Birth-day (Life Made Real)
Veronica can't boast of many friends at her workplace. Not at first, when she's a prodigy with sky-high training results. Not half a year later, when she finds her first murderer, and the boss takes her aside and explains to her that it's cool that she solves crimes, but there's procedure to be followed and when she doesn't, she hands the criminal a free out-of-jail card.
(Monopoly metaphors make Veronica remember her ex-roommate Tosh, who comforted her after the messy break-up with Piz.)
Now she's been on the job for two years, and it's sadly significant that her co-workers give her a bottle of substandard wine for her birthday, and she doesn't even like wine. Another thing she gets is all the crappy assignments they can land on her, and she's glad to be able to prove her worth thusly, for the most part – she is learning fast, after all. Born and bred for this job, right?
Most part doesn't extend to dripping sinks in motels of ill repute, roamed by huge cockroaches.
Only her father calls her with birthday wishes; Mac sends a text message, demanding that they hook up, but Veronica can't think of any date when meeting would be possible, what with her deadlines and the boyfriend whom she doesn't like that much anymore, but whose presence is preferable to coming back to an empty flat.
She blinks rapidly to guard off sleepiness, and finishes pouring through her case files. Birthday or no birthday, she's got a task to fulfill. Agent Veronica Mars ready for some action, she mocks herself in front of the dirty mirror.
Half an hour later, she learns that it doesn't look half as bad-ass when the badge you wave at someone has a huge bug sitting on it.