A/N: I wrote this back in August for a prompt I received on Tumblr, but I came across it in my computer and realized it's still relevant, so I thought I'd post it here too.
There was something Sharon found very relaxing about the last moments of a busy and productive workday. She felt it especially on those days when she and her team managed to put a murderer away for a lengthy period of time and save people's lives. It was the most gratifying part of her job and it intensified her conviction that her job was important and meaningful.
In the recent couple of months, the end of such workday also had an additional meaning to her. It was the notion that she was coming back to the arms of a man she loved. They didn't live together, but at this point in their relationship they were spending more time together than apart. For years, she thought she was doing perfectly well on her own, but ever since she and Andy started dating, she realized how lonely she had been all those years. She tried to remember if it was something she ever had with Jack, but nearly 30 years of coming home to an empty bed or to the sight of a sleeping, drooling drunk husband made it difficult to remember. Either way, Jack was a thing of the past and Andy was her present, possibly her future too.
She smiled to herself at that thought as she hung her purse on her shoulder and went out of her office, closing the door behind her. He was sitting at his desk, waiting for her patiently, so they could ride home together. Although it was a busy day, it was still fairly early and they might just make it to dinner and a movie if they left now and still be back home in time for them to go to bed at a decent hour.
"Are you ready to leave?" he asked as he stood up and she hummed affirmatively. He wrapped his arm around her waist and she leaned into him as they walked towards the elevator. Andy pressed the button as they discussed where they wanted to go for dinner and they waited for a several minutes until they heard the ding and the elevator doors opened. They looked at each other with surprise as they saw how packed it was, but still managed to squeeze in. With Andy's arm still around her, Sharon could feel all eyes on her. She recognized at least three of the officers and lawyers in the elevator with them and she wondered what they might have been thinking. The elevator stopped at the 8th floor and 3 people went off, while one officer came in. Sharon and Andy took a couple of steps backward in order to allow more room for him. The elevator doors closed, but it stopped again in the 6th and 5thfloors, each time one or two people left and new people went in. When it stopped again on the 4th floor, Sharon and Andy were already at the back of the elevator, squeezed into the corner. As the elevator stopped again and more people went in, she felt herself pressing closer to Andy. She could feel his breath blowing in her hair, warm and breezy. Suddenly, she became aware of the way her heart thumped in her chest and the fuzziness that spread inside her body. She closed her eyes and smiled. She shifted closer to him and her fingers came to rest on his hand that was still wrapped around her. His fingers were resting on the curve of her waist and she gently and not so subtly moved it forward, until it came to rest on her abdomen. Reaching for his other arm, she brought it to meet the first one. She was now standing in front of him, her back to his chest and his arms around her middle. He tightened his hold and spread his feet to make room for her to stand while more officers, civilians and lawyers went in and out of the elevator in each floor. In Andy's arms, she felt as if she was floating on a cloud, careless and blissfully unaware of her surroundings. It was almost painful to tear herself away from him when the elevator reached the parking level and her hand reached for his even before she stepped out of his arms. They walked to her car together and she unlocked it. They went in and Sharon let out a soft sigh.
"Andy," the way she said his name was like a soft caress. "I don't think I can drive right now."
"What's wrong?" he asked worriedly.
"Nothing," she responded. "It's just… you make me weak at the knees."
As always, I'll be happy to know what you thought about this story, so feel free to leave a review or send me a PM.