Chapter Text
Charlie
A curse flew out of my lips when the coffee pot slipped from my grasp and the fresh pot that had auto brewed thanks the the christmas present from Bella, spilled all over the counter and floor. Hot coffee splashed over my freshly washed uniform pants and socks too, scalding my skin. As if I wasn’t already late enough now I had to go change and I was out of coffee. Scowling at the mess I had to leave behind, I hurried upstairs and grabbed a wrinkled pair of slacks I had yet to iron and hoped that the Forks Police receptionist, Sharon, didn’t feel the need to scrutinize my appearance today.
Unlikely, but a man could hope.
Finally dressed and out the door I shoved into the cruiser and headed to work, wondering what else would be in store for me on the perpetually dreary morning.
Per usual, traffic seemed to slow when the people of Forks caught sight of the cruiser and it lengthened my commute to the station. The rain that my daughter hated so much and I didn’t mind, unless it turned into sleet which would cause accidents I had to go oversee, picked up it’s pace on my slow drive to create a monotonous roar outside the vehicle. And of course the speed of everyone around me grew even slower.
Every day it was the same thing. Wake up, go to work, deal with Sharon, handle whatever meager case load came across my desk, go home to an empty house, repeat. It was the same routine day after day in the same dreary town with the same monotonous colors and same monotonous faces, only broken up by the occasional fishing trip or visit with my friend Billy. To say I missed the days when Bella lived with me would be an understatement and I felt a pang of sadness go through my chest at the thought of her, just like it always did. Though I didn’t know exactly what went on in that house hidden in the forest with the too pretty family that had basically adopted my daughter into the weird magical cult, I knew something was off and I regretted ever letting Bella get involved with them. Perhaps if I had said no that night she had mentioned meeting Edward Cullen to play baseball with his family, or if I had forced her to go live with Renee in Florida, she might still be my Bells.
But she wasn’t and she never would be again, leaving me in this reality where my baby had a baby, albeit one that was no longer a baby despite the scant amount of time that had gone by since she had been a baby, and I was still alone despite my painstaking efforts to find someone to spend my life with. With my daughter grown and my retirement age crawling ever closer, I was beginning to lose hope that I’d ever have someone to come home to after a long day.
Though Bella and I hadn’t spent a lot of time together when she had lived with me there had been an easy companionship between us and it had been nice to have someone around, even if we didn’t talk much. After she moved out to live with her husband and then the two of them plus their child moved to go to school, things had been lonely. Sue had helped with that for a while but like all my relationships it had fizzled out when she had come to the conclusion that the things I wanted weren’t what she wanted, and I had been left alone once more.
Sighing, I prayed to whatever higher being there was to send me someone who might actually like me for me for once.
Spotting the one and only cafe in town flashing their ‘Open’ sign in the window I groaned, knowing I was later than I had thought. Sharon was sure to say something to me about it, so without hesitation I turned into the parking lot of the cafe.
If I was already late at least I could have some caffeine in me before I had to deal with her.
Absently I parked in an open spot next to a truck I didn’t recognize and didn’t care enough to contemplate since I hadn’t had coffee yet, and hurried through the rain with hopes that Cora already had a pot of coffee on. When I rushed out of the rain and through the door I was so focused on the promising scent of freshly brewed caffeine that I didn’t notice the person on the other side of the door. With one big shove I was through the heavy door of the cafe and the person that had been on the other side of it was sent sprawling across the floor.
Realizing my mistake instantly I reached for her as she fell, lurching after her as she went down in a tangle of long limbs and a shocked yelp. Though I didn’t manage to grab her before she fell back onto her ass I did manage to leap forward with enough time and agility to grab the back of her skull to prevent her from smacking her head on the tiled floor of the cafe, even as her coffee cup went flying.
“Fuck!” she gasped, hands reaching up to clutch at the thick sleeves of my uniform jacket.
“Are you okay?” I demanded, searching her unfamiliar face for any signs of pain or injury.
A pair of big green eyes looked up at me then from beneath a pink hood that fell back and my breath caught in my throat at the pure beauty staring up at me.
“I’m fine,” breathed the most stunning woman I had ever seen as she used the hands on my arms to push me away, eyes darting nervously away. “Thanks.”
Reluctantly I released her, realizing that I had practically plastered her to me in my effort to keep her skull from cracking on the floor, and awkwardly pushed to my feet. When I offered her a hand to help her up she didn’t even look at it and instead inched away from me before climbing to her feet on her own, her eyes straying to the puddle of milky coffee that was now bleeding across the floor towards Cora’s feet as she watched. Stress filled her gaze and she looked helplessly from the puddle to me, her cheeks heating with obvious embarrassment.
Over her shoulder I saw Cora’s smile widen with evil intent and inwardly groaned at the glee filling her face, knowing this was going to be the hottest piece of gossip all week. It was likely everyone in the town would know by lunch time, and Sharon was bound to talk my ear off about it.
Directing my gaze back to the woman in front of me I took in her big eyes that were filling with uncertainty, unable to help the way my gaze traced over her features. A delicate pointed nose, a pair of pouty lips, and freckles scattered across her cheeks were none that I had ever seen before. I took in the various pieces of jewelry that decorated her pretty face from the gold glinting on her eyebrow to the various hoops in her nose, as well as the plethora of sparkling objects stabbed through every surface of her ears, and couldn’t help but wonder if anything else on her was pierced.
Shit.
No.
I was not going there. This girl didn’t need me having such thoughts about her just because she had the unfortunate experience of bumping in to me. I needed to get better control of my wayward musings
“Sorry,” I blurted out, trying to distract myself from the thoughts that were likely to get me into trouble. “Let me get you another coffee, please.”
Those big eyes of hers that were fringed in long wispy lashes darted to mine and then away again before she quickly shook her head. “It’s fine. I should’ve been more observant. I, uhm, I’m sorry.” She turned and looked to Cora, who already had a mop out. “Please, let me clean this up for you. I’m really sorry I made such a mess.”
Cora’s mischievous smile softened on the obviously distraught girl and she shook her head. “No problem, peach. If anyone should be cleaning it up it should be him, but he already looks late for work so I’ll have pity on him today. Thank you, though. It’s very sweet of you to offer.”
“Okay, sorry,” she murmured again, eyes on the puddle of coffee.
Sensing her embarrassment along with her stress over the situation I couldn’t resist place a comforting hand between her shoulder blades in the same way I would do to anyone in town who looked distressed. “C’mon, sweetheart, let me get you a new coffee.”
She tensed at my touch, eyes meeting mine once more and I quickly removed my had despite her nod of agreement, inwardly grimacing that I had probably just made her more uncomfortable by touching her. Avoiding the spill I guided her over to the register without touching her again and Reese, Cora’s son, was already waiting with two steaming cups of coffee and a smirk to match his mother’s. “Black coffee for you, sir?” he asked too excitedly.
“Yep,” I sighed, handing over a bill. “And whatever she had.” I was never going to live this down.
He gave me my change and then grabbed one of the cups, eyes full of amusement as he handed it to the woman now hovering behind me. A slim hand with rounded pink nails decorated with gems shot forward and grasped the cup, the sleeve of her pink raincoat pulling up enough for me to catch a glimpse of ink swirling around her wrist before it disappeared under the hem.
Again my thoughts started to run wild for a brief moment before I got a wrangle on them, reminding myself that it was inappropriate to be thinking about a strangers piercings or tattoos and where else they might be on her body. Perhaps Billy was right and it really had been too long since I had gone out with a woman if the simple glimpse of this one’s wrist and ear were enough to get my cock stirring in my pants.
“Thanks,” came her soft, melodic voice, interrupting my musings and drawing my gaze back to her.
I looked down to tell her that it was no problem and apologize again for knocking her down only to see her small smile directed towards Reese, not me. He smiled back at her eagerly, admiration clear in his young eyes and I bit back the scowl forming on my mouth, wondering why I had the sudden urge to nudge her behind me so he couldn’t see her anymore. Instead I turned away from him and obscured him from her sight as I drew her attention back to me, needing it for some reason as I said, “I really am sorry.”
“It’s fine,” she repeated, eyes casting down once more as she refused to meet my gaze. “Thank you for replacing it.”
“It was the least I could do,” I offered, unsure how to prolong this conversation while every cell in my body demanded that I did.
She only gave me a quick nod and turned towards the door, clearly done with this conversation. Ignoring the amused looks of Cora, Reese, and the other patrons I didn’t even want to see who they were, I followed her. I was surprised to find she was only slightly shorter than my six feet, the top of her head nearly reaching my nose. A clean, delicate scent of floral and fruit wafted off of her as she hurried away from me and I felt nearly hypnotized by it as I floated after her, my mind shutting out everything but her. When we reached the door I leaned around her to grab the handle before she could and carefully tugged it open, making sure not to bump her this time, and her eyes darted to me for the briefest of moments before she muttered a thanks and rushed through.
Behind me I heard Cora call an amused goodbye and I cursed the fact that Sharon was likely to be her first call considering that that was her grandmother.
Outside the rain had eased to a drizzle once more and I followed behind the pink rain coat, noting that she was heading for the only truck in the parking lot that I hadn’t seen before and the one I had parked next to. An older model square body Ford had been stripped of it’s original color and repainted a shimmering pink. Not a spot of rust could be seen on it and despite the haze of a Forks morning it was clear that the truck was in pristine condition. My eyes fell to the mid west plates and I wondered what had brought her to Forks.
As we approached our cars she seemed to notice me right behind her and she paused to look up at me once more. “Did you need something, sir?” she asked hesitantly, her confusion palpable in her voice and her reluctance to talk to me evident in the way she inched back even when I stopped moving.
Every instinct in me honed by years of dealing with guilty teenagers had me frowning at her, wondering what had made her so nervous for me to be near her. Unsure if she was shy or just untrusting of law enforcement for whatever reason I forced a friendly smile even though I wanted to demand her name and information. “Nope, just headed towards my car.”
She followed my gesture with her gaze and her eyes landed on the cruiser parked next to her truck. They filled with embarrassment and her cheeks heated once more. “Oh, right. Sorry, officer.”
“Chief,” I corrected automatically, then inwardly cringed. If she wasn’t a fan of police then pointing out that I was chief wasn’t about to win me any points with her.
“Sorry,” she sighed, glancing at me before taking another step towards her truck. “I, uhm, I need to go. Sorry about running into you.”
Before I could correct her that it was me who had run into her, she was opening the door to her truck and closing it firmly behind her. Though I couldn’t hear anything from her anymore I watched for a moment as she rested her forehead against the steering wheel of the truck and let out a long, deep sigh. Whatever kind of day this girl was having, it was clearly worse than mine. I hoped it got better for her.
By the time I walked into the station Sharon was already hopping in her seat with excitement, her eyes sparkling with interest before the door was even shut behind me.
“I heard that you had an interesting morning,” she grinned.
“Yep,” I replied, hoping for once that she understood the fact that I was not interested in talking to her.
“Did you get her number?” she demanded, rising from her chair to follow me towards my office.
Inwardly I groaned at this line of questioning and the motives behind it. Sharon had been trying for years to get me to date again after Sue and I had broken up, seeming to make it her life’s mission to find me a girlfriend. With very few single women my age in town other than one of her grandchildren, the choice was obvious according to her but I had never held interest for Liz, and I never would.
When I only grunted her eyes narrowed on me and I cursed the day that I had hired her.
“Did you ask for her number? Cora said she was very pretty, even if she did have a bunch of those piercings in her face. I really don’t understand kids these days and enjoying putting all that metal in their faces, you know. It makes them look unkempt and loose, but that’s just me. Do you like them? It would be quite a change of pace from the usual women you’ve date, but perhaps a change would be nice. If you’re not into piercings, though, Liz is still single. Her daughter is almost eighteen and will be going off to college soon so she’s going to have an empty nest, so she will have plenty of time on her hands. You know she makes the best oatmeal raisin cookies? She’s the one who made them for the fund raiser last year! Everyone raved about them for weeks and I…”
I tuned out the rest of her speech, having heard it a dozen times already. Those oatmeal raisin cookies had been as hard as a rock and nearly broke one of my teeth when I had tried to bite into it, reminding me why I never actually ate anything from the bake sales we hosted. Liz was renowned for her ‘baking’ and if I had paid more attention that the cookies had been made by her I never would’ve risked my teeth or my stomach. Turning to my computer I started it up and waited for the old thing to load, finally taking a sip of my coffee.
And nearly gagged.
I ripped the lid off the to-go cup and stared at the milk concoction that was inside, wondering what the fuck was in my cup instead of my usual black coffee. My mind went to the pink fingered woman and her milky coffee that had spilled all over the floor, and I silently cursed Reese.
Putting the lid back on the drink and shoving it to the end of my desk, my eyes drifted over to the kitchen across the hall where the infamous coffee pot lay dormant. As much as I dreaded the confrontation that came whenever I tried to use it and Sharon insisting on making it herself as one of her ‘office duties’, I wasn’t sure if suffering without my morning caffeine fix was worse than whatever ungodly concoction she would create in that pot this time.
Groaning, I leaned my head back on my chair and wondered if this day was going to get any better.