3 A Pleasant Night

After driving past her home and a few other houses, she immediately hit the brakes. She turned the car around and drove back to her home. Parking her car, she stepped out and walked inside her house. She, for the last time, took in its appearance and smell. She began to remember all the memories she had made in this house.

'Maybe, I'll leave tomorrow morning instead.'

She moved towards the couch, removed the sheet that covered it, and lay on it. Taking out her phone from her back pocket, she typed in Cosmo X's web address and scrolled through their website.

"Cosmo X: The company made by the people for the people," she read in a dull, droning way tone.

She laughed sarcastically as she could not believe this company was responsible for making her leave her home. She slammed her fist against the arm of the couch in frustration. To say that she was angry would be an understatement. However, she refused to give up. She would take down this company even if it cost her life. There was a sudden knock on the door.

'Who could that be? I'm not expecting any visitors.'

She peered through the peephole and noticed it was Jigger.

'What's he doing here?'

She opened the door and found him holding a bottle of wine in one hand and a takeaway meal in the other.

"Jigger, what brings you here?"

He didn't look nor answer her and just walked past her. She quickly closed the door and followed behind him. He sat on the couch, opened the takeaway meal, and took out two wine glasses that were carefully wrapped. He placed them on the small table in front of the sofa, took out two boxes of Maxine's Diner meals, and placed them on the table.

The atmosphere in the house did not feel good. It was so excruciatingly quiet that she was scared to even let out a breath. She could tell that Jigger was somehow angry. Was it because she didn't tell him she was moving out? Jigger cleared his throat, which startled her.

"Care to explain this situation, Miss Chambers?" he asked as he poured the wine.

She sighed. Actually, she planned to tell Jigger that she had moved out after arriving in Beadville. Primarily since he was the one person who had been helping her conduct her investigation on the company as he is a former employee.

"Um," she cleared her throat and ran her hand around her neck.

Sighing, she grabbed the glass of wine and, after drinking some, said, "Well."

"Cosmo X did it," she continued with a bitter smile and downed the rest of the wine.

He grabbed his wine glass and took a sip.

"That company does not waste any time," he said. "So, did you lose your job?"

She took a bite of her burger and immediately smiled. Maxine's Diner had the best meals on earth.

She was going to miss this taste so freaking much.

"Not exactly," she replied as she took another bite.

No words were spoken for about 30 minutes as they both focussed on their meals. She could sense that Jigger was just trying to cheer her up. He knew how much she loved this place and how hard she worked to join the Major Crimes Unit. He must be feeling her disappointment and frustration. She heard of Beadville from Stan, and it was no different from her current place, Leadville.

It was just a smaller city. The thought of having to make new friends and get accustomed to new neighbours really did not sit well with her, but it was not like she had a choice. After they finished their meals, they began drinking the rest of the wine. She explained the situation to him.

"So, Cosmo X thinks that sending you to another city is their best option?" he asked.

She nodded.

"It makes sense, don't you think? If I am far from them, it will be harder for me to go to their company and conduct my investigation. After all, I will be five hours away from this place, especially if you consider the traffic. I heard that traffic from here to Beadville is hectic."

Jigger sighed and drank the last bit of wine left. He held her hand, which made her widely open her eyes in bewilderment.

"Listen," he said as he ran his other hand through his hair.

"I promise you that I will continue to gather evidence while you're gone. I will keep you posted."

She nodded and smiled.

"Just make sure you do not cause any sort of trouble there. I'm sure the Chief of the police station has been told to keep tabs on you. Any wrong move and you could end up getting fired this time. I'm also sure that most of the officers there were bribed by the Cosmo X," he said, letting go of her hand.

"I know," she said, "Cosmo X has a lot of powerful people behind it. That is why the company gets away with doing inhumane things. I promise I will be careful. I will just pretend to have given up and lie low for a while. I will no longer be the Miss Justice Troublemaker everyone knows. It will be like I turned over a whole new leaf. I will completely fool everyone, and just when it seems like everything is going well for Cosmo X, I will strike."

Jigger smiled and got up.

"I will leave you now. I'm sure you are not planning on driving at this hour, right?"

"I was planning on leaving today but decided not to. I will leave in the early hours of tomorrow," she replied, opening the door for him.

He nodded and walked out.

"Take care of yourself that side, Astoria. Call me if anything happens and even if nothing happens, call me," he said and left on his motorbike.

She nodded and smiled as she closed the door.

'Well, Astoria Chambers, it is your last night in this home and this place. At least you got to see Jigger and say goodbye. Although, I have no idea how he knew that I was still home. I don't remember telling him.'

She brushed the thought off as she lay on the couch and fell asleep.