The woman made pulled open the heavy door to the complex, the weight of a draft pushing against it, and let it bang with behind her with a thud that echoed through the staircase. She made her way up concrete stairs, two paper bags and a leather Michael Kors purse balanced in hand, black heels emerging from a grey pantsuit. Finally, on the third floor, she knocked on the first door. It took a few minutes before the peephole slid open, followed by the lock.
"I keep telling you, I can do my own shopping, Annie." Mom said. She was dressed in a velvet red houserobe, dusty blonde hair in a tight bun. She smiled, showing a row of teeth too perfect for age and squinted eyes, faded blues specific to cataracts.
"Well, come in." She gestured, stepping ahead, and Anne walked through the door. The apartment was the same as always, dark yet cozy. Rugs, never beaten anymore, lined every square foot of the tile flooring, and the hall, after a sharp right turn, led straight to the small kitchen equip with a stove, fridge, washing machine, sink, and table booth.
"I only got you a few things, on the way to get my own groceries." Daughter lied, and began unpacking the cans and cartons into their specific spots. The shopping put away, she finally slid into the bench and unclasped her purse.
"Mama, guess what." She said, cheerful. Twenty-Seven years old, and she never stopped calling her mother "mama".
"I've been called to work on a case. From the looks of it, it's a pretty big one. This came from the FBI on Monday." Anne passed the letter across the table, folded twice in her softly manicured hands, though Mama could hardly read it even in her thick glasses. The matriarch did pick up on one thing, however.
"Virginia?"
"Yes, Quantico. I'm supposed to attend a briefing in two days, and then I leave."
"That's great news! Oh Annie, look, they picked you specifically- no one else from your department is going, right?"
Anne smiled. Of course, Mom would be excited and proud.
"Hmm, I don't think so. No one else mentioned getting this call, and I've already been excused from my work. It's the talk of the office, really!" She boasted, grinning. The old lady's face clouded with a glimmer of worry.
"What's the case about?"
"I'm not really sure... I haven't been told any specifics." She scrunched up her forehead, light brows meeting together, and thought. Honestly, there was little the agent knew. Virginia was a place she had only visited briefly, years ago to visit a friend, and they definitely didn't spend the trip discussing the politics or crimes of the sate. Still, it was Quantico, site of both the Marine Corps and the FBI academy. Too good of an opportunity to pass up.
That afternoon, Annie sat and talked with her mother until the late evening, which wasn't a rare occurrence. She visited her daily, at least for a minute to say hello or bring her dinner, even though the pair lived 20 minutes apart. They played cards, a family tradition, and joked about childhoods and jobs, laughing into the night like the best friends they were. Around midnight, they said goodbye at the door.
"I'm not sure how long I'll be gone." Anne said, already out on the drafty staircase, bag and keys in hand. She thought for a minute.
"Probably not more than a few weeks. I'll call, and if you need anything, I can have my girlfriends or the neighbors check up on you."
"Annie, stop, I'm not that old!" Mom cut her off, 'You worry too much. Go enjoy yourself, maybe pick up a rich man while you're there!". They laughed, hugged, and then waved through the window as Anne drove away in her cream-colored Porsche Panamera, a luxurious gift to herself after a large raise and bonus from a case well investigated two years ago. Mom mentioned men, as always... it was a bother to both the women that Anne wasn't married, though she refused to push Chris toward such a commitment. She wasn't sure herself, even, if she was ready for the home life she had always hoped to achieve, a seemingly low dream- to be a housewife- yet glorified in her eyes thanks to her own, amazing Mama. Chris, though partner to Anne for a year and a half now, hadn't even been notified yet of her new job. If anything, they were together just to have someone, distant except for when the rare bout of loneliness hit. It was no wonder Mom didn't see him as her "man", and constantly tried to set her daughter up with potential fathers and suitors.
Two day later, forensic agent Anne Sanders arrived at the CLT Hilton, briefcase in hand and luggage sent off minutes ago. She wore a indigo, tailored sheath dress that stopped just above her knees and black heels, crucial to a woman of her elfin stature. The outfit, possibly sexy on a woman with more curves and height, was just professional on her- though not unattractively so. A gabe jacket was slung on her arm, and she wore her red hair in a high, slick bun. A dab of concealer ineffectively struggled to hide her girlish freckles.
She looked around the lobby, searching for a Gerald that had been pointed out to her the day before at a briefing but whom she hadn't met. Finally noticing him, or at least a man similar from far away, she walked surely forward and introduced herself.
"Mister Yun? I'm Anne Sanders, we corresponded over the phone. I'm from the forensics department in Apex."