Selena

'Who's birthday is it?' I asked, 'Lao's?' Returning from a warm weekend holiday, I found detectives were setting up a mini party in the office, drinking punch from red cups and laughing.

Ferrero Rocher and Lindt chocolates were piled up in a plinth jar in front of the office, something I'd never seen before, meaning it must've been a special occasion.

'Morello', I called him over, 'what's going on?'

'Oh', he laughed, giving me a red cup, 'I thought you knew. Check this'. He showed me a customised cake in the shape of an ass wearing bikini pants, that read: chief. So, this is what all the guys were laughing at? Typical. Phones held out like paparazzi's just for an ass cake.

'Didn't you hear? Kai appeared at the scene gulping his punch down, 'Lao's left the department'.

'What?!' this came as a shock to me.

'It's Sergio's', Morello explained, 'listen, don't tell him I said this; he doesn't like surprise parties, but he's been so hard-headed and moody lately. We just did this to cheer him up a bit, have some fun, you know?

'Oh, and he's been promoted', said Kai.

'You mean... as chief?' I asked.

'Yeah', Kai replied.

'What?' At that point, very disrupted at the scene, Sergio walked in with a new detective following behind him. Like football frats the detectives cheered, but really, they just wanted to film his reaction at the cake. Straight faced.

'But you know you wanna eat some ass', one of the guys joked. The fact that these guys would go through unusual lengths to celebrate Sergio's promotion in this style taught me how deep bonds ran in this family. 'Come on, chief. Eat some ass'.

'Sure, I will', Sergio scoffed, 'but first; everyone, this is Julian', he introduced the new detective, 'and Julian, this is everyone. Welcome to Bluebridge'.

'Thank you, chief', he replied with gratitude, 'and I hope you like the birthday cake I made for you'. Sergio's eyes popped with revelation. They were all in on this from the beginning, even the new guy. At that moment, he mumbled something in Portuguese, answered a phone call, then walked off. Before I could eavesdrop on the conversation, Julian jumped in front of me.

'You must be the amazing Selena I've heard stories about', he greeted me with a smile, then shook my hand.

'Who told you I was amazing?' I sneered, 'and what stories?'

'The chief. He calls you his black vixen'. I stared at him blank-faced. 'As in – for all things black market...' Julian was a young, witty man with dark curly hair from Palermo, Sicily. With slightly more years of experience, Julian was now the second youngest in the department, but I was still the only woman. 'Anyway, do you like the fruit punch I made?'

'You made that too?'

'Yeah!'

'I get it', I whispered.

'What?! No-no', he snapped, 'it's not like that. I found out the situation, so used the opportunity to make a good first impression'.

'An ass cake was a good first impression?'

'Sure'.

'Mmmn. This punch is okay, I guess. Bet I could make a better mix though'.

'Alright Selena, you're on'. The first mistake I made when joining the department was striving for everyone's approval, but I didn't need to do that all along. Now Julian was making the same mistake.

'Excuse me', removing myself from the commotion, I walked around Julian and went to find Sergio, the only person missing from his own celebration. 'Is everything okay?' Confined within the four walls of his knew office and away from the party, he stood by the desk and contemplated. 'What's the matter?'

'I...' with a concerned look on his face, he hesitated 'Selena. None of this was meant to happen'.

'You mean your birthday – which you didn't even tell me about?' I sneered. He picked up the empty name tag from the desk, eyeing the empty room.

'No, not that. I mean being chief... I can't be chief – I didn't sign up for this'.

'Sergio', I lowered the tag in his hands and sat on his new desk, 'of course you're ready. And I believe in you. You're gonna make a better chief than Lao, who just bounced –'

'Lao left because he... he saw the storm coming'.

'The storm? What storm?'

'There's... a chance the Cleo case will re-open', he uttered.

'What?! Why...?' I put on my whispery voice.

'Because ever since investigators figured out Acosta did not murder – Cleo, they're coming for answers. I told Lao I did it', he began to lower his voice, 'to cover you. And honestly, I think he knows I'm covering. So... to dodge it all, he took a flight to start his promotion early in the F.B.I, Chicago'.

After the words 're-open' slapped me in the face, I finally understood the gravity of damage I had caused behind the scenes, that I was warned of.

The fact that Lao left and made Sergio the new chief in charge to deal with the storm showed me how messed up this was. Sergio wasn't obliged to become the chief... but did to protect me. Even more, who knew what Amy would do if she found out I shot Cleo?

'Wow. A weekend off work, and this was happening? You could've called me'.

'I didn't want to disrupt you and Michael on your trip', he smiled at me, 'besides, we'll have it under control'.

'You should've at least told me it was your birthday', I mumbled below my voice, 'how old are you anyway?'

The next day, I invited Michael over so we could look at properties that we would one day live in. The idea of finally living away from Solange, all her girlfriends, clientele and dates couldn't make me more eager. According to Solange, Michael was the only good choice I made in life, that's why she adored him and cooked for him when he visited, even if he wouldn't stay to eat it.

'He didn't even tell me it was his birthday', somehow our rambling conversation on houses landed on Sergio, 'and he's chief of the department now'.

'Chief? Good for him'.

'I didn't have time to get him anything. Twenty-nine was a difficult age to find anything for, and number balloons are expensive –' Michael interrupted my rant, laughing. 'Yeah, I know. I'm unnecessary'.

'It's not that', Michael replied.

'You know – everyone reacted exactly alike when I brought the balloon in. Ha-ha, good one Selena. I don't get it'.

'Sweetie, Sergio's not twenty-nine.'

'What? He told me he was twenty-nine', I blurted, confused, 'and how do you know?'

'We were close. We went to the same law school. But I started college at eighteen, when he was twenty-four'. I never expected Michael and Sergio could go this far back as friends. Sergio left his foster home at eighteen. The day they first met, Sergio found Michael being bullied in a back alleyway and gave the bullies a scare. Michael's mother was so grateful, she paid Sergio's tuition to go to law school, something he would've never afforded otherwise.

'You're forty-one?!' I whispered. Sergio rolled his eyes.

'Who told you?'

'Everyone?' I retorted, 'come on, I got you a whole balloon that says 29 just to make an embarrassment of myself. Why would you lie to me?' Moving boxes in and out of his new office, he tried to dodge my confrontational question. So, I slammed his door shut, and stood in front of it, arms folded. 'Mmmn?'

'It was just a joke. I didn't believe you were that gullible'.

'A joke? You still lied'.

'I thought I... would scare you off...' he finally admitted, dropping his box, 'you know? I'm not as young... and as beautiful as you are'.

'I'm not scared', I met him eye-to-eye. It was true. We were nearly twenty years apart, but I wasn't intimidated, 'and evidently, I don't have chemistry with guys my age group anyway... chief'. He smiled.

'Chief!' Julian busted through the door, and we instantly repelled, 'you gotta see this'. We rushed out of the office to find a huddle of detectives gazing out of the front window. When I squeezed through to the front, I was numbed by what I saw and heard.

'Cleo-dora! Cleo-dora!' the rioters protested, louder, repetitively. A brick smashed through the window we huddled around. Police cars were lit on fire, and objects on fire were being tossed at the building. While I walked backwards, each protest sign I read felt like a squeeze to my internal organs, almost to the point where I couldn't breathe. With extra armed police fighting back, it wasn't enough.

'They're not gonna stop! They're crazy!' Julian shouted.

'What's happening?!' Sergio asked, still behind us, but before he could get close to the window, I bumped into him, 'whoa!'

'I'm sorry! I'm sorry', I shrieked. He stood me upright, then moved me aside. Finally, he saw it.