Chapter 5: Plan
Randy arrived at Monk's apartment, whistling the tune of 'My Sharona.' He rapped on the door, and soon Monk was answering, ushering him in.
"I hope I'm not bothering you," Randy said.
"I was just…cleaning," Monk replied, picking some lint from Randy's jacket.
"I brought the CD for you."
"Oh. Do you have something to play it on?"
"You don't own a CD player," Randy said incredulously.
Monk shrugged and smiled. "What can I say? I've had more important things to do than listen to music. Like dusting."
Randy sighed. "I thought something like this might happen." He smiled, showing he was prepared. "So I brought this." He pulled out a scratched-up, dented portable CD player from the bag he was carrying.
"Oh…my God," Monk said, looking at it distastefully. "Did this fall out of your car and get ran over a few dozen times? What did you do to it?"
Randy narrowed his eyebrows. "Hey, it works. It's been well-used. Do you want me to help you or not?"
Monk did his trademark shoulder twitch and smiled slightly. "Why – why would I need your help?"
"To get Sharona. Why else?" Randy responded knowingly.
"I don't need to 'get' Sharona. She's already my nurse – and my assistant," he added quickly. "There's no 'getting' to be done here. She's already gotten." He laughed nervously as Randy nodded, smiling.
"But you don't have her yet," he announced. "As in, 'Hey, Sharona. I was wondering if you wanted to go on a date with me sometime."
Monk started laughing again. "I wouldn't want Sharona to go with me on a date. Don't you think that would be awkward for the other woman?" He did know what Randy was talking about, but was pretending not to in hopes that Randy would lay off the subject and leave.
However, he would have no such luck. "I'm not going anywhere until you agree to let me help you get Sharona to fall in love with you."
LATER…
"Monk, it's been 6 hours. Don't you realize that I'm serious by now?" Randy asked. He was standing in the same place that he had been in when he first proposed his idea to Monk.
"Oh, I don't know. Stand there for another 6 hours and maybe I'll think about it," Monk responded in a high-pitched voice.
"Sit down, Monk," Randy ordered. "I'm going to tell you exactly how you can win Sharona over, and we're going to start by listening to the song that started it all." He held the CD up for Monk to inspect, the silver glinting in the light…
…An hour later, after Monk was satisfied that he knew the song well enough, Randy asked Monk, "So, you've heard the song now. What do you plan on doing next?"
Monk leaned over and whispered something in Randy's ear, to which Randy smiled and nodded. "Will it work?"
Randy beamed. "She'll be so blown away, it'll have to work."
Monk smiled, and for the first time in quite awhile, he looked genuinely happy.