Chain Reaction 2.27: What A Rush

     I hear a moaning sound.
     Oh wait. That's me. Plumbob, my head! My head is killing me!
     I rub my face down my hand... or my hand down my face more like. Ugh! This is terrible!
     Someone is breathing next to me. Someone is in my bed!

     I peep my eyes open.
     Claire!
     Claire is in my bed!
     Claire is...

     I stare blankly at her, and she opens her eyes.
     Her voice sounds sleepy. "Hey, monkey boy." She stretches. Then, her eyes widen. "Where am I?!"
     "My new house. I told you about it, remember?"
     "Okay, but why am I here?" She sits up and looks around. Her hand goes to her forehead. "Oh my Maker. Ethan, did we...?" She looks at her left hand. She's wearing the ring I bought her--the engagement ring.
     I blink widely, no longer caring about my little headache. "We... got... married."
     "Oh plum!" She leaps out of bed and disappears into the next room.
     She's upset?

     She stands in the kitchen with her hands in her hair. Hungry, I get a bowl of yogurt out of the fridge. Yesterday's breakfast sits rotting on the counter.
     "I'm sorry I'm flipping out, Ethan." She turns to me, and her eyes show her apology.
     I'm bummed out. Yeah, there was some crazy stuff in the air last night, but I have to say I like the results. I love Claire. So what if I can't remember every detail of our wedding last night? We're still married. This is supposed to be a happy morning.
     "It's not that I didn't want to get married. I just wanted to graduate first."
     I sit down on a stool. Is this what it feels like to have your heart breaking? It sucks.
     She pulls out a bowl of cereal.

     We stare at each other, saying nothing.
     I gesture to her getting-soggier-by-the-second cereal. "Well, eat."
     She sighs and does. I nibble and pick at my yogurt while my --wife-- eats her breakfast.
     "I'm just shocked is all," she finally says.
     I scratch the back of my head. "Well, I can't say I'm not." I've adored Claire for as long as I can remember. This isn't exactly how I imagined it would be the first morning of our marriage. She hasn't smiled YET. None. Not at all.
    I look at my yogurt. "Claire, if you want to go, then go." I shove a spoonful of the glop in my mouth. It has no taste. That doesn't matter. My stomach is all tied up anyway.
    Her voice gets quiet. "I don't want... to. Not really. It's just... Ethan, I want to finish my degree."

     And we can't be married while she finishes her degree? "Okay," I whisper. "If you want an annulment, we can get one."
     "Whoa there, monkey boy. That's not what I meant. I mean I can't live here full time yet. I know you probably want me to, but... What?"
     I've started smiling at her. She wants to stay married!

     "You... wanna stay married." I state it instead of ask it.
     She turns around to wash her bowl. I can hear the smile in her voice. "Yeah. As long as you understand I'm still gonna be in and out as I go back and forth from living at campus to here." The city where Sim City U is is ten hours away by car.

     I get up and look at the hemline of her nightshirt. "I like in and out." I chuckle at my little joke. To my surprise. She laughs too.
     Then, we change into our regular clothes for no reason at all.

     "Well, Claire Taylor, while I have you here..." She happily lets me massage her shoulders.

     I like being married!

      My wife (that sounds so awesome!) goes back to college, and I go back to work. I'm heading up a robbery case. The strange thing about this robbery is that nothing of monetary value was stolen. The missing items are mostly files that contain "sensitive information." The man robbed, Mr. Geoffrey Landgraab himself, says that he wouldn't want that information in the wrong hands.
     I'm honestly surprised that they handed me this case, and I'm happy about it for a while... until I hear that Mr. Landgraab also has a P.I. working the case as well.

     My goal: be faster and more efficient than the P.I. So far, it's working.
     I just have to say that I'm really surprised they're giving me this case, almost all on my own. When I talk to the chief about it, he tells me that Mr. Landgraab requested me. Ah, now THAT makes better sense. Mr. Landgraab and my dad have been friends for years.
     I like working like a detective. It gives me a kind of rush that's hard to explain. For the first time in my life, I feel like I'm smart, no longer the goof-up I was as a kid. I still have to prove myself, though, and Mr. Landgraab is giving me this chance.

     Oh, by the way, Chief Foster isn't Chief Foster anymore. Another guy is the police chief. The Maker can only figure this happened when she transferred the game save to her new Mac. Oh well, he's still a cool guy.

     This case starts to feel like homework on steroids. Still, I gather loads of clues about my suspect: hates children, male, wearing a jacket, young adult, blond, wearing slacks.
     Feeling confident I have plenty to go on, I put out an APB. Then, I'm done for the day.
     I miss my wife.

     The following morning, I get a tipoff that someone matching the description of my subject is in the park. Ironically, this is the same park where I made my last arrest.
     Looking around, there are only two guys here who might be the one: Bjorn Bjergsen or... Malcolm Landgraab.

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