I do not own The Closer or any of its characters, or its settings
Chapter Ten
Lies are the best part of life.
The little white lies we tell ourselves during the day: one more biscuit can't hurt, these heels look so good, he hits me because he loves me. The little white lies we tell to other people: that dress really looks good on you; I did hand in that report, honestly; he's not cheating on you honey. The big lies we keep from other people, the ones we care about.
I'm just really busy at work; we'll spend some time together soon.
I didn't shoot him, I swear! He was dead when I got here!
I love you.
She tells little white lies to herself all day long. It's for the greater good, the work that she does. Will will love her, he just needs time. Nobody will ever find out, the file is locked away. She tells them to Will, to Claudia to everyone. She tells Will it's okay when he holds onto her in bed, as she cries herself to sleep. She tells Claudia and Simon that the LAPD will one day realise that what they're doing is okay, that one day they'll be respected. She lies to Ben, telling him everything is fine, but the scars on her back glow poker white and she will sit there, unable to breathe.
Then there are the big lies. The ones only a handful know. Not Will. Not Wendell…those that dirty the blood she is so afraid of.
Sam.
Ben.
Her father.
She read a self help book once about controlling fear, desperate to control her loathing of blood, the trembling in her legs every time she came close to it. You need to face your fear slowly, unwrap each layer until you are comfortable with it and then you control it. Ben once faced his fear, he went to the prison and sat across from the man that had made his life hell, wrecked everything that a normal child should have had. Sharon remembers seeing him coming out, wheeling the chair that was his own prison. She could almost see the garden soaked in blood that was in his eyes.
She had thought about telling Will, telling him every dirty secret she had. Some were worse than others. Her father was tragic, Ben was simplistic, Sam would ruin her. Would Will look at her the same, seeing a young woman with too much blood on her hands? Would he comfort her, tell her everything was going to be okay and make love to her? But it wouldn't be that simple, she could see the fringes of her world coming down. She could see Flynn and Major Crimes circling like a pack of vultures waiting for her chest to be exposed, and then swoop down to rip open her carcass.
She can barely sleep, barely eat as she thinks about Major Crimes and their tangled web, unravelling her carefully structured façades and lies. Her house of cards is going to come tumbling down; right on her head and not even Will could protect her, even if he wanted to.
As she lays there, his body resting against hers, she doesn't know if he would.
X
He felt like a monster, and it killed him. He felt hollow inside, saw how she cried herself to sleep and he wanted to kill himself. He couldn't do anything without lying, and for once in his life he didn't want to lie to a woman. Didn't want to tell her how much he loved her, wanted to feel it in every cell. But it was killing him watching her without his love. Surely that said something about his feelings?
Will looked over to her; she had finally slipped off to sleep around three am. It was now six, the sun would be rising soon and the alarm would go off to get the kids up for school and Sharon to her own house so she would be ready for work. He moved away from her and put on his dressing gown and left his bedroom and her, not wanting to watch her wake up and see her feel the tracks the tears made on her skin.
Downstairs he put on a pair of trainers and found the basketball his son practiced with. Brendan wanted to play for the Lakers when he grew up; Will had taken him to a few games when they had got free seats. He shot a couple and sunk a couple, needing something to work off his steam. It wasn't just that they weren't having sex, they hadn't since Thanksgiving, it was the crying when he wasn't looking, the distance of her, and he knew he was to blame for it. When Brenda had come back, he had been sore to see her fall for Fritz and then marry him, but he at least knew that she didn't love him back. The endless uncertainty was killing her, unknown forces dragging her away from him every day.
His shot missed and rebounded off of the board. He went to retrieve it, and he turned around to see Sharon holding the ball. She was wearing her dressing gown, her hair was tied back in a loose ponytail and she was bare foot.
"You'll catch a cold out here."
"It's not that cold."
Will took each step to her slowly and plucked the ball from her fingers, dropping it to the floor beside them, the ball rolling away. "We should get back inside, maybe crank up the heating." He moved away from her, barely looking at her. The problem was his, she deserved better than he and his baggage. He had loved Jean, had made a son with her but had cheated on her every chance he got. Estelle was the result of too many affairs, and although she had cheated on him if Brenda had kissed him late in the office he would have made love to her on her desk. His whole romantic life was a pack of lies, and in trying to make Sharon exempt from that would ruin them anyway.
"If you made love to me, would you say you loved me? If you fucked me would I be able to see the man that I was in love with? Am still in love with? Will…I need you."
He turned on his heel and rushed back to her, holding her in his arms. She started crying, and Will held her tighter, holding onto her. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry. I just…I don't love you." Her tears stilled and her head tilted to kiss his lips.
"Lie to me."
"You're the most amazing woman I've ever known, and I've never felt anything like what I'm feeling for you from any other woman."
She snorted. "That's some lie."
They went in together, but didn't go back upstairs. Sharon cuddled him on the sofa, playing with the skin on his bare chest, occasionally pinching. He groaned when she did, but he soon wised up and kissed her harder when she hurt him. "Tell me the truth Will, will you ever love me?"
"Yes. I can feel it in every bone in my body that I will. I just need some time. I need to have that moment when I know that I'd die for you."
And that was all she needed to hear as she fell asleep against his chest.
X
"My money is on Jimmy; jeez that kid looks like he could use some action."
"You thinking cougar?"
Flynn smiled and chewed on the end of his toothpick. "I think that she's so desperate to get laid, that she'll go for anyone. Even you."
Provenza nodded and scowled when he realised what Flynn had said, before writing the name on the little whiteboard they had propped up on Gabriel's desk. It had been two weeks since Thanksgiving, and Flynn and Provenza had been working tirelessly trying to think who Raydor's boyfriend could be. Flynn's idea was that if they knew who she was dating, they could turn him or feed him false information to drive Raydor a little off the rails and out of their lives. They had to be secret about it; they were keeping it from the Chief so she had plausible deniability.
"Morning Gentlemen."
Flynn looked up and slammed the board down, obscuring it from view. They had already had the conversation about who they would tell. Taylor had been told briefly what was going on, he wasn't happy about it but he wouldn't tell anyone higher up. Maybe they could have told Pope a few months ago, but he seemed to be pro justice and pro Raydor of late, so they didn't think it was safe.
"Hey Chief. You okay?"
He looked tired, worried, overall like crap. "Yeah, I'm fine thank you Flynn. What you working on?"
Flynn coughed and tried to act nonchalant. "Nothing much, just a personal project."
They probably would have gotten away with it, however at that moment Gabriel came rushing in announcing: "Her file is not in records, I don't know where it is."
"Whose file gentlemen?" Pope asked, putting his hands on his hips and turning towards Gabriel who would be the first one to break, as usual. Provenza rested a hand on the young man's shoulder, squeezing tightly as he stood up to face the Assistant Chief. They had to act very carefully here; otherwise they could be up in front of a very vicious Internal Affairs.
"Captain Raydor's, Chief. We want to try and get to know her better, see if any common ground can be made. Did you know she's seeing someone?"
Flynn rolled his eyes; Provenza was as subtle as a brick through a window. Pope on the other hand was blank, not giving anything away. "No I did not. And I would suggest gentlemen that if you want to get to know Sharon Raydor better, I suggest you ask her. If I hear of anyone causing any professional and personal damage to Captain Raydor, I'll be straight in here and you'll be straight up in front of Internal Affairs. We clear?"
"Yes sir. Marcus! How are you?"
Flynn looked away from Pope to see Marcus Simms enter the officers of Major Crimes. He was the oldest cop on the force, had been working just a few years more than Provenza. He was retiring in the New Year; he only had a few weeks left on the force. Marcus had run with the Chief when he had been on the beat, and was well respected by everyone, he had no problems. However, despite his pet liking for Captain Raydor, his friends in the force had not followed his example.
"I'm fine thank you Provenza, Flynn. Hello Chief Pope, lovely day." Marcus was now on the desk at Robbery/Homicide, his hip having given out a few years ago. He sat on the chair that Flynn vacated for him, and propped up the board they had been looking at.
"Sharon Raydor eh? She's a little easy on the eye," Marcus chuckled, and Pope raised his eyebrows at Flynn and Provenza. They shrugged it off as best they could, but his gaze still burned on their backs.
"I remember when Mickey came here for the first time, carrying this little bundle in his arms. She was a sweet little thing, all brown hair and these big eyes. So sweet."
Flynn didn't miss the smile that Pope had, but something was jarring with him. "What was Ben like as a kid? Did they get on at all?" He'd only met Ben a few times when he had been Sharon's partner in both senses of the word; he was a calm and strong man. Flynn had wondered if there had been problems between the two, then maybe he could convince Ben to return to New York with his sister. She did prefer it to Los Angeles after all; Flynn had no idea why she even stayed.
"Ben?"
"Her older brother."
Marcus coughed, wheezing slightly. The years had not been kind to him. "Mickey Raydor only had one child to my knowledge, and that was Sharon. He only had one kid down here in LA, and if this Ben is older than her, Mickey didn't have him when he went back to New York."
Flynn grinned as Provenza helped Marcus up onto his feet and Gabriel took him back to the Robbery/Homicide offices. He booted up his computer and logged onto the LAPD searches, typing Ben Raydor. If he was registered to vote or drive, he should come up. He'd become better with the computer since he had set up a Facebook account to annoy Tao with, but the detective had moved onto Twitter and that confused Flynn even more.
"Here we go, Ben Raydor, he's registered to vote in Los Angeles. Looking at the files he changed his name right here. His original surname is Leonard; he changed it just as Raydor joined the force."
Flynn looked up to see what Pope had to say, but he was already gone. Provenza was sniggering to himself, they had just found out a huge chunk of information: Raydor's brother was not her biological sibling. As Andy chewed on his toothpick, he had a thought and turned to Provenza.
"Do you think Pope and Raydor could be doing the dirty?"
"Don't be stupid Flynn; everyone knows he still has a thing for the Chief."
He conceded, and they returned to their white board.
X
"Captain Raydor, can I have a word?" Will asked, reaching down for her arm and herding her through the corridors down to his office. Normally his grip would be tight, but Sharon noticed that it was light, loving. Although they had made up a little this morning, she was still tired and she didn't need whatever was going on or whatever Brenda had complained about now in her life.
"Everything okay Will?" Sharon asked when he closed the door, sitting down on one of the chairs opposite his desk. She kicked off her heels and closed her eyes, wanting to have a hot shower and crawl back into bed.
"I just thought you should know that Flynn and Provenza are up to no good. They're trying to figure out who you're dating." Will moved around the back of her and pressed his hands to her shoulder blades, massaging her skin. She groaned under his touch, his hands felt so good on her.
"They got any serious ideas?"
She felt her hair being pulled down, and Will's mouth moving over her neck. In that moment, with him tending to her and humming little songs against her skin, she could forget the last two weeks of hell. "Jimmy was the top contender. I don't think I was considered. Must be too old."
"Or too annoying. Hey, you deserved it. Come here." Sharon said after Will had made a face. She had missed kissing him, missed just the pure joy of being with him instead of all the relationship crap that had been dumped on their door.
He knelt by her on the chair and kissed her forehead. "You are so beautiful."
Sharon hugged him, enjoying the warmth of his arms as he wrapped himself around her. "You know, when Ben gets back from New York he'll have to come over and have dinner. Brendan wants to play Transformers with him."
She giggled and snuggled into his chest. She still loved him, even if he was an idiot. But he was her idiot. "I love you." He held her tighter, and took the palm of her hand and pressed it against his chest, where his heart was. She could hear it racing, and she got lost in the sound of his heartbeat, it beating for her.
X
They were on the roof of Parker Centre, his jacket around her shoulders and they were overlooking the city. The sun was going down, and they had five minutes to themselves just to talk. However, work called them back and Will and Sharon headed inside. A few moments later, and Simon came out onto the roof, followed by Claudia. She shook a cigarette out of her packet and lit it up, taking a long drag. Simon coughed, she hit him on the shoulder and they stood watching night descend onto the city of sun.
"What are you doing for Christmas this year Claudia?" Simon asked, fiddling with the badge on his trousers. His best friend took a deep puff of the cigarette and grinned.
"A whole week with my family, same as Thanksgiving. Except I found out the other week that my Daddy has taken up smoking again, so I can puff, puff away while the jingle bells rock."
Simon put his hands on the cold brick of the roof and closed his eyes. He could smell the smoke from Claudia's cigarette, feel the cold chill get into the crevices of his jacket, could hear sirens blare out all across the city. And somewhere, there was a scream, he could just hear it.
"You're going home too aren't you?"
"No," Simon said with the barest whisper. Claudia stubbed out her cigarette and turned to her friend, confused.
"What happened Simon?"
She put an arm around his shoulders, and he clung onto her. "My brothers told my parents before I came that I was gay. I was waiting for the right time, like when I got a promotion or something - when I made Lieutenant Dad was just getting out of surgery. Anyway. They didn't want me there."
"But you joined the police because of your brothers. So they wouldn't see you as some damn stereotype."
Simon snorted and tried to hold back tears. "I told them that, and my Dad laughed. My own Dad… god I'm being such a child, teenagers come out to their parents and its fine, but apparently not thirty year old police detectives."
Claudia hung onto him, and he clung back as he started to cry. "You've got me Simon. You've got Tony, and Jimmy and the Captain. We're a family, if they can't accept you for being a damn fine cop who happens to want to jump Flynn's bones, then they're not worth it."
When they went back to the office, there was no sign of tears in Simon's eyes, but Claudia threw her pack of cigarettes in the bin.
X
Dinner had been simple, but even the kids must have noticed that Will and Sharon were back on speaking terms, and that they were more comfortable around each other at the table. They watched some television after dinner, Sharon braiding Caitlin's' hair on the floor as Brendan sat in his father's lap. He had been hit by one of the other kids the day before, but he was smiling as he had hit the kid back. Sharon had never seen Will so proud.
"Dad, can I go play with my dolls?"
"Sure you can honey."
Brendan and Caitlin soon went up to their rooms, and that left Will and Sharon alone. She uncrossed her legs and went to sit in his lap, squirming on his skin much to his chagrin. They watched some DIY show that neither of them was really interested in, Will was more focussed with tasting every inch of Sharon's skin that was visible to the naked eye.
"Have you got any ice cream?" Sharon asked, and Will grinned, remembering their walks along the beach.
"There's some in the freezer. Ben and Jerry's okay?"
"Won't have any less."
Will turned around on the sofa to watch Sharon rootle around in his freezer. He could see her panties as her jeans moved down, and as he whistled, she pulled them up, giving him a nasty look. She was beautiful, graceful, and had this adorableness that he found incredible. With her he could be himself, no need to be anything more or less.
"You've only got Cherry Garcia."
"Your point?" Will was smirking. Sharon walked over to him and tapped him on the nose with her spoon. He loved it when she was playful.
"I don't like Cherry Garcia. I'm in the mood for Phish Food."
"Any reason why?"
She stalled for a moment, and then rested her hands around his neck. "Promise me you won't laugh?"
"No."
She hit him on the shoulder and he picked her up, leaving them both on the sofa giggling. He moved her hair away from her face and kissed her; and she started to explain. "I love Ben and Jerry's, always have done. I…when I'm in different moods, I like different ice cream. If I've had a good day at work, I like Cookie Dough. If Brenda has been particularly annoying, I'll eat a whole ton of Chocolate Fudge Brownie."
Will giggled and kissed her on the nose. "You are the cutest thing I have ever seen. There is some Cookie Dough in the freezer down in the garage, unless Tommy ate that."
Sharon kissed him and moved away, going towards the garage in search of her ice cream. "Hey, Sharon, what is Phish Food then?"
He saw her blush as she turned back to him. "Phish Food is a Will Pope day."
Will started to chuckle and laid down on the sofa, Sharon occupying his thoughts. "God I love you."
Sharon stopped at the door and turned around to see him. "What did you just say?"
Will moved from the sofa and went over to see Sharon, grinning as he went. He took the keys from her hand and placed them down on the kitchen table. He took her hands within hers, and kissed her lips as soft as he could. He whispered in her ear all the things that had been building since he had first laid eyes on her walking down those stairs in that black dress, since he had seen her for what she truly was instead of the face she tried to hide behind.
"I love you, Sharon Raydor. I love the way your hair curls in the morning when you've just dried it. I love the way you stand up to everyone in the LAPD, and how big your heart is despite of it. I love that you love me and you've stayed with me despite me not knowing how I feel. I love how you love my kids, I love how you smile, laugh and cry. I love you in bed with me; I love you walking with me. I don't think I've ever loved anyone as much as you, apart from the three devils who love you just as much as I do."
"You're an ass."
He chuckled, holding her against him. Will guessed he deserved that, but he could see her smile shine brightly above it all. Her mouth moved up his jumper until it found his lips and started kissing him. "I love you, Will Pope. You're an idiot, and you drive like an old man and you have no decent ice cream in your house but, damn you, I love you more than anything."
X
They waited until the kids had been put to bed and retired themselves. Turning on the soft lamps they kissed each other, revelling in their mutual love. They fell onto the bed, laughing softly.
"I'm horny as hell. Come here, baby."
Will had to stifle his laughter at Sharon until she started poking him in the side, kissing his mouth until her jaw hurt. His hands pulled off her shirt, and brought her on top of him. As they kissed, Sharon slipped a leg between his, resting on his growing length. His hands roamed her back and went under her shirt, palming her hot skin.
"I love you," She announced, straddling his waist as she unbuttoned her shirt and pulled it off, dropping it shyly on the end of the bed. It was different this time, making love while actually being in love. She palmed her breasts, teasing her own nipples before dropping each strap down her shoulders. Will watched her wide eyed as she reached behind to unbuckle her bra and push the cups away from her, dropping them down onto his lap.
"I love you too."
He spun her over so the crisp sheets moved against her bare skin. He ran his own fingers across her breasts, pinching a nipple lightly before taking it into his mouth. Her skin thrummed against his lips, and he smiled as he returned his lips to hers. They continued to kiss for a moment until Will moved away, tugging his own shirt over his head.
The cold December weather drove them under the warm duvet half naked. They snuggled, there was no need to rush things. Sharon leant her head on Will's shoulder, his arms wrapped around hers. They both teased her breasts, running hands over skin together, as one. She slid away from him so he could unbutton his trousers and leave them and his underwear on the floor. He kept his socks on.
"Sexy Will. Very sexy."
"Come here and I'll show you sexy."
They hushed their laughter for the children's sake, and Will moved over to Sharon. He ran his foot up her fully covered leg, and she giggled into his chest. His cold hands moved over her taut nipples and down the waistband of her jeans, palming her sex. She groaned into his neck as his cold fingers trailed over her folds, slipping inside her. She felt the pace building up inside her as his fingers teased her and steadily grew warm.
They both moved down between her legs to unbutton her jeans and pull down her panties. She kicked them to the end of the bed and moved on top of Will, his hands moving up her legs and over her backside, squeezing the cheeks. Their hands crawled over each other, and like Will always tended to do, he turned Sharon on her front and caressed the scars that her former lover had given to her. This time, as he kissed each scar his hand found its way under her body to stroke her clit. As his kissing turned to long strokes of his tongue, his fingers replicated the motion, and Sharon came silently into the pillows.
Will kissed her as he parted her legs, spinning her over. He entered her slowly, moving her knee up around his elbow. His mouth caressed her skin as he moved inside her, and Will whispered everything he loved about her, everything that he would grow to love about her. His reaction to her touch built up, and he came fiercely, seeing colours and the sound of her own release in his ear, his love being whispered under the crumpled sheets, finally joining hers.
X
They were downstairs, Will had put on the heating and Sharon had decided to make them hot chocolate. She was wearing his shirt and long socks; he was wearing a robe, boxer shorts and the socks he had been wearing in bed. She joined him on the sofa with two steaming cups, and she rested her head on his shoulder.
"You know I don't think I've ever been as happy as I am with you now."
"Me neither." She sighed against his chest, and Will ran his hand up her arm. "There's just something, a little thing, that's been bothering me all day."
Sharon turned around and kissed his jaw. "Go ahead Will. What's up?"
Will coughed, and rested his own cup down on the coffee table. Sharon followed suit, a little worried about what he was going to say. His arms went around her, and she looked up at him. "Will?"
"You know I said earlier that Flynn and Provenza were investigating you, seeing who you were dating?"
"Yeah, you mentioned it."
"Well Marcus came in pretty soon after, and said that you didn't have a brother. That Ben wasn't your brother."
Sharon chuckled, resting her hand on Will's arm. "I love Marcus to bits, but he does get a little confused. He's too close to retirement, and this job does make you go a little crazy. Ben is my brother, I promise you that Will."
He was still stiffening against her, and she realised there was more to what he had to say. Her hands started to tremble; she feared what would come next. "Flynn checked up, Ben changed his name to Raydor just before you joined the force. Whenever you talk about you and your father in LA, you never mention Ben." Sharon turned around to face him. "You only seem to mention Ben when you moved back to LA with Sam."
"You were spying on me? Investigating me?"
"Flynn and Provenza were…"
Sharon hit him in the chest and pushed away from him, looking down at him with disgust. "And you didn't stop them, didn't tell them no, did you? You wanted to hear what they had to say, didn't you?"
Will sighed, looking up at her. This wasn't how he had wanted things to go; he had expected an answer, not this vicious change in character. "Yeah, I guess I did. There are some parts of your past that don't quite fit with me Sharon…"
"What am I, a jigsaw puzzle? My past is my business; the stuff I've shared with you is more than I've done with a lot of other people, Will. My past is complicated, there's a lot of dark stuff in there that I'm not comfortable telling you." Sharon was on the verge of tears.
"Yet? Or never."
As soon as the words came out of his mouth he regretted what he had said. Sharon looked heartbroken and walked away from him, running up the stairs. Will followed her, moving as quickly as he could. When he got into his bedroom he saw she was pulling on her jeans and taking off his shirt.
"Sharon, what are you doing?"
"Leaving." She pulled on her shirt and tied her hair back with a hair band from her bag. He reached for her wrist as she went to leave his room, and pulled her into his arms. He needed to make things right.
"Sharon, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have pried; I know that, I really do know that. Listen, how about we forget my stupid question and we go back downstairs, huh? Drink the rest of those hot chocolates and maybe watch some stupid film on the TV?"
She ripped his hand away from her, and left it hanging. There was fury in her eyes, and she was bristling with bitterness. "It's called trust Will. First I have to wait two fucking weeks for you to tell me that you love me, and now you pull this stunt. What do you want to know? That Ben isn't my real brother? Because he's not, he's not biologically. But to me and him we are siblings, he and Annie are my own family."
Will looked hurt, but that wouldn't register with her, she was blinded by her own anger. "Sharon…"
"You know what, I reckon you and Major Crimes have been planning this all along, haven't you? Sleep with Sharon Raydor, make her fall for you, make her fall in love with you. You must have loved the idea, getting laid, getting one over on Brenda who's happily married. Even better, you get to take down the annoying head of FID while you're at it. Let me make this clear, Will, you can tell Andy Flynn and that damn department anything you like, I don't care. But I do not like being used, and I do not appreciate being looked at under a microscope!"
He tried to turn to her, explain everything to her and beg for forgiveness, but by the time he had reassured a sleepy Caitlin that everything was okay; she had already walked out the door.
X
Tony was roused out of bed by the banging at his door; they'd only just gone to bed. His wife grumbled next to him, but they were both happy to be back together so she just kicked him playfully out of bed. He kissed her on the cheek and went downstairs to see who it was. Tony reached for his gun as he opened the door, and was very surprised to see a very tearful Captain Raydor on his doorstep. He hadn't realised she even knew where he lived.
"Captain?"
"I'm sorry Tony, but my brother is out of town and….me and Will broke up."
He closed the front door and watched her slump to the floor beside it. Tony sat next to her, tucking an arm around his shoulders. "What happened?"
Her eyes were red from crying, and her face was blotchy. He had rarely seen her that upset, and hated seeing her so. "I don't know…I just couldn't bear it. I've got some skeletons in my closet Tony, some big bones that could damage my already pitiful reputation at the LAPD. My Dad…he screwed up Tony, in so many different ways. Major Crimes are gunning for me, and it won't be soon before they find out, I know it."
"So…you and Pope…"
She snorted before resting her head on his shoulder. He held her tightly, his own resolve breaking. Tony felt the sudden urge to break Pope's legs for hurting her, reducing her to this mess. "I left him, just shouted at him for being with me to help Major Crimes and left."
"Is that the reason why you two got together? Because if so we can go to the Chief tomorrow morning and he'll be buried in Mexico by the end of the week."
She smiled at him, but it was a sad smile, and Tony held her even tighter. "No, I was caught up in the heat but it was all me. I hate the look of pity I see in his face every time I imagine everything coming out. I've never been with someone who didn't know everything about my past, and I don't think I can be. I'm better off alone, and by New Year he'll be dating someone new and FID will once again be hated. It's for the best."
Tony felt her tears still, and could see his wife at the landing of the stairs, looking down with sympathy. "Do you really believe that Sharon?"
It was the first time he had used her first name, and it was not lost on her. "No. I love him, I'm crazy about him and every day I don't see him my heart hurts. But I just can't do it; I can't be open with him like he wants, needs. I don't know what to do Tony."
His wife made them some tea, but Sharon just kept crying in his arms until the early hours of the morning.
X
He had called her, left a dozen messages but nothing was replied to. He asked his next door neighbour, the one with insomnia, to watch over his kids for an hour or so and Will headed to a bar; needing to be out of the house. He could smell her scent, see her buried in his sheets, and their break up, for that was what had happened, was very raw. The image of her in his shirt was rubbing salt into the wound. He asked for a bottle and a glass and started downing the harsh shorts of whiskey with fervour.
"You okay Chief?"
It was Flynn holding a coke and a whiskey, the coke being for him. Will just nodded and returned to his own bottle. His head wasn't working properly; he couldn't see how it could have gone so wrong so quickly. "I'm fine Lieutenant, have a good night."
Flynn hung at the bar for a moment longer. "Listen, thanks for not saying anything to Raydor about us. We're just trying to do what's best for the Chief and the department; you can understand that, can't you?"
"You must have loved the idea, getting laid, getting one over on Brenda who's happily married. Even better, you get to take down the annoying head of FID while you're at it."
Will downed another shot, enjoying the feeling of the whiskey run down his windpipe and settle like fire in his stomach. He checked his phone briefly, but still nothing. There was a picture of them on his phone, a risk but he loved the two of them in the picture, a snapshot from the beach. He shut his phone off, and reached for another shot.
"Let the witch burn."