Return Chapter 2
by Disherona
After dropping Adrian Monk off at Dr. Bell's office, Natalie picked up Sharona from her hotel and they decided to have lunch at Sujiko, a new restaurant in the Marina district. The restaurant was beautiful and the food was delicious, but even as Natalie made interesting, though one-sided conversation, Sharona's thoughts were elsewhere; wandering as unbidden but not unwelcome, thoughts of the previous night had blossomed in her mind.
The night had been filled with passion and tenderness. Then they talked most of the night until they fell asleep in each others arms. Sharona was still on New Jersey time, and Randy had the early shift for work, so they arose early in the morning,. They took their time getting ready for the day, and Sharona thought, wryly that this was what she wished that her married life would be like; an unrushed, peaceful morning with the man she loved. Randy brought Sharona a cup of hot coffee and they chatted about pleasant things. It was like a dream, one she knew wouldn't last forever.
She knew that once her lawsuit was settled and she went back to New Jersey, everything would be back to normal: rushed, messy, conflicted and complicated. At least she could enjoy this break from her normal life for as long as it would last, and she was not looking forward to going back. The only thing keeping her in New Jersey was Benjy, and as much as Sharona loved her son, she knew that he would be leaving the nest soon.
"Hello. Earth to Sharona." Natalie Teeger waved a hand in front of Sharona's face, to try to get her attention. "You've barely touched your lunch." Natalie pointed out. "Is anything wrong?"
"Oh, wow." Sharona said, when she snapped out of her thoughts. "I didn't mean to be so rude. I'm sorry."
"'I'd say "penny for your thoughts', but I have a feeling that they wouldn't be sold so cheaply." Natalie Teeger snickered, she dipped an immaculately assembled piece of maguro sushi, gleaming bright red like a jewel against the white of the hand shaped rice, into soy sauce before popping it into her mouth. She closed her eyes as savored its delicate flavor. "It's been so long since I've had sushi. Mr. Monk won't eat it. He won't even consider it."
"I know how you feel. When I worked for Adrian, we spent so much time together that I didn't have any other adult friends to do things with, unless they didn't mind spending time with him. Those people were few and far between. I remember taking an adult creative writing class for a short time, but then my instructor turned out to be a murderer who plagiarized my murder, so I decided to give up on writing. And, as much as I loved Adrian, you have to have a special kind of patience to spend that much time with him."
"I noticed that, too. You can't do much with Mr. Monk without being caught up in a murder," Natalie said, dipping another piece of sushi, and popping it into her mouth.
"Once, Adrian and I were on an airplane to Jersey and a man murdered his wife at the airport, and a passenger on the plane."
"I would say that it was unbelievable, but I've experienced it myself." Then, she asked, hesitantly, "Can I ask you a personal question? "
"Sure. Anything."
"How long have you and Randy been seeing each other?" Natalie asked, knowingly.
Sharona was silent for a moment and rearranged some of the sushi on her plate as she considered what to tell her, then decided to be up front with Natalie. "Randy's right. You don't miss much. What gave it away?"
"Oh, I've noticed some things." Natalie smiled, pleased that Randy and Sharona praised her observational skills. "I saw Randy kiss you at the hotel when you left the last time you visited. When I asked Mr. Monk about it later, he looked at me like I had another head growing out of my neck, so, I thought, 'This must be something new.' I asked Captain Stottlemeyer about you two kissing and he laughed and said I needed to lay off the Chardonnay. I asked Randy, and he keeps denying it, but he is not very good at lying."
"Thank God," Sharona added.
"And before you came to town, he was really gunning for Tina, one of the CSI techs. He's not paying any attention her at all, now. He keeps looking at his cell phone and smiling, and he's never been in such a good mood."
"You're turning into a regular Sherlock Holmes."
"I feel like Dr. Watson." Natalie admitted.
"Can I ask you a favor, Ms. Watson? As one of the sisterhood of the assistants, please don't tell anyone about Randy and me; especially the Captain, or Adrian or Randy,"
"Why not? I think it's sweet."
"It's just" She paused to consider her words. "We're not really sure of where the relationship is going, and it would be a lot easier to figure it out, naturally, if there weren't outsiders involved, and well, I've had a string of bad luck with men."
"I know."
Sharona gave Natalie a look. "How do you know that?"
"I didn't mean I know, I meant to say, I heard."
"What did you hear? Never mind. I think I can guess. Anyway, I don't want to give everything up for a man again. I've made so many mistakes, I just don't want to rush him, or myself, or the relationship."
Natalie's sympathetic look made Sharona feel a little self conscious. She looked down to contemplate her next piece of sushi, opting for a fresh uni, and savoring the combination of briny creaminess.
"Believe it or not, I know how you feel. I know it's difficult to have a long distance relationship. Steven and I have been dating for 9 months, and I've only seen him 3 times. I miss him like crazy and I really worry about him when he's at sea, but when we do get to be together, it's like we've never been apart."
"So, it's serious, then?" Sharona asked.
"I don't know if we're serious, but when we are together, it's exciting."
"Natalie, would you mind if I called you, you know, to talk about this long distance relationship stuff?"
"Oh, sweetie, I wouldn't mind at all. In fact, I think I would like it. It'd be like having a sister to gossip with." Natalie said with a sweet tilt of the head.
R/S
After lunch, Sharona and Natalie did some window shopping to pass the time while Adrian was in with Dr. Bell, then Natalie picked her boss up, and they dropped Sharona off at her attorney's office. Sharona entered the law office, and found that the reception area was empty, but she could hear a hushed conversation in Lee's office. She glanced at her watch, and called out from the empty reception area when she realized how late her lawyer was for their meeting.
The conversation in her attorney's office ended immediately, and Angela, the receptionist, came out to meet her with a big, perfect smile in place.
"Am I interrupting anything?" Sharona asked.
"No. Lee ran late with his last appointment. Please, come in. Make yourself comfortable."
When she entered the office, Lee was shuffling papers, putting them in different stacks, and some into files. "Can I offer you something to drink?"
"No, I'm fine." Sharona said as she took a seat across from her attorney, noticing the exchange of glances as their meeting started, and guessing that she had just walking in on an office quickie or something.
The meeting was short, mainly going over their contract. Lee asked Sharona some more questions pertaining to the accident, and went over the doctor's report and witness statements with her, to verify that they corroborated with her complaint. He got her contact information, while she was in San Francisco, and told her that he was going to arrange a meeting with the country club's lawyers within the next couple of days and to make sure she was available on short notice.
As they talked, Lee put together a file with copies of all the papers for Sharona.
R/S
Sharona and her lawyer entered the office to find Lt. Randy Disher, who had pulled a chair a conversational distance from Angela Self, Lee Conrad's receptionist. He sipped a cup of fresh hot coffee and was focused on a discussion about his work. Randy had a briefcase by his chair, which meant that he might have had a court case, or a deposition from work, and he was still wearing his shield, indicating that he had just gotten off of work. \
'I can't believe that anyone would actually want to be a homicide detective," the pretty young receptionist made a disgusted face. "You have to see all those dead bodies every day. Ugh."
"Well, being a homicide detective is really about finding the truth and bringing justice to the victims." Randy explained. "The job is mostly asking questions, finding clues, and writing a lot of reports. We have to see dead people, and that's a difficult but necessary part of the job.."
Angela seemed to become introspective. "I can't imagine how you could get an image like that out of your mind at the end of the day. I mean, how do you go home and not think about, you know, the face, the blood..."
Randy put on his sincere smile and gave the answer he usually gave to civilians. "You replace those thoughts with more pleasant thoughts. It's something you have to train yourself to do. You switch that part of your day off, and go on to your home life. Spend time with your family or friends" He took another sip of coffee. "How did you hear about Mr. Dent's murder?" Randy asked, suddenly noticing there were other people in the room.
"Oh, Lee and Mr. Dent were partners. and I met him working at the office. I was shocked when I heard it on the news."
Sharona saw how easily Angela opened up to Randy. She hadn't recognized it when she was Adrian's assistant, but looking back, she could remember how people talked with him "I hope you're not talking shop," Sharona asked Randy, with a smile and a kiss. "I'm hoping for a murderless week."
"Sorry, I didn't intend to. " Randy stood, when he realized that Sharona and her attorney were in the room. "Sometimes these things just come up."
"I know. Sometimes they come up too often." Sharona crossed the room to embrace Randy. "Being Adrian Monk's assistant has already sent me over the body-count limit, and I'm really glad it's not a regular part of my life, to be honest."
"i know, and while you're visiting, the only thing you should be worrying about is your lawsuit, and just how much fun you will be having tonight."
To Be Continued.
A/N Please review. I really love feedback on these stories. Next Chapter - features Adrian Monk and some danger.