*****
"Good work today, Reynolds."
The commendation came with a firm slap on the back, but receiving praise from the Chief was well worth the inevitable accompanying bruises. Alec had learned quickly over the past month that the pain that came with success was far more tolerable than the consequences that followed failure.
The Chief was large man, both in height and build. Though he had undoubtedly been a perfect specimen of the muscular police officer in his time, age and promotions to desk jobs had allowed the man to become more heavyset. Even with his increasing waistline, the man was formidable. He didn't realize his own strength generally; thus any contact from him tended to be painful. His men called him the Chief because everyone felt that due to his size, demeanor, and expertise, he'd eventually be promoted to Chief of Police. For now, he was the head of their department.
"All in a day's work, sir," replied Alec, thinking over the events of the past several hours. It had been quite a great day, honestly. He was part of an elite investigative team on the city's police force and they'd found a lead that would ultimately solve and close two tough cases. Alec had actually been the one to stumble across the find. He'd been rereading case files and had noticed a streak of subtle similarities between two cases. Though he'd originally wondered if he was imagining the patterns, he pointed them out to his team leader, Pearson, who had immediately agreed and set the rest of the team on the task of comparing the two cases in depth. Within an hour, someone had figured out how the clues from the two cases combined would be enough to arrest and hopefully convict the perpetrator.
The Chief interrupted Alec's musings about the day to say, "You've done enough today. Why don't you leave early?"
"I'm not sure. There's still work to do..."
"I insist. You single-handedly led us to solving those cases today, and such actions deserve rewards. Besides, I've got nothing else for you to do. Might as well take this opportunity when it comes. You know as well as I do that I don't make such offers often."
"Alright. Thank you, sir."
The Chief walked away to speak with other officers. Alec was thankful to be able to leave early. His college buddy Jacob was visiting the city and wanted to get together. Leaving early would allow him to ready his place and shower before their set meeting time at a local bar. After packing up his stuff, Alec walked out, whistling. What a great day.
*****
"What a terrible day." Ellie plopped down in a chair in the break room as Carrie looked up sympathetically from her magazine.
"What happened, dear?"
"Honestly, nothing outright awful has happened; I think I'm just in a terrible mood."
"Well, something must have caused it. Or did you wake up on the wrong side of the bed?"
"Not even possible: I only have one side," Ellie said, trying and failing to be flippant.
Carrie continued to gaze at Ellie expectantly.
"Oh fine. I've just felt out of sorts all day, plus the customers have been downright rude today. One of them seriously just groped me as I was walking through to bring a table their drinks."
"Was it that greasy looking guy? Because he tried that on me last week and I told him we would ban him if he did anything like that again."
"Short blond hair and a sneer instead of a smile?"
"Sounds right. I'm going to report him to Gene and let him take care of it."
"Thank you." Ellie was terrible at confronting people; when Carrie had realized this, she started sticking up for the girl.
