Chapter 16: None of your damn business

The one where they take a course on appropriate workplace behaviour.


"Alright everyone, settle in." Sargent Grey commanded as he entered the conference room. "Just a few short announcements, today." He said, opening his notebook. "East side PD has asked for collaboration arresting a gang od drugs smugglers that been active in their area."

"The yakuzas?" Tim asked from the back of the room where he sat with the other T.O.'s

"Yes, they believe they operates here and Downtown, so if your contacts know something about this, let me know." Everyone nodded and Sargent Grey turned the page on his book. "On another note, the workplace behaviour seminar has been running in the station from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. and the last session is tomorrow, so everyone that hasn't gone yet, goes tomorrow."

"Sir…" Nyla started to argue but Sargent immediately stopped her with a raise of the hand.

"No sir. It is a mandatory course by the LAPD and your hours are payed, there's no complaining possible."

"We did it 2 years ago…" Tim explained, things couldn't possibly had changed so much that they had to do it again.

"And you are doing it again tomorrow Bradford." Grey explained in his most annoyed tone. "Whoever doesn't show up, gets a demerit."

"Fun." Muttered Angela under her breath and Tim and Nyla nodded their agreement.

"Make me proud everyone." Grey said smugly, rubbing his hands together. "Stay safe everyone."

Tim huffed and stood up. Just his luck, he hatted mandatory seminars. They were boring, useless and a waste of precious time off. Besides, who likes to be stuck in a room for 3 hours and listen to some random person telling you how to act and judging every word you say? A freaking mental person.

"Hey, I have everything ready." Lucy informed, carrying their two war bags on her shoulder.

"Great." He answered moodily.

"Are you really moody because of the seminar?" Lucy asked with a smirk. She had done many seminars in Collage that one more didn't really bother her. "Seminars are good for you; they teach you new technics and new rules that you might have forgotten or changed since training…"

"You are one of those people, aren't you?" He asked as he opened the trunk for her.

"What people?" she laughed.

"The one who likes to listen to people talk for hours on how you should act and think."

"No one is going to tell you how to act and think Tim." Lucy rolled her eyes as she opened the passenger side's door and sat down. "LAPD just wants to prevent lawsuits."

"Please Boot." Tim answered in disbelief. "You really think some sociologist or whatever can actually understand what it means to work in the environment we work?"

"Ouch." Lucy muttered and Tim looked at her and rolled his eyes.

"You know what I mean. you can have a degree in psychology, but you are a cop in the first place." Tim defended but Lucy simply rolled her eyes. "What you think someone who hasn't seen what we have, doesn't have our training can tell us how to act around each other?"

"They are trying to make LAPD a more inclusive and modern department." Tim coughed and Lucy turned her body towards his in disbelief. "What? are you going to say that PD is inclusive and provides equal treatment of Man and women?"

"Have I ever treated like you weren't my equal?" Tim asked looking sideways at her and Lucy shrugged her shoulders. He smirked because he could tell that she was mocking him. "Ok, I rephrase have I ever treated you any different from Nolan and WEST?"

"No but this isn't about us, in specific." Tim smiled softly when she phrased them as us. In his brain that almost had a romantic connotation. "A lot of people still think women can't do this job and we think every man is going to treat as less so there's bound to be conflict…"

"Still I don't like it and I think it's a waste of time." He answered in a tone of finitude, almost like an annoyed little boy.

"you are as stubborn as a door." Lucy muttered as a call for an armed burglary came through the coms.

"I'll see how you like tomorrow then, Boot."

"I can't wait." Lucy responded smirking; she would enjoy seeing Tim squirm in discomfort tomorrow.

The next afternoon Lucy arrived with a few minutes to spare. She went to the break room prepared herself a warm cup of coffee and walked towards the conference room on the second floor. She pushed the door open to find the room almost filled to the brim, apparently everyone who could postponed the seminar till the last they. She scanned the crowd until she found the familiar faces of her team members. She smiled softly when she found Tim's grumpy shape on one of the last rows. John, Jackson and Nyla on the row in front of him and Angela on a seat to his left and an empty seat on his right.

"Hello guys." Lucy greeted with a smile, but she was met with a grumble from everyone. "Oh, come on guys. With that attitude, of course the day will suck."

"young inexperience." Angela joked.

"Chen, seminars are a waste of time and oxygen." Tim explained.

"Got to agree with Bradford on this one." Nyla admitted, turning towards them. "It's just a bunch of talk that is useless on the job and another opportunity for someone to judge your character as a cop."

"I still think you are going about it wrong." Lucy answered with a shrug of the shoulders and smacked Tim when he took the coffee cup from her hand and pulled it towards his lips. "Hey, that's mine."

"Not anymore Boot."

"Appropriation of a colleges property and so-called terms of endearment are not the best conduct to have on the workplace as they have a tendency to cause conflict." A woman in her late forties said as she entered the conference room and passed them towards the stage. Tim rolled his eyes and muttered a I told you so to Lucy. "I'm Beatrice Spencer and I'm a Psychologist with a master's in social behaviour in the workplace. Before we start, I want to know who here has done a seminar like this before." Almost all the group raised their hands, except for a few people. "We have a good group repeating so this should be fairly easy for all of you." When no one laughed the woman swallowed dryly and Lucy had to elbow Tim to prevent him from grinning. "Okay so we'll start with a basic PowerPoint presentation, a little case discussion and then our team meetings."

"Team meetings, ma'am?" Asked an Officer, who sat a few rows in front of them.

"Yes, this year we decide that those who work in teams, should have an accessory meeting." She explained with a nod of the head. "Because most conflicts with co-workers appear between partners and an adequate partner relationship is fundamental for the efficient work of LAPD."

"What a load of crap." Tim muttered a little too loudly and Lucy glared at him when Beatrice focused her gaze on them. "Sorry." He said louder but his expression expressed how unapologetic he was.

"You are gonna get a red sticker." Lucy muttered to Tim and he simply flashed her his proud smirk.

"Tell us something we don't know." Angela muttered and the entire group laughed softly as Beatrice started her presentation.

"What? Sargent Grey said we had to come, not cooperate." He answered, crossing his arm over his chest and Lucy fought back a smile.

The presentation wasn't bad per say, Lucy though. It was just flat an inadequate to the LAPD. It was a good presentation if they worked in an office but considering their line of work, it felt short. Not that Lucy would ever admit that to Tim, he had looked already too smug when she yawned.

"Alright everyone." Beatrice added after a short pause. Lucy felt sorry for her she did. It was hard to keep people focused on something they weren't interested in. Lucy felt like she was back in 9th grade an Mr. Binks class learning about derivatives. "How about we do some exercises to see if you caught everything?"

"What beside having poor manners, we are dumb too!?" Tim asked rhetorically, earning a grin from Angela and a reprimand from Lucy.

"She's just doing her job." Defended Lucy, almost pleading with him.

"And I'm just showcasing my personality in a controlled manner." Tim stated.

"You call this controlled?" Lucy asked with googled eyes.

"I' haven't left yet, have I?" Tim smiled at her and Lucy shook her head. If she wasn't such a teacher's pet and hatted being chastised, she would have laughed.

"Hum, Hum." Coughed Beatrice from the front of the room, regaining everyone's attention. "Alright so situation number 1: Your partner just committed a serious mistake do you A approach the situation calmly after it is over and go over the correct procedure or B do you reprimand their harshly on scene?"

"A." Answered almost everyone as Tim, always against, answered a harsh and quick B. Beatrice turned towards him and Lucy rested her head on her hands. Here we go again.

"And why do you think B is the correct answer Officer…?"

"Bradford. In my personal experience, people learn better when they are corrected mediately and with severity, your memory is most likely to remember an embarrassing situation than just a little you'll do better next time." Tim stated.

"But you are aware that that attitude can cause stress on the other officer and create a fracture on your relationship?" Beatrice asked with a grin and Lucy thought she looked a little to smug for someone who was "under fire".

"Maybe but if he cracks under so little pressure, he's not fit to be a cop and I'm not here to make friends but serve and protect." He answered in his typical Tim Bradford manor and Lucy rubbed her forehead.

"Interesting view Officer Bradford, thank you." Beatrice answered but took a note on her laptop. "So, situation 2: your partner is having a hard time handling a more sensitive situation do you A: push him to get through it and make him confront similar situations or B refer him to a specialist for adequate assistance?"

"B." Lucy kicked Tim on the shin when he started uttering A and he winced. Her reaction wasn't fast enough because Beatrice had turned her gaze towards them already.

"That hurt boot." Tim whined, rubbing his shin with his other leg.

"I swear to god that if she wrights something about you again, I'll feed you to the lions at the zoo." Lucy muttered through clenched teeth.

"That's not appropriate workplace language." He teased.

"Tim, I swear to god." She warned and he smirked, resting his back comfortably against the chair.

"Soo…maybe we make a small interruption and we return afterwards with the groups, first Angela Lopez and Jackson West." Beatrice said smiling but Lucy could tell that it was a little strained. "Oh, maybe during break you could look at some of the brochures. I think that a look at the one about appropriate workplace apparel would be interesting for some of you."

Lucy felt Beatrice gaze on her and blushed looking down at her clothes. She hadn't thought anything of it when she got dressed but now, she felt more self-conscious. She wore her typical skinny black jeans and a black bodysuit with a deep v and a checkered blazer on top.

"Is she talking about me?" Lucy asked Tim, as she got up and pulled her jacket tighter over her chest.

"Think so Boot." Tim patted her on the back.

"And here I was trying to defend her from your sour disposition." Lucy pouted, earning a smirk from Tim.

"I'm not sour." Tim argued. "Does that mean we get to give her hell on our private meaning?"

"No that means we try to get through as quickly and as painless as possible." She warned, pointing her finger at him and he swatted it away playfully.

"You are no fun." Tim mocked her and Lucy simply rolled her eyes at him.

"Hey Lucy for that record, that outfit totally flatters your body." Angela said, winking at Tim, as she passed by the younger Officer, who simply blushed. Tim tried to look as interested in his phone as possible, afraid that someone could tell that he too had noticed how good Lucy looked.

Tim and Lucy waited with Nyla, John and a few other officers for their own sessions. Tim busied himself playing Mahjong while Lucy took the opportunity to choose a nice dress to wear for Easter. Sooner than they expected Angela and Jackson exited the room.

"So?" Asked Lucy, looking up from her phone at the duo. "How was it?"

"Normal, I guess." Answered Jackson.

"Just a couple routine questions and then she said our evaluation would be send to Grey." Angela explained and Tim looked up from his phone.

"Evaluation?" Asked Lucy with concern.

"Yeah, you guys are up next." Angela said with a pitiful smile. "I promised West I would join him and his mother for dinner." Angela nodded her goodbyes and left.

Lucy looked at Tim as he got up from his chair. "I swear to God if you don't behave."

"I'll behave if she behaves." Tim opened the door before Lucy could answer so she simply huffed and smiled softly when Beatrice turned to look at them.

"Officer Bradford and Officer Chen please come in and take a seat." She said point to the two chairs in front of her. Tim offered the first chair to Lucy and went around her to take the other. "Well, Officers. I know you have been working together for 8 months now, would you say you are good partners?"

"Yes ma'am." Lucy answered promptly and Tim simply nodded in agreement.

"Would you say you two got along from the start?"

"It takes a while for partnerships to form." Tim answered shortly. He would corroborate but he wasn't going to offer more information than necessary.

"Yes of course, but would you say it was a smooth transition or were there conflicts?" Beatrice asked.

"Like everything, we disagree in certain areas but have managed to always find common ground and do our job." Tim explained shortly.

"Lucy, would you say Officer Bradford has a very …specific training method?"

"Uhmm…"

"You can be honest. This is a safe place, nothing you say will come back to you…" Beatrice assured with a smile that looked too fake for Tim's liking

"Are you trying to imply anythi…" Tim started, rather aggressively.

"Officer's Bradford is a great T.O., demanding and strong headed but he does it because he wants his Rookies to become the best Officer's possible."

"And is Officer Chen receptive of criticism?"

"As receptive as the rest of Humankind." Tim answered sarcastically.

"I see." Beatrice nodded, typing on her computer. "Officer Chen have you ever felt that Officer Bradford treats you different than the other Rookies?"

"Of course not. I believe Officer Bradford treats me like any other Officer and I extend the same behaviour towards him."

"So the two off you are friends outside of work?" she asked casually.

"Yes." Said Lucy.

"We're acquaintances." Explained Tim and the two shared a look.

"Yes. One final question." Beatrice said raising her eyes toward them. "What about your partner bothers you and you wish to change?"

"And how is that relevant?" Asked Tim, folding his arms.

"Sometimes it takes a foreign mediator to bring problems into perspective." Explained Beatrice and Lucy looked at Tim who simply nodded, action that didn't go unnoticed to the Sociologist.

"I guess your lack of facial expression sometimes bothers me." Lucy explained, looking at Tim who had a confused look on. "I mean sometimes it would be nice to know what you are thinking, and I would like to drive more."

"Yeah not happening." Tim muttered and Lucy looked at him angrily when Beatrice typed something down. "I guess sometimes you meddle too much, and it would be nice if you dialled down on that new perfume of yours, it's too intense."

"I meddle too much?" Lucy asked in shock.

"I'm not saying it's a bad thing… sometimes it makes things harder to solve." He clarified.

"So me caring is not god." She counteracted.

"Of course not. If you didn't care, you wouldn't be a cop…" Tim ran his hand through his hair, why the hell did he agree to this?

"Good, I guess I got everything. I hope you use some of the things you learned to work through your issues. Enjoy the rest of your day off." She smiled and pointed to the door. Tim held the door for Lucy, she looked at him in confusion as she passed him.

"What the hell was that?" Lucy whispered-yelled at him. "You pissed her off."

"Oh please, she clearly doesn't like to be contradicted, so she tried to pin us against each other." Tim stated with a certain level of repulsion.

"And it kinda worked…" Lucy stated shamefully.

"Of course, it didn't Boot. I would have told you eventually that your perfume bothers me, I was just letting you enjoy it." He explained with a shrug. "Besides I know perfectly well what annoys you and how I annoy you."

"I guess."

"Come on I'll pay you a drink." Tim joked. "I'll let you tell me how much my face annoys you."

"Yes, Mr. Acquaintances." Lucy answered and Tim simply laughed.

"Chen, Bradford can I speak to you for a second?" Lucy and Tim exchanged a look when Sargent Grey called for them after row-call. The seminar had been almost a week ago, so the two taught nothing had come of it.

"Sir." Lucy tried to interject.

"I just got the report from the seminar…" Grey started and while Tim simply rolled his eyes, Lucy looked genuinely concerned. "Let's say Beatrice spencer had a lot to say about you two."

"I don't doubt." Tim said drily.

"She said, and I quote: Officer Bradford and Officer Chen are without doubt two very capable Officers but their dynamic shows some signs off worry." Lucy looked at Tim and even he looked slightly worried now. "Officer Bradford assorts a authority over Officer chen that is almost military-like and too overpowering and Officer Chen responds with oppressed fear and a strange loyalty." Tim prepared himself to interrupt but Grey stopped him with his hand. "The two certainty showcase a good off work relationship but their work dynamic doesn't prove to be profitable to LAPD."

"Sir, that clearly isn't…" Tim started

"I have two say, you are pretty good actors." Grey almost smirked and Tim and Lucy sighed in relief. "It's my duty to offer you the option to switch T.O.'s officer chen of you wish."

"I think, I'm going to stick it out sir." Lucy reassured, looking at her T.O. for confirmation.

"Good, now go do your jobs." Grey orders.

"That bitch, I can't believe she did that." Lucy muttered to Tim as he closed the door behind them.

"Told you seminars were full of shit." Tim smirked.

"Think they'll send a review form?" Lucy asked with a smirk of her own and Tim grinned.

"Oh, I sure hope so." Lucy laughed at his answer. Whoever didn't see that Tim and Lucy were a well-oiled machine was clearly blind. Those two went together like PB and J.


Here it is chapter 16. Another fun one. Sorry for the hours but I lost track of time, drawing for my bullet journal. Did you like it?

Chapter 17 is called In loving memory and it's a little more sombre. I have plans for a chapter were Lucy sings and one where Tim "hurts" Lucy, there will be no mentions of COVID-19 in my stories. They are an escape from reality and it will affect the film industry as we know.

Stay safe, XO.