Chapter 6: An Answer
Sharona paced in her living room. Damn Benjy! Asking her if she was in love with Adrian. "What was I supposed to tell him? A lie? Okay, so I'm not 'in love' with him…yet. Dammit! I am NOT supposed to be having romantic feelings for him. I can't have a relationship with Adrian! He knows every little mistake I make. He's like God in that way!"
She paced around some more, then her thoughts got the best of her and she threw her hands up in defeat. "That's it. I'm calling him, and I'm going to tell him just what's on my mind."
She picked up the phone and pressed the speed dial for his apartment. As the phone was dialing the number, she found herself breathing shallowly. 'What the hell is wrong with me? I call Adrian all the time, and this is the first time I've reacted like this.'
The sound of Adrian's voice over the line startled her.
"H-hello? Sharona, is that you?"
Sharona's momentary loss of functioning was disrupted by a feeling of annoyance and comfort that this familiar conversation brought. "Yes, Adrian, it's me. Who else would it be?"
"Uh…I don't know," Monk stalled. "I thought it was maybe Captain Stottlemeyer or…my dry cleaner. Anyways, is there a reason you called?"
He was hoping there was a reason she called – a reason related to their earlier talk. He wanted her to come back to his apartment. He was scared, but excited at the same time. It had been a long time since he had been intimate with a woman.
"Yeah, Adrian," Sharona confirmed. "I need to talk to you."
"You are talking to me," he interrupted.
"No, that's not what I meant. We need to…talk. Do you know what I'm saying?"
"Uh…yes. I know what you are saying," he responded, a tad disheartened by her tone of voice. What was she going to say? Did she want to take back everything she just told him?
Monk mentally slapped himself for telling her how he felt, but mostly for kissing her. He went and exposed himself to her, and now she thought he really was crazy. Maybe she thought she couldn't be his nurse anymore. But he couldn't handle anyone else. Sharona was the only one for him. In every sense of the word.
"Adrian? Adrian, are you okay?" Sharona's anxious voice came over the line.
Monk snapped out of his thougts and responded, "I'm fine. Sharona, I just want to apologize for the way I acted earlier. I know I probably scared you…"
"Freaked me out is more like it," Sharona cut in. "Hey, don't worry about it. That's partially what I wanted to talk about. I've decided what I really want from this, and we need to talk things over in person. I'll be over in a few minutes, okay?"
Monk gulped. "Sure. Sure, that's fine. Just…don't take too long. I'll be timing you."
"You are really, really weird sometimes," Sharona told him before hanging the phone up.
Monk heard the deafening dial tone, then hung up himself. She was coming over. She had an answer for him. The short drive to his apartment was going to seem like days to him.
He started pacing his kitchen, stopping occasionally to straighten appliances that didn't need straightening in the first place. That's how you could tell if he was really anxious about something: he rearranged his belongings.
After what seemed like hours of tortured waiting on Monk's behalf, a knock sounded on his door. He almost ran to answer it, then remembered his rule about running in the house, and walked quickly to the door and opened it.
"Sharona, I'm so glad you're…" he started excitedly, then saw the small person standing behind her.
"Hi, Mr. Monk," Benjy greeted him.
Monk looked at Sharona curiously. "Uh…I remembered I couldn't leave Benjy alone, and I didn't know how long I'd be here, so…"
"It's okay," Monk insisted, even though all he wanted right now was to be alone with Sharona.
Sharona's eyes said, 'I'm sorry,' as she told Benjy, "Go wait for me in the living room."
"Don't sit on anything," Monk ordered him, still staring at Sharona.
Once Benjy was out of sight, Monk opened his mouth to speak, but Sharona stopped him. "Don't say a word, Adrian. I can read it in your eyes." She began to tear up. "Are you sure?" she whispered. He nodded slightly, so she did the only thing she thought was appropriate.