A few minutes later their meals arrived. Darnell had a meat platter while Vanessa took the one vegetarian item on the menu, even though she’d never been a fan of pizza.
‘Typical millennial.’ Darnell heckled a lone laugh. She looked up confused and he pointed his knife towards her meal. ‘You do know Hitler was a vegetarian, don’t you?’
‘And?’
‘Well I’m just pointing out that not all vegetarians are ethical.’
‘No, I’m sure they’re not. But Hitler wasn’t a veggie by choice,’ Vanessa argued, shooting a smug stare towards her obnoxious colleague. ‘He had a meat allergy.’
‘Not actually true,’ Darnell corrected her, holding his index finger in the air. ‘It’s a common misconception. He turned veggie after visiting a slaughterhouse. His future vision for Germany was that it would be a vegan state.’
‘Wow I never knew that. I didn’t study European history though so my knowledge regarding Hitler’s eating habits is a little sketchy,’ Vanessa replied as she bit into her pizza. ‘It’s rather surprising though, I imagine him quite enjoying biting into the head of a live chicken.’
They fell silent as they consumed their food. As the wine trickled into her sensibility valve, she was reminded of a message, which she’d received earlier in the evening in her room.
‘So my ex texted me tonight.’
‘Oh?’ Darnell refilled her empty glass and sat back.
‘We broke up about six months ago. He’s called Sam,’ Vanessa explained. ‘I was just getting on with my life. But now he’s messaging me again. I just don’t need this right now.’
‘Why did you guys break up?’
‘He cheated.’ Her stomach tightened as she reminded herself of his deceit and the subsequent pain it caused her.
‘Bastard,’ Jackson grumbled.
‘Yeah, but I can’t blame him. I was tucked away in my books and trying to be a career girl. I barely saw him. Neither of us made time for each other in the end. I’d have probably cheated myself had I had the time to. But my career took over.’
‘That’s rough,’ Darnell replied. ‘But you can’t blame yourself for carving yourself out a career. He should’ve understood that. Or broken up with you before he slept with some floozy.’
‘Yeah but it’s not always that easy, is it? Sometimes a little attention from someone else makes you realise how little you thought about your partner. It gives you that push to do something about the mess you’re in.’
‘So what did he say?’ Darnell asked curiously.
‘The usual. He misses me.’
‘And you don’t want him back. There must be something still between you two to be still hung up on one tiny message.’
He thought about his wife. They’d been together for twenty years and he hadn’t gone as long as a night without at least a call to her. Now he was sitting here feeling as glum as Vanessa did, as Jasmine ignored his messages.
‘I don’t know,’ Vanessa pondered. ‘It certainly wouldn’t be suitable for me to have a relationship right now. I’m a career gal working on one of the biggest cases in American history. I just don’t have the time or the energy for anything more than that at the moment.’
Darnell considered his own marriage; Vanessa’s woes matched the guilt he’d felt while spending his evenings and weekends working, catching some of Illinois’s most dangerous criminals, while Jasmine took the boys out of town on adventures to local zoos and theme parks. He’d missed dinners, birthdays and graduations while he was on the beat.
‘So come on then.’ Vanessa grabbed the bottle and filled up Darnell’s glass. ‘I’ve told you my secrets. What’s your story?’
‘What do you mean?’
‘Well why isn’t your wife talking to you?’ Vanessa quizzed. Darnell swallowed the lump in his throat, mirroring the suspects he grilled in the interrogation room.
‘Well I was kind of a jerk but I was standing my ground,’ Darnell explained. ‘You see my youngest son, Aaron, told me he was a faggot last night.’
Vanessa choked on her wine, wincing at the detective’s insensitive choice of words.
‘And you can’t accept this?’
‘No. We’re a Christian household. He’s my son and he should just man up. My father would have lost his mind if he knew about this. Thank God he’s not around to witness this. I’ve also built up a reputation in this town, to think what people would say about me knowing my son liked the company of other men.’
‘You know the world has moved on, don’t you, Darnell? How can you perform your job with those feelings? You’re supposed to protect the public, at least ten percent of whom are gay. And you must have had colleagues who are gay?’
‘I know, I know. I don’t mind what everyone else does. That’s up to them. And my job means I have to protect the rights of lots of people I don’t agree with. The law is the law after all. But I just want my son to grow up and find a woman to settle down with. I swear he’s chosen to do this just to upset me.’
‘It’s not a choice, Darnell,’ Vanessa reminded him. ‘He’s probably really hurting right now because he can’t change who he is. My sister’s gay. She married her girlfriend in California a couple of years back but my father refused to attend. It really hurt her that her own dad wouldn’t walk her down the aisle as she married the love of her life. A perfect day was tarnished and she was crushed. And then of course Prop-8 passed opposing gay marriage in California and that delivered a second blow. I just hope Obama manages to get his equal marriage bill through.’
‘And you’re OK with the way she is?’
‘I just don’t see how it affects me.’ Vanessa shrugged. ‘It doesn’t do me any harm who she loves. I’m just glad she’s happy. I take
