Days like today are so long and boring, and it's only noon. We don't have a case and that's a good thing, but I'm sick of pushing paperwork around on my desk. I've spent the morning in my office trying to look busy. It turns out trying to look busy is harder than actually being busy. I've noticed my team is basically doing the same thing. Of course, for all they know I really am busy. They don't have to know everything I'm doing in here.
It may be a little boring, but it's also nice not to have to deal with death today. No grieving loved ones. No nasty crime scene photos. No murder board. The team works so hard most days that I think I'll give them the afternoon off. I'll let them know when they get back from lunch. I'd go home too, but I have that 2 p.m. budget meeting with Taylor.
Where is Andy? He didn't go to lunch when everyone else did. I was trying not to be too obvious this morning, but every now and then I had to glance into the Murder Room. Of course, it's my job to supervise my team. Well, mostly I was supervising one person in particular. Like I said, it's my job.
OK so sometimes I let my mind wander, but I can't seem to help it. Like earlier this morning, I noticed Andy laughing at something Provenza said a couple of hours ago. I love the way the outside corners of his eyes crinkle up when he's really smiling. Not a fake smile, but a genuine smile. Is it weird that I notice every detail of his face? I like his laugh too. Oh God, I seriously have to stop this or the next thing you know I'm going to start thinking about his hands. They are perfect: large with long tapered fingers and beautifully shaped nails. I don't love the pinkie ring, but that's just about the only thing I would change about his appearance.
Hmmm, his appearance. That makes me think about him in uniform. What is it about a man in uniform that is so enticing? Even after all these years surrounded by men in uniform I'm not immune to the effect. OK I seriously need to put my mind on something else, something like lunch. I'm going to go grab my lunch out of the refrigerator and eat at my desk. I have a great book in my desk drawer, and I've been dying to read it all morning. It's so much more interesting than reading budget reports. I pull it out of the drawer, and quickly scan through the pages. Now is the perfect time to sit here and eat and read while the Murder Room is empty. It's a good thing we don't have many days like today because letting my mind wander is nothing but trouble.
Leaving the book on my desk, I get up and head to the break room to retrieve my lunch when Andy walks in my office holding a couple of sacks. "I brought lunch for us," he tells me.
"Oh, you didn't have to do that," I say. "I brought leftovers from home today." That's so sweet of him to think of me, and all I can do is stand here all flustered and talk about leftovers.
"Well, I guarantee you will like this much more than leftovers," he says while holding one of the sacks up in front of my face and giving me that sly grin. He sets both sacks down on my desk, and pulls a chair up to sit opposite me. He has bought veggie sandwiches, fruit and bottles of water for the both of us. "I know you love the veggie sandwiches from the deli down the street, and I remembered you like whole wheat with a touch of avocado instead of mayo."
This is exactly why my mind has been preoccupied with thoughts of Andy lately. He knows what I like because he notices. He has also noticed the book on my desk. "I read that book over a year ago," he says. "Have you started it yet?"
"Just started it last night and I can't put it down," I answer. "I thought I'd read a little while I eat lunch." I put the book back in the drawer to make room on my desk for our impromptu picnic.
"Well, sorry to interrupt your reading," he tells me while handing me a sandwich. "I just thought it would be nice to have a quite lunch just the two of us. By the way, I loved that book. It was so good. I'm not going to spoil the plot for you, but just let me say that there is quite a twist. I liked it so much I even went to see the movie."
"Oh?" I reply while chewing, "I didn't know it's already a movie."
"Yeah," he says between bites of his sandwich, "Provenza and I saw it. Even he liked it, and you know he doesn't like anything. Of course, it's the perfect movie for cops, but I have to say that I actually liked the book much better. Have you read any other books by Gillian Flynn? By the way, she's no relation unfortunately."
"No," I answer, "Gone Girl is the first." He's adorable when he's enthusiastic about something. I can't stop staring at his hand wrapped around the bottle of water. Now he's putting the bottle to his lips and swallowing. I wonder what his lips would feel like on mine. I'm mesmerized by watching his Adam's apple bob up and down when he swallows. I have got to stop this line of thinking. I'm not even really listening to what he's saying. I'm just mindlessly staring at him. The sleeve of his dress shirt is pushed up and I can see the hair on his arm. It's just a hairy arm. Why does it give me the shivers? I wonder if it would tickle if his arm brushed mine. Of course it would. It would tickle and give me that fuzzy feeling I haven't experienced in a long time.
It's a good thing other people are returning from lunch because I seriously need to get my mind back on track. Andy works for me, and we're friends, and anything more than that is just nothing but trouble. End of story. Except if I really believe that then why have I spent several work hours today thinking about his hands, his eyes, his smile, his lips, his laugh, his hairy arms, his sweetness? Oh God, he's talking to me. His lips are moving, but I have no idea what he's saying to me.
"Sharon, will you go with me after work?"
"What Andy? I'm sorry, I got distracted."
"I need help picking out a birthday gift for Nicole. I want to buy her some charms for the bracelet I gave her for Christmas. Will you help me pick out something she'll like?"
"Of course I will. It's so slow around here, I thought I'd give you guys the afternoon off," I tell him. "I have to meet with Taylor or we could go shopping now."
"Give me a call when you finish your meeting," he says, "I'll swing by here, pick you up and we can shop. Then I'd like to buy you a nice dinner for helping me."
"Sure," I say, "that sounds like a plan."
The team is more than happy to call it an early day and everyone heads out the door quickly. I still have some time to kill before 2 p.m. I'm nibbling on grapes left from lunch when I decide to dig the book back out of the drawer and read a little before my meeting. Thank God Andy didn't open this book and look at it because it's not Gone Girl. The book jacket says that because I took it off my old copy of Gone Girl and put it on my new copy of Fifty Shades of Grey. This could definitely lead to nothing but trouble.