Waverly wiped down the tables and turned up the stools after the last patron had left for the night. She had already received three concerned text messages from her sister asking her to come home. The Revenants had been unusually inactive for the last week and that had set Wynonna even more on edge. She was convinced they were planning something. Waverly noticed that her sister was getting a little bit antsy due to the lack of action. Wynonna was getting a bit trigger happy Waverly thought. While Waverly felt like her life was reverting back to its usual drudgery it had been before Wynonna had come back and hell had literally been let loose. The door swung open, Waverly didn't look up from her work.
'We're closed' she called out to whoever was at the door.
'I seem to have really bad timing' came the reply that was all too familiar to Waverly. Officer Nicole Haught was standing in the doorway. She was out of her usual uniform and in regular Levi's and a plait shirt. She had this unnerving ability to be completely comfortable in any surrounding which Waverly envied her for. She looked...really good, Waverly thought and blushed.
'Oh, gosh' Waverly smiled hesitantly 'emm... come on in, its last call and as I remember I owe you a drink'.
Officer Haught... Nicole, Waverly corrected herself took a seat at the bar. Waverly hurriedly walked round to stand behind the bar. She didn't know why her brain and stomach went into over drive around this woman.
'Cappuccino?' Waverly offered remembering their last exchange and blushing even more deeply because of it.
'The day I've had calls for something a bit stronger, I think' Nicole smiled. She had a really nice smile Waverly noticed. She lost her train of thought for several seconds. Nicole's smile widened even further as if she knew what Waverly was thinking.
'Oh right... a whiskey then' Waverly hurried to pour a drink and took out a glass. She turned her back on Nicole and took a deep breath. If she could just get through this exchange without embarrassing herself she thought.
'What happened to make your day whiskey worthy?' Waverly asked.
'Out on the border there was an animal attack it looks like; some guy got a chunk taken out of him by something.' Nicole took the whiskey Waverly offered her 'I swear it looked like human teeth marks to me' Nicole mused.
Waverly's mind went straight to the Revenants, could it be them?
'This is a pretty strange town; a lot of weird things seem to happen'
'Oh... I don't know about that' Waverly tried to act casually 'It's really rather boring around here, nothing ever really happens' She quickly tried to quell Nicole's suspicions. She had already received Agent Dolls and her sister's warnings about what would happen if the Revenants became common knowledge. Bye bye Purgatory.
'If you count three murders nothing?' Nicole gave her an enquiring look as if she suspected Waverly was hiding something.
'So where are you living? in town?' Waverly hastily changed the subject.
Nicole smiled allowing Waverly to drop the topic, 'I'm living at the motel until I sort out some place to live'
'That's terrible' Waverly imagined Officer Haught in some dingy motel room but the image didn't sit right in her head. Her in a cosy log cabin seemed about right, a warm fire, a fur rug maybe...
'It's comfortable enough; I've slept in worst places and at the end of the day...' Nicole sipped her whiskey 'All I really need is a bed' She said nonchalantly.
There was always an underlying suggestion to her words and Waverly couldn't help but blush again. She could handle a shotgun, heck she could handle Revenants but she could not get a handle on Officer Nicole Haught.
'I... can ask around town, I know everyone. I'm sure I can find something' Waverly offered.
'That would be really nice' Nicole replied and there was that smile again. There was a long silence as they looked at each other, something just hung in the air between them. Waverly was suddenly very glad there was a bar separating them.
'Hey Honey Bun' and just like that the spell was broken. Champ came through the door. He looked like his usual handsome self in his jeans and a white vest. This would usually thrill Waverly but at that moment she was irritated by every inch of him. He sauntered over to her and around the bar and kissed her on the lips with tongue. Waverly was very conscious of Nicole sitting right there. She was politely trying to avert her eyes from this display of PDA.
'Hey, hey' Waverly awkwardly tried to disengage herself from Champ 'Champ, this is Officer Nicole Haught' She introduced them to each other.
'Cool name' Champ shook Nicole's hand and Waverly literally felt like hitting her head against a wall. He could be a real idiot sometimes or most times if she was honest with herself.
Nicole nodded civilly in response.
He turned back to Waverly 'I'm going up to take a shower, are you coming up?'
Waverly glanced round to Nicole trying to express with her eyes that she was sorry about this.
'I'd better be going' Nicole stood up abruptly and Waverly's heart sank 'Thanks for the drink' She waved a goodbye at them both and left the bar.
'So are you coming?' Champ asked her again, completely unaware that Waverly wasn't even listening. Her mind had left the room with Officer Haught.
'Just wait one sec...She forgot something' Waverly ran out the door leaving a confused Champ behind. She hadn't forgotten anything but Waverly wanted to apologise. Apologise for what she wasn't quite sure. Sorry her boyfriend kissed her in front of her? Sorry he interrupted something between them?
'Hey Nicole!' Waverly called at a figure that was half way down the street. Nicole stopped and turned around. Waverly came up to her and realised she had no idea what she was going to say. There was a long moment of awkward silence between them.
'So that was the boy-man?' Nicole asked.
'Yeh... I mean no I...' Waverly could practically see her words tumble out of her mouth into a confused mess before her.
'It's Ok Waverly, I get it' Nicole smiled but her eyes didn't shine this time.
'Nicole I'm...not sure what this is, but I do like you' Waverly tried to explain more to herself then to Nicole 'I mean I like you in a certain way, different then from the way I like Champ... or I like paisley...' Waverly was floundering.
Suddenly Nicole just reached out and kissed her and it was long and soft and pretty god damn amazing. She smelled really good. A mix of woodsmoke and something flowery underneath...what was that? Waverly wondered.
Nicole beamed as she pulled away from Waverly. Waverly had the expression of a cartoon character that had been hit over the head with a mallet.
'I like paisley too.' And just like that she walked away. Waverly just stood there utterly dumbstruck and longingly watched her go.