Nina hummed, strolling over to where her desk was and plopped her purse on top.
Being away for a few weeks and spending time with her wife was quite enjoyable, but the human knew she had to get back to work soon.
"Welcome back, Brandis. How's the married life treating you?" Detective Muller smiled, standing beside her desk.
"Beyond amazing." Nina replied, "Sorry again for no invite to the wedding. Rebekah just wanted a small one with family."
"No worries. Just wanted to let you know we're leaving in fifteen. I'll explain the case in the car."
After the dark haired woman nodded and Lukas Muller walked off, the human walked into the lab. While placing her items into a bag, she couldn't help but feel as though someone was watching her.
Shaking herself of any nerves, Nina slung the bag over her shoulder and walked out of the lab and back over to her desk. Once she picked up her phone and slid it into her back pocket, the dark haired woman made her way towards the front door to meet Lukas at the car.
As she walked by, Nina noticed some stares from the other male officers sitting at their desks. At first, the woman passed it off as them simply "adjusting" to her being back, but once she saw Detective Muller sending her a forced smile, the human could tell something was up.
The moment Nina sat down in the passengers seat, she began questioning her partner.
"This may seem like an odd question, but have you noticed some of the other officers staring at me quite strangely?"
Lukas hesitated before sighing and replying, "I'm sure you think they're staring because they're noticing you just came back from your break. But, that's not why."
"What do you mean?"
"I heard some talk in the break room and they're staring at you, well, because you're a woman....who's into women?" He stated, his voice sounding higher at the end in hopes to not upset the woman.
"Seriously? They're avoiding me like the plague because I married a kind, beautiful, and amazing woman?" Nina scoffed before turning her head to eye Lukas. "What about you? Do you suddenly despise me too?"
"I could care less who you're romantically involved with. No offense." Detective Muller responded, "You're my partner. I know we're not the closest, but I'll always respect you. You won't have to worry about me judging you."
The human grinned, shaking her head, "Alright, let's step off of the sentimental train. Tell me about this case."
✵ ✵ ✵
Nina unlocked the apartment door, stepping inside to be greeted by an energetic Lexie.
"Babe is that you?" Rebekah called from the bedroom, quickly running out to see the human.
"No, it's a vampire hunter. Watch out." The dark haired woman goofily smiled, softly closing the door behind her.
The blonde raised an eyebrow and in the blink of an eye the human was suddenly laying on her back on the couch, Rebekah seated on the opposite side observing her nails.
"And if I did not love you, your heart would be swiftly ripped from your body."
"Gross."
"Speaking of gross." The vampire quickly said, going over to sit next to Nina. "I got a message from your worker buddy. Muller?"
"Lukas? Why did he text you?"
"He just wanted to inform me of an event that occurred at work today. In case if you're having amnesia, the old, homophobic men you work with were giving you dirty looks. Now, if you'd like, I would be more than glad to rip-"
"-it's okay, Bex. I promise, it's nothing I can't handle."
"That's the thing, you shouldn't have to handle it. Century after century and people are still like this. It's just so irritating."
"Rebekah, I've been dealing with people like this almost my whole life. It doesn't help that I'm one of the few women at my building, but I'll live. As long as I have you, I don't care what anyone else thinks."
The blonde softly smiled, placing her hand over Nina's.
"This would have been more perfect if we were in our new home but of course they decide to take decades to paint one house!"
The dark haired woman giggled, leaning her head onto Rebekah's shoulder.
"I say this everyday, but I love you."
"And I'll never stop getting tired of hearing it." The original smiled, looking down at her wife. "I love you too."
I wanted to make this chapter to bring some attention to how sexism and homophobia is, unfortunately, present in the workplace.
Although I mentioned men, there are so many women who also bring others down for their sexuality.
I am not trying to cause any controversy or drama in the comments so please do not comment anything negative, I just wanted to show how Nina's life has sometimes been challenging being apart of the LGBTQ+ community.
I'm going to expand more into Nina's personal life throughout the book but it won't take up a million chapters. They're most likely going to be a few paragraphs in every few chapter.
Thank you for reading and getting this to 14.5k reads!