"Hey Sharon, can I have a moment with you in your office?"
"Yes, of course Andy. Just let me see how Buzz is doing and I'll be right in. Oh! Actually, I need to make sure Taylor looks at this file before he leaves. Can it wait?" She was already moving towards electronics as she answered.
"Yeah sure, we can talk when you're through." Andy sounded casual enough, he thought. No need to worry her while she's still trying to get work done.
Sharon returned to her office an hour later to find a half-dozing Andy stretched out on her couch, awkwardly resting his shoulders and head against the armrest while still trying to keep his shoes off the cushions. He startled when she moved some files to lean against her desk and face him. Andy blinked a few times and sat up. The lines under and around his eyes appeared to Sharon to be from the much needed nap he didn't really get. She soon found out they were from long nights awake in bed, trying to figure out how to best have this conversation. Andy thought the best thing to do would be to just jump right in. Sharon appreciated directness.
"I'm sorry I didn't come back sooner," Sharon apologized, "I didn't realize you were going to wait for me." She smiled, slightly hesitant when the enthusiasm wasn't returned.
"Oh no, I mean, it wasn't urgent. I just thought we should talk. There are just some things that have come up, and might change some other things. Not that they have to! I just thought we should talk about what changing might mean." His plan for directness obviously abandoning him, he was mumbling and making significantly less sense than he did in his own head.
"Andy? What's on your mind?" Sharon smiled, unsure of the appropriate tone for this clearly uncomfortable conversation, if they ever got around to it. She knew it couldn't be incredibly serious or he wouldn't have let her go all day without addressing it. But something was clearly bothering Andy, and naturally that bothered her.
"I have some news." Andy finally getting to the heart of the issue.
"Oh? What kind of news?" Sharon asked, only mildly reassured of her original assessment.
"Well." Andy paused only briefly, but she noticed. "I've been offered a job."
Sharon said nothing and prayed her face was as neutral as she was trying to keep it.
Surprised by her lack of response, Andy thought maybe he should elaborate.
"Well, you know I have a friend up north a ways who runs a private security firm?"
Sharon only slightly nodded, remaining silent.
"Well yeah. His business has been really taking off, and there are a lot of opportunities in the area. Lots of yuppie tech-heads building big houses and stuff, and he's been doing great, ya know, helping the new neighborhoods with security systems and protocol."
He desperately needed some reaction, any reaction, from the woman standing across from him. Unfortunately, she wasn't willing to oblige.
"Anyway, he offered me a job as a consultant slash supervisor. You know, he's got all these young kids working for him and he said he needed someone with experience to help train everyone about the kinds of crimes likely to be committed in the area. Ya know, really explain where the holes in the security systems are, and the purpose for different protocols. He knows my background in Robbery Homicide and thought I might like the change in scenery.
It'd be a massive pay raise." He added, needing something to imply the reason he was bringing this up at all. He looked at Sharon. Please, for the love of God, say something.
No such luck.
"I just mentioned to him once that I didn't think I'd live in LA forever, and ya know, with the pay bump and stuff, he thought I might be interested. I am interested, I mean." That was it. Andy resolved to shut up and force a reaction out of Sharon, even if the awkward silence was killing him.
After a long moment, Sharon forced a smile. "Well, Andy. That sounds like quite the opportunity. How exciting. When do you start?" Her tone was even, low, and emotionless. She supplied not so much a reaction as a recognition that Andy had indeed spoken words to her, and she was obligated to reply.
"Start? I guess not for another month. If I took the job, that is. I haven't taken the job, Sharon." Andy finally understood what was transpiring between them. They loved each other, he knew that. But they hadn't said those words to each other yet. They didn't live together, and had only just begun sleeping together. Sharon was giving herself an out. She was being supportive, which at this time, in her head, was her only role. There wasn't enough claim between them to justify arguing, or insisting that he stay. There wasn't enough commitment.
"Oh," she said, "well then there's still a little more time to think about it. If you haven't decided, that is. It sounds like you'd be a great fit, though. I'm sure you'll be very happy up north, reconnecting with friends and giving those kids a run for their money." Sharon smiled again, encouraging a lighter air about the office. She needed this conversation to end, and she needed it to end amicably. She would be happy if he was happy. She was sure of it.
"Oh, well. Yeah. It's a great opportunity. I'm sure I'd be happy there as well. I'm up for retirement here, anyway." He said, shrugging and partly adopting the seemingly light-hearted tone Sharon had used. "So yeah, I guess I'll consider it. Unless you can think of a reason to have second thoughts?" Andy desperately needed something from Sharon, needed her to say something. He wasn't sure what, but from somewhere in the back of his mind he realized he'd know it when he heard it.