10 steps to win her back

6 "Kissed her in the moonlight(...)"

I had a hard day at work from the very morning.

New reports of vandalism, someone set fire to bakeries in the centre of the town, a body buried in the forest was found, someone robbed a gas station. 

My desk was buried under paperwork. My phone was hot from charging. 

I felt that today I wouldn't get out of work on time. It sucks because I promised Alice that we would go to the cinema and I had to cancel it.

I unplugged the phone from charging and dialled Alice's number. I turned on the loudspeaker and put the phone on the desk so that I had my hands free and could go back to browsing documents.

"Hello?" I heard her voice and smiled, but after a while, my smile faded from my face. 

I was sorry to have to cancel my date with her.

"Hi, Al," I said. "How are you?"

"Fine. I made dinner, did the laundry, and now I'm choosing the outfit for our date tonight," she replied. 

I heard joy in her voice. I felt a pain in my chest.

"Listen, Alice, about our date ..."

"No, FP" Alice cut me off. I sighed heavily.

"I have a madhouse at work, sorry Alice. I was trying to make it up and come home early."

Silence.

"Alice?"

"You do that a lot. You come home late and you are tired every time! It gets a little suspicious, you know? You canceled our date for the third time, FP!"

"Alice, I can't help it! I'm not breaking into the store and I'm not murdering people and bury them in the woods to have something to do at work! I'm the sheriff and I have to keep this town safe."

"You say you don't murder people FP? You? May I remind you of your past?"

It hurts. In fact, I didn't have a very beautiful past, but Alice wasn't a saint either.

"You're not innocent either. May I remind you of what you have done in the past? May I remind you also that you covered up a murder and hid the body of a guy who was killed by a random kid whom you believed was our dead son?!" I screamed a little too loud. 

Irritated, I threw the documents into the corner of the office.

"You have a lot of work, I understand. Heat your dinner in the microwave" 

"Alice ... I" I didn't finish because the connection went dead.

~~~~~

Tom walked into my office with a take-out bag from Pop's. He put it on my desk and looked at me.  

"Go home, get food and take care of Alice. Let me do the rest for you," he said.  

I looked at him.  Such a deputy is a treasure, but I felt bad about leave him alone at work.

"Thanks, Tom, but I don't want to leave you alone with this mess," I waved my hands to show the piles of papers. 

"That's not a problem. I heard your conversation with Alice through the wall and I figured..." 

"You hear everything?"  I sighed.  

"Yes, the walls are thin in here" 

"I'm sorry Tom you had to listen to this ..." I felt embarrassed.  

"FP, stop it. You'd better go to your woman and take her on a date" 

"Are you sure, Tom?"  

"Yes, I'm sure. Now get out of here until I change my mind" he pointed to the door.