The Present 5

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"Good morning, Captain.," Gino greeted a brunette woman who despite being in her early thirties hardly looked like one. She sat on an office chair facing Gino, her elbows placed on the table and her face rested on her hands, as she intently watched the man who was getting uncomfortable with every passing second.

"Go on," she ordered him in a commanding voice, but her face showed something else. Her eyes curved, and her lips stretched, forming a mischievous smile. Gino shot her a glare, but the moment he saw her face and that smile directed towards him, he started getting nervous, his eyes rolling all over the room, already starting to regret his decision. This was her turf, she was the one holding the power here. It wasn't a place he could run from anymore, he stood there, completely at the mercy of the woman who sat in front of him. A few days ago he was a wanted lawbreaker, and now he is a cop or something like that. He couldn't help but feel something was wrong, as if there were some other motives behind all this.

He stood inside one of the few cabinets on the 5th floor of the blast-proof police station. The only way to get in and out of the soundproof room is through the one door, which got locked after it closed behind him. The police station in itself was no less than a jail.

"I am really grateful for this opportunity you bestowed upon me. I feel really grateful to work under you. I will help you whenever and wherever with everything I have got emotionally and physically... Fck it!," he tore the paper which the woman gave him a day before and threw the bits of paper towards her., "How the hell is this supposed to be compulsory. Just give me my first case, and I am out of here."

"...."

"What are you staring? Say something.," he cooled down and waited for her response, but she just kept watching him with a smiley face.

Since the moment he entered the room, she didn't look away from him, not even for a second, because she liked everything she saw of him. May it be anger or sadness, happiness or surprise, disgust or fear, she wanted to see all the emotions of Gino, because that's what any mother would want. He was the center of attention for her, may it be in a room or in a crowd.

"You are forgetting something."

"What?"

"Respect, " she replied and with the same smile and hands under her chin she continued, "This is not your home nor mine nor is it a public place. This is a police station, and you are lacking the one thing which you shouldn't towards your seniors. So, think of this as a last warning, and address your seniors with respect, or you are sacked."

"Ack,,.. ," he choked on his words. He didn't expect this level of professionalism from her until a minute ago. She is the same woman who made Gino take his officer badge from inside her cleavage the day before, and now she talks about etiquette.

"I'm sorry Captain. I will mind my words from now onwards.," he stood straight and looked her in the eye.

"Shall I tell you something?"

"Yes captain"

"You don't have to be so formal around me. You know I have a soft spot for you, right. Now just relax your shoulders and sit here, " she pointed towards the empty chair on the other side of the table close to Gino.

"Thank you captain, but I am fine here," Gino clenched his fist in annoyance, a nerve popped on his temple, but he covered all his anger with a fake smile. Maintaining his subordinate profile, he didn't go for the chair, instead he stood in the same position glaring at the captain with a fake smile.

"If you don't want to sit there, come sit here." Watching him hesitate to sit on the chair, the woman rolled her chair back and patted her lap.

She wore knee-high black boots on her skin tight dark blue jeans and an ironed full sleeve blue tinted shirt. Her shoulder-length dark brown hair was neatly done into a straight blonde lob. If not for the shiny gold-plated captain badge pinned to her left breast pocket, she was no different from a common woman.

Gino stood there confused. Confused about the woman who sat in front of him, confused about what she wanted, and even more confused about how he should act. He felt like she was teasing him, but he couldn't take any chances. The worst thing he could do at this moment was pissing her off.

"Come one, what are you waiting for? Would you prefer if I changed into a pair of stockings?"

"No, Ma'am," Gino replied, his head held straight and high, but didn't look into her eyes.

"Come oon, I said drop that formality. I was just teasing you. Now relax." She rolled her chair back towards the table., "Now sit, before you piss me off."

Gino was right about her teasing him. He sighed in relief and sat on the chair. He was given a chance for a new life by this woman who sat in front of him, making her an unexpected benefactor, and Gino did realize this for a fact.

"Thanks again, Captain"

"Your welcome, sweet pie," she said with a warm smile. Her elbows back on the table and her chin resting on her hands.

"Sweet pie? Seriously?"

"What? It was rated as the cutest nickname for kids in this month's polls."

"Please don't call me that in front of anyone else, or I will have to find a pit to bury my face in."

"....." She just smiled vividly.

The Captain's cabinet which was supposed to be strict and merciless now turned into something completely different. The air inside was light and heavy at the same time. Even though the woman was her usual self, somewhere deep inside Gino felt somewhat frightened and suffocated.

"I think you should be more grateful to me." She said something unexpected.

"How?"

"Why don't you stay at my house tonight, I will have a tasty dinner prepared for you.," She asked him flirtatiously.

"Anything except that. You know I am not allowed to stay for the night at anyone's private residence, right?"

"Who said for the 'night'? I am just talking about dinner."

"You also know that I can't eat meals at anyo..."

"Anyone's private residence." She interrupted him and spoke out loud the remaining sentence mockingly.,"but..." Her face turned serious with a sly smile.

"Nope. Not doing that, nope.," he stood up from the chair and stepped back, afraid of her suggestive incomplete sentence.,"I am not doing it again. It ain't worth it."

"But why???" She stood up to catch his arm, but he was already at the door, trying to open it.

"I need some more time to think about it," He stood there struggling to open the locked door., "I don't think I am ready to become a cop yet."

"Special Cop," she corrected him. But he kept on dangling by the knob., "It's locked."

"I knowww... Now Open it.," he pleaded to the woman who stood by her desk. She sighed and walked towards him to calm him down., "Hey! Stay where you are. Don't you come near me."

She was just an inch shorter than Gino, but her slender figure made her look even taller. Silently, standing a meter away from him with folded hands, she waited until he gave up.

"Are you done, sweet-pie?"

"Not yet," He released the knob and front kicked the door, but the door didn't even vibrate. He tried to push open the door, but it ended in another failure.

"Water?," She handed him her water bottle. He looked doubtfully at it, but took it from her hands.

He gulped down half of the bottle and handed it back to her.,"Thanks".

She drank the remaining water from the bottle and tossed it back somewhere, while he continued to break open the door., "Here, give me your jacket, you are sweating."

Gino looked at her suspiciously, but he took off his jacket and handed it over to her., "Thanks again". She smiled cheerfully in reply.

Instead of holding it, she took a deep sniff of his denim and breathed out slowly, savoring his scent, "aaah~"

"Stop that," He tried to snatch back her jacket, but her reflexes were quicker. She evaded her hands and wore his blue denim jacket on top of her shirt., "How do I look?" She posed for him.

Not trying to snatch anymore, Gino examined the woman. She wore a denim jacket over her full sleeve blue tinted shirt., "Fine..., but this mixture of formal and casual ain't really a good combination."

"Oh!" Her voice diminished in dismay, and she looked down, dejected., "I will be in a bit." Silently, she went to the other side of the room behind him.

Gino watched her tread behind him, normally he may have consoled her, but that was not today, "I guess, I have no other choice." He said to himself, looking at the door knob.

He pulled out a yellow paper clip from his wallet and straightened it to pick open the lock.

"Come on, open, open," Gino wasn't an expert in picking locks, but door knobs of this level were within his range of ability.

The sound of footsteps approached closer to him, he sensed the woman standing right behind him but didn't look at her because he was totally engrossed in picking the lock of the Captain's room.