Graydon sat down at his massive oaken desk, while James sat in a rather comfy chair. For what seemed like a long moment, James and Graydon just stared at each other. James couldn’t help but smile. Usually, Graydon was a man of many words, but James could tell from the way that this was going that Mister Graydon simply didn’t know how to go about speaking.
“Wipe that smile off your face son! How can I talk to you when you look like that?” Graydon bellowed.
James continued to smile, starting to understand that he wasn’t in trouble at all. If he was, he would’ve been out of the office already. What Graydon had to tell him was good. James responded with, “If what you are going to tell me is a good thing, why should I frown? That’s no good!”
Graydon rolled his eyes. “I swear Cross! Sometimes you sound like a second class ninny. Now wipe that smile off your face like your career depended upon it!”
James took his smile away instantly. He knew when to take orders from Graydon seriously. “Now that is just what I have come to talk to you about.” Graydon continued. “Like, how did you know what I had to say to you was a good thing? You are a very good observer and as you may already know, you have the highest scores of all of your classmates at the academy. Not only that… you are also way ahead of some juniors and even some seniors here! I mean look… you led a squad today in the mock hostage mission. There were two juniors and one senior in that group and you were chosen to lead them. What I am basically getting at Cross is simply that you are good. There is no other explanation for it. Your brain works in a very weird way sometimes but I can’t deny that you are the best we have at the academy.”
James couldn’t help it. His smile grew. He wasn’t letting what Graydon told him get to his head, but he was excited about the news. He was now that much closer to becoming not only a cop, but a good cop. “So what does this mean sir?” questioned James.
“Well… yesterday I got a request if I could send one of my men or women over to the brand new Delmor Museum of Really Rather Recent Stuff, but all my staff are hard at work on the Mastermind case. That Mastermind is kicking our butts. So basically, we don’t have anyone to security guard and I actually brought you in here to see if you would like to fill that position.”
James was awestruck. “But… but… but… but sir… that is a position made for an actual cop!”
Graydon chuckled. “Yes… yes… yes! I am well aware. So what kid? You think you up for the challenge? Of course, you still have to stay enrolled here, but if you can juggle this into your schedule, then I would love to put you in that position.”
All James could do was bob his head up and down. The excitement inside him was swelling like a balloon. He couldn’t believe he was getting an opportunity like this. Sophomores never get side jobs and rarely do juniors at the academy. The jobs usually went to the seniors, but this was it. This was what James needed. He wanted to help people and he was well on his way. James felt himself starting to space out, his mind wandering down a dark path.
“Hello? Hello? James!” Graydon finally managed to snap James out of his stupor. “C’mon kid. That has been happening a lot lately. You seem to be distant sometimes. I know this when your eyes glaze over and you just stare at nothing! Make me proud on this boy! This is going to be a great opportunity for you!”
(Next post at the Museum of Very, Very Ancient Stuff) 
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