Weekends are always over before you know it.
"Good morning Sergeant, Good morning officer Brown, Officer Adams." Lisa's peachy voice echoed through the office. She was always on time on Mondays, and everyone was. Well, except for their Captain, it is 7:50 am and he is not yet here.
He was going to be late on his first official day as Captain of the Ist Patron Division. A smile played on Ravi's lips for no reason.
"Hey! How was your weekend?" She asked as she slid into the counter right next to him.
He harvested some radishes, made some bean curds, soy milk, strawberry milk, added strawberry and sugar into a jar to know whether there would be some kind of syrup and then made strawberry jam. On Sunday, he had drank some wine with hot, spicy noodles that he got from town and listened to some radio drama about a man who was living a double life of an assassin and his wife who was living a double life as his handler, "It was okay."
"You say that every week." She sounded exasperated and stared at him until he asked her about her weekend, she grinned, "It. Was. Amazing. There was an influencer party at Alstria, and I was invited. Just the party was enough to get me like 20,000 new followers and I made friends."
She did not mention that just showing them the pictures of her and Ravi in their car had gotten her some clout, she would make it up to him, besides she might never see any of them again so what damage could it do?
"That is good for you." The more followers, the more money she would get and he knew how much Lisa needed money right now.
"Oh! Did you get the strawberries that I asked you to get?"
Ravi, who was religiously watching the time on his phone, paused to listen to her before he took out a small fruit pouch of five strawberries.
"Good morning, team!" A friendly call sounded from the door and he entered. Ravi's eyes went to his phone, a small frown on his brows. 7:57 a.m. Captain Sinclair had beat the clock.
He looked even taller and more handsome than he had been on Friday. Maybe because he was wearing the police uniform of a Captain, it was a darker blue than theirs, the fabric looked even more superior, wrapping around long legs and thick thighs.
"Ah! Captain. Good morning." Draco's enthusiastic greeting made his gaze snap up at the Captain's face. It was bright with a huge friendly smile, he would not be surprised to find out that the other woke up like this.
"Good morning, Officer Brown, Adams, Officer Johnson, and Officer West." He turned to face Ravi and Ravi could swear that his eyes twinkled even more, it made goosebumps appear on his skin.
"Good morning, Captain."
"Is that strawberries? Wow. They are my favorite fruits." He made his way to Ravi's counter.
Ravi frowned and pulled his hand holding the strawberries back, "I got them for Officer Lisa."
He reached his counter and turned to face Lisa.
Lisa had always been weak to beauty and she smiled pleasantly, "I don't like strawberries that much, Captain you can have them."
Ravi felt betrayed, she had disturbed him so much that he had finally gotten it for her and here she was saying that she did not want them anymore. He gritted his teeth when his ear caught the sound of a low chuckle. He glared sharply at both Draco and Sarah, who might be taking a lot more joy in his situation, everyone in this office knew that he did not like to share.
"Is that alright?" As Arlen was saying it, his hand was already reaching out for the fruit pack, his blue eyes glowing. He must like strawberries.
Ravi gripped it but he released it and Arlen snatched it up. He held it to his chest before removing one of the coffee cups from the cartoon he was holding.
"A Vanilla Oat latte for you. Lisa mentioned that you enjoy milk."
Was that a jab because he was shorter than him, he looked up to meet those clear blue eyes and disgruntled held the cup. Arlen was still looking at him, a hint of expectation in his gaze, he was waiting for a reaction.
Ravi sipped the coffee. It was sweet, he liked it a bit sweeter though. He sipped it again, it was delicious. He wondered if he could recreate it at home. "Thank you, Captain."
Arlen smiled widely and he placed another cup on Lisa's table, "A cappuccino for you." He went around giving everyone coffee and receiving thanks in return, of course Draco was the most exaggerated as he received the cup with two hands, Ravi was half expecting him to genuflect in thanks.
Tom stepped out, "Captain, you do not have to buy us coffee but I thank you on behalf of the team."
Arlen smiled and headed to his office, a transparent glass door office at the edge of the first-floor counters, "It is a little bribe. Let's aim for the top this year."
The five of them looked at each other and Ravi noted how the cup suddenly seemed too heavy for Sergeant Tom. He wanted to laugh.
"Do not be too pressured."
Tom relaxed.
"But I have already told the Chief about our ambition."
Tom's entire body tensed up again, Ravi could not help it, he lowered his head, his entire body shaking. This Chief could not be doing it on purpose, could he?
"Sergeant Tom looks like he is about to retire." Ravi looked down at his phone, it was a message from Lisa.
He nodded in turn. The Flat white coffee must not be tasting delicious to him anymore.
After the little incident, the entire office fell into routine as those who had issues with the Weekend staff came in to pay their fines.
Ravi's face was focused on the keyboard as he typed in the report of the young woman sitting in front of him. When he felt a gaze on his face, he looked back in the direction of the glass office and saw the Captain staring at him.
Arlen did not look ashamed to be caught and he smiled instead. Ravi did not return his smile, looking away to continue what he was doing.
Why was he looking at him?