Maybe it was the fact that they were both alcoholics, maybe it was just because he was both frank and thoughtful but he liked Andy Flynn. In fact he had liked him for quite a long time so when the lieutenant got injured it was just natural to come and visit him, even though he lived at the Captain's place.
That last part got him uneasy. He liked her too. He liked her a lot in fact and had done so for a very long time. He had got to know her when she was investigating a corrupt officer who was known to sell fake id. It was even before Brenda came to LA. He had learned to respect Sharon's work and got to know her too. And what struck him the most was her quietness and discretion, how very private she was. A thing that was in such opposition to his wife's behavior. So yeah, he felt a bit uneasy coming to her place.
When the door opened he was relieved to see that Andy didn't look too bad. They made their way to the sofa, bag of chips and iced tea in hand to watch a baseball game. He looked around him, it was such a beautiful place, elegant decoration, lots of plants. Such in contracts with his home. He knew he shouldn't go there but he longed for things his wife couldn't and wouldn't be and give to him. Her moving to DC had just exacerbated his general unhappiness with her and their relationship.
A jingling of keys caught his attention. The door opened revealing Sharon, the Captain, he reminded himself, and her son. They looked both as they just ran a marathon: sports clothes, flushed skin and sweaty foreheads.
"How was your run?" Asked Andy to the pair. Well, that explained !
"Very good! We ran 5 miles on the uphill trail." She said moving towards Andy and kissing him softly on the lips. "Hello Chief." She saluted him, while running one of her hands in the other man's hair.
"Hi Chief! Mom, I'm going to go for a shower and I'll head out." Said Rusty.
"You don't want to do some yoga with me, Honey? You should stretch…" She started before getting interrupted.
"Mom…" he kind of whined. "I'm not even 20! I can run 5 miles without stretching, it's fine. Plus I'm eating with the crew of Badge at 7 so…" he said while waving Bye bye and walking down the corridor.
"Youth…" Chucked Andy who had looped one of his arms around her, caressing the side of her thigh that was at his level while seated on the sofa.
"Don't encourage him" she responded, her tone firm but a big smile on her face. She took a sip of his drink, licked her lips before taking a second one. "I'm going outside to do my stretching, I'm not 20 anymore." She joked. "Have fun you guys."
He couldn't tear his eyes off her incredible legs displayed in her shorts. She was so different from Brenda. So sweet, so gentle and she had such a feminine body, a woman body. Since he confused a very young teenager with his wife (they were both standing with their back to him, in a flowery dress) he was weary of his wife's body and of his attraction to her, which had greatly decreased since the incident.
Sharon was getting her yoga mat and walking out on the balcony, her back to them and he was pretty sure he would never confuse her with a teen. She had a beautiful figure, small waist, large round hips that betrayed the fact that she had children, small feminine arms and shoulders. He still, years later, couldn't understand how Brenda had such muscular arms and back when she never ever did any sports. She was starting to betray her age on this aspect though. Because his cardiologist asked him to walk a lot, he had tried to convince his wife to come with him to enjoy the view from the top of Griffith Park but she was out of breath in a few seconds and wasn't able to climb it up. Sharon on the other hand, ran, swam, danced and did yoga on a regular basis and it showed!
He knew it wasn't just her figure that attracted him. The mother in her, the fact that he still wanted so much to have kids was a big part in that. When his wife downright refused to even discuss the subject, the Captain adopted a new kid that showed up in her life. A kid that showed up in his life first…
The night went on, exacerbating his disquiet. While his wife was needy and in constant need of distraction and interaction, the Captain entertained herself without a word. Her yoga finished, she went for a shower before going back on the balcony. He saw her attend to her plants before calling someone with her iPad.
He caught Andy looking at her a few times, gaze full of love and tenderness. He knew some people found them mismatched but he didn't. He could see what attracted them, what kept them together. When she came back inside, to grab 2 pieces of pizza and a mug of tea, giving a kiss to Andy and enquiring on his well-being, he knew for sure. It wasn't the big passion like the one he once had with Brenda, it was tenderness and companionship. They had found their match, someone to share their life and days with. It exuded in the way they interacted, in their tenderness and in the easiness of their evening.
He couldn't fathom an evening like that with his wife. Where he could watch tv with a friend, without culpability. Where she could read a book by herself outside, call her friends and paint her toenails without asking for his presence. He longed for more evenings like that.