"Is there something wrong with you?" Andy was greeted with the harsh tone and random question the moment he picked up the phone. No greeting, no introduction, just someone flinging accusations at him. That didn't even count the early hour; it was just after 7:00 AM, and while he wasn't sleeping, it was still early for such a random phone call. He pulled the phone back to look at the number again, and he frowned when he didn't recognize it.
"Excuse me? Who is this? I think you have the wrong number," he grunted.
"I know your voice, and I most certainly do not have the wrong number, Lieutenant. This is Sharon, I mean, Captain Raydor, and I'm calling to find out just what in the world you are thinking?"
"Raydor?" Andy said surprised. "Wait, have I gone back in a time machine? As I recall, I had other phone calls from you that started this way when I was back on the force, but news flash, I'm retired. Why in the world are you harassing me this early in the morning from 3,000 miles away? Besides that, how did you even get this number?"
"I got your number from Lieutenant Provenza because I told him I needed to speak with you about an urgent matter. That is not a lie. I'm calling to find out what is wrong with you, and more specifically, why are you going after my daughter?" Sharon exclaimed.
"Going after your daughter?" Andy raised his voice back at her. "What are you talking about? My sister and I went to her ballet, and we took her out for dessert."
"I'm aware! I was working a case all night, and you can imagine my surprise when I received several text messages, including some pictures of you with Emily at a restaurant. I'm calling you to tell you to stay away from my daughter. She is off limits for you to date. I'd call her to tell her that myself, but she's always been the type to go after the forbidden. In high school, if I told her I didn't want her hanging around someone, she'd seek that person out, just to irritate me. If I told her I didn't like a guy for whatever reason, she'd go after him. Yes, she's my daughter, but she has some of her dad in her as well, and that part is evident in situations such as this. Knowing that, I'm not asking, but telling you, to stay away from my daughter. I'm well aware of your reputation, and I do not want you chasing after my daughter."
"Raydor, you have some nerve," Andy exclaimed. "You also have no clue what you are talking about here. I have no plans to date Emily, NONE. Are you serious? She's the same age as my daughter! I see in her what I wish I could see in my own daughter, but Nicole isn't speaking to me. We've had a rocky relationship for years, and I've been trying to mend it, but she thinks I'm still a washed up drunk. Emily, it's been nice to get to know here a little, even if she is your daughter. I find her funny and sweet, which I know she didn't get from you. She's a great kid, but there is no romantic interest there. Emily invited me to her ballet, saying she had free tickets and pretty much no one who wanted them. I only recognized her from initially seeing her with you, and we've run into each other a few times at the coffee shop. She's a great kid, and that blows my mind because you are such a horrible person. Here you are, calling me to chew me out, when I was trying to be a nice guy. She gave me free tickets, so I took my sister. We took her flowers as a thank you, and while we were chatting with her, I invited her out for dessert. It was Valentine's evening, and she was going to walk home alone. You should be thanking me for watching out for her. I wouldn't have wanted my own daughter to walk home alone, and well, with it a night everyone else was out with a date, I thought it would be nice to offer her dessert."
"Your history speaks for itself!" Sharon said sternly. "I've heard about your reputation all over the building, and you haven't exactly had any sort of stringent criteria for your dates. I even saw you with that random younger woman when I ran into you in New York. I'm calling you because my daughter is off-limits. She's too young and has a bright future ahead of her. She already dealt with her dad leaving her, and I don't need you swooping in, charming her, using her, and then dropping her."
"Are you listening? You seem to be the one with the problem. You're crazy, Raydor, and I can tell you that now because I don't work for the LAPD anymore. You are always on a power trip, and you have no control over me. Let me repeat myself here, and I'll do it slowly so we can be clear. I AM NOT INTERESTED IN EMILY. I HAVE NO PLANS TO DATE HER. NONE. ZERO. Seriously, Raydor! You are nuts. Come on! I told you she reminds me of my daughter," Andy exclaimed, now clearly irritated.
"You'll stay away from Emily, then?" Sharon asked.
"Well, I mean, I am not going to be rude. We seem to have struck up a friendship. You might find it odd, but hey, it seems to work. Maybe she sees me like a dad, because from the little she said, hers is long gone. Knowing you and your bubbly personality, though, no surprise!" Andy told her.
"Leave my ex-husband out of this!" Sharon exclaimed. Andy even pulled the phone back from his ear with her tone. Clearly, he'd hit a nerve with that. "This is about you staying away from Emily. You are old enough to know better. She should be too, but I'm starting with you for a reason."
"I still don't see why you aren't understanding this! I told you that it has been innocent, all of it. I see her like my own daughter! Why is that so hard to see? Oh, wait, is it hard for you to believe a guy could be a decent dad because your own kid hasn't had one? Is it hard to believe I'd be a decent dad because my own kids refuse to talk to me? Listen, lady, I am a good guy, even if the world thinks otherwise. Part of the reason I moved 3,000 miles away was to start over here. Lucky me, I just happen to run into you and your daughter here in my new neighborhood. You want me to stay away and not date her? Fine! I had no plan to do that. She's been fun to chat with in line at the coffee shop. My sister and I enjoyed a lovely evening, and as a thank you, I took her out for dessert. Have you even spoken to Emily? Do you even have all your facts, Captain? A good detective would have collected facts before slinging accusations, but oh wait, you aren't a good detective. You are just the lap dog for FID. My sister was there; we had a nice time getting dessert. Emily was quiet, but pleasant. We talked about dancing mostly. My sister had a lot of questions, and when we were done, I didn't even take Emily home. She ran into a friend, some girl she knew, and the two decided to go for a drink. So, lay off Raydor. How about just a simple thanks or whatever for watching out for your kid?"
"I'm, I'm, I'm sorry," she stumbled over her words. "Emily sent me two pictures from this outing, both with you in the picture. As I said, she has a reputation for going after anything I don't like. I'd mentioned to her the two of us were not exactly on friendly terms, and when she pressed me for more, I just told her that we clashed at work often. She's a wonderful young woman, but she doesn't make the best decisions in her dating life. She's had several very bad relationships, and apparently, I jumped to the wrong conclusion."
"You sure did!" Andy said loudly. "I can't believe you dug around for my number just to call me here at the crack of dawn to chew me out. Classy, Raydor. Really classy. What, it's like 4:00 in the morning, and you are sitting there waiting to call me? How about you find some new detective to harass. I'VE LEFT THE BUILDING!"
"I just tried to apologize to you, and here you go again, being your chauvinistic self! You can't even accept an apology! I'll say it again, even if the meaning is different. STAY AWAY FROM EMILY. She doesn't need you hanging around her as a friend or anything else," Sharon exclaimed.
"Hey, you stop right there. I told her if she needs anything to let me know. You should be thankful. I even told her a little about my own kids last night, and I knew what it was like to have a dysfunctional family. She had a good time. Are we done here because I'd really like to start my day over again, if that is okay with you? I would like to forget LAPD police captains calling me to chew me out first thing in the morning! When I've had a cup of coffee or two, I'll call Provenza to chew him out for giving you my number. I was trying to keep that away from most of LA."
"Provenza only did what you should have done before you left. You know we, the LAPD, request contact information for retired detectives because as you are fully aware, sometimes you have to be contacted about old cases. Don't blame your friend for doing what you should have done," Sharon scolded him.
"And the hits just keep coming! Raydor, back off. We're done here. You are way out of line, thinking that I wanted to date Emily. So, she sent you pictures-big deal. She told me that she wanted to post about her big date, but I let her take the pictures knowing that she was kidding! I'd tell you to ask my sister about that conversation, but she was in the bathroom when we were joking around about that and took the pictures. If she's so intent on doing what you tell her not to do, you should know that she was probably trying to do it again-to show you that hey, guess what-he's a nice guy, at least to me."
"I don't know why I thought calling you would fix anything. I have already said it once and will say it again, that I'm sorry for misjudging the situation, but I'm asking you to leave my daughter alone. I have been up all night working, and I need to get back to work. I used my meal break to call you," she told him.
"Well, then I would say we are done here. Back off, Captain," Andy hissed and hung up the phone. He stood and started to pace. Raydor. She had some nerve. Not only did she call him out of the blue, she had completely misread the situation. She hadn't even spoken to her own daughter before calling him to chew him out. Dating her daughter, Andy groaned at the thought. She was crazy. Captain Sharon Raydor was a nut job. Why would she think he'd date her daughter? Sure, he liked to date women, but not one the same age as his own daughter. Emily was a nice kid. He'd enjoyed talking to her, and it was almost as if he got some insight about Nicole while talking to Emily. Ang had thought she was great too. Sure, he hadn't spoken to her about Emily in great detail, but he could tell she had a great evening. Andy ran his hands through his hair as he let out a long sigh. He looked to the phone in his hand and quickly, he picked it up to call Ang. He'd get her take on this crazy situation.
"Morning, Ang," Andy smiled when she answered.
"Morning," she yawned into the phone. "Sorry, I didn't sleep well. What's up this morning? I just saw you last night."
"That's why I'm calling. You'll never guess who just called me to chew me out?" Andy sighed.
"Probably not, so go ahead and just tell me," Ang replied.
"Raydor! Emily's mom," he specified. "I just got off the phone with her where she chewed me out for trying to date Emily! Can you believe that? She called me where local time for her, it's the middle of the night, to tell me to back off and leave Emily alone! She has some nerve. Date Emily," Andy scolded and continued, "as if. I'm still so irritated I could scream."
"Wait," Ang said, slowly as she was trying to process everything. "You mean to tell me you aren't trying to date Emily?"
