A God's Last Death

No, Thank You

"And they lived happily ever after."

"Trust me, they didn't. I was there," Noah's face pops through the door of my office. Hasn't he learned not to ruin my break already? I look at him and picture myself strangling him to death. I hope he can read my thoughts. "Oh, no. Do you think he's gonna kill me?" he asks my niece sitting in my lap.

"Probably," she closes the book she was holding, and jumps off me.

"Your mother is here to pick you up, my lady."

"Really?"

"Yes. Follow me, please." He takes her hand and pulls her out of my office, their voices drifting away.

I guess my break is officially over. I sigh in defeat and stand up. My footsteps echo in the empty hallway of the police station. A thunderstorm is raging outside the big windows on my left, which doesn't exactly improve the depressing state of the building. I have been working here for the last three years or so, and basically nothing has changed. Apparently, no one has time to deal with a building that is barely still standing, so I don't have any choice on that matter. Over time, I got used to the rain leaking from the ceiling, and the awful coffee that I drank anyway because I had accepted my miserable fate, and the toilet flush you made a cross before pulling. I love my job.

The sound of kissing suddenly brings me back to reality.

"Oh, please. There is a child here!"

"I don't need permission to kiss my lovely wife," Noah gives my sister a wink.

"She was my sister before you decided to show up and claim her as yours. Soph," I turn to my sister in a last attempt to make her see some sense, "it's not too late to be freed from him. Think about the bright future ahead of you."

Noah's booming laugh fills the foyer. I already knew I couldn't stand him when I first heard him laugh. It sounded like he was choking. What a terrible sound that was. "You will never get rid of me," he whispers, making me roll my eyes at him.

Sophia ignores our bickering and helps her daughter put on her raincoat. "We are ready. Let's go," my sister takes her small hand in hers and starts pulling her away. Before opening the door for them to leave, she turns to me and says, "One day you will love—"

"Wow, would you look at the weather! You should go before the roads flood," I hurriedly push her towards the door.

My sister is about to protest but my glare makes her think twice. We have had this conversation a gazillion times before, and I am getting tired of it. When will she finally accept that I was better off on my own? 

She, probably sensing my frustration, lets out a sigh. "It's just that..." She doesn't have to finish that sentence. I already know what she is going to say. That my clock is ticking. That I don't have much time before I reach my final birthday. I brush off that thought and give her a sad smile, to which she reciprocates. "Okay. I'll see you on Sunday, like always," she gives me a light peck on the cheek and then opens the front door of the police station.

The freezing wind immediately greets my face, but I don't mind. Growing up in New York means being used to the cold winters. I bury my hands in my suit's pockets and watch them make it down the stairs.

"See ya back at home!" Noah shouts to them.

"Can't you see she's pregnant, not deaf?" I tell him in annoyance.

He only chuckles and nudges me back in the building. It is eerily quiet. At that blurred time of day, when it is too late for serious work and too early to finish your shift, I can enjoy some peaceful hours tucked away from everyone's bullshit.

I hear Noah near the steep staircase that leads to the second floor of the building. Like any proper lieutenant would pride themselves, his office is upstairs, next to the gang of brats of the unit. With that thought, I once again thank God for placing my workspace as far from them as possible. Without wasting any more time, I head towards my office.

"Aren't you a little young to be a chief inspector?" I hear him call out.

I am surprised that no one has barged in on us to tell us to shut up.

"Aren't you a little old to be alive?" I reply in equal volume.

Who am I kidding? That guy practically lives on everything that had the word 'healthy' in it. He makes me feel like a...no wait, I just realised I don't really care.

I step into my office and slam the door shut. Finally, I can have some peace. I slump in my chair and glance at the clock on the wall. Great. I still have two more hours. As I stare at the huge paperwork lying on my desk, my mind unconsciously drifts back to what my sister said before leaving. She is so different from me. She's always so bright and easy-going, whereas I am blunt and cynical. Don't get me wrong, I love my sister, but sometimes she is a bit too much to handle. And she never misses the chance to lecture me about the power of love and all that crap.

I scoff at that thought. Which love? The one that curses man, or the one man curses at. Either way, I'm not really into finding whatever was even called love. I have more important things to deal with. Like this damned paperwork right here!