Chapter 56:

"Thank you very much, Angela," Provenza smiled. He was the last one to exit the apartment.

"No, thank you," she said politely and he joined Flynn, who waited for him in the hallway, while the rest of the squad members went towards the elevator.

Sharon looked at him, trying to suppress the itching urge to pull him back inside the apartment and close the door on everyone else. "Goodbye," she said coldly to the both of them just before Angela closed the door and walked back to the kitchen. Sharon followed her and watched her mother for a moment as she started cleaning up.

"Mother, let me do it," she approached her and tried to take the plates off of Angela's hands, but she moved them away from Sharon's reach.

"No, no. It was my evening, so I should clean up," she picked up two glasses at once and headed for the sink.

"You're my guest," Sharon tried to convince her, but she laughed bitterly.

"Guest? I dropped in unannounced and had this dinner without your permission," Angela said.

"I didn't say you were a good guest," Sharon said slowly and then cast a weary smile at her mother. "Go to sleep, seriously," she pulled her mother away from the sink gently and led her towards the corridor.

"Oh, alright. But if you get too tired, leave it for me and I'll do it in the morning," Angela said, although she knew that Sharon would never do that. "Good night."

"Good night," Sharon said just before Angela entered the bedroom and closed the door behind her. She sighed at the sight of the messy table she had to clear before taking some dishes in her hands and heading for the sink.

Outside the building, Flynn walked very slowly to his car. He waved goodbye to the others, and watched them getting into their cars. He pretended he was checking something on his iPhone, but his eyes moved away from the screen for split seconds, to see if everyone had gone already.

Last one to drive away was Provenza. He looked at Flynn from inside his car and shook his head just before he stepped on the gas and disappeared down the street.

Flynn looked around one last time while tucking the iPhone in his pocket, and when he saw that no one was there, he turned around and walked back to the entrance of the building. His heart was beating fast as he went up in the elevator. He feared that Sharon might not like his return, and tried to think of ways to convince her to let him in. When he stepped outside of the elevator, someone called his name and he turned to see who it was.

"Rusty. Going home?" he asked as the tired teenager approached him.

"Yeah… going to sleep. I think the pizza made me sick."

"You should have eaten Angela's food. She's a great cook," Flynn said as they walked side by side to Sharon's apartment.

"Remind me next time," Rusty said sarcastically and Flynn chuckled.

They were at the door when Flynn suddenly sent his arm forward and stopped Rusty from opening the door. "Hey, could you do me a favor?" he asked.

"What is it?"

"Could you let me in quietly?"

"Without Sharon noticing?" Rusty frowned.

"Yeah… I wanna surprise her," Flynn said, leaving out the possibility that she might be reluctant to have him there.

"Okay, I guess," Rusty muttered and used his key to open the door slowly. He peeked inside and saw that the dimly-lit living room was deserted, so he signalled to Flynn to follow him.

Flynn closed the door behind him as quietly as he could, and saw Rusty pointing at the kitchen. There were noises coming from that direction, and Flynn nodded at him to let him know he understood.

Rusty waved goodbye and walked to his room without making a sound. Flynn watched him until he disappeared from sight and then tiptoed quietly to the kitchen's entrance. He stood there for a few moments, just looking at Sharon. She was just putting dishes in the dishwasher when she noticed someone moving in the kitchen and looked up, expecting to see Rusty.

"Andy!" she whispered, and he could see she was surprised.

"Hey… sorry for sneaking up on you like that, but I knew you wouldn't let me in," he apologized as he approached her. She crossed her arms on her chest and leaned against the counter, apparently considering her words. Flynn felt like lifting her on that counter and acting on his desires, but he only stood there and waited for her response.