Growing up in a competitive country is never easy. Dog-eat-dog world is a common phrase thrown around in this small city. Everyone knows it too well that if you chose not to do well, you will have to work till the day you die. A 'fine' city like Singapore may be ones dream to live in, but for a Singaporean girl like Aleena, she begs to differ. If you asked her to choose between staying in a farmhouse or a city, she definitely will choose the city and that is only because she can't take putrid smells or insects near her. Though, if you asked her to choose the city or the rural area with little to no bugs, a hundred percent she will choose the latter. Born and raised in this 'fine' city, Aleena has briefly mentioned to her friends and family that she would love to emigrate one day to Australia or Norway or even Russia whenever she starts having an identity crisis from time to time. Though, all of these are usually empty talk. She knows by heart that it would be tough for her to leave her family alone in Singapore. Well, besides family, she still has this love-hate relationship with her job.

 

Aleena's POV

"What the ." Did I oversleep?

  I had this uneasy feeling when I opened my eyes from my deep slumber. Sure, I had a hard time sleeping at night but dear lord do I have trouble waking up in the morning as well. Can never win in life, am I right? I reached out my arm towards my night stand, hoping to feel my phone without looking over but as always I just wasted my energy doing that as I completely missed it by a mile away. I propped myself up with my elbow and looked over one more time before finally grabbing onto my phone.

 

07:28:26AM FRIDAY 16 JANUARY

 

  I let out a big sigh of relieve and laid back down onto my bed again. Do I really want to work in this line of job? Was this what I really wanted in life back then and now? These are the regular questions that always comes to mind when I wake up in shock. Don't know when it started. Don't know how to stop it either. To be frank, I don't even know how I ended up being an inspector for the Singapore Police Force. Maybe seeing my dad in his uniform when I was young wired my brain to be in those same uniform when I grew up. Or maybe the fact that they accepted my resume almost instantly when I applied for the Direct-Entry Inspector programme. It's been 2 years and I genuinely enjoy working with my company as well as my team. The only downfall to this job was the fact there is no specific time when I have to come down to the station. Sometimes when there is a case not so interesting, I rather sit in the office than follow my team to take a guy out merely for selling the only untaxable thing in Singapore as of now but somehow is the best thing that was invented besides cigarettes. 

  Two minutes past and it was time to get up for work. I dragged my feet to the toilet near the kitchen and took a quick shower. Washed my hair the night before so I could get an extra 30 minutes of sleep today. Actually, it doesn't really matter because who in the right mind would want to sniff my hair? Unless there is someone back at the station with a hair that I'm unaware of. Wrap myself in a towel and had a glance at the mirror. What a bloody mess. My eyebags had became much more prominent ever since I joined the force. I let out a big sigh and made my way back to my room.

"Aleena, I've cut some fruits for you to eat before you go to work. Make sure you eat some!" I heard my mother shouted from the kitchen. "Yes ma, I will."

  I put on my outfit that was laid the night before, combed my hair and took another look at the mirror again. Gosh, these eybags are really my insecurities. I actually noticed that I have let myself go ever since I started this job. Why bother dressing up knowing that you will always end up with a jacket over your uniform. I threw my hair up in high ponytail and slap some lipbalm on my lips. I glide on the sunscreen stick all over my face, neck and arms. A little spritz of perfume on my neck and I made my way to the kitchen. I took a puff of my e-cigg and sat down near the edge of the chair. I'm not a big fan of eating breakfast but I can never say no to my mother.

"Are you coming home late tonight?" Mother asked.

"Hmmm, maybe? I'm not sure if there are any open cases at the moment."

"Just let me know if you are coming home late tonight."

"Yes, ma."

  I took a bite of the sliced apple and scrolled through my phone. So far no updates on the work group chat. No updates from Lin too. Strangely quiet and it is not like Lin to not text me first thing in the morning. She's the type that will always update me on everything and when I say everything, I really meant from what she ate for the day, what she saw in the shower in the morning and who spoke to her when she was on the way to work. I left her a miss call and waited for awhile. Usually when I do this, within seconds I would receive a callback. Minutes passed and I was subtly disturbed by not getting a callback from her. Instead, a text prompted my notifications.

 

"On the call with Kei See. Looks like you're getting a partner today."

 

What is she on about? Why is Kei See only calling Lin and not me? Did I mess up big time? Did they had a random locker check that I was not aware of? I tried calling Lin again but was rejected this time. I felt my stomach churned in a bad way making me hunch forward. 

 

“Aleena? What happened to you?” My mother asked, her face full of concern. 

“I might be coming home late tonight.”

--

I kissed my mother goodbye, grabbed one more sliced apple, and made my way out. I tried calling Lin one more time before I reached the bus stop. Is her goal today really trying to piss me off before the day even begins? 

 

“Hey, Leena!” Her voice chimed through my earbuds.

“Are you trying to get on my nerves today Lin?”

“Of course not! You just have to come quick. I’m actually excited to see your reaction!”

“Why did you say I'm getting a partner today? I always work alone. Besides, you have always been my partner ever since I joined the force.”

Lin has always been by my side from the first case I solved till today. Sadly, she rejected the offer to be promoted to inspector because ‘I hate paperwork and interrogating people. I want to be in the middle of the action.’ She is only four years older than me yet she is so much fitter than me. Her daily schedule consists of gym at least 12 hours of the day. Most of the time I just take a chair and sit by the treadmill and talk to her while she runs on it.

 

“Well Kei See told me this case is gonna be huge and they need two inspectors on the case with two teams on the ground. So, I'm still gonna be there with you, just that I would not be using one hundred percent of my brain.”

“When do you ever use one hundred percent of your brain.” I laughed.

"Hey! I always use one hundred percent brains and brawns okay." 

Before I could even let out a laugh, my bus came. 

"Lin, I'll meet you at my locker. My bus is here."

I ended the call and got ready to ride up the bus.