Chapter 2: Newsflash
Jen woke to a rainy and miserable Monday morning, hoping that the party at Matt and Emma's wasn't a sign of what was to come at work that morning and that she'd at least be able to focus on whatever case Homicide threw at her and the others. She made herself breakfast and coffee, fed Jerry who had been brushing against her legs as soon as she'd appeared in the hall, and went outside to fetch the newspaper. As she made her way back up the footpath towards her front door glancing briefly at the front page of the paper, which contained nothing out of the ordinary, Jen flicked to the next double spread where a small, seemingly unimportant, article down the left hand side of page 3 shouted at her. She almost tripped up her front steps out of shock but managed to regather her balance by grabbing the rail alongside the stairs for support, still immersed in the tiny article which she was now dissecting for the third time.
As she drove to work, Jen couldn't help but wonder if Nick had already read the paper, whether he too had almost tripped over upon reading it like she had. Who am I kidding, she thought, of course he'd have read the paper! Though she doubted he would have been stupid enough to trip up three measly porch steps. The Homicide building was almost in sight and she tried not to think about the private conversation the two of them would need to have sooner rather than later, her car's windscreen wipers working tirelessly as the rain got heavier and heavier, relentless and darkening Jen's already grey mood.
Pulling into her usual parking spot, Jen grabbed her handbag from the passenger seat, got out of the car and locked the doors with the central locking contraption. Making her way toward the lift she began creating possible conversations in her mind, wondering what on Earth it was she would say to him. She pushed the up button and waited for the lift to arrive, her heart feeling as though it would pound out of her chest at any moment. Compose yourself, Jen, she thought trying to calm herself down. You're acting like a teenager about to ask out a boy for the first time for crying out loud!
"Jennifer".
Nick's voice, which had spoken her name as he strolled up behind her, startled her and she jumped with fright.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you".
"No, it's okay, just having one of those mornings".
"I take it you've read page 3 of today's paper?"
"Yeah, that article happens to be the reason I'm having one of those mornings, actually".
"I know what you mean, was a bit of an unpleasant surprise for me too'.
"You reckon we'll be getting a call from the lovely people of SIS anytime soon?"
"Yeah, I reckon we might even be lucky enough to have them pop in for a cup of tea".