bloodletting

chapter 2

the next morning the two girls leave the station and go home as the cops fail at trying to figure out the case, and tara decides that instead of skipping, she'd probably feel safer if she went to work, oddly enough.

After they got home she got changed into her work outfit and hugs liv goodbye, making sure she's not on edge anymore, but she seems shook after almost being stabbed, she then shuts the door behind her and walks to work, even in the safety of the daylight, her paranoia still looms over her, making her turn around every second, looking over her shoulder, overanalysing every stare she gets, every person that walks by, every noise, every brush of a shoulder with a person walking by.

She can't focus, but work might make her feel better for once.

About an hour after clocking in tara puts her head in her hands, as people in the line read out their complex orders to her, which doesn't soothe the absolute ball of stress and anxiety she's in.

After lifting her head up and getting ready to make one of the orders, a woman walks through the door, the ding of the door trailing behind her.

She didn't look like everyone else here, the woman was wearing black boots, she had black slacks on, and a white button up with a long black tie pulled up just below the top button, accompanied by a long cotton black trenchcoat, and she had long raven hair, draped over the back of her trenchcoat, with her hands firmly in her coat pockets.

The woman looked directly at her and began to walk up to her, walking right past the line, despite some mutters and confused noises from the standees.

The woman's lips were pouted, and she had a serious look on her face, she pulls out a card from her pocket and holds it up.

"Detective amber freeman, you're tara carpenter, am i correct?"

Tara blinks in confusion "That's right?"

"I'm gonna need you to come to the office with me, you might have to shut the store momentarily."

The people in the line begin to whine and mutter amongst eachother, clearly upset with the detective's sudden interference of their daily coffee supply.

"i- i can't leave work, i-"

"You don't have to worry about that it's just for a little while, you can come straight back after; and you have a good excuse, you were with a detective, and you were attacked last night."

Tara notices the girl's accent, she sounds like she's from new Jersey.

She snaps her fingers in front of Tara's face to get her attention.

"Let's go"

Tara isn't sure what to think but follows her anyway to the offices.

-

After they arrive Tara is overwhelmed, there's so many officers and detectives around, and it's way too noisy for her liking; she feels like she could explode.

The detective seems to pick up on this, presumably being good at reading people since that's a key skill for detectives.

"We can talk in my office where its quieter" She says

"Uh- yeah."

After they make it to the office detective freeman shuts the door behind them and hangs her trenchcoat over the back of her chair, tara sits down hesitantly in the other chair and fiddles with her hands.

Her leg bounces quickly and freeman notices this again.

"Listen, i know you're on edge. but you're safe here, i'm just here because i was assigned your case, and i'm here to help you, do you get that?"