TITLE:Perfect
AUTHOR:Elizabeth
RATING:PG
KEYWORDS: Drama/Romance, Sharona/Other, eventual Monk/Sharona
SUMMARY: When Sharona really does meet the perfect man, how will Monk
react?
DISCLAIMER: None of these characters belong to me...darn. We could
have a lot of fun. All due respect to their creators *bows*
AUTHOR'S NOTES: Many many thanks to the Editor Supreme, a.k.a Allison
my beta. Any mistakes you see are mine, and not hers. But not only is she a spiffy beta, she's a spiffy writer too. Go read her Monk ic, esp "When You're Around". T

Feedback always appreciated at @ e_jones78@yahoo.com
Perfect
by Elizabeth

"He's perfect."

Adrian Monk had heard those words before. Sharona Fleming- first his
nurse, lately his assistant in detection- was a good woman with many
admirable qualities. She had a mind of her own, patience to spare,
and a sense of compassion that her temper only occasionally got the
better of. What she didn't have was reputable taste in men. Her
downfall seemed to be that she constantly found the less than
desirables of the dating world. Sharona's various "Mr. Perfects" -
as he'd privately began thinking of them around the time of Number
Three- each had something wrong. Wrong ranging from relatively
harmless (running naked through the streets of San Francisco for fun)
to outright dangerous (attempting to annihilate the woman).

Which was why, when Sharona announced she had a date that fateful
Friday night, Adrian wasn't worried, at least not any more so than
usual. By that time, he knew his place in the pattern.

Before the first date, he listened to her go on and on about one
Jonathan Carroll. The next day, as she relayed the evening's events,
he tried to pick up on what she was leaving out. He managed to get
in a question or two of his own, but, of course, she ignored him.

During the second date, now terribly concerned for her well-being, he
called her cell phone three times, each time certain that she had
found her way into dire peril.

By the third date, he was wondering when the man would show his true
colors.

Two days after the fourth date, he called in a few favors and had a
background check ran on the guy. In the time it took to run the
check, Sharona and Jonathan had two more dates.

Matters were looking serious indeed when the background check came in-
and promptly made the situation worse.

Not that he didn't want her to be happy. He did want her happiness-
God knew she deserved it. But Monk wasn't going to lie to anyone,
least of all to himself. The thought of losing Sharona was
horrifying. He needed her. There were many things he still couldn't
do for himself, such as driving a car. Those things didn't matter,
however; they were small things, roles easily filled by others. What
he really needed was Sharona's time, her supreme patience, and her
refusals to completely cater to his disorders.

When he was with Sharona, Adrian Monk almost felt like himself again.
He didn't want to lose that feeling. At times, he didn't care if this
made him a selfish s.o.b. At other times, though, it made him
uncomfortable for reasons he couldn't discern.

With both thoughts in mind, he'd hoped and feared that the background
check would come back clean. If it came back dirty, however, he
would have no choice but to tell her. 'Look Sharona,' he'd say, 'He
nails puppies to the wall for fun.' 'Sharona, he's really an
international jewel thief.' With evidence of his misdeeds, she would
have no choice but to kick Jonathan Carroll to the curb.

He neatly arranged the papers on the coffee table, then rearranged
them. Agitated, he leaned back and frowned at the ordered stack.

"He's perfect," he said again, unable to keep the disbelief and
dismay out of his voice. And the current "Mr. Perfect" really was
perfect. His record was clean. He had a history of donations to
charity and a long list of volunteer work. Anyone who had ever met
him had nothing but glowing words for him, and that included
ex-girlfriends, of which there were only three.

The seemingly impossible had happened: a nice guy had found Sharona
Fleming.

And Adrian Monk had the sinking feeling that he'd lost her.
tbc?