Rookie Resolve

Chapter 4

Ember spots Chen talking to Bishop by the entrance of the briefing room, and by the look of it, it looked heated. She made a note to herself to ask Chen about it. She didn't want to think that her friend was being pushed around by the other officers.

As Grey walks into the room, detailing all of Nolan's mistakes, he turns to her.

"Onward. Officer Ross is in need of a training officer until Bradford is cleared for duty. Officer Scott Wrigley, you get the nod. That's it. Stay safe out there." He dismisses them and Ember hurries to get the war bags and set up the shop, only to find her T.O. getting them.

"Sir, I can carry those for you. There's no need..." Wrigley stops her by saying, "I've been on the job 12 years, never fired my weapon. You took on a couple high-powered jokers, saved your T.O. on day two. So that makes you a rock star in my book. And rock stars don't pack-mule the gear." He had a sort of impressed look on his face. Ember couldn't help the heat rising up her neck and cheeks, and simply replied, "I was just trying to not get killed out there." The two make it to the car.

"Aww. Modest, too. I can see why Tim's been boasting about you."

At this, Ember laughed, "We both know that's a lie."

Wrigley joins in, "You got me, but I'm not like that. I give credit where it's due, and you have earned a free pass today. So anything you need, just ask."

Ember smiled, but it quickly fell as her mind began running wild assumptions.

Is he giving me a false sense of security to see if I'll slip up?

Does he want me to ask for something, then write me up as obnoxious?

Is this a test?!?

Ember sighed and tried to convince herself that she was just overreacting, and she knew who exactly to blame.

Timothy freaking Bradford.

She hadn't even known the man for a week, and he managed to get under her skin. Bloody crawled up there and planted seeds of discord. With his stupid tests, and his stupid rules, and his stupid hair.

God, his hair is amazing. Ember thought to herself.

She snapped out of her thoughts, not only for having almost inappropriate thoughts about her T.O's hair, but she didn't want Wrigley to think she was distracted while on the job. The two rolled up to a corner and parked. Ember couldn't figure out what they were doing here.

"Are we waiting for something, Sir?" She asked, still analyzing her surroundings.

"Nope." Wrigley replied quickly, "Just a nice morning of rolling-stop citations. Should take us nicely into lunch."

"We're just going to sit here all morning?" She wanted to add a 'bloody' before the morning, but had to restrain herself from doing so.

"Hey, writing tickets is the heart of the job." Wrigley defended. Ember sighed, and they settled into silence.

"Don't you want to quiz me or something? See if I'm learning the right stuff?" She tried to strike up conversation, which was quickly shut down with a "Nope," from her new T.O.

Ember tsked under her breath, submitting to what could be a very long morning. A couple hours passed, and Ember started coming up with her own jokes.

What do you call a slow morning in the cemetery? A grave situation.

Ba-dum-tss!

What do you call a snail that's in a hurry on a slow morning? Sprinter the snail!