A Woman Is Like A Blackberry.
I was late. Severely late. So late in fact that there probably wasn't a word to describe it. I hurriedly yanked my arms through the grey jacket lying over the arm of the couch, grabbed the paper bag perched on the fake-marble kitchen counter and dashed out the door.
For a few weeks now, Trucy had insisted on making me pack lunches and since the process somehow necessitates my complete absence from the kitchen; naturally I'd sat down in front of the TV, cracked open a can of soda and watched a couple of reruns of the Steel Samurai. And a couple more. And a few more still. I had only been awakened from my ninja-induced reverie. by Trucy dancing up and down, waving a brown lunch sack in front of my face.
"Don't forget your lunch, Daddy! I made pastrami sandwiches! You like those, right?"
I paused. Pastrami- my most hated of fillings.
Guess I could dump it in the trash on my way out and buy something from the canteen at the precinct...
Needless to say, I wasn't exactly looking forward to ingesting this particular meal, but nevertheless, I'd forced a cheery smile.
"Sounds great, honey. I'll see you when I get back from my meeting."
"You have a meeting today?" Trucy had frowned.
"But you never have meetings... How'm I supposed to get a new mommy when you won't even leave the house?"
Before I could think up a snappy comeback, she was distracted by the time on her brand new Gramarye wristwatch.
Cost a damn fortune. What's the point in having Valant Gramarye as an uncle when you don't even get a discount on his merchandise?
"Uh-oh. Gotta go, Daddy, school calls and all that!"
Trucy elevated herself on her tiptoes and wrapped her arms around my neck, giving me her customary fifteen-year old's peck on the cheek, before scooping up her schoolbag and skipping blithely out of the apartment.
Hang on a second... What IS the time? I glanced at the clock.
Nine thirty! Crap!
Explanations aside, the fact remained that if I didn't get to the District Attorney's office in less than three minutes, I was going to be blinded by a vicious spray of luminol. What was it Pearls always used to say?
A woman is like a blackberry, Mr Nick....