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Sigrid

Louise immediately remembered where she was this time. The second she opened her eyes, she pushed herself up and jumped out of bed. Luckily, the pounding in her head had disappeared almost entirely.

She looked around the room. The birds were singing loudly again, but she had no time to watch them from the window. She hurried into the small bathroom to take a shower and get dressed.

5 minutes later, she was putting on her sneakers. “What am I doing?” she thought as she sat up on the bed and glanced at the clock. Eleanor had said she would check up on her in the morning. Louise had assumed that meant she would stop by her room.

That’s why she had made sure she was dressed. She wasn’t going to open the door in her briefs again. It was 5.32 now, though, and all was quiet. “This is not okay,” Louise thought.

“You shouldn’t be waiting for her! You should be locking the door!” Louise jumped up and started pacing back and forth. “I’m not going to open the door,” she decided. “Even if she does come, I’ll refuse to talk to her.”

That’s when she heard the knock on the door. It was as subtle as it had been yesterday and yet it still startled Louise. She rubbed her clammy hands over her slacks. It wasn’t even warm in the room yet. Why was she so nervous?

Louise was holding the door handle before she even remembered her decision to not open the door. “What if it is Hobbs, though?” she thought. God, she hoped it wasn’t Hobbs. She pushed down the handle.

“Good morning,” Eleanor whispered, standing in the doorway.

Louise waved her in nervously, her eyes scanning the empty hallway.

Eleanor hurried inside. Louise closed the door and nearly bumped into her when she turned around. Their eyes held for a moment.

“You shouldn’t be here,” Louise blurted out, taking a step back.

Eleanor arched an eyebrow. “I just wanted to make sure you’re okay.”

“Thank you, but,” Louise hesitated. “You can’t be here.”

“This is my house.”

Louise crossed her arms. “I mean in this room.”

“Why not?”

Louise huffed. “You know why.”

“You want me to go?”

The grey eyes staring back at Louise seemed a bit puffy still. Eleanor’s cheeks were pale. Louise couldn’t bring herself to say ‘Yes.’

“You look tired,” she said instead.

Eleanor’s eyebrows shot up. “Thanks,” she replied dryly.

Louise blushed. “That came out wrong.”

“It’s okay. I really am exhausted.”

The rawness in Eleanor’s voice gave Louise goosebumps.

“I’m sorry I said that thing about your aunt in a wheelchair,” she stammered before she even realized she was going to. She quickly averted her gaze.

Eleanor walked over to the bed but didn’t sit down. “It’s fine. I know why you did it. You needed Hobbs to know.”

“Still,” Louise said, tucking her hands in her pockets, “I hated doing it.”

Eleanor slowly turned around, meeting Louise’s gaze. “Really?”

Louise frowned. “Of course.”

Eleanor chuckled. Louise was so caught up in studying her beautiful curls bouncing off her shoulders she almost didn’t hear the next question.

“Has your partner calmed down?”

Louise pulled her eyes away from the delicate skin of Eleanor’s neck. She nodded. “Yeah. I’m sorry he asked… You know,” Louise didn’t want to repeat Hobbs’s stupid question.

“How she died?” Eleanor suggested, her tone slightly amused.

Louise shrugged, embarrassed. “Yeah.”

“You’re awfully apologetic today,” Eleanor teased. “Did the migraine get to you?”

Louise narrowed her eyes, but her lips had a will of their own and curved up. “I guess it might have weakened me for a moment.”

Eleanor smiled back. It was a slow, seductive smile that reminded Louise of a dozen warnings she had read in reports about Eleanor Lucas. God, this woman really did have exceptional charisma.

“You do look…less stern,” Eleanor said slowly, her voice light and playful.

Louise frowned in response, which made Eleanor burst out laughing. “Okay, ruined it.”

Heat rushed to Louise’s cheeks. She knew many people would describe her as serious or stern. It was true she thought that was part of being an officer, but that didn’t mean she was like that *all* the time.

“I’m here on a mission,” she said, crossing her arms again.

Eleanor pursed her lips. The morning light seemed to make the freckles on her cheeks stand out.

“What do you do when you’re not on duty?” Eleanor asked, taking Louise by surprise. Louise’s astonishment must have shown because Eleanor’s smile grew.

“Why do you ask?” Louise stammered.

Eleanor lifted her shoulders. “Curiosity? I guess exhaustion is getting the better of me too.”

Louise searched Eleanor’s eyes. She thought there was no harm in responding honestly.

“I pretty much work all the time,” she admitted.

Eleanor giggled. “I’m not surprised.”

Louise grinned back. “I don’t see you out fishing on weekends either,” she quipped.

“Ha! No, my job isn’t exactly 9 to 5,” Eleanor laughed.

They held each other’s gaze again for a long moment. Louise wanted to ask Eleanor so many questions all of a sudden. But she clenched her jaw before they spilled out of her.

“I better get going,” Eleanor said, interrupting the moment. Louise felt a pang of disappointment in her chest and gave herself a mental slap because of it.

“I need to go check on Stucky,” Eleanor added.

Louise immediately straightened up. “How is he?”

Eleanor grimaced.

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