If I owned these characters, I would not be working a full-time job while finishing a full-time graduate program. I am just borrowing them for the day… As a fair warning, I get students AND start grad school classes again tomorrow. Updates will be few and far between from now until next August when I finish my Master's degree. Unfortunately, RL has to come first for now.
A special thanks to gingersnapped907 and ProfTweety for reading to make sure I wasn't missing words. Any mistakes are actually mine.
Happy Shandy Sunday!
Chapter 13: 4th of July Wedding
"Okay. Now we've heard enough. Andrea, what do you think?" I ask as we finish listening to Stu Slone confess to killing Danny Egan.
"If he agrees to eventually write all that down, Mr. Sloan may participate in the marriage ceremony and stay through the first dance with his daughter, provided the police escort him every moment and he doesn't try to get away," Andrea answers from the doorway to the Media Room. Internally, I groan at what exactly these terms mean for us – no Dodger game – but I keep it off my face as I had Plan B created before I left the condo this morning.
"Mr. Sloan, do you agree to the very generous terms offered to you in front of your family by the State and witnessed by the L.A.P.D.?" Secretly, I have my fingers crossed like I'm back in junior high right now that he won't agree to what I just asked.
"I do," Mr. Sloan replies.
"Then by the power vested in me by the State of California, I will allow you to attend your daughter's wedding, and we will go with you," is my response.I can't quite wait to see his reaction to the fact that the entire team is going.
"More guests?! Oh, jeez. Hey, don't expect the steak or lobster. It's chicken or nothing."
Mrs. Sloan replies, "Oh, no, no, no. We also have some salmon and a lovely vegetarian offering." At least there will be something for Andy to eat. I just hope that we can get the uniforms to bring Mr. Sloan back and book him so we can accomplish Plan B tonight.
As she's walking out, Dana asks, "Do you think that there's any Valium left? Because I only need three."
"Well, Officer Watson. Your first 24 hours in the Reserve ranks has been very interesting. And productive. Congratulations." I am very proud of the way that Buzz conducted himself last night. Despite the two senior officers trying to handle it their own way, Buzz insisted that procedure be followed and still called his watch commander.
"Thank you, Captain. I hope everyone still feels that way while we're missing the game." Buzz looks really guilty about the fact that he is the one who found the case that is causing us to miss actually enjoying the seats at Dodger's Stadium.
"Oh, we are not missing that game," I reply.
Back in the Murder Room, I pass out the assignments for covering the wedding. Julio and Amy are driving Mr. Sloan to the venue. Then, I walk into my office to grab my purse and cell phone as Andy waits to drive me along to the venue. As Andy drives, I call Rusty and tell him to take the money out of the drawer and to take the list of snacks off the fridge needed for tonight's festivities. Thankfully, he had already seen the contingency "to do" list so I didn't have to specify too much of what has to happen with the condo. We are not missing this game.
While we're not dressed in the black tie attire of the majority of the guests, we don't stand out as cops either. Andy and Julio were tasked with escorting our guest of honor while he freshened up. Meanwhile, Amy and I had the pleasure of waiting for him with the bridal party. I had Amy step into the room while I waited for Andy and Julio outside the suite. As they arrive, I catch Andy's eye as he turns Mr. Sloan over to me. For a moment, I have a brief flash of the same scene happening many years down the road with Emily as the bride awaiting her father and step-father. I shake my head as I escort Mr. Sloan into the suite. I nod to Amy that she's ok to leave and to take Julio to get situated downstairs with Andy standing outside the door. I try to stay on the perimeter of the room as I watch the group put the finishing touches on Lisa. When her parents ask for a few moments alone with the bride, I step aside as the bridesmaids and friends leave. It doesn't feel right to be listening to this very personal exchange between the parents and daughter. I let my thoughts wander as I try to avoid paying attention to the words her father is telling her. It was in a similar room two years ago that I got to meet Nicole as a bride. I wonder if Andy will be next to me the next time I'm in a bridal suite or if Emily will not want him to partake in this type of intimate environment or if Andy would not be interested in being part of it either. As I check my phone to ensure everyone is in their places for the start of the ceremony, I shake my head to clear my thoughts.
As we exit the bridal suite, I smile at Andy and continue on my way to find two seats at the back of the wedding. The plan is for him to escort the bride and her father until they start walking up the aisle and then he'll slide in the pew next to me. It won't be the first wedding we've attended together. I seriously doubt it will be the last one either. While this is not exactly the events that we were planning for the fourth, it might just turn out better than we had planned especially if there is dancing involved. Besides, I like weddings.
As we stand to watch Mr. Sloan walk his daughter up the aisle, I feel Andy walk up and stand next to me. I reach out and brush my fingers against his hand as I did at Nicole's wedding. He reaches back and does the same to me as we take our seats. It would be so easy to just hold his hand, but I'm hesitant about his reaction, that we're both on-duty at the moment, and we still have not defined anything between us. I notice his tie is slightly askew so I reach up to straighten it for the second time in about twenty-four hours; however, this time it is not out of place due to me.
The wedding goes through without a hitch and is quite the lavish affair that has been talked about last night and today. It's beautiful to see two people declare their love and promises before each other in such a public way. My hope for the couple is that they manage to remain faithful to their vows and build a lasting relationship over the years.
As the bride and groom walk up the aisle after exchanging their vows, I turn back to Andy and smile as I catch him staring at me. I might have successfully upped the game in the last week. We slowly make our way to the reception trying to avoid what would be awkward conversations with how we know the bride and groom, leaving Amy and Julio with the wedding party as they take more photos.
The reception hall is very large and beautifully decorated in the bridal colors. It obviously is an expensive wedding. The wait staff is bustling around making sure that everyone is getting their fill of the champaign, sparkling cider, crab balls, shrimp puffs, meatballs, and other hors de vours. Since we are relatively secluded with where we are standing on the edge of the ballroom, it might be time to call Andy on the fact that he has been staring at me non-stop since he joined me at the wedding.
"Is there something wrong with what I'm wearing, Andy?" I whisper in his ear so that others can't hear me. My tone is a lot flirtier than I thought it would be. I notice the slight blush that appears on his cheeks that will be unnoticeable to everyone else in the room.
I watch him swallow hard as he backs away from me, "No, Sharon. I'm sorry."
I giggle. I have found that Andy prefers a direct approach so I don't think twice as I move closer to him and continue the conversation. "Humm. Then would you care to say why you keep staring at me?"
"You need to ask, my dear?"
I feel the heat rising in my face and I hope that it isn't noticeable. "Hummmm. Well, I believe that someone told me to make sure that I never assumed anything because I might not draw the correct conclusion."
Andy leans into me and whispers very quietly in my ear, "Well, my dear, you are the most beautiful woman in the room tonight. I am looking forward to holding you on the dance floor later because you owe me a dance after dragging me to this instead of the Dodger's game tonight."
I really hope that no one from the team is paying any attention to us as I feel the heat rising strongly through my face and neck at his comments. This is suddenly getting very uncomfortable for me. I need to walk away before I do anything that could disrupt the delicate balance that we have at the moment. "Well, I guess you will have to ask me later," is my flirty reply as I turn to walk away to check on the rest of the team.
Thankfully, we are all spread out through the reception hall where dinner is being served. I make small talk with those around me and state that I have a professional relationship with Mr. Sloan when asked how I managed to be invited to this wedding. I'm thankful for the spot in the back of the room so that I can watch everything going on while not having to talk to anyone. Thankfully, we are only required to be here through the father-daughter dance. Then, we just have to escort the father of the bride out to the patrol car that is waiting and we are going back to my condo to watch the game. While we won't make the game at the ballpark, I am making sure that we watch it tonight – complete with appropriate food and beverages.
As the first dances get started, I let my thoughts wonder. I like weddings, but tonight's wedding being the first that I have attended since my divorce along with Andy's flirting has put me in a very reflective and contemplative mood. I'm starting to second guess a lot of my recent decisions. I enjoy spending time with Andy both inside and outside of the office, but do I really want to risk what we share now for the possibility of developing it further? Or will this relationship turn out like all of the other prior relationships with me getting hurt in the end because the guy decides to leave? What is it about me that causes them to always leave? Am I really the cold-hearted ice queen? Can I manage to not make the same mistakes as I did in my relationship with Jack with Andy? Are we going to be able to continue to develop our relationship while I am still his boss? To quote Nicole, how will I deal with him romancing me in the evenings and still boss him around during the day? How is Andy going to react to that? We've already talked about him being too overprotective of me and have successfully moved through that, but will it revert back as we become more intimate? I'm brought out of my thoughts and back to the present as a hand is laid on my shoulder causing goosebumps to appear down my spine.
"May I have this dance, Sharon?" Andy rasps in my ear as he extends his hand for me. Just having his hand on my shoulder and whispering into my ear is enough to make all of my doubts vanish. I grasp his hand and let him help me up from my chair as the smile from earlier today reappears. We slowly make our way to the dance floor as I notice that the rest of the team has left the reception hall. Once we get to the dance floor, Andy quickly grabs my waist and holds his hand out in order to guide me carefully. It doesn't take long for me to relax into his embrace and rest my head on his shoulder as I have the previous times that we have danced together. We dance through three songs before it changes to something more upbeat. Andy seems as reluctant as I am to let go, but we need to get back to the condo anyway as the team will be descending to watch the game. Thankfully, we both know a shortcut to get back to my condo so our delay in departure shouldn't be as noticeable to the rest of the team. Andy and I walk back to my table for me to grab my purse and phone before leaving. As we are walking out, he lightly takes my hand in his as we walk back to his car.
It just might be worth trying to see what happens in this relationship as we decide to deepen it.