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As the elevator doors slid opened once reaching the fourth floor, I stepped into the empty but well-lit hallway walking along the modern carpet flooring as I stopped outside my apartment door. Taking about a few seconds to search for my keys inside my small purse, I finally unlocked the door and entered my small cozy apartment. It was a spacious place with hardwood flooring throughout except for the kitchen which had tile, the first room you walk into is the living room with a two seater white couch, a matching loveseat decorated with deep blue throw pillows. A small white coffee table I picked up at a local thrift store, a large blue rug, a white tv console with a Sony television set on top. Several succulent plants decorated the bookcase and near the large glass windows adorned with light blue sheer curtains. I placed my purse and jacket on the loveseat before walking into the open kitchen with light aqua and white cabinets with all needed appliances. I couldn't really focus at the moment as Dennis filled my mind. I haven't been out on a date with him for so long that I wasn't sure to be around him, I was nervous and the swarming butterflies raiding inside my stomach only made me feel more nauseating.
"Meow…"
I found some ounce of relief from thinking about my ex-boyfriend once I heard the soft call from the Bombay feline below my feet.
"Hi, Winston." I spoke to the sweet lovable cat as he brushed himself against my legs knowing he wanted to be fed. I opened up the cabinet doors above me and pulled out his wet food to prepare his dinner.
"There you go, sweetheart." I placed the ceramic fish-shaped dish containing his wet cat food on the floor and instantly began to eat.
"Well, while you are chowing down on your dinner, I'm going to start getting ready for tonight, okay? I have a date tonight with my ex and I honestly don't know how it's going to turn out." I spoke to Winston, kneeling down to meet his level while I gently stroke his soft ebony fur. Of course, I wasn't expecting for him to respond back to me but at least he listened to me. I began to stand back on my feet, making my way down the small hallway which at the end of it was a wall cabinet where I stored all of the towels and bedsheets. On the left side of the hall was a bathroom while on the opposite side of the wall were two bedrooms, the second bedroom was only used when I had my friends over to spend the night, there were times when Judy stayed over whenever she went through breakups with past boyfriends. My bedroom was small but enough room to get around. The walls were painted a soft mint color with the wall behind my bed had pink floral wallpaper, above the ceiling was a white chandelier and the bed had a white metal casted bed frame filled with pink bed sheets with a matching shag carpet. There was also a mint dresser and a writing desk. The windows had pink curtains and the view looked over a portion of the downtown area. I opened the mint colored door next to my desk and entered the closet to search for an outfit for tonight.
Knock Knock Knock
The repetitive sound of someone tapping the front door startled me while I studied myself in the mirror wearing a pink blouse, black high waisted Levi's jeans, and black flats. I felt my heart rising within my chest before pushing myself out of my bedroom and grabbing my jacket and purse as I opened the door and saw Dennis with a small grin on his face.
"Hi, Rose." He softly spoke out, as his warm hazel eyes met my brown ones. He stood there wearing a black t-shirt, faded black jeans with a black belt, a black fringe jacket and black boots. Dennis looked handsome, like a young Marlon Brando.
Tom's P.O.V:
I pulled my car alongside the sidewalk, parking near the apartment building where Doug had been staying at while on his case. After double checking the hand written address on the small piece of paper to make sure I was at the right place, I turned off the ignition of my car and climbed out of the driver seat. I soon reached the top floor of the building and pulling out the piece of paper again I checked to find the apartment door matching the number written down in black ink.
"Doug, it's me. Open up." I started to knock on the door and waited outside as I heard someone shuffling inside the room, which made me knew it was Doug. The door opened up to find my best friend and partner standing before me.
"Hey, Tom. Come in." He gave out a welcoming smirk, walking back to the living room as I walked in cautiously. The loft was a mess which wasn't a big surprise to me, there were several fast food and candy wrappers overflowing the trash bin in the kitchen and scattered on the floor and table. There were also empty bottles of Coca Cola and beer cans everywhere, reminding me of his old place.
"These are nice digs, Doug, you dog. I dig it." A smirk laid upon my face, grabbing a stale slice of sausage pizza before dropping it back into as radioactive box, ruining my appetite as I wiped away the grease on my jeans. as Doug kept his eyes on the spy scope.
"What?" He responded, not paying attention as he kept all of his focus on the spy scope peeking through the window. I just shook my head and picked up a pair of headphones to study them.
"Reminds me of your old place…" I told him, placing the headphones over my head to listen in on the conversation of the two men Doug was spying on.
"Not Dorthy-ville, man. That place is cleaner than Oz." He said to me, but I could hardly make out the words because of the headphones on my head.
"What?" I spoke out, pulling the headphones away from my ears and looked at him.
"Hey, check this out. This baby, you can zoom it out all the way in. You can count the pores on the guy's nose." Doug gave out a smirk while his eyes stayed glued to his new toy.
"You're an eavesdropper." I told him brightly with a grin on my face.
"I'm a well-trained eavesdropper. Besides, you can call it "Intelligence". Come here, check it out." He defended himself as I placed the headphones back on the table and decided to peer into the scope.
"The place is the biggest insurance fraud in the city. Everyone of these guys can play linebacker for the Chicago Bears. We're going to nail these guys, me and Fritz…" I stepped away from the scope and stared at Doug with a blank expression on my face.
"Fritz?" I asked him, as he slowly started to explain.
"Yeah, my new partner, Officer Fritzgerald." He told me, as it sort of hit a nerve inside of me. I felt like I was already replaced by my best friend.
"You got a nickname for your partner already?" I looked at him in surprised, as Doug began to speak.
"Well, yeah, you know you spend a lot of time with the guy or girl…Everybody's got a nickname for their new partner…uh, Tom. Well, you know what I mean." He explained to me, as I gave out a silent sigh.
"Yeah, I got a nickname for my partner." I walked towards a table covered with food wrappers and wiped them off as I took a seat on the edge.
"Yeah, I heard about that…You know, I really thought Fuller would have partnered you off with Rose." Doug let out as I raised my eyebrows nodding my head in agreement.
"Yeah, I thought so too. Wait a minute, where you heard that from?" I looked at him confused because I never told him about it until now.
"Intelligence, remember? I got access to things you wouldn't believe." He explained to me while placing his index finger to his temple. As Doug said this to me, I wondered if he could help me get to know my new partner better.
"Right, you wouldn't mind checking this guy out for me, would you?" I scratched the back of my head while staring at him waiting for an answer.
"I'm not really supposed to do that…" He warned me, as I nodded my head again.
"Yeah, I know but a…" At that moment, I wanted to tell him to help me out because of Rose. I wanted to keep her safe from Booker despite them having a history together and when she told me to give him a chance, I truly couldn't trust him.
"Okay, I'll get you a good deal, okay?" Doug gave in. He always know how to pull through for a friend. "How's everybody?" He asked me suddenly, wanting to know how our friends at Jump Street were doing.
"Good, good. Everybody's good. Everyone is fine. Captain Fuller has us reprioritized. The only problem is my new partner is a complete psychopath and him and Rose once dated in highschool." My hands squeezed the edge of the table as I spoke out about Booker before looking back at Doug, who looked at me in surprise.
"Rose knows this guy? Now, I know why you want him checked out. Don't worry, Tom. I'll help you out." He told me with confidence as I nodded in response before opening my mouth to speak again.
"So, when are you coming back?" I could feel the awkward silence filling the room, as Doug tried to speak.
"I don't know, I mean my new Captain thinks I'm real ace, you know and this is a pretty good gig for me. It's a real adult job." I knew it was a long shot, but I had to understand.
"You growing up on me?" I let out a light smirk while scratching the back of my head.
"Maybe…" Doug responded in a serious, but a few seconds later cracked a large grin as I did the same.
"Nah…"
End P.O.V
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