Robbery in Progress

Eight

For lunch, we did something simple and got a sandwich and a Coke. I knew I was acting different and I really was enjoying myself-the first time I had done so for as long as I could remember-but I just felt wrong. I kind of felt like I was pretending. I wasn't really pretending that I was having a good time, but rather pretending that everything was fine. The truth was, I was terrified of getting too close to someone, to just end up losing them. It had happened so many times before that I had lost count. But I did not want to have another talk with Derek. That was the farthest thing from my mind.

"So, did you grow up here or somewhere else?"

"I grew up here."

"Do your parents live here?"

"They did. My mom passed away six years ago, soon after I joined the police department, and my dad passed away when I was in high school from a gun shot wound. He was a police officer, too."

"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that." He paused. "Do you have any siblings?"

"No."

"Oh." He paused for a moment and started talking again after I had not asked him any questions or spoken. "I have a sister. She lives an hour away. That's where my mom moved to right before she passed away. She was living with my sister at the time...and I told you my dad never really was in the picture."

"Mhm."

After lunch, I drove Derek home-since he didn't have a car, which I couldn't understand why not.

"I hope to see you again. I'll call you." I smiled, nodded, and drove home.

By this time, I was exhausted and I even had the day off. I still didn't feel ok with the way things were between Derek and I. It seemed he felt ok after our talk and he did agree to take things slow, but something was just holding me back. I hated getting a bad feeling. More than likely, it was just my head playing tricks on me so the best thing to do was get some rest. I grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge and went to my bedroom. I grabbed a blanket from the foot of the bed and threw it over my legs. I must've been pretty tired because I didn't wake up until the next morning.

I hopped in the shower and changed my clothes. I was dreading seeing Paul because I was positive that Julie had told him about our conversation and there was no doubt that if he knew, he would ask me about it.

The morning went the same, grabbing my coffee and heading to work. Paul wasn't at his desk, which was weird because he was always there, ready to bother me in some way. I walked in my boss' office and asked him where Paul was. For a boss, he was a pretty decent person to get along with.

"Excuse me, sir, but do you know where Paul is?"

"Yes, I do. He called early this morning and said he wouldn't be in today. His daughter was going for a walk this morning and someone hit her with their car."

"Oh my. Is she alright? Did he say?"

"He said she's fine, just has a broken arm. He's at the hospital with her right now."

"May I..." My boss nodded his head before I even got a chance to finish. Paul and his family were basically my only friends. They were pretty much like family to me and I couldn't just sit around at work with at least checking on Christina. Paul was 10 years older than me so, at times, I thought of Christina like a sister. I didn't have any siblings anyway.

A/N: Hey everyone! Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Make sure to vote! <3 Also, commenting any suggestions for things to include in the story (example: more on a backstory for a character or drama) let me know in the comments and comment your feelings as you're reading as well! It only gets deeper from here! :)