“We’re done here!” Jonathan says harshly, standing to his feet, “come, Melek” he reaches his hand out for me.

“I’d like to say it’s been a pleasure, Sienna, but if I honest, it hasn’t” I stand and take Jonathans hand. He walks around Sienna’s chair, lifting our hands over her head; as he does, he shoots me a wink. 

“Where do you think you’re going?” Sienna calls from behind us.
“Enjoy the rest of your day Sienna,” he says over his shoulder as we walk out of the café.

Jonathan leads me over to his car; he steps in front of me, blocking Sienna’s view. He opens the door, and as I step down off the curb, I feel his hand on the base of my back. I look up at him; his gaze is on me as a smile creeps across his face. I slide into my seat as he closes the door. I watch as he walks around the front of the car and slide in the driver’s side.

As we pull away, I look over my shoulder and see Lucy holding a sobbing Sienna. I can’t help but let out a small giggle.

That didn’t go the way she was hoping; my inner voice chuckles.

I turn back to Jonathan, whose eyes are fixed on the road ahead. 

“Jon-“I begin to say.
“Let me find somewhere to pull over Camilla” he looks at me and smiles.

“I think the Brooklyn Bridge Park is 20mins away from here if you want to stop in there, but it’s in the opposite direction”, I put over my shoulder. 

“Good idea,” he says, turning the car around.

We remain in silence until we pull into the car park; turning the engine off, he turns to me, “I’m so sorry, Camilla”, his words filled with sadness. I reach over and place my hand on his cheek; he leans into my touch and closes his eyes.

“You have Nothing to be sorry for. Her behaviour is on her, Jon” I smile at him as he opens his eyes and looks at me. He brings his hand to mine and pulling it to his mouth, placing a warm kiss on the back. He puts our hands on his knee and lets out a massive sigh as he runs his fingers through his hair.

“You don’t need to talk about it now if you don’t want to”, I quietly say, looking at him.
“No, you deserve an explanation Camilla” he looks at me nervously.
“Ok”, I smile at him.
“Come, let’s find a nice spot and talk,” he says as he slides out of the driver’s side.

Walking down the path, Jon’s hand stays firmly planted on the base of my back. Every now and then, he looks down at me and smiles. I’m not sure I’m ready to hear what he has to tell me about Sienna, but she made it so we can’t have this talk. We find a free seat overlooking the east river. Sitting down, Jon immediately leans forward and buries his face in his hands. 

“Where would you like me to start?” He brings his hands down to the top of his thighs and begins to rub them nervously.

“Well, you could start by telling me what that was back there?”
“Christ!” He huffs out.
“That bad, huh?” I tease.

“She’s been stalking me since our break up two years ago, and what you saw back there was her attempt at running you off. Things didn’t end well between us, and since then, she has been hell-bent on either ruining anything good in my life or causing endless drama” he sighs in frustration.

“Get a restraining order, Jonathan.”
“I have tried, but her father squashes them,” he says while running his hand through his hair in frustration.
“Who is her father?”
“He is the commissioner of the NYPD”, he replies in a defeated tone.
“Wow! Are you not familiar with the term ‘don’t shit where you eat?” I giggle out.

He looks at me from the corner of his eye. “Apparently not”, he chuckles.

“How did you meet this psycho?” I tease.

“I met Sienna at the annual NYPD gala. I was introduced to her and her father by my captain at the time. We chatted, and it was fun; she was fun.”

“And good at hiding her inner psycho, apparently” I roll my eyes.
“She hid it well our entire relationship” the frustration in his voice is unmistakable.
“How long were you together?” 

I watch as he leans forward and stares blankly at the river moving slowly past us. His shoulders tense up, and his face has become completely blank. 

“Two and a half years”, he sighs and at the beginning, it was good; we were living together and had a healthy routine. It wasn’t until my captain brought in new staff from the surrounding precincts that things started to change and change fast.”

“I’m guessing one of these new staff members was a girl?” I ask, knowing the answer already.

He slowly nods his head yes. His hands now in a tight ball; I move closer to him and wrap my hands around his hands. He looks down in shock before looking at me and smiling. His grip loosens; I feel him relax as he leans back on the chair and brings his gaze back to me.  

“Nothing was going on between her and me. Nothing Camilla! But it didn’t matter how many times I told Sienna that she didn’t believe me. Then the random drops-ins started, the ridiculous texts from her friends pretending to be this staff member and the endless arguments,” his tone becoming angrier and angrier with every word.

“I believe you, Jon”, I reassure him. “That’s not ok, and I can only imagine how that impacted you and your work environment.”

“It was just a mess; I was a mess”, he sighs.
“I know”, I softly reply.
“I had to end it. It couldn’t keep going like this; I couldn’t keep going like this.”

I don’t say anything; I can see he is struggling. He really cared about her, maybe even loved her.

“I called her and told her that we needed to talk when I got home that night. I’m guessing she sensed I was going to break things off because when I got home that night, she and Lucy were there for an impromptu threesome,” he chuckles, shaking his head “Christ”, he sighs.

“Wow! And I thought I had fucked up ex’s, but you Detective take the cake,” my words dripping with sarcasm.

“Thank you, Camilla. I’m glad my misery is entertaining you right now,” he replies with equal sarcasm.

It goes silent for a moment before we both just burst out laughing. It’s either laugh or cry, and we are choosing to laugh at this moment.

“What a shitty first date”, he sighs.
“Could have been worse”, I reply in a hopeful tone.
“Could have been worse? My ex showing up is as bad as it gets, Camilla.”
“No, you could have woken up with a permanent hard-on” I smirk at him.
“WHAT” he blurts out as he begins to laugh.
“What? I’ve heard they can be quite painful,” I reply, shrugging my shoulders.

“I can’t tell you how much I enjoy your ability to make the worst situations better just by being you”, he puffs out between laughing.

I stand from the bench and bow, “Thank you, thank you. You’ve been an amazing crowd”, blowing kisses between giggles.

Jon reaches out and snaking his arm around my waist; he pulls me onto his lap. Being this close to him is amazing; smelling his intoxicating cologne, feeling his heart beating, his toned body pressed against me sends chills down my spine. I fit perfectly in his arms; I’m exactly where I want to be. We both continue to laugh to the point of tears. When we finally catch our breaths, he looks me in the eyes, and I feel his hand lightly brush against the side of my face as he tucks a stray hair behind my ear. I smile nervously at him as he leans in and whispers in my ear, “Thank you, Camilla.”

I tip my head to the side as I watch him lean back. 

Smiling at him, I say, “You’re welcome, Jonathan.”

Feeling like there is an immanent kiss incoming, I try to calm my nerves, but as he leans forward, my stomach interrupts with a loud arse growl. I immediately bury my face in my hands from embarrassment.

WHY NOW! My inner voice shouts.

“Hungry?” He teases.
“Apparently”, I sigh.
“Then, Ms. Adams, it is my duty to rectify that”, he winks at me.
“What ya got in mind?” I tease.
“Have you ever had a fried chicken waffle?”
“No, I haven’t.”

“Well, then you’re in for a treat melek because there is a small vendor in this park that makes them, and they are delicious” he smiles at me.

“What is it with you and knowing the best places to eat?”
“Many, many nights of stakeouts”, he winks at me.
“Well, lead the way, kind sir” I smile at him while hopping off his lap.

He stands and wraps his arm around my waist as we walk through the park. After what feels like only minutes of walking, we come across the food truck. It looks more like a little caravan. It has wooden window frames that pop against the white exterior. The serving area is decorated with beautiful white roses that are lit up by the cute drop-downlights on the inside. At the back, hanging on the wall is the word ‘cheers’ lit up with small fairy lights. At first glance, you wouldn’t automatically assume it sold fried chicken waffles more like shabby chic gifts, but the smell of the chicken and sweet waffles gives it away as you get closer. I instantly pull my phone out and take a picture; it’s simply too cute not to.

I’ve gotta show Kay tonight, I think to myself.

“Wait here, Melek, I’ll order for us,” he says, smiling at me.
“Ok”, I smile back at him.

As he walks over to the van as I slowly turn around, scanning the park looking for any signs of the blonde dragon, I’m so fixed on it that when I hear Jon say from behind me, “She’s not here, Melek”, I jump with fright.

“Jesus!” I shout out.
“Shit, sorry Camilla, I didn’t mean to scare you,” he says, looking at me with concern.
“No, it’s ok. It’s not your fault” I nervously smile at him.

He hands me my waffle and gives me one of his reassuring smiles.

“Thank you”, I whisper out as I look up at him.
“You’re so welcome”, he replies sweetly.
“It looks delicious, Jon.”
“They are the best in Brooklyn but don’t let that old bastard hear that”, he laughs out.
“I heard that arsehole”, the owner yells from the van window.
“Fuck you!” Jon yells while flipping him off.
“Love you too,” the owner yells as we turn and walk to a table nearby.
“You know him?”
“I do, for years now. He’s a good guy,” he mumbles out with a mouth full.
“That’s cool”, my reply muffled by the copious amounts of chicken I have shoved in my face.

“So tell me, Camilla, what do you like to do in your spare time?” He says, wiping the sides of his mouth with a tissue.

I wanna lick his face, my inner voice purrs.

“Binge detective shows” I smirk at him.
“Oh, so you have a thing for detectives?” He teases.
“Nope, crime,” I say, stuffing more chicken in my face.
“Should I be worried?” He asks sarcastically.
“Not right now”, I reply coyly.

He lets out a deep chuckle “so when should I be worried?”

“When I’m hungry, tired, on my period or hot”, I replied cheekily.
“So basically all the time?”
“Yep”, I giggle out.

He nods his head slowly. “I’ll keep that in mind.”

I shoot him a wink before continuing to devour my waffle.

“What about you, Jon?”
“Ummm… Go to the gym, read or watch trash tv. Nothing overly exciting,” he says, turning to throw our rubbish in the bin.
“Do you get a lot of time to do those things?”
“Not lately, no”, he sighs.

Just then, his phone starts ringing; pulling it from his pocket, he looks at me and says, “I need to answer this; it’s work. Don’t move, ok?” He smiles at me as he stands.

“I won’t move an inch, detective”, I tease.
“I’ll be right back”, he winks at me.

I watch him walk a little distance away from me, his gaze never leaving mine as he talks on the phone. I quickly pull my phone out and check for any messages or work emails; I decide not to wait till tonight to show Kay the van, and I quickly send her the picture before stuffing my phone back in my pocket. 

Jon walks back up to me, putting his phone in his pocket. “I’m so sorry, Melek, but I’ve been called into work.”

“Oh, no worries, Jon”, I smile at him “is everything ok?”
“Ummm, I’m not sure at the moment,” he says in a worried tone.
“Ok, well, let’s get outta here.”

He takes my hand, and we begin to walk back to the car. We get into his car, and before he starts the engine, he turns to me. “Thank you so much, Camilla, for being unbelievably understanding. Today has been a total disaster, and I’m so sorry about that.” he sighs.

“Don’t worry about it; there is always next time”, I reassure him.
“You wanna go out with me again?” He looks at me, shocked.

“Of course. I mean, if you want to go out with me again, that is?” I sit there nervously, waiting for him to reply.

“Absolutely!” He blurts out.
I let out a small giggle. “Good.”
“Cool,” he says quietly, turning the engine on and driving out of the parking lot.

Pulling up to my building, my stomach stinks as the realisation kicks in that this is the end of our time together. If he hadn’t been called into work, I would have asked him to stay for just that little bit longer. I’m not ready to say goodbye yet, and I’m sad at the thought it may be a while before I see him again. This date has been less than perfect, but what in life is perfect? Being around him makes me unbelievably happy, and my heart skips a beat every time he touches me. I miss him, and he’s not even left my side yet.

“We’re here,” he says sweetly, looking at me.
“We are”, I reply, looking out my window and at my building doors.
“I’ll walk you up, Melek.”
“Perfect”, I smile at him as I open my door and slide out.

He runs around the front of the car and over to my door. “I could have gotten that for you, Camilla”, he puffs out.

“I know; I thought I’d give you a break, Detective,” I say sweetly.

He softly reaches for my hand; we make our way up to the stairs towards the doors of my building. Every step is like a thousand cuts, it’s closer to me having to say goodbye, and I feel so selfish for wanting desperately to occupy his time when he is needed elsewhere. Standing in front of the doors, I look up at Jon, who is looking exactly at how my heart is feeling. Sad.

“So?” I look down at the ground while shuffling my feet about.
“So,” he says softly.
“I-“I begin to say.

“I don’t know if you would be interested, but Ummm”, he places his thumb on my chin, slightly tilting it upbringing my gaze back to him “wouldn’t you-” he stops looking awkward.

“Don’t get shy on me now, Detective”, I tease.

He lets out a soft chuckle as his eyes flick back to me. “Would you like to come over to my place sometime and maybe watch shit TV and just hang out?” His voice is shaky.

“Will you cook me dinner?” My tone is playful.
“Yes!” He blurts out.
“Then yes, I’d love to” I smile at him.
“Cool. That’s cool” his eyes flick from my eyes to my lips.
“May I?” He says softly.
“You may”, I whisper out.

His hand slides gently up the side of my face as his eyes move from my mouth to my eyes. A small smile pulls at the corner of his mouth as he sees me bite my bottom lip. He backs me up against the wall as his arm slides up next to me, resting on the bricks. He’s completely boxed me in; I rest my hands on his chest, giving me the ability to feel every muscle his shirt is hiding. I feel my core start to heat up; the feeling he gives me when he is this close is mouth-watering.

“You are so unbelievably beautiful, Camilla”, he says softly, looking at me.

He leans in, now inches away from my lips as his tongue softly teases the outside of my lips. I wrap my arms around his neck, closing my eyes and opening my mouth ever so slightly, giving him access. My dominant side takes over, and before he has a chance to make his move, I pull his lips to mine. He doesn’t fight it, and we begin our slow but passionate dance, my tongue fighting for dominance over his; it only takes seconds before he gives over control.

Art by @konturava.art

Our breaths are now chaotic, and his need for me becomes desperate. His hand leaves my cheek and curls around the back of my neck as he presses me harder against the bricks. I let out a small moan at this motion, and I feel him smile against my lips. It’s getting heated fast; my body is now painfully aching for him. I need to feel his skin against mine; in a desperate attempt to get what I’m craving, my hands leave his neck and slide up the inside of his shirt.

He lets out a deep groan from the back of his throat, sending my core into overdrive. Before we can go any further, his phone starts ringing in his pocket; at first, he ignores it, but whoever it is hits redial. He fumbles around in his pocket, trying to stifle it, only for it to ring again. The torturous game we were playing stopped with Jon breaking our kiss and letting out a sigh of frustration as he lightly rests his head on my forehead.

“That was-” He begins to say.
“Mmhmm,” I hum out, nodding my head.

“Cam- Christ!” He shouts out in frustration as his phone begins to ring again. “I have to go. I’m so sorry, Melek.” He looks at me sadly.

He places a kiss on my forehead, and I slowly close my eyes, enjoying our final moments together. He turns to walk away before he quickly turns and lightly pinches my nose between his fingers, then hurries down the stairs and to his car. As I watch him drive away, I close my eyes and lightly run my fingers over my lips; I can still feel his lips on mine.