Are You Locked Up in a World That's Been Planned Out for You?

“It feels like it’s been a while since I last saw you Emma. How is school treating you? Are you settling down again after the Christmas break?” Lennie asked me.

Lennie was driving the unmarked police vehicle. Mike was sitting in the passenger seat, whilst I meekly sat in the backseat with knees together, hands neatly in my lap and my seatbelt fastened.

“Yeah, it’s heating up again. It’s also time to apply to colleges, so that’s a bit stressful too.” I honestly replied, adding a small smile at the end.

“I see, that is quite a big time in your life. Where are you hoping to gain acceptance?” Lennie asked me curiously.

“Well dad says he wants the best education for me and wants me to continue private schooling outside of high school. Therefore my top two would have to be NYU or U Miami. Of course I’m also applying for public universities as a safety net.” I replied, a little shy of how he would take the response.

“Why University of Miami?” Mike asked, breaking his silence since he got into the car.

“Oh um…the only family we’ve got are in Miami, plus my dad has done undercover work and stuff there and really likes the city. I like it too don’t get me wrong, NYU would be my first preference because it’s more prestigious and more convenient as I wouldn’t have to move.” I explained, going bright red by the end as I realised I was beginning to ramble.

This Mike guy made me feel so nervous, I’d hate to be one of the perpetrators he was investigating. His apathy, his blank stare and his general demeanour made me feel uneasy. Maybe I was just used to being cooed at for being Horatio Caine’s daughter by the rest of the police force that I wasn’t used to being treated like this. But the refreshing feeling of being treated differently had long gone. I felt like he was judging me and thought I was a silly teenage girl.

“Makes sense.” Mike shrugged, and turned to look out of the window.

The car was filled with silence for a few moments, until Lennie broke it.

“You guys both don’t mind if I stop into the convenience store to get something to eat? Something tells me it’s going to be a big night, so I should eat whilst I can.” Lennie asked us.

Both Mike and I informed Lennie that this would be fine, and he pulled over to park at the nearest store he could find. As soon as Lennie jumped out of the car, Mike took off his seatbelt and turned around in the passenger seat to face me.

“You can stop with the act. You’re not fooling anybody.” Mike said to me, not bothering to sugar-coat whatever his statement was.

“Excuse me?” I spluttered, my shyness fading away as confusion took over.

“The way you’re acting is so fake. No teenage girl acts like that. You roll up your skirt, you wear makeup to school. But you act nice in front of adults, and come in to the police station to give your dad dinner and a kiss on your cheek. I’m just telling you that there’s no point acting like that in front of me, because I don’t buy it.” Mike informed me, a hint of annoyance in his tone but outwardly he was sending me a smirk.

I blinked, waiting a few moments for his statement to sink in. Should I be annoyed? What he said was quite rude. I must have felt similar to him, because I felt annoyed, but all I could do was send him a smirk back.

“Yeah, I roll up my skirt as a fashion statement and I wear make-up, because I feel like it. But I am polite to adults because I respect my elders. Do you think you’d appreciate it if I sat here babbling on about make-up and boys and parties, and how hard my life is because like oh my god school sucks? No. I can adapt conversation depending who I’m talking to, because I can empathise and understand how to communicate. My fashion statements have nothing to do with it.” I snapped, but kept on smirking as I finished up my explanation.

“Okay, maybe you have some more brains than I originally thought.” Mike defended, putting his hands in the air to show he was backing off.

“Don’t worry, no offense taken. I’ve seen how most cop kids are like. They’re brats who think they can get away with anything because their mom and dad are cops and will cover for them. To an extent I blame the cop parents though, they know what’s out there and try to protect their kids from harm’s way, but don’t realise being overprotective is just making things worse. I’m just lucky I have a dad who isn’t afraid to let me see the whole wide world.” I smiled.

“Yeah, I can definitely empathise with you there. My dad was a patrol cop, but would not pull any stunts when it came to raising my brother and I. In fact, he badgered me about becoming a cop my entire childhood, teenhood and early adulthood. My older brother was meant to be worthy of the private sector in a high paying job, I was meant to be the cop.” Mike explained to me.

“But?” I asked, biting at the hint that there was more to his story at how it was worded. However, I was wrong.

“Well it happened. My brother is a CPA, and I have my badge.” Mike grinned, finally an emotion on his face.

I sent him a giggle as a reply, to show him I understood the small humour he was setting up. He was opening up to me to show that I could be considered an acquaintance; even though it was unlikely we would cross paths that often, in fact it was highly unlikely I’d ever see him again. Dad had been working at the 27th precinct for a few years now, and although I’d heard about Michael Logan from Lennie, Jessica and even dad, I’d never bumped into him before.

“So um…do I refer to you by ‘Michael’ ‘Mike’ or ‘Logan’? I notice it differs, some refer to you as Michael, some Mike and some on a last name basis. What do you prefer?” I asked him.

He looked like he was thinking about it for a few moments, and was silent for a short while before he answered my question.

“I don’t really encourage anyone to call me anything, they decide themselves. It’s kind of a police thing to refer to someone by their surname if you don’t work closely together. Your father calls me Logan, I call him Caine. Whereas the ones I closely work with, my current partner, my old partners, my current supervisor and my previous supervisor sometimes even call me Mikey. So call me whatever you want.” Mike shrugged.

“Pig. I’m totally joking, I can joke about that because I’d be insulting my dad if it were true.” I giggled, and he cracked a smile.

“Yes, well I know you’re joking and you’re lucky I am. I don’t take it too well when punks seriously call me those disrespectful names. If you were serious I’d slap a pair of cuffs on you and take you down to the precinct, finding any excuse for an arrest.” Mike replied, and the added wink on the end made my face heat up again.

If it weren’t for the wink I probably wouldn’t have felt embarrassed. But the mention of ‘cuffs’ in the same sentence as a wink could be taken as inappropriate conversation by some. Which is what made it embarrassing the most, as I had no idea how I should be reacting.

“I’ll go with Mike then.” I mumbled.

“I’ll go with Emma for you, then. Most people around the precinct refer to you as ‘Caine’s daughter’ if you’re ever mentioned, but now I have a face to the name and I know you personally.” Mike stated.

I only nodded as a response. Once again, I was doubtful I’d ever cross paths with him that often.