Her eyes widened, “You’ve already fallen for the guy. Holy shit. That man must be an Angel to have won over Elizabeth Strong.” Her face turned serious. “He better not hurt you.”
“Oh come on, it’s more likely I’ll hurt myself, right?”
“Cop or no cop, I will cut him, Liz.”
The windows were down, causing Elizabeth to look around in every direction. “Don’t say that too loud, China!”
“Oh, stop being so paranoid.” She took one last drag of her cigarette and turned to her like a childhood defender. “Seriously, I will cut a bitch,” she said flicking her cigarette out the car window.
“Don’t be so dramatic.”
“Hey, I just said you should have sex with the man, not fall in love with him.”
“I’ll have you know he talked me into going to the hearing.”
China’s mouth dropped a little, “Well I’ll be damned.”
“He’s going with me. Said he is setting it all up. He’ll be with me the whole time.”
“Okay. Impressive. I’m just saying cops are a different breed, Liz. I have one word for you, Thomas.”
Pursing her lips and grabbing the door handle she retorted, “Oh, Thomas is a different breed alright. Remember, not all cops are cheating assholes, either.”
China rolled her eyes as she exited the vehicle. They walked to the automatic sliding doors and Elizabeth hit the oversized button on the wall forcing the doors to separate, allowing them entry. Their heels clanked on the tile floor as they made it to the elevator. Elizabeth pushed the button for the fourth floor and the doors began to close.
“So, how was your date with the mysterious Chester?”
Leaning her back against the glass wall opposite the elevator door she sighed, “God, don’t even ask.”
“Oh, come on. The other day you were singing the man praises and telling me I should be happy for you.”
“Yeah, well, that was until he mentioned marriage.”
“What? Get the hell outta here!”
“I kid you not. One minute we’re sitting there enjoying the best lasagna I ever put to my lips; all I could think about was ripping his clothes off, slathering his body with pasta sauce, and having myself one big cannoli for desert, right? The next minute he’s talking about getting married and having kids. Kids, Liz! The man has lost his damn mind.”
The bell dinged to remind them they made it to the fourth floor. As the doors opened, they exited and headed down the hall toward the office. China continued, “We managed to make it back to my place, he drove after all, did our thing and I rushed him out the door quick as I could. He didn’t seem too happy about that.”
Shaking her head and giggling slightly, Elizabeth said, “Well, I would imagine anyone would have a problem with that. He did just take you out to dinner.”
China punched in the code on the hefty door to the prosecutor’s office. “Maybe on his next date after only a few months he won’t bring up kids. Frigin’ amateur.” She pushed the door open and held it for Elizabeth. The scent of fresh coffee and bagels drifted through the air. Walking past Marilyn’s office and exchanging ‘Good morning’ with the office manager, they stopped in the middle of the main office near Constance’s desk to take a peak at the goodies.
“Who brought bagels?” asked Elizabeth.
“Who cares? It’s breakfast,” said China.
Constance, one of the main secretaries, turned around from her position at her desk and smiled. “I did. Enjoy! I think you’re gonna need it.” She winked, whirled her chair back around to her computer, and started typing again.
Disconcerted, Elizabeth said, “Thanks. I think,” and turned to China who shrugged her shoulders as she stuck a cinnamon bagel in her mouth so she could pour herself a cup of coffee.
Mildred made her way from the back end of the office. “Good morning ladies! It’s been interesting for sure!” Her red shoes nearly matched the color of her short spunky hair.
“Mildred, I just love your shoes! Are they new?” Elizabeth loved Mildred and always complimented her unique styles.
“Oh, no. I picked these little gems up last year. But thank you! By the way, as you can see, the office is a buzz this morning...”
Elizabeth looked to her left then her right as she slapped cream cheese on her bagel, “I see that. What’s going on anyway?” she asked before stuffing her mouth with a bite of the toasted asiago cheese crust.
Stomping a foot on the ground and rolling her eyes she confessed, “I just can’t believe no one, especially you girls, didn’t know this was coming. Marilyn acts as if none of us need to be a part of anything around here!”
“Mildred, spit it out.”
Looking down the hall, Mildred motioned to Marilyn who was speaking with a short, stocky, blonde as if she was giving her a tour of the place. “That is what’s going on,” she said snidely.
China pushed her way into the conversation. She took a sip of her coffee to wash down the cream cheese on the roof of her mouth, “Who’s that?”
Mildred’s eyes went from China, to Elizabeth, and back to Marilyn and the other woman. She crossed her arms on her chest, tilted her head aggravatingly, and tapped her toe on the carpet, “That is your new director of victim services, ladies.”
China and Elizabeth’s thoughts were corresponding and mutually vocal. “Oooh-shiiit...”
Making their way down the hall, Marilyn made eye contact. Mildred smiled at her and returned to her desk before Marilyn could speak, “Good morning, ladies. I’d like to introduce you to Peggy Cabot. Peggy, this is Elizabeth Strong and Mia Lee, or China as we call her. Our two advocates you’ll be working with.”
After exchanging handshakes and nice-to-meet-you’s, China quickly and defensively added, “It’s Mia. Welcome aboard.”
“Elizabeth handles all the domestic violence cases, China -”
Giving Marilyn a strong look she interrupted, “Mia...” In China’s mind, you had to earn the right to call her by her nickname.
“Sorry, Mi-a, handles everything else.
