The next couple of days went exceedingly well for Brenda and Andy. Brenda stopped feeling like she was wearing a neon sign, and Flynn was his usual snarky self. If anyone could tell they were "together", that anything had changed between the two of them, they didn't mention it. No rumours, nothing. Flynn knew where to listen for gossip, and he'd heard nothing. And if Provenza had known anything, he would have been giving Flynn a hell of a time. It was quiet. Too quiet.
Wednesday night, Flynn came over for dinner. He'd tried to give Brenda some space, not be around her all the time. They were still working out their footing in this relationship and he thought he'd give her time. But having not been with him since Sunday night, Brenda was frustrated.
Flynn had kept to his word, acting as he normally did. Brenda had been able to pull herself together and carry on and they'd not had any interaction outside the office since Sunday. When he'd been in her office discussing the case, Brenda had casually brought up the idea of him coming over for dinner that night. He'd been more than happy to accept that. Brenda had been in an exceedingly good mood the rest of the day.
They never made it to dinner. After work, he'd headed home, grabbing a change of clothes, on the off chance that things would happen tonight. He didn't want to have to leave early in the morning to go home and change. This time he was prepared. What he wasn't prepared for was his arrival at her house and her greeting to him. He'd knocked on the door, and she'd opened it, a smile on her face. She'd reached out and grabbed him, pulling him into the apartment. They were barely in the door before Brenda whirled around and planted a kiss on him. She'd backed him up against the wall, and he'd pulled her in closer, loving this forwardness by her. She always seemed so respectable and vanilla at work, but behind closed doors she was anything but. They grappled with each other and left a trail of clothing to her bedroom. Afterwards, they lay there and talked.
"Well, that was unexpected." Andy said to her.
"It's been a few days. I've missed being near you." Brenda said, stroking his chest.
Andy responded by kissing her. "So, you've missed me. You see me every day. How do you miss me?" he smiled.
"Cause I can't do this at the office. I've missed this." She kissed him deeply. "You've been a real good boy, behaving at the office. Thank you for that."
"If it means having "dinners" like this with you, I'll be an angel, a choir boy." His fingers stroked her bare arms. She giggled, like a teenager.
He lay there with her, happy. He hadn't felt this way in a long time, happiness was foreign to him, he thought. But she made him happy. He hoped she felt the same way.
"Why did you start being so nice to me after Fritz left? Were you just waiting to swoop in? Pick up the pieces of a shattered Chief?" She said it in a teasing tone, showing she was just joking with him.
"You looked like you needed a friend. I really didn't think you had anyone you were close to out here that might understand. Pope, maybe, but I didn't know if things had been right between the two of you since the race for Chief."
"I've never made any friends, really. Only y'all at work. I'd rather be around y'all anyway. Fritz tried to get us involved with some of his work friends, but I always felt like an outsider. Besides, with my schedule, I don't have time. I do see Daniels, sometimes, but it's not the same. I miss her on the team." Brenda sighed.
"You've made time for dinner with me weekly. And you made time to go out with the team." Flynn commented.
"Well, I want to be around y'all. You're the only ones that I might not offend. You're used to me. Fritz always said I didn't play well with the other children." she laughed.
"Was he always telling you your faults? Cause that's all I hear from you "Fritz said this, Fritz said that." Was he ever happy with you?" Flynn questioned her. As strong as she was at work, in her personal life she'd seemed to be a mess.
"He didn't like how I did things sometimes. It wasn't all bad. But he thought I was too work focused and would do anything to get my confession, to the point where I would sabotage him. He was right, in that regard. You know I've done it to you too, Andy." Brenda admitted.
"I know. And I was angry with you. But I don't hold it against you. I know what it feels like to want to nail someone for what they've done."
"I think you're just saying that to make me feel better. I know I can be too focused on getting the confession."
"Doesn't matter." Andy said, and left it at that.
They lay quiet for awhile, before getting up and getting ready. They walked out of the bedroom, Brenda heading to the fridge to see what she could make for dinner, now that she'd had her way with him.
"You know, I can't cook very much. I'm used to eating a lot of takeout." Brenda said, bent over, looking into the fridge.
Andy came up behind, enveloping her in a hug. She straightened up, leaning back against him. "You got me here under false pretences then. This was a setup." He kissed her neck.
"Forgive me?" she smiled.
"Well, we could go get some take-out and come back here. As long as you know a good vegetarian place." Flynn continued kissing her neck.
"You keep this up, we'll never eat tonight." Brenda sighed.
"It's your punishment for false pretences." Andy laughed.
Brenda pretended to pout, but eventually smiled and chuckled. "Let's walk to this Chinese place that isn't too far away. We can get something there." She grabbed her favourite sweater and tied the belt. Flynn shrugged on his suit jacket and followed her.
Outside the door, he took the bold step of holding her hand. He didn't think anyone from work would see them here, and hoped she wouldn't freak out. He smiled when she clutched his hand back, and they strolled along. Brenda was as relaxed as she could be, to Andy she did look happy.
They spent the evening together, ending up back in bed shortly after they'd finished dinner. He'd stopped at his car on the way back into the house, grabbing his overnight bag. She'd smiled happily at him, knowing he wouldn't have to leave so early in the morning.
Thursday morning dawned and Brenda got up to get ready for work. Starting the shower, she started undressing to climb in, getting a towel and washcloth ready. She was just starting to soap up when she heard Andy come into the room. She jumped a little when Andy followed her into the shower. She'd only ever been in there with Fritz, and even they'd been engaged. As the hot water poured over her though, his nearness made her groan. She turned to him, kissing him, moving against him. It occurred to her that her niece was right. Now that she'd started doing this with Flynn, it was like she needed to be with him all the time. She couldn't get enough of him. Things with him were turning into something very intense.
The mornings activities had put her in an extremely good mood. When they got to work, she ensconced herself in her office, back to being the Chief. Andy knew the peace was too good to last. The first thing he knew that it was going to be along day was when Provenza came to his desk, sitting on the edge of it and leaning in, conspiratorially.
"Listen, Flynn, I've managed to set us up for tonight with this girl I met. She's got a friend for you, we've got dates tonight at 8. Can you make it?" Provenza stared at him intently.
"Um, it's Thursday. You know I go out with the Chief for dinner. Why would you make it for tonight?" Flynn was vaguely pissy, he liked his dinners with the Chief, regardless of the fact that their relationship had changed.
"Well, this is your opportunity to break away from her. You've got it bad, Flynn. Remember, no good can come from it. Besides, you said you would at the ballgame. That's why I went out and got us some dates!" Provenza said.
Inwardly, Flynn groaned. His good mood was starting to evaporate. How could he tell the woman he'd just spent the last few hours with he was going to miss their weekly outing because he had a date? And it wouldn't be with her. God, he didn't want to screw things up with her. But Provenza was looking at him closely, and Flynn felt trapped. If he said no to Provenza, he'd be hounded about it. If he cancelled on Brenda, she might cancel on him permanently. He was stuck, no matter what.
Finally he spoke. "Let me see if it's okay with the Chief first, okay? She likes these dinners. I'd hate to disappoint her."
Provenza looked at him with something like disdain. "See, this is what I mean. You have to break away from her! She's not your girlfriend, she's your boss! Grow a pair, man!" he said huffily.
"I still have to tell her. I can't just not show up at the restaurant. We've been going out for dinner for 5 months now."
Provenza rolled his eyes. "Geesh, go ask her then, you little lapdog." With that, he turned and went back to his desk.
Flynn got up and proceeded towards the Chief's office. He felt like he was going to his execution. He knocked on her office door, and couldn't help but smile when she smiled at him. He entered, turning to take a look at Provenza through the glass, before shutting the blinds. He didn't need this to be a theatre production so that Provenza could make fun of him later. Brenda looked at him with curiosity, wondering why he had shut the blinds.
"Brenda, don't be angry with me." he started off with. He used her name, hoping she'd go easy on him.
"Don't be angry about what, Andy?" Her smile started to fade.
"Provenza thinks we've been spending way too much time together. And in an effort to "help" me get over you, he's set up a date with his date's friend."
The smile was completely off her face now. "Why? Why would he do that? You can't go out on a date, not with another woman!"
Andy flinched, this was not going well. "It doesn't mean anything to me, Brenda. I'll go on one lousy date, get him off my back and never see her again."
"So, you'd go out with another woman? Now?" Brenda started to rise from her desk.
Andy went around behind it, knowing that if she'd taken this part the wrong way, the next part wasn't going to go well either.
"Well, it's more to get him off my back. I can't let on that we have something together now. Are you prepared to go public? If I don't go, he's just going to keep at me. I promise, one date, and that's it. It won't be even a real date. I have no intention of anything happening. Nothing."
"Somehow, that's not making me feel any better. Well, when is this disaster suppose to happen? Friday, Saturday night?" Brenda grumbled.
Andy looked at his feet. "Um, he made the dates for tonight. On purpose."
"TONIGHT! But tonight is when we go to our restaurant! I love going to that restaurant." Brenda started towards the door, she wanted to smack Provenza.
Andy held her back, pulling her backwards into him, holding her til she calmed down. "It's okay, sweetheart, it's okay. Look, as soon as I possibly can, I'll call it a night and go home. Trust me, nothing is going to happen. I will never see whoever this person is again."
"Nothing better happen between you and this woman. Nothing." Brenda seethed.
Inwardly, Flynn actually smiled. His Brenda was jealous. She did feel something for him. If this was a casual thing, she'd never be this upset. Brenda shook off his arms and went to her candy drawer. She needed the Hershey bar. She located one quickly, and ripped it open, biting into it. She slumped in her chair again, her good mood from this morning now gone.
"Are we good? You're not angry with me, are you? I just want to get him off my back."
"Oh, Andy, we'll be good. It doesn't mean that I'm not angry, but right now, mostly I just want to kill Provenza. I trust you, I do. It's just, it's our night. I love that place." Even the chocolate wasn't helping this time.
Andy went to her doors and made sure they were locked. He then went to Brenda, and bent down to kiss her gently. He hadn't wanted anyone to walk in on them, he was taking a chance even doing that here at work. She kissed him back, giving him a hug.
When he straightened up to leave, she spoke again. "Just make sure it's not a repeat of your time with those stewardesses. I will not be amused."
Flynn rolled his eyes, before exiting the room. He wasn't impressed with Provenza, which was already going to put a damper on whatever his "friend" had planned for the evening. And now, his girlfriend was pissed at him too. For a day that had started off terrifically, it sure had gone downhill really fast.