Sharon heaved a sigh, closed her eyes and leaned her forehead on her arms that was on top of her desk. Perhaps she could catch a catnap. She was exhausted. She and her team had been up extended hours for a week now. Half of them were trying to wrap up the investigation with Central on the strangling of an actress's son and half of them, with minimal manpower was trying to close a current case so they could move to other cases.
How she missed the movie nights she spent with Andy specially when things are additionally stressful at work. It alleviated all the stress and left her feeling lighter and happier. But they had not gone out since she overheard the conversation with Provenza in the break room. Hopefully, it was not the reason they had not had their movie nights. The thought of it was making her stomach churn. It must be just the very tight schedule.
The silence was broken by a knock on the door. It was Julio.
"Captain, Chief Taylor wants you in his office," said he.
Sharon wasted no time in going to Chief Tylor's office. The sooner the meeting finished, the sooner she could leave work and get some rest. She was surprised to find Andy and Provenza in Taylor's room as well. Their blank expressions revealed they still had no idea what the meeting was for.
"Hello Chief Taylor. May I know what this is about," she asked calmly as she took a seat beside Andy.
"Yes, chief, what is this about?" repeated Andy.
"Hold your horses," said Taylor calmly.
"Before anything further. Can each one of you tell me what happened the day before yesterday," he asked.
They all looked at Tayor in confusion. Nothing out of the ordinary happened.
"Do you want every boring detail?" asked Provenza.
"As far as I can remember there nothing untoward or unusual happened that needs your attention, Chief," said Sharon.
"Really?" said Taylor.
Taylor's thick brows furrowed and pouted before handing her a piece of paper.
"Then what is this report on my desk."
Sharon almost fainted. She stood up in such haste in disbelief that could topple her seat had it not been a heavy club chair.
"Sexual Harassment?! This is a lie," she uttered as she continued to read the entire content.
Flynn and Provenza shared astonished faces in her outburst.
"Who had she supposedly harassed?" asked Provenza.
Chief Taylor's expression was unreadable. He shook his head in disbelief.
"I would have laughed my head off if not for the fact that this was from Internal Affairs…."
He paused before continuing.
"Flynn. In the report Captain Raydor had sexually harassed Lt. Flynn."
"What! that is preposterous! Why in the world would Captain Raydor do that? And with Flynn? Has the world gone mad," exclaimed Provenza.
"That's absurd!" cried Lt. Flynn.
"I did not file any such report."
Sharon found her composure and restraint. She knew she can handle it.
"It says here it was filed by Detective Donald Newman," said Sharon, looking up from the report she was reading.
"What?! That good for nothing idiot monkey!" exclaimed Provenza.
"I'm going to kill him with my bare hands when I see him," threatened Andy in heated rage.
"Is that even possible to accuse someone and file a complaint for a third party?" asked Provenza.
"According to our rules Appendix A, third paragraph, in misconducts of a personal nature such as sexual harassment, complaint is not deemed legitimate unless signed by the aggrieved party," said Sharon.
"Quiet. Calm down. Calm down, people. Let me speak," said Chief Taylor.
"Would you all please settle down on your seats and let's discuss this without any violent emotion."
When everyone had piped down Taylor started.
"Since this was reported in IA by a third party and not by the aggrieved party, according to the rules, they have no choice but to disregard it. However, they have called my attention regarding this and asked me to investigate the matter, being the head of the LAPD."
"The reason I asked each of your perspective about that Wednesday was in order to get to the bottom of this salacious and malicious allegation. Before anything further, I personally do not believe this allegation against Captain Raydor but I am bound by my duty as chief of police to file a counter report to either prove or refute this allegation."
"If I may, sir, I have known this Det, Newman for years and he's really a first-class jerk with an IA file bigger than Mt. Rushmore. He must have an axe to grind against Captain Raydor," said Provenza.
"Since this is between Lt. Flynn and I, I find it highly inappropriate to have Lt. Provenza present," said Sharon.
"If you ask me, all this is Provenza's fault," said Taylor, giving Provenza the eye.
"If you had gone to Hacienda Hotel like I told you to instead of asking Lt. Flynn to relieved you of the task, none of this would have happened."
"It was a misunderstanding, sir. I thought you meant anyone on our team can go," explained Provenza, his face showing exaggerated innocence.
"Had I no particular person in mind I would have told Capt. Raydor first so she could assign the agent she wanted but I called you because it's you I wanted there."
Andy could not stand the discomfort and worry evident on Sharon's face. He must do all he can to alleviate her of this predicament. Her reputation meant so much to her, it should not be tarnished at any cost.
"Please, let me handle this. I am the supposed aggrieved party, then let me address each item of concern on the report. That way you can ensure it is not some excuse to justify an inappropriate behavior," said Lt. Flynn.
"Okay I'll read them to you. Let me finish before you react," said Taylor.
Right in the middle of an investigation, we were disturbed by the ringing of Lt. Flynn's phone. It was Captain Raydor ordering him to come to her house. I felt there was something wrong that a superior officer should ask a subordinate to come to her abode. Upon arriving, Captain Raydor answered the door in a most inappropriate revealing dress bent on seducing Lt. Flynn. My presence did not deter her plans to have her way with the Lieutenant, she asked me to wait in the lobby while he asked the Lt. to stay. I was not even by the elevator when I saw her threw herself in the arms of the unsuspecting Lieutenant. Five minutes later they were down in the lobby. The Captain looking all composed in her conservative suit as though nothing had happened while Lt. Flynn was looking all flustered, trying his best to hide his discomfort. This is clearly a display of abuse of power and authority that should not be tolerated even from female high-ranking officers.
Sharon found herself cringing with every word. For the first time in her life she felt utterly vulnerable. If only the ground could open up and swallow her. Knowing Provenza and Taylor were on the front row seats of this tirade was increasing her embarrassment by the minute.
Andy could feel the heat on Sharon's face and he all but restrained himself to take her in his arms to protect her from the scrutiny and maliciousness of everyone around them.
"Look, Chief. That bastard Newman twisted everything to make it sound so tawdry. It wasn't like that at all," protested Andy.
"I'm telling you the next time I see him he will be walking with his dentures in a plastic," threatened Andy.
"Enough with the threats, Flynn. Okay so tell me how it really was," said Chief Taylor.
"First of all, Sharon didn't call me. Rusty called me to request if I could pick up Sharon because he took her car. When I went to pick her up, she didn't even know I was coming so how can you say she dressed up provocatively to seduce me. She was just merely trying on some clothes and it just so happen that the dress she had on when she opened the door was a bit sexy…"
"And why didn't you call your Captain that you were on your way?" asked Taylor.
"It slipped my mind because I was busy controlling my anger and I came almost this close to hitting Newman in the face. I didn't even want to bring him along, but he insisted and insisted… and for the record, Sharon, I mean Capt. Raydor did not throw herself at me. She merely lost her balance…."
"And you happen to catch her at that very moment she slipped," said Taylor condescendingly.
"Don't patronize me, Chief. I'm not making this up. I'm simply telling you what really happened," said Flynn indignantly.
"I suppose you're going to tell me next that you, being so gallant, carried the Captain inside her house," said Taylor.
"No, sir. That's not what happened. The only reason she asked me inside the condo was to help her with zip of her dress…It's not what you think. Please. She was in a predicament she couldn't change out of it because the zipper was stuck so I just helped her with it… It did not even take more than a minute. Then I waited for her outside the condo until she changed. That's the truth. I swear," said Andy.
"Okay. Okay. It's too outrageous not to be the truth," said Taylor.
Provenza cut in. "Besides even a Quickie cannot be done in less than five minutes. There's no way she could have ravished Flynn in twenty seconds, changed her clothes, wait for the elevator and be down in the lobby all in five minutes."
"Shut up, Provenza," growled Andy.
"What!? I'm merely making a point so Chief Taylor can see these allegations are as real as the toupee on Newman's head."
"If she wanted to seduce you, she could do it after work and not during duty hours. She's too professional for that. Got my drift?" said Provenza.
"I see your point. Well, you can all go now. I'll speak to Det. Newman's immediate superior about this malicious allegation."
Flynn was glaring at Provenza.
"I mean if she would ever do that… I'm not saying she is… not that she would you know…" stuttered Provenza.
"Stop it, Provenza. I got your point and I'm not thinking Captain Raydor would do such a thing. Go now. You're all giving me a nasty headache," said Taylor.
Sharon heaved a sigh of relief. She shouldn't have listened to Andrea. This flirting caused her nothing but trouble.
"Wait. But before you go…"
They all stopped on their tracks and looked back to Chief Taylor.
"Tell me… is there something I should know between the two of you?" he asked solemnly.
"None!" Sharon and Andy cried in unison in indignant protestation.
They stared at each other with guilt written all over their faces, unable to look Taylor in the eye.
Egad… Provenza rolled his eyes in exasperation.
"Let me rephrase that, is there something personal going on between you? Something more than a captain and her lieutenant," asked Taylor.
Andy Flynn hesitated. One could see the battle of two opposing forces in his facial expression.
A part of him wanted his feelings out in the open, wanted their special friendship to be a common knowledge between their colleagues, after all, there was absolutely nothing immoral or shameful about it.
Indecision. Is Sharon okay with it? It had to be a joint decision.
Before he could look at her in a silent , pleading way to get her blessing, he heard her answer.
One cold, terrifying word uttered in a detached, indifferent manner that felt like a bucket of melted snow being poured over his head.
"No."
Andy couldn't look at her. Afraid to see the ice in her beautiful green eyes, afraid she'll read the pain etched in his heart. He left the room without looking back, leaving Sharon and Provenza on his heels.
As the two stepped out of the room, Sharon was left speechless at Provenza's words puzzling words.
"We got it, Captain. Loud and Clear", he muttered, leaving her outside Taylor's office.