Theo."

"Um no, you would be wrong sugarpie, no one calls him Theo except me and you." She said whipping out her phone.
"Well that must get awfully lonely." I said, I felt bad for him.

"He likes it that way, it's harder for him to get hurt if he doesn't connect with people." She said sadly. I suddenly remember something that Auntie said about him having a hurt soul. What could've happened that was so horrible. But what's more scary is that she was right? But what else has she been right about?

"I suppose, but why would he connect with me? I'm being targeted twenty four seven." I said laughing.

"If I've said it once then I've said a million times, he loooooooves you." She said laughing extremely hard. But I was just fighting back the blush that was threatening to appear.

"Mae please just stop with that." I said laughing, more out of embarrassment then amusement.

"Why, it's true. And why are we shopping houses anyways?  I like you apartment." She said, thankfully finally dropping  the topic of Theo and I.

"Because I can't afford this one, I'm a waiter." I said and she just looked even more confused.

"Then why would you get it in the first place if you knew you couldn't afford it? Did you get a demotion?" It was an honest question, since I still hadn't told her about my only other friend.

"I had a roommate, Ryland. She moved out the same day you guys reopened my case." I explained and she nodded, then dug into her  oatmeal. I quickly followed her actions.

"Why'd she move out?" Mae asked  once we had both slowed down slightly.

"She finished college and got a job offer downtown. She paid for one more month to give me some time to sort everything out." I said. I know I had over three weeks, but moving takes a long time. Especially when you have no family and not many friends to help you.

"Dang. This must suck for you." Mae said placing her now empty bowl in the sink.

"Why do you say that? I'm super happy for her." I said grabbing my coat.

"Because there is so much changing for you right now, which I know must be tough." Mae said simply. That was one of the things I appreciated  about her, she didn't dance around me. She just got right to it.

"I suppose, but not all the change has been bad." I said shrugging. She begins wiggling her eyebrows again so I playfully hit her.

"Come on, I know you meant Theo when you said that. If you don't want me to shoot you then don't give me a loaded gun." She said hopping into car.

"Yeah, but I also meant you. It's refreshing to have a friend that doesn't see me  as a victim." I said honestly. She gives me a smile, then pulls out. Now I know exactly what Theo was talking about.

"Oh yeah I drive fast in case you didn't already know." She laughed, but I was too busy gripping onto the handle to pay attention.

"Jesus, how do you not get pulled over." I said clenching my teeth. This is the most frightening yet exciting thing.

"I'm a cop, we don't pull over our own men." She said throwing me a wink. I laughed but on the inside I was screaming. Finally we got to the first location and I could breath for the first time in ten minutes.

"Well, I think I want to drive next time." I said, trying to sound polite. Mae just started laughing.

"That's exactly what Theo said, although you were much more calm in the car. There was a lot of cussing and prayers with him." She said and I just smiled. I could imagine him doing something like that.

"I wasn't calm, I was just petrified." I said as we walk up to the apartment.

"That's what I like about you Drew, you don't try to be someone you're not." Mae said, copying my earlier statement. Now it was my turn to smile.

"It's a lot smaller than your last home." She said looking inside from the kitchen. As soon as we opened the door we were there. But I liked the  lack of space. It was more cozy.

"Yeah, but I think I like it, plus the cafe is a five minute walk down the street." I said and Mae nodded. On the table were forms for people interested in buying, but by the looks of the huge stack, no one was really interested.

"I guess it fits your needs. Low rent, close to the cafe." She said looking in the bedroom. I grabbed a paper and filled it out and put it in the slot.

"Hey Mae, I think I'm getting this place, so can you just take me back to my apartment?" I asked walking in. She nodded, she was laying on the empty mattress scrolling through her phone.

"Yeah, let's go. Theo said he just got a hit on something so I need to hit the station." She said heaving herself up.
As we were walking out I realized that I really didn't need Mae after all. It only took one house, 15 minutes. But climbing into the car I started getting anxious. Sure it was like I had been living on my own for a few months, but with this new home, it was official. There was just this endless pit in my stomach.

"We're being followed." Mae said. That was not the source of the pit.

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