Jugram felt like an eternity had passed since he last returned home, as he headed to his and Isa's favourite café after months of absence. The quirky chime of the bell when he pushed the door, the smell of freshly baked apple pie, immediately filled him with comforting familiarity and a warm sense of feeling right at home. A much welcome change of scenery in the hectic life this past year had been.
New cases had kept coming in without rest, adding up to an already busy list of on-going investigations. New families and faces passing the door of his office both hopeful and desperate to seek answers, peace of mind and justice above all. Crime never rests, they said, and unfortunately it couldn't be truer.
It always felt difficult to decline a case; as his clients often sought him as a last resort.
Most of the time, his clients didn't come to seek a second expertise on a case that had already been fully and diligently investigated by the police, but the absolute opposite. Cases dismissed as suicide or voluntary disappearance, cases close with little to no investigation or plainly neglicted, cases close to keep the 'numbers good'... The list goes on and had become his daily preoccupation.
Gradually, the last few months had turned into a never ending race against time. Jugram often found it akin to running in front of windmills amidst a storm. Both physically and mentally.
But luckily, he had never quite grasped the notion of giving up. Even when all odds seemed against him or exhausted as he currently was.
He adamantly refused to close a case until his clients got justice or, at the very least, knowing everything possible had been done for their case. Such was the oath he'd taken when he started his private practice ; after many years spent within the ranks of the criminal police, a peculiar world where individual ambitions far too often primed over justice.
Regardless, he hadn't come here to think about work, but to rest and catch up with a dear old friend. As he took a sit at an empty table nearby the large window, finally pausing both his mind and body, he tried to shifted his mind to more pleasant thoughts watching people rushing through busy, snowy streets.
Actually, he looked forward to hearing about Isa's latest life developments since he last saw her. Her joy and warmth were always a breathe of fresh air and carried a contagious, uplifting zeal.
Quite the sharp contrast to his more reserved temperament, but which never made for a dull moment in their friendship. There was always something to learn from one another.
Jugram hoped his friend had faired well, despite sharing the same tendency to go above and beyond where work was concerned. At least, they could relate to one another and there was no judgment.
But seeing the negative affects of work on a friend stroke differently. Jugram admitted to sometimes worrying about her, although she was a capable adult and brilliant professional in the medical field. Well, sometimes shoemaker's children are the worst shod, aren't they not?
He also hoped his friend could forgive him for not keeping in touch very much of late, perhaps bride her with the little gift he'd brought her. Plesantry aside, he knew deep down she would never resent him for it and understood better than anyone the toll of duties.
Still, he sometimes wished he had more time to be present for his own loved ones and the regular joys of life. Just like today.
