Chapter Text
Therese Belivet had been working the beat for the better part of two years. Although the job itself felt rudimentary, life as a cop was certainly never boring. At 24 years young, Therese thought she had pretty much seen it all; New York City and all of its personalities scattered throughout the streets like shrapnel. Life until this point had been a misbalance of work and play, that is, more the former than the latter. It was a sensible choice, considering her age and her career plans, but Therese wouldn’t suggest for a second that it was the bravest choice.
Therese preferred the company of women in the bedroom. She wasn’t exactly open about it but she certainly didn’t apologise for it. Her fleeting experiences with men over the years had done nothing but make her comfortable with her sexuality. Most of the precinct knew of Therese’s preference, or at least had an inclination. For the most part it appeared the general consensus erred on the side of ‘who cares’? In fact, Therese’s sporadic dalliances with women were often a vicarious pursuit for the married boys in blue. Although they hoped that she would find someone special, they certainly enjoyed the journey thus far.
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“Come on Belivet, we’re gonna be late!” Therese’s partner exclaimed as she walked towards the police car. Handing him his coffee through the window she leant against the window frame
“This coming from Dannie McElroy who spent 45 minutes getting ready after the gym this afternoon?” Therese raised her eyebrows and then hopped in the car appeasing his anxiety.
“Hey, you never know your luck in the big city Belivet. Besides, ladies love a man in uniform. ” Dannie smirked.
“And a woman…” Therese joked nudging him with her elbow.
Dannie of course knew this to be true. Therese did have this whole moth to flame thing going on, but she wasn’t cocky about it and she certainly didn’t sleep around. Her confidence with women was something to be envied, and something that he wished he possessed around the ladies. There was no denying that he, and all of the men at the precinct for that matter, found Therese to be incredibly attractive. Her recently acquired pixie cut had done nothing but accentuate her impeccable bone structure and stunning green eyes. Dannie knew that his affection for Therese ran much deeper than an appreciation for her looks. He often caught himself glancing at Therese, pondering whether she would choose him to be by her side if things were different. At times, it was knowing that things weren’t different that filled him with a heavy sadness, but irrespective of his feelings Therese’s happiness was his priority, and he would do anything to facilitate such happiness.
As they pulled toward the precinct, Therese could tell Dannie was excited. Tonight was the annual Elite ball, which Dannie bequeathed ‘an open bar affair that never disappoints’. Therese couldn’t imagine ever being invited to such a prestigious event. Sure she had donned a dress on the odd occasion, but seeing herself mingle amongst New York’s wealthiest was simply too hard to imagine. In fact, Therese had never even worked an event so important, and the thought made her nervous. She had seen many of the New York elites dodge the law, and she wasn’t sure whether a police presence at this party would bring any order out of the chaos that would inevitably ensue that evening. Therese was generally confident in her role as a police officer, but every day on the beat brings new challenges, and she was sure that tonight, one way or another, would be her biggest challenge yet.
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A mixture of coffee and cologne infiltrated the air as the meeting room became a sea of blue. Therese could tell by the range of facial expressions that it was going to be a long night. She watched intently as the older McElroy, Phil, gathered everyone’s attention. “Alright guys, listen up!”
The room fell silent.
“As you know, tonight is the Elite ball.” Phil’s announcement was received with childish whoops and whistling, causing Therese to roll her eyes and shake her head. “Alright, alright,” Phil shouted, his hand movements signalling the room to quiet down. “A police presence has been requested once again due to ongoing threats of terror,” Phil continued, “but you know as well as I do, that the major threat is the rowdy behaviour of the guests…just ask Officer Cantrell.” All eyes were now focused on the crimson faced woman at the back of the room. The men standing next to her were elbowing her playfully, and the room was a chorus of whispers. Suddenly Therese felt like she was back in junior high; the latest gossip the epicentre of all conversations – conversations that she wasn’t privy to, of course, being that her upbringing wasn’t deemed ‘suitable’ by those who were graced with the height of popularity.
“A few directions for tonight,” Phil regained the room’s attention, “you are on the job fellas, not open for business. I don’t care what offers are thrown your way, I don’t want a repeat of last year.” Countless stories had circulated the precinct involving cops and compromising situations, all started by Dannie Therese was sure. She looked at her partner who responded by grinning and wiggling his eyebrows, a sight that made Therese giggle and shake her head in response. “Also, this is a closed event. Mobile phones are only to be utilised in the event of an emergency. That means, no pictures and certainly no videos. You will have your arse handed to you, do you understand?”
“Yes Sergeant.” the officers responded reluctantly.
“Now, we all know the liquor makes this crowd a little handsy…” Phil continued but was interrupted by someone yelling out “yeah it does!” causing the room to erupt in laughter. Raising his voice over the outburst, Phil carried on, “in an attempt to minimise this, we’re going primary school. Belivet and Cantrell will be looking after the ladies, and the rest of you will be looking after the men. That means, security and basic first aid if and where required. Fellas, I know these women are gorgeous, I get it. But absolutely no one on one. Or two, three, four on one. Understand? Before you know it you’ll be pant less and your pants will be nowhere to be found. I don’t think any of you want to do that walk of shame. Or again…Officer Peters.” The men were pushing Peters jokingly and he was understandably telling them to fuck off. “Alright guys that’s enough. I expect you on site within the hour, and please, try to be professional.”
“Yes, Sergeant,” the room responded in unison.
The officers were motioned out of the meeting room, with Therese amongst the last to exit. Phil took the opportunity to pull herself and Officer Cantrell aside. “Goes without saying, keep your wits about you tonight. Remember, stand your ground. You are in charge, not them. Understand? If you are escorting anyone, always be in the presence of each other, or another officer. Just be careful, ok?” Both women nodded seriously at Phil’s request. With the absence of any siblings, Therese had positioned Phil as her older brother, and he filled that roll happily. There wasn’t a day that passed without Phil checking in on her; inviting her around for meals with his family, especially during the holidays. She supposed it made her feel less alone than she could, but then again her overriding feeling was loneliness, even amongst the biggest of crowds.
As the two women exited the meeting room, Therese couldn’t help but think that everyone was overreacting.
“Surely it’s not as bad as –“
“Worse Belivet.” Cantrell interjected.
“Back there, when McElroy singled you out, what was he talking about?”
“Last year, a group of men were convinced that I was the ‘entertainment’ for the night, if you catch my drift, and they introduced me as that…to the whole party. “
“You’re kidding?” Therese couldn’t believe what she was hearing.
“Nope. Dimmed lights. The whole thing.”
“What on earth did you do?”
“Fucking died Therese. Imagine a group of hairy, sweaty men woof whistling and cheering ‘tits out, tits out’.”
Therese’s face said it all. “Yep, drink it in Belivet.” Cantrell laughed. “McElroy wasn’t lying though, the women are gorgeous, so somehow I think you’ll survive…just barely.” She said nudging Therese with her elbow.
“Hey! I am a professional thank you very much.” Therese mocked offence crossing her arms.
“We’ll see.”
“Genevieve!” Therese slapped her arm.
“Oi! That hurt!”
“Well you deserved it, questioning my integrity as a police officer.”
“I’m sorry, I didn’t realise that we were amidst a telenovela. How dramatic Therese.” Genevieve placed the back of her palm on her forehead and sighed loudly.
“This coming from the cop that apparently twilights as a stripper.”
“What’s your point?” Genevieve pursed her lips and frowned. Genevieve’s attempt at being sassy was hilarious to Therese, and she couldn’t help but laugh out loud.
“Come on, you dag. We better get going.” Therese said, still chuckling sporadically at the conversation that had just unfolded.
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By the time the girls made it outside, Therese wasn’t surprised that Dannie had ditched her for an extra early arrival at the ball. Genevieve was also stag, so they decided to ride together. With her hands on the wheel, Genevieve moved from general chit chat to a conversation more serious in nature.
“I know that McElroy told us to be careful of the men, but he only sees the obvious.”
“Meaning?” Therese asked, puzzled by Genevieve’s vagueness.
“Many of the women are bored, lonely and frustrated Therese. A lot of them are closeted lesbians married to some of the wealthiest men in the city, so they seek release whenever the opportunity arises. One of those opportunities is tonight. Drinks flowing, everyone is distracted. I know we joke about the uniform thing all the time, but I think controlling the law enforcer is what these women love the most. These women are so stunning and glamorous Therese. They’re so intoxicating and commanding and they seem so interested in you.” Genevieve’s voice wavered as her knuckles whitened around the steering wheel.
“Gen, what on earth happened last year?”
“Just remember that you don’t fit within the parameters of their lifestyle. You’ll be months into a secret affair, and you know wholeheartedly that it won’t…that it couldn’t end well, but you’re already waist deep and you just can’t stop yourself. And then it’s over. It’s over because it had never really begun in the first place. At least not for them, anyway.”
Therese placed her hand on her friend’s shoulder, but chose to remain silent.“No it’s ok, it’s done now and she won’t be there tonight,” Genevieve continued, “Maldives, of course.” she said, wiping her eyes and laughing in disbelief. “Just be careful, ok?”
“I will, thank you Gen.” Therese responded sincerely. She was touched that Genevieve had opened up about something so personal. She was often so guarded, and Therese concluded based on the recent information that her defences had gone up as a result of a serious heartbreak.
About 20 minutes later they arrived at the destination. It was one of those events that only revealed the location hours before kick-off. They were in the middle of what Genevieve called ‘bum fuck nowhere,’ and Therese concluded this to be a very accurate description. The building was stunning, like a structure one would only ever read about in fairy tales. Therese was taken aback by the beauty of the building. It was two, maybe three stories in height, she thought, with a wraparound balcony on the top story. Perfect green vines had breathed life into almost every surface of the exterior. From the car she could see that the balcony was littered with clashes of guests that were laughing, smoking and drinking happily.
Their feet had only just managed to touch concrete when it began.
It really was going to be a long night.