In the Blink of an Eye

I awake the next morning around seven feeling refreshed and stressed all at once as I make my way over to my wardrobe. I pull out a matching suit, black, and pair it with a no-nonsense white blouse and dress shoes. I head to the bathroom, brushing my teeth and hair quickly and putting on a bit of makeup before grabbing my bag with the new transfer paperwork I'd received the night before via email and subsequently printed off. Rolling my shoulders, I realized it was after eight already and I needed desperately to hop a cab and get a move on.

I headed downstairs, cereal bar between my teeth, and waved to the morning doorman, Stanley, as I waved to summon a cab forth. I made my way over to the cab, giving the address of Homicide and waiting patiently as the driver pulled into oncoming traffic. We made small talk on the way there, and soon we arrived at what was to be my new building; I paid the man and slipped out, heading to the double doors and up to the front desk.

"Margaret Holbrook," I said, giving my name to the receptionist when my turn at bat came.

"Ah, yes," she said, finding my name in the computer. "I.D. please."

I handed over my I.D., as well as badge, which she looked over and typed into the computer. "Thanks," I said when she handed them back.

"Captain Jennings is expecting you," she tells me. "Tenth floor; you'll come to a lobby where you'll be told to wait."

I nod. "Thanks, Betsy," I say, quickly catching her name on her tag as I make my way to the elevator. I press the black 'ten' button and soon the chrome doors ding closed and I'm going up. They ding open a moment later and soon I step out and into the hallway, making my way towards the lobby, which is actually more of a squad room. Taking my chances, I slip past the other desks and tap directly on the door, which reads CAPTAIN JENNINGS.

"Come on in," says the voice behind the door.

I open it up and step inside, halfway in and halfway out. "Captain Jennings?" I ask him, a portly man who had a kind air about him.

He gets to his feet, a warm smile coming to his lips. "You must be Margaret," he says, beckoning me with a rather large finger to come inside. "Derrick Jennings, good to meet you," he said, putting out a hand.

"Maggie, please, captain," I reply with a smile, taking his offered hand. "It's such an honor to meet you."

"Cragen and Harrison have spoken very highly of you, as well as fellow detectives Benson and Stabler. They say you have a knack for dealing with children."

I shrug. "Oh, I suppose it's just a liking for children, sir," I reply.

"That's good. Unfortunately, we get a lot of orphans coming through here after their parents are shot down in drug deals gone bad. Depending on the situations in the crimes, we get some of the drug deal murders from Narcotics."

I nod. "I see."

"Well, I see you've brought in that silver number," Captain Jennings says. "I have your gold shield right here," he says, the words NEW YORK STATE POLICE and DETECTIVE MARGARET HOLBROOK stamped on it. "I wasn't sure if you'd rather be called Margaret or Maggie..."

"It's all right, captain," I tell him with a smile. "I wear a suit to work now, so formality should be a must." I take it from his outstretched hands and pin it onto my suit jacket. "Does it suit me?" I ask, laughing at my bad pun.

Captain Jennings laughed; he was a teddy bear of a man, with dark red hair and sparkling blue eyes. "You look great, Maggie," he tells me. "Now, come on out so that I can introduce you to everybody." He leads me out into the squad room and takes ahold of what must have been an old broom handle, and taps its base hard on an empty chair. "Homicide detectives!" he booms. At once, everyone stops what they're doing to turn and look at Captain Jennings, each of them curious. "Here by my side I have our newest detective, Maggie Holbrook. She joins us from Captain Harrisons' officers; she graduated top of her class in Criminal Law at University of Washington School of Law, and subsequently first in her class in Seattle's police academy. Maggie, however, hungered for the Big Apple and moved to New York almost three years ago. She just made detective last night, whereupon she was promptly transferred here. I want you all to make her feel welcome, especially since her first undercover operation was a success! She successfully took down former Father Benedict Michaels who we just heard this morning has been sentenced to twenty years to life in prison!"