"Interim (4/7) - Hobbs/OFC, Hobbs/Raydor Fic
Title: Interim (4/7)
Co-Author: sharon_ray
Pairings: Hobbs/OFC, Hobbs/Raydor
Rating: R
Word Count: 4, 388
Disclaimer: Not our characters or television show.
A/N: Fic takes place during the events of Major Crimes, though we have taken some liberties with the timeline. Fic is complete and will be updated weekly.
Summary: Andrea Hobbs finds herself at a crossroads in her personal life. Caught between the frustrating standstill of her present reality and the exciting allure of a new life, she’s forced to navigate through her conflicting emotions while also handling the most important case of her career.
On ff.net, Ch. 1, Ch.2, Ch.3,
*graphic and screencaps are my own please do not repost*
Rusty sat back in the stiff courtroom chair glad the first day was over. Sharon approached him and placed a careful hand on his shoulder; she was unsure of whether or not she should touch him, but she was also desperate to be there as a solid presence for him. His shoulder relaxed against her hand, and she heard a sigh of relief escape him so she squeezed the tense muscle soothingly.
“Are you ready for some dinner?” she asked quietly, she kept her hand firmly on him.
He nodded, looking up at her as he rested a hand over hers. He needed to be close to her after today. “Hey...do you think we should ask DDA Hobbs to come with us? I kind of want to thank her for all her hard work today, and for stepping in between me having to deal with Emma and stuff,” he asked shyly.
“Well,” Sharon nodded, “I don’t see why not. I’m not sure she’ll say yes as it’s a bit last minute but we can ask her.”
Sharon let go of Rusty to approach the DDA, tapping her gently on the shoulder. “Uh, DDA Hobbs?” she asked politely, using her official title due to the fact that Andrea’s co-workers were still milling about the room.
Andrea looked up from her neatly stacked papers and notes. “Yes?”
Sharon secured her purse over her shoulder nervously; lately, she felt restless in Andrea’s company. “Rusty would like to know if you’d be interested in joining us for dinner? He’s very appreciative of all you’ve done for him lately, and, well, I’d like it if you joined us as well.”
Andrea smiled as she contemplated the invitation for a moment then checked her watch. It was a Thursday; the chances of Hilary being home were slim to none anyway. “That’s very kind of him. Umm... I think that can be arranged. Give me five minutes?” she muttered, grabbing blindly in her briefcase for her phone. She knew Hilary wouldn’t answer, but she didn’t want to give Sharon the illusion that things were anything but fine between them. “I’ll just call Hilary and let her know I’ll be a little late.” Andrea smiled weakly at Sharon then stepped outside the courtroom so she could use her phone.
While Andrea made the call, Sharon made her way back to Rusty and grabbed his suit jacket that he had left hanging on the back of the chair. “Andrea will be joining us for dinner. She seemed touched by your invitation. It was very nice of you to think of her, Rusty.” She flashed a wide toothed grin at her foster son, wrapping an arm around his waist as they began their journey out of the courtroom. They approached Andrea in the hallway just as she finished leaving a message on her partner’s voicemail.
“So I’ll catch you later then, love you, bye,” Andrea said as Rusty and Sharon approached her. She smiled at Rusty who was regarding her curiously. “Thanks for the invite, I didn’t realize I was cool enough for you to hangout with outside of official business,” she said; over the past few weeks of working with Rusty and Emma as they all prepared for the trial, she’d developed an easy banter with the teen.
“Yeah, you know, I thought I’d save you from a night in watching awful re-runs or something,” he said, smirking at her.
“Rusty,” Sharon chided, “That’s rude.”
But Andrea brushed off Sharon’s concern. “It’s fine.” She tried not to think about how very accurate Rusty’s statement was. Hilary had not bothered to answer Andrea’s call; no doubt she was busy entertaining another up and coming artist. She probably wouldn’t even see Andrea’s voicemail until she climbed into the cab tonight, on her way home.
As Sharon led them out to the parking lot, she caught Andrea’s arm. “We’ll make it an early night, I promise. I’m sure you’re anxious to get home and relax.” She smiled warmly at Andrea. “Just follow my car, we’ll stick with something close by.”
“Oh, we can do whatever,” Andrea smiled back, doing her best to make it look genuine, “Hil had a gallery thing tonight that I knew I wouldn’t be able to make, so I’ve got some time. I just chatted with her, so she knows I’ll be in a little later.” She didn’t know why she felt the need to lie to Sharon and say she’d actually spoken
with Hilary, but she had, and she did. She felt a sharp pang of guilt strike her side.
“Okay, as long as it’s alright. I would hate to get you in trouble with your sweetheart,” Sharon joked.
“Sharon, can we go to the Pig n’ Whistle?” Rusty pleaded. He knew it was cheesy, but it was one of his favourite spots. He enjoyed seeing the lights and rush on Hollywood boulevard, and the old feeling of the restaurant. Sure, some considered it a tourist trap, but others still considered it one of the old, authentic Hollywood dives.
Sharon rolled her eyes exasperatedly. She hated that damn restaurant, but it had been a hard day for Rusty, and they did have a pretty okay menu.
“I guess...” she sighed, not in the mood to argue with him, “If it is alright with Andrea. She may not want to go all the way into Hollywood this late into the evening Rusty. It’s going to be busy.”
Andrea shrugged her shoulders. Truth be told, she missed going out in the city. Lately Hilary didn’t want anything to do with her outside of their home; she never seemed to afford Andrea the courtesy of an invitation to accompany her on her evenings out these days.
“The Pig n’ Whistle is fine with me. Hil won’t home until after midnight, so I really do have some time to spare, Sharon. Traffic will be horrible, though, so maybe we should take one car,” Andrea suggested.
Sharon nodded her agreement, then lead Rusty and Andrea to her car. “Okay, well, off to Hollywood we go, then. Rusty, make sure your things are out of the front seat for Andrea, please.”
Sharon felt a certain tightening in her chest at the thought of sitting in the car with Andrea. She hadn’t been in such close proximity to the blonde ever. What if she accidentally touched her thigh? What would they talk about? Sharon took a deep breath to calm her nerves as the three of them climbed into her car. It was too late to tell Rusty no. She was going to have to suck it up and drive to the restaurant with Andrea Hobbs dangerously close to her in the passenger seat. Hopefully Rusty would prove to be his usual self and talk the whole time.
“So, Andrea, is Hil short for something?” Rusty asked as soon as they pulled out of Sharon’s parking spot.
Andrea swallowed the lump in her throat and prayed that she was only imagining the heat in her cheeks. “Yes, Hilary, my partner,” she said curtly.
Rusty nodded his understanding. “And she works in a gallery?” he asked.
He’s being polite. He’s taking an interest in me personally. He’s a wonderfully kind teenager, Andrea chanted to herself. She couldn’t really get angry at Rusty; it really wasn’t his fault that she was found herself enjoying his foster mother’s company more than her partner’s these days.
“She is the artistic director, basically, for LACMA,” Andrea responded, doing her best to make her tone friendlier this time.
“LACMA. Isn’t that where you always go, Sharon? So she’s like, in charge of all the art and what goes up on the walls and stuff? That has to be super cool,” Rusty said.
“Yes, that’s where I like to visit,” Sharon said from her spot in the driver’s seat. “You know I recently met Hilary a few weeks ago when I went out with Gavin. She’s lovely Rusty; smart, chatty, and she knows everything there is to know about art. Maybe if you come with me to the museum one day, we’ll bump into her again,” Sharon said knowing that Rusty tended to get along well with more creative personalities.
Andrea cleared her throat and looked out her window. How was it that conversation with Sharon always turned to Andrea’s partner?
Sharon watched Andrea out of the corner of her eye, noticing how tense she became at the mention of her partner. The stiffness in Andrea’s shoulders and the tightness in her face reminded her how Andrea had been when she was first introduced to Hilary. To see this reaction twice in a row now was puzzling and even slightly hurtful; did Andrea think that Sharon was prying? Did Andrea misread Sharon’s friendly compliments as interest in Hilary? For all her beauty and intelligence, Hilary just wasn’t the sort of partner Sharon would choose for herself.
“So, if she runs a whole museum... does that mean that she’s like, super important, or famous or something?” Rusty asked again from the backseat, not ready to be done quizzing Andrea on her other half. He was curious about Andrea’s home life, especially after spending so much time with her in the last few weeks. In fact, she’d spent so much time with him after her regular work hours and after his classes, that for the longest time he’d assumed that she didn’t have much of a personal life.
“She is important to the museum, yes,” Andrea responded as she continued to stare out the window, “and she is quite well known in the art world. I suppose you could say she’s famous there. But being famous isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. You get a lot of cameras in your face, and people don’t want to respect your privacy. But nobody knows her outside of people who care about art a lot, so, she’s only famous in a very, very specific realm. It can be challenging at times to balance work and personal interests, because even when she’s not at work, she’s always representing the industry in some way.”
Rusty nodded his satisfaction with her answer as Sharon pulled into a parking garage near the restaurant. There was no way she was going through the hassle of trying to find a parking spot on the street at this time in the evening. She’d pay the ten dollars just to park in the garage so they could have their meal and get back home before midnight. She hoped that Rusty was done with his twenty questions, the Hilary Goldstein edition. After she’d noticed Andrea’s tension, she was quite ready to be done discussing the other woman. She’d tried to take an interesting in Andrea’s partner to show Andrea that she could be friendly and nice, hoping that the younger woman might want to reciprocate her friendship. Clearly, that was backfiring.
Once inside the restaurant, Rusty had thankfully taken an interest in the menu, telling Andrea excitedly about the dishes he and Sharon had split last time. “She barely eats anything, so whenever we come here we order like three or four things but I eat most of it,” Rusty said with a grin.
Sharon shook her head affectionately. “Not all of us are growing teenagers. Some of us are quite grown up and can’t knock back all this greasy food on a regular basis,” she teased.
Rusty regarded Andrea over the top of the menu. “Please tell me that you eat more than she does. Will you share with me?” he asked her.
Andrea took in the honest sincerity in his gray-blue eyes, and the eagerness in his tone. “I’d love to,” she said warmly. Andrea really wasn’t all that hungry; the combination of being in Sharon’s presence for such an extended period of time, plus her general exhaustion, didn’t do much for her appetite. But, if Rusty wanted to order a few dishes and split them with her, she would do it.
Their server came by and took their drink and meal orders. True to his word Rusty ordered an assortment of appetizers and a main entree for he and Andrea to split, while Sharon stuck with a chicken salad. Andrea contented herself on making small talk with Rusty about his studies; she hoped that she could keep the conversation centered on him rather than on herself.
“So Rusty, college applications are just around the corner. Have you given any thought as to what you want to study or where you want to go?” she asked.
Rusty bit the straw of his drink nervously. “Not really, no.”
Andrea shrugged sympathetically. “It’s okay. I didn’t really know what I wanted to do right out of high school either. I took a year off and I went backpacking across Europe.”
“Really?” Rusty asked, fascinated.
“Really,” Andrea said smiling. “It was a great experience. I met a lot of people and saw some of the most beautiful sights in the world. And, I found myself too. When I got back home I realized that I wanted to pursue an undergraduate degree in law and political science at Chapman. Orange County was far enough from my parents that I could live in a house away from them, but close enough that I could still come home on the weekends so my mother could feed me a proper meal. And Old Towne Orange was a fun place to cause mischief.”
Sharon chimed in, “Rusty’s a wonderful artist. I suggested that he look into artistic or graphic design programs.”
“Is that so?” Andrea asked. Rusty nodded. “My eldest nephew works for Sony in New York. If you’re seriously interested, I could get the two of you in contact. If you wanted to take a trip out there, I’m sure he’d be happy to give you a tour of the office. You could make some contacts for an internship perhaps?” she suggested.
“That’d be great,” Rusty smiled shyly, pushing his food around his plate, “I was uh... I was looking on the Pepperdine website the other day.” He hadn’t told Sharon that yet, but he was seriously considering it. “I like that it’s umn, that it’s close to home, with Sharon, and that it has a good program for graphic design.”
Sharon smiled at Rusty, willing the tears to stay behind her eyelids. She was touched that Rusty wanted to stay close to her; that he considered where she was ‘home’. She rubbed his forearm encouragingly.
“That sounds like a wonderful school Rusty, and I’d be very proud of you if that’s what you decided to do after high school.”
Andrea sat back against the booth as she watched the interaction between Sharon and Rusty; that knot of tension returned in her stomach as she listened to the conversation between them. Was every evening like this with them? Things felt so simple and positive, and, easy. The logical part of her mind knew of course that they’d had troubles adjusting to one another, anyone who had been present in the Major Crimes department when Sharon first took over could tell you that. But, against the odds, they’d come together and formed a real family; the affection between them was subtle, but it was very much there.
Andrea thought about her own mess of a family life that she had to return home to and her heart sank; would Hilary even be there? If she was, would this be an evening they managed to get along, or would they end it in an argument again? She missed when they shared that subtle affection, when they felt like a family versus a pair of two separate women. Once upon a time their relationship had been full of easy, loving exchanges. Once upon a time there hadn’t been an evening that went by without Hilary wrapped around Andrea’s body. Now, they were lucky if they shared the same bed at all, much less anything more intimate than that. As she continued to observe Sharon and Rusty interact throughout the course of their meal, she couldn’t help but feel an intense longing to be a part of their loving family. Every time Sharon would nudge Rusty teasingly, or he would roll his eyes playfully at her, Andrea felt a little bit more alienated. By the time their bill came, she felt utterly lonesome, and, ignoring Sharon’s protests, she presented the server with her credit card.
“Andrea,” Sharon said exasperatedly, “Rusty and I wanted to take you out tonight.”
“You did,” Andrea said simply. “You took me out and I had a wonderful time, and this is my way of thanking you for that,” she said as the server handed her the receipt.
Rusty added, “You know that just means that next time dinner is on us, right? And you’ll have to bring your partner too,” he said.
Andrea could only manage a half-hearted smile. “That would be lovely. I’ll have to see when she has time though. Crazy work schedule and all,” she said, hoping to sound enthused at Rusty’s invitation.
“Can’t be any worse than yours,” Sharon smiled, take the risk to rub Andrea’s arm gently as the three of them made their way outside. “This was fun, Andrea. Thank you so much for joining us. Let me take you back to your car so you can enjoy the rest of your evening too.”
Andrea thought she was going to be ill as soon as she felt Sharon’s hands on her. She swallowed hard and pursed her lips, then forced them into a weak smile. “It was fun, I enjoyed the evening with you and Rusty very much, Sharon,” she said quietly, looking Sharon in the eye.
Though she was smiling, there was a distinct look of sadness in her eyes. She looked tired and worn, and suddenly Sharon felt guilty for having kept her out so late.
“Rusty, why don’t you go ahead and take the front seat? You two are dropping me off at my car anyway,” Andrea suggested. Thankfully, he didn’t pick up on the fact that she most definitely did not want to have to suffer through sitting so close to Sharon again. He threw his sweater in the front seat and then opened the back door for her courteously.
The drive back to the courtroom’s parking lot was done in near silence. When Andrea exited Sharon’s car, it was with a soft farewell and it was received with a silent nod.
Rusty watched Andrea get into her car as Sharon turned her car around to get back onto the road. “Hey, is she okay?” he asked. “She seemed kind of, I don’t know, off after dinner.”
“It’s been a long week for her. I’m sure she’s just tired. Not all of us have the energy of a seventeen year old,” she said warmly. “She’s probably aching to just get home and climb into bed.”
The bed that she shared with her partner. Hilary, Sharon reminded herself, who was most decidedly not her.
***
Andrea shrugged on her worn t-shirt and scraped her hair back in a messy bun. She wasn’t surprised when she came home this evening to an empty, dark house. Though she’d hope Hilary might be home, she knew that she wouldn’t be. She grabbed her cell phone and sank down into the couch, dialing her partner’s phone number from memory. On the second ring, she was assaulted by the tone of Hilary’s voicemail recording. Hilary had ignored her call, again.
Andrea checked the time on the screen of her phone. It was nearly 2:00 am now, well past the point of even Hilary’s absurd business hours. Andrea sat and stared at the wall, scenarios of what Hilary could be doing, and the various places she could be doing them, rushing through her mind at a speed she didn’t enjoy. She pulled a throw over her body, hoping it would warm her up some but it was no use. She was cold from the inside out, and something as simple as a blanket wasn’t going to fix it. Finally, she heard the scrape of the lock loosening and the front door opening gently.
Hilary entered the condo, her cellphone in hand and her clutch tucked under her arm. As she was unlocking the door, her phone buzzed, indicating that she had a text message. She tapped the screen of her phone and giggled as she read whatever had been sent to her.
“Good to know it’s working,” Andrea said dryly from her position on the couch.
Hilary huffed and closed the door roughly, not caring about making noise now that she knew Andrea was still up. “It was the client I just left, Andrea. I told you I was working tonight.” She rolled her eyes behind Andrea as she kicked her stilettos off and threw her jacket over a dining room chair. “Why are you still up?”
“It’s 2:00 am. When I called at 10:30 pm to see when you’d be home, and you didn’t answer, I got worried. LACMA never keeps it’s doors open past 11:00 pm, so when you ignored that call too I thought maybe you’d taken your client to dinner,” Andrea said, her voice even, “But when you ignored my call at midnight it registered that you just had better things to do than come home. Every respectable restaurant in this town closes by midnight, Hil. So what were you doing?” Andrea couldn’t keep the accusations and anger out of her voice as she questioned her partner while getting off the couch to face her.
Hilary’s shirt was untucked, a long, silk button up hanging over a pair of skinny jeans. For forty-five, the woman looked incredibly young for her age, and dressed like she was a fashion model. Andrea had loved it at one point, but now it just annoyed her. The clothing was too casual for most clients, but she had seen her dressed like that before to entertain. Still, question after question invaded Andrea’s mind as she waited for Hilary to muster up some kind of answer.
“Why don’t you go ahead and ask me what’s really on your mind Andie?” Hilary said, her voice was dangerously low. “Go on. Ask me if I cheated on you.”
Andrea winced as Hilary spat her words out. “Hilary, you know that-”
“I know that you’re obsessively always wondering where I am when I go out at night. And it’s bullshit. I’m not Karen, I didn’t screw around with someone else behind your back. So stop accusing me of her crimes,” she said. “I have a very unique job, and it requires me to wine and dine some very important people,” she said indignantly.
Andrea blinked back the hot tears that were stinging her eyes. “Firstly, you have no right to bring up my ex. This has nothing to do with her. That relationship ended five years ago, well before I met you, and I have never accused you of what she did. I get that you go out late, I get that you have a certain lifestyle that you maintain for work and I also get that sometimes your work hours are going to cut into the time that we should be spending together. All of that I understand and I accepted well before I asked you to move in with me. What I do not understand is why you feel the need to ignore my calls, or to not even tell me where you’re going and when you’ll be home. That isn’t obsessive Hil, that’s called being in a relationship and having some fucking respect for the woman that you share your life with,” Andrea said.
“That’s rich, coming from you,” Hilary said, “On the topic of fucking, would you say it’s respectful that we’ve been sleeping in different beds more often than not?”
Andrea stared unbelievably at Hilary. “You’re kidding right? This is your problem; you think that we can have sex and all of our issues are magically going to repair themselves. Well I’m sorry Hil, but I can’t be intimate with a stranger, and that’s what you feel like to me these days. You only afford me your attention when you want to mess around, but you could care less when it’s past midnight on a Thursday and I’m calling you frantically because I’m worried about you.”
Hilary stared at Andrea in disbelief. “I don’t just want to mess around with you, Andrea. I miss you. And if we’re talking about being unfaithful, what is up with Sharon Raydor? Did you have fun with her this evening? How was your little date?”
“So you did listen to my earlier message,” Andrea said coolly. “Or perhaps only half of it, because I know you didn’t just accuse me of going out with her alone. Her foster son invited me out to dinner with them. So, we can both claim that we were entertaining clients tonight.”
“And you just couldn’t resist the chance to play happy family with them, could you?” Hilary asked, sighing. “You think you’re so good at hiding your feelings, but I know you Andrea. I saw the way you were drooling all over her that night at the museum.”
“You keep changing the subject to avoid claiming any responsibility for your actions. How like you,” Andrea said, annoyed.
Hilary chuckled darkly. “And you keep avoiding the issue because noble Andrea Hobbs can’t ever admit that she’s wrong or that she’s put her faith in someone or something that she shouldn’t have,” she spat.
“I’m not putting up with this. It’s late, and I am exhausted. I spent my day arguing the case to execute a serial rapist and murderer, while you listened to some jackass explain the profound meaning behind his reasoning for splashing blue paint versus red paint across a canvas. When you’re prepared to have a real discussion with me, let me know,” Andrea said as she stormed off in the direction of their spare room. She made sure to close the door all the way, indicating that she wanted nothing more to do with Hilary for the night.
Hilary rolled her eyes and cursed under her breath as she made her way to their - once shared - bedroom.
Co-Author: sharon_ray
Pairings: Hobbs/OFC, Hobbs/Raydor
Rating: R
Word Count: 4, 388
Disclaimer: Not our characters or television show.
A/N: Fic takes place during the events of Major Crimes, though we have taken some liberties with the timeline. Fic is complete and will be updated weekly.
Summary: Andrea Hobbs finds herself at a crossroads in her personal life. Caught between the frustrating standstill of her present reality and the exciting allure of a new life, she’s forced to navigate through her conflicting emotions while also handling the most important case of her career.
On ff.net, Ch. 1, Ch.2, Ch.3,
*graphic and screencaps are my own please do not repost*
Rusty sat back in the stiff courtroom chair glad the first day was over. Sharon approached him and placed a careful hand on his shoulder; she was unsure of whether or not she should touch him, but she was also desperate to be there as a solid presence for him. His shoulder relaxed against her hand, and she heard a sigh of relief escape him so she squeezed the tense muscle soothingly.
“Are you ready for some dinner?” she asked quietly, she kept her hand firmly on him.
He nodded, looking up at her as he rested a hand over hers. He needed to be close to her after today. “Hey...do you think we should ask DDA Hobbs to come with us? I kind of want to thank her for all her hard work today, and for stepping in between me having to deal with Emma and stuff,” he asked shyly.
“Well,” Sharon nodded, “I don’t see why not. I’m not sure she’ll say yes as it’s a bit last minute but we can ask her.”
Sharon let go of Rusty to approach the DDA, tapping her gently on the shoulder. “Uh, DDA Hobbs?” she asked politely, using her official title due to the fact that Andrea’s co-workers were still milling about the room.
Andrea looked up from her neatly stacked papers and notes. “Yes?”
Sharon secured her purse over her shoulder nervously; lately, she felt restless in Andrea’s company. “Rusty would like to know if you’d be interested in joining us for dinner? He’s very appreciative of all you’ve done for him lately, and, well, I’d like it if you joined us as well.”
Andrea smiled as she contemplated the invitation for a moment then checked her watch. It was a Thursday; the chances of Hilary being home were slim to none anyway. “That’s very kind of him. Umm... I think that can be arranged. Give me five minutes?” she muttered, grabbing blindly in her briefcase for her phone. She knew Hilary wouldn’t answer, but she didn’t want to give Sharon the illusion that things were anything but fine between them. “I’ll just call Hilary and let her know I’ll be a little late.” Andrea smiled weakly at Sharon then stepped outside the courtroom so she could use her phone.
While Andrea made the call, Sharon made her way back to Rusty and grabbed his suit jacket that he had left hanging on the back of the chair. “Andrea will be joining us for dinner. She seemed touched by your invitation. It was very nice of you to think of her, Rusty.” She flashed a wide toothed grin at her foster son, wrapping an arm around his waist as they began their journey out of the courtroom. They approached Andrea in the hallway just as she finished leaving a message on her partner’s voicemail.
“So I’ll catch you later then, love you, bye,” Andrea said as Rusty and Sharon approached her. She smiled at Rusty who was regarding her curiously. “Thanks for the invite, I didn’t realize I was cool enough for you to hangout with outside of official business,” she said; over the past few weeks of working with Rusty and Emma as they all prepared for the trial, she’d developed an easy banter with the teen.
“Yeah, you know, I thought I’d save you from a night in watching awful re-runs or something,” he said, smirking at her.
“Rusty,” Sharon chided, “That’s rude.”
But Andrea brushed off Sharon’s concern. “It’s fine.” She tried not to think about how very accurate Rusty’s statement was. Hilary had not bothered to answer Andrea’s call; no doubt she was busy entertaining another up and coming artist. She probably wouldn’t even see Andrea’s voicemail until she climbed into the cab tonight, on her way home.
As Sharon led them out to the parking lot, she caught Andrea’s arm. “We’ll make it an early night, I promise. I’m sure you’re anxious to get home and relax.” She smiled warmly at Andrea. “Just follow my car, we’ll stick with something close by.”
“Oh, we can do whatever,” Andrea smiled back, doing her best to make it look genuine, “Hil had a gallery thing tonight that I knew I wouldn’t be able to make, so I’ve got some time. I just chatted with her, so she knows I’ll be in a little later.” She didn’t know why she felt the need to lie to Sharon and say she’d actually spoken
with Hilary, but she had, and she did. She felt a sharp pang of guilt strike her side.
“Okay, as long as it’s alright. I would hate to get you in trouble with your sweetheart,” Sharon joked.
“Sharon, can we go to the Pig n’ Whistle?” Rusty pleaded. He knew it was cheesy, but it was one of his favourite spots. He enjoyed seeing the lights and rush on Hollywood boulevard, and the old feeling of the restaurant. Sure, some considered it a tourist trap, but others still considered it one of the old, authentic Hollywood dives.
Sharon rolled her eyes exasperatedly. She hated that damn restaurant, but it had been a hard day for Rusty, and they did have a pretty okay menu.
“I guess...” she sighed, not in the mood to argue with him, “If it is alright with Andrea. She may not want to go all the way into Hollywood this late into the evening Rusty. It’s going to be busy.”
Andrea shrugged her shoulders. Truth be told, she missed going out in the city. Lately Hilary didn’t want anything to do with her outside of their home; she never seemed to afford Andrea the courtesy of an invitation to accompany her on her evenings out these days.
“The Pig n’ Whistle is fine with me. Hil won’t home until after midnight, so I really do have some time to spare, Sharon. Traffic will be horrible, though, so maybe we should take one car,” Andrea suggested.
Sharon nodded her agreement, then lead Rusty and Andrea to her car. “Okay, well, off to Hollywood we go, then. Rusty, make sure your things are out of the front seat for Andrea, please.”
Sharon felt a certain tightening in her chest at the thought of sitting in the car with Andrea. She hadn’t been in such close proximity to the blonde ever. What if she accidentally touched her thigh? What would they talk about? Sharon took a deep breath to calm her nerves as the three of them climbed into her car. It was too late to tell Rusty no. She was going to have to suck it up and drive to the restaurant with Andrea Hobbs dangerously close to her in the passenger seat. Hopefully Rusty would prove to be his usual self and talk the whole time.
“So, Andrea, is Hil short for something?” Rusty asked as soon as they pulled out of Sharon’s parking spot.
Andrea swallowed the lump in her throat and prayed that she was only imagining the heat in her cheeks. “Yes, Hilary, my partner,” she said curtly.
Rusty nodded his understanding. “And she works in a gallery?” he asked.
He’s being polite. He’s taking an interest in me personally. He’s a wonderfully kind teenager, Andrea chanted to herself. She couldn’t really get angry at Rusty; it really wasn’t his fault that she was found herself enjoying his foster mother’s company more than her partner’s these days.
“She is the artistic director, basically, for LACMA,” Andrea responded, doing her best to make her tone friendlier this time.
“LACMA. Isn’t that where you always go, Sharon? So she’s like, in charge of all the art and what goes up on the walls and stuff? That has to be super cool,” Rusty said.
“Yes, that’s where I like to visit,” Sharon said from her spot in the driver’s seat. “You know I recently met Hilary a few weeks ago when I went out with Gavin. She’s lovely Rusty; smart, chatty, and she knows everything there is to know about art. Maybe if you come with me to the museum one day, we’ll bump into her again,” Sharon said knowing that Rusty tended to get along well with more creative personalities.
Andrea cleared her throat and looked out her window. How was it that conversation with Sharon always turned to Andrea’s partner?
Sharon watched Andrea out of the corner of her eye, noticing how tense she became at the mention of her partner. The stiffness in Andrea’s shoulders and the tightness in her face reminded her how Andrea had been when she was first introduced to Hilary. To see this reaction twice in a row now was puzzling and even slightly hurtful; did Andrea think that Sharon was prying? Did Andrea misread Sharon’s friendly compliments as interest in Hilary? For all her beauty and intelligence, Hilary just wasn’t the sort of partner Sharon would choose for herself.
“So, if she runs a whole museum... does that mean that she’s like, super important, or famous or something?” Rusty asked again from the backseat, not ready to be done quizzing Andrea on her other half. He was curious about Andrea’s home life, especially after spending so much time with her in the last few weeks. In fact, she’d spent so much time with him after her regular work hours and after his classes, that for the longest time he’d assumed that she didn’t have much of a personal life.
“She is important to the museum, yes,” Andrea responded as she continued to stare out the window, “and she is quite well known in the art world. I suppose you could say she’s famous there. But being famous isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. You get a lot of cameras in your face, and people don’t want to respect your privacy. But nobody knows her outside of people who care about art a lot, so, she’s only famous in a very, very specific realm. It can be challenging at times to balance work and personal interests, because even when she’s not at work, she’s always representing the industry in some way.”
Rusty nodded his satisfaction with her answer as Sharon pulled into a parking garage near the restaurant. There was no way she was going through the hassle of trying to find a parking spot on the street at this time in the evening. She’d pay the ten dollars just to park in the garage so they could have their meal and get back home before midnight. She hoped that Rusty was done with his twenty questions, the Hilary Goldstein edition. After she’d noticed Andrea’s tension, she was quite ready to be done discussing the other woman. She’d tried to take an interesting in Andrea’s partner to show Andrea that she could be friendly and nice, hoping that the younger woman might want to reciprocate her friendship. Clearly, that was backfiring.
Once inside the restaurant, Rusty had thankfully taken an interest in the menu, telling Andrea excitedly about the dishes he and Sharon had split last time. “She barely eats anything, so whenever we come here we order like three or four things but I eat most of it,” Rusty said with a grin.
Sharon shook her head affectionately. “Not all of us are growing teenagers. Some of us are quite grown up and can’t knock back all this greasy food on a regular basis,” she teased.
Rusty regarded Andrea over the top of the menu. “Please tell me that you eat more than she does. Will you share with me?” he asked her.
Andrea took in the honest sincerity in his gray-blue eyes, and the eagerness in his tone. “I’d love to,” she said warmly. Andrea really wasn’t all that hungry; the combination of being in Sharon’s presence for such an extended period of time, plus her general exhaustion, didn’t do much for her appetite. But, if Rusty wanted to order a few dishes and split them with her, she would do it.
Their server came by and took their drink and meal orders. True to his word Rusty ordered an assortment of appetizers and a main entree for he and Andrea to split, while Sharon stuck with a chicken salad. Andrea contented herself on making small talk with Rusty about his studies; she hoped that she could keep the conversation centered on him rather than on herself.
“So Rusty, college applications are just around the corner. Have you given any thought as to what you want to study or where you want to go?” she asked.
Rusty bit the straw of his drink nervously. “Not really, no.”
Andrea shrugged sympathetically. “It’s okay. I didn’t really know what I wanted to do right out of high school either. I took a year off and I went backpacking across Europe.”
“Really?” Rusty asked, fascinated.
“Really,” Andrea said smiling. “It was a great experience. I met a lot of people and saw some of the most beautiful sights in the world. And, I found myself too. When I got back home I realized that I wanted to pursue an undergraduate degree in law and political science at Chapman. Orange County was far enough from my parents that I could live in a house away from them, but close enough that I could still come home on the weekends so my mother could feed me a proper meal. And Old Towne Orange was a fun place to cause mischief.”
Sharon chimed in, “Rusty’s a wonderful artist. I suggested that he look into artistic or graphic design programs.”
“Is that so?” Andrea asked. Rusty nodded. “My eldest nephew works for Sony in New York. If you’re seriously interested, I could get the two of you in contact. If you wanted to take a trip out there, I’m sure he’d be happy to give you a tour of the office. You could make some contacts for an internship perhaps?” she suggested.
“That’d be great,” Rusty smiled shyly, pushing his food around his plate, “I was uh... I was looking on the Pepperdine website the other day.” He hadn’t told Sharon that yet, but he was seriously considering it. “I like that it’s umn, that it’s close to home, with Sharon, and that it has a good program for graphic design.”
Sharon smiled at Rusty, willing the tears to stay behind her eyelids. She was touched that Rusty wanted to stay close to her; that he considered where she was ‘home’. She rubbed his forearm encouragingly.
“That sounds like a wonderful school Rusty, and I’d be very proud of you if that’s what you decided to do after high school.”
Andrea sat back against the booth as she watched the interaction between Sharon and Rusty; that knot of tension returned in her stomach as she listened to the conversation between them. Was every evening like this with them? Things felt so simple and positive, and, easy. The logical part of her mind knew of course that they’d had troubles adjusting to one another, anyone who had been present in the Major Crimes department when Sharon first took over could tell you that. But, against the odds, they’d come together and formed a real family; the affection between them was subtle, but it was very much there.
Andrea thought about her own mess of a family life that she had to return home to and her heart sank; would Hilary even be there? If she was, would this be an evening they managed to get along, or would they end it in an argument again? She missed when they shared that subtle affection, when they felt like a family versus a pair of two separate women. Once upon a time their relationship had been full of easy, loving exchanges. Once upon a time there hadn’t been an evening that went by without Hilary wrapped around Andrea’s body. Now, they were lucky if they shared the same bed at all, much less anything more intimate than that. As she continued to observe Sharon and Rusty interact throughout the course of their meal, she couldn’t help but feel an intense longing to be a part of their loving family. Every time Sharon would nudge Rusty teasingly, or he would roll his eyes playfully at her, Andrea felt a little bit more alienated. By the time their bill came, she felt utterly lonesome, and, ignoring Sharon’s protests, she presented the server with her credit card.
“Andrea,” Sharon said exasperatedly, “Rusty and I wanted to take you out tonight.”
“You did,” Andrea said simply. “You took me out and I had a wonderful time, and this is my way of thanking you for that,” she said as the server handed her the receipt.
Rusty added, “You know that just means that next time dinner is on us, right? And you’ll have to bring your partner too,” he said.
Andrea could only manage a half-hearted smile. “That would be lovely. I’ll have to see when she has time though. Crazy work schedule and all,” she said, hoping to sound enthused at Rusty’s invitation.
“Can’t be any worse than yours,” Sharon smiled, take the risk to rub Andrea’s arm gently as the three of them made their way outside. “This was fun, Andrea. Thank you so much for joining us. Let me take you back to your car so you can enjoy the rest of your evening too.”
Andrea thought she was going to be ill as soon as she felt Sharon’s hands on her. She swallowed hard and pursed her lips, then forced them into a weak smile. “It was fun, I enjoyed the evening with you and Rusty very much, Sharon,” she said quietly, looking Sharon in the eye.
Though she was smiling, there was a distinct look of sadness in her eyes. She looked tired and worn, and suddenly Sharon felt guilty for having kept her out so late.
“Rusty, why don’t you go ahead and take the front seat? You two are dropping me off at my car anyway,” Andrea suggested. Thankfully, he didn’t pick up on the fact that she most definitely did not want to have to suffer through sitting so close to Sharon again. He threw his sweater in the front seat and then opened the back door for her courteously.
The drive back to the courtroom’s parking lot was done in near silence. When Andrea exited Sharon’s car, it was with a soft farewell and it was received with a silent nod.
Rusty watched Andrea get into her car as Sharon turned her car around to get back onto the road. “Hey, is she okay?” he asked. “She seemed kind of, I don’t know, off after dinner.”
“It’s been a long week for her. I’m sure she’s just tired. Not all of us have the energy of a seventeen year old,” she said warmly. “She’s probably aching to just get home and climb into bed.”
The bed that she shared with her partner. Hilary, Sharon reminded herself, who was most decidedly not her.
***
Andrea shrugged on her worn t-shirt and scraped her hair back in a messy bun. She wasn’t surprised when she came home this evening to an empty, dark house. Though she’d hope Hilary might be home, she knew that she wouldn’t be. She grabbed her cell phone and sank down into the couch, dialing her partner’s phone number from memory. On the second ring, she was assaulted by the tone of Hilary’s voicemail recording. Hilary had ignored her call, again.
Andrea checked the time on the screen of her phone. It was nearly 2:00 am now, well past the point of even Hilary’s absurd business hours. Andrea sat and stared at the wall, scenarios of what Hilary could be doing, and the various places she could be doing them, rushing through her mind at a speed she didn’t enjoy. She pulled a throw over her body, hoping it would warm her up some but it was no use. She was cold from the inside out, and something as simple as a blanket wasn’t going to fix it. Finally, she heard the scrape of the lock loosening and the front door opening gently.
Hilary entered the condo, her cellphone in hand and her clutch tucked under her arm. As she was unlocking the door, her phone buzzed, indicating that she had a text message. She tapped the screen of her phone and giggled as she read whatever had been sent to her.
“Good to know it’s working,” Andrea said dryly from her position on the couch.
Hilary huffed and closed the door roughly, not caring about making noise now that she knew Andrea was still up. “It was the client I just left, Andrea. I told you I was working tonight.” She rolled her eyes behind Andrea as she kicked her stilettos off and threw her jacket over a dining room chair. “Why are you still up?”
“It’s 2:00 am. When I called at 10:30 pm to see when you’d be home, and you didn’t answer, I got worried. LACMA never keeps it’s doors open past 11:00 pm, so when you ignored that call too I thought maybe you’d taken your client to dinner,” Andrea said, her voice even, “But when you ignored my call at midnight it registered that you just had better things to do than come home. Every respectable restaurant in this town closes by midnight, Hil. So what were you doing?” Andrea couldn’t keep the accusations and anger out of her voice as she questioned her partner while getting off the couch to face her.
Hilary’s shirt was untucked, a long, silk button up hanging over a pair of skinny jeans. For forty-five, the woman looked incredibly young for her age, and dressed like she was a fashion model. Andrea had loved it at one point, but now it just annoyed her. The clothing was too casual for most clients, but she had seen her dressed like that before to entertain. Still, question after question invaded Andrea’s mind as she waited for Hilary to muster up some kind of answer.
“Why don’t you go ahead and ask me what’s really on your mind Andie?” Hilary said, her voice was dangerously low. “Go on. Ask me if I cheated on you.”
Andrea winced as Hilary spat her words out. “Hilary, you know that-”
“I know that you’re obsessively always wondering where I am when I go out at night. And it’s bullshit. I’m not Karen, I didn’t screw around with someone else behind your back. So stop accusing me of her crimes,” she said. “I have a very unique job, and it requires me to wine and dine some very important people,” she said indignantly.
Andrea blinked back the hot tears that were stinging her eyes. “Firstly, you have no right to bring up my ex. This has nothing to do with her. That relationship ended five years ago, well before I met you, and I have never accused you of what she did. I get that you go out late, I get that you have a certain lifestyle that you maintain for work and I also get that sometimes your work hours are going to cut into the time that we should be spending together. All of that I understand and I accepted well before I asked you to move in with me. What I do not understand is why you feel the need to ignore my calls, or to not even tell me where you’re going and when you’ll be home. That isn’t obsessive Hil, that’s called being in a relationship and having some fucking respect for the woman that you share your life with,” Andrea said.
“That’s rich, coming from you,” Hilary said, “On the topic of fucking, would you say it’s respectful that we’ve been sleeping in different beds more often than not?”
Andrea stared unbelievably at Hilary. “You’re kidding right? This is your problem; you think that we can have sex and all of our issues are magically going to repair themselves. Well I’m sorry Hil, but I can’t be intimate with a stranger, and that’s what you feel like to me these days. You only afford me your attention when you want to mess around, but you could care less when it’s past midnight on a Thursday and I’m calling you frantically because I’m worried about you.”
Hilary stared at Andrea in disbelief. “I don’t just want to mess around with you, Andrea. I miss you. And if we’re talking about being unfaithful, what is up with Sharon Raydor? Did you have fun with her this evening? How was your little date?”
“So you did listen to my earlier message,” Andrea said coolly. “Or perhaps only half of it, because I know you didn’t just accuse me of going out with her alone. Her foster son invited me out to dinner with them. So, we can both claim that we were entertaining clients tonight.”
“And you just couldn’t resist the chance to play happy family with them, could you?” Hilary asked, sighing. “You think you’re so good at hiding your feelings, but I know you Andrea. I saw the way you were drooling all over her that night at the museum.”
“You keep changing the subject to avoid claiming any responsibility for your actions. How like you,” Andrea said, annoyed.
Hilary chuckled darkly. “And you keep avoiding the issue because noble Andrea Hobbs can’t ever admit that she’s wrong or that she’s put her faith in someone or something that she shouldn’t have,” she spat.
“I’m not putting up with this. It’s late, and I am exhausted. I spent my day arguing the case to execute a serial rapist and murderer, while you listened to some jackass explain the profound meaning behind his reasoning for splashing blue paint versus red paint across a canvas. When you’re prepared to have a real discussion with me, let me know,” Andrea said as she stormed off in the direction of their spare room. She made sure to close the door all the way, indicating that she wanted nothing more to do with Hilary for the night.
Hilary rolled her eyes and cursed under her breath as she made her way to their - once shared - bedroom.