Like Fire and Powder

04. Two Shots of Vodka

"I only know I was on Saffron Street," she said, her eyebrows knitting together. "Sorry. I didn't get the other street's name."

"Totally fine," you said, making a note of the street Emma was on. "Continue?"

"I-- Well, these men were getting out of a van. They looked fine, but they were ushering these girls and boys out of the back . . ." She trailed off, hugging her books tighter. "They didn't look like they were fighting back, but I got a bad feeling. I'm not even sure if coming here is gonna help anything."

"No, you coming here is very helpful," you said, typing up a few things on the form before you finished. "Thank you so much, Emma. I'll forward this statement to my boss. It'll take him a few minutes to look over it, and then he might ask to talk to you personally. Do you want some coffee while you wait?" You saved the form and sent it to Fowler.

"Oh, no, caffeine makes me jittery," Emma said, laughing nervously. "I'm good right here."

"Okay," you said, spreading your hands. You scooted your chair so you were facing her now. "So, what books did you get?"

"Oh, these? These are old," she said, putting them down on the side of your desk. "This book is my favorite," she said, holding said book up. "It's a bit old, but the Twilight series was always a favorite of mine. You ever read it?"

You felt like you'd been slapped.

You stared at the mostly black cover, at the white hands holding the red apple. "Uh . . . Yeah. I read Twilight, but that was a long, long time ago. Wow, what a throwback."

"I don't wanna jinx it, but I think it's making a comeback," Emma said.

You blinked a few times, simply staring at the cover.

It brought you back to a simpler time when you were young and optimistic and creative. When all you cared about were vampires and dystopian YA novels.

You scoffed quietly. "It's already made a few comebacks," you said, sitting back in your chair. "I wouldn't be surprised if it had another one."

"I know, right?" Emma said, becoming more and more excited by the second. "The premise of the story is so applicable to so many things, too. Like, vampires? Could easily be androids. There're already so many trashy romance novels about androids and humans, and they're just like Twilight, y'know?"

You felt like you'd just been slapped. Again.

Because fate was cruel, Connor walked up to his desk just then, holding a few files.

He was wearing dark blue jeans and a maroon flannel, the cuffs rolled up to his elbows. He'd never dressed casually for Fridays, so you let yourself be slightly surprised, let yourself stare at him for just a few seconds longer.

When he got closer to his desk, you looked away, trying not to pay him any attention.

Emma was still fangirling over Twilight when Connor sat down. "It's just such a good book. And after all these years, y'know? So, what was your favorite part? Of the book or the series?"

"Uh . . ." You trailed off, staring at her blankly. "I don't know."

"Aw, come on," Emma said, flipping through the book. "I have so many. I've dog-eared a few of them . . . Let's see . . ."

"No, no," you rushed to say. "That's fine. What about your other books?" You hated to admit it, but you didn't want Connor to know you'd read books like Twilight when you were younger. You didn't need him knowing you'd grown up on YA romance novels, obsessed with some stupid vampire boy who glittered in the sunlight.