The next morning at work was rough. I had spent the entire night talking to Ruth, so I got very little sleep. She was simply magical. I mean, we liked the same music, we both liked to cook, and we both had the same favorite Pokémon. If I had found out that Squirtle was her favorite, I don’t know if the relationship would have blossomed. I can’t date my rival—that’s madness.

As I stood in the break room sipping my coffee, leaning against the sink, I started thinking of topics I wanted to ask Ruth when she responded.

“Hey, Autumn. If that smile gets any bigger, it might touch your temples,” Jackie said, walking in with a K-cup and a mug.

“She just reminds me of some distant crush. I feel like I’m in high school again. We stayed up all night texting. Can you believe she likes chicken omelets too? She is truly a woman of culture that likes to keep the family together, or maybe she just has good taste in omelets. I don’t know, but either way, she’s wonderful,” I said, starting to crave a chicken omelet.

Jackie chuckled. “Wow, you really are crushing on her like a teenage girl.” The Keurig finished pouring the last drop into the coffee mug.

“Yeah, I know it might be me U-hauling, but I just feel so connected to her, and I really want this to work.”

“While we are on the topic of crushes, let me run something by you. I finished helping Glenn move the last of his stuff from my apartment. After he was out and I sat on my couch alone, I realized I’d made a mistake.”

“Don’t beat yourself up too bad. Getting cheated on sucks, and it’s never your fault. Although, he did help me pick out these really cute wedges I can’t wear anymore.”

“No, not that. I think I made a mistake saying no when Jose proposed to me,” Jackie said, drinking from her coffee cup.

I was so shocked I spat out my coffee. Lucky I got it all in the sink behind me. “Excuse me, you never told me he proposed to you! Come sit, you have to tell me everything, or I won’t be able to get any work done,” I said, walking over to the kitchen table.

“Fine, but I’ll give you the quick version,” Jackie said, sitting down across the table from me. “So basically, we were at his place watching a movie, just a normal date night. The doorbell rang, and he asked me to go get the pizza. When I opened the door, the pizza guy was there with the pizza box opened, and the pepperonis on it spelled ‘turn around,’ so when I did, Jose was on one knee and asked me to marry him. I obviously said no.”

“Oh, that’s awkward, right in front of the pizza guy?” I said.

“Uh… well… yeah, but he gave us the pizza for free, so I guess that was nice of him. After that, we talked about it. I apologized, saying I wasn’t ready, and then soon after, we broke up.”

“If I were him, I could never eat pizza again, truly a traumatic experience.” Jackie gave me a death stare. “Anyway, why was it a mistake?” I asked.

“Well, because I was never happy with Glenn. I was actually planning on breaking up with him. So, it worked out in a way. Although, I wish he’d just left me when he met Terry, but that is neither here nor there. But anyway, the whole thing just made me realize I had something really good, and I let it go.”

“I know exactly the right person for the job!” I said. I was practically dancing in my seat. Jackie hadn’t brought me a case in so long.

“Oh no, not Detective Falls. I thought she retired,” Jackie said, pinching the bridge of her nose.

“Detective Falls never retires. She simply lies dormant until her next case,” I said in a raspy detective voice. “Listen, kid, you’re helping me with this Ruth thing, so in exchange, I am going to help you with Jose.”

Jackie sighed. “Fine, it’s a deal.” Jackie stood up from her chair and went to clean her now empty cup. “I’m going back to work. I’ll see you at lunch,” she said, drying off her cup and leaving the break room.

As she was leaving, Karen walked into the kitchen with her lunchbox. “There better not be any fish in there, Karen,” I said, getting up and walking to the door.

“Whatever, Autumn, I’ll have you know this fish helps lower my risk of heart attacks and strokes,” Karen said, putting her lunch in the fridge.

“Not if the mercury kills you first,” I said under my breath.

“What was that?” Karen whipped her head out of the fridge.

“Enjoy your day!” I said with a smile, leaving the kitchen.