Lizzie made it through her shift on autopilot. Her section chief noticed almost immediately that something wasn’t right. Although he would never embarrass her by telling her, he thought of her as the daughter he’d never had. He also knew she was a very private person, so he waited until her shift was over before summoning her into his office.
“Have a seat,” he gestured to his visitor’s chair.
“Yes, sir,” she replied and did as requested.
“You all right, Lizzie?”
She sighed. “No, sir. Not really.”
He held up a hand. “You don’t have to share if you don’t want to. I just noticed you’re not.... as sharp as usual.”
“Yes, sir. I’m sorry.”
He picked up a file on his desk, flipping through pages. “You’ve closed twenty cases in the last six weeks. Good work.”
“Thank you, sir.”
“I’d say tha
