author's note: sorry for the lyrics at the beginning and the end-- this story was originally intended to be a series of songfics, afterall. I guess it's just the fitting music that I listened to looping while I wrote. If it's too awful, I can always remove it. In any case, enjoy, and I'm sorry for the lack of anything too interesting happening yet. It's still setting up..
Chapter One
Smeared black ink… your palms are sweaty,
And I'm barely listening to last demands
I'm staring at the asphalt wondering,
What's underneath where I am…
I wear my badge… a vinyl sticker,
With big black letters adherent to my chest
That tells your new friends, I am a visitor here
I am not permanent
Where did all my confidence go? Thought Ema dryly as she walked slowly across the parking lot. Each step she took was shakier than the one before, black heels clattering on the pavement, as if they were announcing her new presence—the fact that she was indeed new here. The walk to the LAPD precinct headquarters had taken her much longer than she expected, and yet she was a good twenty minutes early for the interview.
Calm down, Ema. You've got this. It's not like this is the first time you've had an interview—remember high school, and the Academy, she chided herself, trying to push aside the fact that this was, in actuality, her first job interview. Breathing deeply, Ema tried to imagine how her sister would take on this challenge.
Lana. She would know how to handle this situation. She could probably pass the proficiency test with her eyes closed, education abroad or not. She would be able to have the interviewer eating from her hand within minutes, and would have secured the job. But of course, things can't be so easy for me! Studying until I drop, and I'm still as nervous as ever.
Ema's arms felt like lead as they pushed the clear glass doors to the precinct open. The feeling of numb nervousness never left her as she fixed a visitor's ID badge to her lab coat and scrawled her name onto the sign-in. She nodded a quick, silent thanks to the guard as he pointed her way down the halls and began walking.
The office was small, with a window covering most of the black wall and bookshelves lining the side walls. A single mahogany desk was in the center, with a dull-looking man peering over rectangular glasses at her.
"You're Miss Skye, correct?" he asked in a raspy voice, putting away something that looked like a report.
"Yes, sir, " Ema replied, nearly choking from the effort of speaking while nervous. "Interviewing for a job—as a forensic scientist, that is. If I'm in the right place; that's here, right? And I haven't taken the proficiency test too, and I don't think this is where it will be, so—"
"Shh," uttered the man, holding up a hand. He nodded with a bit of a grunt, and adjusted himself in his large swivel chair, smiling. Pulling his glasses off, he peered at Ema for a moment, pausing. "Take a seat, Miss Skye. Let's begin!
As soon as Ema was released from the precinct for her testing, she felt a bit more confident, though she tucked away all memories of the practical portion of her forensics proficiency exam in a corner of her mind where they would never be visited again. You're this close, Skye, she thought to herself. Now all you have to do is wait. Ahh! My phone!
The theme to the Steel Samurai accompanied a rattling vibration in her coat pocket. Fishing the phone out, Ema flipped it open and held it up to her ear.
"Ema?" said the voice at the other end. Its familiarity filled Ema's chest with a warmth as she heard it.
Ema grinned, speeding up her pace. "Hey, sis! What perfect timing for your call—I just got out of my job interview down at the precinct. We haven't talked in forever. What're you up to?"
"You know, maybe we should discuss further over lunch or something," replied Lana. "Since you're back and all, and I've been free for a few years now." She laughed, and Ema winced at the memory of her sister's time in jail, and its circumstances.
"Uh, sure. How about… now? Why don't you meet me at my apartment? Just warning you, though—it's a fifth floor walk-up!"
"Sounds fine to me," said Lana. "You'll have to tell me what's happened in the past week since you left the Academy!"
Ema clicked the phone shut, rushing towards her apartment now. Oh, it's times like these I wish I had a car, she grumbled internally. Or a bike. But, scientific analysis is clear—it's healthier and less dangerous to walk.
She was a few blocks from her apartment when a display in the front of a bodega caught her eye. Row upon row of bags filled with chocolate-covered snacks were sitting under a sign advertising a sale.
Ema's eyes lit up. She reached inside her purse to fish through papers and her scientific necessities to find her wallet. Something was so appetizing about those snacks that she just had to get her hands on. It was only when she was walking out of the store with five bags crammed into her purse that she realized how hungry she really was.
Arriving at her apartment left her breathless from the walk. "So out of shape," groaned Ema as she struggled with the lock and bolt to stumble into her living room. She threw her bag on the couch and shuffled to the bathroom to fix up her appearance before Lana arrived.
"Oh, look at you, Ema! You're so much taller than the photos made you seem! But you still won't get rid of that lab coat, will you?" said Lana through a tight hug. Ema squirmed free, bewildered at the intense cheer emanating from her sister.
"Scientifically speaking, Lana, I'll be needing this coat for work soon," said Ema, breaking away from the hug. "If everything goes well, that is. So… lunch?"
Lana nodded. "I've already made reservations. Let's go."
Prepared as always.
The lunch date went smoothly, as planned. It wasn't like Lana to have things not go smoothly, after all. All the catching up that the sisters had to do had flown over Ema's head in moments, and soon she was curled up on her couch, with nothing but a blank white wall to stare at, and with nothing to do.
God, who thought that living in a new place could be so boring? I can't even figure out how to get into contact with Mr. Wright... so few friend's I've got here after all, I guess, thought Ema, glancing around her bare apartment dolefully. She found her hand rustling through her purse, her fingers grasping around an inviting plastic bag. Taking the package of baked snacks, Ema popped one into her mouth, feeling a release of stress with the chocolaty taste.
She stayed that way for the rest of the evening, until at some point her head stared nodding and her eyes drifted shut.
_
The weeks until Ema received the phone call passed slowly, but preciously. She floated around the streets and the apartment in a dream-like state, clinging onto her newfound snacks to keep her company in the lonely spaces. She had almost completely forgotten about the proficiency test and her job interview when the letter came in the mail.
"The results!" shouted Ema as she opened her small mailbox on the base floor of her walkup. She ripped the manila envelope open, fumbling with it as she ran up the stairs at a breakneck pace. The papers inside were many in number—that was supposed to be a good sign, right?
It didn't take her long to read the report. It took longer to figure out what it meant. And to believe it.
"To: Miss Ema Skye
From: Fredrick Dalton, Forensics Head
Thank you for taking the forensics proficiency exam! We appreciate your interest in taking part in the LAPD's forensics department. Your test results are as follows:
Written examination: 96/100
Practical examination: 31/100
We're sorry, but the score wasn't sufficient to qualify you for a job in the forensics department of the Los Angeles Police Force. Thank you for your efforts.
Signed,
Fredrick Dalton, Forensics Department Head, LAPD"
The call came that day too, offering the job in the homicide department. Ema's hands were numb as she gripped the phone, and muttered her agreement. Lana was the next person she called, though all words of comfort bounced off her mind like rain on a tin roof.
You seem so out of context
In this gaudy apartment complex
A stranger with the door key
Explaining that I am just visiting
And I am finally seeing
Why I was the one worth leaving.
LA sleeps alone tonight.