** I don’t own anything. They all belong to CBS and everyone else who has the rights to ক্রাইম সিন ইনভেস্টিগেশন NY. Mac and Stella belong to each other. :D

- 8 am -
Mac was pacing around his apartment restlessly. He anxiously glanced at the clock every once in a while. He went into the রান্নাঘর and poured himself a hot cup of coffee.
“Why isn’t she here yet? Has she forgotten what দিন it is today?” he asked himself as he lazily sat down on the couch.

Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock.
As each সেকেন্ড passed by, Mac grew আরো fidgety; constantly tapping his fingers on the side of his half empty coffee cup while bouncing his left leg up and down.
He took the last sip of his coffee and looked at his wristwatch.

- 8:32 am -
Feeling abandoned and weary of waiting, he finally decided to leave.
“An ঘন্টা in the pool sounds good right about now.” He picked up his gym bag from the floor and left.
--

The pool area was quiet and empty; no one was around yet.
Mac tied the strings of his trunks into a tight knot and gracefully dived into the cold water. After a few laps of swimming back and forth, he felt uneasy. It felt as if someone was watching him. He tried to shake off his suspicion as he resurfaced from the water. He wiped the water from his face as he looked around to see if there was anybody else there.
No one. Nothing.
He looked up and saw that the দেওয়াল clock hanging above the tall glass windows read 9:43 am.
“Time to go.”
He climbed out of the pool and walked over to where he placed his towel.
He patted himself dry as he walked to the locker room.
--

He slowly turned the ঝরনা knob and closed his eyes to cherish the feeling of warm water raining on his body.
He was almost done with his ঝরনা when he heard light footsteps headed toward his direction.
He stood still and listened to his surroundings for a while.
“Must be my imagination.” He perished the thought that someone was sneaking up on him.

He got out of the ঝরনা with nothing but a white towel wrapped around his waist and walked to where his things were.
He opened his bag, took his boxers out and quickly slipped them on.
Suddenly, a voice whispered from behind him. “Don’t move,” The person behind him spoke with a fake-sounding accent, one which Mac couldn’t properly place. “I don’t want to hurt you.”
An arm held him across the neck and a 45 caliber gun was now held against his right temple.

As an ex-marine, he could have easily defended himself and have the perp leave with a broken nose and arm. But he thought that he should do as little অথবা no damage at all because the person pointing a gun at his head was a woman.
“Ma’am, my name is Mac Taylor. I’m with the NYPD – “ the woman cut him off.
“I know who আপনি are.” She replied bluntly.
“How do আপনি know me?”

~Chap. End~