New Things Ahead

Janice started her day by throwing her alarm clock against the bedroom wall. Normally not a morning person to begin with, today only added to her misery. She had her lieutenant's exam to take today, and she was nervous as a long tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs. She worked her butt off to make it this far, and she was getting a lot of grief from her partner. Jeff had already failed the exam once, and he was doing his damnedest to derail her. She sighed as she threw the covers back and headed toward the tiny bathroom to take a shower.

Janice had served two terms in the Army as an MP. That along with her marksmanship qualifications gave her a leg up on several of the other candidates for lieutenant. She also had studied her ass off for the exam. She felt she had a very good shot at getting the shield, but for some reason, everyone around her felt the need to put her down. Was it because she was a woman? For crying out loud, it wasn't the dark ages anymore! Round and round Janice's mind went as she tried to puzzle it out. After a while, she shrugged her shoulders and toweled off. Getting dressed in her uniform, she grabbed her gear and headed for the precinct.

Jeff met her at the door. As they were going in, he piped up. "Still think you have a shot at the shield?" Janice shrugged.
"I've got as much chance as anyone else."
Jeff just looked at her. "You know, you are jumping the gun at this. I've been here longer than you..." He didn't get to finish his statement.
Janice wheeled around on him. She barely managed to keep her voice down. "Look - I don't know what your problem is. I've studied, I qualified to take the exam. Just because you failed, doesn't mean I have to wait til you figure it out. I'm taking the test, and if you don't like it, you can find yourself a new partner!"
Her teeth were gritted, and she was beginning to feel a headache coming on. Jeff threw his hand up in surrender. "Your call" ,he said, "But don't say I didn't warn you." With that, he spun on his heel to head toward his desk.

Janice walked to her desk, wishing the shift was over already. She sat down and put the heels of her palms against her eyes to stave off the headache. She sighed again. It didn't matter. Jeff was a sexist pig. If he wanted to be an idiot about it, so be it. Grabbing a couple of aspirin out of her desk, she looked up at the clock. Only an hour before she headed to the exam area. One hour to get rid of this damn headache. She decided that Jeff wasn't important enough to derail her plans. She just had to get through the exam. Forty minutes later she got up from her desk. Shrugging her shoulders and clearing her mind. She headed upstairs to the exam rooms. She found a seat and waited until the exams were passed out and began writing.

Three hours later, she wanted some more aspirin. Her neck was stiff from being hunched over the test. She felt that she did well, but she wasn't going to count her chickens before they were hatched. No sense in making herself the butt of any jokes, until there was something to report. She wouldn't know for a few days anyway, so no reason to worry about it. She still had a few hours left on her shift, so she decided to catch up on some paperwork. Jeff was always shirking his part with the paperwork, so she just bit the bullet and did it to keep the peace. One day, she promised herself, she was going to have a partner that was a partner in the full sense of the word. Not just some wanna-be that played the part.

Surprisingly, the rest of the day was quiet, and she managed to clear up most of the paperwork. Feeling pretty good for the first time today, Janice was ready to call it quits. But before she was able to get out the door, Captain Martin called her over to his office. Wondering what was up, Janice headed over to the office.

The captain motioned her to have a seat. "How do you think you did on the exam, Janice?" he politely asked.
"I think I did alright, Sir"
"Have you decided what you want to do once you get your shield?"
"I guess I'd like to work with Homicide. At least that's what I'd like to do, Sir" Janice replied.
"What about your partner, Jeff?"
Janice bit her lower lip. She really didn't think that she should drag her partner through the mud, even though he was a pig. "I hadn't thought much about him, Sir". She decided on honesty tempered with diplomacy would be her best bet.
"I thought as much", Captain Martin answered. "Well, guess you better start thinking about it."
"Why's that, Sir?" Janice was a little puzzled.
"Because I had them expedite your exam, and rather than making you squirm, I thought you'd like to know before the weekend."
"You mean...."
"Congratulations. Lieutenant."

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