Secrets (Never to be Told)

Chapter Two

After her first day of work, she had picked up Hailee from school a bit late. She had begged the captain to work the eight-hour shift instead of the twelve-hour one, and after explaining that she had to pick her daughter up from school, she was granted permission. With that, Bradford and she found themselves back at the station quite early.

She took a quick shower after her shift and crossed her fingers that her car would turn on (it did, fortunately). Arriving at her elementary school, she parked the car in a hurry and sprinted inside, spotting her daughter sitting in the little library her classroom had.

"Hello Ms. Chen, Hailee is ready to go. She excitedly told us that you were working a new job today, congratulations!" Hailee's homeroom teacher greeted her and went into the classroom together with Lucy.

"Hailee, love." Lucy said softly and the little girl raised her head. "Mommy!" she put the book down and ran up to Lucy, hugging her tightly. "Hey sweetie, how was your day?" Lucy ruffled her hazel hair and kissed her forehead. "It was great! I learned so much. What about you mommy?" Hailee looked at her with her beautiful blue eyes. God, she really took after Tim.

"It was really good! Mommy arrested a bad guy before my work even started! But my training officer has pulled these police-tricks on me all day! He called them Tim-Tests and after each of them he always followed with 'everything's a test, officer Chen' and would then head back to the shop." She thought her impression of Bradford was spot on and she smiled at her daughter.

"Now come on, put away your book properly and then we can head home." Hailee nodded and put the book to the spot where she had pulled it out from earlier. Then she grabbed her backpack and gave it to her mother. "Honey, you're old enough to carry your own backpack." Lucy chuckled and then took Hailee's hand. "Don't forget your jacket!"

When they arrived at Lucy's apartment, Hailee directly sat down at the kitchen table and started her homework while Lucy began cooking dinner. Just as she let the sauce simmer for a while and got a moment of relaxation, her phone rang and Nolan's ID appeared on the screen. "Hey John, what's up?" She placed her phone between her shoulder and her cheek as she continued stirring and added a splash of pasta water to it.

"Hey, Jackson and I wondered if you wanted to go for drinks after shift?" Oh yeah, they didn't know she was working the five-day-eight-hour shift. She looked at her watch and saw that the end of their shift was still three hours away and she could use a drink. "Sure, meet you at the usual spot?" Nolan hummed in agreement on the other side, and she hung up.

She carefully served the pasta on two plates and sat down on the other side of the table. Hailee put away her homework and the two of them ate dinner together.

After dinner, Lucy and her daughter spent some time on the couch and watched some TV before she got Hailee settled for bed. She sat on the edge of Hailee's bed. "Mommy will be out for a while tonight. If you wake up and someone's at the door, do not open it! Call me if you need anything and I'll be back at eleven, okay baby?" She smiled as she tucked her into the warm covers. "Yes mommy, got it." She yawned and slid further down under the blanket. "Good night sweetheart." Lucy kissed her forehead before turning off the big light and turned on her small night light.

Lucy got ready in the small bathroom, put a little bit of makeup on and changed into a different top. Then she grabbed her things, locked the door carefully and then drove off to the meeting spot she had agreed to with her friends.

They were already waiting for her on the parking lot of the nearest McDonalds and the three of them got into Nolans car together, heading for the bar.

They started the evening light with a few beers and Lucy felt the happiest she had in a long time now. "Omg, Jackson, that's our song!" She dragged him onto the small stage and they were handed the microphones for karaoke and Nolan just laughed as he watched them.

Lucy loved these little moments she could share with her friends, just having fun and not caring about anything in the world.

When it was nearing eleven pm, Nolan drove them back to the parking lot and they said their goodbyes for the day.

Lucy headed home, unlocking the door to her apartment, and checking on Hailee first – she was still sleeping soundly – before taking her makeup off and heading to bed herself.

The next morning, Lucy was already dressed and had done breakfast when Hailee came out of her room. "Good morning, Hailee, did you sleep well?" Lucy asked as her daughter rubbed her eyes. "Yeah, I slept well. What's for breakfast?" Hailee stood next to her mother and watched as she put toasted bread with scrambled eggs on a plate. "Bread with egg, the usual" Lucy laughed and placed their plates on the table.

After dropping Hailee off at school again this morning, Lucy was earlier at the station today, giving her time to grab a coffee before roll call. "Chen, a word?" Bradford appeared next to her at the coffee machine, and she turned around. "Yes, sir?" Was this the moment when he recognized her after all these years? "I expect you to set the shop up in record time. Be the first at equipment. Time is precious." And with that, he disappeared into the roll call room.

She did as she was told, getting up quickly after roll call to be the first at equipment, quickly grabbing her bodycam before heading to their shop. She was just finished placing the bags inside of the trunk when Bradford arrived and immediately sat down on the driver's side. Lucy followed him inside quickly and they started their shift.