Sharon put away her book but remained seated as she heard Rusty and Andy laughing as they walked toward the door. Andy had offered to take the boy to dinner that evening, understanding that sometimes he needed a break from his foster mother. Sharon didn't mind. In fact, she was glad that the guys on her team were not only able, but willing to serve as mentors to him.
Both men quieted down as they saw her sitting on the floor outside the door to her condo. Rusty's face changed quickly from the obvious fun he'd had with the Lieutenant, to concern.
"Sharon? Is everything okay?"
"Yeah, fine." She looked behind him to Andy.
"Then… why are you sitting out here?" Rusty looked between her and the door. "Did you forget your key or something? You could have texted."
"No, nothing like that, key's right here," Sharon gestured to the ground next to her. She could feel the heat creeping up her cheeks. She had hoped that Andy would just let him out at the door to the building, but the man was infuriatingly responsible when it came to the boy. She sighed, slowly stood, and looked at Rusty, trying to ignore Andy's curious face. "I can't go inside."
"Again?" Rusty sighed, clearly exasperated. "This wouldn't happen if you'd just leave the windows closed in the kitchen.
"Sorry for enjoying fresh air from time to time. Can you just… take care of it?"
Rusty rolled his eyes, but grinned at Andy before entering the apartment.
"I have to ask."
"No, you really really don't."
"Captain."
"Lieutenant." They stood in awkward silence for a moment until she gave in. "I'm afraid of spiders." Andy tried but failed to stop a wide grin spreading across his face. "Shut up." She looked down for a second to hide her own smile. She knew it was absurd, but couldn't help it.
"So out of curiosity, what did you do about your little problem before Rusty?"
"Well, for a brief period I had a husband to help me. Then I had a son, although sometimes he wanted to keep them as pets." She didn't try to hide the full-body shudder at the thought of an eight-legged freak of nature permanently residing in her home.
"And there were no…incidents between your son going off to college, and Rusty moving in?"
"Just one." She hesitated, but continued. "I thought about just letting it have the house but the Super came by and saved me."
Andy chucked quietly. Getting to see a more relaxed side of Captain Rulebook was one of his favorite side effects of spending time with Rusty. He was about to ask another question when Rusty opened the door holding a small plastic container.
"Go inside. You're safe now," he deadpanned.
"My hero," Sharon started to hug the boy but he rattled the container and she jumped back. Rusty shook his head as he went to the elevator. Despite Sharon's 'kill it with fire' attitude toward spiders he always released them back into the wild. He tried to explain the benefits – spiders kill flies and many other household pests – but she could never be swayed.
"Lieutenant, I trust not a word of this will be mentioned at work."
"Yes, ma'am," he gave a mock salute before grinning and heading back to the elevator. "See you tomorrow, Captain."
She shook her head and entered the apartment, stopping short as she kicked off her shoes. "ANDY!" She took a slow step backward, bumping into him as he approached from behind her. "It brought a friend."
I'm deathly afraid of spiders and ran into one at work the other day. For some reason (I blame persistent allergies and Benadryl) this was the result.