Sonny really didn't want to get caught.
Which is why he was walking on the carpet underneath his feet as if it were made from shards of glass, trying desperately to avoid the jagged edges from piercing his skin. Sonny quickly rounded the corner of the hallway, almost moving on tiptoe as he attempted to keep his normally heavy-footed steps light. He made a sharp left down another corridor, then another, before finally reaching his sought after destination. Just as he was about to bound towards the door (quietly, of course, because Sonny really didn't want to get caught), the sight of Carmen sitting dutifully at her post stopped Sonny dead in his tracks.
Damn it.
She was already back from lunch, manicured fingers tapping away at the keys of the laptop in front of her. Manning her damn post.
Which, in reality was a desk, but it might as well have been the friggin' gates to the White House, what with the way Barba ordered her not to let anyone into his office without his explicit, direct permission. 'Anyone' being specifically Sonny.
Sonny considered backpedaling and simply leaving the DA's office, because if Carmen were to see him now than how the hell was he supposed to explain this to - "Oh! Detective Carisi! How nice to see you!"
Damn it.
Sonny had really wanted to not get caught.
Carmen was looking up from the screen of her laptop now, piercing green eyes meeting Sonny's blue as she took a sip from the Styrofoam coffee cup to her right. Luckily for Sonny, she didn't look the least bit suspicious.
However, the expression on her face became more and more expectant as Sonny continued to stand frozen in the hallway, trying desperately to grab at an explanation for his presence that Carmen would buy and, later, that Barba would accept. Carmen quirked an eyebrow upwards, the newly formed lines on her forehead giving away her growing confusion.
"If you're looking for Mr. Barba, he isn't due back from court for at least another hour or so...".
Carmen let the rest of her sentence trail off, laying the words out on the desk in front of her; an offering, an escape route, if Sonny so chose to take it. He sighed, letting the toe of his shoe scuff lightly against the carpet. Sonny chose to ignore the hand he'd been dealt, opting instead to take a play at honesty.
"Yeah, I know, that's kinda why I'm here now and not later," Sonny answered warily. He let the admission hang in the air between them, not bothering to elaborate any further. Instead, he allowed Carmen to draw her own conclusions from the innocuous nature of his statement.
Suddenly, Carmen looked as though she might actually be physically sick.
Sonny had really wanted to not get caught.
"W-wait...I know it's not any of my business...I probably shouldn't even be asking this, it's hardly professional...", she started. Sonny didn't like where this was going. "But...did you and Mr. Barba get into an argument or something? Wait. Did you guys break-up!?"
Sonny actually laughed out loud. Sonny was laughing, head thrown back, tears pricking at the corners of his eyes, and poor Carmen appeared more distressed than ever.
Sonny finally approached her desk, hands shoved deeply in his pant pockets as he endeavored to catch his breath, the last few hints of a laugh trickling from between his lips. He leaned against the desk and swiped a piece of caramel from the glass bowl sat just beside Carmen's computer, popping the candy into his mouth before addressing the still very agitated woman at his side.
"Jeez Carmen, way to jump to the worst possible conclusion. To answer your question, no, Rafi - Rafael and I didn't break up."
She smirked, and Sonny knew full well that she had caught exactly what he'd let slip, but she thankfully appeared content to let it slide - for the time being, at least.
"Well how can you blame me!?" she exclaimed, swatting Sonny's forearm playfully with her memo pad. "What kind of person goes around saying shit like, 'that's why I'm here now and not later'?"
Carmen paused in her lecture, ticking away at the keyboard one last time before turning her full attention back to Sonny. "You must know that I've learned to be relentlessly pessimistic. Perks of having Rafael Barba as your boss."
Sonny chuckled before saying, "Trust me, if Rafael and I broke up, you'd know. He'd be like, Rafael Barba from hell AND on steroids. He'd be pissed. Mostly because he'd no longer be getting a piece of this sweet ass."
Sonny almost felt sorry for Carmen when she choked on the coffee she'd been sipping.
His feelings of sympathy were short-lived, however, as Carmen proceeded to smack him with her memo pad an additional twelve times.
"Detective! I'm telling him that you said!"
Sonny knew that Carmen was all bark and no bite, though; she'd become a sort-of confidant for him over the course of the last eight months as he'd cautiously navigated the obstacle course that was dating Rafael Barba. He'd gone to her for advice an innumerable number of times in the early days of his and Rafael's courtship, as she'd originally been more familiar with the various aspects of Rafael's temperament than he.
Now though, the tables were turned; Sonny often found himself feeling as though there wasn't a single facet of Rafael that he hadn't carved out and explored, only to later be mapped out in excruciating detail as he fell asleep with his nose buried deep in the space between Rafael's shoulder and neck.
Sonny made sure, however, to keep Carmen updated on every single shiny, new development in their relationship, from the seemingly insignificant to the glaringly monumental.
The first time Rafael allowed Sonny to borrow one of his ties; when Rafael had quietly and sweetly asked Sonny to move in with him; their first 'I love you'. Carmen knew it all, each time Sonny stepped in front of her desk signaling a new chapter in the Carisi-Barba narrative.
"So you and Mr. Barba are still blissfully and sickeningly in love," she quipped cheerfully. "Good. He's not nearly as bitchy when he's getting laid."
Sonny smirked, before Carmen quickly added, "Don't think I don't know why you're here, though. The only other explanation for you sneaking around like that - quite badly, I might add - is that you want to get into his office."
Damn Carmen and her ability to read Sonny like the trashy tabloids she kept hidden in the corner drawer of her desk.
Sonny had really wanted to not get caught.
"C'mon, Carmen, I just wanna leave Rafael a little gift on his desk. It's supposed to be a surprise," he pleaded, pouting in the way that had proven successful at getting him what he wanted - at least, when it came to Rafael. Carmen, on the other hand, looked wholly unimpressed by the display, her lips remaining in a tight line and her eyebrows lifted in a challenge: 'Really? That's the best you can do?'.
She took another slow sip of coffee before turning back to address Sonny. "The last time that you asked a similar favor of me, I almost lost my job. Remember?"
Boy, did he remember.
It had only been a month earlier, Rafael's birthday to be exact. When Sonny had requested Carmen's help in his "little surprise" for Rafael, she had happily obliged and unlocked the door to Rafael's office, letting Sonny inside to work his magic.
The "little surprise" of course being a cornucopia of multicolored balloons and streamers strewn randomly across Rafael's office. Sonny had been proud to say that he hadn't left a single piece of furniture untouched.
Rafael, however, had been pissed, and Carmen and Sonny had paid the price in their own respective ways. Carmen had only been allowed to complete file work for two weeks straight; Sonny's blowjob privileges were revoked in a similar fashion.
"Okay, yeah, that was probably like, the worst idea I've ever had in my entire life," Sonny admitted. Carmen scoffed, arms remaining firmly crossed across her chest as he continued. "But, this is nothing like that. I just have a little gift that I wanna leave for Rafael. And I promise this time that it's actually little."
Carmen couldn't help but crack a small smile at that. She recovered quickly though, pulling the corner of her lip back down almost violently. "Show me," she said.
Sonny indulged her, pulling the small gray box out from where it was tucked tightly on the inside of his coat pocket. He handed it to Carmen, who immediately pulled the top off; who softly gasped when she saw just what Sonny's gift for Rafael was.
She placed the lid carefully back on the box before looking up at Sonny, eyes soft. "God, I wish I could find a guy like you," she confessed. "You're good for him."
Sonny beamed as Carmen slid the box back across the desk, back into his waiting hands. "Is that code for 'yes, I'll let you into his office'?" he asked hopefully. Carmen sighed, but the expression in her eyes betrayed her true feelings. "Yes, I'll let you into his office."
Sonny fist-pumped as Carmen made her way around the desk and over to Rafael's office. After a barely audible 'click', she pushed the heavy door open and gestured inside, granting Sonny full access to the room. One foot had already crossed the threshold when he turned back to face her, saying, "Thanks, Carmen. I really owe you one."
A grin played at her lips as she took a seat behind her desk again. "Bring me one of those homemade cannoli your mom makes and we'll call it even."
"You got it," Sonny said, and just as he was about to turn back around he heard Carmen's soft voice: "He's gonna love it."
Maybe Sonny was a little glad that he'd been caught.
