Chapter 13

In walks Holly, Barbie, Debra, whatever the fuck her name is.  Her white blouse and black slacks are perfectly pressed and wrinkle free.  She has on some shiny black heels that click their way across the floor with every step.

She turns and closes the door slowly and remains facing the door for a while, too long.  I notice this because I do care about this woman and I do want to comfort her if she needs it. 

I rise from my astonishingly comfortable desk chair, trip over my power cord on my way to check on Carbra (C for Holly, arb for Barbie and ra for Debra).  I approach her from the back, it was my only option.  Her arm is tense as I gently grab it and spin her around to face me. 

Her tears are genuine, her eyes only looking at the ground, shameful or sorrowful.  I place my right index finger on her chin and raise her face towards mine.  She begins to cry very hard now, almost panic-stricken. 

The feelings I have for her cause me to pull her close and hold her tight, in my mind this will ward off any worries or concerns in her beautiful mind and cause her to calm down and relax.  She embraces me and we just stand there, her head on my anxious chest and my lips on her forehead. 

"Listen, I'm not sure what is happening here, I'm not mad, I'm not upset, I just want to know a few things.  That's all I ask of you.  Will you sit and answer some questions?"  My voice is very desolate and somewhat childish because I am trying to calm her, trying to relax her and make her feel my sincerity.

She replies with, "Sure Gregg, but I want you to hold me while I sit on your lap, if that's ok with you." 

I don't even respond, I pick her up swiftly and hold her in a cradled position as I work my way towards my chair.  I sit in the chair with her in my arms as our seat begins to creak and moan from the extra weight. 

She sits up on my lap, I support her back.  We are at eye level now and she is anxiously awaiting a chance to answer my questions and explain the current events.  Before I even ask my first question, I kiss her and she passionately kisses me back.  Her hair is so soft, her body so warm.

I pull out of the kiss but continue to stroke her soft black hair, "Ok, ok, I really only have a couple questions for you.  First, was last night a set up just to test me or just to fuck with me?"

She leans back just a bit and says, "Last night was more of a physical test to see how you handle yourself in a certain death situation and how easily you can and will trust people.  It was also one of the best nights of my life, you took me in thinking I was just a troubled woman and you trusted and protected me from whatever you thought was coming for me, mentally or physically."  A tear falls from her eye as she tries to catch it before it makes a quick exit off her perfect cheek.

I inquisitively ask, "So some of what happened last night was actually real, compassionate, and meaningful outside of a work environment?"  I follow up quickly with, "What's your name? Debra, Holly, Barbie, Jasmine from the Disney classic Aladdin?"

She chuckles, "I go by Debra down here but only to protect my identity.  My real name is Barbara but I love it when you call me Holly.  When I was younger, in grade school, I went by Holly but only to my closet of friends."  She kisses me, grabbing my face and pulling it to hers as if I would refuse if she had slowly leaned in.  "Last night was more than work, I was placed there for work but seeing you in a natural state, a calm environment and you didn't try to fuck me when I offered myself to you, which proved to me that there is so much more to you than just being a typical man." 

"Holly, if we could just live off of impulses our entire lives, I would impulsively marry you right now, right now!"  I spoke with sheer confidence and swag.

She blushes, "I would marry you in a heartbeat, the connection is there, it's real, I don't care about anything else."

We just sit and stare at each other before another passionate kiss is shared between us and only smiles are shed instead of tears.  She points to the right wall and tells me her station is only two doors down from my office.  She will be close to me.   

As she exits my office, a kiss is flown and guided from her lips by her hand in my direction, I snatch it from the air because obviously her pretend guidance hand was off target and I place the captured prisoner of a kiss in my right front pocket, saving it as a P.O.W. to use at my leisure later on. 

The door closes and I notice two sets of clothing are hanging on the back of the door.  One being an all black suit with black shoes and dress socks and a black tie with slight highlights of shiny black to it.  The other being a Redskins polo, a pair of carpenters' jeans, white socks and a pair of fresh white and grey Nike low cuts for me. 

Both options include a shoulder strap for my weapon and freshly installed GPS device.  The obviousness of it was astounding; it labeled GPS for fuck sake.  Both were installed in the inside seam of the pants to the right of my dick but above my pocket.        

I'm not one for being flashy so I chose the polo and jeans.  I changed out and looked at myself in the desk mirror that was provided.  I look through all my desk drawers, each containing something I like.    

Each drawer, six total contained something special to me.  The top left contained yellow starburst, it was FULL of yellow starbursts.  The next drawer, bbq Fritos.  The drawer below that, rolos, the perfect mixture of caramel and chocolate.

I quickly scanned the next couple of drawers and found a three blade electric razor; I wasn't a fan of the single headed ones.  How did these people know so much about me?  Very interesting but it makes me feel right at home instead of completely violated like it should have.

I shape up my goatee and make sure I'm presentable.  This will be my first real introduction as an official cleaned up member of this team.  I've placed my pretend kiss and my heart medallion in my right front pocket, my wallet and badge in my left front. 

The pistol over my ribs feels very natural to me.  It feels very safe and calming to me.  Nothing can happen to me as long as I have you on with me.  I rub it a couple times, mostly out of admiration but also out of appreciation for giving me confidence and solace.

I stare at myself in the mirror and realize, I realize I'm a fucking bad ass and I need to ooze that from every pore of my body, I need to let these people know I'm up for this and I can do this job.

Before I exit my office to go see Mills and inquire about a few things that have been bugging me subconsciously, I turn back to face my office, my desk.  Everything seems in order, except I haven't put my flare up.  I'll get to that later. 

I grab the door knob, twist it and slowly open the door.  I step out, turn left and reveal the new Gregg Burnsfield to the group.  Holly, Mills, The Boss and the other guys I haven't officially met all stare in amazement.

"What's wrong?  Was I supposed to put the suit on?"  I ask with severe sarcasm.

Mills laughs hard, sticks his hand out and says, "Pay up people, I told you he would go with his gut, he isn't a suit guy, he isn't a ranker, he wants to be a part of a team not just a Lieutenant."

Everyone hands Mills a fifty dollar bill as I approach.  Mills gives me a big handshake hug and then hands me my share.  Sweet!  I haven't seen cash in years, this world has turned to all plastic, it's nice to feel the filth and texture of U.S. currency again.

Holly kisses me again as I slyly hand her a fifty that she had just lost.  All the guys are hooting and hollering like fucking kindergartners but I couldn't care right now, not at this moment.  The love of my life is kissing me and I'm kissing her back, deal with it.

Just then, an alarm sounds.  We all pause for a moment as Holly rushes to her desk to check the surveillance cameras and perimeter grid.