A/N: There will be a greater focus on Monk and his thoughts toward the MCS people in following chapters. Please read and review. Thanks!
Chapter 3:
Mr. Monk Doesn't Play Well With Others
"So…the earrings," Bobby Goren frowned. "Other than the fact that both women were renowned Broadway actresses, the earrings are our only link."
"We can get the photo of the earrings to a jeweler tomorrow," Leland Stottlemeyer said. "They can tell us who made them, we can get sales receipts."
Adrian Monk nodded. "Good…good…" He twitched a little, thinking about the fact that he was going to have houseguests.
"I…I'll be right back," Bobby said. "I have to use the restroom."
"Out the way you came in, and to the left," Randy Disher said.
Bobby nodded a thanks, and went out the door.
Natalie Teeger was in the middle of the squad room, making a fresh pot of coffee. Bobby looked a little lost.
"You alright there, Detective Goren?" she asked him.
Bobby blinked, as if coming out of a thought. "Oh…yeah…I was just…on my way to the rest room."
"It's right around the corner." Natalie pointed.
He nodded, looking at her still but seeing her for the first time since he'd been standing there.
"Sorry," he said. "The case…these things get stuck in my head."
She nodded. "You and Mr. Monk will work well together, I think."
He smiled. "What exactly do you do…for…Mr. Monk?"
"Oh, you know…fetch his Kleenex, make sure he doesn't fall into mud puddles, drive him around." She smiled. "It's like having another kid, really."
"You've got a child?"
"Yeah, my 12-year old, Julie," Natalie said.
"How long have you worked for Adrian Monk?"
"Over a year now…It…started as an in-between job and just sort of…stuck."
"Is it what you want to be doing?"
"It's…not ideal…but I like to think I'm kind of like the missing ear in a Van Gogh self-portrait...he might be an interesting study without it, but damned if he can function properly."
Bobby smiled. "Or perhaps you could be compared to a pearl earring in a Vermeer portrait…"
She looked at him, waiting for him to go on.
He continued, "It's technically not the main part of the portrait, but it certainly draws attention for its…luster."
She returned his smile, intrigued that he'd just managed to flirt while talking about Johannes Vermeer.
"Personally, I prefer View of Delft to Girl With a Pearl Earring," Natalie said. "I mean, I know that it's less popular than the mysterious girl with the earring but…there's something serene about the water, a little mystery in the town behind it…it just…" She stopped, mid-thought, realizing herself, and laughed embarrassedly. "I-I was an art history major…"
He had been listening intently the whole time and now nodded. "Where at?"
"UCLA," Natalie said.
"That must have been fun," Bobby said.
"It...it was…I had to drop out but..."
Before they could continue, they were interrupted by Eames, Monk, Stottlemeyer and Disher, coming from the conference room.
"There you are," Alex said to Bobby. "We thought you got flushed down the toilet or something."
"Oh…the bathroom…" Bobby had completely forgotten his reason for leaving the conference room in the first place.
"Don't worry, you didn't miss anything," Stottlemeyer said. "We're gonna call it a night actually."
"Oh, okay," Bobby said.
"Why don't you come with Mr. Monk and I?" Natalie said to the MCS detectives. "I drive him to and from work, and since you'll be staying at his place…"
"Great," Alex said.
They retrieved their suitcases and loaded them into Natalie's car. They were going through the hilly streets of San Francisco, Alex sitting in the front with Natalie and the men sitting in the back.
"So yours doesn't drive either?" Alex asked Natalie with a smile.
Natalie laughed. "No…Mr. Monk's…condition…doesn't really allow him…" She drifted, then thought of something. "So…Detective Goren doesn't drive?"
"I could drive in a life or death situation," Bobby said from the back, just loud enough to be heard.
"I…would just…die," Monk said.
XXX
They reached the street where Monk lived, said goodbye to Natalie and went up to the tidy apartment.
Perhaps 'tidy' was an understatement.
"Please…take off your shoes," Monk said at the front door. The detectives obliged. "You can put them on the shoe mat," he said, pointing to a mat just inside the door.
"Oh…and…your suitcases…don't roll them on the floor…if you could just…carry them by their handles." He paused, nervously looking around. "Oh…and please don't touch the walls…smudge marks…"
Alex, not in Adrian's line of vision, was openly grinning, and stifling the urge to ask if breathing was allowed. Bobby was not facing his partner, but he just knew that she was smiling outwardly as he was inwardly.
"You can take your things to the guest bedroom," Monk said. "I'll show you where it is."
They followed him down the hallway to the guest bedroom, another neat, white-walled room with a double bed.
"You can just…" Monk motioned for them to put their suitcases by the closet.
"Let me just get a few things out of my suitcase," Bobby told Alex, "And I'll be out of your way. I'll take the couch."
Alex nodded, "Thanks."
"The-the couch?" Monk repeated.
"Well…where else…" Bobby frowned.
"You…you can't sleep on the couch, it doesn't come out," Monk said.
"That's okay," Bobby said. "I can sleep on the couch itself."
"I…I'm sorry…it would…you're not…" Monk struggled with the words.
"I'm not…?" Bobby asked, knowing what he was going to say, but wanting him to hear how ridiculous he sounded.
"You've been on an airplane…across the country," Monk said. "Who knows what airborne diseases…or dirt…you've picked up…the couch is a very nice pale eggshell, I don't think that would be good for it…"
"There's only one bed," Bobby said, exasperated. He looked at Alex.
She looked back at her partner and shrugged. "I can handle it if you can."
This really was not what he wanted to be doing. Sleeping in the same bed as his partner…it wasn't like they were romantically involved (or were inclined to be so) but still…but what choice did he have? Other than sleeping on the floor…which would kick up his occasional back pain (old Army injury)…
"Okay, fine," Bobby finally said to Alex. "As long as you don't mind possibly contracting airborne diseases…God only knows what I managed to pick up sitting next to that nun on the plane…"