Go
by Disherona
Sharona Fleming had been up very late the night before and was a little tired, but she was also in better spirits than she had been in years. She was meeting her former employer: former detective Adrian Monk and Natalie Teeger, his pretty, spunky and able assistant before leaving the Bay Area to head home to New Jersey.
The hotel's continental breakfast was served in a large room with bare tables which were laid out in a grid. The buffet was set up with plates of fruit, pastries, cereals and a pancake and waffle making station as well as a line of chafing dishes with various hot breakfast items.
Natalie eagerly led the continental breakfast line, followed by Sharona, who could manage to carry her own tray, but having only one useful arm made it difficult to select her breakfast, so Natalie helped her. Adrian Monk wasn't interested in the food, per se; he had a deeper interest in arranging the copious food items in ways that was aesthetically pleasing to him, as well as being more structurally sound and hygienically protected. "You'll thank me later," he assured the kitchen staff.
Natalie and Sharona found that they had very different tastes in breakfasts, with Natalie's preferring a veggie egg white omelet and Sharona opting for eggs over easy with hash browns and toast. She almost asked for a Taylor ham sandwich, but figured the San Francisco version wouldn't be made correctly, and If it wasn't made right; why bother. Adrian's plate was pristine. And empty.
When they were seated at a small round table, a good looking waiter with a bright smile came to the table and asked, "How are you folks doing? My name is Craig. Can I bring you anything?"
"Water." Adrian Monk replied, decisively. It was the one thing that he was habitually decisive about. His water.
"We have iced water, " the waiter dutifully informed him, and indicated a beverage dispensing machine as well as a row of glass pitchers filled with iced water.
"I need bottled water. Sealed bottled water."
"We have Aquafina." Craig offered.
"I need a sealed bottle of Fiji water."
Natalie shot Craig a compassionate look, thanked him and said they were all fine, while Sharona tried not to snicker.
After Craig left, Natalie wordlessly and automatically pulled out a bottle of Fiji water from an emergency supply in her purse and Sharona thought back to other emergency supplies she had once had to carry in her purse when she was Monk's nurse and assistant: supplies which consisted of emergency hand wipes, and emergency sandwich baggies to hold any emergency garbage that Monk may find or make and once; emergency socks.
Noticing Adrian's empty plate, Natalie excused herself from the table to make him a waffle. If Adrian Monk would eat anything at a buffet, it would be a waffle.
After a few moments of awkward silence, Sharona remembered something. "Oh, Adrian. I called Benjy and asked him to search the garage " Monk's face lit up, hopefully. "He found a copy of that dry cleaning receipt and overnighted it to the hotel." Monk seemed pleased about the news.
Sharona pulled a crisp envelope from her purse and handed it over to him. On inspection, Monk noticed that it was properly labeled PRIORITY, URGENT and in hand written, block letters DO NOT BEND.
Without opening the envelope, he placed it in his breast pocket, patting it appreciatively. "Thank Benjy for me?"
"This is his cell phone number. Will you call him? I'm sure he'd love to hear it from you." She wrote out the number on a piece of paper from her purse, and slid it across the table.
"I will," Monk beamed, as he put the paper in the same pocket as the envelope.
Natalie returned, carrying a perfectly made waffle. She had made three, and scrapped the first two as she considered reasons why Mr. Monk might reject each.
"Good news, Natalie. Benjy found my dry cleaning receipt."
"Wonderful," Natalie smiled brightly, as she placed the plate with the perfectly centered, perfectly cooked, perfectly round waffle on the table in front of him, along with a highly polished silver syrup server before taking her seat. "We can pick it up after we drop Sharona off at the airport."
Sharona smiled, touching Natalie's arm. and said, conspiratorially, "I've got a ride."
"Really?" Natalie said, looking a bit incredulous.
"Sure." Sharona responded, convincing herself much more than her friends that; "I still have friends in San Francisco."
"Of course you do." Natalie replied, and Monk parroted her, smiling broadly, "Of course you do."
"Of course I do", Sharona answered back, more confidently. "And I'm thankful to be sharing breakfast with both my oldest and newest friends in San Francisco."
With ceremonious aplomb, Sharona poured the first round of coffee from a carafe and breakfast officially began.
It was entertaining to watch Adrian Monk skillfully fill each waffle hole using the syrup dispenser, which he managed to do with with no spillovers. Natalie was thrilled because she had the feeling that a spillover would result in another trek to the waffle station and she was already getting dirty looks for making the first three waffles.
The three friends shared a leisurely breakfast and pleasant conversation. Natalie and Sharona got to know a little bit more about each other, and found that they had more in common than they each originally thought. They might become good friends in the future.
Sharona and Adrian caught up with each others lives and families. Sharona learned that since she had left, that Adrian had reunited with Trudy's parents and that Natalie had met and had even went on a casual date with Adrian's brother, Ambrose. She learned that Monk's father had come back that they seem to have reconciled and also that there was yet another Monk brother. On hearing that news, Sharona nearly choked on a bite of toast. She struggled to sip on some water while exclaiming "Oh my Gawd! Another brother?"
When Adrian asked about how her family was doing, Sharona went into full detail. "Mom is still in Florida, retired and on the prowl. I love giving her the third degree about the men that she is dating. Gail - she's my sister," she included, for Natalie's benefit," lives in Manhattan and is engaged to a man who owns a little restaurant in the Village."
"Which village?" Monk asked, curious.
"Greenwich village, Mr. Monk." Natalie explained. "It's also called "the Village".
"Oh, I"ve heard of Greenwich Village." Then he rolled his shoulders, momentarily uncomfortable, "It's full of hippies who are too hopped up on reefer to use its proper name."
"It's just bohemian, Adrian," Sharona corrected him, not fully disagreeing about the 'reefer' aspect of the area, and not willing to make it a point of contention she kept that to herself, "but Michael Dern isn't a hippie. In fact, he's pretty intense. He reminds me of that guy from Hell's Kitchen."
"Seems like a nice guy." Natalie chuckled.
"I've only been around him with Gail. He seems nice. I think he's just a perfectionist at work." Sharona said, giving a half nod towards Adrian. "I'm sure you can imagine what that must be like. Anyway, Gail is in love. Mom adores him - probably because he has impressed her with his "culinary prowess". That's what Michael called it, anyway. The things that man can do with pasta."
"Really?" Natalie asked.
"I can vouch for the pasta. It's incredible. And Benjy worked in his restaurant last year and saved quite a bit for a ski trip, so I really think he likes our family. I'm really happy for Gail." She reflected, finishing her first cup of coffee, and pouring another.
And breakfast continued in this way, until each was satisfied with their meal, their conversation and with friendships rekindled; everyone knowing that this time Sharona wasn't really saying 'goodbye' but, 'until we meet again'.
-R&S-
Randy was casual when he came to collect Sharona from her hotel. He wore a button down shirt, dark jeans and sneakers, the most casual things he could find in his closet. He was ready for the weekend and everything it hoped to offer. Sunglasses on, he watched and waited for Sharona, who was spending her last few minutes with her former employer; saying goodbye to him. Randy knew what it meant to her to be able to do this. They had talked about that for most of the night.
Randy witnessed the exchange between the two old friends approvingly. Monk and Natalie didn't even realize he was there. He saw Sharona hug Adrian Monk and he hugged her back as Natalie looked on, smiling. A combination of sadness and peace softened Sharona's face and even Monk seemed to relax when he carefully embraced her. Afterwards, she held his large hand in hers, reassuring him that she was coming back to see him. Randy felt as if he was intruding on in intimate moment: a fly on the wall.
This was normal for Randy. Especially when it came to Monk. This was how he learned about most of Monk's history. He hadn't known Adrian Monk when he was a working detective on the SFPD, and had only met him after he had been discharged well after his breakdown. He had learned of his reputation through the scuttlebutt in the bullpen, and was originally very skeptical of the "Defective Detective" but gradually learning to respect and even care about the older man.
The only reason he worked with Monk on the early cases when Adrian Monk was hired as a consultant, was that he was Captain Stottlemeyer's lieutenant. Because of this, he witnessed heartbreaking and heartwarming moments between Monk and the Captain, or Monk and Sharona, and later Monk and Natalie, but early on he was just in the room. This was different, though, because now he genuinely cared for everyone involved.
Sharona eventually broke away from her friends, lugging her rolling suitcase behind her. When he saw this, Randy Disher hurried to meet her so that he could take charge of the suitcase, noting that both Adrian and Natalie only now seemed to acknowledge his presence and were bewildered at his appearance. Again, people wondering why Randy Disher was there was nothing new.
Randy placed her suitcase into to the back seat of his car and closed the rear door. "That should do it." Randy announced.
Sharona was about to get into the passenger seat when Randy reached out to her. It had been several hours since their last kiss; he loved the taste of her kisses. and he wanted another. He cleared his throat to get her attention, placed his left hand on her backside and pulled her to him. As he caressed her cheek with his right hand, he kissed her tenderly. It was impulsive, demonstrative and sincere, which summed up Randy Disher, body and soul. Sharona unabashedly returned the kiss, thinking that she wouldn't mind getting used to this.
"Okay. Let's go."
Sharona gracefully slipped into the passenger side of the car and Randy closed the door after her, then hurried to the drivers side. After getting in and closing the door, Randy helped Sharona with her seat belt and used the opportunity to give her another quick kiss. "Are you ready?"
"For almost anything. You still haven't told me where we're actually going." Sharona reminded him
"It's a surprise." Randy smiled mischievously, starting the car.
"I've never been a fan of surprises," Sharona informed Randy. "I think that's one thing Adrian and I have in common."
He turned in his seat to face her so he could look her in the eyes and she could read his face - that he was sincere. He reached out again and caressed her cheek again, and they kissed. "Trust me?"
Those words had always been her downfall, but Sharona wasn't going to judge Randy because of other men in her past. Sharona bit her lip and smiled sweetly. "Yes." She donned her own sunglasses, ready for an enjoyable weekend of adventure and discovery.
The End
A/N Thanks for reading my fanfic. I hope you enjoyed it. I really would love some reviews, whether you like the story or if can use improvements, so I know if anyone/everyone is liking my work. I'm wondering if you want to see what Randy and Sharona do on their road trip, or do you want me to skip to when Sharona comes back to San Francisco? Randy and Sharona will deal with discovery, their pasts, a little bit of conflict and a whole bunch of love. When Sharona comes back, she is going to bring someone with her. There will be a mystery, a romance and a crush. Choose your own adventure. I'll look at the first five comments to see where we are going.
