Confined

1.

It was a scorching day. The summer air wafted past the trees as a velvety soft breath. Luke almost stopped to take a breather and relax on the nearest park bench. Almost. Until he glimpsed at his wrist watch glittering in the sunshine. He was about to be late for work with five minutes to spare. 

He held his breath, pulled his face into a grimace and started running as fast as he could. Sweating bullocks, fortunately he soon saw the familiar office building becoming clearer and more visible with his steps quickened, his pace matching that of a short distance sprinter. Okay, maybe that was an exaggeration.

Luke sprinted up the stairs, greeting the receptionist with his usual smile. He had made it. An enormous smile plastered itself on his face for the rest of the day as he worked through the day’s shenanigans. It was a typical day today: case files continued to pile up on his table as he tried to work his way through them, Officer Renly took everyone out on a team lunch and in the afternoon, two stricken teenagers made a ruckus as they followed David inside and their parents soon stepped in as they were charged with underage drinking. Nothing too out of the ordinary, but it was soon 4:45 pm with the station getting ready to pack up and call of the day when Senior Officer Martha clapped her hands to get everyone’s attention. Investigator Jan let out a slight groan as she made eye contact with Luke, a shaped arched brow etched high on her face.

“I almost forgot, but I have a very important announcement to make. From tomorrow onwards, Detective Sarah Parker will work here and will lead a team on the recent cases that have recently been assigned.”

“I will hold a briefing tomorrow for the cases. I expect everyone to treat her with the utmost respect as I’m sure all of you will. Detective Sarah Parker will join us tomorrow morning at the meeting. I’m not too sure about all the details yet, but I’m sure we can settle that tomorrow morning.“

Her words tumbled out, almost in a panicked rush as she stared at us wide eyed and soon ruffled out of the room without another word. The clock struck 5 and everyone took their leave. With heavy steps, I soon followed out  to my car. A splitting headache took command as I backed out of the driveway, feeling sick to my stomach as my insides twisted in an unnatural state.