Chapter 6
Rated "M"
VI - Cleopatra
I needed sleep. I needed it.Being up for more than twenty-four hours was a pain, especially when I was sleep-deprived, fearful, over-worked, and pissed off at the girl who I was supposed to be partnering with. And to make matters worse, the police department had locked up my apartment and stamped it to be a crime scene.
And I did not want to walk around the city trying to find a hotel with available rooms.
"Alexander. What can I help you with?" Captain Shelton asked as I entered his office. I cleared my throat to speak.
"Is there any way that you can let me into my apartment for the night? I know it's a crime scene, but it's three o'clock in the morning. I need sleep."
"I'm sorry Alexander, but it's a crime scene, just like you said. Even I can't break the rules."
"Great..." I muttered. Not only could I not go to my apartment, but Zak had already left. And to make it even more difficult, he was living with his girlfriend. Now that would be awkward in a nutshell, despite my friendship with Zak.
"Hold on a moment, Alex..." The Captain muttered as he walked to his office door and opened it, yelling for none other than Roxanne herself to come in. Roxanne looked good for someone who hadn't slept in God knows how long. She had no bags under her eyes, her makeup was still intact - whether she redid it or not - and her suit was still wrinkle and crease free. "Miss Winston, come on in..." He said, closing the door behind her.
Roxanne noticed me right away, and almost immediately her eyes became darker.
"You and Mr. Sempers are partners, correct?"
"You're assuming that I either don't know or made the decision myself, and I can assure you that neither of those are true. So before asking me if Mr. Sempers and I are partners, figure it out yourself. You did set us up, didn't you?"
Roxanne's features were completely neutral as she spoke, even when Captain Shelton laughed at her statement. He found her to almost be a joke. Her intelligence, her witty remarks, her very professional appearance. Whether Roxanne understood the Captain's reason to laugh or not, she remained ice cold and slightly bored.
"Okay, okay. You got me. You and Mr. Sempers are partners. Partners take care of each other."
"In the work place environment, yes." Roxanne stated ever-so-clearly. Whatever the Captain was going to say to her - which I could tell wasn't going to settle well with Roxanne - she could already guess. And her answer definitely was going to be a no. Despite the Captain's clear attempt to make his offer seem like a hook, line, and sinker.
"And when it affects the work place..." The Captain trailed off and Roxanne sighed.
"Whatever you are going to ask me, Mr. Shelton, ask me now. I need neither an introduction, nor you throwing your fishing line into the sea for me to pick up what you are putting down ever so clearly."
She understood got the hook, line, and sinker ordeal, and I could only imagine the rest of the things she knew about the conversation and the awkwardness I felt sitting there like a child.
"Alexander will need to stay with you for the next week while the investigation team checks his apartment for clues leading to the note."
"The investigation team already checked Mr. Sempers apartment. Why do they need to do it again?" Roxanne fired back, not wanting to give into the Captains unavoidable request.
"Just to make sure they didn't miss anything."
Roxanne was quiet in thought. She obviously did have any advantage in the ordeal, and she knew that. And hated it. She sighed.
"Stay with me? As in..."
"At your apartment."
"I don't have an apartment." She was trying to get the Captain to back away, but it wasn't working. There was one thing that I had learned about her, even if I had only met her two days before. When she had no leisure, she still didn't give up. Even if she had to act like a child.
"Your hotel room then."
"I don't have one."
"Then where are you staying?"
"You see, I live away from the skyscrapers and tall buildings, Mr. Shelton. If you want a well-rested murder detective, then you should think twice before sending him on an hour ride just to get rest and go to work. Mr. Sempers gets here at what? Six o'clock in the morning? Add in travel time, he'll get less than an hour of sleep, if he's lucky an actual hour."
"Alexander, I don't want to see you until four o'clock in the afternoon tomorrow, no earlier, understand?"
"Yes, sir." I said, complying with his orders. I looked over to Roxanne who was now glaring at him. She suddenly cracked a smiled and laughed for a moment before speaking.
"You're good. I have to admit that."
"You're looking at the best, my dear." Roxanne's blonde brow rose in a challenge.
"Is that why I was sent here to pick you back up after you fell flat on your ass?" The Captain laughed and sat down at his desk, almost oblivious to my own questioning stares.
"You are by far an interesting character, Miss Winston. I cannot wait to see how you attempt to fix my precinct. While your at it, try not to break my boys. Especially this one," The Captain nodded to me, "He's a great asset to us."
"And Hermann Goering was a great asset to Adolf Hitler during World War II. Did it mean anything to the rest of the Axis powers? I don't know. I wasn't born until the 90's. Unlike you." She sported a smirk and the Captain nodded for me to get up and leave with her.
"Just keep him alive and healthy for the week. That's all I'm asking."
"If it doesn't cost me an arm and a leg, expect him to be fully intact. If not, you know the drill."
I had not expected the ride to be as long as it was. Roxanne had said an hour, but it was still crazy to think that it took as long as it did to get to her place.
I was at the verge of passing out when the taxi stopped and Roxanne paid the driver in cash. We were at the entrance of a neighborhood, not too far away from the city, but still far away enough that the restless noise of the cars in the streets were muted and the soft humming of crickets were the only thing that could possibly bother a person.
"Where the hell are we? And why are we walking?" I asked restlessly.
"I may be an agent of law, and I may carry a gun at all times of the day, but I'm still a paranoid freak." Was all she said as we continued to walk. She turned suddenly and I took a moment for my eyes to recognize where I was before they turned into literal golf balls.
There were no other words to describe the house Roxanne lived in other than completely gorgeous. And maybe huge.
If I hadn't known any better, I could've sworn that I was in Beverly Hills, staring at the most expensive houses in the U.S. Roxanne turned around before she turned the key to unlock the door. Her eyebrow rose as she stared at me.
"If you're just going to keep staring at my house like that, you might as well sleep outside." Were her words. I snapped out of my physical stage of awe and walked inside only to be greeted with a loud, deep, echoing noise that could've only come from one animal. A dog.
"Heel, Cleo." Roxanne spoke as she turned on the lights. "Cleo" just stared at me. It was different seeing a German Shepherd outside of the force. Not on a leash and not attempting to find something or someone.
I looked away from the female dog to see the beauty of Roxanne's house. Despite her own cold interior, her house was warm and welcoming with art hung up on the wall, furniture complimenting each corner and curve, and plenty of open space so it didn't seem too crowded or too empty. Just right, especially with the dog.
The one thing I couldn't get over was her lack of pictures. Pictures of family, friends, humans in general. She had nothing. Not on the walls, not on the tables, not on the shelves. Not even in the kitchen where I had followed her and Cleo.
"You have a nice place." I said, attempting to spark some sort of conversation. I was tired, but I knew I couldn't fall asleep just yet. Not when I had so much to see and adapt to.
"Thanks." She said plainly, looking through the mail she had picked up on her way inside. She sighed as she threw an envelope to the side, making a new pile and looking up for me for the first time since entering. "Do you want anything?" It was an offer, I could tell in her voice, which was as unusual as her actually being nice to me. Well, nicer than usual, that is.
"Uh, no. I'm fine." She didn't say anything as she went to fill up Cleo's water and food bowl. I couldn't help but notice all the bottles of alcohol in her kitchen. None of them were opened, none of them were out to be drunk, they were all just sitting in the glass cupboard or on top of the wooden contraptions. All for show it seemed.
"See something you like?" Roxanne asked, staring at me. She had noticed what I was looking at and I froze.
"Uh..." I muttered.
"You can have whatever you'd like. It's not like I'm going to drink any of them. A hundred bottles of liquor lying around my kitchen isn't going to do me any good, anyway."
"Uh, no, I'm quite alright."
"Whatever..." She stated, looking over at Cleo as she dug into her food. "You didn't bring clothes did you?"
Shit.
Why was I never prepared for these type of things? Why?
"That's okay. I probably have something downstairs that'll fit you." She looked over at Cleo again and then back to me, rounding the bar area of the table and nodding back to her dog. "Watch Cleopatra, will you? If she doesn't eat that pill this time I might loose it. Either that or she'll kill herself. She's a smart bitch."
Roxanne didn't say anything else before she left me with the dog. Cleopatra? Cleo? A nickname? For a dog? Roxanne had a nickname for her dog?
I had never imagined Roxanne to be like that, but thinking about the options, it seemed the most plausible. Roxanne seemed lonely. A girl without friends and family. So a dog must've been the perfect fit for her. Maybe her heart wasn't as ice cold as I had thought.
Cleopatra was still munching away when Roxanne got back. "Here..." She said, handing me some folded clothes. They sure as hell weren't hers, and I couldn't help but wonder who's they were. "The guest room is right up the stairs, the second door to the left. There's a bathroom connected to it."
Roxanne looked away from me again and back at Cleopatra. "Thanks..." I muttered and Roxanne nodded. I left to find the guest room and to get changed right away.
I had taken a quick shower before getting dressed into the clothes Roxanne got me. That was when I felt a little light-headed, and noted that I hadn't ate since my lunch with Summer. I walked down the stairs to here Roxanne talking to someone, who later was to be identified as Cleo.
"Come on..." She muttered. "Just take the God damn pill, Cleopatra. Come on, do you want to get sick? Do you want me to call the vet? Do you want to get a shot? I don't think you do. Come on, Cleo. Just take it already. I'm not going to bed until you do... Cleo... Please... Just take it. It's easy. Do you want to die? Do you want your heart to stop beating..." She suddenly stopped and sighed. "That's a stupid question, huh? Of course you'd rather leave me in this wretched house by myself and go back with him, huh? I mean, who'd want to live with me anyway? I'm just some freak that shoves pills down your throat, huh?"
I walked into the room to see Cleopatra lying on her side on the cool, wooden floor with Roxanne sitting right by her head. She looked so different. She wasn't in her designer suit anymore, but instead sported long pajama pants and a cropped tank top that showed part of her stomach, a little of her cleavage, and her arms. She wore no makeup - which made her eyes seem brighter and lighter - and her hair was out of her ponytail and wet, like she had also taken a shower. Instead of its usual straightness, her hair was drying in wavy locks that fell over her shoulders and landed barely at the middle of her breasts. Not like I was looking, though.
Cleopatra whined as she lifted her head to look at me. Roxanne followed her eyes to stare at me but immediately looked away, wiping away a single tear as it fell down her pale, freckled cheeks.
"What's going on?" I asked, even though I knew exactly what was going on. Roxanne sniffled and spoke.
"Cleo won't take her pill. It's nothing really, just the fact that if she doesn't she'll die." It was complete sarcasm that came out of Roxanne's voice, but it was also pain. Cleopatra seemed to be the one thing at that moment that really mattered to Roxanne. Especially when she made her threat that she wouldn't go to bed until Cleo took the thing.
Cleo suddenly got up and ran my way, jumping and wanting to play. She ran over to grab a toy and I looked at Roxanne. She only sat there, on the hard, wooden floor and stared off into space. Her dog, the one she owned and loved wouldn't take the medicine that was supposed to save her life. Although I didn't understand much of it, I could only imagine being in her shoes and replacing Cleo with a family member. That would hurt.
Ever since Roxanne had told Cleo that it was fine I was there, Cleopatra had gained a sort of friendship with me almost. A love for my attention, almost like every girl I had ever met in a bar. But different.
She held a rope in her mouth as she walked over to me, her tail wagging with excitement. I swallowed.
There was something inside of me that told me to trail lightly with Roxanne's feelings, for if I didn't she'd become colder than she had been at work. I realized then what was going on. Roxanne had let me into her house - into her personal life to say the least. I met her family - Cleo - I saw her pain - Cleo - and I saw what her whole world revolved around. Cleo.
Roxanne had basically opened up to me, in the most unexpected way I had imagined. She had opened up, let her wall down a bit, and showed me more of her in mere seconds than I had seen in two days. If I didn't trail lightly, everything that had happened would turn upside down, and hell would probably freeze over in the process.
I patted Cleopatra's head and she dropped her rope, expecting more attention. But that didn't happen as I walked over to where Roxanne sat still on the floor, the pill clutched tightly in her hand and her head down, her hair covering her face almost shyly. I reached my hand out so she could see my open palm. She got the gist and placed the pill in my hand.
It was the first time Roxanne and I had touched, her hand touching mine ever so gently and me seeing even more of her. I hadn't noticed until then of her almond-shaped nude nails and various tattoos that covered her left arm more than her right. Her tattoos didn't exactly make one of those popular sleeves, but they did seem to represent things that I had yet to learn about her. And I wouldn't unless I started to respect her and not hate her for the level of professionalism she wanted to keep between us, especially during work hours.
Cleopatra had followed me and I hadn't noticed it until she put her head in my lap. I placed my free hand on her head and scratched her ear, stopping and showing her the pill. There was a non-verbal connection that Cleo and I shared and she understood, grabbing the pill with her teeth and swallowing it whole. I smiled and pet her.
Roxanne got up and washed her hands, searching the fridge for something as I continued to pet Cleopatra. I could hear Roxanne sigh before she walked to the bar and looked at me over it.
"I don't have much, but does cold spaghetti sound okay?"
"Thanks for helping me with Cleo." Roxanne spoke as she filed down a list of things she needed to get at the store. I shrugged at her statement as I chewed my bit of spaghetti.
"It was really no big deal. Seriously." It was the complete truth, though I hated to admit it. Roxanne and I were enemies less than two hours before the incident, and now we were thanking each other? What kind of crazy movie was this?
"She likes you. And it's not just the clothes." Roxanne said. Clothes. I went back to Roxanne talking to Cleo before I interrupted. Of course you'd rather leave me in this wretched house by myself and go back with him, huh? Him. Was that who the clothes belonged to? Was it her ex? Her boyfriend?
"I seem to have that effect on women." It was supposed to be a joke, but Roxanne didn't do anything, she only watched Cleo chew her rope into a million of little strings. "Most women." I added at the sight of Roxanne.
I couldn't tell what it was with her, but something wasn't right. Or so I thought. Who knew. Maybe this was how Roxanne was all the time. Just out of it.
"I'm heading to bed. If you need anything, I'm two doors down." It was all she spoke before she left. Cleo had been fed, given water, took her pill, and made Roxanne cry. That was not what I had imagined my first day staying at Roxanne's place to be like. And the whole tears part went way above the charts.
Cleo followed me to the guest bedroom, but I didn't have the heart to say no to her when she jumped onto the foot of the bed and began to sleep. I brushed my teeth with the brand new toothbrush Roxanne had supplied me with and got into bed. Unlike most of the dogs who had jumped into bed with me, Cleo avoided lying on my feet, which was nice.
I took a deep breath and pushed Roxanne out of my mind, sudden relief flooding over me and letting me fall into a deep, restful slumber.
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