Frienemies
Captain Raydor tried to keep her mind on her laptop screen, but she found her eyes wandering to her senior lieutenant glowering at her over his crossword puzzle. She let out a sigh. Lt Provenza found out inadvertently about her relationship with Lt Flynn last night. They meant to tell him their relationship had progressed to more than friends. Actually, it had progressed to considerably more than friends. She hoped someday they would all look back on this and laugh.
She had curled up in Andy's arms sound asleep as she had done almost every night for several weeks. It was the kind of sleep that when you woke, you had no idea of the day or time or even what city you were in. Andy had that effect on her in more ways than one. As she fumbled for the buzzing cell phone on her nightstand, she mumbled an incoherent hello. There was a hesitation and a puzzled sounding Provenza saying only, "Captain?"
Andy had sat up on his elbow and mouthed that she had answered his cell. With that, she sat straight up in bed. "Lt Provenza, what can I do for you?"
"I need to talk to Flynn," he said.
"You must've called me by mistake." She said as she rolled her eyes at Andy.
"With all due respect, I know who I called, now cut the crap and hand Flynn the phone," Provenza said in his best crotchety voice.
He had wanted Andy to pick him up. It was 2 am. He'd probably closed down a bar and needed a ride. Andy didn't elaborate. He only gave her a quick kiss and said, "I'll see you later."
She sunk back down in bed and covered her head with a pillow. She wished she could stay there.
Sharon directed her focus back to her disgruntled lieutenant standing in front of her.
"I'm sorry Lieutenant, I won't discuss my personal life with you within the confines of this office," she said as she closed her laptop.
Lt Provenza placed his hands on the backs of the chairs in front of her desk. He leaned forward as he spoke," a little late for that, don't you think? Your personal life is now sitting over there." He motioned toward Andy.
"If you are referring to Lt Flynn, I believe he is presently doing his job." Sharon said as looked at her watch. "It's nearly noon. Walk with me." She got up and walked out of the office, relieved that Lt Provenza followed her.
As they stepped outside of the building Sharon said," there's a café around the corner. Let's have lunch and talk."
Lt Provenza gave her an incredulous look. "Sorry, but hell no, I don't want to have lunch."
Sharon sat on the bench in front of the building. "Fine, sit down. We'll talk here."
They sat in silence for a short while. She had decided to let the lieutenant start the conversation.
"What the hell do you two think you're doing?" Provenza looked at her with squinted eyes.
Sharon continued to watch the traffic go by but said in a voice void of emotion, "It's not any of your business." She was still put off by his tone last night and truthfully more than a little embarrassed.
"What? You drag me out here in sweltering heat to say that? Sorry, but I'm making it my business" He turned to face her as he pulled a handkerchief out of his back pocket. Had he known she was going to drag him on a gawd awful field trip, he would have grabbed his hat.
She pursed her lips and gave him no further acknowledgement.
"Captain, what if this… whatever you've got going on blows up in your faces? Have you given that any thought?" He dabbed the sweat that had beaded on his forehead with his handkerchief. Sharon took a long breath and let it out slowly. "Lieutenant, I appreciate your concern. I assure you we have taken every aspect of our relationship into consideration. We aren't teenagers. I'm sure we could move past a breakup to maintain a working relationship." Then she turned to face him. "And what if it doesn't blow up in our faces? What if it works? What if this is our last shot at being happy?"
Provenza sat quietly for a moment. He considered his relationship with Patrice and the happiness he had found with her.
"Taylor knows?" he said as more of a statement than a question.
"Yes, he wished us good luck." She said, not revealing that Taylor had actually said "Lots of luck with that." The sentiment was close, she reasoned.
"Have you ever considered what it would do to him if he gets his heart broken?" Provenza rubbed his head. "What if he falls off the wagon over it?"
"Is this what this is about? Andy's sobriety?" She continued without waiting on an answer," What happens with me won't determine that, only Andy can control whether he drinks or not. It has nothing to do with me." She looked away." It's only taken me twenty five years to learn that."
"Don't you dare tell him I said this, but he is my best friend and I don't want to see him hurt," Provenza looked her straight in the eyes.
"He's my best friend too," she said without wavering.
Provenza considered her words for a moment. "Do you love him?"
Sharon smiled. "I think I need to have that conversation with Andy before I have it with you."
"Well, don't wait too long." He said as his face softened. "Just so you know, we always watch the games together, either at my house or at his."
"Agreed." She gave him a nod. "If you ever come to my house, or if it ever becomes our house, I hope you bring Patrice."
He gave her a questioning look.
"It would be nice to sit outside and drink wine. We could commiserate over how we put up with the two of you."
He smiled. "agreed."
"Let's see, we share a best friend. What does that make us?" Sharon asked.
"Certainly not friends," Provenza shot back.
"Not exactly enemies," she shrugged. "Frienemies?" They couldn't help but laugh.
"Sounds about right." He got up from the bench, careful to hide the small smile that tugged at his lips. "How about we go to the café and get everyone lunch?" she asked.
"Everyone?" Provenza stopped in his tracks.
"I'm buying," she explained.
"Well in that case," he extended his hand to help her up. "I guess Flynn could do a hell of a lot worse."
She entwined her arm in his. "Thanks for the vote of confidence."
He gave her arm a pat, "Isn't that what frienemies are for?"