I already had this chapter written up so figured I'd upload it and keep the ball rolling. While I do a lot of writing, very little of it is actually fiction so everything I've written still sounds a bit weird. Please let me know what you think, I have a fair bit planned out and have plenty of time on my hands at the moment so willing to update regularly.

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Gail swiped some stray hairs back behind her ear and leaned on the counter, propping her chin on her curled fist as she gazed absent-mindedly at the day's newspaper. They were having a slow day which Gail was grateful for, between the killer shift yesterday and a seemingly never ending day at school the last thing she felt like doing was running around serving people for four hours.

Her moment of peace was disturbed by the sound of the bell above the door chiming, causing Gail to look up, an action she immediately regretted when she recognised the newcomer as the girl from yesterday. The girl whose hopes and dreams she'd probably destroyed. Gail pushed herself off the counter and hurried to the backroom where Tony was putting a delivery of milk in the fridge.

"I, uh need to the use the bathroom, can you cover the register for me?" Gail asked hopefully, bouncing from foot to foot to make her request seem more urgent. Tony sighed a bit more dramatically than required for the situation and told her to be quick before heading out to the register. Gail headed toward the bathroom before remembering she didn't actually need to use it and ended up just standing pathetically in the back room hiding from this girl she barely knew. Her reverie was interrupted by Tony calling her, Gail groaned realising a reasonable time to use the toilet had elapsed and she had very little choice but to go back out there.

She was pleasantly surprised when she walked back out that Holly was no longer at the register and was somewhat relieved she wouldn't have to serve her. That is until Tony walked back over to her and shoved a takeaway cup into her hands, the order 'dbl soy latte - Holly' scrawled sloppily on the side causing Gail to resign herself to the fact she would have to face the girl and apologise sooner or later.

As she lowered the lid onto the cup Gail was fairly sure that this was the longest she'd ever taken to make a latte, which she tried to justify as her merely making sure there was nothing wrong with it, but subconsciously admitted to herself that she was just attempting to stall. She gave the lid one last smack to make sure it was secure, eyeing it suspiciously as she picked it up and began walking over to where Holly was sitting. She wasn't quite sure why she was making a big deal out of it, after all yesterday she had desperately wanted to apologise to the girl. She had never seen this girl come in before though and suspected that her coming back a day after Gail's disastrous display of hospitality was purely to confront and berate Gail for her incompetency. At least that's what Gail would feel like doing if the situation was reversed.

She had just walked past the cake display case and was about step out from behind the counter when she decided as a peace offering of sorts she should throw in a slice of cake, which might subdue the girl's anger somewhat. Gail decided carrot cake was a sensible choice and after cutting off a healthy slice and plating it she embarked on the final leg of her journey.

Gail approached the girl's table and placed the cake and coffee down cautiously. The girl looked up from where she was fiddling with her phone, pushing her glasses back up from where they had slipped down on the bridge of her nose.

"I didn't order any cake."

Gail's eyebrows scrunched together in slight confusion. Of all the things she anticipated her to say, it definitely wasn't that.

"I know," Gail reassured, her voice cracking slightly which made her grimace internally, "it's free of charge, and so is the latte. I just wanted to apologise for yesterday, I kind of destroyed your thesis or whatever and I'm really, really sorry about that." Gail stopped when she realised she was ranting a bit and shrugged her shoulder's to indicate it wasn't a big deal when she saw Holly begin to protest.

"Oh, well thanks," Holly pulled the cup toward her slowly, smiling and looking up at Gail, "thanks for actually putting the lid on this time."

Gail could feel her face flush and she looked down, again caught off guard by Holly's apparent lack of irritation over yesterday's events but before she could apologise again, Holly cut her off.

"Sorry, didn't mean to embarrass you," she said in a playful tone which indicated that had probably been her exact intention, "but really don't sweat it, I had another two hours to print off another one and hand it in. I just kind of freaked out because well I just get a bit on edge around due dates, you know?"

Gail nodded slowly before finding her voice, "um well that's good, I'm glad that it uh worked out for you and you know, sorry… again." At this Gail jammed her hands in her back pockets to stop herself from making any more awkward gestures and retreated back to the relative safety of behind the counter.

She attempted to make herself look busy by wiping down the already clean counter, frowning as she felt a certain pair of bespectacled eyes watching her. She sprang up when she heard the bell chime again, uncharacteristically eager for an opportunity to serve a customer, that is until she saw who it was.

"Hey, Nick," she said, her attempt to sound casual failing miserably as she overemphasised the 'k', coming off rather terse. Of course Nick didn't seem to notice, he just greeted her with that dumb, dopy smile he always had plastered on his face.

"Hey Gail," he replied as he slid onto one of stools at the front counter, trapping Gail into further conversation. "How was your day?"

Gail internalised a groan. This is what she hated so much about Nick, because she knew he genuinely wanted to know how her day was. Just like he genuinely really liked her and genuinely wanted to take her on a date, not that she could understand why. It was almost enough to make Gail feel a bit bad about blowing him off last week.

She shrugged as she rubbed a tea towel around the inside of an already dry glass, avoiding his eye contact, "alright, nothing noteworthy," she said while feigning interest in a non-existent smudge on the lip of the glass, purposely leaving no room for reply.

"Cool, well I was wondering if you wanted to come see this band with me tonight, I dunno I think you said you liked them one time, or maybe that was a different band," Nick faltered slightly at this but continued, "either way they're really good, it could be fun." His voice trailed off toward the end, shrugging his shoulders and fiddling with a straw in an attempt to appear indifferent.

Gail sighed. She liked Nick. He was a nice enough guy and decent company. She had met him at some gross party Dov and Chris dragged her along to during the summer, she had beaten him at some dumb drinking game and then she went home with him. In her drunken state she'd given him her number and they hung out a few times but usually just ended up getting drunk together and then going back to his house to have sex which, for a while was alright, in fact Gail kind of liked the informal arrangement. But when he started asking her out for dinner and buying her things, Gail had to stop him before it went any further. There was nothing wrong with Nick per say… she just didn't see the point in a relationship right now, she was too busy with school and her job and even then she wasn't quite cruel enough to string him along like that when she didn't feel the same way. Plus all of that attention had made her feel weird.

"Nick," she said gently, frustrated with his persistence but trying her best not to stomp on his pathetic, hopeful little heart, "we talked about this. I don't want to go out with you, or you know be your girlfriend or whatever."

Nick looked down at the counter and chuckled, "I know Gail you made that pretty clear and I get it, I was just asking you as a friend. We used to just hang out before I made everything weird. We were friends right?"

"Yeah, I guess," she said coolly, not wanting him to get too excited. "But I can't anyway; I have to meet up with my mother," she tried to school her features to not reveal her annoyance at this fact but was pretty sure she failed.

Nick raised his eyebrows, "Say no more then," he of all people knew that if Gail had to meet with her mother then Gail had to meet with her mother. She'd once run out on him while they both had their pants down when she'd forgotten she was supposed to meet her for an appointment. He stood up and shot her a parting smile, which made Gail wonder why she was even friends with someone who smiled this much.

"Guess I'll see you later then," he said before stepping outside, the door swinging shut behind him. Gail was watching him leave on his motorbike, a terrible cliché that attempted to bolster the whole 'bad boy' image he had going on when Tony nudged her away from the register. She stepped to the side and glared at him before realising he was saying she could go home now. She surveyed the café and realised that apart from Holly there was only one other customer and that Tony probably wanted to shut up early since it was such a slow, Friday night. She replaced her glare with a grateful half-smile, hurrying to hang up her apron and get her bag, though her joy was short-lived when she realised she and Holly had both awkwardly reached for the door handle at the same time.

She stepped back, gesturing for Holly to open the door and take the lead. Holly smiled in response and pushed the door open, keeping it open for Gail to walk through.

"You really crushed his little heart back there," Holly prodded with a bit of a smirk.

Gail turned to glower at her. Even though she'd felt Holly's prying eyes throughout most of that conversation she couldn't believe she actually had the nerve to tease Gail about it.

"Didn't anyone ever tell you it's rude to eavesdrop?" she bit back before striding away and onto the pavement.

"I wasn't the one having a private conversation while on the job, not my fault you were the only ones in there talking." Holly quirked an eyebrow awaiting Gail's response.

Gail stared at Holly incredulously. Who was this girl? She frantically scoured her brain for something to retaliate with but was clutching at straws. She tilted her chin upward in attempt to look down at the girl whom she noticed was slightly taller. She glanced over Holly briefly, not able to take in much other than her glasses and an annoyingly bright red backpack that hung from her shoulder.

"Yeah well, nice backpack. Nerd." Even Gail had to admit it was probably not her finest moment as she swung around and strode off in the direction of the station, realising how petulant and immature she'd sounded. Holly's laughter seemed to catch up with her and Gail realised the girl had now fallen into step with her, regarding her with an amused expression.

"Are you actually following me?" Gail spat, growing more and more agitated.

"Nope." Holly replied with a pop, rolling her eyes, "don't be so self-absorbed, this is the way to my work."

Gail was not fully convinced and pressed further, asking where she worked.

"Well it's kind of more of an internship, splitting time between the morgue and 15th division but I'm headed over to the station now to drop some results off. It's a bit of a bummer working nights but at least I'm getting some hands on experience, you know?"

"Awesome." Gail said, devoid of any actually awe, silently praying Holly would talking as she continued to walk toward the station with an irritatingly perky Holly bobbing along beside her.

"Are you going to the station too?" Holly enquired slightly puzzled since there wasn't much else in the direction they were headed.

Gail nodded simply as they rounded the corner and the entrance came into view, evoking a mix of emotions as on the one hand it meant she could get away from Holly but it also meant she would be stuck with her mother for the next few hours.

"So are you actually meeting your mum?"

Gail blinked at Holly, confused before remembering she'd overheard her conversation with Nick.

"Yep, nothing like some quality time with Mother Peck," she admitted with a humourless chuckle, opting to look at her feet instead of Holly's face while she worked out who her mother was.

"Your mum's Super Intendant Peck?" Holly squeaked loudly causing Gail to shush her as they walked through the hallways of 15th division.

"What's it like living with her?" Holly asked in a revised, quieter tone, "is she always so…" Holly trailed off searching for a word that wouldn't offend Gail, "…intense?"

Gail practically snorted at that understatement but her reply to Holly was cut off by Elaine's distinctive, shrill voice piercing through the loud hum of activity that echoed through the open office space.

"Gail, there you are. You're late!" her mother admonished as she made her way towards them.

Gail felt herself deflate slightly and her shoulder's sag before she corrected herself and turned to Holly. "It's exactly what you think it'd be like," she replied, bringing their strange banter to a solemn end, striding off in her mother's direction.