Chapter 4: Proposal

So, I relayed my idea to Disher. He seemed to think it was a pretty good one, but I think he's just saying that because he wants to get under my shirt. I guess we'll find out exactly how good it is once we go through with it.

I'm still waiting for Adrian and Benjy to get back. They've been gone for hours! What could they possibly be doing?

"Hey, Mom!" Sure, they come back and scare me half to death. At least they're back. "You'll never guess what Mr. Monk bought me!"

I wish he wouldn't pawn money off people. Especially Adrian. "You shouldn't be asking people to buy you things. You should take responsibility and buy them yourself." Yeah, listen to me, in my mommy mode. I did the same thing when I was his age. I'm such a hypocrite.

"He didn't ask me, Sharona." I think I know now why I love this man. He doesn't have to put up with me or Benjy, but he does. He loves Benjy like he was his own son. Sometimes I wish he were Adrian's son. At least the kid would have his father there, then. "I wanted to buy it for him."

Boy, I'm sure glad Benjy isn't in here right now. He'd accuse us of "being weird." But weird is far from how I'm feeling at the moment. I know I shouldn't do it, but all I want to do right now is walk up to Adrian and kiss him. And I mean, really kiss him, like, knock your socks off kind of kiss.

And then Benjy'd walk out and be scarred for life. But I guess I should say something. He's starting to look at me like I'm a piece of evidence.

"I'm glad he didn't make you buy it. I hate when he does that." God, I sound like I'm on a first date. I know Adrian. I shouldn't be at such a loss for words.

"Check it out, Mom." Thank the Lord for children. "It's the new Playstation game."

I can't believe how generous Adrian is! Those games aren't cheap. "You didn't have to do that. I know those games aren't cheap."

"Sharona, relax. I wanted to buy it for him. As a way of showing how much better I really am. I am better, Sharona. I'm just a regular, normal guy now."

All right, go away, Benjy; there's some adult conversation that needs to be held now. Perfect – I didn't even have to say anything; he just got bored and left to go play video games. "So, Adrian, you're a regular, normal guy. Does that mean you can..." Alright, here it comes. I'm going to say it. "...go on a date?"

I did it! I actually asked THE question. I'm just hoping he says he can and will, and maybe I can see what'll happen from there.

"Sharona, are you..." God, he looks nervous. I hope I didn't make a mistake. "...are you asking me out?"

He makes it sound like I just asked him to kill someone. I knew I shouldn't have said anything. But nooo, I just had to go and open my big mouth. I wouldn't blame him if he –

"I've never really been asked out before. Except for that woman from the electric company. And I think she was just interested because I was working with the police. But Sharona, are you just asking because I'm better?"

Ooh, that's a good question. That's part of the – aw, hell, why don't I just tell him. The worst he'll do is leave.

And never come back.

Maybe I'd be better off not telling him everything. "I just want you to get used to the idea. I mean, it has been a long time since you've actually been in the dating world, and if you don't count that electric woman, the last date you were on was years ago." Okay, Sharona, stop babbling. "So, I'm just offering to take you out, maybe show you the ropes, just so you know what people are doing now." Oh, that sounded real nice. I just called him a dating loser. "Whaddaya say?" Do I even have to wait for an answer? I know exactly what he's going to say already.

"Okay, that sounds...fun, I guess."

Wow. I guess even I can be wrong.