I wanted to punch that grin right off his face. "I don't think your mind is capable of thinking anything."
"Watch yourself." The humor fled from his expression. "You might be my mate, but there are limits-"
"No thank you." I fought back a shiver. Ac...
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Gloria
"Rejected."
I stared at the station clerk—an onmyoji about my age with wavy brown hair and the scent of contentment heavy around him. He pushed the envelope back toward me with a smirk.
I longed to punch that smug expression right off his pockmarked face. However, my mother's continual warnings rang in my head: 'Gloria, a proper young lady doesn't blacken their suitors' eyes' and 'Gloria, if you keep breaking men's noses, you'll never get married'.
It was only the warnings that made me resist. Not that the prospect of marriage mattered much to me, but I did so hate to see my mother cry.
Especially because I'd put another man in the hospital.
So, despite the call for violence, I gritted my teeth and forced myself to smile instead.
"I'm sorry." Perhaps I had misjudged. It was possible he hadn't realized. "I believe there is a misunderstanding. I'm not a solicitor. This is a job application for the 'Private Detective' opening your department has advertised. I've come to apply to—"
"I know. I'm not accepting your application." His smirk grew and his amused eyes trailed over my grey, fitted dress-suit—as close to standard police officer wear that I could find—until his gaze reached my eyes. "Although it's adorable," he added. "You play dress-up quite convincingly."
His statement was filled such finality, that I knew I'd have to find a way to speak to someone else. My pulse began to race while desperation filled me. This was my last chance. I'd been rejected already from every other precinct in the surrounding areas. But in every other location, the clerks allowed me to talk to someone higher up at least.
Even if it was for them to laugh at my expense.
But here I couldn't even get past the front desk. Considering the reputation of this particular precinct, I'd hope to at be able to gain the Chief of Police's attention. They would think me interesting, at the very least.
