Reunited Ch. 02

"Good work today, Reynolds."

The commendation came with a firm slap on the back, but receiving praise from the Chief was well worth the inevitable accompanying bruises. Alec had learned quickly over the past month that the pain that came with success was far more tolerable than the consequences that followed failure.

The Chief was large man, both in height and build. Though he had undoubtedly been a perfect specimen of the muscular police officer in his time, age and promotions to desk jobs had allowed the man to become more heavyset. Even with his increasing waistline, the man was formidable. He didn't realize his own strength generally; thus any contact from him tended to be painful. His men called him the Chief because everyone felt that due to his size, demeanor, and expertise, he'd eventually be promoted to Chief of Police. For now, he was the head of their department.

"All in a day's work, sir," replied Alec, thinking over the events of the past several hours. It had been quite a great day, honestly. He was part of an elite investigative team on the city's police force and they'd found a lead that would ultimately solve and close two tough cases. Alec had actually been the one to stumble across the find. He'd been rereading case files and had noticed a streak of subtle similarities between two cases. Though he'd originally wondered if he was imagining the patterns, he pointed them out to his team leader, Pearson, who had immediately agreed and set the rest of the team on the task of comparing the two cases in depth. Within an hour, someone had figured out how the clues from the two cases combined would be enough to arrest and hopefully convict the perpetrator.

The Chief interrupted Alec's musings about the day to say, "You've done enough today. Why don't you leave early?"

"I'm not sure. There's still work to do..."

"I insist. You single-handedly led us to solving those cases today, and such actions deserve rewards. Besides, I've got nothing else for you to do. Might as well take this opportunity when it comes. You know as well as I do that I don't make such offers often."

"Alright. Thank you, sir."

The Chief walked away to speak with other officers. Alec was thankful to be able to leave early. His college buddy Jacob was visiting the city and wanted to get together. Leaving early would allow him to ready his place and shower before their set meeting time at a local bar. After packing up his stuff, Alec walked out, whistling. What a great day.

*****

"What a terrible day." Ellie plopped down in a chair in the break room as Carrie looked up sympathetically from her magazine.

"What happened, dear?"

"Honestly, nothing outright awful has happened; I think I'm just in a terrible mood."

"Well, something must have caused it. Or did you wake up on the wrong side of the bed?"

"Not even possible: I only have one side," Ellie said, trying and failing to be flippant.

Carrie continued to gaze at Ellie expectantly.

"Oh fine. I've just felt out of sorts all day, plus the customers have been downright rude today. One of them seriously just groped me as I was walking through to bring a table their drinks."

"Was it that greasy looking guy? Because he tried that on me last week and I told him we would ban him if he did anything like that again."

"Short blond hair and a sneer instead of a smile?"

"Sounds right. I'm going to report him to Gene and let him take care of it."

"Thank you." Ellie was terrible at confronting people; when Carrie had realized this, she started sticking up for the girl.

"Was anything else wrong?"

"No; I think I'm just tired and cranky and not looking forward to working Tina's shift on top of my own."

One of the girls had called in sick, so Ellie was working her hours. Although she knew she'd make extra tips once dinner ended and the bar regulars came in, she still wasn't excited to be working from opening until closing.

"I hear ya, girl. I did that last weekend and just about died. I don't ever remember being so happy to get in my bed, not even when that smokin' hott guy from Cleveland was in it."

Ellie laughed. Carrie was gorgeous, outgoing, and took no nonsense from anybody. She had a new boyfriend every week and loved bringing them home with her. To hear that she was happy to be in bed alone was exceedingly rare.

Still smiling, Ellie went back to work, determined to keep a positive outlook for the rest of the night.

*****

After tidying his apartment and driving to the airport, Alec was excited to spot Jake coming through the exit. He pulled up to the loading area and quickly parked the vehicle before getting out and hugging his friend.

"Hey buddy, how ya been?"

"Alec. Man is it good to see you. I've been great. How about you? Are you settled?"

"Sure am. Wait til you see my place. It's amazing. I'm hoping you'll leave Texas for my view. Plus the women here are gorgeous!"

Jake laughed as he threw his bags in the bed of his friend's truck. He hopped into the passenger seat as Alec started the car.

"As much as I love the Rockies, I still love the weather down south. How's the new job?"

"Oh it's perfect. Everything I was hoping it'd be. How's life as a soul-stealing, money-grubbing thief?"

"The IRS is still treating me well," Jake said with a laugh. The two relaxed into their old banter, easily falling back into their friendship. They'd contacted one another intermittently during the previous years but had been unable to reunite due to conflicting schedules. Jacob was excited at the prospect of spending the next few days with his old college buddy.

After bantering back and forth for awhile, Alec pulled up to a rather plain-looking apartment building.

"Don't be fooled by the exterior. This place is the best in the city, just wait," he told his friend.

They took the elevator to the top floor, walked down the hallway, and entered the apartment. Jake's mouth immediately dropped open. The living room had floor to ceiling windows framing the city against a backdrop of mountains.

"How in the world did you find this place?"

"Everything fell into place perfectly when I decided to finally move out here. Seriously, I applied only to one job, was offered the position immediately following the interview, and then was told by my new boss that there was this great apartment opening in the same building where his mom lives."

"It's like fate brought you here."

"I'm not going to lie; I've had that thought on multiple occasions."

Alec showed Jake to the guest room and left him to unpack and freshen up.

After about half an hour, his friend returned to the living room. "I don't know about you, but traveling makes me hungry."

"Perfect. I know just the place."

"I hope they serve a good beer."

"Don't you worry," Alec laughed. "It's this bar I found my first night here. I've only been there twice because the first time I showed up after last call, but their burgers are huge and perfectly seasoned and the beer is brewed on-site."

"Sounds amazing."

They walked to the bar, relishing the last bits of warmth as the sun set. Although the place was certainly busy, they found a spot quickly and ordered food from the waitress. Jacob scanned the place, checking out the other patrons and the numerous women serving them.

"You were right. The women here are far more appealing than those in Texas. I'm surprised you're still single. No wait I'm not surprised. If you stay single, you can sample all of them, right?"

Alec chuckled. "I've met a few for drinks and dinner, but haven't felt any strong attraction to any particular girl. I'm in no hurry to settle down, though it would make my mom happy."

"Ha! Well personally I'd settle down for that one over there."

"Which one?" Alec tried to catch a glimpse of the girl.

"The one waiting on that couple way over there. She's wearing a black shirt and jeans."

Alec finally spotted her. She seemed vaguely familiar but he assumed that stemmed from his previous visits to the bar. She was average height, too thin for his taste, and had wavy brown hair tumbling down her back.

"Decent choice. Looks like she hasn't eaten in awhile though. How's her face?"

The girl turned toward the last customer at the table, allowing them to see her facial features.

"Holy shit, do you realize who that is?" Jacob sounded excited.

"No, who?"

"Are you serious?! How can you not recognize her? That's Ellie Burns. Remember her?"

"Are you kidding? How could I forget her? But she didn't look like that. This girl is too skinny and Ellie was definitely not the type to become a bartender. I thought she was going to grad school or med school or something."

"Yeah well I expected to start my own business and now I work for the IRS. You never thought you'd be a cop. Life happens."

"I still say it's not her. There's just something about that girl that seems...unhappy. Ellie was always smiling and joking."

"There's only one way to find out." At that, Jake cupped his hands around his mouth and yelled, "Ellie Burns!"