Chapter 54:

"Alright, alright, I deserve it," Provenza held his hands up in surrender. "Fine, I'll keep your disgusting little secret, but it doesn't mean I accept it."

"Who cares?" Flynn said, still irritated with Provenza's behaviour.

"Thank you," Sharon said and nodded shortly.

"I'm going," Provenza said grumpily.

"Me too," she said.

"No, wait, I need to tell you something," Flynn said, looking at Sharon, and then turned his gaze to Provenza. "You can go."

Provenza rolled his eyes and opened the door again. "See you in a bit… unfortunately," he muttered as he walked out and closed the door behind him.

"What is it you need to tell me?" Sharon asked and inserted her hands in the pockets of her black jacket.

"Nothing, but I wanted to do something that I won't be able to do during dinner," he said and entwined his hands in the narrow gap between her waist and her arms. Her hands remained in her pockets as she let him pull her body towards his and kiss her. At first, his lips brushed her lips slowly, as he took his time in relishing that smell of her perfume that he liked so much, but then, she parted her lips and let his tongue reach hers and dance around it frantically, as he accelerated the rhythm of the kiss. It definitely felt like he was kissing her as much as he could in a short amount of time, before he'd have to sit across the table from her and act as if there was nothing going on between them.

Sharon didn't know how long it went on, but she didn't want it to end. Eventually, she felt him slowing it down again, until the kiss stopped. She pulled her hands out of her pockets and wrapped them around his body, as her head rested on his chest. She felt his hand caressing the back of her head gently and closed her eyes.

"I have no idea how to gather enough will power to go home," she muttered and he smiled. "What have you done?"

Flynn chuckled. "Do you want me to push you out the door?"

"Yes. No. I want to stay," she said without moving.

"Good, let's ditch dinner," he said and she lifted her head quickly from his chest, taking a step backwards and straightening her jacket.

"No, I have to go," she started to walk away. A second before she stepped outside through the open door she looked back at him and squinted. "Did you just say that on purpose?" she asked.

"Yep," he answered lightly. "I knew you wouldn't be too keen to do something as horrible as ditching," he said sarcastically and smiled.

"Are you trying to say that I'm a nerd?" she asked with a serious face, and tried not to smile.

"I'm not trying; I'm saying it loud and clear," he kept on smiling and Sharon returned him a little smile before exiting. She knew he was watching her as she walked to her car, but didn't look back. Flynn smiled and waited for her to get inside her car before closing the door.

(***)

"You've already expressed your disgruntlement over the phone. Twice," Angela said coldly while stirring one of the pots which stood on the stove.

"I never mix work with personal life," Sharon said it monotonically as always, but her mother knew she was somewhat angry.

"And how many friends do you have?" Angela asked without looking at her.

"I don't have time for friends. My job is demanding."

"Exactly," Angela agreed as she closed the pot and turned around to look at Sharon.

"What?"

"Are you telling me you never need someone to talk to, a shoulder to cry on?" Angela squinted at her.

"Yes."

"Oh, please. Why don't you go and see your son? He said he wanted to tell you something," Angela tried to get Sharon off her back in a polite way.

Sharon shook her head but did as her mother said. A minute later, she entered Cat's apartment and saw her sitting in the living room with Rusty, Chris and Julia.

"Mom!" Chris said happily and got up to kiss her.

"Hi, honey," she kissed him and then greeted Julia, who also got on her feet quickly. "Your grandmother said you wanted to tell me something." She looked at Rusty and smiled at him, trying to remember the last time they spent time together, just the two of them. It was too long ago, she thought.

"Uh, yes, Mom. Jules and I have been trying to tell you this since we got here, but you're always so busy with that case," it sounded like a reproach even though he didn't mean it.

"Oh, no. I'm so sorry," Sharon said and tried to ignore the little voice in her head telling her she was a bad mother. "Well, I'm here now. What is it?" she asked and her gaze moved from Chris to Julia and then back to Chris in anticipation.