Here we go again. Flashback or Memory in Italics. Please enjoy :)
Molly furrows her brow, observing Chris on the phone with Kira. She can't even pinpoint if her friend is more sad, angry, annoyed, or anything in between. Maybe even hurt. The way her friend is gesturing speaks volumes, and somehow, she feels like she is intruding on. Molly turns away.
Her thoughts wander back to the first time she heard about the couple. Chris had been so excited to share that and, very much unlike her, had talked a lot. She had clearly been infatuated by them. Molly had been incredibly curious to meet both of them and therefore very easily agreed to that brunch a couple of days ago.
She can still see it in her mind. When she had walked into the cafe pushing the stroller and looking around. She had seen the happy duo wrapped up in themselves and their little world.
Chris and Kira. They looked so happy and very much in love.
Ty had missed that brunch due to some sort of work requirement, so she hadn't yet met him and right about now Molly wasn't too sure she still wanted that. She knew Chris was smitten with Kira, and that alone was probably the reason she still clung to that relationship.
Should she say something? Offer any advice?
Probably not a good idea. Especially since she herself wasn't completely honest with the people in her life.
Molly rolls her eyes at herself. Technically she hadn't lied yet. Not to Chris and not to her father. Her thoughts go back to the little exchange they had just had. He always asked about Josie's dad. Like clockwork. And the truth is the man knows they are in LA. Still, her stomach gets a little queasy thinking about the moment she has to tell him the truth. But she can't. Not right now.
"Hey, we can leave now. She isn't going to make it." Chris's voice pulls her back to the parking lot; they had been waiting in for Kira to show up. This was one of two apartments Kira's friend had organized for them to look at, and the original plan had been to make a girl's night out of it. Josie was safe and sound with her grandfather and so they could've enjoyed the evening.
"Oh, what happened?" Molly asks and immediately spots the deep hurt on Chris's face. "Nothing, really," Molly can practically see the frustration roll off of her friend.
"She isn't coming. We can start." Chris sounds defeated, and Molly can't think of anything else to do other than wrap her arms around her friend.
Molly can see there is more and guesses this hasn't been the first time Chris was only option two on the list of priorities her partners set. She steps forward and pulls her friend into another hug. "We don't have to look at these tonight or at all. I can take the one the firm has organized. It is amazing."
"No, you need a place, and we are going to look at them." the defiant undertones make Molly chuckle slightly. But she can also see her friend is hurting.
"Did she say why? Is it work?" she softly asks to maybe calm Chris down.
Molly sees the pain flash over Chris's face. "Wedding planning with Ty. That takes precedence over our plans." Chris offers. "I get it. The wedding is coming up, and they have to get that fixed, but..." Chris shrugs her shoulders. Her heart hurts for her friend, and so she hugs her once again and then says. "Okay, let's do this."
Agreeing to a quick tour of the two places, but they don't come close to the place her firm had lined up, so the decision was easy. With her apartment chosen, she would move out of her father's place as quickly as possible.
Afterward, they grab a bite, eat at a corner restaurant and just talk. At first, only the light and fluffy stuff. Even how to decorate the new place once Molly has moved in, but Molly can see it is eating at Chris not to be a priority for Kira or Ty, and she just has to ask. "Chris, I know I promised not to be critical but seeing you like this, I just, I am worried about you. Why are you doing this to yourself?"
Molly listens to Chris's explanation, but she can't help but feel it is futile. The cracks are already there.
The rest of their evening is spent talking about different things she will have to get ready to move into the apartment and starting to organize that.
A few weeks later, Molly accompanies a client to her home just to get her stuff and be there for support, but things turned ugly quickly. Normally they would take an officer with them, especially if the spouse is known to be violent, but there hadn't ever been reports of domestic violence before. And so, LAPD had refused.
She only got out of there because her client had hit the man over the head with a pan. Molly still thinks it is a miracle they managed that.
Now she is here in the ring of SWAT HQ doing some simple stretches until Chris comes by to start this training. Molly hates the thought of needing to do this here, but Chris and her father had insisted she take a couple of self-defense lessons at SWAT. Just so they could be sure it was done right, or so her father had mentioned.
Her eyes wander along the rotunda in one swift motion. She probably looks haunted from an observer's point of view, and if she were honest, she feels unsafe. The space is too open for her liking right now.
Molly whirls around when she hears the bending of the ropes behind her. "I see you are ready!" Chris smiles at her. "I brought Rocker to try out what you can do."
Molly forces a smile. "Okay, so where do we start?"
"If you can, would you describe the scenario from a couple of days ago? That way, we can start there." Rocker suggests while doing just some warmup rope skips. Molly nods her head. She had expected something like that but not that she had to tell the story of her freezing in a space that public.
Both officers listen intently and then suddenly Rocker grabs her wrist, just like that creep did.
Chris's voice pulls her back to the ring. "That is just Rocker. And we are sorry for doing this to you. Your first reaction was pulling back, actually a good idea. Just a tiny bit of adjustment and one fluent motion." Chris walks over and pats her shoulder.
Rocker releases her wrist.
"Let us demonstrate, and then you can try again."
Watching Chris get free from Rockers hold on her wrist with what looks like a simple jerk makes Molly feel weak and incapable.
"I'll never get that."
"Don't say that. It's training, and then you can do that too." Chris stops her immediately and steps away. "Your turn."
They run through different scenarios and with every repetition Molly feels more secure and prepared in her movements. When she finally manages to get out of the chokehold from behind, she lets out a happy squeal until there is cheering from the side.
A group of officers has stopped and watched them. "Go, Molly!" she hears Luca's voice and blushes immediately. Right next to Luca, she can see Jim's face. He looks confused and surprised. And suddenly, she feels a jolt of motivation.
"Can we do that wrist hold again? The one I can't seem to get out of?"
"Remember quick step forward then twist, strike to the arm and out of there!" Chris whispers once more.
"Can we get someone else to play the attacker... my wrist is already sore," Rocker suggests and nods his head to the group of officers outside the ring.
"Don't be a baby. I thought you are a team leader!" Chris shoves him into position, and Molly can feel relief rushing through her. For a millisecond there, she feared she had to struggle out of someone else's hold.
They take positions and the second she feels the fingers curl on her wrist she does the by now ingrained movement and to her surprise it works on the first try.
That was just the motivation she needed. She knew she wanted to have similar opportunities for every lawyer in her firm. Every time they go with a client, they all should be able to defend themselves. And now she could prove that a day of training can make a hell of a difference.
Molly feels arms going around her, and just because of the session, she immediately pulls up her shoulders.
"Hey, take it easy. It's just me. Congratulations." Chris whispers in her ear, and Molly lets her shoulders relax again.
"You did it. But if dispatch ever refuses to send someone with you again, you call one of us." Rocker high-fives Molly and motions for Stevens to bring his phone.
"Put your number in, and I'll text you. Then you can reach me. And I am guessing if you'd need any other number, these guys would be happy to help out." He finishes with a motion of his head.
Molly dares to glance over once more and sees most of them still standing there. Just one seems to have left, and oddly that's the one she is looking for.
"Thanks. This is nice, but probably unnecessary... from what Chris said dad has been on the warpath, and I don't think they will dare to send me anywhere alone. Still, this was really helpful, and I think every one of my colleagues should take a class."
Their conversation gets interrupted by a couple of phones, including Rockers, going off. "Duty calls." He apologizes, and Molly squeezes his arm. "Be safe."
When she sees Chris's eyes, she mouths, "you too?"
"Yeah, they need me in tech. See you later?" And Chris disappears through the ropes and around the corner to the spec room. Molly looks in that direction a little longer and sees Jim following Chris in there. Again, her heart hurts, and she is asking herself once again: Why?
Why does it bother her? How did that even happen? Why had she never tried telling Chris the whole story, especially after last Christmas?
Before leaving HQ, Molly decides to visit her dad. Josie is safe with her babysitter, and so she still has some time. While she walks upstairs, she can see Jim and Chris walking out of tech again. It is one thing having Chris mentioning him and them talking on the phone but seeing them together. They seem to laugh about something, and at that moment, she realizes why she never wants to say something.
They look so natural together.
Molly is convinced that these two just need some more time, Chris barely had ended her relationship, and they would work it out. He had been the first person Chris called when she had finished packing.
Her mind drifts back to that evening:
Molly is pacing her living room nervously. Ever since Chris called 30 minutes ago, sounding teary and distraught, asking if she could stay over her head hadn't stopped running. She hoped her friend was driving safely.
So when the doorbell finally rings, she pulls the door open and ushers her friend in.
Without hesitation, she hugs Chris. She has never seen her friend like this.
After a while, when they have moved to the living room and steaming cups of tea in front of them, Molly decides to probe the situation gently.
"What happened?" she asks as softly as she can.
Chris takes a sip of her tea. "I don't know. I guess I realized that it would be the smarter choice to leave."
Molly has to restrain herself from rolling her eyes. This wouldn't help at all.
"Chris, it will be okay. You don't have to tell me anything if you don't want to, and of course, you can stay here as long as you need."
Chris looks up, and a small smile is on her face. "Thank you. I just want to tell you, but not tonight. I just want to enjoy your company and get a good night's sleep."
They again hug.
While Chris is in the bathroom, her phone starts ringing, and Molly's heart almost stops when she reads the name on the screen. Chris had told her multiple times that they weren't talking ever since their shared kiss.
After the call has stopped, a text shows up, and Molly can't help herself. She reads what little she can see on the lock screen. "Chris, I am sorry I missed your call. I just hadn't expected that. I am here if you still need to talk."
When Chris comes back out Molly informs her that her phone had rung and who had called, and she can see the smile on Chris's face reading his message. She even presses the button to call him back, and Molly's heart breaks just a little more, realizing that even in their distance, he was the first Chris called and wanted to stay with.
It had felt odd to see Chris's phone ring and seeing Jim's name on the screen. His full name.
The realization that even though they had been barely talking at the time, the first person Chris thought of calling was him. It was all Molly needed to know, not ever to tell Chris that story actively. Well, not anytime soon, at least.
Her brain tells her that her friend deserves to know, but Jim could tell her too; she tries to rationalize her own thoughts.
She turns and walks the rest of the way to her father's door. She can hear him yelling at someone, and then it sounds like the phone gets slammed back onto the table. She smiles to herself. Sometimes he can get really passionate.
Molly knocks on the door.
"Enter." her father beckons her to come in. "I am not one of your officers, but that tone is scary either way. What's wrong?"
"Nothing, just those bureaucrats at central. If there isn't a complaint on record... yada yada yada."
"Calm down, dad. Next time I'll file a complaint first and then go to the client's house to get her stuff. And thank you for insisting on that lesson."
Edited to fix repetition error May 16th. Thanks for pointing that out :)