New York, New York

It didn’t start as a particularly eventful evening. It was a chilly 31 degrees, which really wasn’t that bad, but for the young woman born and raised near Miami, Florida, it was a little different from what she grew up with. Luckily for right now, that young woman sat in the back office of a book store sipping on a hot Caramel Brulee latte from Starbucks, working on a paper for one of her courses on the word document on her laptop, all the while awaiting the IT to come in to fix an issue with the brand new register system the owners had put in. He was driving up from Pennsylvania and wanted to come in to fix the system as soon as he got in that night. Mr. and Mrs. Koslowski were an older couple patiently awaiting retirement, so they were off to bed as soon as Josephine, their loyal staff member who joined them during the summer three years prior, had volunteered to wait up and close the shop when the man was finished with system.

Sighing, Josephine Magnolia Kennedy took a sip of her almost gone latte that she’d somehow made last since nine when the Starbucks next door to the Morningside Heights bookstore she was sitting in. It was now about 1 a.m., and she’d just taken her last sip of her “Heaven in a Cup,” as she called it. She typed a bit more, before allowing her laptop to autosave when a rustling noise came over the Michael Bublé song that had been background noise for the last minute or two. Josie looked up from the screen turning her head towards the open doorway hoping she was imagining things. Unfortunately, she was wrong, as she had heard a book fall to the floor followed by a muttered voice, she could only assume, had cursed at the unexpected sound. Oh Dear God, she said as she quickly grabbed her cell phone, hitting “Emergency Call” on the lock screen and the can of pepper spray she kept on her key chain. Slowly, she made her way to the doorway, trying not to make a sound, though if she didn’t know better, she would have sworn her heart beat, thudding away in her chest, was enough to alert the intruder of her presence.

She saw the silhouette of a tall, lean male trying to get into the cash register when she flipped on the light switch. Upon sight of him, she couldn’t make out much. He was probably about 6 feet tall, muscular build, Caucasian, and strawberry blonde hued hair, but Josie couldn’t tell much more, as he wore a Jason in Friday the 13th kind of mask. The light had startled the man, and he turned towards Josie standing in the doorway. She had already dialed 911 and the Operator had just spoken. ”I’m at Koswloski’s Book Store in Morningside Heights next to the 120th St. Starbucks. There is an intruder I need help,” She spoke concisely, quickly, and clearly, before the male could even do anything. Without an exchange of words, the male bull rushed the young woman, but as soon as he got close enough, she sprayed him with the contents of the can. Seemingly to have done nothing at that moment, he still struck her. With a loud cry, the young woman hit the floor. As the male rushed out, the Operator made note that there was an officer less than a block away who had just responded. The voice also made note that it was important to stay on the line. Josie got up and attempted to run after him, pepperspray still in one hand, cell phone in the other, but the male was quick and he was halfway down the street. She turned the other way, to see flashing lights of a police car. They pulled up, one quickly getting out to chase down the male, the other staying in the car driving off to cut off the burglar. All the while, Josephine put her phone up to her ear. ”A unit just arrived and are going after him.,” She stated to the operator as she tried to regain her composure. Maybe she should’ve went out with the girls from class tonight.

*_____*

It wasn’t much longer after that when another unit pulled up responding to the incident. A pair of cops got out and went to the girl. ”Are you alright, Miss?” One of them said as he came up to her. He had light brunette hair with brown eyes and almost no tan compared to his Italian looking partner that came up to him.

”I’m still a little frazzled, nothing like this has ever happened to me before,” Josephine said as she looked at the officers.

”As long as you aren’t harmed,” The more Italian looking one said before adding, ”I’m Officer Cruz, and this is my partner, Officer Reagan. We’ll have to take your statement.”

”That’s fine, please come in,” She said as she opened the door to let the officers into the bookstore. ”Well, I’m Josephine Kennedy, and I’ve been working here for about three years now,” She began before realizing. ”I need to call the owners, and let them know, is it fine if I do?” She asked knowing that the Koslowskis really needed to know what was going on. Officer Reagan nodded, as the girl dialed their number on the store phone, putting it on speaker. When Mr. Koslowski picked up, he sounded half asleep yet worried. ”Hello?” He asked.

”Mr. K? It’s Josie. There is an emergency at the store. A man broke in, and the police are here,” She said.

”I’m on my way,” He said, hanging up, not giving her a chance to reply.

”Anyway, where were we?” She asked, hanging up the phone. ”Yes, I’m here waiting for an IT guy to get here, and while I was in the back room I heard a noise. When I came in and flipped on the lights, I saw the burglar,” Josephine added as she then went on to describe the male. Officer Cruz then made her stop for a moment and broadcasted on the radio the description she gave of him. When he came back to her, she told the pair about the scuffle between her and the man, noting she wasn’t hurt, she just felt like her pride was hurt more than anything and that she had tagged him with the pepperspray. ”It’s funny, you hear about stuff like this all the, time but never expect to have it happen to you… Even for something so common as a burglary,” The young woman said as she finally set the can onto the counter, as well as her phone. She’d clenched both of them for such a long amount of time that her hands were cramping.

”It’s unfortunately common, in this city,” Officer Reagan began, ”But the NYPD is doing everything they can to keep these streets as safe as possible,” He ended. He seemed somewhat soft spoken, and well educated. He wasn’t like his partner. She wondered if he had wanted to be a cop all of his life, or if he had decided upon some life changing moment of clarity.

”I know, there are just only so many things you could do to prevent crime,” She said as she continued to size up the officer. She needed to stop it. Sure he was cute, but she didn’t have time for that with school and work. He probably wasn’t even interested in her.

”Well, if there is anything more we can do, don’t hesitate to call,” Officer Cruz said, writing down a specific phone number on the back of a card. As he handed the card to her, Officer Reagan’s eyes caught it. He didn’t seem that happy. ”Call that number anytime you’re in trouble, and you’ll have the best member of the beat force there to help to ASAP,” He smiled deviously and the pair began to walk out.

”Thank you,” Josie said, somewhat confused over Officer Reagan’s reaction.

Not even ten minutes after both units left, the Koslowskis and the IT guy got there. It was going to be a long night for Josie.