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We've got one more chapter after this and then an epilogue.
Chapter 7 - Pep Talk
It was almost noon and Andy Flynn had been in and out of meetings since the early morning hours. His job was going to be given back to him and he had been doing paperwork in most, if not all of his meetings.
The last meeting he had been in had taken him across the street to City Hall, which is where he stood now, slightly slack jawed due to the sight of Sharon Raydor talking to Will Pope. The two of them looked cozy, warm and friendly. It was a little bothersome, but he couldn't help smile at the fact that she was annoyed.
Her fingers itched for the pockets she didn't have. She couldn't cross her arms because she would be dismissing the man who was their boss. The smile on Andy Flynn's face bloomed a little wider at the change in posture when she realized a pair of third party eyes were watching her. Sharon had made up some excuse and left Pope. The man went down the steps, without a second glance back.
Where he exited, had been the entrance for the City Hall employees or other personnel who worked in the building. Andy had made his way down the steps, meeting Sharon half way. He hovered above her, stopping two steps up. His hands were in his pockets, a smirk on his lips – it had been a little over a week since he last saw her.
The question of – Did Sharon break up with me? – rolled around in his head. It wasn't that she broke up with him. The words of 'We're over' or something akin to it never were muttered. The distance, the silence, the overwhelming sense of finished loomed greatly. For her it was a relief to see him, to see he was doing well and hadn't reverted back to the bottle.
There had been rumors swirling before that when Andy Flynn was broken up with he made friends at the bar. New or old, they became friends. It bothered her to know that she may be a reason for his downfall, but she knew him well enough to know he was past that. He had grown up from that time in his life.
Sharon tucked a strand of unruly hair and tucked it behind her ear. She was nervous and by the smug grin planted on his lips, looking down at her, he knew it.
"What are you doing here?" Andy asked. "Meeting with Pope?"
"I have a meeting," she shrugged. "You're coming back. Congratulations."
"Thanks," Andy nodded. "Elliot knows what he's doing apparently."
It was a dig at her. She knew that. She had left him when there was no real reason to. She couldn't do her job without being completely unbiased. She knew what he was like at home, knew that side of him – Elliot did not. He couldn't tell the other officers, 'Well at home when we're in bed – ' She, Sharon Raydor, on the other hand could and would if she had to. All in all it was unprofessional.
He knew that, but it didn't tamper his temper.
"That he does," Sharon nodded, agreeing with Andy.
She stepped up a step, coming to stand on his left. She was still shorter, but nonetheless closer.
"How are the kids?" He asked, stopping her step up.
"Fine," she nodded.
Surprise had washed over her face – he had seen it. He saw the relief of someone to talk to about them in her eyes. But the stance she held, the tight grip on her purse – she was defensive. Even with him.
"Good," he said, eyeing the street. "Well I should let you go."
Andy moved to take a step down and he managed to get a few steps down before he stopped. Sharon was still on her step, staring down at him.
"I would appreciate it if you didn't tell anyone," Sharon said. "About us."
"Who on earth would I tell?" Andy questioned. "Why would I tell anyone?"
"Because you take pride in what you do," she said, the double entendre settling in for him. "You like to gloat when you've got what most men can't."
This would be the time where he'd grab the suspect by the upper arm and yank him out of the chair. Or this is where he'd smash the suspects face into the hood of the car. This would be the time where he'd get in the suspects face and read him, yell at him, their Miranda rights. But Sharon wasn't a suspect. Just a woman he slept with and happened to fall in love with.
"You made it very clear you can't do your job and be in a relationship with me," Andy growled at her. "So why on earth, would I go and tell the brass that I landed myself a soft place next to their Internal Affairs Ice Queen?"
"Because I'm about to do it for you," she snapped at him.
The words took him by surprise much like a slap to the face would have.
"What're you talkin' about?" Andy asked.
"My meeting," she said. " Is in there with the brass and was going to be with Pope."
"Why are you goin' into a meeting?"
"Delk is using you as a scapegoat," she said. "Jack, in an attempt to get back into my good graces, let it slip that one of the first cases he tried was with Delk at the helm. He was the investigative officer and there was no proof that the LAPD had done any wrong doing. So in order for him to go scott free and to make it seem like LAPD can do wrong, he's framing you. I think his conscious is weighing down and he knows what he did was wrong. Plus he doesn't like you. "
Andy scoffed. "Well I really don't like him right now."
Sharon reached out and cradled his face in her palm. "You are a good man, Andrew Flynn. You are good at your job. You are a good father to your children. They might ask me things that I've told you not to talk about."
"You can always lie," he shrugged. "Cops apparently always lie."
"I don't," she said. "You know that."
"Well," he said, clearing his throat. "You should get to your meeting."
Sharon nodded and turned, walking up the steps. He gave her enough time to get to the flat surface before his voice broke the traffic filled orchestra of the street.
"If they ask you 'Was I a good boyfriend' what would you say?"
She turned at the initial shout of his question, letting it wash over her. She grinned, looked at her shoes for a moment and smiled up at him.
"The best."
He grinned.
"Lunch?" he inquired.
"Dinner," she said, nodding and turning back.
He had gone through six different bouquet of flowers before he was forced to settle. The woman at the flower market had created a bouquet for him, a mixture of baby's breath, daisies, and things that look like tulips but may not be. He couldn't tell. Andy Flynn was not one for flowers, nor did he know much about them. But he knew women liked them.
He had them in hand when he took the last couple of steps to Sharon's front door of her apartment. He could hear the voices of her kids on the other side and her chastising them for something. Whatever it was – he couldn't tell. The nerves in him almost had him walking away from the entire dinner, to just leave the flowers at the door, and to go home. But she knew where he lived and she knew how to get in.
So he knocked and he heard as the voices quieted. The door flung open and a flushed face met his and the green eyes of Sharon Raydor met his. Her cheeks were red, her hair lightly tousled, and she held in her hand one of her daughter's crutches.
"Hi," she said, breathlessly.
"Hi," he said back. He held up the flowers for her. "These are for you."
"Do you want to come in?" She asked quickly, opening the door wider for him to see what was behind her.
Both of her kids sat at the dining table. Her son had a handful of something that resembled saucy pasta ready to be flung towards Emily who already had a pile of it in front of her. The look in her eye, Andy had seen in her mother – the girl was going to get her brother back and she was going to get him good.
"Are they starting world war three?" Andy quietly whispered to Sharon.
"They think they are," she remarked. "And they think that I don't know about it."
Both kids, with arms raised, attack positions ready, were immediately brought down by the eloquent raise of their mother's challenging brow. It had been a short time since they had come to stay with Sharon and yet, she had melted into the roll of Mom and a full time care taker very easily. Andy figured he did the same when his kids were around.
"Would you like some pasta?" Sharon asked, taking the bowl of it from the table. "Or whatever is left of it?"
"I'm good," he said, shaking his head in denial.
They were supposed to go out. The realization clicked in her mind and she spun on her heel. The surprise melted into a small, apologetic smile.
With a careless shrug, Andy paid no mind to it. He simply shucked off his jacket, hung it up on one of the backs of the chairs, and rolled up his sleeves. To say the least, Andy Flynn missed Sharon Raydor. This entire situation was about to come to a close, his relationship with her would go from professional to personal, or so he hoped. If she was at all apprehensive about having both – a personal and professional life – he was determined to show her that it was possible.
"So Ricky," Sharon heard Andy say as he sat down in a chair next to the boy.
Sharon rolled up her own sleeves and dripped some soap on her dishes. She flipped the lever on her sink and Andy's voice mixed in with the water. It wasn't her ideal date, but it would have to do.
"So I'll see you tomorrow, then?" Andy asked as he slipped himself back into his jacket on the other side of her door in the hallway.
"I'll be there," she said, her voice full of promise. "You can't let Elliot get to you. He'll play the good cop and then play the bad cop."
"Thanks for the heads up."
"Andy," Sharon sighed, a hand on her hip, a hand in her hair. "What are we doing?"
"What do you mean?"
She signaled between the two of them. Suddenly the anxiety had filled her at a surprising momentum. Suddenly she wondered if she could have a relationship with the man in front of her. The man who just blew off dinner to which he had a reservation for – she had heard him cancelling it when he excused himself to the bathroom – and sat with her children until they excused themselves to bed.
Instead of overstaying his welcome, which Sharon was fully expecting him to and was going to revel in his extended stay, he announced he was going home. She wasn't disappointed. She was anxious. Anxious that this was it between them. That he was going to officially break up with her. The best boy friend she had since Jack – ever really, and that was including Jack – she was going to let walk away.
"You're part of IA," he shrugged. "I'm part of Robbery Homicide. Or at least I will when this whole thing is over."
"What do you mean?"
"They wanted me to start at the bottom, but Elliot pulled some strings, made some people some promises and as soon as I'm cleared, god willing, I'll be back in Robbery Homicide."
"That's what you wanted right?"
Andy shrugged. "More or less."
Sharon hummed and nodded.
"Well, I guess I'll see you tomorrow then," Andy said, nodding his head towards the elevators down the hall. "Have a good night."
She let him go, she let him get as far as the elevator and she racked her brain. What tomorrow would bring she did not know. She was going to let the man who was a complete opposite of her ex husband and yet similar, walk away.
"Andy," she called out.
Like a bad romantic movie, she lunged at him and hoped he'd catch her. He did, both arms around her waist and her arms came around his neck. She wasn't wearing shoes so the catch was easier than if she was. He kissed her as he lowered her to the ground, his hand went from her hip to her hair to tilt her back at an angle.
He couldn't get enough of her. She was intoxicating and she was a drug to his system. Worse than alcohol – he couldn't get enough.
"Stop," he said, his voice cracking as he stepped back at the ding of the elevator.
Breathless, she stepped back. Her eyes were gleaming.
"Not forever," he promised. "Just until tomorrow. Then we'll talk."
"Okay," she said, her voice still catching. "Okay."
He pressed one last, chaste kiss to her lips before he recalled the elevator. He gave her his back for a brief moment, before he stepped on the elevator. He turned and right before the doors closed he gave her something to remember him by.
She was smiling the entire way back into her apartment. She knew why he did it. She knew why he told her then and not earlier or later. Tomorrow could be their last day together as a couple. They'd go into a working relationship – if they even had one anymore.
Tomorrow was going to be a new day. A new day where Sharon Raydor knew how Andy Flynn felt about her.
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