to protect and serve

It was an early morning, three days after the incident on the highway had occured. Jaz had somehow woken up before her alarm clock, tossed and turned for a bit, and finally unwillingly accepted that she was not going to fall asleep. Kicking her covers off, she shuffled into the kitchen and set the Keuring to brew her coffee before heading back into the bathroom to get ready for the day ahead.

She emerged a short time later and grabbed her brewed cup of coffee before taking it to the window. Standing, she studied the world outside just as it was walking up, groaning inwardly as she saw the red letters on the clock reading 8:06. With her first class not until 11:25, she had way too much time to kill between now and then and absolutely nothing to do. Raising the mug to her lips, she inhaled the strong scent of coffee before it caused her mind to twist back to something else - more like, someone else. Officer Li - or as she had called him - Officer Sultr Li. Even though a few days had come to pass since the incident, a furious blush of color quickly rose to her cheeks as she recalled that night. Jaz still couldn’t believe herself! Even after all that though, he had offered to meet her for coffee and with that lingering thought, Jasmine let her eyes travel the corkboard where she had tacked the ticket with his number.

Should she call him? There was a nagging voice in her head that told her what Officer Li had done was just out of kindness and that he didn’t really want to meet her for coffee. If that was the case, her calling him would only serve to humiliate both of them further. But what if he had actually meant what he said and he did want to see her again? Then her not calling him for two days already would come across as rude and stand-offish. Pondering the two options carefully, Jaz finished the rest of her coffee before leaning her forehead against the cool windowpane. She had to go for it. After all, there wasn’t much less that she could lose in front of this ma.

Glancing back at the clock, the numbers now read 9:01. Hoping it wasn’t too early to call, Jaz grabbed her cellphone off the counter and dialed the number before shakily raising the phone to her ear. Waiting for it to ring, she caught her breath as there was a slight click and the ringing stopped.

"Hello," he greeted her groggily. His throat was parched, and as a result his voice came out huskier than he'd intended. The other voice registered in his mind. Adira, the girl from the other night. 

His eyes shot open and he shifted himself into a sitting position. "Yes, ehehe," he chuckled nervously. "This is Officer Li. How have you been?" Instantly, he felt like a silly teenaged girl in an eighties movie, the kind who said all sorts of awkward things and twirled her finger around a phone cord and why was he comparing himself to Molly Ringwald? 

Opening her eyes quickly, she noted that Office Li was back, giving the knot in her stomach reason to begin forming again. What now? Did he change his mind? But what he said caught her off guard - his number? Holy shit - he had been asking her to join him for coffee. And she had agreed! “That would be helpful," She mumbled in return, adding an awkward laugh in a failed attempt to sound intelligent again. Reaching out, she took the ticket from his hand and smiled more fully at him as he reminded her to be safe. “I will. Have a good night, Officer Li and uh, thanks again."

He wasn't even sure what he was so sorry about. That Adira woman was, by far, the strangest encounter he'd had while at work. Not to mention (he chuckled to himself), she was the most horrible flirt he'd ever had to deal with. Officer Sultry? No, he hadn't lost out on anything if she decided to never call him.

With one last resolute thump, a low groan escaped his lips and he straightened. He couldn't sit there all night lamenting his subpar romancing. He had a duty to uphold. 

He continued though, eliciting more of a response from the young adult. Finally, she dropped her hands from her face and straightened her back to look at the man again in the eye. Why was he being so nice? He didn’t have to be, especially not after all of the crazy shit she had thrown in his direction. And yet, here he was, continuing to talk to her. Much to own chagrin, she couldn’t help but notice that this Officer Li was actually quite attractive even in the pale moonlight.

The last thought brought a slight bit of color to her cheeks again as she focused instead on what he was saying to her. Something about getting back to work, seeing each other around, and coffee? Was he asking her for coffee? There was no way! She couldn’t believe she had let her thoughts get so carried away that she was imaging him asking her to meet him for coffee. He probably just meant running into each other somewhere. Offering him a half-grin, Jaz just nodded dumbly, unsure of what to say. If she went with what she heard, there was a definite chance that she would once again look like an idiot. If she said nothing, maybe he would interpret her silence in the most beneficial way. Noticing how time seemed to stretch on forever, she finally opened her mouth and let out a neutral, “Yeah, I’d like that."

The young man walked halfway to his car before spinning on his heel and heading back to her. He cleared his throat awkwardly. Fumbled for a pen. Pulled out his pad of tickets. Just a few minutes earlier, he had been preparing to fill one of these out and fine her for speeding. "Sorry," he mumbled, eyes glancing to hers apprehensively. "I forgot to give you my number." 

He wrote it carefully, each number shaped perfectly to avoid confusion. Shang studied it, hesitated, then tore off the ticket and handed it to her, his number imprinted at the top neatly. He lingered. Finally, he opened his mouth.