Cafe of Exile

Chapter Seventeen

Isobel went to her car she threw her stuff in the passenger seat, and then put her head down on the steering wheel and let out a big cry. She started her car and drove home. On her drive home, she watched the sunset on her journey ahead of her. She was reminded of everything she went through, and her path she decided to take. She was also reminded about why she pushed forward to get into this field. She felt another tear roll down her cheek as she gripped the steering wheel. She glanced up and saw a red light and slammed on the brakes as she almost ran it.

"Damn it." she snapped at herself in an upset tone. She threw herself in the seat and sat back to wait for the light to turn green. With one arm on the door, she wiped the tear away while in deep thought; she occasionally looked at the light to make sure it was still red. As it turned green she continued her drive home. As she drove down the road, she had her eyes focused on nothing but the road ahead. A ticket is nothing she needs right now. There was an orange-pink overcast shadowing the city as the sun was getting lower, there were minimal clouds and a slight breeze to end the day. Isobel only lived a few minutes from the precinct which made it very convenient for her, especially when emergencies popped up.

Isobel came to a quick stop sign, that was at the corner of the main street to the city and her street. She turned right onto her street and went down about 5 houses. Isobel glanced to her left and looked at a couple of kids playing with bubbles in the front yard, something that would normally make her smile, but it just didn't tonight. She continued driving and pulled into her driveway. She could tell it was about the end of her shift anyway. Her automatic lights were already on for her driveway.

She let out a sigh as she parked her car then got out and walked up to her front door. She did a little glance over her shoulder as she unlocked her front door to make sure no one was behind her. As she opened her front door, her alarm system was going off. She quickly disarmed it while shutting the door then went to put her bag, along with everything in the closet. She stood by the closet for a moment with her eyes focused on a photo of her father halfway across the room that was on the wall in the family room.

She finally took a step toward the stairs with her eyes still on the photo. Isobel placed one foot on the first step of the stairs while holding onto the railing still looking at the photo now to the left of her. She shook her head to get out of the trance as her phone rang in her pocket. Isobel stepped down off the step and answered the phone as she looked down to see it was the Captain.

"Callahan," Isobel said as she blinked her eyes a couple of times still trying to keep focus and make sense.

"Where are you?" He asked.

"I wasn't feeling good," Isobel stated as she rolled her eyes and threw her hand up in the air for coming up with a last-minute excuse.

"Next time, let me know you are leaving." He said.

"Will do sir," Isobel said as she started up the stairs.

"See you tomorrow." He added.

"Alright," Isobel said as she hung up.

She continued up the stairs and walked to the bathroom that was in her bedroom. Isobel stood in front of the bathroom mirror and looked at her puffy eyes from crying. She did a half-smile. "You are such an idiot," Isobel said to herself while looking in the mirror. She took her hair tie out and turned around to sit on the edge of the bathtub then she started to run some water for a bath.

While pouring in some bubbles and lavender Epsom salt she adjusted the water a little hotter, as steam filled the bathroom. She breathed in the steam along with the scent of lavender. She turned off the water and shut the door, then laid her phone close by in case someone calls from work. It is typical they call her at the wrong time. Isobel turned on the nearby MP3 player to play piano music. She slowly emerges herself in the warm water, she takes a deep breath as the warm water leaves a tantalizing feeling on her skin along with the nice aroma filling the bathroom.