Reacquainted
Andy Flynn did not need a buffer.
Which Sharon probably should have guessed.
Although she wasn't exactly regretting tagging along – without her encouragement, he might have abandoned ship last minute – she was a little uncomfortable hovering in the far corner of the room, three steps from the bar, clutching a glass of wine in her hand like a woman adrift.
She eyed the room and caught sight of the friend she'd come with. Andy was grinning ear to ear, exchanging stories with a few of his cousins. He'd been polite and amiable at the ceremony, friendly and accommodating at dinner, but as soon as he'd slipped away to say his hellos, she'd known he wouldn't be back in her company for quite a while. Maybe not at all. Which Sharon found herself oddly grateful for. As much as she disliked the boredom she was slipping into, she was happy not to be carted around on Andy's arm like a date. She was working very hard not to send the wrong message to the Lieutenant, who she'd caught staring at her in the office more times than she cared to admit, and undoing all of that hard work in one night just would not do.
So, yes, staying on the opposite side of the room, obscuring herself behind small clusters of other wedding guests, seemed the perfectly acceptable approach. All she had to do was coast and wait for an appropriate time to duck out of the hall.
It was amidst these thoughts that she was blindsided by a painfully familiar voice from just behind her.
"Cap'n Raydor?"
Sharon whipped her head around. "Chief Johnson!" She tried to rein in the shock in her voice. "What are you doing here?"
Brenda's mouth hung open like a guppy's. Sharon noticed that Brenda had not looked up to meet her eyes because she was still surveying the Captain's dress: a tight, dark-blue number that fell just past her knee. She'd picked the colour specifically to make it easier to blend in, but apparently she was sticking out like a floodlight to her former colleague whose eyes were still wide in… what was that look, exactly?
Before Sharon could puzzle this mystery further, Brenda realized she'd gone a while without providing an answer and she snapped her gaze back up to Sharon's.
"I was invited! To the reception. But I couldn't make dinner so I'm a little late." The reception hall was a dim, but Sharon could swear she saw a blush in Brenda's face. "Better question is, why are you here, Captain?" Sharon didn't miss the challenging little lilt in her tone. Some things never change.
"I came with Andy," Sharon said before she could think better of how that sounded. Brenda didn't miss a beat.
"Oh! I didn't realize you two were together."
"No!" Sharon said immediately, floundering. "No, no, no. I'm just here as a friend. For support. He almost didn't decide to come at all." She glanced over to where he was still socializing and Brenda followed her gaze.
"Looks like he's all right now," Brenda remarked before assessing Sharon again. "And gone and left you a little high 'n dry."
Sharon clenched her other hand around her glass and looked to the floor. It was unsettling that the woman could still get under her skin so quickly. There was no way in hell she was going to let Brenda get the better of her temper.
"Yes, well, I should probably be leaving soon anyway. Seeing as how I am no longer needed." Sharon set down her wine glass on the bar, intending to abandon it and run from this deteriorating situation. But before she could carry out her plan, the Chief reached out to stop her. The little fingers wrapped lightly around her forearm gave her a chill.
Sharon met Brenda's eyes and saw the regret immediately.
"Wait. I didn't mean to scare you away, I just meant, well I'm here alone and barely know anyone. And Andy's off having fun anyway, so you're off-duty, so t' speak."
Sharon furrowed her brow and waited for the logic to become clear.
"Instead of rushin' off, why don't you stay and have a drink with me? It's been a while since we had a chance to just chat." Brenda's hand had fallen to Sharon's elbow, brushing against it lightly in a way that had Sharon disarmed.
Which is about when her guard fell long enough for her to reply, "Sure."
A drink turned into several. In that time, Andy had stopped by to say hello, catch up with the Chief and apologize to Sharon, before he was pulled away again by his daughter to dance.
The two women conversed a little tentatively at first until Brenda mentioned a small vendetta she had against one D.D.A. Rios. Conversation, mutual venting and otherwise, flowed freely since then.
Brenda was sipping a pretty little pink drink with an umbrella and regaling Sharon with tales of her various exploits, D.D.A. Hobbs's startling affinity for office pranks, and her recent, disastrous furniture-shopping trip. The last story confused her for a moment – she couldn't exactly imagine Brenda going shopping alone unless she absolutely had to – until Sharon registered the absence of a particular ring.
"Oh!" Sharon said finally, staring at the Chief's left hand for a moment. "I hadn't realized…" The words dissolved before she could form them.
Brenda glanced down at her own hand and gave Sharon a small, sad smile. "Been a few months now. This marks the first weddin' I'm attendin' by myself. I almost didn't come at all."
Sharon was relaxed enough to react automatically. She reached out and took Brenda's hand in her own.
"You aren't by yourself."
They were very close now, both leaned comfortably against the bar, oblivious to the rest of the hall where dancing and carousing were in full swing. Brenda's eyes searched Sharon's as if she were looking for a trick, for the joke that was being played on her, because this woman was being gentle and soft and the hand on hers was so soothing that Brenda's breathing stopped for a moment.
"No." She replied finally. "I s'pose I'm not."
For a few seconds they stood completely still. For an insane moment, Sharon thought she was about to be kissed.
"Am I interrupting something?" Andy's smarmy voice severed their connection in an instant. Sharon dropped the hand in hers a little too quickly and the self-satisfied grin Andy had been wearing faltered. "I can come back," he offered, pointing behind him as if indicating the direction of his escape route.
Sharon cleared her throat and smiled at him. "Of course not, how are you doing out there?"
"Good! Really good. Still feeling pretty guilty about stranding you, though."
"Don't worry about it." Sharon beamed. "I've got company." Sharon glanced at Brenda who was still a little wide-eyed from the interruption. Brenda caught on just enough to nod and smile a little in confirmation.
"Well if Brenda doesn't mind, and if you're game, I thought I'd borrow you for a dance."
Sharon blinked at him and registered a little flinch out of the corner of her eye.
"Of course I don't mind," Brenda replied a little coolly.
Sharon glanced at her again before nodding at Andy and taking his hand as he led her out to the dance floor.
Brenda set her empty glass down and waved at the bartender for a refresher as she watched the pair begin to move to the music. They kept a decent distance apart, dancing to something fast Brenda didn't recognize. But the speedy song ended abruptly and the DJ introduced a trio of slow tunes. Brenda felt her throat tighten a little and she reached blindly for her new drink, trapping the straw between her lips after missing her mouth more than once.
She caught herself glaring at the way they came together – Sharon putting one hand at his shoulder and one in his hand, Andy's other palm resting gently around her hip. Brenda's muscles stiffened. Her lips pursed. She found herself wishing for the song to end.
The straw fell out of her mouth. She was jealous. Of Sharon Raydor?! She trailed her eyes up and down the woman's form again. Brenda had always been fond of Andy, but never in that way. No – she wasn't jealous of Sharon. She was jealous of Andy.
She swallowed hard and her eyes fell to the hand he had on the woman's side, watched it creep around a little further to her back, her body moving tighter to his. Then she laughed. Brenda couldn't quite hear it over the music and other revellers but she could see it: Sharon's head thrown back, her eyes screwed shut, her smile wide and bright. She was practically glowing.
Brenda chewed her bottom lip. In that dress and this light, the Captain was another person. She was freer, brighter. They'd almost become something like friends before Brenda had left her unit behind. She hadn't realized how much she missed their conversations.
And then there was the drink-sharing, the story-swapping, the easy flow between them, a little spark of energy and then Sharon's comforting expression. Her gentle hand. Her soft lips.
Brenda shook herself. She set her drink down on the bar. She took a few steps slowly, then picked up speed, finishing in a near-sprint out of the front doors, nearly barrelling into a couple smelling of cigarette smoke and wine.
She turned the corner around the building, out of view of anyone else milling around outside, and leaned against the cool brick wall in the shadows. She closed her eyes. She took in several deep lungfuls of the cold air, relishing the feeling of it on her hot – very hot – skin.
She didn't register the sound of heels against the pavement, nearer and nearer, until the Captain had walked past the corner of the building, past Brenda, scanning the parking lot. It wasn't until she turned around to head back that she spotted the blonde, lurking in the dark against the wall.
"Brenda, there you are." Sharon closed in on her, assessing just how pale she was becoming. "Are you all right? I saw you run out – is something wrong?" Sharon knew how much Brenda had drunk so far and it couldn't have been enough to make her sick, not with what she knew and had heard of the Chief's tolerance for alcohol. The squad had shared a few stories of her surprisingly steely stomach.
Brenda looked up into the woman's eyes. Her mouth dropped open a little but no words followed.
"Brenda?" Sharon tried again, taking another step towards her and putting a hand on her shoulder.
The reaction was swift – much more agile than Sharon would have expected.
Brenda's hands reached out to grab Sharon – one at her hip and one at her neck – as she pressed their lips together hard, their noses bumping before Brenda could adjust. Brenda felt Sharon's fingers tighten on her shoulder blade and she thought Sharon was about to push her away. The thought made her lips slow their assault, ready to pull back at the slightest sign.
Sharon didn't push her back, but she responded tentatively. She pulled away gently from the kiss and just blinked a few times, her mouth hanging open slightly.
Being so stuck for words was not something Sharon was used to.
"Chief, I..." She trailed off without finishing or making eye contact. Brenda's hands slipped from Sharon's body immediately as she withdrew and pressed her back up against the wall, folding her arms across her chest.
"Right." Brenda said with an odd finality. She hung her head. "I'm sorry, Captain. I don't know what I was thinkin'."
"Brenda," Sharon corrected herself. They'd abandoned titles hours ago. She hadn't meant for a slip of the tongue to push the woman away. "I'm just surprised, all right? I never thought…" She eyed the blonde nervously. She shoved her hands in her pockets and licked her lips.
Brenda wiped a hand roughly at her face. "Please go back inside. I'm jus' makin' a fool of myself. I keep messin' everything up."
Sharon's instincts took over again. She stepped forward and took Brenda firmly into arms. At first she felt her body stiffen but soon two slender arms slipped around her back. When Sharon pulled back in those arms, she wiped a stray tear from Brenda's cheek and smiled.
"You aren't making a fool of yourself. You haven't done anything wrong." Sharon smoothed her palm over the damp cheek it rested on and let her thumb fall and drag against Brenda's lower lip.
The wheels spun nervously behind Brenda's eyes and Sharon was sure she was about to launch into an explanation for her behaviour. God knows the Chief could talk her way out of just about anything. But all that came was a small word in a small voice, so soft and sad.
"Really?"
Sharon nodded and Brenda's lips slowly curved into a smile. She bent her head into Sharon's palm.
This time the Captain was the one to lean forward and tentatively initiate a kiss, this one less frantic than the first. Brenda followed the pattern of Sharon's mouth and pulled the woman closer as her back bumped up against the wall.
Sharon eased her weight into Brenda's, gasping lightly at the pressure of their bodies together. Brenda snaked a hand around Sharon's neck and up into her hair, pulling the woman's mouth closer so she could delve her tongue deeply against its counterpart.
Sharon's hands fell – one to Brenda's shoulder and the other to her hip – and squeezed. Meanwhile, Brenda's hand dragged down over Sharon's collarbone and groped at her chest. Sharon tore her lips away and laughed.
"What?" Brenda asked.
"I haven't made out against a wall since I was 23. And even then it felt a little high school."
"You're not the one against the wall," Brenda replied and they both laughed in each other's arms.
"Sharon?" Andy's voice echoed across the parking lot and hoisted both women back into reality. Sharon wiped the smudged lipstick from Brenda's face, then used her glasses as an impromptu mirror to fix her own smears.
Brenda held her breath and waited for a moment of regret to come, either for her or for Sharon. She followed blindly as Sharon rounded the corner of the building. She listened absently as her former co-workers exchanged words. It seemed faraway to her, as if taking place a world apart.
"I'm feeling pretty beat, Lieutenant. I think I'm going to take my leave."
"Oh, all right. Let me drive you home," Andy replied.
"No, you stay and celebrate with your family. I think you're hitting your stride on the dance floor."
"You're not driving home, are you, Chief?" Andy's voice broke through Brenda's distracted daze.
"Course not. I'll catch a cab too."
"We'll share one." Sharon added casually.
Brenda felt her face flush and she couldn't meet either's gaze.
Twenty minutes later, the women were seated on either side of the back seat in a taxi on its way to Sharon's building. Sharon's hands were perched on her knees and she looked every bit the poised professional Brenda remembered working with.
She didn't look at all like a woman who'd recently been part of a mutual, outdoors ravishing. Brenda felt oddly disappointed by the change. The woman had opened up all evening and suddenly seemed the cool, composed, ice queen she recalled meeting that first time.
The cab rolled to a stop and Brenda's face fell further. Her night was at an end. Who knew if she'd ever even see Sharon again. She watched her pay the cabbie. Post-exchange, Brenda leaned forward to tell the man her address. But before she could get her street name out, Sharon seized her hand and tugged her gently in the direction of the open car door.
"You're coming with me." Sharon said.
Brenda blinked. "Pardon me?"
"Thank you," Sharon said to the cabbie as she pulled Brenda out behind her.
Brenda found herself following Sharon blindly again, dragged to the front of her building where Sharon fiddled with the key.
"It saves money; it saves time; I have a guest bedroom; and I can drive you to your car in the morning. It's the most efficient solution."
Through the door, down the hall. They waited for the elevator. Brenda leaned in close to Sharon's ear.
"And is efficiency the only reason you're invitin' me upstairs?"
The elevator doors opened and Sharon stepped inside, hitting the button for her floor and then yanking Brenda in close to her.
"What do you think?"
Brenda grinned as she leaned in and kissed Sharon soundly.
"This is crazy," Brenda murmured against her lips.
"Certainly not how I expected the evening to go." Sharon said.
Brenda hesitated.
"What?" Sharon asked.
"Are you sure there's nothin'… between you and Andy?"
The elevator doors opened at Sharon's floor and she stepped out without answering, dutifully followed by her guest.
At her door, before she turned the key, she turned to Brenda.
"I danced with the one that brought me, Brenda. But if you'll recall, I left with you."
Brenda's cheeks flared a little. Sharon only smirked at her and then pushed open the front door.
"Where's Rusty?" Brenda asked, shucking her shoes by the door.
"With Louie for the evening. 'Male bonding.'" Sharon replied with a grin.
"Oh, mercy. To be a fly on that wall." Brenda chuckled.
Sharon rounded the kitchen counter and pulled a bottle of merlot from the rack against the wall. She held it up for Brenda's inspection and, after receiving a nod of approval, poured two glasses.
Brenda took a sip of wine. "If he isn't home, am I still spending the night in the guest room?" She asked.
Sharon smiled broadly. "I don't know. I still don't know why you kissed me."
"You mean why I've been kissin' you." Brenda corrected.
Sharon nodded and sipped.
"Well, why did you kiss me?" Brenda asked.
"This isn't your interrogation room," Sharon replied. "Besides, I asked first."
Brenda rolled her eyes and smirked. "Is it enough to say I just wanted to?"
"It is if that's all it was."
Brenda considered that for a moment. Considered the situation she was in. She'd had feelings, well, inklings of feelings towards the Captain before. Feelings that weren't always simply amiable or friendly. But she'd never had to think about them very seriously.
"It might be a little more than that." Brenda said finally.
"Oh?" Sharon added, unsurprised but intrigued. "What does that mean, exactly?"
"Nuh uh. You have to answer my question before you get another. 'S only fair."
Sharon grinned. "Because I wanted to."
"Right." Brenda replied, taking a long swig.
"And because I've wanted to for some time."
"Oh." That stopped Brenda in her tracks a moment. Her mind whirred.
"No need to panic, Brenda. I'm only stating facts." Sharon eyed her carefully. "Would you like to grab dinner sometime?"
"As what?"
"As whatever you'd like."
Brenda bit her lip. "I don't know what I'd like yet."
"That's perfectly fine. Why don't we say as friends then. And take it from there." Sharon finished her wine and set the glass in the dishwasher. Brenda followed suit.
"Do I still get to kiss you if we're friends?" Brenda asked quietly.
Sharon turned to her. "Yes. But I think you should sleep in the guest room for tonight. I'm not that kind of girl." Sharon winked and stepped into Brenda's space.
Brenda grinned and kissed her.