Chapter Three: Depth Perception

Adrianna met Flack outside the precinct and they headed to a bar. He got the first round in and they found a table. At first they didn't really know what to say to each other. Adrianna finally broke the silence. "Why did you become a cop?"

"My dad was a cop and I always wanted to be like him" Flack replied "I wanted to be one ever since I can remember. You?"

"It's all I ever wanted to do since I can remember. I don't know why. No one in my family is a cop but I had to be different." She replied "My mom didn't want me to be a cop."

"Why not?" he asked.

"She said it wasn't a woman's job and that I wouldn't fit in because I come from a wealthy background and that cops are very hard to marry." Adrianna sighed. "She wanted me to be a lawyer or doctor but I didn't want to do that. The day I got my letter saying I'd been accepted into the police training academy I was so excited, she was very unhappy about it"

FLASHBACK

Flicking through the envelopes Adrianna spotted one addressed to her with the New York police department symbol on it. Excited she tore it open and took the letter out of the envelope and read it diligently. She'd been accepted into the police training academy. She screamed with delight. She jumped in her car and drove straight to her mom's house. After letting herself in she found her mom in the kitchen. "What are you happy about?" she asked.

"I've been accepted mom!" she squealed.

"Into law school?" she asked hopefully.

"No into the police training academy!" she replied gleefully.

"But you applied for law school!" replied her mom.

"Yeah I did but I've been accepted by the police training academy first. So I'm going to be a police officer" said Adrianna.

"We talked about this. It's not a woman's job" her mom, Marla, said angrily.

"I want to be a police officer mom. Not a lawyer or a doctor!" she snapped "It's my life and I make my own decisions"

"Young lady being a police officer is very dangerous. I don't want you getting hurt unnecessarily" replied Marla "Wait until you hear back from law school"

"I only applied to law school to keep you happy. I want to be a police officer!" retorted Adrianna "And it's up to me. It's my choice because it's my career not yours!"

"Adrianna" Marla said sternly "You will wait until the letter from law school arrives and that's final"

"No I won't mom. Get that into your head." Adrianna snapped "It's my life so butt out and mind your own business!"

"Don't talk to me like that!" Marla seethed

"I will if you insist on trying to make my life decisions for me!" Adrianna shouted "I'm going to be a police officer and you can't change my mind!" then she stormed off and headed home once more.

END OF FLASHBACK

"She still hasn't come round to the fact I'm a police officer. She's pleased I'm a detective because I'm out of the uniform" said Adrianna "We're all fine about it now I guess because we don't talk about it. I mean we're not a close as we could be but we still get on. She's still as patronising as ever about it. And she is very picky about who I date."

"That's what moms are for" said Flack.

"What about your mom?" she asked.

"She passed away a few years ago" replied Flack "She died of cancer. I miss her and there's not a day that goes by when I don't think about her"

"Sorry" she said.

"You don't have to be sorry" he shook his head. "We all die eventually. Her life was just cut short."

"We get a lot of that in this job" said Adrianna. "Are you close to your dad?"

"Yeah" replied Flack "He's retired now. We still go to ball games and knock back a few beers together. I don't know how I'll handle it when he passes away. We've always been close… I guess you're not very close to your dad."

"Close I hate him" she replied "We're estranged and have been for years. He's a disgusting human being and I want nothing to with him."

"Why what did he do?" asked Flack.

"I can't" she shook her head.

"Can't what?" frowned.

"I just can't tell you" she sighed. "Look, I'm sorry that I've been snapping at you lately"

"Since the Stephanie Bowden case?" he raised his eyebrow.

"Yes" she nodded. "I overheard you talking to Danny and Lindsay after we'd tied it all up. I heard what they said."

"Oh" he bit his lip, remembering that conversation. He very quickly saw that not only had she heard that conversation, she'd also heard the subtext.

"I know they don't like me so it wasn't a shock to hear but it hurt" she replied heavily. "It shouldn't do because I hear it all the time but it does"

"I think it was because the evidence seemed to back up the girl's version of events and she was very manipulative. She manipulated Lindsay. I think the way she presented herself just made Lindsay empathetic to her. I don't think she wanted to believe she was capable of that" Flack offered his perspective.

"It's not that" Adrianna responded quietly. "I worked sex crimes and saw victims and I understood what Stephanie seemed to be going through. It's just I could see through the lies. I've learnt how to read people and work out when they're lying. It hurt because they couldn't even admit to my face that I was right and bitched about behind my back"

"We shouldn't have" he replied. "I'm sorry"

"You defended me" she looked into his eyes. "Thank you"

He didn't know what to reply so he said: "I didn't know you used to be in sex crimes"

"It was a few years ago now" she nodded. "I was forcibly transferred from the unit to homicide about three years ago"

"Why?" he frowned taking a sip of his beer.

"I struggled to handle suspects appropriately. I used to get too physical with them and I'd lose it too fast in interview" she explained. "I didn't have enough patience to deal with it all. I hit a few suspects when I shouldn't have and I was warned a lot. In the end, after an interview where I totally lost and went for the suspect my captain told me if I didn't transfer that I would be kicked out of the force. He was softer on me than he should've been"

"Why was he soft on you?" he asked.

"Because he knew a bit about me. A bit about my past" She sighed heavily. "A bit nobody knows. It's a bit of a much bigger thing and I think he always knew there was more than I was letting on. If he hadn't known I wouldn't be a cop right now. I still see him from time to time. He's one of the only people I've met in the force who hasn't judged me."

"What did he know?" Flack quizzed. "You can. You can trust me"

She looked deep into his eyes and sighed deeply, something inside told her she could trust him with this. He was the only person who wanted to have a beer with her even if it was because he owed her one. She did like Flack, he wasn't like everyone else. He wasn't as judgemental towards her as everyone else. Judgemental and quick to judge suspects and jump to conclusions but not her. "Ok…when I was an adolescent my dad touched me inappropriately"

"He abused you sexually?" Flack asked, very shocked. In fact he'd almost never been this shocked in his life.

"Yes." She looked down "He would put his hands up my shirt and squeeze my breasts or put his hand up my skirt or down my trousers and touch my vagina and play with it. Sometimes he'd stick his fingers up there and move them around. It really hurt and sometimes it would even bleed. He didn't care"

"That's vile" said Flack, sickened by what her father had done to her when she was a teenager.

"Sometimes he'd walk in on me in the shower and watch me showering" she continued "And sometimes he'd touch me up too. Or masturbate in front of me. It was horrible and he told me not to tell anyone. It went on for three years. It didn't happen every day. I only spent ten days a month at his house and it didn't happen each day I was there. But it happened. I made sure I went to his house less and less but once or twice he came round to moms and touched me. When I was seventeen he raped my best friend. She pressed charges and had a rape kit done. But he paid them a million dollars and she dropped the charges. She moved away with her parents shortly after and I stopped going to my dad's full stop."

"No wonder you hate him" Flack shook his head "I can see why you got so angry with him. He deserved to be treated like a suspect. You were brave to even be in the same room as him after what he did to you"

"Brave yeah right. I just wanted to punish him" said Adrianna "He never got punished for repeatedly molesting me or my best friend."

"Do you accept money from him?" asked Flack.

"No the only time I have ever accepted money from him was when I moved into my own place because he owes me for touching me up when I was a teenager" Adrianna replied "I haven't accepted a dime from him since. I don't want his money or his apologies because it won't erase what he did. I don't talk to him, I don't see him and I don't accept money off him because I've cut him out of my life."

"So Ben was lying when he said you regularly accept money from him and are tight as hell with it?" he confirmed.

"Yes he was lying he only said it because he wants to be rich and expected me to accept my. dad's handouts. He wanted everyone to believe I'm a spoilt little brat when really I'm not. Everyone just thinks I am" said Adrianna.

"You do act like it sometimes" he said.

"I know I do" she sighed "I don't know why I do it because I'm not. I live off my own money, my own hard earned money and no one else's. I give the wrong impression which means everyone at twelfth thinks I'm a spoilt little brat, that I'm daddy's little girl and that I'm a little rich girl."

"Not everyone at twelfth thinks that" said Flack. Flack was different to everyone he worked with for the one simple reason. He did not see her as a spoilt little rich girl. He could see beyond that because he worked with her the most and he had gotten to know her a bit. He knew she paid her bills using her own money, he knew she lived in a regular apartment building and he knew she didn't have a big flashy car. He could see that she probably wasn't what everyone thought she was and he could tell that people insinuating that she was a spoilt little rich girl upset her. He knew what Danny had said earlier about her dad's clubs and her receiving a large sum of the money that they earned, had upset her.

"Yes they do" she sighed.

"No they don't" he shook his head "I mean it probably feels like it but they don't."

"Name one person who doesn't think I'm a spoilt little rich girl" said Adrianna.

"I don't really think you're a spoilt little rich girl" said Flack.

"You don't?" she asked, confused.

"No I don't" he shook his head "It's really judgemental and I've worked with you ever since you arrived. I've gotten to know you a little and I can see beyond the money, the wealthy father and privileged background. Yeah you come from money but it doesn't mean you live the lifestyle. People shouldn't judge what they don't know and don't understand."

"Oh" she said, going slightly red in the face.

"I'll admit when I first met you I believed what I heard and thought you were just a spoilt little rich girl like everyone else who comes from wealthy backgrounds. But now I'm not so sure. I think the more we work together and get to know each other the more my original perception of you disappears" explained Flack.

"If people gave me a chance and got to know me maybe they wouldn't see me as a spoilt little brat" she sighed "Maybe they wouldn't judge me as much"

"Maybe" he said before downing the last of his beer. He got another round and the mood lightened slightly. They enjoyed some friendly banter and joked around until the early hours of the morning. They left the bar around one am, staggering home drunk and reeking of booze having given their livers a good kicking.

The next day at work there was a rumour floating around about the pair of them. Adrianna was at her locker when one of her fellow detectives came up to her. "I heard you and Flack slept together last night. Is it true?"

"Excuse me?!" Adrianna exclaimed.

"Did you really sleep with Flack?" the woman asked.

"No I didn't sleep with him!" Adrianna snapped. "Who told you that bullshit?"

"Brogan" she shrugged. With that Adrianna stormed off to find brogan. When she did she questioned him and he told her he'd heard it from bob who'd heard it from mike who'd heard it from Jonas who'd heard it from Jude who'd heard it from Cass Mulhern, who was known for spreading nasty rumours around the precinct. Knowing this she realised Cass had most likely been the one who'd started the rumour. Feeling annoyed and disrespected she confronted Cass. "Have you been have you been telling people I slept with Flack?" she demanded.

"Yeah so what?" Cass sniggered.

"It's not funny" Adrianna retorted.

"Don't throw a hissy fit" Cass laughed.

"Why have you been telling people I slept with Flack?" she demanded angrily.

"Because I can" Cass shrugged. "Nah, I just thought everyone could do with a laugh. Everyone knows it's not true because we all know he isn't dumb enough to sleep with you."

Adrianna was suddenly breathless, like she'd been punched in the stomach by a heavyweight boxing champion. "You cow" she hissed. Cass laughed happily before tottering off. Adrianna stood there for a moment catching her breath. How dare she say that? It was cruel! And not only that he had been the one who'd taken her out!

Once she had caught her breath, Adrianna made her way over to her desk when she bumped into Flack. "Have you heard the rumour about us sleeping together?" he asked.

"Yes I have and Cass started it for fun" she replied, not adding what Cass had said to her minutes before.

"It's not even funny" said Flack "Even if we had slept together there's no need for everyone in this precinct to know."

"No I know there's not" said Adrianna. "If she does it again I will punch her so hard she won't be able to smile for a month. That'll teach her to start rumours about me"

But the rumour continued to float around and she would hear whisperings that she had paid him because he wasn't the type to sleep with spoilt little brats like her. She set everyone straight, which rubbed nearly everybody up the wrong way.

It had even reached the lab and when Flack headed out to his crime scene he was asked about it. "I heard you and Adrianna slept together last night" said Danny "Honestly I can't believe you'd sleep with her! She's a spoilt little rich girl."

"I didn't sleep with her Danny!" Flack replied "Cass from my precinct started that stupid rumour for fun. She must've seen us heading to the pub together and just assumed that we slept together."

"You went to the pub with her?" asked Danny

"Yeah I owed her one for taking care of the last five witnesses at that stag-do quadruple homicide" replied Flack "And we had a great time. We had a bit of a heart to heart about our personal lives then we had a laugh and got wrecked."

"You had a heart to heart with Adrianna. Are you serious?" Danny said with a very judgemental tone to his voice.

"Yeah so what?" Flack shrugged "You know if you gave her five minutes she's not half bad. I think she's fine"

"She's a spoilt little rich girl" said Danny

"Honestly that's a load of bullshit Danny. I don't know why you're being such a judgemental ass about her" retorted Flack.

"Flack I'm asking you as a friend" replied Danny "Do you have feelings for this woman?"

"What?" Flack frowned. He thought about it for a moment. Ok this was something that was hard to answer. She was an incredibly attractive woman there was no denying that. She had, in his opinion, one of the nicest asses he had ever seen and a lovely pair of breasts. And she had the biggest and most beautiful green eyes and gorgeous brown curls. She had a curvy figure but wasn't too skinny so that you could see her ribs. But aside from the physical she did have a deep and interesting personality which he was keen to explore further. He was quite keen to get to know her more and get past the charade of her brattish behaviour. He was certain it was an act for some reason. And after last night's conversation he was more certain than ever. She'd opened up about her dad to him and they'd gotten on pretty well. He liked Adrianna, there was something about her that really got him and he wanted to know what it was. Every time he saw her he would smile for some reason, and not because she was incredibly sexy, but because she intrigued him. She was a bit of a mystery to him and he quite wanted to solve it. He wasn't sure they were romantic feelings yet, maybe lustful feelings. He was definitely attracted to her and not just because she was sexy. But he didn't want to tell Danny the truth because he was being a judgemental ass. "No of course I don't"

"Thank god" Danny said quietly "Nearly had to have your head tested"

"Stop being such a judgemental ass Danny" Flack said sternly. "You're not usually this judgemental"

"I have a problem with rich people" replied Danny "They keep all their money for themselves and never help the poor, never help the homeless. The people in need living in poverty, living on the streets. No they drive around in big SUV's and live in big, posh apartments with their flat screen TV's, laptops and iPhones. It's not fair"

"So you dislike Adrianna because she comes from a rich background?" asked Flack "You think because she was privileged as a child she's a selfish cow who doesn't help people and leaves people to suffer?"

"Well yeah" said Danny

"You judgemental ass" Flack shook his head.

Danny didn't reply and continued on processing the scene.

A few days later Flack and Adrianna went out for another beer. Making sure they weren't seen they met around the corner and went from there. They ordered in a round and found a table where they chatted over their beers. They ended up talking until nearly three am the next morning when they were ejected from the bar by the landlord. He walked her back to her apartment and said goodnight to her before heading home himself.

Thankfully this time there were no rumours floating around about them which was one hell of a relief. People would just make unjust judgements about them again and assume all the wrong things as usual. Not only that, she would end up on the receiving end of their colleagues cruel taunts. Something which happened frequently. And he couldn't deal with Danny's judgemental assiness.

Meeting up for a quick beer or a long few beers, became a sort of regular thing between them. Adrianna started to feel like maybe not everyone thought she was a spoilt little rich girl. He obviously didn't think she was because if he did he wouldn't go out for a beer and a chat with her. She was also starting to realise something else, she was developing feelings for him which she never expected she would. Not like this anyway. She had always liked him, he was the kind of guy she liked, funny, street smart, sarcastic, honest, and firm but fair when he needed to be. She was falling for him. She liked everything about him. She loved his cheeky sense of humour and his sarcastic comments. She liked his smile and his big blue eyes. But most of all she loved his personality. It was perfect to her.

And he was starting to realise the same thing. He was developing feelings for her because he was slowly but surely falling for her. The more they went out for a beer and talked and got to know each other, the more he got to know her. This led to her doing something she struggled with. She let him see who she was and he got to know who she really was. And the real her, he liked very much. So the more he got to know her, the real her, the more he liked her. When she was with him she dropped her spoilt little rich girl charade and became just another regular citizen. She wasn't self-centred, vain or obsessed with money. She had desires to help the homeless and had been involved in a scheme to help them get into shelters and rebuild their lives. She didn't slag people off or talk about people as if she were better than them. He knew all she wanted to do was be accepted by people and for people to believe she wasn't a spoilt little rich girl. He liked her true personality, who she really was, because that real person under that charade was beautiful. Was perfect and she couldn't see it.

Soul-mates

Are the people who bring out the best in

You

They are not perfect but

They are always perfect for

You

- James Allen