Brenda has some visitors
Brenda's viewpoint
I was sitting at my desk, wrapping up some paperwork, well to be honest I was staring out into the squad room trying to get some motivation to finish it, when I noticed a small commotion as Mikki Mendoza from SIS walked in.
I'd worked with Mikki several times, back when we needed an undercover woman for a case, she was wonderfully competent. I would have stolen her from the Special Investigation Service ages ago, but hadn't wanted to get into a dreadful fight with Pope and Commander Ruiz of SIS. Ruiz had always made her available when I needed her, so it wasn't worth getting into a pissing match over it.
I watched as she chatted to Sanchez and Provenza, which was no surprise, especially Provenza. They had past history those two, Mendoza had been his rookie shortly after she made detective. He had almost a fatherly affection for her, unlike Sanchez, who had a completely different affection for her, although I didn't believe he was ever likely to realise his ambitions. Poor Julio, for all of his talents, he seemed to miss some signals completely.
As I watched Mikki and Jane started chatting, which was interesting. They were two extremely similar personalities; they even looked similar; lean striking women, unruly manes of dark hair and a 'don't mess with me' attitude. I could imagine those two as the best of friends or the worst of enemies.
The general discussion went on for a few minutes before she excused herself and walked towards my end of the squad room, where she was joined by Andrea Hobbs, my favourite Deputy District Attorney and together they made their way to my door, where Mikki stood aside for Andrea.
"Chief Johnson, do you have a moment?"
"Andrea, Mikki, for you, always. Come on in please and have a seat" I stood and smiled as they took seats in front of me and smiled in return as I sat back.
"Sorry to bother you Chief"
"It's really not a bother Mikki, honestly, seeing you both lets me put off some boring paperwork for a bit longer. Now, how can I help you all?" They looked at each other, each waiting for the other to speak. I felt my smile widen.
"I promise you, no matter what you may have heard, I don't bite" They both smiled, while I watched Mikki nod gently to Andrea.
"Well Brenda, it's a little personal but we wanted to come and chat to you about something we heard" I smiled even wider.
"Ask away, after all I can only say no"
"We've heard a rumour that you might be um…" She looked uncertain how to proceed. I raised my eyebrows as I looked at them. Mikki jumped in, as I thought she might, she'd never been a patient one.
"That you were seeing someone, someone here in the LAPD" I sat back, not exactly sure where this had come from.
"Really, I wasn't aware that my personal life was the subject of rumours and gossip" Andrea looked like she wanted to die, while Mikki looked at the floor. Finally Andrea spoke.
"News travels Brenda, some of it good, some bad, and we thought we should come and talk to you directly, to let you hear what was being said and give you the chance to set us straight" Mikki jumped in to back Andrea up, which I was finding interesting.
"You're the LAPDs most senior woman Chief, people talk about you and you're an inspiration to a lot of other woman in the department" I snorted, me, a role model?
"I sincerely doubt that too many people would be looking up to me Mikki, I've had my ups and downs, as both of you are well aware" Mikki nodded.
"True, but it's also true that you have had a lot of success since you've come to the LAPD"
Andrea leaned forward to speak up, supporting Mikki; interesting.
I wondered if I was reading too much into their behavior projecting my own experiences on these two, maybe hanging around with gay women and now being one myself was colouring my perspective. I dragged my attention back to Andrea as she spoke.
"Brenda, when you first arrived here, the Priority Murder Squad was an experiment. You made it work, to the point that Major Crimes is an established part of the LAPD, there's no way anyone would dare consider tampering with the success that it's become, under you"
I held my hands up, stopping them; I needed to set the record straight.
"If Major Crimes has been a success, it's because it's been a team effort, the people out there in that office, they do the hard grind, the boring and tedious and difficult work that makes solving the cases easier. Major Crimes is their success, not mine" They shared another look before Andrea spoke.
"And that's why people talk about you Brenda, you lead a team and you give credit to everyone under you, that's pretty rare at some of the senior levels of the LAPD" I felt myself blushing slightly.
"Oh for heaven's sakes, you're both trying to turn my head. You must want something" I smiled to take the sting out of my words. "Out with it"
Again they shared a look, before Mikki spoke again.
"Chief, the rumour is that you and Commander Raydor are, well, more than friends" She looked nervous and awkward.
I looked at them for a moment, wondering where this was leading, but also aware that sooner or later people outside our squads would start putting things together, even though we'd asked them to keep it to themselves. Probably it was one of the Tactical Response guys who'd not kept his mouth quiet, Sharon and I together was much too juicy gossip not to spread around.
"Whatever gave people that idea?" Mikki looked over to Andrea for help.
"People say they saw you two together at the LAPD Ball, we weren't there but others were and there's been some talk since that well, you and the Commander have become very close" Mikki leaned forward.
"I also heard that you were spotted at Blush dancing with a striking brunette wearing glasses, Commander Raydor certainly fits that description"
"I see"
There was silence for a few seconds, before I tried again.
"And what's your interest in this gossip" They both started to fidget before Mikki took the bull by the horns.
"We wanted to know if it was true Chief because, well, you inspire a lot of people here at the LAPD, including me. I was wondering if it was true, because if it is, it makes it easier for other people to be honest about things as well" I looked at them, putting two and two together, good to see my instincts weren't completely wrong.
"Ah, you and Andrea…" They glanced at each other and back at me, before they both nodded.
"I understand now" I settled back in the chair and smiled at them.
"While it's not public knowledge, or at least I didn't think it was, but yes, Sharon and I are together" They both broke out in wide smiles.
"That's great news Chief"
"Congratulations Brenda" I nodded my thanks before asking a question of my own.
"How long have you been together?"
Andrea reached out, catching Mikki's hand in hers.
"Almost four months, it sort of happened as a surprise" I looked at Mikki, her normally striking features softening at Andrea's touch.
"I'd heard the rumours Mikki, but I would never have asked. Andrea, were you also into girls before Mikki dragged you off into the night and corrupted you" They both laughed happily.
"Once, a long time ago, but we were working closely on a major case and decided to go out for drinks one Friday night. We started to talk and things kind of went from there"
"I'm happy for both of you" They both smiled at me, almost as if I blessed them or something equally silly. Andrea leaned forward.
"We're happy for you and Commander Raydor as well, it's not often you meet couples like us in the LAPD"
I couldn't help it; I laughed, laughed until my sides hurt and tears came. I finally managed to calm down enough to see them looking at me with strange expressions as I wiped the tears away, noticing a few funny looks from out in the bullpen as well.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to laugh but you obviously haven't been keeping up with current events" Mikki tilted her head to one side.
"What do you mean?"
"Jane Rizzoli, the woman you met outside in the squad room, on loan from Boston PD, she is" They both turned to look at Jane, who was standing, one hand on her hip, obviously giving Flynn some grief, probably about baseball. "Her partner is our new Medical Examiner, Maura Isles" Mikki turned to me, a shocked look on her face.
"I've seen her; she gave us a brief on some new procedures the week before last. She's gorgeous"
"You may have also heard we have a new media liaison person, Natalie Dearing?" Mikki looked at me pensively.
"Is that the blonde everyone's talking about, Ruiz couldn't stop raving about her after that senior officer's meeting. She's supposed to be beautiful" I nodded.
"Yes she is. She's also the partner of our new FBI liaison officer, Anastasia Romanov" Now it was Andrea's turn to look shocked.
"I've met her at an inter-agency meeting last week, she's lovely"
"That she is. I'm pleased to be able to call them all my friends. So as you can see you're not alone" They looked at me, then at each other. Andrea smiled at Mikki, which was happily returned, before they turned back to me.
"Brenda would you and Sharon do us the honour of being our guests for dinner? Just let us know when you're free, we'd love to talk" I smiled.
"I can't commit to a date just yet Andrea. I'll have to talk to Sharon, I don't know her schedule, but I'm sure we'd love to do it. I'll chat to her and be in touch soon" Mikki smiled.
"Let us know, we'll be good with whatever date works for you guys" I nodded.
"I will, it shouldn't be too long" Andrea caught Mikki's eye and they exchanged a look before they turned back to us.
"If you don't mind and you think it's appropriate, we'd like to meet your friends too" I smiled.
"Andrea, it'd be my pleasure"