We all need help | s a w

two

The car ride was not silent. In fact, to her surprise, it was filled: there was almost never a silent moment. On the drive to her home, she had realized that she had cast Mark as this friendless, emotionless, unresponsive being who you couldn't hold a conversation with. She could not believe she liked talking to him as much as she did. He was very interesting, and she almost didn't want to stop. She was surprised, and slightly guilty that her thoughts about him were proven wrong. He was an attractive man, kind and gentle, with a past much similar to hers.

He did not have parents, or if he did they were not in his life. His sister was his closest family, and he loved her very much. She thought, as he was talking about her, maybe she would be a good match with her brother. They seemed a lot alike. He then proceeded to tell her about his sisters boyfriend. She immediately sensed distaste in his voice when he mentioned him, but he never spoke his name. She pressed him no further on the topic.

"What about you? You showed up six years ago, only 26 years old with outstanding credentials. You've been beside my office forever and it's hard to believe I still don't know anything about you." He said. The slight hum of the radio filled the silence as she thought. Rock music. Her favorite.

"There's not much to tell, really. I'm a very uninteresting person. I went to police academy as soon as I graduated from criminology. I had been ahead on syllabus because it was my only course load. They let me graduate early. After my training, I solved a serial murder case and took it to trial. The man was arrested and sentenced to life. They promoted me when I closed the case, and sent me out here to work on bigger and better things." She ended with a small smile, remembering her years in Chicago. Every now and then she missed it, but she was happier here. She did regret waiting so long to make any friends. Now she was 32, alone, without a boyfriend or children. Not even a dog at home waiting for her.

"No family? A husband, or boyfriend?" He continued.

"My parents... I don't have parents I guess. I have one younger brother. He's my best friend. He moved here too, he's training to be a surgeon at one of the hospitals here. He truly is my best friend. I haven't really met many people since I moved out here."

"Always at the office." He stated, and she laughed.

"Yeah, exactly." she looked out the window. The street lights illuminated the sidewalks. They were empty and worn down, many of them were cracked and crumbling. "I haven't had a boyfriend since I finished my police training. We were together since high school, I thought he was the one. He left me as soon as I got hired in Chicago. He found somebody else, she gave more to him than I could, I guess. She didn't work as many hours, she didn't have a dangerous job. She was better than me." She shrugged at the end of her sentence. He looked over at her briefly, then focused on the road again. "I never met anyone else. I never found anyone that I thought could replace him. I guess it wouldn't really be replacing if it wasn't meant to be."

"People don't seem to understand our line of work. They find it depressing, or scary." he paused for a minute. "You know, she probably wasn't better than you. He probably found you intimidating. Men like that don't really want strong women. They want to be in power." She smiled at his statement, finding it comforting to hear a compliment that wasn't work related.

"Maybe you're right." Thinking about him made her sad. Some part of her never got over him. He was the only person that ever loved her like that. She had flings, but never boyfriends, or anything serious. He destroyed her, and she felt like if she got involved with anybody like that again, she would get hurt. "What about you? I see a ring on your finger, but I've never seen a wife." She changed the topic, cutting her thoughts off. He gave her a half-assed smile and opened his mouth to speak. He cut himself off as they pulled up to an intersection. "Make a right and keep going straight." She directed him.