Disclaimer: I do not own Rookie Blue.
Andy woke the next morning to sunlight streaming through the partially closed window curtains. It took a second for her to remember where she was and how she had come to be in this situation. Bomb. Sam. Luke. Nick. Cover apartment. The events of the day before seemed like a dream.
Stifling a yawn, she swings her feet out of bed and pauses for a moment to gather her thoughts. She hadn't slept well last night; just lay there tossing and turning, hearing the words Sam said to her over and over again.
I love you Andy. I do. You don't have to do anything. I'm going to do it all. I'm going to do everything. I'm going to show you every single day until you say yes.
He left her standing in the rain outside the Penny over a month and a half ago, but the pain of the breakup still causes an ache in her chest whenever she thinks about it. After hearing him confess his feelings, albeit in a slightly cruel fashion with the joke about Grey's Anatomy, she felt like they might slowly be able to start over… again.
But then the opportunity for the task force was thrust into her lap and the words her mom spoke to her also play on a loop in her brain.
You're young. You've got your whole life ahead of you. Don't be that girl. That girl that lets some guy get in the way of everything she wants to accomplish. Trust me, you'll regret it.
So she chose the task force, but, God, she misses Sam. Just being close to him yesterday, for the first time in a while, was intoxicating. The slight smell of the bar soap he uses in the shower, his soft cotton shirts, and those brown eyes that are fathoms deep and hold so many closely guarded emotions and secrets.
To leave last night without being able to say goodbye to him made her pause slightly before leaving 15 Division. But, at the same time, she remembers him leaving abruptly without a goodbye during the Jamie Brennan operation. And he had broken up with her. She didn't really owe him a goodbye, although she wonders if it might make it harder for him to forgive her once she returns.
Deciding to stop dwelling on things she can't change she gets up and walks out into the living room. Glancing over at the couch, she notices the fold out mattress has been replaced to its original position and the blankets are folded neatly at one end.
"Nick," she calls out, only to have silence greet her. Glancing toward the kitchen, she notices a piece of paper sitting on the counter. She walks over to pick it up and sees Nick's small, but neat handwriting.
First day of work. I should be back around six. Maybe you can go and explore the neighborhood; see what kind of gossip might be floating around about Dmitri and his crew.
- Nick
After eating a bowl of cheerios Andy hops in the shower and quickly gets ready. Making sure to grab her apartment keys, she set off to explore the neighborhood that she now calls home. Walking in the direction of the convenience store she saw last night she passes a few restaurants, a Laundromat, and a store selling cheap cotton T-shirts with cliché phrases. There is not a lot of traffic on the street and her general impression is that this side of town is neglected. There are no perfectly manicured parks, just concrete apartment buildings, a few shops, and industrial buildings this close to the wharf.
She heads into the convenience store to pick up a few items. Their kitchen is already fairly well stocked, but she has always had a weakness for blueberry muffins and Coca Cola. She also grabs a box of brownie mix thinking she could make some as a surprise for Nick before he comes home today. Heading down one last aisle, she grabs some tampons and a razor because she knows there is no way Nick would have any of those handy. At the checkout counter she picks up an issue of Cosmo to flip through since she obviously won't be doing anything exciting for a while.
Leaving the store, she glances to the right and sees a small coffee shop just down the street. Deciding to grab her morning dose of caffeine she heads in that direction. Walking in, she immediately notices a young blonde girl sitting in a corner. She is alone and seems like she is trying to make herself as invisible as possible.
"What can I get for you this morning?" asks the chipper barista.
"Umm… I'll have a medium vanilla latte," replies Andy. That's usually not her drink of choice, but this is a new life and maybe Alex likes vanilla lattes.
After receiving her drink she walks over to a small table and sits down, facing the direction of the girl. She grabs Cosmo out of the grocery bag and starts to idly flip through it while glancing up at the girl every now and then. While skimming an article titled Seven Sexy Things to Say in Bed, a shrill ringtone sounds from the corner. The blonde girl quickly answers her phone and starts talking in rapid Russian. Or at least Andy thinks it's Russian. Not being a language expert, it's a little hard to be definite. Bingo, she thinks. She waits for the girl to hang up her phone and flips through a few more pages of her magazine before making her way over to the girl's table.
"Excuse me," she says, with a smile on her face. "I'm Alex. I just moved to the neighborhood. Would you be able to tell me some of the good restaurants or bars around here?"
The girl looks shocked for a moment before she smiles slightly and replies with an accent, "Hello. I'm Natalia."
"Do you mind if I sit down?" Andy asks. Natalia gestures that it's fine so Andy takes a seat. "How long have you lived in the area?"
"Three years," Natalia replies. "It is not the nicest spot in the city, but it is home and it is what I can afford."
"Yeah, that's why my boyfriend and I ended up over on this side of town," adds Andy. "Plus he just got a job working at one of the shipping yards so it's pretty close to his work. Do you have a job?"
"Yes," Natalia says. "I work at Entice. It is a local nightclub."
Double bingo, thinks Andy. "Oh, that's great! Do you know if they're hiring? I really need a job and I have experience working as a waitress at a nightclub."
"I am not sure," Natalia says evasively. "It is very hard to get hired there. It is a very private club."
Andy's face falls a little. "Well if anything opens up would you please let me know?"
Natalia hesitates before she nods yes. The two women chat for a bit about the great food to be found in some of the local restaurants and which shop owners try to rip you off if you are not careful. Before leaving, Andy asks for Natalia's phone number. "I really don't know anyone in the city and it would be nice to have at least one friend," she adds with a smile.
"Ok," Natalia replies, ripping off a piece of paper from a newspaper nearby and scribbling her number on it. Andy does the same and they exchange numbers.
"I'm so glad I met you Natalia," Andy says genuinely.
"It was nice to meet you too Alex," Natalia agrees.
Andy walks out of the coffee shop with a smile on her face and heads back in the direction of her apartment. She thinks to herself that maybe this operation might not be so hard after all.
Andy tidies up the apartment and has dinner ready and the brownies cooling on the counter when Nick arrives home from work shortly after six.
"Hey," he says. "Smells great!"
"Thanks!" Andy says. "I'm just trying to show some appreciation for my boyfriend who has been hard at work all day. How did it go?"
"It was… interesting," Nick replies. "It's really hard to get a read on these guys. I'm the new guy so they all seem like they're being very cautious. I didn't see any evidence of illegal activity all day. I can see why it's been hard to pin any criminal activity on them. They're very good at hiding the true nature of the business."
He picks up a plate and dishes himself dinner while they both sit down to eat. "And get this," he adds exasperated, "Dmitri isn't even in the country. Most of his business dealings are dealt with in Russia. He has two men that he trusts to run his business for him; Petre Yusil and Victor Komova. So, it looks like I have to get close to them before we can make any headway on Dmitri."
"So, what?" Andy asks. "We just have to wait until Dmitri shows up in the country and hope we have enough evidence by then to take him down?"
"It looks like it," Nick says. "The only useful piece of information I heard today was that he's going to be bringing a big shipment to Canada in a few months. I think that's going to be our window of opportunity. This is not going to be easy." Nick releases a sigh before asking, "How was your day?"
"It was pretty good actually," Andy says. "I took your advice and went and walked around the neighborhood. I stopped in a coffee shop and met a girl named Natalia. She works at Entice." Nicks eyebrows rise in disbelief. "Yep. We exchanged phone numbers. I'm hoping she'll become Alex's new BFF since I don't have any friends in the city. I think she might be my best shot of getting access to the club."
"That's great Andy," Nick exclaims. "Hopefully we can work that angle to finish this operation up. The sooner we can go home, the better." He stands and takes his plate over to the sink to rinse it off. He quickly stoops to inhale the scent of the brownies and turns with a smile on his face toward Andy when the cell phone sitting on the counter rings. Walking over to it with a puzzled look on his face, he picks it up and answers, "Hello?"
