"I just have to go to the office for a few hours," Brenda said as she leaned over and kissed her dear Fritzy who was now splayed out on the bed, his eyelids droopy from the oatmeal and the painkiller the size of a horse pill she had given him.
Brenda reached for her bag then blew him a kiss. His eyes were closed and she couldn't decide if the noise he was now making was a groan or a snore. Whatever it was it was driving her crazy.
Once she was in the car and on her way, Brenda's shoulders relaxed and she smiled. The smile was immediately replaced by a frown. She hated lying to Fritz but ever since he had thrown his back out he was worse than a child with his whining and complaining. Today was Sunday and amazingly there were no open cases but instead of her being able to sleep in, she hadn't been able to sleep at all. Instead of Fritz moaning from their lovemaking he was moaning from the pain in his back. Brenda couldn't take it anymore and decided to go to the office for a couple of hours to do nothing. Absolutely nothing. She knew going into the office on her day off was pathetic but she needed a break from nursing Fritz. She couldn't go shopping because they were both on a strict budget while saving for a house. At least her office would be quiet.
Near the office she stopped at a coffee shop to get a cup of chammomile tea. To her, chammomile tasted like crap so it must have some type of therapeutic qualities. In keeping with her healthy regime, Brenda resisted getting one of the delicious-looking muffins. Oh, no, they had chocolate chip muffins, her favorite. But no, she wouldn't give in to temptation. She wasn't stressed so she didn't need chocolate. Even though the sign in front of the muffins announced that they were FAT FREE, she didn't believe it. There was no such thing as a fat free muffin.
Brenda chuckled when she entered the quiet sanctuary of her office. She opened her blinds so she could look out onto the unusual calm of her murder room. No grissly photos or diagrams on the board. No Provenza fussing with Flynn. No lovers' spat between Gabrielle and Daniels. No Sanchez snickering at it all.
She smiled as she sat down at her desk. She really should get a sofa for times like this. She was thinking she hoped there wouldn't be many times like this when she looked up to see a young girl walking towards her office. Brenda's heart dropped to her feet. A kid in the murder room on a Sunday morning. This couldn't be good.
As soon as the child stepped into her office, Brenda recognized her as Emily Pope, Will's twelve year old daughter -- or was she thirteen now? Since the child wasn't distraught, Brenda quickly reasoned that nothing had happened to Will.
Brenda stood up and forced a smile. This was awkward. "Emily, right?"
The girl didn't answer. She plopped herself in a chair in front of Brenda's desk and folded her arms in front of her. Brenda thought her expression said, Okay, what now? What now indeed? What was she doing here?
Brenda sat down and again forced a smile. She took a few sips of her tea and tried to think what to do or say.
"My mom says you're a whore," Emily announced.
Brenda was so stunned she nearly choked on the tea. She grabbed a napkin, coughed into it, and swiped at her mouth and nose as she desperately tried to swallow and get her breath at the same time.
"Are you okay?" Emily asked, not sure if she should come to Brenda's aid.
"Yes," Brenda managed. "No! That word your mama calls me is not a nice word and should not be spoken by cute little girls such as yourself."
Emily looked at Brenda for a long moment as if she was trying to decide if she believed Brenda.
"Won't your mama be worried about you?"
Emily did not respond, choosing instead to seriously survey Brenda's office.
Brenda looked around the office herself, wondering what the child was thinking.
"My mother told me the other day that all the times my dad was late he was here with you. I wanted to see where here was."
Brenda did not want to have this discussion with this child! She couldn't believe a mother, any mother, including one as unbalanced as Estelle Pope obviously was, would put her child in the middle of an ugly divorce proceeding. No wonder Will wanted out and wanted to take his children with him.
"I'm not sure what your mama told you," Brenda began, although she had a good idea, "but your daddy and I are colleagues, we work together. That's all. I have a boyfriend who is an FBI agent--"
"He doesn't mind you sleeping with my dad?"
"I am not sleeping with your father!" Brenda hoped she wasn't too harsh but she had to get through to that thick, little Pope skull. "Do you want me to call your mama to come get you?"
Emily laughed out loud. "Wouldn't that be funny?"
Brenda didn't laugh. No, it wouldn't be funny. It would be a disaster is what it would be.
"I wasn't being serious," Emily said. "My mom would say I was being sarcastic. She says I get it from my dad."
Brenda could certainly agree with that. Will was one of the most sarcastic people she had ever met. Until now. Not knowing what else to do, Brenda opened her desk drawer and pulled out a package of Ring Dings. She motioned for Emily to come to the drawer and help herself.
Emily waited a moment then came over and looked in the drawer. "Wow!" she exclaimed, pulling out a chocolate peppermint patty and package of chocolate donuts. She returned to her seat and began munching on her treats. "My mom would never let me have stuff like this."
Brenda smiled and winked. "I'm not your mama."
Emily leaned forward and glared at Brenda. "I hope you don't think you can buy my affection with some snacks!"
Brenda took a sip of her rapidly cooling tea. "I wouldn't dream of it."
Emily settled back into the chair and took another bite of the peppermint patty.
"Shall I call your father?"
"I don't care," Emily said, her jaws now full with candy.
Brenda reached for the phone.
Emily swallowed. "I'll be gone by the time he gets here."
"And just where are you going?"
At that moment Brenda saw through her blinds a frantic Will burst through the doors of the murder room. He was looking around wildly.
Emily followed Brenda's gaze. "Oh, no," she mumbled.
Will had regained his composure by the time he entered Brenda's office but she knew he was seething. And worried. He looked first at Emily, then at Brenda, then back to Emily again. His expression was of disbelief. Brenda could tell he was about to blow a gasket.
"Hi, dad," Emily said. "Want a donut?" She extended the pack to him.
"No! I don't want a donut! What the hell is going on here?"
"Aw, Chief Pope, have a donut," Brenda said. She pointed to the opened desk drawer. "There's plenty. Something for everybody."
Will cut Brenda a stern look before returning his attention to Emily. "Your mother is worried sick about you. She called me in a panic when she realized you were gone. I then got a call from building security telling me you had entered the building. What do you have to say for yourself?"
"I came to see you but you weren't in your office, so I came to her office." Emily looked at Brenda.
Brenda hoped Emily wouldn't repeat the things Estelle had said. Brenda knew she was guilty as charged for having an affair with a married man but it wasn't her place to explain it to his kid. In no way did she want to be involved in that discussion.
"We were just getting ready to call you, Chief --" Brenda stopped talking when Will raised his hands as if to say "Shut up. This is between me and my kid."
"Emily, you can't be running the streets of Los Angeles by yourself. If there's some place you want to go, call me and I'll come take you."
"I just wanted to see you. I wanted to surprise you."
Brenda desperately hoped Will wouldn't blow this.
Although he was still angry, Will smiled. He reached out to Emily. She hesitated a moment before running into his open arms.
Brenda was touched by the scene.
However, Will was not to be appeased. After the hug, he held Emily at arms length and looked into her face. "Em, you can't imagine all the terrible things that could happen to a young girl out there."
"Nothing happened. I took a cab."
Will released her and sighed with relief, knowing she hadn't been on foot.
"He's waiting outside for you to pay him," Emily continued.
"What!" Will bellowed, calculating in his mind the cost of the idling cab. He grabbed her by the arm. "Let's go."
Emily turned to look at Brenda. "I'm sorry for barging in on you like this."
Will gritted his teeth and rolled his eyes. "What did you say?"
Brenda waived her hands in dismissal. "It was nothing, Chief Pope. Just girltalk.
Will gave Brenda a knowing look as he ushered Emily through the door. Emily glanced back at Brenda, winked and smiled. She stuffed the rest of the donuts in the pocket of her denim jacket then grabbed her dad's hand and let him lead her out.
Brenda sighed and looked around her office. She realized then that she'd much rather be at home with her own big kid.
Poor Fritzy, Brenda thought as she slowly licked some chocolate from her finger. She exhaled deeply, her full mouth made even wider by a broad grin. She hooked her bag on her shoulder and licked a smudge of chocolate from another finger, now savoring the taste. Her eyes twinkled as she left her office. She knew what she could do to make Fritzy feel better and would give him a more pleasurable reason to moan. It wouldn't put any strain on his back and it was fat free.