It had been a long 10 days, 10 days of solid work, two murders, and he was done. Done, done, done. One case had rolled right into a second one, and now that both were signed, sealed, and delivered to the DA's office, all Andy wanted to do was crawl into bed. He needed a nice long sleep. Right now, he realized bears had the best life. They could hibernate all winter. That's just what he wanted to do, hibernate. Somehow, he felt like even if he slept that long, he would still be tired.
Sleep would wait, at least for another hour or so. Right now, he was looking forward to his dinner-pizza-alone, but hey, it was better than another cup of cold, stale coffee or day-old doughnuts that kept popping up at work during the case. Some would want a nice, fancy or healthy meal. Sure, he had cravings like that, but not tonight. He was craving a pizza. Surprisingly, in the 10 days of work in a row, he hadn't had pizza. That was usually a staple in the middle of a case, but it seemed like the team was never together long enough at the office to order and eat one. He'd had a couple of burgers, tacos, several deli sandwiches, and even Chinese food during the cases, but pizza, nope, he hadn't had one in quite some time. Tonight, though, he was going to pick up his pizza, drive home, eat it-maybe some while driving home, and then sleep for as long as he could. He had four days off, and he was very excited to use them to sleep.
Andy turned into the pizza place and parked. He'd called in his order on his way out, just as soon as he'd turned in the last bit of paperwork. The team all had their own plans, and he thought he'd have a better evening than most of them. He preferred to be alone with his pizza. The pizza place was one he'd come to love but hadn't been to in several months. It had become his favorite place after trying many in the area. It was close to his apartment, but he'd discovered it while living at Sharon's place. Tonight, the 30-year old establishment was perfect for his craving.
It was a cozy place, but it wasn't that well known. He stepped inside, the bell ringing on the door as he did. This was one of those places a family had owned and run since it had started. It was darker inside, but he preferred that to the bright lights of some of the new restaurants popping up. Those places seemed too sterile to him; he liked these places, cozy and warm, reminding him of his life as a kid back in New York. He walked to the counter and ran his hand through his hair. He needed a shower. He knew it, but man, he was hungry.
"Pizza for Flynn," he said after a quick nod in greeting to the older woman. She nodded in reply, stepped toward the kitchen area, and a couple moments later, she reappeared. He stood there, tapping his fingers on the counter.
"Just a few more minutes," she said with a slight smile. Andy waved his hand and turned toward the restaurant. It was about half full and very quickly, his eyes spotted a familiar sight. About the time he started walking, their eyes met. He threw her a small wave.
"Hi," he said as he approached the table. He nodded to her and to the kids, "Hey there, kiddos."
"Andy, hi," Sharon said with a small smile. "What brings you here?"
"Ahh, dinner," Andy said quickly and then chuckled. "Obviously, sorry," he threw up his hand in a quick wave. "You guys, too, I guess? We need to stop running into each other at restaurants," he chuckled quietly.
"Yes, well, as you know from when you lived at the house, this is our favorite pizza place," she said to him, reaching over to help Ricky who was picking up small bites of pizza.
"Yeah, I kinda got used to it as well. Craving it, actually," he said.
"Andy, hi!" Emily squealed, just looking up. Even though he'd been there a few seconds, it had taken that long for Emily to finish her bite and recognize someone was at their table.
"How are you, little princess?" Andy asked, ruffling her hair. "Ahh, by the looks of it, you have been at dance." Andy nodded down to Emily, who was dressed in her pink leotard. As she sat up on her knees, he could see her tights too, a common look for her many nights with dance class.
"Yes," Sharon interjected. "We just left her ballet class. With it being Valentine's Day and all, I just didn't feel like cooking. I didn't really want to be in some popular restaurant either, so this was the perfect choice."
"Oh, right," Andy's eyes widened. He finally seemed to notice all the red everywhere in the restaurant, the little hearts plastered all over the walls, the red tablecloths, red everything. With as busy as he'd been, he hadn't given it much thought. He'd briefly thought about the day earlier, much earlier, when he'd been putting together his report and had jotted down the date, but since then, he'd been in his own fog. It wasn't like his office was the center of Valentine's Day either. Provenza wouldn't have mentioned it, only to complain about it, if he had, but now that he thought about it, that was why some of the guys had been in a hurry to finish and get home. He'd just completely blanked on the day and missed it. "Sorry," he let out a sigh, "should have realized. It's been a long day, several long days. Just closed out a case, and I decided to grab a pizza on the way home, which, by the way," he hooked his thumb behind him, "should be about ready. I will leave you guys to eat in peace."
"Was that the Felder case?" Sharon asked, surprising Andy that she knew anything he was working on right now.
"Ahh," he scratched the back of his head, "no, I mean sort of. We closed that a few days ago too, but that was part of the paperwork we were doing. We actually caught another case in the midst of that, as we were wrapping it up, Reyes case too."
She shook her head and reached over to wipe of Emily's hands before she covered her ballet outfit in grease, "I didn't hear about that one, but the Felder one sounded terrible."
"It was," he said with a long sigh. "Irritated we caught two back to back, but you know," he shrugged. Sharon just nodded and looked to the kids. "Good seeing you guys," he said, ruffling Ricky's hair. He started to giggle, and that caused Emily to laugh too.
"Andy is funny," she said, laughing.
"How's ballet, Twinkle Toes? Are you going to be so famous one day you'll forget me?" Andy winked to Sharon.
Sharon sighed and shook her head, "I'm glad she loves it. Right now, I just see her spinning around in circles, but that's most of the kids. I'm not sure how much longer we'll stick with it, I guess as long as she loves it. She missed so much while we were gone, but at the same time, I'm not sure she did. I mean, she missed a lot of classes, but the kids don't seem like they are really doing much. I have to remind myself that as much as I loved dancing, she might not enjoy it. We shall see. She's still liking it for now."
"That's good," Andy said with a small smile and nod. "Well, enjoy your evening, and ahh, Happy Valentine's Day to all three of you."
"Same to you, Andy," Sharon said with a small smile herself, "Happy Valentine's Day." Andy gave them all a small wave and started back to the counter, where now, he could see the box sitting there. His dinner was ready. He could almost taste the pizza; he was starving. Had he not been so polite, he might have taken a piece of the pizza at Sharon's table, but obviously, he wasn't going to be rude like that. He walked to the counter where the older woman was waiting. She rang up his bill; he dug out his wallet.
"Here," he said to her, counting out the last few bills in his wallet. He had $36. That was it, and with it, he'd planned to do some grocery shopping tomorrow. His case load had done a number on his refrigerator and stock of food. He never needed much, just a few bucks to cover food for a couple days, but as he mentally calculated, it dawned on him that tomorrow was also payday. He shoved all of his cash across the counter. "Cover that woman and her kids I was talking to," he said quietly to the older woman. This wasn't at all an expensive place, one reason both he and Sharon had liked this place. "In fact, whatever you have leftover, please take some dessert over-ice cream for the kids or whatever you have." The woman looked to him, eyeing him, "Is that enough?"
"Yes, it's fine. What should I tell her?" Andy looked to the woman as she asked him that.
He shrugged slightly, "Just tell her I said to enjoy her evening." He could wait on the food he needed. This little gesture might brighten Sharon's mood. She'd been such a good friend to him, and while they'd gotten involved with each other-something he missed but understood wasn't what she wanted anymore-he appreciated the times she'd lifted his spirits. Right now, he was doing a little better. Things with the kids were okay, not as good as he wanted, but okay, and Sharon still didn't look great. She was still thin, seemed pale, but her dad's death was still fresh on her mind. That he could tell. He hoped that was all, not that it was a little thing, but he just had this feeling she had more going on that she hadn't shared. Still, whatever the case, maybe this little gesture would brighten her night.
"Sir," Andy looked to the woman. She had rung up the food. "Here's your change," she said, handing it to him after he'd now paid for his meal and Sharon's bill. He waved it off, "Whatever is left, just leave it for the tip too. Just make sure those kids and that nice woman there," he nodded quickly in their direction where, out of the corner of his eye, he saw Sharon wiping down Ricky, "have a nice dessert, whatever you have."
"It's taken care of," the woman told him. "You don't want to leave a name or anything?"
"She'll know," he said and picked up his pizza. "Happy Valentine's Day," he said, and with a nod of his head, he stepped to the door and stepped outside, making that mental note to go by the bank in the morning to get cash before heading to the grocery store. He'd give up the last dollar he had to get Sharon to smile, even if he didn't get to see it.