Lost and found

Chapter One

Taking a sip of her coffee, Nix relaxed back into the comfort of her chair, while reading a new horror series she'd just discovered. It took her a while to pick out a good story, as she was going through that phase in life where her love for books had slowly begun to diminish. Still, she held a belief that if you could find a book that could hold your attention for more than a chapter than that book is a keeper.

Nix lived in a small house just an hour outside the main business district, which meant that for a house of 2 bedrooms a combined bathroom and toilet along with storage and kitchen, rent was quite cheap. She had dedicated a whole room to her study/library room, as a whole wall was covered by a shelf filled with books of all different sizes and colours.

A little something about her is that she had just graduated a few months back and was still searching for a job. You see she spent the last 3 years of her life dedicating it to a Bachelor in Criminal Justice. This degree put her in debt of about $15,000 to the government, due to the fact she lived in Australia. For those who hold an Australian citizenship, the government pays for their tuition, as long as it's for a degree below Masters. Although the catch is that they do end up having to pay it back with any added inflation that had occurred. The debt is only paid back when the individual begins working.

Nix never really understood why there was a societal stigma surrounding having a degree. Having a Bachelor was no longer an accomplishment as it had become a common thing now. It's a wonder all that hassle for a piece of paper that stated you should be capable of performing a job adequately. But then to even stand a chance in getting hired you need to have years of experience under your belt. But you see that's kind of impossible being a recent graduate with only the basics down. The other alternative is to have something in your resume that makes an employer have a second glance at your paper. But with the way society is set currently, skills that were what made a person worth hiring and interesting, is now a basic requirement.

Having enough monologing and thinking about how bullshit society is, she went back to reading her book ...the culprit had managed to escape last time. Guess with barely a day left on the count down, I had to find and apprehend him quickly. Guess that's easier said than done. His last known place was at the supermarket on Lonsdale street. But what was he doing there?...

Nix was to way to engrossed in the page that she didn't realise a letter had been slipped under her door. After reading through a couple more chapters and finishing her mug full of coffee, she got up for a stretch and to walk to the kitchen to get a little snack and to then also refill her empty mug.

You see another thing is that today was the day she was supposed to receive a reply on whether she made it. You may ask what is this it? Well, a week back Nix had sent out her resume to work with the Australian Federal Police as a criminology consultant. What does a criminology consultant do? You may also ask. Well, they may initiate and carry out studies on criminal behaviour. They collect data on the attitudes and behaviours of people through interviews or other methods and provide consultations to the police upon their findings.

That was the reason Nix had decided to take the day slow and to relax with a novel to take her mind off it. But with her walk towards the kitchen, she passed the front door. She found a bright white envelope with the Aus. Federal Police logo stamped neatly in the top corner. Her heart started pumping in overdrive with anticipation, as her brain overthought what the envelope held, going into a tangent. Picking it up she realised that the envelope was quite thick in size. Releasing a breath she never knew she was holding in, she put down her empty mug on the table in the corridor. She reached towards the corner of the envelope and ripped the tab open from its place, careful to not cause any damage towards any of the papers lying underneath.

Pulling out the letter she could only read her name as any valuable information lay underneath one of the tri-folds of the letter. Pulling on two opposite edges she opened the letter to its full capacity while doing so her eyes widened in amazement. With all her focus being upon the words "You have been selected for the position as our criminology consultant ". Those very words where all her brain could contemplate. Not giving the care to read the rest of the letter, Nix jumped for joy around the house screaming that she had got in. In her euphoric high she decided to call her best friend Darcey.

"Girl I got it!" Nix exclaimed with a squeal.

"Girl you got what. Use your words. We ain't all mind readers"

"I got the position as the consultant"

"Woohoo! That's my girl. This calls for a celebration"

"I just...I can't believe that I got the spot. Like I was preparing for a whole gloomy day and everything." Nix had indeed prepared her self care pack, which included a couple of ice cream tubs (more like 20) and a box of junk, along with 'Marley and Me' ready for her to watch.

"Girl go and get dressed we're going out to celebrate this properly." With that Darcey hung up the phone on Nix. Nix quickly ran to get dressed in an outfit that would be more appropriate for company. Knowing how Darcey could get she decided to choose the quickest and comfiest option there was in her wardrobe.