Free Love Earned (Flash Fiction Romance) by Janice Collins Page A

hand.  He handed it to her.
     
    “It’s my badge, you can call the number on this card,” he handed her a business card, “and they will validate who I am.” 
     
                  Twenty minutes later she had called a tow truck while she sat in his car.  The rain had started again and was coming down in sheets.  The driver took forever to arrive, but finally he got her car hooked up and they were on their way.  They pulled out behind the tow truck and she attempted to make small talk.
     
    “So what’s it like being a cop?” What a stupid question she thought.
     
    He maneuvered the car through traffic expertly.  He handled the car powerful car well.
     
    “Well it’s not as exciting as people like to think.” He made the left into her neighborhood. “I spend a lot of time patrolling and listening to calls come in from dispatch.”  He eased the car into her driveway after the tow truck pulled in front of the house.  “Last week was a little more exciting with the holiday there were more drunks and random violence.” 
     
    “Oh.”  She responded just sitting there.  She knew she should be getting out but she also felt like she needed to invite him in or something. “This is me, so I guess I’ll see you around.  Thank you very much for your help.”  As she climbed out of the car she realized she didn’t even know his name.  She turned around quickly and started to talk when he cut her off.
     
    “Robert, Robert Jagger.”  They laughed.  Obviously he had recognized the error as well.  “Sorry about that.  I showed you my badge but never actually told you my name.”  He flashed that smile again.  It was beginning to grow on her.
     
    “Did you maybe want to come in for a drink or something?”  She mentally kicked herself because that’s exactly what she needed to do, offer a cop a drink so he could go drink and drive, dumbass.
     
    “I’d love to but you actually caught me on my way into work, I’m on the midnight shift so I need to go.  I’m sure I’ll see you around.”  He pulled away and she was left with her broken car, a tow truck driver and the thought of what it might have been like to have him in her home. 
     
                  When she woke up the next morning she immediately thought about him and wondered how his night had gone.  It was weird to think that the whole time she slept he was out there. 
     
    Milwaukee wasn’t the worst city around but it had its fair share of crime.  She thought about him on and off as she went about her morning ritual and finally got around to calling her best friend Chuck to come help her with the car.  They spent a good part of the day working on the it and finally—sweating and swearing—they got it all back together.
     
    “God CC why don’t you just get rid of this thing already.  It’s like a million years old and I know you’ve got some money saved up, just do it.”  He shoved her a little.  She’d known him since they were four and they were as close as brother and sister. 
     
    “You know I’m trying to save up so I can take that trip.”  She had been saving for years for a trip to Bali.  On her meager wage as a car enthusiast site blogger and dental hygienist it had taken years to do, but she was within $2000 of her goal.
     
    “No way man, I’m so close I can feel the sand between my toes and the ocean breeze in my hair.”  She needed that car to last long enough to make this dream happen.  Then she’d buy herself a newer car. 
     
    “Hey what do you say we clean up and go grab a beer?  I bet Max and Andrea are up there already.” 
     
    “That’s sounds awesome, I could use a cold one.  I’ll get cleaned up and meet you over there, say in an hour?”  She wiped her hands off on a shop rag.  They did good work, everything was put back together and looked pretty good all cleaned up.
     
    “Alright, alright alright.”  He did his best Mathew McConaughey