2 weeks later...
Nicole was having a bad day.
It was Sunday, and for some reason... her work alarm mysteriously did not go off at its designated time. Nicole found this odd since her work alarm was always set for her regular work week and she never turned it off, unless she wasn't working the full 5 days because of annual leave or giving away her shift. The redhead hadn't taken any time off since Thanksgiving so it was puzzling as to why her alarm would suddenly fail her now.
Needless to say, she was not happy.
Instead of being able to take her time showering, getting dress, and making herself a decent breakfast, Nicole now had to rush. After taking a quick, five minute shower, Nicole got dressed and decided to at least make herself a decent cup of coffee; breakfast would have to wait.
Unfortunately, after only taking a sip or two, the rest of her cup of Joe ended up all over her uniform, thanks to Calamity Jane. In her excitement to get to her food bowl, CJ sprinted directly in front of Nicole, causing the redhead to stop on a dime so that she wouldn't step on the damn cat. This resulted in the contents of her coffee cup to displace itself out of the cup and onto Nicole's nicely pressed uniform.
Luckily for her, Nicole always kept a back-up uniform ready to go. Also, it helped that her coffee wasn't scolding hot where it could burn the skin it had touched.
Once Nicole got cleaned up, she decided against making herself another cup of coffee; her caffeine fix would have to wait. Leaving her apartment, the redhead figured she could just stop by Starbucks once she got to work. Rosita would hook her up.
Regrettably, the odds were once again not in her favor.
When Nicole was about five minutes away from the airport, her progress was halted due to a bad accident on the freeway. After sitting in traffic for a good ten or so minutes, Nicole was prepared to call her supervisor and let them know that she would be a little late. Thankfully, just before she was about to make that call, the traffic let up and she was able to continue on her journey.
Pulling up to the employee parking lot, Nicole hopped out of her car and sprinted inside to clock in, just in the nick of time.
As Nicole was trying to discreetly stop sweating by strategically standing in front of one of the fans while the supervisors gave the morning briefing, one of her esteemed co-workers decided to comment on her current state.
"What happen to you, Haught? Rough night?" He jokingly asked with a hint of sarcasm.
Nicole quickly turned to her giggling co-worker and fixed him with a stern look that said 'you are severely underestimating the day I've had'.
"Geez... no need to get your panties in a bunch."
"Not today, Carl!" Nicole firmly said, ending any further conversation on the matter.
Receiving the message loud and clear, Carl scurries away from the redhead, looking a bit scared.
"I thought you might need this," Jeremy says as he sidles up to his best friend, handing her a much needed cup of coffee.
"You're a lifesaver!" Nicole exclaims in relief, accepting the proffered drink.
"Rosita says hello," Jeremy adds in.
Looking up, Nicole sees the Latina waving at them. With gratitude, Nicole holds up the cup and mouths 'thank you'.
A few hours later, the checkpoint was in full swing, processing passengers quickly and efficiently. Also, Nicole's day seemed to be improving from the ghastly start this morning.
With the government shutdown heading into Day 24, all of the officers rejoiced when the day went by quickly and smoothly. Being forced to work for free was not something any of them were particularly fond of; however, it did seem to have one perk. The one positive thing about working without getting paid was the passengers' attitudes.
The passengers were actually nice.
Whether it was out of pity or genuine sympathy, everyone that Nicole and her fellow officers came into contact with were very kind and appreciative of the job TSA had to do. Some of them even offered to buy all of the officers a meal or at the very least... coffee.
It was a nice change of pace; however... there's always that one ignorant, entitled prick in the bunch.
While Nicole felt like the crappiness of her day was wearing off, it was short-lived when she overheard an irate passenger yelling at Jackie, one of her co-workers.
"You must be new; I always travel with this and it's never been an issue," the passenger complains.
"Sir, I can't speak for other airports. All I can tell you is that it shouldn't have been allowed," Jackie tries to explain. "Your lotion is over the 3.4 ounce limit so it can't go in your carry-on. Would you like to hear your options again?"
"This is fucking ridiculous! Shouldn't you be in a kitchen, making enchiladas or something? Or better yet, why don't you just go back to Mexico and stop wasting my time!" The passenger rudely exclaims. "Are you even legal to be in this country? Or did you find a way to sneak pass the wall?"
After hearing the blatant misogynistic and racist comments, Nicole couldn't sit idly by.
"Excuse you! Where do you get off talkin' to folks like that?!" Nicole rhetorically states as she steps in front of Jackie, putting distance between her and the passenger; ever the protector. "Just because you don't like the rules here, it doesn't give you the right to disrespect her — or anyone, for that matter — for just tryin' to do her job."
"You can't talk to me like that! I'm Precheck!"
At that moment, something snapped inside of Nicole. Usually known for being calm, cool, and collected, something about this passenger's raw arrogance and sense of entitlement just really rubbed her the wrong way.
"Being 'Precheck' doesn't mean you get to act like a jackass," Nicole bluntly states. "And for the record... she's Puerto Rican, not Mexican!"
Just as Nicole was about to really lay into this asshole and tell him where he could stick his oversized bottle of lotion, one of the supervisors stepped in.
"Is there a problem here?" Glen, the supervisor questions.
Before Nicole could explain the situation, the passenger cuts in and tells Glen what the redhead had just said to him — mixed in with a barrage of lies — in a calm, respectful tone... something that neither Jackie nor Nicole had received from him previously. Believing the lying bastard, Glen dismisses Nicole and continues to speak with the passenger.
After a few minutes pass by, the passenger decided to just discard his oversized lotion and left the checkpoint without further incident.
Feeling pretty good about himself and the way he handled the situation, Glen turns around and seeks out the redhead.
"Nicole, a word?" Glen states, walking off towards the back of the checkpoint for a little more privacy. Nicole dutifully follows. "You're very lucky that that gentleman decided not to file a complaint on you for your unprofessionalism."
"Seriously?!" Nicole says incredulously.
"What?" Glen asks, seeming very confused.
"Sir... forgive my language, but that guy was a complete asshole before you showed up," Nicole informs. "He was completely unreasonable, rude, and downright disrespectful! You should've heard some of things he was saying about Jackie."
"Regardless of what he may or may not have said, it's our job to remain neutral and remain professional."
Nicole understood the complexities of her job: showing great customer service while being vigilant and maintaining the highest level of security. On most days, dealing with a few 'difficult' passengers didn't really phase her. But today... the level of absurdity from this particular passenger just could not be ignored.
Keeping her own personal opinions in check, Nicole went with the facts and advised Glen of all of the despicable comments that the passenger had made, verbatim. After presenting her case, she waited for Glen to process all the information.
"Well... boys will be boys," Glen nonchalantly replies.
Nicole's eyes nearly popped out of her head from his ignorant response.
"I'm sorry... did I just hit my head and wake up in patriarchal bullshit land?!"
Stunned by this uncharacteristic vernacular from one of his best officers, Glen is taken aback.
"Nicole, you—"
"No, Glen! This is absolutely ridiculous!" Nicole interrupts, cutting the older man off. "I'm not trying to be disrespectful or insubordinate, but when is enough enough?!"
Not understanding the question or where the redhead's anger was coming from, Glen opts to stay quiet.
"Glen... you're a super nice guy, but a crappy supervisor," Nicole begins, not even caring about the look on the man's face.
She had already ripped the Band-aid off; why stop there?
"You're too docile and non-confrontational. I'm not saying those are bad qualities, but it's a real bummer when it comes to situations like this," Nicole tries to explain. "You don't have our backs. You're so damn worried about pleasing the passengers and not causing a stir that you completely disregard the people who you're supposed to be leading."
"Now hold on a second! That's not fair," Glen cries out.
"Glen... the first thing you did when you approached was look directly at the passenger and ask him what was going on," Nicole says matter-of-factly. "You didn't bother to pull me or Jackie aside to figure out what the issue was before dismissing me and ultimately siding with the passenger."
"Nicole, you can't just go around and call people jackasses."
"To be fair, I didn't call him a jackass... I said he was acting like one," Nicole clarifies. Receiving an unimpressed look from the supervisor, Nicole digresses. "Look, I apologize for swearin', but I stand by my actions. If you feel the need to write me up for protecting my friend, then so be it."
Without waiting for a response, Nicole turns around and walks away. She doesn't make it too far before being stopped by Jackie.
"Nicole, why did you do that?" Jackie worriedly questions. "I'm not worth getting in trouble for."
"It was no trouble at all," Nicole ensures. "You don't deserve to be treated like that, whether you believe that or not."
Feeling a bit shy, Jackie looks down at the ground.
"Thank you. No one's ever stood up for me before," Jackie reveals.
"I may not be a Lead or a Supervisor, but somebody's gotta look out for us," Nicole advises as she squeezes Jackie's shoulder.
"You're a good person, Nicole. This job doesn't deserve you," Jackie sincerely states in return.
Looking around the checkpoint, Nicole can't help but silently agree to herself.
Yeah, I know...
"Hey, baby..." Nicole warmly greets as she answers the phone.
The redhead had finally clocked out and was literally pulling out of her parking spot when a picture of Waverly's bright, smiling face appeared on her cellphone screen.
Knowing that Waverly would still be asleep, Nicole had called her girlfriend earlier that morning to vent her frustrations. Just hearing the sound of Waverly's voice on her voicemail was enough to sooth the redhead and get her through the rest of her shift without killing someone.
Nicole and Waverly had exchanged texts intermittently throughout the morning once the brunette was awake; however, this was the first time they were able to speak properly on the phone.
"Hey, sweetie pie!" Waverly happily replies. "How was the rest of your shift?"
As Nicole begins the journey towards her apartment, she recounts her horrible day in more detail than she was able to through text. Waverly studiously listens and offers her support.
"I'm sorry you've been having a shitty day," Waverly expresses. "And why is your supervisor such a clueless dickhead?"
Nicole chuckles at her girlfriend's adorableness.
"I don't know, baby. Hearing your voice makes me feel a thousand times better though."
"Sweet talker..." Waverly coos on the other end. "I wish I was there with you."
"Me too, Waves..." Nicole softly replies.
"So, whatcha got planned for the rest of the day?"
"Oh, nothin' much. I'll probably just hang out with CJ and watch some tv," Nicole surmises. "And... I may have a special dinner planned for my amazing girlfriend that I have to prep for tonight."
"Ooh... I'm intrigued!" Waverly chirps excitedly. "She sounds like a lucky lady."
"Trust me... I'm the lucky one," Nicole sincerely states. "She's the best thing that's ever happened to me."
"Oh, Nic..." Waverly starts to say, getting a little choked up. "I love you so damn much!"
"I love you too, baby!" Nicole instantly reciprocates. "I'll never get tired of hearin' you say that."
"Good... I don't plan on stopping," Waverly assures.
Nicole smiles to herself, wishing that she could just hold and kiss her girlfriend right then and there. Unfortunately, she knew that wouldn't be possible since Waverly was working the late shift at the bar and Nicole had to be up super early for work the next morning.
The two lovebirds would just have to wait until tomorrow to see each other again.
"Have you made it home yet?"
"Yeah, but I'm still in my car though," Nicole replies. "I'm using my Bluetooth so I'll lose you once I turn my car off."
"Oh, okay... that makes sense," Waverly states. "Well, I don't wanna keep you. Call me later, after your nap?"
"Sure thing, Waves. I love you."
"I love you too, Nic."
"Bye baby."
"Byeee!"
As the line goes dead, Nicole cuts her engine off and finally gets out of her car, grabbing her backpack in the process. Once she makes it to her apartment, she goes through her regular routine.
After throwing her keys on the table by the front door, Nicole quickly toes off her boots and puts her backpack in the coat closet. She then checks CJ's bowl to see if her feline companion was running low on food or water. Normally, the cat would greet her by the front door as soon as she walked through it, but CJ was slacking today.
Probably still asleep, Nicole thinks to herself as she shakes her head.
Grabbing a bottle of water out of the fridge, Nicole enters her bedroom, stopping in her tracks at the sight in front of her.
"Waves?! What are you doing here?" Nicole excitedly implores as she practically tackles her girlfriend onto the mattress.
Giggling, Waverly wraps her arms tightly around the redhead and kisses her soundly before responding.
"Well... I knew you were having a terrible day so I wanted to be here for you," Waverly explains. "Gus let me work an earlier shift so that I could come here and spend the rest of the day with you."
"Aww, baby... you didn't have to do that. You're so sweet!" Nicole praises, kissing her girlfriend once again. "But wait... when did you find time to work an earlier shift? Shorty's doesn't open until 11 and it's barely 1 o'clock."
"I've kinda been up since 6:30..." Waverly trails off.
Wondering why the tiny brunette would be up at such an early hour, Nicole is hit with a sudden realization.
"Oh shit! I woke you up when I left that voicemail earlier, didn't I?" Nicole deducted. Seeing the tired shrug from her girlfriend, Nicole felt awful. "I'm so sorry, Waves. I figured your phone was on silent and wouldn't disturb you."
"It's fine, baby..." Waverly quickly reassures, not wanting the redhead to beat herself up about it. "I went in at 7 to help Gus do inventory and helped the kitchen prep for lunch before they opened. So, it actually worked out perfectly 'cause now I get to be with you."
Hearing the genuineness in her tone, Nicole relaxes and just lovingly stares into Waverly's hazel eyes.
"I'm so glad that you're here," Nicole whispers out before leaning down and gently connecting their lips together. She lets the kiss linger, wishing that she could spend every day like this.
Before she gets too carried away, Nicole reluctantly pulls away and stands up.
"Noooo! Where are you going?" Waverly whines, already missing the redhead's touch.
"I know, I know... let me take a shower first. Then, we can cuddle and do whatever you want for the rest of the day," Nicole proposes as she begins to unbutton her shirt.
Waverly swiftly hops off of the bed and replaces Nicole's deft fingers with her own.
"I could use a shower..." Waverly seductively says as she slowly unbuttons the rest of her girlfriend's shirt and then proceeds to rid her of her belt. "Mind if I join you? Y'know, to save water and stuff?"
"I w-was gonna say for science, but let's go with your thing," Nicole manages to get out. "I'm all about the environment."
As the couple gets locked up in a heated kiss, Waverly slides Nicole's uniform shirt off of her shoulders as Nicole lifts up Waverly's t-shirt over her head and tosses it aside. Playfully picking up the younger woman, Nicole carries her girlfriend into the bathroom where they have fun exploring each other until the water temperature became unbearable.
Afterwards, Nicole and Waverly fall asleep in each other's arms; the tiny brunette being the big spoon.
Later on that night as Nicole was preparing dinner, she fondly watched as Waverly played with CJ. Once again, she was hit with a feeling of how domestic this all was and how she wouldn't mind doing this forever.
Making sure that nothing would burn in her absence, Nicole walks into the living room and bends down to pet CJ's head.
"I'll be right back," Nicole tells Waverly as she drops a kiss to her forehead.
Smiling in return, the brunette tells her to hurry back before Nicole disappears down the hallway and into her bedroom.
Taking a seat on her bed, Nicole opens the bottom drawer of her nightstand and pulls out a Manila folder. Removing the paperwork from inside, the redhead skims over the Post-it note attached to the top right corner and pulls out her phone. Dialing the unfamiliar number, she doesn't have to wait long for the line to pick up.
"Yello..."
"Sheriff Nedley?"
"Speaking."
"Hi! This is Nicole Haught... Chrissy's friend/Waverly's girlfriend," Nicole says in greeting.
"Ah, Miss Haught! This is a pleasant surprise," Nedley states in return. "What can I do for ya?"
"Well... I'm gonna be in town the next couple of days and I was wondering, if you're not too busy then maybe we could meet up to talk about my application?" Nicole inquires. "I'd really love to pick your brain, if you have the time. I know that you're a very busy man."
"You're right; I am quite busy," Nedley begins to say, "... but I think I can spare some time for what I hope is a future recruit."
"That would be amazing! Thank you so much, Sir!"
"No problem kid. Just let me know when you're free and we'll make it happen."
"Yes, Sir! Thank you so much again," Nicole gratefully states. "Have a good night."
"You too! And tell Miss Waverly I said hello," Nedley says knowingly.
"Will do."
As the call ends, Nicole feels a sense of hope, eager to start the next chapter of her life and fulfill a lifelong dream.
Author's Note:
Hello fellow Earpers!
I hope this chapter finds you well. I know it's been a while, but real life has become busier than ever and it's harder to find a spare moment to just sit down and write. Also, writer's block has been a real bitch!
As Season 4 has ended with a beautiful WayHaught wedding and a WynDoc reunion, I'm trying my best to remain hopeful that our favorite show will get picked up by another network so that we can continue on this journey with all of the WE characters. In the meantime while we impatiently wait, I hope that you've all enjoyed this installment.
Emily Andras… you're a gem.
- K
PS - For those of you still reading any of my Glee stories, I promise that I haven't abandoned them; inspiration has just been lacking. I'm in the middle of writing the next chapter for Quantico so look out for that soon (hopefully). Also, I hope to be able to write a decent next chapter for The Girl Next Door and try to wrap up 3rd & Lucky. Please bare with me :)