Chief's POV:
"There's a café up ahead on the left. We're going to stop there." I said firmly.
"Have you been looking for that place all this time?" She asked.
"No. What makes you ask that?" I replied.
"Well, we have passed this place several times already." She replied quickly.
"Ah, you are quite observant. That's a good trait to have." I said with a chuckle.
She looked at me questioningly but I quickened my pace as if to deter her from asking more questions.
Inside the café we sat down at a table beside the window. A waiter quickly appeared and took our orders.
"Are you feeling alright?" I asked.
Startled, she looked up at me from across the table.
"Ar-are you all right sir?" She replied.
"Ha-ha!" I couldn't help but laugh.
"Answering a question with a question Ms. Silvers?" I asked.
"I'm sorry sir!" She replied.
I chuckled again.
"Ms. Silvers, call me Chief like everyone else does. Calling me sir all the time makes me feel old." I replied.
"Oh no si… uh, I mean Chief. I didn't mean it that way! You don't look very old at all!" She exclaimed almost in a panic.
I could tell she was nervous. Her eyes were constantly moving, taking in everything she saw at the café. Our drinks and cheese cakes arrived shortly after. We had both ordered a green tea garnished with orange zest and a strawberry cheesecake. It felt almost strange, no, it felt comforting to have something in common.
"Are you sure you don't want something more to eat Ms. Silvers?" I asked.
"Yes I'm sure." She smiled sweetly as she looked at me.
"I have a new recipe at home that I am going to cook for tonight's dinner." She replied.
"So you cook?" I asked.
I immediately regretted asking such a bold question.
"Yes." She answered.
"My mother started teaching me how to cook when I was nine and I kept practicing as often as I could." She said smiling fondly.
I nodded as I sipped my tea and I wondered if she was going to be sharing her meal with someone else that night. Thinking that, I realized that I may have been too hasty making her follow me around. She could have someone waiting on her at home and here I was dragging her around the city.
"When we are through here Ms. Silvers I will escort you home." I spoke then took another sip of tea.
"But I thought I was supposed to help you since I interrupted your work?" She replied with a quizzical expression.
That was a cute face. I held my hand up to stop her from asking any more questions.
"Enjoy your weekend Ms. Silvers. There will be plenty of work waiting for you on Monday." I replied.
I saw the faintest smile appear on her lips. I paid for our drinks and we went outside to hail a cab.
The city was dyed a deep orange from the setting sun. I helped her into a cab and then sat down in the seat next to her. She told the driver her address as we slowly started to pull away from the curb. Once again my nostrils filled with the sweet scent of her perfume.
"So Ms. Silvers, have you had any police experience prior to the academy?" I asked.
"No." she timidly replied.
"I started at the academy just before I turned twenty-two." She replied looking down at her lap.
"So that would make you twenty-four then correct?" I replied.
"No. I'm twenty-five." She said.
"Isn't the program at the academy a three year course?" I asked.
"Yes it is." She said, sounding as if she were disappointed in herself.
"I was almost kicked out of the academy a few months into the program. They let me stay on the condition that I start the program over from scratch and not fail at any of the courses I took. My friends at the academy were really supportive and helped me study and train, and the instructors always pushed me to be better. Thanks to their support and encouragement I graduated at the top of my class." She replied, still looking at her lap.
"That's impressive, but how did you manage almost getting kicked out?" I asked.
"Well…"she replied and then slowly trailed off.
I heard her take a deep breath.
"It's really no ones' fault but my own. Some things happened and I fell behind in the course. What about you? When did you graduate?" She asked purposely.
I could tell she didn't want to talk about it further so I left it.
"Well, I'm twenty-seven. I graduated when I was twenty-one also at the top of my class. I've been doing this line of work since then. After two years on the force I was promoted to Chief and that's where I've been since." I replied.
There was a long silence.
"What do you expect to gain from this career Ms. Silvers?"I asked.
"I don't expect to gain anything. I just want to help people. I want them to know there is hope and that they have somewhere they can turn if trouble arises. I want to become a great detective that people can depend on." She replied blatantly.
I sat there, stunned into silence. I had never heard such a straightforward honest answer before and I couldn't help but wonder what kind of woman was sitting beside me. I found myself wanting to know more about her.
"I guess that sounds kind of silly, huh?" She asked looking back down at her lap.
"No." I replied.
She looked at me with curiosity in her eyes. Those deep blue eyes, it was as if they were begging me to justify her answer.
"We all have something we need to believe in in order to strive and even achieve greatness." I said with a tone of certainty.
I surprised myself with my own answer. She smiled sweetly at me. She had a beautiful smile, one that could cheer even the unhappiest person in the world up. I silently wished I could see more of that smile.
The taxi stopped in front of her house. It was a big two story unit and looked rather large just for her to be living there alone. My gut was right, she probably had a boyfriend.
"This your boyfriend's place?" I asked with a smirk as I helped her out of the car.
"Ha!" She laughed.
"No, I'm actually divorced. I live here with my friends from the academy." She replied.
I felt a small tingle in my chest but quickly dismissed the strange sensation.
"When did you divorce?" I asked.
"Shortly after I turned twenty-two." She replied.
There was a light wind and her hair was blowing gently with the breeze. I reached my hand out to move her hair from her face but stopped a mere inch away from her face. There was a look of fear in her eyes and she quickly took a step back away from me. I quickly withdrew my hand.
"I-I'm sorry." She stammered out a reply.
"Have a good night Ms. Silvers." I replied as I quickly climbed back in the cab.
My thoughts constantly drifted back to Destiny over the next two days. I kept asking myself. Why she had looked so scared, and why did she pull away from me as if I were trying to hurt her? I turned the questions over in my mind repeatedly with no solid answer or explanation.