Interpersonal Relationship Studies on the Way to the Coffee House
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BeforeThe Mystery of the Bones
POV: Calvin Winter
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Quinn stuck the end of a cigarillo between her lips as we stepped out of the precinct. She fished a lighter from her suit pocket, struck the spark wheel once, twice, and brought a flame to the tip on the third try. “Starbucks?” she asked on the exhale, and vanilla-scented smoke briefly mingled with the bite of November air.
“Sure.”
“I’ll have a cold brew.”
“You’re implying it’s on me.”
Quinn took another drag. “Why would I imply? It’s your turn.”
“I bought on Monday.”
“And I bet you this morning that the GSR results for the Park case would come back negative.”
I raised an eyebrow and said, “I wasn’t aware there was a cost to losing that bet.”
“There’s always a cost,” she said, pointing the cigarillo at me.
The top of Quinn’s head barely met my shoulders, and I could easily bench press two of her, but her authority and self-assurance were larger than life. She was a bit of a smart aleck in her own regard and had a zero-bullshit policy that could rub some folks the wrong way. But it was those quirks about Quinn that allowed her to challenge me every day, both as a detective and as a man, and I loved her dearly for the constant push. In September, we’d celebrated our first full year as partners working homicide. We’d gone out for drinks, and I’d given her a repurposed Victorian holiday card (Sebastian assisted, if it wasn’t obvious) of a frog murdered with a dagger and a thief frog absconding with a bag of money. Sebastian had tried to explain why this bizarre imagery was once a Christmas card, but he’d gone off the rails and ended up on a long-winded rant about Victorian print jokes that he felt were still quite funny and relevant to modern times.
I hadn’t bothered to interrupt him.
My relationship with Quinn was something special, though. After the Curiosities case, Sebastian had been very vocal and adamant about making changes to my routine for mental health purposes, but Quinn had been…quietwasn’t the right description…. She’d been supportive of the changes without acknowledging why they were being implemented. At the time, I could hardly speak to Sebastian about…everything. But her frankness—Let’s take a walk, my ass is falling asleep. I need some coffee and nicotine. Go call your nutcase boyfriend.All these minute alterations for my benefit were done without ever vocalizing her concern for my well-being. And maybe it’d been selfish of me, but I’d appreciated her refusal to say there was anything deeper but the statement on the surface. Because at the time, Sebastian’s concern had been crippling, and I don’t think I’d have been able to shoulder anxiety from both of them.
Sometimes concern felt like guilt, if that made any sense.
And I knew she and Sebastian talked about and enforced those changes together, but I’d learned that what works for me was my best friend simply being there and not having to say what we both already knew. Anyway… I’d done my best to express my appreciation for her in that silly card, and when she’d gotten very quiet after reading the inscription, I’d asked if she was going to cry. Quinn immediately dead-legged me and then told the bartender I was treating her to the top shelf that night.
I raised my fist for a quick game of Rock, Paper, Scissors.
Quinn stuck the cigarillo between her lips and raised one in return.
We counted to three—I threw scissors and her, rock.
Quinn knocked her hand against mine and then called loud enough that a few uniformed cops mingling by the doors turned to look at us, “Whenwillhe learn that I am the reigning champ?”
“Is this really what you’re going to write home about, Quinn?” I asked, tucking my hands into my coat pockets.
“I want a venti.”
“You can’t drink an entire venti.”
“Half is for later,” she explained. “And you know what? While you’re at it, grab me one of those double chocolate brownies.”
“I never agreed to food.”
“Best two out of three,” Quinn answered, holding up her fist again.
“All right, all right. And a brownie, you hedonist. I’ll be right back.”
