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“So we should just keep going the way we have been, right? It’s not worth the risk,” she says with a shake of her head, determined to make the realization hurt just a little less.
As if anything could make the reality of never having him hurt less.
She looks up at him then, stealing herself to face the disappointment of his agreement. What she doesn’t expect is for Tim to give her a look that says everything but that.
“Unless it is,” he says, honestly.
And there it is. The simple yet seismic acknowledgement that whatever is between them—what’s been bubbling under the surface since they first met—could be their absolute everything.
It could be their own version of forever.
But only if they try.
Lucy breathes out a stunned noise, an awestruck smile playing at the sides of her mouth.
Emboldened by her reaction, a determined Tim Bradford does the most nerve-racking act he’s done in quite some time.
But it’s worth it.
With an earnest smile and his heart in his chest, he says, “Would you like to get dinner sometime?”
She tries to ensure the smile doesn’t overtake the entirety of her face as she finds herself twisting her lips in elation.
“Yes,” Lucy says, the ecstatic agreement flying out of her lips and into the space between them.
“Yeah?”
The look of relief on his face is enough to make her fall a little more in love.
And then.
“No. I….”
“Okay,”
“No, I mean, not yet,” she assures him before continuing to explain her thoughts.
“I owe it to Chris to end things the right way with him.”
He nods in understanding, and she can see he is just a little bit more closed off than before, and if she could rewind the past twenty seconds to go back to his boyish grin and his contagious joy, she would.
But more than anything, she needs him to know that she is serious about this, so she says the following to him:
“Ask me again. After,” she gently commands him with a small yet certain smile. She is beaming; she is sure of it. She momentarily wonders if this is what it feels like when life finally makes sense.
Is this what it is like when joy and certainty meet?
The evening hour casts an incandescent light on the two figures in the station courtyard.
“Deal,” he promises her with a triumphant smile and a small, terse nod of his head. He is beaming with joy; he is sure of it. He briefly wonders if this is what the beginning of forever feels like.
The two share a knowing and hopeful look that they both hold for more than a handful of moments.
It isn’t until a minute later, when a voice from behind them calls out, that their euphoric bubble is pierced.
“Hey, well, if it isn’t my two favorite officers,” Smitty says as he strolls over to them all the while with his dinner in hand.
Well, that is one way to ruin a romantic moment.
“What are you guys up to?” Smitty asks with a mouthful of his dinner.
Tim and Lucy share a brief yet panicked look as they both quickly get up from their seats. Did anyone else see it? Did he? They weren’t that obvious, were they?
But before either of them has a chance to speak, Smitty is at it again, babbling away about his plans for the night.
“Well, as fun as this all has been, I’ve got to get home. Smitty, enjoy your plans and that sandwich,” she says with a laugh before turning to face Tim, a slight smile playing at the edges of her lips.
She has to play it cool though; they are in public, after all.
And she still has a boyfriend; she reminds herself with a mental face palm.
“Have a great night,” she says to both of the men in front of her, though her eyes are lit up for only one.
“See you tomorrow,” Tim tells her with a smile and a promise.
“Yeah, see you tomorrow,” Smitty chimes in, completely oblivious and ready to get back to telling Tim all about his new metal cover band. Lucy almost wants to stay just to watch.
But she doesn’t.
It’s time to head home and start to figure out how to end things with Chris.
She makes her way over to her car, and it’s as she is opening her car door to get in, that they catch each other’s stares once more.
He smiles from across the pavement, and she realizes his smile feels like home.
And then suddenly she is back to their first shared look in roll call, where it all started.
It was inevitable, she thinks.
The two of them ending up here.
Serendipity.
Providence.
Fate.
Kismet.
And some kind of destiny.