The Serial Negotiator

Everyday Life (1)

Chapter 5: Everyday Life (1)

A week after the ‘hostage’ situation…

The recently divorced couple was questioned in the police station. Surprisingly enough the woman had confessed to her attempt to imprison her husband unjustly and the man was found innocent and released soon after. The woman however still had to answer to authorities, she and her lover Lucas Hayman who had came up with the entire plan.

It was a very unique situation however the only person that thought so was Chase. Everyone else in the station accepted it very matter of fact. Nobody even questioned the negotiator’s involvement in the scene. Neither how she managed to make the criminal confess nor why the couple was unconscious on the scene.

To search for answers to those questions Chase decided to meet the negotiator outside of work.

“Hello there Bella~” Chase said excitedly as he saw her walking out of her office.

“What are you doing here?” Bella wasn’t at all happy to see him in the moment.

“I thought I’d ask you out on your lunch break. What do you say?” The officer asked in a cheery tone.

“I’d rather eat alone.” Instantly rejecting the man’s offer she continued on her way out to buy food but was suddenly stopped by the officer’s next words.

“You sure? I already bought some sweets, so it would be a waste…” Chase said while showing the store bags he was carrying.

“I said, I’d rather be alone. Do you not understand what that means?” Bella angrily repeated herself.

“I’m rather dense, so you need to be clearer when talking with me.” Chase said in good humor, he’s a stubborn man one that you can’t get rid of so easily.

“You’re hopeless…” Bella sighed while glancing at the man. “Fine then…” She said and went back in her office inviting the man inside.

“Glad you’re so welcoming~” Chase said as a lighthearted joke given how extremely negative the negotiator was. She didn’t seem to take it too well and she remained dead silent for a while after.

They ate without saying anything for about 15 minutes until Chase decided to speak again.

“It was a very strange case…” he said and went silent for a second to observe the woman’s reaction.

“Was it? I don’t think it was any different than most. She was a lousy criminal.” Bella simply said and continued eating.

“You seemed really confident that Hayman was hiding something.” Chase said suggestively.

“And he was, I don’t see your point?” Bella instantly shot back.

“I find it odd. No one in the station took any notice of you going of on your own. Neither did they wonder why she confessed so easily.” Chase was finally getting into the questions he came to ask in the first place.

“Who knows, guess the people from headquarters are just as lousy as the criminal was.” Bella on the other hand continued to play dumb and avoided answering the questions.

“It’s been a while, but I’m starting to feel you have something against police in general.” Chase remarked observing the woman’s obvious disgust every time she mentioned a figure of authority.

“I just hate people that allow themselves to be ordered around… and those who control others I hate most…” Bella said as she stopped eating, losing appetite after being questioned like this.

“Do you hate me as well?” Chase asked simply out of curiosity, he saw that there was no point asking her serious questions anymore. He wasn’t going to get a satisfactory answer regardless.

“You? Oh… I guess you are police as well. You’re not that bad. I don’t mind you much.” Bella said rather carelessly.

“Haha~ so do you like me instead?” Chase was amused by the answer, to his ears being someone who ‘isn’t that bad’ was an interesting thing to hear.

“Hm… I guess you could say that.” Bella said, her unblushing attitude clearly showed she meant nothing deeper by those words. However to Chase, those careless words meant he had a chance.

“Since you were so kind to share your opinion of me. Would you like to know what I think of you as well?” Chase asked while leaning in on the coffee table.

“I don’t really care to know.” Bella didn’t care for other people’s opinions towards herself. She never heard anything positive so it was obvious why she would prefer not to listen.

“I think you’re cute.” Chase said with a slight smile on his face.

“I’m-?!” Bella wasn’t expecting to hear that. She’s been called a lot of things during the long years of her career. ‘crazy’, ‘lunatic’, ‘reckless’, ‘manipulative’, ect… But never once has she been called ‘cute’ that adjective didn’t seem to resonate with her as much.

“What is it? Are you shy?” Chase asked after seeing Bella finally reacting to his words.

“Did you come here to joke around with me?” Bella asked while  thinking that the man was somehow insulting her.

“Not at all…” Chase calmly answered. “I simply spoke my thoughts.”

“Well it was unnecessary…” Her cheeks reddened. Bella wasn’t sure how to react to such words. Especially since she couldn’t very well tell if they were genuine or not. She’s been an introvert her entire life, social situations aren’t her strong point to say the least.

“I didn’t mean to embarrass you~” On the other hand Chase was having a grand time seeing Bella act so normal.

“You’re such a weird person…” This was probably the 10th time Bella had thought that about the man in front of her. From the very first time they met up until this moment she can’t comprehend what his motives are.

“I’d say the same for you.” Chase was happy to talk with Bella so casually. However it made him utterly confused as well. Bella on the crime scene was distinctly different than the Bella that was in front of him right now. As if they were two completely different people.

“I’m not nearly as odd as you are!” Bella retorted back, she didn’t think of herself as particularly weird.

“That is certainly true.” Chase had to admit to himself that he was the weirder one of the two. He had feelings for Bella but had no idea if they are romantic ones or simply the desire to protect her instead. Still he makes it a point to see her outside of work like this so there must be something there. Even if he doesn’t know what it is.

“What happened with the couple?” Bella asked bringing the topic back to the case they had a week ago.

“Everything is resolved. The man is free to go, since his ex wife confessed to planning everything with ex-officer Hayman.” Chase explained in short. Hayman was released from his duties and left to face the consequences of his actions.

“That’s good, so nobody died…” Bella murmured to herself quietly, in was inaudible.

“What did you say?” Chase asked but he didn’t receive an answer.

The conversation had suddenly turned sour despite the good start they had. Still Chase had a lot of thoughts on his mind even more than when he first met her.

Thinking to himself he started laughing loudly.

“What’s the matter? Did you suddenly go insane?! What’s with all the laughing?” Bella was very confused by the sudden change in attitude by the man in front of her.

“Hah~ it’s nothing! Just…” he paused for a second to catch his breath from all that laughter. “It seems like the more I get to know you, the less I understand.”

Every time they would talk like this he would find out more about her and that would lead to more and more questions being on his mind. It was like a never ending circle of mysteries surrounding the young woman. He never knew what was on her mind and what she would do next. Still he was attracted to her, whether it was romantic or otherwise the desire to protect her… He then realized he wanted to stay by her.

“I don’t even know how to define your weirdness anymore…” Bella said with her indifferent tone but she was slightly smiling.

Looking at Chase’s childish antics made her feel a bit more at ease. Maybe it was the reason why she didn’t mind being around him as much as with other policemen.

“You don’t seem to dislike that about me~” Chase remarked while observing her expression. She seemed to be becoming more comfortable with him the more time they spend together.

“I don’t mind it much…” She quietly said, this time though Chase managed to hear her clearly.

He smiled looking at her reddened ears. “You really are cute…  or rather beautiful…” Chase unconsciously remarked, it was supposed to be in his head but he said it out loud instead. Still he didn’t take it back.

“……..” A small silence filled the room as Bella needed a bit of time to process being called ‘beautiful’. Still she had manners and after a while a simple “…thank you…” escaped her lips.

Grinning from ear to ear Chase’s mood improved drastically after hearing those words.

“f**k…” Bella suddenly remarked out of nowhere.

“What is it?” Chase asked seeing the woman’s complicated expression.

“I’m hearing the clicking of high heels in the corridor. Rose is headed this way.” Bella said while completely focused on listening to the footsteps as if to gauge how far away the woman in question was.

“Is that bad? Who’s Rose?” Chase asked confusedly. He wasn’t too familiar with anyone else outside of the station.

“She’s my superior. You should hide. Go in the room in the back.” Bella said rushing the man to go into the other room.

“Why? Am I your lover or something~?” Chase said jokingly at being asked to hide so suddenly.

“That’s not it. Rose is definitely going to get the wrong idea if she sees you here; especially since you’re not wearing your uniform.” Bella said, it wasn’t much of an explanation. The way she worded it, it left more questions than answers.

“So if I was wearing my uniform it wouldn’t be a problem?” Chase still thought of the situation as rather humorous. He was currently being pushed into the backroom of the office.

“Yes, it makes more sense for a police officer to be here instead of a civilian. Don’t walk out of here before I tell you, okay?” Bella quietly said and closed the door to the storage room. Thankfully the storage room was nearly empty so it was spacious enough for a single person to stay there for a bit.

Reaching the door Rose almost flung it open with how aggressively she pushed it. “There you are!”

“You found me. Yey~ Congrats~” Bella remarked mockingly to the woman that nearly broke her office door in half.

“What do you mean ‘congrats’?! How the Hell did you manage to avoid me for an entire week?! We work in the same damn building!” Rose was fuming with anger at point. Having her employee avoid her so successfully pissed her off more than anything.

“Talent I guess? Or rather experience from working with you. If I hadn’t avoided you, you would have yelled my ears off already.” On the other hand Bella was still keeping her cool and speaking in a mocking tone. The way both of them spoke to each other didn’t resemble a conversation between a superior and employee, but rather like close friends that were having an argument.

“Is it even possible for a human being to be as incredibly disrespectful as you are being right now?!” Rose shouted, there wasn’t anyone else in the building at the moment, since all employees were encouraged to eat outside the office spaces. Rose knew she could yell as much as she wanted to and there wouldn’t be anyone else to hear her.

“You should be able to answer that yourself…” Bella said carelessly. She glanced at the storage room hoping Chase wouldn’t suddenly decide to walk out.

“At least look at me while I speak!” Rose continued to voice her dissatisfaction with the woman in front of her.

“Could you speak more quietly Rose? My ears are hurting…” Bella said while plugging her ears in an animated fashion.

“You really think everything is a joke now, do you?!” Rose didn’t seem to be becoming calmer but the exact opposite instead. The more she spoke the angrier she got.

“I already have a head ache and you’ve been here only 5 minutes. Don’t you have your own work to do instead of bothering me?” Bella asked looking at her watch to check the time.

“Don’t play with me! You mentioned Andrea being back! How could I possibly focus on my own work when you nonchalantly leave my office mentioning that?! Then avoiding me for an entire week on top of it all! I swear if I could fire you, I would!” Rose finally said everything she had been holding off for an entire week from saying. It seemed to be a weight that was lifted from her shoulders.

“It’s not the time to speak about that. If I wanted to talk about it, I would have visited your office again.” Bella said and stood up from the coffee table walking towards her superior.

“When will it finally be time then?” Rose was now talking much more subdued, though still aggressively in comparison to the way her companion spoke.

“When I decide it is. Now please leave my office Rose.” Bella said calmly and held the door open for her superior to leave.

“Since when do you tell me to leave your office?” Rose questioned as she’s never been rushed out like this before.

“I have work to do. I’d rather not spend a second longer in pointless banter.” Bella said still glancing at the storage room from time to time.

“You have work to do? It seems to me like you were casually having sweets again…” Rose said while glancing at the coffee table then noticing something odd. “Wait, there are two tea cups laid out. Did you have a guest before I came in here?”

“I did, it was a police officer that came to question me about the recent case.” What Bella said wasn’t too far off what actually happened. Besides this now actually being a work related conversation.

“But I didn’t see anyone leaving before I entered.” Rose said looking at the two half filled teacups that still had steam coming out of them. They seemed to have been poured just several minutes ago.

“Why do you have to be so nosy when its least needed?” Bella said while placing her palm on her face. She was already tired just listening to her superior’s yelling.

“…Did you bring a man here?” Rose asked while observing the room. There weren’t any documents or anything else laid out besides the teacups and sweets on the coffee table.

“How is that any of your concern?” Bella didn’t have the energy left to explain anything right now.

“So you did?” Rose asked like a gossipy teen.

“I did not. I told you, it was a police officer asking me about the case.” Bella repeated in an attempt to get her superior to leave faster.

“Damn it! Will you stop pushing me out the door already?!” Rose cursed at being so forcefully kicked out of the room.

“I wish you’d just get the hint and leave already.” Bella insisted.

“So what’s your man like?” Rose asked still not leaving the topic alone.

“Are you a f*****g Gemini? You switched from yelling at me to asking me about my non-existent love life so quickly!” Bella was the one getting annoyed at the moment.

“I’m just asking, what’s so wrong in being interested? If you’re not going to talk about Andrea you might as well tell me about the man you brought in here.” Rose said, then suddenly came to a realization. “Wait a second… if you’re kicking me out like this. Doesn’t it mean he’s still here?”

“…..” Bella was already tired of retorting back to the stubborn woman so she just kept silent.

“Fine, you’re not going to tell me even if I ask…” Knowing there was no point in asking anymore Rose decided to leave instead. The clicking sound of her heels could be heard in the entire corridor.

Bella tiredly sighed after her superior finally left. She went to sit on the office couch once again. “You can come out now…”

Hearing that, Chase walked out of the storage room and went to sit down on the couch next to Bella. “It was pretty tight in there.” He said.

“I’m actually surprised; I was expecting you to walk out any second.” Bella said, then picked up her already cold tea and took a sip from it.

“You told me to wait for you, so I did.” Chase replied sounding like an obedient watch dog.

“You really are a police hound…” Bella remarked. Seeing this amount of obedience was a shock to her. She wasn’t expecting him to actually listen to anything she said. So she was constantly looking to check if he was going to walk out or not.

“I guess that’s one of the main differences between us.” Chase said looking at the woman. He sat much closer to her than before, but she didn’t seem to notice or mind that change.

“There are far too many differences to count.” Bella smiled a bit, she looked relived that Rose had left already and happy that Chase actually respected her words.

“If you ask me to do something, I will do it. Just so you know.” Chase said with a serious expression. He didn’t seem to be joking around like he did before.

“Really? Anything?” Bella asked a bit mockingly. She didn’t believe such words had any weight to them. She also wasn’t looking at the man’s expression so she assumed it was a joke.

“Yes anything” He said out loud, then in his mind continued ‘…everything else except for one thing’