11 Chapter 11

Juliette's apartment 

Inside the two bedroom apartment Julliette had set up a candle light dinner with coloured lamps decorated across the room giving a cozy yet sensual feel to the room. This was a special day for her & hopefully for Nick as well as this was the day when they first met. It was a rainy night when she had witnessed a hit & run case and Nick was the one who questioned her and even when the driver who later turned out to be a person connected with the irish mob, Nick was the one who protected her from that man's retaliation.

Ever since then they both had started dating and this period of 12 months were the best part of her life, especially these last 10 months. At the beginning of their relationship Nick had been a bit reserved with her and they only had sex once a week but this soon changed ever since that day. Yes, Juliette remembered that day when she had the best rough sex of her life for the first time. After Nick had gone to the bathroom coughing, no more like being thrown in a coughing fit what came out was a completely different monster full of passion and lust.

However their relationship hadnt been all about sex as well, Nick had taken her to many dates, usually nothing grand like going to restaurants, but going for evening walks and taking her to some really good scenic spot which in normal times are not so special but at specific times of years give a breathtaking view. After spending these 12 months with Nick she could feel that he was the one for her and decided to give him signals for him to make a move. Infact, deep down she wanted him to propose to her but knew that it was too soon for that as they did not even live together.

Just as she set up the final dish on the dining table she saw her mobile ring with Nick's name on the caller ID. 

"Hello, Nick! When are you coming?".

"Juliette, I think I might not be able to come. I have work to do. A huge case just popped up and it has created a huge mess. Captain is making us work overtime. You should go to sleep as it might be too late when I leave office to reach home".

"Oh! Is that so. Ok, Nick. Take care" said Juliette as she couldn't hold the disappointment in her tone. After cutting the call Juliette looked at all the food she prepared and the lights she had set up and sighed. She knew about Nick's work and the dangers he has to face as a police detective. She had asked him before whether he would get into a more secure, behind the desk like position but soon knew that he didn't like the question and made it pretty clear to Juliette that he would continue to be a detective. Though Juliette felt worried about this and they had a bit of a fight, she soon came around and could just pray that Nick would come back to her in one piece. There were quite a few times when she thought whether this was worth it and it was whenever Nick would bail out on their date because of work or whenever he would get home hurt, but he would always make up for the missed dates and she honestly missed his very presence. 

Considering how they spent time together, every single day, either at her place or at Nick's, she felt that they were already living together. Soon she found herself to be madly in love and just accepted all the backdraws in their relationship. 

"At Least I expected him to remember what day it was today" said Juliette in a small tone as she bent down to blow the candle in disappointment and went towards the sofa to watch movies. She didn't really feel like cleaning up nor did she feel like eating as she switched to watch some soap opera while holding the pillow.

Meanwhile at the precinct, Nick sat at his desk writing his report of what had happened today while listening to music. He had previously removed the wiretap he had set up in Durwell's coat and also deleted any trace of his hacking into the FBI car's GPS system. While listening to the songs NicK paused for a moment and mumbled "why do i feel like i had forgotten something" before once again seriously writing his report.

Meanwhile at an undisclosed area a bald Mexican could be seen holding his bleeding shoulder while holding his cell on the other hand. He tried contacting the mole that the Juarez cartel had in the Portland PD but no one picked his call. Just when he was about to give up and go to one of the cartel's safe house he received a text saying that he could not pick up the call, asking him to text.

"Give me the details of the cop who showed up at the crime scene" typed Dell Santos in one finger while hissing in pain, woging and sticking his tongue outwards. He was in deep pain and this emergency Pain killer did not help much. He knew the face of the cop that arrested him as well as his name. Its his personal details which Dell wanted as he was desperate for some revenge. This man had captured him and had now even shot him in his shoulder making their operation fail at the last minute with an entire squad getting killed in the process.

After escaping he had already received a call from the boss and the first instruction from him was to not come until he had finished off in the most brutal way the person who had the gall to stop a personnel of Juarez cartel.

He knew that this was just an eye-wash from the boss as he was nothing more than an expendable person .In Fact even the boss himself was an expendable person who could be replaced by someone else from the Juarez family much less an assassin like him. Sending a group of 7 henchmen to retrieve him from the FBI was already the maximum help which the Juarez cartel could provide him.

Within a span of 10 minutes he received a file from his email which contained the face of a man whom he knew all too well. Though he hadn't seen him during the interrogation, he knew he was probably on the other side of the mirror. Looking at the address given in the file a wicked smile appeared on Dell Santos's face as he went to a local clinic which had ties to the Juarez cartel to get himself patched up. 

Meanwhile just as Nick was halfway through his work he felt a pull as Hank wanked his earphone out of his ear and asked what he was still doing there. "Hey, can't you see? I am writing a report" Nick answered in a rather joking tone.

"I know that. Don't you remember what day it is?" asked Hank in an enquiring tone

"What?" Nick drew a blank look on his face.

"Today is the day one year ago Julliette and you met where you saved her from the Italian mob after the hit & run case. After that you guys even became a couple. In other words its your one year anniversary together" said Hank as if he was lecturing Nick to get his shit together & to not forget his personal life.

Nick froze for a second before remembering this event from his memory and quickly realized the reason behind Julliette's grumpy tone while he was on the Phone. 

'Shit I screwed up. Women tend to focus on these little things while I usually forget even Birthdays. Looks like I have to come up with a reason for forgetting this shit' thought Nick as he looked towards Hank and asked in a doubtful tone of the reason why he remembered this only to hear that Julliette had asked Hank's help in preparing for a surprise for Nick. 

"Thanks man, you are my saviour" Nick said in a cheesy and obvious tone making Hank cringe and punch Nick's shoulder asking him to get out. Unknown to Nick & Hank a person peaked at his activity from within one of the office. 

After getting out of the precinct Nick made a call to Julliette saying that he would be there in around 2 hours and asked if she was still alright with it only to hear a cheerful voice saying that it was alright. 

Smiling, Nick cut the call and hurriedly called a bouquet shop and made a late order. As he was a regular at this shop the owner made an exception and accepted the order and asked him to pick it up in an hour.