I honestly don't know what to think about this chapter, but I hope you all enjoy.

Kinney used to be a songwriter. Back in college, she used to play in obscure cafés and quaint nightclubs that most people found lame. She felt so lighthearted, finally free to do what she wanted with her life. But working at an agency, it would be embarrassing if someone found out, and she's managed to keep it under wraps for a long time. Still, it was one of the few things in her life that ever made her truly happy.

Of course, if she was honest with herself, it was never just the music that made her happy. It was being around people, having things to talk about, having a life. Her small community of fellow singer/songwriters was close knit and friendly. It was within that group that she met a very handsome boy who stole her heart, took her on an impromptu road trip, and left her pining after her very own Bobby McGee.

That was alright. The young tended to heal fast, and she moved on shortly after swearing she was going to die of heartache. The first boy became little more than an occasionally fond memory, and later she realized he was an asshole nine times out of ten. The next one was pretty much the same, but that wasn't the point.

The point was, she got good at finding asshole material, and Jacobs fit the bill.

He treated her like she was his subordinate rather than his colleague, always insisting he was right and that her ideas were stupid. Not that he outright called her ideas stupid, but enough was said in his tone as they debated what questions to ask the victims' families. And the worst part was, he was right most times too. Still, that didn't mean he had to make her be the one to write everything down and complain when she didn't type fast enough or accurate enough or that she paraphrased on of his precious questions. It was infuriating. He was infuriating, and she had half a mind to...

Who was she kidding? She'd always been a pushover, and that wasn't about to change anytime soon, and she wasn't gonna do squat about his attitude. So, she bit her lip and nodded, muttering apologies where they were supposedly warranted. She should just be glad he didn't send her to fetch his coffee, although that might only be because he was particular about his cup of joe.

For all that he presented a tough exterior, Jacobs was picky. He was a picky eater, picky about his coffee, picky about his work, picky about his chair. He liked his comfort, and she would go so far as to say he was spoiled with it. How he managed to be swathed in cotton yet be so confident in his abilities as an agent was a mystery to her.

Kinney had lived most of her live in uncomfortable places in very uncomfortable situations, but she was subdued and always second guessed herself. Sh wondered why that was, but maybe none of it mattered. Maybe it was ordained from birth, the kind of person someone would grow to be. Maybe she needed to stop letting her mind wander.

"Damn, you're an awful speller," Jacobs commented as she murdered the backspace button with her index finger.

She switched to using her middle finger, making him laugh. She glared at him.

"You're almost as threatening as a kitten when you scowl like that," he taunted. "Just needs more practice."

Kinney sighed and gave up on being mad, running a hand through her unruly hair. She should cut it again. It was getting too long to manage but was still too short to pull back away from her face.

"C'mon, we're almost done," Jacobs said. "Don't know about you, but I take my work seriously."

'Only if you like it,' Kinney grumbled internally, getting annoyed again.

"Okay, so let's review the opening statement," Jacobs suggested.

"You make it sound like a court case," Kinney remarked.

Jacobs shrugged. "My girlfriend is a law student. Jargon must be rubbing off."

'An asshole like you has a girlfriend?' Kinney wanted to ask, but it was none of her business, and the less she knew of Jacobs the better. Otherwise, he'd wanna know more about her, and that was never happening.

"Okay," Kinney huffed. "Opening statement starts off as…"

She made a sweeping gesture to Jacobs since it'd been decided between them, mostly by him, that he should be the one talking during the questioning.

Jacobs cleared his throat. "Hello, Mr./Ms. so-and-so, we're with animal control and heard about your relative's passing. We understand it was an animal attack, and we're in the process of apprehending the animal responsible. Would it be alright if we asked you some questions just to get a feel for your relative's common routes of travel so we could better track it?"

"That sounds awful," Kinney commented.

Jacobs frowned. "How so?"

"Well, for lots of reasons, but mostly because you sound like you're reading off a script."

Jacobs looked at her screen pointedly. "I am reading off a script."

Kinney narrowed her eyes. "You ever get questioned in the aftermath of a deceased relative?"

"Well, no, but…"

"Well, if it sounds like a script, I'm pretty sure they're gonna shut the door in your face."

"Okay!" he shouted, standing up to tower over her. "Give me a break, okay? It's my second time reading it all the way through, and posing as a glorified dog catcher isn't in my job description!"

Kinney would be lying if she said she hadn't meant to needle Jacobs, but having him yell at her wasn't supposed to be so damn scary. She gripped the arms of her swivel chair and cursed herself for being so dumb. It was never good to piss off an asshole without anticipating consequences. It was like poking at a bear and wondering why it decided you were a good choice for lunch.

And then this particular bear decided to give her a pass, and Jacobs plopped himself back in his chair, his arms dangling off the edges. "Look, I think we're both tired. Maybe we should continue this tomorrow."

"Okay," Kinney agreed, willing her voice to hold steady.

Jacobs nodded and rubbed at his eyes. "Okay, but keep in mind we need to move fast on this thing. I wanna be ready by end of the work day tomorrow."

That wasn't much time, but Kinney nodded, afraid of being quarrelsome. "Sounds good."

"I'll give you a ride home."

The offer was supposed to be nice, but it came out as a command, and Kinney found herself nodding once again.


"You pissed me off," Kinney blurted out as they walked out of the building.

Jacobs blinked. "What, when?"

As far as he could tell, their day had been productive and efficient. He and Kinney got along better than they ever had since the days when they didn't acknowledge each other. When had he had time to piss her off?

"From the time you got back with your coffee."

Silence fell between them until Jacobs spoke again.

"Why didn't you tell me I was pissing you off?"

"Would it have done any good?" Kinney asked.

Jacobs chuckled. "Hard as it is to believe, yeah, it would've. I don't particularly care about the feelings of others, but anger gets in the way of good work."

"Read that off a fortune cookie?" Kinney asked, a hint of a smile playing on her lips, but her eyes were wary.

Jacobs snorted. "Kinney, you're funnier inside your head, so keep your jokes to yourself."

All mirth disappeared from her face, and she nodded once. "Okay."

It set off alarm bells in his head, but he couldn't say why. All he knew was that Kinney was constantly coming out of her shell only to retreat right back into it. It frustrated him.

"I was kidding," Jacobs clarified for her. "Maybe it's me who isn't funny."

Kinney tried for a smile, but it didn't come out right. It was like she didn't know how to be happy anymore. Jacobs figured that was one thing they had in common, and he let it rest until they were on the road.

"Kinney?"

"Yes?"

He thought carefully about what to ask her before settling on, "How'd you end up in the UPU?"

Kinney's eyes grew distant. "Had some trouble with a fellow agent, so I called in a favor and got myself hidden in the last place anyone would think to look for me."

"The UPU."

It wasn't much a revelation, but her attitude and behavior were indicators enough to guess what kind of person she wanted to avoid. Someone had done a number on her, although in what way, Jacobs couldn't be sure. Abusers left behind similar evidence, though, and he figured he knew all he needed to.

Kinney nodded. "I like it there. It's quiet."

"Until me," Jacobs added for her.

She shrugged. "You're not so bad, when you're not yelling."

The yelling, Jacobs realized, must've freaked her out. A tiny bud of respect for Kinney sprouted within him, because he knew it would've taken a lot of courage for her to speak up after having been scared like she was. It would've been easier for her to just shut down, and she probably had before.

"Can't promise I won't yell, but I'm not like whoever it is you're dodging," Jacobs assured her.

"I was counting on that," Kinney said. "You want to do good. He never did. The job was just a job, something for his own selfish ends."

She sounded like she was still trying to convince herself her new partner wasn't so bad, but Jacobs was glad she made an effort to set him apart from the asshole she trashed her career to hide from. They were making progress, slowly but surely, and they might even be good coworkers one day.

XXX

Jacobs dropped Kinney off, making sure she made it to her door safely, and took the long way home. His girlfriend had sent him an angry email with a PowerPoint attachment detailing why she was angry, complete with an outline of the main points and pictures to emphasize. He found it ridiculous, and he would've laughed if he didn't know that she was gonna be very bitchy when he walked through the door.

This time the issue was that his mother called. Raquel liked Jacobs's mother, but she hated how he used her as a buffer to his family. According to her, it wasn't a mature thing to do, especially since they weren't that serious.

Together for two years and cohabiting, but not serious. If that wasn't a red flag, Jacobs didn't know what was. And the worst part was, Raquel had a point. Their relationship was based off a shared need for a roommate to pay half the rent. They made financial sense together, and they were both so busy they hardly saw each other enough to fight.

When they did see each other, they fought seventy-five percent of the time, and their fights were wild. Most days it ended with wild making up too, which Jacobs didn't mind, but it wasn't good enough to build a relationship on.

"Your mother said you should call your brother, because it's his birthday today," Raquel started in on him before he could even remove his jacket.

Jacobs grimaced. "I'm not calling my brother."

Raquel scowled. "You gonna call you mother at least and explain to her why, or should I do that when she calls tomorrow asking for an explanation?"

"Well, if you're offering…" Jacobs tried to joke.

"Damn it, Aaron!" Raquel snapped. "I'm not your damn secretary, asshole!"

"Right, you're a barista with thousands of dollars-worth of student loans and counting," Jacobs sneered, knowing the cheap shot would hurt her.

A sour look poured over her face. "And as a barista, my job does not include stonewalling your family for you. I do that enough with my own, thank you very much."

"That's right," Jacobs said. "Your family is still pissy you live with a white guy, right, Chica?"

Raquel bristled. "Maybe they have a point, gringo. You're so much of a coward, you can't even call your own brother."

"My brother is in prison," Jacobs revealed, fed up with the argument. "He's in for murdering his wife, so forgive me if I don't wanna chat with the guy. As for my mother, she still thinks he's innocent even though he was caught on camera beating the shit out of his victim, and she's always trying to get me to use work resources to prove his insane claim. So yeah, I don't wanna talk to them, either of them, and if that makes me a coward, so be it."

Raquel was torn between egging him on and having mercy on him. But one piece of new information she had learned that day prevented her from letting it drop.

"You're just mad because you were banging his wife behind his back, and that's why he snapped."

Jacobs went still. "Who told you that?"

"Your mother."

"She had no right–" Jacobs started to say.

"Why not?" Raquel pushed. "She and I are practically friends from how much we talk. She said she liked me and thought I should know all the facts."

Jacobs noticed Raquel's quivering lip and knew she was hurt, but he didn't care. He just needed to be away from her, away from everyone who knew of his biggest mistake.

"We're done," he said in a state of forced calm that surprised even himself.

Raquel burst into tears and tried apologizing, assuring him that it didn't matter, that they could work it out and she just wanted him to know that she knew, but he couldn't even hear her. As much as she annoyed him, he did like her, but he wasn't gonna stick around and see the judgement in her eyes day in and day out. Because how could she not judge him? He certainly judged himself every single day, hated the guy in the mirror, hated everything, and tried so damn hard to make up for what he had done.

So, this seemed very forced to my eyes, but I needed to update. Also, I know not much is happening yet, but I wanted to give more insight into my characters' backgrounds. Walking that fine line of "how much do I reveal now?" you know?