4. Chapter 4

A Seat Not Taken - Chapter Four

The next morning, Waverly awoke in a soft, warm bed that reminded her of home in Purgatory. She opened her eyes and sat straight up to look around. Laughing, she realized that's exactly where she was. She was in her bedroom in Purgatory. Waverly quickly dressed and went downstairs to the kitchen to see Wynonna eating a bowl of cereal at the table.

"Morning, sleepyhead!" Wynonna called, standing to hug her younger sister. "I've missed you!" Waverly laughed and hugged her sister back.

"I've missed you too! It feels like forever since we last saw each other," she said, looking at Wynonna up and down. "Something is different about you…" Wynonna laughed.

"I dyed my hair darker brown," she said, walking over to pour her sister a bowl of cereal. "Not that much different, but still just enough."

"Well, it looks good," Waverly said happily and sat down next to her sister for breakfast. "Hey, how'd I get home last night?"

"Your friend dropped you off. She said she had to get settled into her new place and had to work this morning, so she left after she put you to bed," Wynonna said. Waverly looked at her sister.

"What do you mean 'she put me to bed'?" she asked.

"Well, I guess you'd been asleep for a while, so she carried you into the house and upstairs to bed," Wynonna said. "You guys must be pretty good friends. I'm glad though; that means you can stop hanging out with that idiot, Champ."

"Champ and I broke up," Waverly said absentmindedly. Wynonna cheered.

"Thank God! You'll can do so much better than him," she said. "Good for you!"

Waverly excused herself and went upstairs to get ready for the day. After locking herself in the bathroom, she leaned against the counter and smiled at her reflection in the mirror. She carried me upstairs and put me in bed. She's just so caring and gentle. I never knew someone could be like that, she thought to herself, picturing Champ and how rude and inconsiderate he was. Deciding to do something rather rash, Waverly brushed her teeth and grabbed her purse before running downstairs, yelling a hurried goodbye to Wynonna, and rushing to their car. Today, she, Waverly Earp, would ask a girl out on a date.

—

Nicole signed as she sat at the front desk filling out paperwork. Of course, she thought. Of course I would be stuck doing paperwork on my first day at work. She glanced at the clock and groaned inwardly at the fact that it was only 10:30 and she was already wishing for it to be 5 o'clock so she could go home.

"Haught," a gruff voice called. Nicole quickly scrambled to her feet and entered the sheriff's office.

"Yes, Sheriff Nedley?" she asked, standing in the doorway.

"How are you liking the job so far?" Nedley asked.

"It's alright," Nicole answered. "There isn't really much to do, but I know it's also just my first day."

"That's the attitude I wanted to see! I need someone to work the night shift, so I hope you're up for the task," Nedley said, eyeing the woman. Nicole's heart sank, but she smiled outwardly.

"Sounds great, sheriff," she said. "I'm looking forward to it."

"Good," Nedley said, looking back down at his computer. "Now back to work." Closing the door on her way out, Nicole walked back to her seat at the front desk and collapsed into the chair, leaning back against the cushion.

"Looks like someone's enjoying their first day of work," a voice said. Nicole spun around to see Waverly poking her head in the doorway. "How's it going?"

"Ugh, it's terrible," Nicole groaned, "but, I'm glad you're here now!" Waverly laughed and jumped up to sit on the desk, then turned to face Nicole.

"I wanted to ask you something," she began. Nicole smiled. "I was wondering if you'd like to go get dinner tonight with me." Nicole's smiled widened, then quickly faded to a frown.

"Dammit, Nedley," she muttered, running a hand through her hair.

"It's okay, I understand," Waverly said quietly, visually upset and already regretting even stopping by.

"No it's not you!" Nicole exclaimed, grabbing onto Waverly's leg that rested beside her. "It's just, Sheriff Nedley just told me that I was working the night shift tonight. I'm so sorry, Wave! I'd love to another time though!" Waverly smiled.

"Oh, okay, sure," she said brightly. "We can talk more about it later; you probably have a lot to do." Nicole snorted.

"Nope, I'm not doing anything. And it'll be the same tonight; we just always need to have a police officer in the office 24/7," Nicole said. Waverly's eyes lit up.

"What if I bring the date to you? I could bring a picnic and we could eat here, since you can't leave. And that way I could keep you company too!" Waverly exclaimed. Nicole smiled.

"You're asking me out on a…date?" she asked. Waverly froze and stared at Nicole.

"…umm, yeah, well, that's what I was kind of hoping for…" Nicole grinned.

"I'd love to go on a date with you, Waverly Earp," she said graciously. "What time should I be expecting you?" Waverly thought for a moment.

"What time will everyone be gone?" Nicole shrugged.

"I'm not entirely sure," she said. "Probably eight to be on the safe side. I hope you don't mind eating a late dinner." Waverly smirked and stood up to leave, but leaned over to whisper something in Nicole's ear.

"Don't worry," she murmured, "there's only one thing I have to care about being late and that's not something the two of us need to worry about." Only after catching a glimpse of Nicole's eyes grow wide and the corner of her mouth turn upwards, Waverly turned and sauntered out of the police station, giddy with excitement about her plans for the night.

Back inside, Nicole caught her breath and leaned back in her chair, grinning to herself. She quickly checked the time and calculated the minutes until her lunch break. She'd have one hour to go get everything she needed for tonight. Officer Haught had herself a date.