They normally did not mix their personal lives with their professional; they'd done a good job of that, keeping their friendship out of the office. Friendship-because yes, that's what it had become. They'd become friends. The landlord/tenant relationship was going well for both of them. Sharon found Andy was helping her more than she'd planned, and Andy was very grateful for all the help Sharon had been giving him.
Today was not a day they could separate their personal and professional lives. It started when Andy's car had gone in the shop and needed a few things done to it. He'd known that when he'd purchased it, and now, a month later, he had the money to make those small repairs. None of it was awful, but he wanted to take good care of his car. Because of that, Sharon had given him a ride to work. She'd dropped off the kids at daycare at the church and had then met him at the repair shop. It wasn't too bad, but neither liked showing up to work together. It just raised eyebrows and questions, things neither wanted to answer. They could have handled that; the two had ridden to work together before, not often, but it had happened. What was really the kicker was that Andy's division was out investigating a crime scene, one involving another cop from another division, and Sharon had been called out too. Both divisions had reason to be at the scene; Sharon, though, or at least her unit, was responsible for interviewing everyone working the case. She'd been able to delegate some of that to her officers, and the first one she'd made sure to delegate out was Andy's interview. Now, it was late, later than either of them liked to be at work. Andy was tired. He knew Sharon had to be as well. He'd heard Ricky up overnight, which was unusual, but hey, the kid was a kid. Andy walked slowly off the elevator, his suit jacket in his hand, and he walked into Sharon's office area. He could see her light on and knew she was still working. He glanced around at the office, noting a couple of people were still there. He wasn't going to make a scene, and thankfully, after the day at the crime scene, it was almost expected he-someone from his division-might be up to speak to Sharon.
After knocking on her door, she waved him inside. He gave her a small, almost tired smile and closed her door. Sharon looked back at a document and signed it as he sat down in the chair across from her desk.
"Hey, sorry to bother you," he said as he sat.
"No bother," she said as she finished signing something and looked up at him.
"You still have a lot of work?" Andy asked, gesturing to the stack of paperwork. "Thankfully, my division has a relatively easy case with this one, the moron/" Andy rolled his eyes and looked at Sharon.
She shook her head and started to stack her paperwork, "To be honest, I hadn't looked at the clock to see the time. I need to get home. The kids need to be picked up. Bless the church for keeping them like they do. Their staff is a lifesaver for me, but I need to get them. My paperwork can be done at home, and I want to see the kids. I'll be lucky if they stay awake for the drive home." Sharon's church had been extremely helpful with the kids. When her day extended outside of the normal daycare hours, two of the women who attended church there were more than willing to watch the kids. Both were grandmothers themselves and didn't see their grandchildren often. They treated Sharon's kids like their own. She was glad to have a couple of backups because it didn't put all the pressure or middle-of-the-night interruption on one person.
"Mind if I catch a ride?" Andy asked. "I hope it's okay I came up here to check and see how long you would be. I would have asked Provenza, but one of his kids had some sort of function he had to attend. To be honest, I didn't ask questions. We were going in opposite directions."
"Oh gosh," Sharon said, her eyes widening as she looked at her watch. "The repair shop-Andy, I'm sorry. I didn't think about them. It closed at 6:00, didn't it?"
"Yeah, no worries, at least if you don't mind dropping me off there in the morning. I spoke to them and told them work was busy. I'm planning to go home and force feed myself before dropping into bed," he chuckled.
Sharon nodded as she stood, "That sounds wonderful, I mean," she shook her head, "getting some rest like that, not the idea of you in bed, but," she said flustered. She waved her hand, "I just meant that I have a couple more hours of work at least after I get the kids in bed."
"Happy to help with the kids if you want," Andy shrugged.
"All I will ask," Sharon said with a slight smirk on her face as she looked at him, "is that you not divulge my guilty habit or whatever," she said waving her hand. Andy gave her a quizzical look, and Sharon rolled her eyes, "I might get my kids food through a drive-thru tonight. I hate doing it. You know I like cooking their dinner-"
Andy waved his hand as he stood, "Sharon, please. You have nothing to explain. You continue to amaze me, and if you are worried about getting your kids fast food after you've had an incredibly long day, don't even think about it."
"I mean," she brushed her hair out of her face, "it's just Emily. Ricky is still a baby."
"Mind if I put in an order too?" Andy flashed a grin. "A greasy burger sounds perfect tonight."
Several hours later after Sharon had put the kids to bed, she was sitting at the kitchen table working on bills. Her files from work were done, and while she should have gone to bed, she couldn't sleep. She hadn't been sleeping the last few days. She had a lot on her mind, and she looked up when she heard movement.
"I thought you were falling into bed," Sharon said, frowning slightly as Andy walked into the room, or rather, he shuffled into the room. He had on flannel sleep pants, a t-shirt, and his slippers. He waved his hand at her as he walked to the sink.
"Just my typical glass of water. You? Are you not sleeping again?" Andy asked as he filled his glass.
Sharon shook her head and looked over at a discarded file. It wasn't exactly discarded, just there to her side, something she couldn't take her eyes off of lately. She was staring at it so long she didn't see Andy walk over and sit down.
"I can't believe he wants to go back to court now and apply for visitation," Sharon sighed. "I haven't slept all week since I received the papers."
Andy nodded and cupped his hands around his glass of water. He took a sip and let the silence settle. Finally, he waved his hand, and he looked at Sharon, "I know he's a dirtbag and treated you like garbage. I want to preface this with that I'm on your side," he said, eyeing her. "I am just wondering, " he said, putting his hands on the table as he spoke softly, "what is different about what Jack wants to do compared to what you've helped me do. I mean, we are both alcoholics. We both destroyed our families. I know that Jack left, and honestly, I get that might be the kicker, but I guess I want to know why you see good in me, but you can't see it in Jack?"
Sharon bit her lip, and her eyes met his. She sighed and sat back in her chair. She shook her head as she looked at him, "You make me think. I have thought about that, and I suppose I should thank you for challenging me, for making me sort through these emotions. Bottom line is that I think you have redeeming qualities and want to stay sober. I think you want to improve your life, work hard, and be a good dad to your kids. I've thought about this and don't believe Jack wants any of that. He's sober-for the moment, so he says. I'm not around him, so I don't know what he is doing on his own time. He is back in town working, at least for now. What I have learned about my ex-husband is that he's only around as long as things are going well. The first sign of challenge, he's gone. I'm afraid that is what will happen here. I also think he wants something, and I don't think it's the kids. I think he wants money or something from me. He is a manipulator, and I don't believe you are at all. You genuinely want to be a good dad. Honestly," she said with a small smile, "I wish I was dealing with Jack having your qualities because I believe we could work out something with the kids. I am scared the judge will allow visitation, and I'm scared the kids will be in danger. What happens if he drinks around them? What happens if he just gets tired of being a dad when they are around? I'm still disappointed in my own actions, for marrying him. My parents warned me."
"Really?" Andy raised an eyebrow and sat back in his chair where he crossed his arms. The two got along easily now at the house; conversation flowed between them, often during these late hours of the night. Now that Andy's kids were permitted to visit with Sharon around, the two had really relaxed around each other. It felt nice to have a friend, an ally. Andy nodded at Sharon, "They didn't want you to marry Jack?"
"No," she said with a long sigh. "They disliked him the first time they met him in college, and they weren't afraid to tell me. I suppose that was what drew me to him even more, you know, wanting the forbidden," she said rolling her eyes. "Ironically, they weren't happy about the divorce, mainly because we're Catholic. They were of the impression that I'd made my choice, and I should try to reconcile with Jack. It took some time to explain that you can't reconcile with a man who has abandoned you. Anyway," she shook her head, "they now agree that he's a slime for abandoning me with two kids. That part they support, but they always remind me that sort of 'I told you so' attitude. At the end of the day, we all agree that Jack is scum, and yes, I'm better off without him. We agree that I got the best of Jack with Emily and Ricky, but it's just difficult to be around him. They really have an old school mentality still about things and don't understand that life just happens."
"Wow, I'm sorry," Andy said with a sympathetic smile. "I can't imagine not having supportive parents. My parents aren't alive to see things now, but they were supportive of me through everything. I wish they could see me on the road to recovery now. One day at a time; that's all I can do."
"It is," Sharon smiled at him too. They sat in silence again for a few moments.
"You going to ask the judge for back child support?" Andy finally asked, looking at her. "You need to do that. Scum owes you a lot of money. Again, I get that we're different there. I go above and beyond to pay for anything my kids need. That gets paid before I even eat," he chuckled lightly.
Sharon bit her lip and nodded, "I am. You'd better believe that if Jack Raydor wants to make things right and see his kids, he's going to have to start by paying for their monthly expenses. My court fight with him will start-and if I'm correct in my assessment that he doesn't really want to see the kids-I think it will start and end with that back child support."