RECESS 11:30AM
Sharona was relieved to take the children out for recess. Snack-time had been close to a disaster with Adrian trying to wipe down 25 kids fingers with his wet wipes. And then he had insisted on windexing every desk, table, and chair before they brought out their snacks.
Sharona figured some fresh air would do everybody good including Monk. But boy was she wrong. The kids eagerly ran around the playground having fun.
Monk.well he ran after them with a dustbuster. Figuring enough was enough she walked over to him and snatched the toy from him.
He looked at her in surprise, "Sharona.what are you doing?"
"Saving the children. Adrian, why are you harassing the children with this.thing?" she asked shaking it at him.
"I.I wasn't harassing them. They were leaving dirt on everything. The slides and the ..swings" he gestured. "And on the see-saw, you should have seen-"
"Adrian!" Sharona cut him off. "You need to stop, ok?" You're scaring the children."
"I'm not-"
"Yes! Yes you are. STOP." Sharona said firmly.
Adrian looked down at his feet, "Ok" he muttered.
Just then they heard a child screaming his head off. Another kid came running up to Monk.
"Mr. Monk! Mr. Monk! Come quick!" he yelled. Monk hurried over to where the first kid was screaming.
"There's a big giant snake over there where Jamie is standing! You gotta save him!"
Monk winced. He hated snakes. On his list they were about fifth in the top things he was afraid of. But this snake could be poisonous and a child's life could be at stake. Sharona had rushed over and before he could lose his nerve, Monk snatched the dustbuster out of her and with as much nerve as he could muster he charged at the snake and threw the dustbuster at its head. It instantly stopped moving.
Sharona gawked at Monk. She couldn't believe he had just killed it. Like that. Without thinking. She remembered one case they'd been working on where a snake had gotten loose in a murdered victim's house and Monk had stood on the kitchen table until the snake had been located.
"Yay Mr. Monk!!" a few kids started cheering. Then several others joined in until it sounded like all the kids were cheering for him. Even Tommy, the one who said he looked weird.
Monk looked around at the kids. He smiled, pleased that the kids actually thought he was a hero, him, the man with more fears than hairs on his head.
Jamie, the one who had first seen the snake came over to him. "Thanks Mr. Monk, for saving my life."
"You-you're welcome" Monk replied.
"Way to go Adrian!" Sharona patted him on the back, as they headed inside.
"Thanks Sharona" he smiled gratefully at her.
"Yeah, you know it was kind of sexy how you just took charge like that."
"What??" Monk said in shock but Sharona had walked quickly ahead of him talking to the kids.
He cocked his head in surprise. He couldn't believe what Sharona had just said. Him, sexy? Maybe she didn't mean it.
She looked back at him, catching his gaze and smiled, lifting an eyebrow knowingly. Suddenly Monk felt something stir in his heart. Sharona always knew how to make him feel good.
********** 1:30 PM
Somehow it was time for the kids to load up on their buses and Monk had made it through the day. He tentatively helped the kids put their backpacks on. One kid had a backpack that was bigger than he was and he was struggling to put it on himself. Monk had felt he'd already done his duty by helping one kid out and didn't want to touch any more of them. Sharona was busy helping another little girl out when she noticed the boy about to topple over.
"Mr. Monk?" Sharona said.
"Yes?"
"Uh, you mind helping out Jason there?" she replied gesturing to the kid with the oversized backpack who was starting to fall over. "I'm kinda busy with Melody here."
"Wahh!!" Jason cried as he fell backwards on his bottom. Monk went over to him and gingerly put him upright again.
"Thanks Mr. Monk! You're the best!" Jason gave him a big smile. Sharona looked over at them and smiled at him too.
"Oh..no Jason.you're the BEST." Monk replied trying to give him a thumbs-up sign but only succeeding in making himself look ridiculous. Sharona ushered the last kid out of the classroom and walked over to Monk.
"Man, I am beat" she said flopping down into one of the tiny plastic chairs.
"Oh yeah" Monk nodded, "Same here."
Sharona looked at him, "Ya know Adrian? I'm real proud of you. Ninety- nine percent of the day you were getting on my nerves. But the other one percent .well you were pretty cool. And helpful. Thank you." She smiled gratefully at him.
Monk nodded, "Uh Sharona, what you said earlier about." he began but he noticed Sharona had put her head down on the Legos table and was now breathing softly. He had wanted to bring up the comment she had made earlier about him being sexy. But he didn't want to disturb her now. She looked so peaceful.
He drew in a sharp breath. He wanted badly to reach out and touch her soft blond hair.
Where did that thought come from?
He had never thought about Sharona in a romantic way before. Of course he had always thought she was pretty.beautiful actually. And he wouldn't be able to say he had a pulse if he hadn't noticed that she often wore revealing clothing.
But he had never really thought about her in that sense.
Nah, it was just the elements of a stressful day coming down on him. Making him delusional, that's all.
But he still wanted to touch her hair.
Hesitantly, he reached out and gently held one of her curls in his hand.
So shiny and smooth.
Suddenly Sharona stirred and Monk jumped.
She quickly lifted her head up, "Adrian? What are you doing?"
"Uh there uh.was a hair.on your head" he said stupidly.
Sharona looked at him absurdly, "Uh yeah, I have a lot of those."
"No-I.um it wasn't your hair you know. It was just some random hair." He said looking away, very flustered now.
"Ooo-kay" Sharona nodded staring at him. She gave him a look but he still wouldn't meet her eyes.
He got up suddenly as an idea struck him, "I'll-be back in a few minutes." He said quickly and rushed out the door. Sharona continued cleaning up, he must have just put his detective cap back on and she would be most helpful by letting him do his thing.
******** OUTSIDE
Monk decided to go poking around outside where the snake had been found. He had suddenly thought that maybe it wasn't just a coincidence they had found it on a crowded playground but that it had been deliberately planted there. He heard a mower start and looked up to see the groundskeeper about to start cutting the grass. The groundskeeper lifted a hand in a wave and Monk waved back.
Returning to the scene he looked down hoping to find a clue of some sort. He walked around the field for a few minutes finding nothing, and frowned. The snake's body had been removed. But no one but the kids in Sharona's class knew about it yet. Puzzled, he turned and went inside.
************************** THE NEXT MORNING 8:48 AM
Monk was helping Sharona by organizing the teaching materials she had brought for the lesson plan. He picked up a case of Play-Doh.
"Um Sharona, are we going to use this?" he held up the case of Play-Doh. "Because.I-I can't touch this stuff."
Sharona snatched the Play-Doh out of his hand. "No Adrian, YOU don't have to touch it. It's for the kids."
Adrian kept on going, "Because you know it's really too squishy ...for words," he made a face at that. "and though they say it's non-toxic you never know. I mean maybe even the kids shouldn't-"
Sharona interrupted him, "Adrian! Look why don't you go talk to the kids' parents over there" she said pointing to the door, "Because it's too early for you to be getting on my nerves."
"But I-"
"Go." Sharona said firmly and shoved him over to the door.
Adrian stumbled almost tripping into a beautiful tall brunette with legs that didn't quit. Embarrassed, he up-righted himself.
"Hello" he said politely.
"Hi there' the brunette replied in a sexy low voice. "You must be new," she said looking him up and down, quite obviously checking him out.
Monk was unaware of this and said, "Yes, I am.my-my name is Adrian Monk. I'm Ms. Fleming's bos-" he started to say 'boss' and caught himself. Shaking his head at the thought of saying it, he said, "-assistant. I'm her assistant."
The brunette nodded, "My name's Cassandra. My kid's name is Bobby."
Monk nodded in recognition, "Ah yes Bobby. Very clean and neat, good kid."
"So, Mr. Monk.I hear you're the 'hero' around here. Bobby says you saved the day yesterday."" Cassandra said leaning closer to him.
Monk shook his head, "Oh no, I'm not a hero.pssh I'm not even a side-kick."
The brunette laughed heartily, "Oh Mr. Monk, you're too cute!" she cried putting a hand on his shoulder.
Monk flinched and blushed profusely, "I.I think you're mistaken."
Suddenly the brunette was pushed aside as three other moms inched in on Monk talking loudly. "Oh look Cheryl!!" A woman screeched in a New York accent, "It's that new teacher Rachel told us about."
Monk tightened his neck at the sound of her voice.
Cheryl got a good look at him, "Ohmygosh Betti! Look at him, he's so CUTE!" She said it loud enough for Monk and half of San Francisco to hear her. Monk began to get very uncomfortable.
"Hiii there" Betti purred at him and Cheryl giggled, "I'm single" she winked at him. Monk tried to back away but he found himself pinned against the wall.
Suddenly Sharona was pushing her way through the 'mom crowd' and Monk was never happier to see her.
"Sharona!" he cried, "HELP!"
"Come on" she said and grabbed him by his sleeve.
"How can I ever repay you?" he gazed at her as she rescued him from the sticky grasps of the single and even the married mothers.
"HEY!" the women cried as he was dragged away.
"Sorry ladies" Sharona said, "Class is starting now."
The women grumbled in response and began filing out.
Monk thought he heard one woman say "Cute buns" on the way out and he felt his face redden.
"Thank you, Sharona. You're-" Adrian began when Sharona interrupted him.
"You stud." She said punching him in the arm and giving him a smile as she walked off.
"I am not!" he protested as he followed her.
Sharona was relieved to take the children out for recess. Snack-time had been close to a disaster with Adrian trying to wipe down 25 kids fingers with his wet wipes. And then he had insisted on windexing every desk, table, and chair before they brought out their snacks.
Sharona figured some fresh air would do everybody good including Monk. But boy was she wrong. The kids eagerly ran around the playground having fun.
Monk.well he ran after them with a dustbuster. Figuring enough was enough she walked over to him and snatched the toy from him.
He looked at her in surprise, "Sharona.what are you doing?"
"Saving the children. Adrian, why are you harassing the children with this.thing?" she asked shaking it at him.
"I.I wasn't harassing them. They were leaving dirt on everything. The slides and the ..swings" he gestured. "And on the see-saw, you should have seen-"
"Adrian!" Sharona cut him off. "You need to stop, ok?" You're scaring the children."
"I'm not-"
"Yes! Yes you are. STOP." Sharona said firmly.
Adrian looked down at his feet, "Ok" he muttered.
Just then they heard a child screaming his head off. Another kid came running up to Monk.
"Mr. Monk! Mr. Monk! Come quick!" he yelled. Monk hurried over to where the first kid was screaming.
"There's a big giant snake over there where Jamie is standing! You gotta save him!"
Monk winced. He hated snakes. On his list they were about fifth in the top things he was afraid of. But this snake could be poisonous and a child's life could be at stake. Sharona had rushed over and before he could lose his nerve, Monk snatched the dustbuster out of her and with as much nerve as he could muster he charged at the snake and threw the dustbuster at its head. It instantly stopped moving.
Sharona gawked at Monk. She couldn't believe he had just killed it. Like that. Without thinking. She remembered one case they'd been working on where a snake had gotten loose in a murdered victim's house and Monk had stood on the kitchen table until the snake had been located.
"Yay Mr. Monk!!" a few kids started cheering. Then several others joined in until it sounded like all the kids were cheering for him. Even Tommy, the one who said he looked weird.
Monk looked around at the kids. He smiled, pleased that the kids actually thought he was a hero, him, the man with more fears than hairs on his head.
Jamie, the one who had first seen the snake came over to him. "Thanks Mr. Monk, for saving my life."
"You-you're welcome" Monk replied.
"Way to go Adrian!" Sharona patted him on the back, as they headed inside.
"Thanks Sharona" he smiled gratefully at her.
"Yeah, you know it was kind of sexy how you just took charge like that."
"What??" Monk said in shock but Sharona had walked quickly ahead of him talking to the kids.
He cocked his head in surprise. He couldn't believe what Sharona had just said. Him, sexy? Maybe she didn't mean it.
She looked back at him, catching his gaze and smiled, lifting an eyebrow knowingly. Suddenly Monk felt something stir in his heart. Sharona always knew how to make him feel good.
********** 1:30 PM
Somehow it was time for the kids to load up on their buses and Monk had made it through the day. He tentatively helped the kids put their backpacks on. One kid had a backpack that was bigger than he was and he was struggling to put it on himself. Monk had felt he'd already done his duty by helping one kid out and didn't want to touch any more of them. Sharona was busy helping another little girl out when she noticed the boy about to topple over.
"Mr. Monk?" Sharona said.
"Yes?"
"Uh, you mind helping out Jason there?" she replied gesturing to the kid with the oversized backpack who was starting to fall over. "I'm kinda busy with Melody here."
"Wahh!!" Jason cried as he fell backwards on his bottom. Monk went over to him and gingerly put him upright again.
"Thanks Mr. Monk! You're the best!" Jason gave him a big smile. Sharona looked over at them and smiled at him too.
"Oh..no Jason.you're the BEST." Monk replied trying to give him a thumbs-up sign but only succeeding in making himself look ridiculous. Sharona ushered the last kid out of the classroom and walked over to Monk.
"Man, I am beat" she said flopping down into one of the tiny plastic chairs.
"Oh yeah" Monk nodded, "Same here."
Sharona looked at him, "Ya know Adrian? I'm real proud of you. Ninety- nine percent of the day you were getting on my nerves. But the other one percent .well you were pretty cool. And helpful. Thank you." She smiled gratefully at him.
Monk nodded, "Uh Sharona, what you said earlier about." he began but he noticed Sharona had put her head down on the Legos table and was now breathing softly. He had wanted to bring up the comment she had made earlier about him being sexy. But he didn't want to disturb her now. She looked so peaceful.
He drew in a sharp breath. He wanted badly to reach out and touch her soft blond hair.
Where did that thought come from?
He had never thought about Sharona in a romantic way before. Of course he had always thought she was pretty.beautiful actually. And he wouldn't be able to say he had a pulse if he hadn't noticed that she often wore revealing clothing.
But he had never really thought about her in that sense.
Nah, it was just the elements of a stressful day coming down on him. Making him delusional, that's all.
But he still wanted to touch her hair.
Hesitantly, he reached out and gently held one of her curls in his hand.
So shiny and smooth.
Suddenly Sharona stirred and Monk jumped.
She quickly lifted her head up, "Adrian? What are you doing?"
"Uh there uh.was a hair.on your head" he said stupidly.
Sharona looked at him absurdly, "Uh yeah, I have a lot of those."
"No-I.um it wasn't your hair you know. It was just some random hair." He said looking away, very flustered now.
"Ooo-kay" Sharona nodded staring at him. She gave him a look but he still wouldn't meet her eyes.
He got up suddenly as an idea struck him, "I'll-be back in a few minutes." He said quickly and rushed out the door. Sharona continued cleaning up, he must have just put his detective cap back on and she would be most helpful by letting him do his thing.
******** OUTSIDE
Monk decided to go poking around outside where the snake had been found. He had suddenly thought that maybe it wasn't just a coincidence they had found it on a crowded playground but that it had been deliberately planted there. He heard a mower start and looked up to see the groundskeeper about to start cutting the grass. The groundskeeper lifted a hand in a wave and Monk waved back.
Returning to the scene he looked down hoping to find a clue of some sort. He walked around the field for a few minutes finding nothing, and frowned. The snake's body had been removed. But no one but the kids in Sharona's class knew about it yet. Puzzled, he turned and went inside.
************************** THE NEXT MORNING 8:48 AM
Monk was helping Sharona by organizing the teaching materials she had brought for the lesson plan. He picked up a case of Play-Doh.
"Um Sharona, are we going to use this?" he held up the case of Play-Doh. "Because.I-I can't touch this stuff."
Sharona snatched the Play-Doh out of his hand. "No Adrian, YOU don't have to touch it. It's for the kids."
Adrian kept on going, "Because you know it's really too squishy ...for words," he made a face at that. "and though they say it's non-toxic you never know. I mean maybe even the kids shouldn't-"
Sharona interrupted him, "Adrian! Look why don't you go talk to the kids' parents over there" she said pointing to the door, "Because it's too early for you to be getting on my nerves."
"But I-"
"Go." Sharona said firmly and shoved him over to the door.
Adrian stumbled almost tripping into a beautiful tall brunette with legs that didn't quit. Embarrassed, he up-righted himself.
"Hello" he said politely.
"Hi there' the brunette replied in a sexy low voice. "You must be new," she said looking him up and down, quite obviously checking him out.
Monk was unaware of this and said, "Yes, I am.my-my name is Adrian Monk. I'm Ms. Fleming's bos-" he started to say 'boss' and caught himself. Shaking his head at the thought of saying it, he said, "-assistant. I'm her assistant."
The brunette nodded, "My name's Cassandra. My kid's name is Bobby."
Monk nodded in recognition, "Ah yes Bobby. Very clean and neat, good kid."
"So, Mr. Monk.I hear you're the 'hero' around here. Bobby says you saved the day yesterday."" Cassandra said leaning closer to him.
Monk shook his head, "Oh no, I'm not a hero.pssh I'm not even a side-kick."
The brunette laughed heartily, "Oh Mr. Monk, you're too cute!" she cried putting a hand on his shoulder.
Monk flinched and blushed profusely, "I.I think you're mistaken."
Suddenly the brunette was pushed aside as three other moms inched in on Monk talking loudly. "Oh look Cheryl!!" A woman screeched in a New York accent, "It's that new teacher Rachel told us about."
Monk tightened his neck at the sound of her voice.
Cheryl got a good look at him, "Ohmygosh Betti! Look at him, he's so CUTE!" She said it loud enough for Monk and half of San Francisco to hear her. Monk began to get very uncomfortable.
"Hiii there" Betti purred at him and Cheryl giggled, "I'm single" she winked at him. Monk tried to back away but he found himself pinned against the wall.
Suddenly Sharona was pushing her way through the 'mom crowd' and Monk was never happier to see her.
"Sharona!" he cried, "HELP!"
"Come on" she said and grabbed him by his sleeve.
"How can I ever repay you?" he gazed at her as she rescued him from the sticky grasps of the single and even the married mothers.
"HEY!" the women cried as he was dragged away.
"Sorry ladies" Sharona said, "Class is starting now."
The women grumbled in response and began filing out.
Monk thought he heard one woman say "Cute buns" on the way out and he felt his face redden.
"Thank you, Sharona. You're-" Adrian began when Sharona interrupted him.
"You stud." She said punching him in the arm and giving him a smile as she walked off.
"I am not!" he protested as he followed her.