Author's Note: New chapter, I hope you like it.
That-Geek
Sharon woke up the morning of the festival with an uneasy feeling, why had she offered to walk with Flynn? She took a deep breath and tried to ignore it and get ready for the day. She had chosen to wear a lilac dress which had a proofed out skirt on her feet white pumps. She quickly showered and dried her hair before pinning it up, she kept her makeup light, it was going to be a hot day. Sharon put on her planned outfit then sat down on the sofa, today would be okay, she told herself.
Andy also woke up with an uneasy feeling. He showered and pulled on some clothes without much thought then made his way to Nicole's house, triple checking the tickets were where he left them. He got into his car and drove to Nicole's home. He had left nearly an hour and a half before they were due to meet Sharon.
Nicole opened the door and smiled awkwardly, things between them were still a little tetchy, she welcomed him in and when he entered the living room he found the boys siting on the sofa, not in smart(ish) clothes.
"Hello Andy" the eldest one, Sam, greeted still in what looked a lot like pajamas. The younger one looked over the back of the sofa his hair mused, did this kid just wake up? Andy asked himself.
"Sorry dad, the boys didn't think you were coming. Mom said some things to dean that boys overheard" she explained briefly. The boys were once again watching TV. "I think it's best we don't go the ball game you had planned" she smiled awkwardly. Andy smiled to himself his ex-wife always had a way of ruining things for him even after nearly 2 decades sober.
"Right that's fine I guess these tickets for the Grande Carmina Festival can go to other young boys who like dancing" Andy smiled pulling the tickets from his pocket. The boys snapped round and stared at the metallic tickets. There was silence for a few moments and then they dashed towards the stairs.
"Dad, those tickets are expensive...you don't need to try that hard." Nicole scoffed trying not to sound as impressed as she was.
"Well actual I work with someone who had some tickets and she gave them to me after she found me listening to some ballet music." He explained as they sat on the sofa waiting for the boys. "Her daughter is performing at the festival" he added.
"A female colleague, that's interesting" Nicole smiled to herself.
"Nicole don't I don't like this woman, she's in IA. She's doing me a favour that's all" he declared to her. Raydor meant basically nothing to him. The boys came down in the smartest clothes he had ever seen them in, then again that was only pajamas and jeans.
The boys talked animatedly in the back of the car as Andy drove them to the address Sharon had given him.
Sharon waited patiently in her condo, she would go down stairs five minutes before hand but she found herself buzzing around so was heading for the stairs that would slow her down.
He turned into the building and parked quite coincidentally by a stair well door just as Raydor exited, Andy's eyes grew, and she looked great he wasn't aware of the smirk Nicole sent his way. This guy was smitten even if he wouldn't say it out loud.
"Lieutenant" she waved as he got out of the car smiling from ear to ear. Before he could reply the two boys leapt out of the car and into Sharon mumbling thank you's as they hugged her tightly, awkwardly she placed an arm around the boys she had never met.
"Thank you from me as well, maybe they could her let you go now" he hinted to the hound boys who seemed to have no trouble hugging a stranger. They walked out of the car park and away from the city, it wasn't too long a walk. As they got closer they began to hear the soft sound of the orchestral music, the boys leaped up shouting that they recognised it.
"Anyway, you'll be free to do whatever all day but at 3 there's performance and if you meet me after that then I'll take you to meet Emily, the soloist this year." She informed them and then practically skipped over to a group of people who seemed happy to see here. Andy felt a pang of guilt, before now he had never seen Sharon Raydor as more than the Captain, the biggest pain in his ass but now he could see she was a woman with looks and people who cared and loved her. He was brought out of his though by someone tugging on his arm, he looked down and saw Jake tugging on his sleeve smiling he took his hand and was dragged to one of the big tents.
Inside the first tent was set up like a little studio and the boys eagerly joined in with the mini lesson for the majority of the morning. Nicole and Andy watched for a while but Andy decided to go extra lore. Not too far away from the lesson tent was a tent filled with books, he walked between stands stopping every so often. At one point he picked up a heavy box that was filled with pictures from ballet competitions around LA, the photographers had taken great care to capture the grace of each dancer, one picture from the 80's captured his eye. The ballet dancer was playing Cinderella and currently in mid jump her long legs stretching across the stage.
"Would you like it?" An older woman asked sweetly
"Er yeah...it's a great picture" he hand over $25 the lady smiled and continued talking.
"It's sad her story she was a great dancer for so long but then her husband got ill and she joined the police last I heard. Although her daughter became a ballerina but she works largely in New York." He smiled wondering who may be the ex-ballerina at work. He waved goodbye then went in his way buying 2 copies of male dancers who shaped ballet for the boys. He exited the tent and ran into Sharon.
"Enjoying your day?" She asked pushing her sunglasses away from her face.
"It's been good the boys were in a lesson before and I found a book for them too so...I never imagined it could be so good" he answered grinning "what about you?"
"It's been great always is are you..." she started but was stopped by a young girl running.
"Auntie Ron, your show is about to start" she giggled as Sharon picked her up "c'mon let's go, you too" she pointed at Andy and went to grab at him but was held back by her auntie.
"Your welcome to join us...Andy" she smiled and headed to another tent to which his surprise Nicole and the boys were also going into. They waved to him and ran to join him. Sharon sat down with the little girl in her lap then patted the seat next to her which Andy maybe too eagerly sat in.
"Nothing going on my ass" Nicole whispered to her father and then turned to watch the show with her soon to be step sons. The show started and Sharon explained it was a Cinderella rendition from a few decades back when the festival began. All of sudden when Cinderella came on the little girl on Sharon's lap leapt up and pointed.
"It's you!" She shouted to the dismay of her auntie who was quick to sit her down and tell her to be quiet before too many people stared. Sharon glanced at Andy who seemed quite mesmerized by the show. At the end the little girl bounded away from her auntie over to another woman who looked vaguely like Sharon and another woman in a wheelchair.
"Was that really you?" He asked looking down at her as she quickly slid her sunglasses over her eyes as if she had to hide her emotion from him.
"Yes." She replied shortly before she could dash off he grabbed her hand.
"Sharon, I'm sorry. For the way I treat you at work and what I say behind your back. You frustrate me and I take it on you but I shouldn't" he rambled looking at her the whole time hoping his sudden confidence would not go away.
"Ok" she replied
"I mean that Sharon. I've never been a rule follower and I guess I'm just shooting the messenger" he saw her smile but couldn't quite tell if it was genuine.
"Andy, if I took what people say about me to heart then I would have died of a blackened heart. It did hurt but I'm a big girl I got over it. I do every time" she explained as they walked towards what looked like a coffee and food tent. With one last smile she patted his arm and headed inside.
One hour later Andy had found his family and was having a great time Sam and Jake, who had really began to warm to both of them and Jake pretty much saw Andy as his best friend as they made their way to the main stage with Jake's arms wrapped tightly around the older mans neck. As they reached the main stage the boys spotted Sharon and shouted to her.
"Sharon, thank you for giving Andy the tickets. Today has been great" Sam smiled and shook her hand. She smiled down at him and claimed it was no trouble. The four followed Sharon over to where her family were already sitting. An old man was in a wheelchair and so was a slightly younger woman. The little girl who he had briefly before was sidestepping over to them.
"Young lady, would you calm down or might have skip s'mores and movies and have a Ava goes straight to bed with no movies, no books and NO hugs" Sharon stared down at the little girl who whimpered then quietly sat on her lap.
When the dancers came onto the stage Andy could see out the corner of his eye, Ava wanted to jump up but her auntie had a tight grip on her. Then all of a sudden the music volume increased and the soloist twirled on, Sharon's eyes lit up and Andy made the assumption that this was Emily, she looked similar to her mother but not completely alike. As the show continued Andy recognised the way the young woman danced so gracefully.
At the interval Nicole took the boys for the bathroom and offered to take Ava. Sharon turned to the old woman beside her who mentioned 'your father' then waddled off.
"She's really good" Andy whispered
"Thank you, I can't take all the credit but she found one of my old ballet videos and the rest they say is History" she replied with fondness.
"How come you stopped?" He asked and she raised an eyebrow "not to intrude" he added.
"No it's okay. I was dancing up until my mid 20's, Jack, my husband yo may have met him back in your drinking days, he needed to get through law school so I stopped dancing to help him and then we'd swap, he spend a few years travelling with my company who reserved me a job in 4 years. Then he claimed my dancing would never be enough not like the LAPD got me. In the end, I got pregnant and sort of fell in love with policing." She explained looking down a few times the sadness of losing a dream catching her slightly.
"I remember Jack Raydor. He was the worst kind of drunk, cocky and affectionate. Yet you were always aware of his family. I'm sorry" he smiled sadly.
"Don't. Jack is responsible for himself. If you try to apologise for his actions you end up like me...cold and alone" she sternly told him and for second he went back to his school days when the deputy would try and talk to him before the head teacher laid down the law with the belt. However, the first thing he said was not related to his momentary flashback.
"You're not cold or alone." It came out almost too quickly "I mean that little girl seems to love you very much and you look like you have a pretty big family" he explained further feeling his cheeks burn a little. She started to smirk and then laugh.
"Who knew Lieutenant Andy Flynn could be so sweet" she patted his arm and his hand moved over the top of hers.
"I have my moments, y'know" he whispered looking into her eyes. The two could feel the moment building but the announcement broke them apart and the excited whispers of their family members pushed at that separation.
The rest of the performance went perfectly. Little Ava sat quietly in Sharon's lap as Sharon exchanged nervous glances with Andy. When had they started to feel like this? They were supposed to hate each other and yet all the two could think about was getting the other alone and all for themself.
As the lights dimmed and the audience filed out but Sharon sat quite still with Ava.
"Right I believe there are some children wanting to meet my Emily" she smiled which jumpstarted the tiring little girl who grabbed Jake's hand. Sharon trotted after them making sure she didn't leave anyone behind.
"Now Andy could you keep an eye on them for one second please" she asked as they reached what looked like portable rooms. He nodded and she slipped inside. A few seconds later she reemerged a held the door open for them.
"Hi I'm Emily Raydor. I hear you like ballet" she smiled extending her hand to the boys while Ava leapt up into her arms, because obviously they were somehow related through Sharon. The boys talked to Emily animatedly as she told them numerous stories she had no problem at all. Sharon and Andy leaned against the wall and just watched.
"Let me take you dinner" he whispered, her head whipped round her eyebrows raised.
"To say thanks, for today and to extend my apology" he explained for a moment she looked slightly disgusted and then she smiled and muttered quite politely, "fine".