A/N: So sorry for the long hiatus y'all! I'm finally back with a new chapter! It's on the shorter side, but I promise the next one will be longer. Luckily, my seasonal depression seems to have abated a bit and I should be back to an every other week writing schedule from now on. Cheers to a new chapter. Enjoy!
Chapter 5: Uncharted Territory
The next couple months saw Sharon and Andy arguing at every possible turn in class.
They were somehow able to separate the professional spats from the increasingly more personal conversations they tended to have over coffee though.
She'd told him more than he probably wanted to know about Jack, and he'd been elaborating on the nitty gritty details of how his marriage had fallen apart over a number of years due to his drinking.
He'd told her of a couple relapses, but reiterated to her that he was sober and had been for the past five years.
He talked about the difficulties of staying sober and she talked of the difficulty of being a single mom to two kids.
They talked about everything in between as well.
Their kids, their jobs, and their day to day lives.
On this particular Wednesday night after they'd both gotten off of work and Andy's kids were with his ex-wife and Sharon's were with a sitter, they'd arranged to meet each other at a new coffee shop in downtown LA near the bookshop.
Once they'd both ordered their drinks, Andy a decaf coffee & Sharon an oolong tea, they sat down to talk.
"So, how's work?" asked Sharon.
"We caught and put away a real dirtbag today," said Andy entirely too giddily.
"Did he have a lawyer present?" asked Sharon, assessing the situation.
"Yeah. He had a lawyer. Turns out we had enough evidence against him to lock him up anyways though. Even without his statement," said Andy proudly.
"That's good police work," commented Sharon as she set her hand on Andy's forearm for a moment.
The split second before Sharon removed her hand from his forearm, Andy suddenly felt like the room had gotten progressively warmer.
He even decided to take his tie off and unbutton the top two buttons on his dress shirt.
"Are you okay, Andy?" asked Sharon as she momentarily set her hand on Andy's in concern.
Once she removed her hand from the top of his, Andy replied with, "Is it just me or is it getting progressively warmer in here?"
Sharon couldn't help but laugh at the notion.
"What's so funny?" asked Andy.
"You thinking it's warm in here. It's actually kinda chilly since we're right next to the door," Sharon told him.
"Here, take my suit jacket," said Andy as he stood up for a moment.
"Oh no, Andy. Then you'll be cold. It's fine," Sharon waved him off.
"I insist," said Andy as he went behind Sharon's chair and slipped the suit jacket over her shoulders.
"Thank you. That's very sweet of you," said Sharon as she looked down and smiled to herself.
They sat and talked about everything from Andy's day to day at the LAPD to Sharon's day to day at the bookshop for a while and she told him about a couple of curious customers.
"You know you can call me anytime and I'll come take care of anyone skulking around," Andy offered as he pulled one of his business cards out of his pants pocket and handed it to her.
"I appreciate the offer. I'll certainly use it if I ever feel the need to," Sharon smiled at Andy as she bent to the side and stuck the card in her purse, all the while holding tightly to the lapels of the suit jacket so it wouldn't fall off her shoulders.
"So, how are Emily and Ricky?" asked Andy.
"They're good. They're both doing good in school. Emily is about to start up ballet classes again. They're gonna be practicing for The Nutcracker soon. It's a little early, but they're gonna have to audition for various parts and then the teacher will assign them their roles based on their performance in auditions. Ricky took apart the toaster again, but lucky for him he was able to put it back together this time," said Sharon as she lit up talking about her kids.
"They sound like great kids," commented Andy.
"They are. Despite having an absent father," replied Sharon.
Sharon and Andy stayed at the coffee shop for hours just talking about everything in between until it was closing time.
Once they had paid and made their way outside the establishment, Andy asked Sharon, "Where are you parked?"
"Way down the street. This place was hopping tonight. Although, I guess that's to be expected since it's brand new. Curiosity factor," said Sharon as she turned to walk away from Andy and down the street.
"Wait," said Andy as he gently grabbed Sharon's elbow.
"What?" asked Sharon confusedly.
"You've still got my suit jacket on," said Andy as he smiled at Sharon.
"Oh my goodness! I do. Here you go," said Sharon as she handed over Andy's dark gray suit jacket and made a motion like she was about to leave.
"What do you think I'm some kind of animal? Let me walk you to your car," suggested Andy.
"Okay. Sure. I can't turn down a police escort," Sharon joked.
Andy laughed too as they began walking down the street towards Sharon's car.
God, he had a great laugh, Sharon thought to herself as they strolled down the street.
As they walked down the sidewalk together, Andy cleared his throat and asked, "So, do you have any fun plans for the weekend?"
"No. Just hanging out at home with the kids. You?" asked Sharon.
"I don't have Nicole & Brandon this weekend. So, it looks like it'll be frozen meals for one," said Andy.
"Oh my goodness, that's incredibly sad," said Sharon.
"It's alright. I got some passes to the Natural History Museum that are gonna go bad if I don't use them this weekend. In fact, why don't you and the kids join me and we can make a day of it?" suggested Andy.
Sharon hesitated momentarily before Andy asked, "What is it?"
"It's nothing. I just hesitate to bring the kids around new people. Especially men," explained Sharon.
"I get that. It's not like it's a date or anything though. Just two friends hanging out at a museum with her children for the day," Andy attempted to reassure her.
"I suppose you're right. Alright. We'll make a fun day of it. You should come over and have dinner with us afterwards," Sharon told him jovially as they arrived at her car.
"I'd love to," replied Andy excitedly.
"Well, I should go relieve my sitter," Sharon told Andy.
"Yeah. Totally. I'll meet you at the Natural History Museum on Saturday around 10am?" posed Andy.
"Ten am sounds good. We'll see you there. Thanks again for inviting us. I'm sure the kids will really enjoy it, especially Ricky," commented Sharon.
"I'm glad. Anyways, I'll let you go. Drive safe," said Andy.
"You too," replied Sharon as she opened the driver's side door and climbed into the car before starting it up.
She waved goodbye to Andy before putting the car in gear and merging slowly into LA traffic to head home to her house, where her children were likely asleep by now.
As Sharon drove home, she thought about Andy and how well they'd gotten to know each other over the past few months, despite their rocky in class spats, which so far, they'd managed to separate.
Sharon found that quality rather endearing about Andy. No matter how mad he got at her in class or when they disagreed on a subject, he managed to keep the professional and personal separate and vice versa.
Even when they disagreed though, there was always a mutual respect for one another and lines were never crossed in the heat of their classroom arguments.
She'd even noticed him actually listening to her side of things as a future lawyer lately and she granted him the same courtesy.
They were getting into uncharted territory now though.
He'd be meeting her kids on Saturday.
She hadn't introduced them to any man other than Gavin and they knew he was gay, so there was nothing to be misinterpreted there.
Andy though, he was a red blooded, heterosexual man and one, if she was being honest, that she was more than slightly attracted to.
She didn't wanna reveal that she liked Andy like that to her kids yet though.
This would be the first time they'd be meeting him and she wanted it to go well.
The last thing she wanted was for them to think that she was replacing their father.
Mostly because that was the furthest thing from her mind at the moment.
They'd continue as good friends for the time being, she decided.
The truth of the matter was that she really liked him though.
So, this would be a test for all of them.
Testing the waters with how the kids liked or didn't like Andy.
It would also be a test of her own willpower.
After all, she was a red blooded, heterosexual woman with needs, both emotional and sexual.
She decided to put the latter out of her mind for now and concentrate on the road for now.
There would be plenty of time for that later.
A/N: Thanks for sticking with me through the winter while I coped with my yearly bout of seasonal depression and wasn't writing nearly as much. I promise I'm getting back on a writing schedule right this minute though. Hope you enjoyed this latest (albeit short) chapter! Feel free to leave a comment if you so feel inclined. I'd greatly appreciate it.