"Hey, do you know where Sergeant Grey is? I'm trying to look for him, but I can't seem to find him," John, the oldest rookie, mumbled as he walked towards Lucy, his hands holding a heavy binder.
"...."
John tilted his head, a confused smile tugging at his lips, "Um, Lucy?" He called out, reaching her. Yet the woman seemed to have been frozen in place; her eyes wide, staring straight ahead.
Frowning at his fellow rookie, John was about to shake her out of her trance but stopped after hearing a series of whispers.
"It's him, right? It's really him!" A female voice squealed as she jumped in the air, "oh my god! I should ask him for a photo!" Exclaimed another.
The whispers only grew louder while the usual noise of Mid-Wilshire slowly died down, 'What's going on…?' John mumbled to himself as his frown grew deeper. Following Lucy's gaze, he turned his head to his left only to be surprised by what seemed like the whole of Mid-Wilshire's cops swarming around the captain's office.
They were almost like teenage girls at a concert, pushing each other just to get a glimpse of their favorite celebrity.
"What's happening here?" Tim Bradford exclaimed as he walked up behind John and Lucy, his eyes scanning the crowd with a hint of disappointment.
John, turning to Tim, gave a confused reply, "I have absolutely no idea, sir. I was looking for Sergeant Grey and saw…this."
Tim squinted his eyes at the reply, but before he could speak, "It's, Adam," Lucy whispered, seemingly out of her trance.
"Adam?" John asked, leaning forward, more confused.
"Yeah, Adam! It's Adam Blanchett! He's here!"
""Who?"" Both men asked simultaneously.
Lucy's eyes widened in shock as she nearly jumped as she turned around at a speed that surprised her T.O.
"Are you really serious right now? You both really do not know who Adam Blanchett is?!" She asked in return, almost screaming.
Tim was baffled by her reply, tucking his thumbs at his belt, he stared down at her, "First of all, do not scream inside the station, and second of all, no. I do not know any kind of Adam Blanchett."
Lucy gasped in shock, covering her mouth. Seemingly offended by his words, she stared at him as if he was living under a rock, "You really don't know him…" she whispered.
Tim had lost his patience, letting out a sigh, he was about to respond when John intervened and asked, "Is he, perhaps, son of Cate Blanchett?"
"Oh my god, yes!" Lucy instantly turned to John, once again surprising her T.O. with her speed. Her face was beaming as if she had won the Presidential medal as she took a deep breath and…rambled, "Okay, like he's not just the son of Cate Blanchett, he's like the hot topic of all Hollywood! He started his acting when he was like four in home alone movies, remember the cute white haired kid? That's him! Oh my god, just thinking about his cute face and that small little red nose! I think I'm going to cry!"
Lucy began to fan her face with her hand as she tried stopping her tears.
Meanwhile, Tim stared at Lucy stupefied. He could not believe his rookie. He turned to John, who was nodding with an 'ah!' as if he had a realization.
Sensing his gaze, John turned to Tim, explaining, "He is a very popular actor, and a writer. Also, he's very rich, probably in the billions. My late wife used to gush over him whenever we sat down to watch the home alone movies— her favorite. She used to say how he was a child prodigy and how he helped his mother make them billions."
"He's not just a child prodigy!" Lucy scoffed, "Calling him a prodigy is an understatement of the century, he's a once in a century genius. He's—"
"Alright, enough of your fan-girling!" Tim reprimanded, turning to the gathered crowd, "Even if he's a celebrity or a 'once in a century genius' you don't have to…do that. That is not how a policeman should act."
"Hmph, what do you know?" Lucy muttered under her breath, but was loud enough for both men to hear her.
John widened his eyes, flabbergasted while Tim stared daggers at her, taking a deep breath as he tightly clutched his belt, "Boot! Have you prepared the shop yet?! Have you completely memorised the handbook you're given?! What's—"
Tim was prepared to rain down on Lucy but he was bumped into by Smitty.
"Hey, watch where you're standing, man!" Smitty grumbled as he tightly held a cardboard box as if it was the love of his life.
John, noticing the box, asked, "What's in the box, Smitty?"
"N-Nothing," Smitty shakily refuted, pulling the box away from their gazes, especially Tim, who now had his full attention and was boring down at him.
Sighing in defeat, "Fine," Smitty grumbled as he took out three cassettes from the box, "It's only because you are my best pals I'm giving these for free," he said as he handed the trio each a cassette.
John stared at the cassettes, it was a movie cassette with a title that read, "Jumanji!" and at the bottom right of the cassette was a signature with a black marker that read, "Adam Blanchett."
"Smitty, what is this?" Tim asked, his patience already running thin.
"What? You don't know the famous kid?" Smitty asked in surprise. "He doesn't," Lucy added almost as if accusing him of blasphemy.
"You don't have cable in your home?" The old cop asked, which seemed to have snapped the T.O. twice today.
"Alright, I have had enough of this, I don't know any Adam, okay? I do not watch kid movies, Alright? Nor do I fan girl over a man so much that I forget how to talk to their T.O.!"
A hum of silence descended on the group as John held his breath, so did Smitty. He was sure Tim was going to give a hard time to Lucy, who apparently had not heard her T.O. at all. She was twirling as she held the cassette, her fingers carefully hovering over the sign, but then, she noticed something different.
As a fan of Adam, she had seen many of his autographs online, and this…this isn't it.
"S-Smitty, tell me these autographs are real," Lucy muttered as she slowly turned to the old cop.
Smitty, understanding he had been caught, chuckled nervously, "Haha, you are good. A true fan. What did I miss? I wanted to sell these to that crowd…almost 500 dollars a pop!"
Lucy's face turned horrid as if she had faced the most emotional betrayal while John stood bewildered and Tim, disgusted. The guy wanted to get out of this place— fast.
Thankfully, this ridiculous situation seemed to have been over as Sergeant Grey walked out of the Captain's office, along with the captain. The man eyed the crowd, his gaze almost judgy, "I know you are all eager to meet him. But since when did the police of Mid-Wilshire act like a couple of teenagers rather than a cop?!"
The crowd seemed to have come to their senses as each hung their head in silence. Cops who had been jostling over each other now hung their heads in silence as Grey's shadow loomed over them.
"Roll call, five minutes!"