"The tree looks great, Sharon." Brenda said, snuggling against the brunette. The tree was a large Douglas Fir, the Raydors had decorated it as soon as they got it through the door. It dominated the living room area of Sharon's house and the lights on it were the only things lighting the room.

Brenda had come over for dinner and dessert. The two women were curled up together on the couch in the living room after eating. Sharon's fingers played up Brenda's leg and up over the curve of her hip, the digits moved teasingly up her abdomen and between her breasts until she cupped Brenda's cheek and pulled her in for a kiss.

Brenda shivered and hummed against Sharon's lips. Brenda didn't want to rush right into it; it felt like prom night all over again. She was afraid if she pushed Sharon too quickly the night would end early and frustrated. She wasn't really sure how far Sharon was taking the clean slate dating shtick and wanted to let Sharon set the pace.

But considering the phone sex they'd had, how slow did she really intend to go? Brenda thought that she'd better make a move quick or she was going to be in a bad way.

"Brenda?"

"Oh…" Sharon had said something and she'd completely missed it. "I'm… sorry, I…"

"Where iis/i your head, woman?" Sharon murmured, nuzzling Brenda's neck.

"In the gutter, where do you think it is?" Brenda nipped at Sharon's lip, wrapping her arms around her and pulling her against her own body. "I can't even think straight, I want you so bad…"

"So take me already. What are you waiting for? iPermission/i?" Sharon purred.

Brenda didn't need any more coaxing, she pushed Sharon onto her back and laid on top of her. Brenda's mouth sought out Sharon's neck while she slipped a hand up Sharon's shirt. Her skin was hot to the touch and Brenda moaned, hiking her hip up over Sharon's.

"God, you are so fuckable…" Brenda panted in her ear.

Sharon groaned, grinding her hips into Brenda's.

The front door opened and the foyer light was flipped on. "James?" Sharon called out, her voice was strained and she was trying to keep the frustration at bay as she moved away from Brenda.

"Yeah, mom?"

"You weren't supposed to be home until midnight. What are you doing home at nine?"

"Well, Peter and Rick had to get to bed early so we called it a night…"

Brenda's phone rang and she cursed the fates for the part they were playing in making sure she didn't get laid tonight. "Chief Johnson." She snapped into the phone.

"Oh jesus, I'm sorry…" he clamped a hand over his eyes. "Is everybody decent?"

"Yeah," Sharon sighed, straightening her shirt and crossing the hallway into the kitchen. She started making a pot of coffee; she probably wouldn't be able to get to bed any time soon.

Brenda followed Sharon into the kitchen and leaned close and said softly, "that was Lieutenant Flynn, he witnessed a hit and run and Will handed it over to us."

"Fatalities?" Sharon inquired in a whisper.

"Seventeen year old girl. I have to go."

Sharon nodded, "if you can wait a second, I'll send you on your way with coffee."

Brenda cupped Sharon's cheek and kissed her softly. "I love you," she murmured against Sharon's temple before kissing her. Sharon turned and captured Brenda's lips.

She gave Brenda a small squeeze and whispered back, "love you too." Sharon let her go and moved to the cupboard where she pulled out a travel mug. She filled it with coffee and held it out to Brenda, stealing another kiss before saying softly, "call me tomorrow."

"I'll do you one better, I'll swing by in the morning." Brenda smiled and turned to leave, seeing James she offered him a small smile, "hi James."

"Brenda…" he said coldly, turning away from her slightly.

Brenda nodded, "you're going through some things right now… so I'm not going to take offense to that…"

"It's okay if you do." He shrugged.

Brenda leaned and closer to James and whispered, "you and your sister are exactly why I'm glad I never had kids."

"iMom!/i" James called out. "Brenda just said something really mean!"

Brenda blushed bright red and scowled at him, hissing, "tattletale!"

"Can't turn my back on you two for a iminute/i." Sharon joked from the other room.

Brenda cast a sidelong look at James before she slipped out of the house. James hung up his jacket and walked into the kitchen, sitting on one of the stools in front of the island. "I hope I didn't ruin your evening."

"She got a call from work, she had to go anyway." Sharon poured herself a cup of coffee.

"That smells good…"

Sharon smirked, "I take it you'd like some?"

"If there's enough." He shrugged nonchalantly, "cream and sugar, thanks mom."

She set a mug down in front of him. "There's milk in the fridge and the sugar's where it always is."

He slid off the stool and went to the fridge to get the cream, "so Peter's working at a PR firm and he says they're looking to expand their marketing and he's going to see if he can get me an interview."

"That's good news." Sharon said encouragingly, sipping her strong black coffee. James poured milk into his coffee, tasted it and poured more milk into it. When he looked up at Sharon's raised eyebrows she asked, "you going to have a little bit of coffee with that milk?

"You make the coffee too strong."

"Maybe I made my son too weak."

"Ha. Ha." He stuck his tongue out at her as he spooned sugar into his coffee. He looked up and caught Sharon's eye again, "don't say a word."

She held up her hands defensively, "I was just going to say you're weak but you're very sweet."

"You know what I really like about you, mom?"

Sharon laughed, "what's that?"

"That you're so progressive and not afraid to break stereotypes and break gender roles by being the mean parent who makes fun of my girlish tendencies." He teased, "you know what dad did last month? He sent me cupcakes for selling one of my designs."

"Your dad has a lot of time on his hands." Sharon sipped her coffee, "he's the manager of a Mineke's and I solve murders in a 72-hour deadline."

There was a long pause and Sharon laughed again, "he sent you icupcakes/i? Tell me he made them himself and I'll dine out on this for weeks."

"He ordered them from a shop near my house. He was suporting the local economy."

Sharon wiped mirthful tears from her eyes, "yeah, your dad's a maverick of Greenonomics."

James sipped his coffee and set it down to add extra sugar. Sharon burst out laughing again.

"You wanna watch a movie? I'm not really ready for bed and I spent all morning doing job shit."

"I think Love Actually's playing tonight, that's your favorite movie, right?"

"It is, yeah." James nodded defiantly, "I love the part in the airport when-"

"Hey, hey! I haven't seen it, don't spoil it."

"You… haven't seen Love Actually? That movie came out like eight years ago. What are you saving it for?" He demanded with a snort, "you remember Liza? The girl I took to the senior prom? I took her to see Love Actually in theaters for our first date."

"You're a good boy." Sharon patted his cheek, "I raised you right. Weak but sweet."

Brenda's phone beeped as she was walking down the hallway toward the interview room. She pulled it out, "Detective, can you tell Mrs. Meyer that I'll be right there?"

"Are you going to send a reply text?" He asked with a straight face, "because maybe I'll just have her come back in an hour."

"Just do what you're told." Brenda huffed with a grudging grin.

Sanchez walked away into the interview room and Brenda opened the text. iGot called into work early, triple hom in Sun City. See lunchtime maybe?/i

iThat sounds good./i Brenda started, saying the words softly as she typed. Tao raised an eyebrow at her. iI will probably still be here at major crimes/i

"You know, Chief, the LAPD would get a new phone. You could get one with a full keyboard or that does talk to text."

"Yeah, but then everybody would hear what I was typing."

Tao looked over to Flynn who shook his head, biting back a grin.

iPretty gruesome case. All hands on deck for this one./i

"Chief, how are you not out of characters yet?" Flynn demanded.

Brenda ignored him, imaybe take-out in my office?/i "Send."

Provenza started clapping. "So how is old Ball-and-Chain-Raydor?"

"Who said I was texting with Captain Raydor?" Brenda said defensively, slipping her phone back into her purse. She gave Provenza a smug look, feeling as though she'd bested him, and retreated to the interview room.

"So sorry to keep you waiting. Thank you so much for comin' in, Mrs. Meyer." Brenda flashed a wide and insincere grin. "It's so nice to see you again."

"Oh, uh, have we…"

"We met at a cocktail party that you and your husband threw a couple of years ago for the LAPD." Brenda reminded, no recognition flashed across Gail's face at all. "I was there with Sharon Raydor."

"Oh, right." Gail nodded, "yes, how have you been?"

"I've been good, thank you." Brenda laid out a handful of pictures, "I just need you to answer a few questions about your evening."

"Wow, all this just for my car?"

"Well, actually, there was a hit and run around the time you say your car was stolen there was a hit and run with a black Mercedes and we believe that your car may have been involved."

"iOh/i no!" Gail laid a hand over her breast, feigning shock and displeasure. "I hope no one was hurt."

"A young girl, actually, that's why we're hitting this one so hard."

"Is there anything I can do? Like, offer a reward?"

Brenda listened to the woman spout off at the mouth and wanted nothing more than to take her glock and pistol whip her… but Brenda could play it cool when she needed to. Besides, playing it cool now would pay off in the long run when she mailed her ass to the wall – and let there be no mistake, Brenda was like the mounties: she always got her man.

Or, in Gail Meyers's case, her boozed up, murdering, conscienceless trophy bitch.

Hours later Brenda was still racking her brain how to catch Gail Meyers; how to get her to admit what she did or find the evidence that proved it.

There was a knock on the doorframe and Brenda looked up and smiled widely. "There's a sight for sore eyes."

"Are you talking about me or this big bag of Chinese food?" Sharon teased.

"Oh, Sharon, I didn't even see you there. You can come in too, I guess."

Sharon set the plates and forks down on the table in Brenda's office and she started to unpack the food. "The murder board looks sparse, usually it's filled to the brim. Did you catch a break early on?"

"Actually, take what's on the murder board and double it. The pictures are hiding other pictures and information. I know exactly who did it I just can't prove it and it would be career suicide to rush it – or so I'm told." Brenda rubbed her forehead, "how about your triple?"

"Three cokeheads and an overzealous beat cop: oil and water. It didn't take too long to break Officer Danny Swanson." Sharon forked lo mein onto the plate in front of her. "It's guys like him who make my job necessary."

"Yeah, yeah," Brenda waved her off and teased "IA is still evil, don't start looking for redemption here."

"Anyway, I've been doing the paperwork for the last three hours." Sharon chewed a bite and swallowed, "I obviously don't wish for more murders but I wouldn't mind a challenge once in a while. I'm so bored I considered accepting a coffee invitation from someone I don't even ilike/i."

"Who?" Brenda asked possessively.

Sharon quirked an eyebrow at her girlfriend. Brenda had agreed that she wouldn't ask Sharon how many people she'd managed to go out with during their three month relationship break but she couldn't not be jealous. Sharon and Brenda had an extremely active sex life, possibly even more active than any of the relationships she'd been in before Sharon. Sharon loved sex and Brenda had no doubts whatsoever that Sharon had sought a bit of physical comfort and with a large pool of exes and former friends with benefits… Well, Brenda decided that she didn't need to know all the sordid details because she also knew that Sharon was a faithful lover when she was committed.

"You don't have to tell me," Brenda relented, "I'm sorry I asked it like that."

"It's okay. You're trying." Sharon smiled. "It was just someone I knew from Berkeley, I haven't even seen her in over ten years – oh, wait, that's not true. That party we went to at the Police Commissioner's house a couple of years ago, do you remember meeting his wife?"

Brenda's jaw dropped and she made no attempts to mask her shock. "I don't believe it…"

Sharon shook her head, "we never slept together, were in Gamma Phi Beta together. I never liked her, she made absolutely no pretense about being at college to meet a man."

"Sharon!" Brenda exclaimed, grabbing her hands and squeezing them.

"What?" Sharon demanded.

Brenda leapt up from her chair and closed and locked the door and pulled the blinds shut. She turned to look at Sharon and leaned up against the door. Her heart was pounding in her chest but she forced herself to take it a little slower.

"Sharon, can you do me a favor?"

"If you stop screaming at me and tell me why you're having a hysterical fit, sure."

"Will you accept your coffee date with Gail Meyers and will you wear a wire?" Brenda sat down at the table, leaning close to the confused brunette.

"That's two favors." Sharon laughed, "what is this all about?"

"We can't prove anything yet," Brenda whispered, leaning even closer, "but Gail Meyers's Mercedes was the car that struck my victim and every fiber of my being says she was behind the wheel and that she was drunk."

"Oh my god." Sharon felt herself shiver in disgust. She covered her mouth and closed her eyes, "on behalf of every mother in the world I hope you destroy Gail Meyers."

"Well, maybe you can help…"

"How?" Sharon narrowed her eyes.

"She didn't remember me, she has the worst poker in the world, I mentioned your name and she remembered you, obviously."

"Why did you mention me?" Sharon scowled.

"Not the point. She's reaching out to you because of your connection with me. She obviously feels like something she could say to you would get me off her case. If you have coffee with her and we wire you up we can use whatever she has to say against her."

"I don't know if I feel comfortable letting you wire me…"

"Okay…" Brenda considered this for a moment, "here it is, I'll call you on your cell phone and then instead of ending the call… you just drop it into your purse and I'll put my end on mute and we'll record it back here in the murder room. You'll have plausible deniability and it'll all fall on me."

Sharon shook her head, "I don't want ianything/i to fall on you." Sharon took Brenda's hand, "you're in enough trouble as it is, I want you to beat the rap, not dig yourself a deeper hole."

Brenda sighed and looked frustrated for a minute.

"What if…" Sharon started, drawing Brenda's attention back up to her face. "What if I take her to the LA Café? That place has a great set of security cameras and if she says anything incriminating I'll help you get a warrant for the tapes."

"I don't think she'll go there."

"Why not?"

"Because it doesn't have a full bar." Brenda smirked.

"We'll see if she has a different suggestion and we'll cross that bridge if we come to it." Sharon pulled her phone out of her pocket and scrolled through her missed calls for Gail's number and listened to it ring.

"Sharon!" The fake enthusiasm oozed through the phone, making Brenda feel sick to her stomach. "I'm so glad you called back, wasn't sure if you would, I know how busy you are."

"Well, you caught me at the perfect time, I'm just finishing up a case and I have some free time. I'm going to be downtown in about half an hour, how do you feel about LA Café?"

"Um, well…"

"Have you been there? I'm addicted to their frozen mochas, you seriously have to try it." Sharon insisted. "I'll see you there at three? I can really only do today at three, so…"

"Absolutely, sounds perfect. I'll see you then. Bye Shar."

Sharon ended the call and shivered, "God, I hate being called Shar."

"Except when I say it, right?" Brenda batted her eyelashes, "right, Shar-Bear?"

Sharon play glared at Brenda. "I really – really and sincerely – hope that this helps with your case because this woman drives me absolutely crazy."

"You and me both, believe me!" Brenda picked up her fork again and started eating.

The doorknob was tried and then there was a knock at the door. "Chief? I've got Provenza on the phone. He and Flynn just found a Mercedes."

"Okay, thank you, Lieutenant, I'll be right out." She rubbed her eyes and looked at Sharon apologetically. "I'm sorry…"

"That's okay, I have to go home and change anyway."

"You're actually changing for a coffee date with a murderer?" Brenda scoffed.

"Brenda, my clothes and hair reek of death." Sharon insisted. Brenda still looked skeptical and Sharon waved it off, "I didn't notice it either but you should have seen the looks when I went to pick up the food. Trust me, this whole building probably smells like I do."

Sharon stood up and pulled out a spring roll, "I'm taking this for the road but you can give the rest to your boys."

"What about your boy?"

Sharon groaned, "he doesn't need any encouragement to mooch. He was already moved out when you moved in, you're lucky. He's the reason they made an expression 'give an inch and they take a foot.' I love him with my whole heart and I would die for him but he's going to learn independence if he has to starve to death to do it."

"He lived on his own for four years though, right?"

"He lived with a girlfriend in San Francisco for two years and he's lived with a couple of different college friends. He's never lived on his own. That's why I'm giving him two weeks to get a job and get gone."

"iTwo weeks/i? For a twenty-six year old kid with only four years of work experience? In this economy?"

"He's gonna land on his feet. The kid has a preternatural ability to find a way to get anything he wants. Trust me, he'll be fine." Sharon insisted.

"Will you call me when you're almost to the café?"

"Yes."

"And as soon as you leave?"

"iYes/i." Sharon smiled at Brenda. "Yes, my darling control freak, a thousand times yes."

"Kiss me before you go." Brenda objected as Sharon grabbed the doorknob.

"You sure you want to kiss me? I smell like death…"

"I'm pretty sure you made out with me once when I still had someone's blood on me so…" she shrugged, "I'll take one for the team."

Sharon leaned in and kissed Brenda softly before she smiled. "I will give you the play by play details of my coffee date from hell."

"You're a saint. You're perfection embodied."

"Stop sucking up. Seriously." Sharon smiled, she unlocked the door and started for the elevator.

"Walk of shame, Captain?" Sanchez leaned back in his chair as she passed.

"Eat your heart out, Detective." Sharon smirked.

Had it been any other detective from any other department, Sharon would have promptly ripped him a new asshole. Brenda Leigh Johnson ran Major Crimes unlike any other division in the whole LAPD and her boys were bad mannered and lewd. The times when Brenda and Sharon weren't together or when they were fighting the boys were unabashedly mean and cruel to Sharon.

So instead of bitching about the inappropriateness of the sexual innuendo, she laughed and shook it off – it could have been far worse. Brenda wasn't the only one who could take one for the team.

Sharon burst into the house and started up the stairs.

James popped out of the living room, "oh mom, I'm glad you're here." He called out, following her.

"James, I'm sorry but I have fifteen minutes to shower and change and then half an hour to get back downtown."

"But I just need you to tell me which tie you like better. I have an interview."

"I only have time to drop everything going on for one person today and Brenda already called it. Why don't you text your sister about the ties?"

"iAngela/i? Are you kidding me?" James demanded.

"I'm really not, baby, I have to get in the shower right now." Sharon insisted.

By the time she made it to the top of the stairs James was only a pace behind her but as he approached to stand with her on the landing he stepped back, "geez, mom, what do you smell like?"

"I smell like three dead coke addicts." Sharon snapped, "iI have to shower. /i"

"Sorry." He mumbled, chastised.

Once inside the bathroom she quickly stripped down and threw her clothes in the hamper, removed her glasses and hopped into the shower. The hot water pelting her body was a welcome distraction from the stresses of the day.

All the relaxation fell in around her when she grabbed the shampoo bottle and found it empty. She go out of the shower and darted across the room to the cupboard where she kept the extra shampoo… except apparently that had been her last bottle and all that was left was a travel size container of Suave. It would have to do.

She emerged from her bedroom a record ten minutes later, still toweling her hair. James was sitting in the kitchen and jumped up to follow her around again as soon as he saw her come in.

"Thanks for using up all my shampoo, by the way…" she said pointedly. She looked down at the ties he was holding in his hands and sighed, "I really don't have time right now… tell you what, you can make the shampoo thing up to me by putting the laundry that's in the hamper upstairs into the washer for me. Text me the pictures of your ties and I'll weigh in on it, okay?"

He nodded with a sigh, "yeah, okay, I'll text you."

She tossed her hair towel at him, "toss this into the washer too, will you?"

"Gotcha covered, mamacita."

"Good boy." Sharon grabbed her purse and left the house again.

"Brenda, I'm just on my way in now."

"I was starting to think you'd chickened out."

"How's that for gratitude?" Sharon sighed, "there was an accident on the freeway, but it only added ten minutes – which in and of itself is a small miracle."

"I love you, you're the best." Brenda grinned.

"Love you too. Call you when I'm done." Sharon pocketed her phone and went inside.

Gail waved to her from the corner. Sharon had wanted to get there first and seat them as close as possible to the cameras but at least they were close enough to get footage. "I am sorry I'm late." She apologized as she sat down, "I hit traffic."

"Trust me, I understand about L.A. Traffic." Gail smiled at Sharon. Sharon was instantly reminded of all the reasons she always disliked this woman. "I got you a frozen mocha."

"Oh, you shouldn't have. Thank you." Sharon took a sip. Sharon had a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach, she hadn't thought about the fact that she'd actually have to be half of a conversation with Gail.

"So, how have you-" No sooner had Sharon started than her phone beeped. For a moment, she was afraid it was Brenda texting for a status update, but sighed heavily when she saw that it was from James.

"Oh no, is that work?" Gail questioned.

"No… my son," Sharon pulled up the picture he sent, "he's going on an interview and he wants me to tell him which tie to wear. Do boys ever grow up, Gail?"

Gail rolled her eyes, "my husband is definitely still a boy, I'll let you know if he ever matures."

"I don't know, what color ties would impress graphic designers?" Sharon shrugged, "I don't know why he thinks I have all the answers."

"Enjoy it while it lasts, once they pick colleges you're practically dead to them."

Sharon looked up at Gail over her glasses, "my son is twenty-six."

Gail laughed, "honey, you need something stronger than this. Come on, there's a place around the corner that makes an amazing mimosa."

"No… I'm still on the clock. Rain check though." Sharon slowly felt her prim and proper old-money lady's training start to kick in. "So, this was an unexpected invitation, what made you think of me today?"

"I had a meeting with Barbara Johnson."

"Brenda." Sharon corrected, "Brenda Leigh Johnson."

Gail giggled, "whoops. Frankly, I couldn't concentrate on anything she said, that accent was just too adorable."

Sharon had to fight back the mother of all sickened glares. Brenda's iaccent/i was the only thing on her mind? Not the young girl who'd been mowed down? Whether Gail Meyers had been behind the wheel or not, she certainly didn't seem to have any feelings for anything or anyone other than herself.

"You're not still with her, are you?" Gail sipped her drink.

Sharon was catching whiffs of alcohol every now and then and she was starting to wonder if Gail had taken the liberty of making her coffee a little more Irish. "Um… we broke up a couple of months ago, actually."

"Oh."

"She was just itoo/i obsessed with the job. It didn't leave a lot of time for ius/i. I admire her a lot, of course, she always catches the killer she's looking for. She has a single-minded, fanatical focus on whatever case she's working on. She's like a dog with a bone." Sharon ate a glob of the whipped cream from the top of her drink, "I'll tell you what, I hope to never be on the wrong side of her interrogation table."

"Is that right?"

Sharon wasn't sure if it was her imagination or not, but Gail was starting to look pale. "So, why did you have a meeting with her?"

"You won't believe this but my car was stolen last night. Brandy just asked me to-"

"Brenda." Sharon corrected, "iBrenda/i Leigh Johnson."

Gail snickered, clearly she didn't think that Brenda's name was of any real importance. "Right. Well, she just called and wanted me to answer a few questions about the car." Gail took a big gulp of coffee, "do you keep in touch with Josh Lewis at all?"

"Why? You looking for a lawyer?"

"You two just made such a nice couple I don't know why you ever broke up with him." Gail shook her head, "broke the poor boy's heart."

Sharon rolled her eyes, "we're not going to fight about something that happened in college, are we?"

"You always were the love 'em and leave 'em type, though." Gail muttered into her coffee, "several times a week, if memory serves."

Sharon heaved a heavy sigh. The things one does for love… Brenda better appreciate what she was going through for her.

"Well, it was the seventies."

"Even still…"

"Gail, I'm trying not to get mad but you're making it kind of hard." Sharon said with resignation. "Did you call me for some reason or should we just call this a bust and forget each other's numbers?"

"No, no, I'm sorry. Stay." Gail made herself smile, "so, no? You don't still talk to Josh?"

Sharon shrugged and sighed a little, "occasionally. He's my daughter's boss."

"Really? No ulterior motives there at all, right?" Gail scoffed.

"My daughter is an excellent lawyer; she was second in her class, she had her pick of firms."

Gail held up her hands, "didn't mean to offend. So, how many kids do you have anyway?"

"Just the two."

"I only have one, a daughter. She's getting ready to go off to college in the fall, she-" Gail was interrupted when Sharon's phone rang and she picked it up to look at it. Gail laughed, "let me guess, your son needs to know which shoes to wear?"

"Actually, it's one of my sergeants, I have to take this. Won't be a moment." Sharon stood from the table, "Sergeant Eliot, what can I do for you?"

Sharon listened and nodded, "okay. Secure the scene, make sure no one else goes in there, just close the door and wait for me. Thank you." She paused, "no, no, you did exactly what you should have. I can be there… in fifteen? Okay, yes. Thank you."

"You have to go." Gail said, standing.

"Yes, there's a situation that needs my presence." Sharon slung the bag over her shoulder and picked up her coffee. "Sorry to cut our coffee date short."

"No, you're not, but that's okay." Gail smiled, she approached and gave Sharon a hug. Sharon stiffened at the contact. Sharon was sure that she could smell traces of alcohol on the other woman and she was angry all over again. "Maybe we'll get that drink sometime."

"You can call any time." Sharon made herself smile.

"Tell Bethany I said hi."

"iBrenda Leigh Johnson/i." Sharon nodded, "and I will."

Safely in her car and on her way back to the LAPD she dialed Brenda. "I'm just leaving the café."

"Really? That was fast."

"Well, apart from her being the worst person in the world to attempt conversation with, Sergeant Elliot called me, there was an in-custody death down in Vice."

"A prostitute?"

"I guess it was a pimp. I don't know, I'm headed back now." Sharon used her knee to hold the wheel for a moment to sip her mocha. "She didn't really say that much, she called you an airhead, called me a slut and we called it a day."

Brenda hmphed.

"But she smelled like alcohol, if that helps at all. She hugged me when we were leaving and she definitely smelled like alcohol."

"It does, thank you for doing that for me, Sharon."

"I'm sorry it wasn't more helpful – not just for you but also to justify my going." Sharon sighed, "she's just as awful as she was thirty years ago. People never change."

"No, they don't…" Brenda chewed her lip, "Sharon! That gives me an idea! Thank you, I love you! Talk to you later!"

"I lo-" Sharon pulled the phone back to look at it, she'd hung up. Sharon couldn't not laugh at Brenda, she loved her enthusiasm. She dropped her phone back into her purse.

Sharon took her glasses off and rubbed her eyes, glad that her paperwork was almost done. Letting out a sigh she put her glasses back on. She started typing again and managed to write three paragraphs before her phone rang.

"Captain Raydor," she announced, cradling the phone between her ear and her shoulder, her eyes never leaving the screen.

"Oh good, I caught you." Brenda smiled, "how long are you going to be at the office?"

"Another hour probably." Sharon sighed, "Normally I don't catch two cases in a day but since a suspect died in the care of a Commander I had to handle it personally."

"Are both of your cases solved?"

"Sure are. Now I'm just scaling a mountain of paperwork." Sharon took her glasses off again, feeling the tiredness in her eyes.

"Could you stop in about half an hour and pick up tomorrow morning?"

"Sure. I still have over 48 hours to file the reports on both of them. The only thing is I'd be risking catching a lot more work tomorrow." Sharon shrugged, "but on the other hand I'm not on top of my game right now and could definitely use a break."

"Glad to hear it. Meet me in the parking garage in half an hour?"

Sharon was leaning against her car when Brenda pulled up in front of it. "Should I bring my car?"

"No, I'll bring you back to it if you want." Brenda unlocked the door and Sharon settled in. "It's good to see you."

"It's good to see you too." Sharon cupped Brenda's cheek and kissed her softly.

"Gail Meyers is going to jail and I brought you a cup of coffee." Brenda held out the steaming mug to Sharon.

Sharon smiled with ecstasy. "I don't know which of those things makes me happier."

Brenda drove out of the parking garage and merged into traffic. "I have to say that I'm feeling pretty good right now. Things between us are going really well and I managed to bring a killer to justice despite political pressure."

"Good for you, Brenda." Sharon smiled, leaning back against the seat and sipping the hot coffee. "I'm proud of you, I really am."

Brenda smiled at Sharon, even more pleased than before.

"So where are we going?"

"It's a surprise."

"Oh, I love surprises."

"I know you do." Brenda turned to look behind her before switching lanes. "You just relax and I'll let you know when we're there."

"I might close my eyes for a few minutes. My eyes are tired from staring at the computer for so long." Sharon admitted. Her fingers gripped the warm ceramic mug, warming her.

The two drove in comfortable silence. Sharon watched the city go by with vague interest, allowing Brenda to lead her wherever it was they were going. She started to pay closer attention when they left the city behind and entered the more rural area.

"Do you know where we're going?"

"Not a clue. I'm completely bewildered."

Brenda brought the car to a stop and put it into park. "Here we are."

"Wow… I haven't seen the city from up high in a long time. Never ceases to take my breath away."

Brenda opened the door and went to grab a few things from the backseat. "I googled city overlooks." She dropped the armload of things on the ground and started to assemble the folding chairs.

"Let me help," Sharon insisted, getting out of the car and joining Brenda.

"I wanted to bring you up here and watch the sunset." Brenda smiled, looking to Sharon for approval.

Sharon grinned. "I love it."

Brenda held up two plastic champagne flutes. "Sparkling cider?"

Sharon wasn't sure she'd seen this spontaneous romantic side of Brenda in a long while but was glad to see it reemerging. She was always charmed by it. "Please."

Their chairs were pushed close together so that they could hold hands, they stared out at the setting sun appreciatively.

"There are just some days you're glad to say goodbye to." Brenda started, "today has certainly been a roller coaster. I wanted to commemorate the end of today and remind you how glad I am and how lucky I am to be spending time with you."

Sharon gave her hand a squeeze. "Here's to us and many more days and nights together."

Brenda tapped her glass against Sharon's and smiled.

By the time she got home, Sharon was exhausted and in need of a much needed rest. The readout on the microwave said nine but she felt like she'd been up for three days at least.

"Thanks a lot for texting me back about the ties." James snapped, entering from the living room.

"Oh, James, I'm sorry. I was so busy today."

"Whatever," James rolled his eyes, "it's not like it was an important interview or anything."

"I said I was sorry." Sharon scowled as she walked toward the laundry room. She opened the dryer and peered into the empy void. "Where's my laundry?"

"What do you mean where is it? It's in the washer." James rolled his eyes again, watching from the doorway.

She opened the washer and pulled out the skirt from her skirt suit. "You didn't iwash/i it?"

"You said put it in the washer! I put it in the washer!"

"Do not tell me you didn't understand that I meant to iwash/i them. You're twenty-six years old, for christ's sake." Sharon snapped. "I asked you to do one damn thing. You're not an insolent teenager anymore, you're an adult: start acting like it!"

"That's exactly it, isn't it? You spent our entire childhoods waiting for us to grow up but I'll never be grown up enough for you!" James frowned, "you're always telling me to grow up."

"Oh my god, what a horrible mother I am for asking her adult son to act like an adult!" Sharon drawled, "how can you even istand/i it?" Sharon grabbed the detergent and threw it into wash before slamming the top shut and turning it on.

"You're not even going to ask how my interview went?"

"How could I? As soon as I walked through the door you jumped down my throat!" Sharon gritted her teeth, "of course I want to know how your interview went. I'm interested in your life and I want you to succeed because I'm your mother and I love you!"

"Do you mind saying that again without the attitude?" James folded his arms across his chest."

Sharon held up her arms in defeat. "Can we resume this argument in the morning? I've had a very long day complete with ifour/i dead bodies."

"And that's just it then. Just like always. iYou/i had to deal with dead people so everything else just has to wait."

"You know what?" Sharon went back out into the foyer and grabbed her purse and coat. "Forget it. I'm not doing this with you right now. I'm not. We can talk about it tomorrow. Goodnight, James."