Veil of Crimson

Walking On A Thin Line

“Detective! Long time no see!” LeBlanc exclaims happily, straightening his suit as he strides into the Lieutenant’s office. He’s in his usual dark colors again, looking like he’s ready to walk to runway, not work a case.

“You’ve got to be f*****g kidding me,” I blurt out before I’m able to stop myself. My boss scolds me the moment he hears me speak.

“Gauthier, language! Mr. LeBlanc helped you catch the culprit yesterday, and he’s kind enough to help you out with policework, even though he’s a busy man. So act accordingly,” he warns me. I turn towards him, already having something to say, but his stern gaze makes me change my mind.

“Fine,” I grit through my teeth, before standing up from the chair abruptly. My boss sends me a long look, while I turn towards LeBlanc, unable to believe that he’s pulling a stunt like that. And all that talk about being oh so busy when I questioned him for the first time.

“You two are welcome to take your time to get to know each other and sort out some papers that are left from your previous case,” Lieutenant Williams informs us, making me clench my jaw.

“Yes, sir. Right away,” I grunt under my breath, then leave his office. I try to be as fast as possible in order to get rid of LeBlanc, but of course he follows after me like a puppy. Besides, how is a five six woman supposed to be faster than a man who is six feet tall?

He chases after me like we’re on a race. I’m sure he finds it funny, but I don’t. “Detective! Wait for me! You’re supposed to give me a tour of the station and all that! I’m new around here after all!” he calls out so loudly that I’m sure the whole office is able to hear him.

I don’t even turn around. He catches up with me soon enough. He starts walking beside me, leaving me no other choice but to send him a dirty look. He smiles back in response.

“Oh, come on. Just admit that you’re happy to see me,” he tries to change my mind, but I’m not in the mood for his nonsense. I stop in my tracks and look up at him. Now that I’m furious he suddenly doesn’t seem so tall anymore.

“Listen to me, LeBlanc, I’m only going to tolerate your presence because my boss is making me do it. Be quiet, don’t get on my nerves and let me work,” I snap at him, my blood boiling. He shoves his hands into his pockets in a playful way.

His smile gets even wider at my reaction. He leans down slightly, making me feel like his blue eyes are drilling through my skull. “Darling, now that we’re partners you should really start calling me by my first name,” he suggests quietly, making my face fall.

I let out an aggravated groan, unable to believe that someone can be so damn persistent. “I’ll start calling you Adrian, when you tell me what you’re really doing here,” I fight back, crossing my arms against my chest.

He chuckles in response. “Enjoying your presence, of course,” he responds to my question. I blink furiously, feeling like I’m going to be flying through the roof soon. I curse under my breath as I walk away from him again, shaking my head in disbelief.

I can hear his footsteps following after me once again. I can’t believe this is actually happening. I didn’t expect my promotion to mean that I’ll have to deal with this i***t on a daily basis.

“What? I told you what I’m really doing here!” he protests, once again having the whole station listen to his protests. I can see some officers trying their best to hold back their smiles. It makes me even more angry.

LeBlanc doesn’t catch up with me until I sit down at my desk, a pile of files awaiting me. I open the first one, quickly scanning through the forensics report for my previous case. Great, it all adds up. The fingerprints on the murder weapon belong to Nunez, the blood is the victim’s. I shake my head in disbelief. A pipe wrench. Who would’ve thought?

“What’s that?” he asks the moment he catches up with me. I glance at him shortly, knowing that I’m going to have to answer his questions, because he’s supposed to be learning about the process a little, despite being a civilian.

“The forensics report on the Roberts case,” I reply shortly. He finds a chair and sits down next to me, making me glare at him. “You’re invading my personal space,” I inform him.

“Is that illegal?” he wonders with a charming smile covering his face. I’m not impressed.

“It’s going to be, once I file a restraining order against you,” I remark dryly. He pouts, then takes the file from my hands and checking it out. I have to remind myself that he’s not worth losing a job over. Especially not my dream job.

I also ignore the fact that he just grabbed the file that I wasn’t finished with. It doesn’t matter. I’ll check it later. It’s like playing with my nephews. You can always grab the toy after they don’t find it interesting anymore.

“This is boring,” LeBlanc complains just as I dive into the report, trying to make myself useful and deal with all this paperwork before a new case comes in. I lift my gaze from the file, casting a sideways glance at him.

Then, I decide that I’m not going to comment on his remark. I’ll just keep working. He’ll stop talking eventually. After a few moments I realize I have no idea what I’m talking about.

“Come on, I thought your work was fun, not this! How do you do this all the time, day by day without feeling the need to get drunk until you pass out?” he wonders, making me take a deep breath. What a jerk.

I look at him for a moment. Just long enough to tell him that he’s completely ridiculous. “It’s called policework,” I inform him. “I thought a businessman like you would know how much paperwork people have to deal with on a daily basis,” I then remark, staring at the file again.

He chuckles like I’m the one being ridiculous. I’m reading again, but I have no idea what I’m reading. His laughter crawls somewhere towards my bones, irritating every last bit of my body.

“Oh, darling, I don’t do paperwork. I pay other people to do the paperwork for me,” he remarks, making me shake my head in response. I don’t look at him again.

He stops talking for some time and I already think I’ve won. I actually do. It’s such a peaceful moment that I find myself actually being able to work, which is a rare occasion even when I don’t have Adrian LeBlanc sitting next to me, gnawing on my nerves.

Just as I think he’s finally going to leave me alone, he opens his mouth again. “Seriously, when are we going to catch some bad guys? It’s the only fun part about this job! I thought you did more of that and less of this … Bleh,” he complains again. It makes my patience fly through the roof and take a much needed vacation.

"Listen to me, LeBlanc, if I hear-"

"Adrian," he cuts me off in the middle of a very angry sentence. Bad move. I inhale sharply. He has no idea what he’s done now.

"Fine, Adrian," I grit his name through my teeth like it's poisonous. He smiles at me. "If I hear one more word from you, I swear I'm going to walk over to the Lieutenant's office and tell him-"

"How great your new partner is? Remind me again, who was your partner before me? Was it Mr. No-Show, Mr. I-Don't-Exist or Mr. Lives-In-My-Imagination?" he interrupts me again, making my eye twitch. Does the universe really hate me so much that I have to deal with this manchild every day now? It’s only been fifteen minutes and I already feel like I’ll have to take a trip to a psych ward.

"For starters, that you keep interrupting me when I speak!” I snap at him as he already takes one of the papers from the file in front of him and tries holding it in half. I gasp, completely outraged by his behavior. I snatch the paper away from him. “And that you're trying to make paper planes out of official police reports!"

He chuckles again, making me see red. I’m about to smack him across the head, then I remind myself that this is what he wants. I’ve dealt with men like him before. They keep poking at you until they make you explode. I’m not going to give him the satisfaction.

I press my lips into a thin line and turn back around. He’s about to say something again, but he gets interrupted by a phone ringing. On my desk. Thank God, I better get sent somewhere where LeBlanc can’t go. “This is Detective Gauthier, how can I help you?”