10:

"Yes?" she asked, feeling an irrational anger towards him for interrupting her wet memory in which he was the star.

Andy entered the office and closed the door behind him. He took a few steps toward her desk but stopped midway with hesitation.

"The… the suspect is ready in the interview room."

Sharon looked at him without saying a word. She couldn't care less about the suspect. Somewhere inside her she knew it was important to go and interview him, but all she could hear was the voice of her desire, screaming at her to close the shades and clear the desk for something a lot more interesting than her job.

"Sharon?" he only called her that when they were alone. Around their coworkers she was 'Captain.'

"Yes, okay," she got on her feet, walked around the desk toward him and stopped just a step away, remembering the glass walls of her office.

"Are you alright?" he raised an eyebrow, looking somewhat worried.

"Yes," it was an automatic response. The truth was the complete opposite. "No," she inhaled sharply and it hurt in her chest, as if she hasn't been breathing for a while.

"What's wrong?" he sent a hand to her shoulder as a comforting gesture, but she took a step back before he managed to touch her.

"You!" she said in a loud whisper. What she really wanted was to yell at him for putting her in the state she was in, with her head in the clouds, but there were people around and she never yelled anyway.

"Me?!"

"I knew it was wrong, but I did it anyway. God, how stupid of me."

Andy watched her as she talked more to herself than to him.

"Huh? What's wrong with you?"

She sent him a firm look before answering.

"I… I can't concentrate," she said and waited for his understanding response.

"You can't concentrate?" he repeated in confusion. "Take Ritalin."

"This isn't funny. You did this. You have to stay away from me."

And then she saw the understanding on his face.

"Oh… well…" he scratched his head and Sharon was glad to see he was a little embarrassed. "I'm going through the same thing, if it's any comfort. I've been trying to avoid staring at you all day."

"It really isn't any comfort," she sounded desperate, upset.

"I can't stay away from you, we work together."

"And that's exactly why it was a mistake."

Andy sighed. "Look, we need to talk about it. Without people around. Can you stay here after work?"

Sharon was planning to go home a little early, to get away and maybe spend some quality time with Rusty. But then tomorrow will be exactly like today. No, they had to talk as soon as possible.

"Yes. I'll see you then," she looked away from him and saw Tao and Provenza looking at them from across the room. They seemed to be very interested with what was going on in her office. "You should go."

Andy turned to see what she was looking at, and saw them too.

"Yeah," he said shortly before walking to the door.

Sharon tore her eyes away from him. They were still looking at her and she couldn't just stare at him. It was harder than she expected. At that moment, she wanted to hit herself for being so ridiculous. Her mind was out of control and it had to be fixed somehow. Telling Andy that Friday night can't happen ever again had to be the cure, she was sure.

(***)

The rest of the day went by so slowly, that at one point Sharon wondered if there was something wrong with her watch. But then she checked the clock in the murder room, and it was exactly the same. Was it a divine conspiracy to make her go insane?

'The universe is against me,' she was sure, because she shouldn't have slept with a subordinate officer. 'And I'm still married. God, I'm a sinner and I couldn't care less. What's wrong with me?'

Her head was about to explode as she looked once again through the glass walls of her office. The murder room was now empty and dimly lit. They all left, including Andy. He was supposed to return ten minutes after everyone was gone. Sharon started pacing in her office, as she was too nervous to just stand or sit. She had no idea if she had enough will power to end their little affair. How can one stop doing something they enjoy so much? She only got a little taste and she wanted more so badly.

For a moment she thought she could understand Jackson and his addictions.

'But I'm not addicted to Andy. It's ridiculous. He's a human being. You can't be addicted to people.'

She repeated that last line in her head over and over with imaginary letters jumping in front of her eyes, until he appeared in the murder room and they shattered into pieces before disappearing completely. She stopped pacing and watched him as he walked toward her office, through the only shades she kept open. She wanted them to have complete privacy, in case someone returns to the murder room. Seeing them together after hours might raise suspicion.

As she watched him, images of herself ripping his buttoned shirt open appeared in her head for a second and then disappeared. Her mind was in control right now, and she hoped it would last through the conversation.

"Hey," he said, closing the door behind him. Sharon closed the shades and turned to look at him. "How are you now?"

She approached him, but didn't say a word. She had no idea how to start this conversation.

"I've been thinking about you too, you know," he said casually. He obviously didn't take it as hard as she did.

"That's exactly the problem. We shouldn't have… it can't happen again," the words just flew from her mouth and it felt weird. She wasn't used to it. Usually, she was very level-headed, so every word was considered twice before being uttered.

"That's not gonna make us stop thinking about each other."

"In time, it will."

"But until that happens… we're both gonna suffer," he took a step forward, making them stand only inches away from one another. He had a little smile on his face, and it irritated Sharon to see that he wasn't upset at all.

Sharon knew that she needed to take a step back for her own sake, but she didn't want to seem scared or vulnerable.

"It's ridiculous to deprive ourselves of what we want most right now, especially if we're not hurting anyone in the process." His voice was low now as he was very close to her, and Sharon couldn't stop the images in her head anymore.

"We might hurt ourselves," she said reluctantly. What she really wanted to say was that she agreed with him.

"Not if you start taking it lightly."

She looked at him and thought he might be right. All they were doing was having a little fun, right? It was nothing serious, so it couldn't hurt anyone. Except…

"I'm a married woman," she mumbled.

"Pffft." He didn't need to say anything to make his opinion about her marriage more obvious.

Sharon agreed with him in her head. Her marriage was a joke. She was practically divorced, only without the papers to say so. It wasn't even a recent divorce. She's been living alone for two decades. Calling it a marriage was absurd, but it served her well. It was her own little way to escape facing the loneliness. For years, she had an excuse for being alone: she was still married.

And then her body regained control over her mind. Exactly what she was afraid of. Her hands grabbed the lapels of his suit jacket – just beneath his collarbone – ready to pull him toward her, but then they stopped moving. The hesitation made her freeze. Should she…?