Chapter 25:
Cat and Rusty came back from San Diego in the afternoon. As soon as they entered the apartment, Sharon saw that Cat was excited.
"I see the trip was good. What happened there?" Sharon asked, smiling at her daughter's sparkling eyes.
"We'll tell you in a minute, but did you know that the apartment down the hall here is for rent?!" Cat asked as she put aside the suitcase, in which she packed all of her things from the old apartment.
"No, I didn't!" Sharon said, joining her excitement.
"I'll contact them first thing on Monday morning," Cat hugged Sharon briefly and they joined Rusty, who was already in the living room. Cat sat tiredly in the armchair but Sharon announced that she was going to make tea, and walked to the kitchen.
A few minutes later, they were all sitting in the living room with hot cups in their hands, and Rusty was telling Sharon all about their trip. She listened carefully, and he was grateful for the attention she was paying him, although he didn't say it aloud. Cat waited quietly for him to finish before she spoke.
"By the way, I called Natalie earlier, remember her?" she asked Sharon.
"Your friend from high-school?"
"My best friend from high-school. Guess what she does for a living," Cat smiled.
"I have no idea," Sharon said monotonically as always and Cat sighed. Her mother was never a fun guesser.
"She's an ADA!" she smiled again as Sharon's eyebrows arched slightly. "You're surprised because you never really liked her and didn't think she could become a lawyer. Right?"
"I didn't say that," Sharon said coldly, but Cat was right.
"You always thought she was a bad influence because she liked boys too much," Cat said and Rusty snorted. They both looked at him and he looked down at his cup to hide his smile. "Those were your words, I remember well," Cat added, amused.
"I don't remember. It's my age," Sharon said sarcastically and Cat rolled her eyes, smiling.
"Anyway, we're meeting for lunch on Monday, and she wants you to come too," Cat knew what her mother's reaction was going to be but she said it anyway.
"I'm going to be very busy. Or not hungry," Sharon said coldly and sipped from her hot tea while Cat smiled again and Rusty tried not to laugh.
(***)
Cat walked out of the elevator and towards the murder room on Monday afternoon. She was accompanied by her friend, Natalie, who had to be in the building anyway, and insisted on saying hi to Sharon. She knew that she never liked her, but she always found Sharon's reaction to her amusing, so after lunch Cat reluctantly agreed to join her.
They entered the murder room and stopped at the entrance. The squad members were all there, discussing a case. Sharon's gaze was fixed on a paper she was holding. Nobody noticed them for a moment, until Provenza looked their way and arched his eyebrows.
"Captain, your lovely daughter is here. With a lovely friend," he said nicely without looking at Sharon, who looked up to see the two women. "Please, don't tell me she's also your daughter," Provenza said rather quietly and Sharon rolled her eyes at him as Cat and Natalie walked to her.
"Mrs. Raydor, it's so nice to see you again," Natalie smiled, trying not to laugh at Sharon's serious face.
"Yes, wonderful," Sharon said just as Tao called her from his desk to say she had a phone call. She picked up the phone near her quickly and Natalie looked at Provenza. Next to him was standing Flynn, who watched everything in silence, somewhat confused. Usually Sharon was nice to people, even if she didn't like them, and seeing the way she treated her daughter's friend baffled him.
"Hello," Natalie said and walked passed Provenza to shake Flynn's hand.
"Hi," he said hesitantly, shaking her hand, and she took her time to let go of his hand.
"I'm Natalie," she smiled.
"Andy," he said and Sharon saw him glancing at her. Her eyes were fixed on Natalie, who continued to talk flirtatiously with Flynn for a few minutes. Cat stood a few feet away and watched them all with her arms crossed on her chest in a rare similarity to her mother.
Natalie laughed at something he said and put her hand on his arm, just when Sharon finished the call and slammed the phone, startling them. They both looked at her right away and she said, "oops," coldly, without really meaning it, since she obviously did it on purpose.
"Natalie, it was great seeing you, but we have a lot of work here," she said with a little smile.
"Oh, okay, well…" Natalie pulled a calling card from her purse and handed it to Flynn. "Call me, anytime," she said in a sensual tone and waited for him to take the card from her hand. Flynn's eyes moved to Sharon for a second, as if he was asking for her help without words.
"Sure," he muttered eventually and took the card. Natalie smiled and walked away with Cat, who seemed to have realized a few things about her mother in the last few minutes.