Bianca’s comments earned a relieved smile from Wendy. “Thank you,” the phrase exuding gratitude as Wendy psychically shook off the day. Her shoulders shimmying while she waited for Bianca to join her in the hall. “I know I should know that? And not need the validation but…” her hand briefly pressed against her forehead, “the validation really helps.”
She fell into step with the older woman, Wendy’s own, albeit smaller, heels clicking along with Bianca’s. The intern quickly taken up wearing them after her supervisor’s explanation. While aware that everyone had flaws, in Wendy’s eyes Bianca was the practically perfect example of everything she desired to become. It made sense, considering the detective was her first true female role model. Wendy adored her mother, but she submitted to her father, to male domination, in a way Wendy rebelled against.. Always told to be sweet and agreeable and caring, meeting apologetically in charge Detective Gabor had validated Wendy in a way she could never quite explain.
A grimace was her answer. “Divorced parents. Their fourteen year old got caught selling drugs at school. They completely disagree on how to handle the situation.” Cue a sobbing teenager as grown adults shouted over his head; Wendy had done everything to direct their ire away from the child, but… “Have you ever felt intimated by a suspect or their lawyer?” her gaze briefly fell to the floor. It was difficult, for her, admitting rough patches. “The father, well over six foot, started doing that towering thing men do. And I just retreated.”
Bianca nodded solemnly and understandingly in response to Wendy’s explanation of the case. Cases involving minors were tough in and of themselves (as evidenced by how personally she took them herself even when she knew that she shouldn’t), but they were made infinitely worse emotionally and more difficult to handle in general when the adults in the picture couldn’t pull themselves together enough to not be a part of the problem. She had half a mind to suggest to the parents in question that perhaps their antagonistic and toxic relationship was one of the reasons their son was acting out in the first place.
Reaching the break room, she made a beeline for the coffee machine and started pouring them each a large, much needed, and well-deserved cup of coffee. “Of course I have,” she admitted, looking down at the kitchen counter before looking back up at Wendy with a small, reassuring smile. “People can be intimidating sometimes. I’m not immune to it. Nobody is.” Picking up both cups, she handed one over to Wendy before making her way to an empty table, grateful that the break room was largely devoid of other people. Not that she thought that what they were talking about was embarrassing, by any means, but because she recognised that it wasn’t always easy to admit to struggling with certain challenges at work. Especially as a young woman who often had to work twice as hard to prove herself half as valuable in comparison to her male colleagues.
“Retreating from someone who is being physically imposing or even threatening does not make you weak,” Bianca continued, wrapping her hands around the cup as she looked at her mentee from across the table. “It makes you smart. Nobody here expects you to square up against someone twice your size by yourself. Least of all me.”
