Damn it all! I thought as I drove home. I was finally done being chewed out by my boss. All I wanted at this point was to arrive at my house and relax with a cup of tea and a novel, a murder mystery perhaps, if I wasn't already living in one. One downfall of being a Crime Investigator was that after your first few cases you lose the thrill you used to get in a exquisite suspense story. Being that you relate (painfully almost) to the horror and mind-boggling mysteries that where once enjoyed by your younger self where now ruined by reality.
None the less, that, and the transition to America for college, plus the years of training were all worth it to work in the Crime Investigation field and pursue restoring the safety of the innocent. I thought as I drove. Lately though, I had been feeling the conjuring of what could only be described as "feeble and dull" it seemed that as hard as I tried I failed to posses the fire that had burned in me once before. Before I had gotten my CSI badge, before I joined my 'squad' of fellow law enforces, before I solved my first case, before I had gotten a taste of what it was really like to deal with not only a murder, but what had come along side one. The one thing they had never really covered in the academy was who the real victim was.
Ping…ping..ping..ping.. SMACK! I was abrasively snapped out of my thoughts as the once rhythmic sound of rain transformed to the harsh slamming of pebble, then golf ball sized hail nailing down on my windshield. I cringed at the sound. Thankfully, there was a nearby 711 gas station I could find refuge in. One could only hope that they offered hot and highly caffeinated drinks to provide the much needed energy to get home afterwards. I thought as I pulled into the gas station. It took some thoughts of the heated store and the possibility of getting something hot to drink that mustered up enough motivation for me to get out of the car and run through the hazardous hell, ahem, hail (sorry). "Fuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuck" I hissed while running to the light that shone through the glass doors like a beacon of shelter in the middle of this empty backroad, currently being assaulted by a relentless shower of ice rocks.
"Honhon. Guess I wasn't zhe only one caught in zhis storm" came a familiar voice to my left, the second I had reached my goal of being inside the disappointingly cool establishment "fuck" I muttered one last time to myself before looking up to confirm my awful assumption. Sure enough there he stood, my least favorite work associate, Francis Bonnfrey. We go way back. Since college, We had both moved to America from Europe that same year. So naturally the administrators thought we'd hit it off so we got partnered for everything, in college and at the academy, we, or I, had been forced to work side by side with the frog for so many years now. Six, I believe. In my opinion that was six too many years of dealing with his…antics.
"It appears that lady luck be on any side but mine tonight," I responded dryly. "Or is it" the wanker responded with a grin that I would have loved to slap off his face if only violence against co-workers had not been looked down upon by the higher ups.
"You know sometimes it can take a push, if not a shove to show a stubborn person like yourself what zeir heart really desires." His voice thickly layered in his stupid baguette fucking accent. "You and me, stuck together in a most dramatic of storms." I threw him a look to cause pre mature baldness. "Pull your head out of your tight little ass, mon ami. It's fate trying to bring the two of us together." "The only thing fate is going to bring together any time soon would be my fist in your ugly wanker face" I growled. "Why so hostile my little belle (attractive *french*) friend?"
"You know why." A sudden smirk overtook his flirtatious grin. "Is this about that recent case that has had you stumped and feeling ordinary lately." He spoke with an air of mockery. "What do you mean by 'ordinary'?" I inquired. The smirk soon transformed into a sneer "you know what I mean, ever since the beginning of Task Force 8819" (or The Squad as some associates would refer to) "you've been the one to be at the final destination before anyone else even knew who zhe culprit was, zhe one who took all zhe credit everyone else deserved."
"I never meant for any of that to happen I was just at the wrong place at the right time." If I was hostile before I don't even know what I am now. "I had nothing to do with any of it, I'm just…cursed or something. I never even knew the recent information on the perp's appearance I was just an unlucky bastard that day."
"Cursed with thinking your better than everyone else maybe, you know I had the most Intel at both times. Being the one with the most skill and intellect, of course! you knew that though, which is why you decided to follow me." His accusation was absurd of course, but only to myself.
"Zhis time we both know you won't be so lucky. Being that I am more careful with Zhe information I do have. And you know zhat zhis time… I refuse to fail" By this point I was sick of this petty banter and just wanted to get home. "Yes yes I know, you never fail if you put your all into succeeding to obtain the objective. Unless said objective would happen to be getting in my pants." His only response was a scowl and a loss for words. It was just then that I had started to notice a lack of the pinging noise from outside. "Well, good chat." I said, breaking the awkward silence and ending our conversation. I then walked over to the could-be-cleaner coffee station and saw to my disappointment that even though water had been added to the water heater for tea it was still in the process of heating, but luckily it was only a minute till done.
"Sorry the heaters so slow, I had only just put in the water in when I saw you coming." I turned my head to see a man sitting behind the register. "Hot drinks don't usually sell at night unless there's a storm like this one." He wore a old red plaid button up flannel shirt with a couple buttons missing near the top, accompanying his dirty blond hair that had grown to where he needed tie it back in a ponytail, his face was a more elongated one with a strong and aggressive features. He had light stubble on his chin and indigo eyes with bags under them. "Thank you sir" I responded full of exhaustion "Sir…no ones ever called me that one before, names Matt, not sir."
"Sorry" I croaked "No problem. Just pay for your earl gray and leave so I could finally close this shitty place." Probably best I did leave soon as possible, being that I was tired enough as it was, which is a dangerous state to be driving in. I turned around to see Francis pouring himself some coffee and putting cream in the vile liquid. "Au revoir" he said as he slapped two dollars onto the counter "keep zhe change" he told Matt. He turned to me and gave a half hearted salute as he walked through the door, bell chiming as the door slammed behind him due to the harsh wind.
"I'll be going as well, just give me a second" I stated while selecting the last earl gray teabag on the tray and plopping it into my cup before adding the hot water over it. It really pisses me off when people do it the other way around and put the teabag in after the water. That. Is. Not. How it is supposed to be done. "What ever" responded Matt. I then flipped through my wallet looking for one dollar and seventy nine cents until I found the exact total and handed it to him.
The second I left the store I despised everything. There, in front of me, was a car. My car. Completely totaled, the large chunks of ice had bashed in the windows and dented the roof. My gaze then fell upon Francis' stupid Porsche, under the roof of the gas area of the gas station without a scratch. Pulling out, while he cheshire cat grinned at me through the window. God, I hate him so much.
Guess I should get an Uber, hopefully soon. The hail had ceased but the icy humid wind hadn't and I just wanted to be home by now. I pulled out my phone to find that, most unfortunately there wasn't any service from where I was. Strange… I drive through this area all the time and have never had this issue. I would have started screaming profanities at how my luck, and life sucked, if I wasn't so tired. Hitchhiking it was then.