It was going to be a good day. Sharon knew it. It had started well, even after a somewhat rocky evening. Well, the evening hadn't ended on a rocky note, far from it, as Sharon smiled at the memory. Even with their disastrous dinner, the two had managed to salvage a lovely evening. She let out a half snort, half laugh, thinking about it, as she made her cup of tea in the office break room. Pizza and graham crackers for their first real date-it was ridiculous, but it was perfect, just perfect. It defined who they were, and yet, it looked absolutely absurd to anyone on the outside.
That evening, after finishing their food, the two had snuggled in together on the couch ready for a romantic comedy. She was glad there had been no real plot, other than guy and girl end up together because she didn't remember a lot of it. She'd felt like a giddy college co-ed curled up with Andy. The two had definitely made some progress in their relationship, nothing too outlandish, but with everything that had gone on up to this, they hadn't kissed much really, just a quick kiss here or there. Even curled up together in Rusty's room at the condo, Sharon had repeatedly told herself that Andy was sick and needed to recover. While she'd stayed with him each night, she'd kept her distance, as tough as it was to do. Now that Andy was back home, things were improving slowly. It was almost like she was afraid he was like a bowl in an antique store, about to break at any moment. As each day passed and Andy got stronger, Sharon was realizing he wasn't going to break. So, they'd spent a great deal of the movie kissing and making out with each other, respecting that they were moving, slowly as it seemed, into new territory. So, for the first time, really since getting him resettled at home, they had enjoyed their date and spending time together. When Sharon had left to go home, finally, at almost midnight, Andy had frowned at her.
"I don't like you driving this late, back to the condo," he told her. She raised an eyebrow.
"You do realize I'm a police captain. I am a big girl, and I can find my way home," she told him.
"I know that," he said, a bit irritated. "It still doesn't change that I can worry about you. I care about you, Sharon, and whether it was you, Nicole, even Rusty or any of the kids, I know there are a lot of creeps out this late, and I don't like you having to drive home. Plus, we both worked a full day, and I know how tired I am, and I don't have a long drive."
"I'll be fine" she leaned up and kissed him quickly, as she squeezed his arms. "Thank you for caring. I'm not tired, not after spending the majority of the evening with you right there," she gestured to the couch. "Just make sure you brush your hair before work tomorrow," she teased and reached up to smooth down his hair, hair that she'd been running her hands through for the last couple hours.
"You're one to talk," he winked at her, repeating the motion she'd just started with his hair. "I can't tame that, though," he nodded to her hair. She giggled and pulled at her purse to put it on her shoulder.
"I'm sorry again about-" she was stopped when he leaned in and kissed her.
"No sorry, just stop. I'll keep doing that if you keep apologizing," he winked. Sharon just laughed and nodded.
"So, I'm going to pick you up in the morning," he clapped his hands together, and she gave him an odd look. He nodded, "I'd like to see you first thing. I'm coming with coffee. Are we still on for 'Operation Provenza' tomorrow?"
Sharon giggled again, "Yes, I can't wait. Text me when you are on your way."
He raised his eyebrow, "You conceded quickly."
She shrugged, "Maybe, I'm trying to let go of needing to always feel in control. It's nice to let someone in, someone who cares about me."
"Oh," he grinned as he got right up next to her ear and whispered, "I really, really, really care about you, so much," he said in a low tone, as he kissed her neck. She let out a long sigh and smiled.
"I have to go," she told him. "I'll see you in the morning, and I'll text you when I get home."
"Not if I call you first," he winked, and with that Sharon was out the door. Andy watched her go, waving as she pulled away. He gave her 45 minutes before he called, and when he did, she was almost home, a street away and ready to pull into her building parking garage. Sharon remembered talking to Andy until she was at her front door, and then she hung up for fear of waking Rusty at the late hour.
Sharon almost jumped back when she opened the door and saw Rusty on the couch engrossed in a movie, "Rusty," she clutched her chest, "what are you doing up this late?"
"Hey," he turned to her, "I was kind of waiting on you. I sent you a text a couple hours ago, and I was a little worried. I didn't think you were on call, but I was about to call the lieutenant, err, Andy, soon to see if he'd seen you."
"Oh," she nodded and closed the door. "I'm sorry I missed seeing your text." Rusty continued to stare at her.
"Were you at the gym this late?" Rusty frowned as he took in her appearance. Sharon turned, a bit confused.
"What?" Sharon asked, walking toward the kitchen.
Rusty shifted and looked to her there, "Your gym clothes, your hair," he gestured.
"Oh, yes," Sharon nodded. "I did have a bit of a workout," she nervously laughed and then cringed as she rounded the corner to the refrigerator. She pulled out a bottle of water and silently told herself that she needed to do much better sneaking back into her house. "Yes, that must have been why I didn't hear my phone, just finishing things," she nodded. She walked back around into the living room. "I'm exhausted, though, and I have an early day."
"Okay," Rusty nodded and focused his attention back on the screen. "Working late tomorrow?"
"No," she smiled as she stood in the doorway leading to her room as she turned to look back at Rusty, "I should not have a late night. Would you like to get dinner with me?"
"Yeah," he smiled. "That sounds good."
"Oh, how was your school thing?" Sharon asked, totally blanking on what Rusty had told her he was doing for the evening. She needed to get better at remembering details with him right now, but she was focused on another man in her life. She was remembering details just fine; they weren't details about Rusty, though, just ones about Andy, such as how his hand felt in her hair, how he kissed her so softly-
"Sharon?" She snapped out of her thoughts and looked to Rusty. He was staring at her like something was wrong. "Are you okay"
"Sorry," she waved him off, "just a long day. School?"
"Umm, yeah," he nodded, "fine. So, burgers tomorrow?"
"Sounds like a date," she grinned at him. She waved and turned back to her room.
"Oh, and Sharon," Rusty called to her again, "I know it's the lieut-I mean Andy's meeting night tomorrow, but if you want to like have him over here for dinner Friday or this weekend, I'm cool with that," he nodded to her.
Sharon's face brightened, "Thank you, Rusty. I'm sure we can work out something. I appreciate your effort with Andy."
Rusty shrugged, "He's good to you, and he makes you happy. I get a chess game or two out of it," he grinned. "Plus," he nodded to her, "I can't remember you smiling like that ever when you've come home from the gym," he smirked.
Now, as Sharon worked on her cup of tea, she stopped stirring, noticing that she'd been stirring the drink for at least a minute. Her mind had wandered to the previous evening, something she saw happening more and more as she and Andy spent more and more time together. She needed to make a conscious effort to separate work and personal thoughts. It was just hard when the sexy man in her personal life sat a few feet from her in her work life. Still, she wouldn't see him for a couple hours this morning and needed to focus on work now. It was hard to do because she'd already spent time with him this morning.
He'd picked her up just after 5:00, which was absurd, but they had a plan, one they'd hatched that evening after their couch time had ended. The plan revolved around their getting to work ahead of Provenza, and they had successfully done that.
Now, it was almost 7:00, and she needed to make herself scarce. That wasn't going to be too hard; she had plenty to do, starting with a meeting in Andrea's office about an upcoming case. She'd asked if Andrea could pick her up on her way to work for their early meeting, and as she checked her watch, she started gathering her cup of tea to meet up with Andrea. She really should have used a travel mug, but she'd "traveled" with it home a few days ago and kept forgetting to bring it in. Andy had brought her a cup of coffee when he'd picked her up, but now, that was long gone.
Sharon received a text from Andrea when she stepped off the elevator in the lobby, and she moved outside quickly to meet her.
"Andrea, hi," Sharon said as she got into the car. "I hope you don't mind I brought my tea."
"Mind?" Andrea asked with a sarcastic tone. "Not at all, just as I hope you don't mind we don't meet in my office."
"Okay," Sharon turned to her with a questioning glance. "Where are we going?"
"Just to get breakfast. I have heard from chatter that you have things to tell me," she gave a nod to Sharon. Sharon blushed and smiled. "Yes, that's it," Andrea gestured at her.
"Who in the world told you that? I know it wasn't Andy," Sharon looked to her.
"Just another lieutenant of yours, and if you think I ever talk to Mike Tao about personal things, think again," she winked. "A lot of us have been worried about you. I'm ready for the latest details."
While the women were catching up and taking care of official business, Andy was diligently working at his desk. Yes, Sharon had an early meeting, but that hadn't been the reason for their extremely early work arrival. No, they had plans to deal with Provenza, to torture him just a little more after the incident, or really incidents, last night. He was still irritated Provenza had taken all the pizza, not to mention the desserts, and Sharon was mortified Provenza had gotten a show with her in Andy's shirt and not Andy. So, the first phase of the plan involved Andy getting to work before Provenza, just to annoy him. He knew it would also raise a few questions. Provenza usually arrived early, exactly when was the question, so Andy and Sharon had planned on a "safe" arrival time of 5:30ish to get ahead of him.
After Sharon dropped off her things at her desk, she vacated the office, but kept her light on, making it clear she was in the building. Andy knew she had a meeting with Andrea a bit later, but the plan involved her not being in the office when Provenza arrived.
Things worked out perfectly; Sharon was able to get out of the office before Provenza arrived, and when he did, he walked in with Julio. The two men were talking, and before Andy could even start a conversation with them, Mike arrived.
"Morning," Andy looked up from his computer where he was using his extra time at work to catch up on some paperwork.
"Flynn," Provenza frowned as he looked at his lunch, obviously packed by Patrice because it had 'Louie' written on the bag with hearts around it, and he threw it away. "Why are you here so early?"
Andy just shrugged, trying to ignore Provenza as he glanced back to his computer screen and kept typing, "Couldn't sleep, so I just got here early."
Amy walked in and nodded to the men as she started to get her things situated at her desk. Andy continued to type, and Mike cleared his throat. "Is the captain in already too?"
"Yeah," Andy nodded, his eyes still focused on his computer screen, "she's here, or she was. Had an early meeting with Andrea, so she's with her right now."
"Ahh," Provenza nodded as he listened. He sat in his chair and loosened his tie, "That explains that, then. I could have sworn I didn't see her car in the parking garage, and then with her light on, I was wondering who had been in her office."
"Oh, Andrea picked her up," Andy noted as he stood and walked to the printer to pick up his paperwork. "Her car isn't in the garage either." He dropped a quarter in Provenza's jar and smirked at him. "Keep the change," he grinned and walked away.
"What's with him?" Julio nodded to the team as he asked. Provenza kept his eyes on Andy while he walked back to his desk.
Amy gave a confused look too, and she just shrugged her shoulders. Mike narrowed his eye, watching Andy too.
"Feeling better, I guess, Andy?" Mike tried, hoping that was the reason for his good mood. Andy, well, none of them, ever overpaid Provenza for the printer, and usually Andy got into an argument about paying at all.
"Ahh, yes and now," Andy told them. "I'm feeling stronger. My ribs still hurt, but the pain is lessening. I'm just really exhausted. That's been the big thing, so little sleep," he smiled. "I guess I'm also hungry," he said, setting up the first "trap" for Provenza. He looked at his watch, "Yeah, I've been here awhile now. I think I'm going to walk down to that coffee shop and get a cup," he looked to the group. "Anyone need anything?"
The team shook their heads; it was still early, and most had something to drink with them for the morning. Andy put the paperwork he'd just printed back on his desk and turned back to Provenza, "Provenza, as the officer in charge, I'm letting you know I'll be right back," he smirked. "Oh!" he snapped his fingers and nodded, "That reminds me that I can drop off dry cleaning while I'm out. They should be open now."
"Since when did you start bringing your dry cleaning here, Sir?" Julio asked. Andy, who had his back to the group, grinned. He couldn't have planned a better question; it fit right into his plot.
"Oh, it's not mine," he chuckled and opened Sharon's door. He stepped into her office, grabbed the hanging clothing off the door, and he closed it. "Well, it's for Sharon," he grinned. "I told her I'd drop it off for her." Andy made sure the white shirt, the same white shirt Provenza would recognize, was on the outside of the stack of clothing. Normally, Sharon dropped off her dry cleaning near her house, and that was still the plan, but Andy could act like he was taking it to the dry cleaner near work. Really, he was going to drop it off at his car.
Provenza, who at that moment, was sipping his coffee, made eye contact with Andy and the shirt, and he about choked on his coffee, spitting some of it out on his desk. The rest of the team quickly turned toward Provenza to see what had happened. Andy just kept a straight face and continued to hold onto the hangers.
"Provenza, something wrong?" Andy asked in a very flat tone. Provenza coughed, trying to clear his throat, and when he finally caught his breath, he glared at Andy. "Oh, do you need a cup of coffee now?"
"Get out of here," Provenza muttered. "Just," he waved, "go get your coffee."
Andy shrugged when his gaze met Julio's glance, and he just nodded to the group, "Okay, I'll be back after I drop off the dry cleaning and get a cup of coffee."
"Sir, you're dropping off the captain's dry cleaning?" Julio raised an eyebrow as he continued to look at the shirt visible in Andy's grasp.
"Yeah?" Andy asked, pretending he was unaware of a problem. Julio glanced at it again and tried to hold back a smile.
"Guess I didn't hear you before," he looked to Andy and gave him a very faint shake of the head. Again, Andy held back his own smile and just threw them a wave.
"I'll be back," he said and left the room. When he got onto the elevator to head to the parking garage, he sent Sharon a quick text, "Shirt was priceless. Tell you later. A," he typed and sent to her. She read the text and sent back a quick smiley face. Andy took his time dropping off the clothing and getting his cup of coffee. As he was on his way upstairs, Sharon sent him a text that she expected to be back at work in a half hour. The timing would work out perfectly. He smiled, got off the elevator with his cup of coffee, and he walked back to the office.
Everyone was hard at work when Andy returned; he didn't interrupt anyone and walked quietly to his desk. He sat down and got back to work on his computer. He checked the time, noting approximately when Sharon would be arriving. It was hard focusing, but he managed to do so until he heard her heels clicking down the hall. He turned slightly to watch for her, and he noted the rest of the team did so as well.
"Well, good morning everyone," Sharon said, a little out of breath. She had a habit of walking quickly, and she had done it just now. "I hope you are all off to a good start this morning. I just finished a meeting with Andrea about an upcoming trial."
Sharon focused on talking to the group and not looking at any one person. She knew if she looked at Andy, she might start laughing, just as she knew if she looked at Provenza, she WOULD start laughing. Suddenly, Provenza threw down his pencil and pointed at Andy.
"What did I do?" Andy yelled at Provenza and tried to look like the victim. Provenza pointed at him and then at Sharon.
"You two," he shook his head in disgust. "Captain, really?"
"Lieutenant," she asked, "is there a problem?" Sharon crossed her arms and pursed her lips. She looked to him and then to the rest of the team. They weren't sure what was going on with the three detectives. Provenza just gestured at Sharon, who had her blazer folded over her arm and was standing there in her white blouse and black skirt with her favorite black heels. "Lieutenant?" she asked again.
Provenza snapped out of his stare down with Andy; he'd turned back to him after seeing Sharon in a white blouse, not the exact same one she'd had on the night before because that, well, he'd already seen today, but a white blouse, which was a reminder of the evening the three had shared.
"Long day already, Captain," he grumbled and turned back to his desk.
Sharon hummed in agreement, "Yes, I didn't get much sleep. I understand." She started for her office, and Provenza's eyes flew open to stare at Andy, who was grinning as Sharon walked by his desk. Provenza saw Andy wink at Sharon, and he waited until she was in her office with the door closed before he started again.
"Flynn!" he yelled, and the team, still watching the scene, knowing something was going on between the men, turned toward Andy.
"What now?" Andy yelled back at him. "What is wrong with you today, Provenza?"
"Ahh, flower delivery," they all turned to the door at the sound of a strange voice. Andy grinned and looked to the floor as he did, the next part of the plan in progress.
"Oh, who got flowers?" Julio asked the delivery guy. There were several people who worked in the division, not just the team, so it wasn't uncommon for things to be delivered.
"These are for a Captain Raydor," the guy read the name of the card and looked to the team. Andy stood quickly.
"I'll take those," he flashed a grin at the team and walked to the delivery guy. "That's her office there," he nodded to where Sharon was. "Thanks," he nodded to the delivery guy and made a point to give him a tip in front of the team, making it clear, if it wasn't already, that he'd ordered the flowers. The delivery guy nodded and turned to leave, as Andy turned toward Sharon's door.
"Flowers!" Provenza yelled, and the team chuckled. Andy shrugged.
"Who says they are from me?" he winked at Provenza and walked to Sharon's door. Before he opened it, Provenza continued with his rant.
"Last night!" he yelled. "Flynn! You've got to be kidding me!"
"What was last night?" Amy asked.
Andy tilted his head at Provenza and gave him a look, "You really want to bring up last night? You want to talk about THAT at the office?" The way he said it, the team, well, all but Provenza, started to blush and almost look away. Provenza narrowed his gaze, and Andy continued, putting any inappropriate thoughts to rest, "Provenza, you were there! Really, we're going to go into it now?" The team all looked at Andy quickly, their individual thoughts of last night apparently were not the reality. Andy waited and when Provenza didn't answer, Andy just grinned and opened Sharon's door. He closed it as she looked up from her desk.
"Andy," she smiled at him.
He shrugged, "This wasn't in our discussion, but I had this ace in my pocket," he winked as he put the flowers on her table. "I wanted to send you flowers anyway. Irritating Provenza was just a bonus."
Sharon stood and walked to them where she took a deep breath, "Oh, those smell lovely. Thank you," she reached for and squeezed his hand quickly.
"You are welcome," he winked, "and just note, I did want to send you flowers. I didn't do that just to irritate Provenza."
She chuckled, "I think I understand your odd relationship with him. How are things going?"
"Great," he flashed a smile. "Wish you could have seen him choke on his coffee when he saw the shirt from last night. It was perfect. His lunch should be arriving later." Sharon nodded, and Andy winked again, "I'm going to get back to work."
When he returned to his desk, Andy noted Provenza was not at his desk. He figured the guy needed a moment to cool off after the hits had been coming all morning. The morning continued until just after 11:00 when another delivery person arrived.
"I'm looking for a Lieutenant Provenza?" all heads turned to find a pizza delivery guy near the door.
"He's Provenza," Andy pointed at him and smirked at Provenza. Provenza looked up from his crossword, a bit shocked, and somewhat confused at the situation.
"Just wait a minute! What is going on here? I didn't order any pizza, much less," he gestured to the guy, "however many you have there."
"10, Sir," he nodded. "I have 10 pizzas here for you."
"I didn't order 10 pizzas!" Provenza yelled, and all eyes turned to find Andy grinning. He shrugged.
"Take the pizza, Provenza, go on," Andy gestured. "I paid for them, but I'm willing to share. See, that's where we are different," he put his finger to his face as Provenza stared at him, his mouth open. Amy jumped up to help the pizza guy, and the two put the pizzas on the desk behind hers. "I'm willing to share my pizzas. I don't offer to feed my friend and then take his pizza and run."
"What happened with you two?" Julio looked between the men.
"Something is off," Buzz nodded.
"Did you two have a fight or something?" Mike asked. "One of your teams lose?"
Andy nodded at Provenza, "You want to explain or me?" Provenza just scowled, so Andy started, "Provenza and I were going to have pizza and watch the game last night. He met the pizza guy at my house-"
"Which I paid for, Flynn!" Provenza pointed out.
Andy rolled his eyes, "Technically, but only because I told you I had cash for you when you got there. I've paid every other time, and because I was in a meeting, and you couldn't get into the house, you are the hero?'
"Why couldn't you get into the house?" Amy asked, the team all trying to piece together the story.
"The lock was broken, and he was stuck outside," Andy added.
"You're leaving out a KEY, KEY piece of information!" Provenza yelled, and all eyes turned to him.
"I just said the lock was broken! You couldn't get the KEY to work," Andy smirking at his play on words.
"Pizza! I could smell it from my office," the eyes all spun around to Sharon as she smiled at the team and walked across the room to investigate the pizza boxes. "Oh, I'm starving! Who ordered all this pizza? This is a treat," she grinned and turned to the team. "I've had pizza on my mind, especially after circumstances last night. I was looking forward to it, and then, no pizza," she added as she dug into the box. Normally, Sharon was the last to get food, letting her team go first, but she and Andy had talked about all of this.
"Ahh," Mike nodded, "the story continues to unfold. The captain was involved," he grinned.
"I'm still confused," Amy shook her head.
Sharon turned to the group as she took a bite of her pizza, "What is the topic?"
"Pizza, Flynn, and Provenza, Ma'am," Julio nodded, "and apparently you."
"Oh," she frowned.
"Oh, no!" Provenza stood and shook his finger at her. "You two set all this up, I see it now. You want to go there, Flynn, fine! Here it is everyone-yes, Flynn and I were supposed to meet at his house for pizza and a game. When I got there, he wasn't home, but a home invasion was underway," he smirked at Sharon.
Her eyes grew wide, and she shook her head. Provenza didn't want to discuss it anymore than she did, so he kept most details to a minimum.
"Leave Sharon out of this, Provenza! This stays between you and me," Andy yelled.
Provenza appeared to be weighing his options and then continued, "The captain was there, but she'd gotten locked out of the house because, yes, the lock was broken. She was trying to get back inside. We had to stand there and wait on Flynn," he rolled his eyes.
"Hey! I got there quickly, and Sharon was a surprise. She didn't tell me she was coming over for the evening," Andy explained.
"I wanted to make him dinner!" Sharon jumped in on things too. "He's been sick. I wanted to do something nice."
"Mmm hmm," Amy just nodded as she looked to Sharon. She looked to Julio, "You think there's more?"
"Most definitely," he narrowed his gaze and looked to the three, "but, they won't crack, especially not the captain."
"The 'more' is Provenza took the pizzas, both of the pizzas, and he left. Oh, and he took the cannoli dessert Sharon had brought too," he made a face at Provenza. "You don't steal food! You especially don't steal special desserts!"
Everyone was trying to hold back their laughter. Sharon shook her head at Provenza, "Lieutenant, I ordered those from the bakery."
He shrugged, "They were delicious, Captain. I always knew you had good taste," he glanced at Andy, "well, at least good taste in food. After my evening, those were more than deserved."
"What happened that you aren't telling us?" Buzz asked.
"Nothing! Nothing, Buzz! There are things that we don't need to discuss, not ever again! Now, where's my pizza?" Provenza grumbled as he stood. The day was only half over.