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Chapter Seven:
It came in the mail a few days before graduation. Darla and Amy watched as she slowly opened it. Wright screamed.
"I PASSED! I PASSED!" she shouted jumping up and down.
Darla took it from her.
"With a high score too," she said.
She and Amy then hugged and jumped with her.
"We're so proud of you," they said together.
"I couldn't have done it without you," Wright said.
They let go of her and she pulled out her phone. It went to voicemail.
"He must be on a case," she said. "I'll text him, even though he never texts me back."
"A low-tech genius," Darla said. "I didn't know that existed until I met him."
"Come on," Amy said. "Let's go out and celebrate!"
Wright stared at her phone. It was too much to hope for that for once he'd text her back.
…
Wright kept turning around and looking at the rest of the auditorium. She couldn't help but scan the room. It seemed fruitless though.
"He's not here, is he?" Stone asked her.
"No," she said, with a note of resignation.
"He got you this far, and that's what is important, I guess."
"I guess," she said. "His job is really important."
"So, you keep saying without telling me what it is," Stone said.
"I guess that will be a mystery you'll have to live with. Good luck in California, Derek."
"Good luck here, Chloe."
Their row was called.
Wright smiled for photos as she received her law degree. She knew she should be feeling more victorious, but she didn't. All she could do was continue to scan the room for one of the most important people in her life.
Amy and Darla's parents treated the trio to dinner. They toasted to the next chapter in their lives. Darla and Amy had both been accepted into Central hospital medical residency programs. Darla was in the ER while Amy had chosen pathology. Wright was going to be working in the US Attorney's Office in the homicide division. Everyone was excited about where they were going in life.
Wright returned home alone as Amy and Darla were staying with their parents at hotels. The day had been perfect, yet still felt like it was missing something, and she knew what it was. It occurred to her that she didn't have a photo of Reid. Logging on to her computer, she saw a rather scruffy looking image of him. It was still good to see his face.
"Thank you for everything, Spencer," she said with a sigh.
…
"How do I look?" Wright asked and twirled.
"Like a kid on her first day of school," Darla said.
"At assistant district attorneys' school," Amy added.
"You two are no help," she said.
"Don't forget your lunch money," Darla said.
Amy checked her watch.
"You really are going to be late if you don't leave soon."
"Goodbye," she said and picked up her briefcase.
"Have a good first day honey!" Darla shouted.
Wright rolled her eyes and left.
…
The precinct smelled of body odor and cheap coffee. In some ways it already smelled like home. She took another brave step forward and approached a detective's desk.
"Detective Keller," she said.
"Yeah?" he said looking up at her.
"I'm Chloe Wright from the DA's office. I'm taking over Dana Pierce's cases and I wanted to go over your testimony on Belding case briefly."
"Sure," he said and shifted papers off a chair.
A door was slammed, and a woman emerged crying from the captain's office.
A white-haired man emerged and turned his attention to Wright.
"Who the Hell are you?" he demanded.
"I'm taking over Pierce's cases," she said.
"Your skirt looks freshly ironed and you're wearing more makeup than usual. You're fresh out of law school and think you can solve all the world's problem one felon at a time. Do my favor go run back to whatever flyover state you came from and have the DA send me someone who isn't Raggedy Ann."
Wright slapped him.
"No one talks to me like that!" she said. "I don't care if you're the president of the United States. I can't tell if you're a crappy profiler or just being mean. I'm here to do a job. Now we can work together, or you can charge me with assault."
Detective Keller began to clap. The rest of the precinct joined in. Wright turned slightly red, uncomfortable being the center of attention.
Another detective emerged. Her long blond hair was in a ponytail.
"Welcome to the Eighth," she said.
Wright smiled. This was going to work out.
…
"Thanks for agreeing to meet me," Reid said.
"Sure," she said. "It feels weird not having a pile of coursework with me."
"That's what I wanted to discuss," he said. "I was wondering if I could teach you profiling."
"Really?" she said.
"Would you like to?"
"I'd love to," she said. "Thank you so much. As usual, I can't pay you."
"I'm doing this to enrich my ability as a profiler and to help you. You'll never need to pay me."
"Thank you so much," Wright said. "I was worried I'd have to come up with reasons to see you."
"We'll stay friends until the end Chloe."
"I'm counting on it," she said with a smile.