Major Quarantine -Part 1
„Not again! There is a filter!“
„A what?“
„A filter, Provenza! You need to turn it off in the settings!“
„What the hell, Flynn. What does it matter?“
„It matters because you are a cat right now!“
„I am not a cat, Flynn!“
Flynn threw his hands up utter frustration and leaned back in Sharon‘s desk chair. Provenza was a lost cause when it came to video conferences, but the LAPD made exactly zero concessions when it came to senior citizens and pandemic rules.
A slim hand reached past him and clicked the mute button before it came to rest on his shoulder. Without turning around, Flynn placed his hand on top of Sharon‘s and turned his head to brush her fingertips with his lips.
„Watch that blood pressure, honey,“ she murmured into his cheek.
„Tell that to Provenza! Or to the brass that forces all officers over the age of sixty to work from home! If I need to look at a crime scene again through another one of Sykes‘ shaky facetime videos, I‘ll pull my hair out.“
„Hey, I can‘t hear you anymore!“ The cute cat on Flynn‘s laptop screen yelled, his tone anything but cute. Flynn rolled his eyes in response but then closed them when he found Sharon massaging his scalp. „Eww, can‘t you to stop it for a second. I don‘t need to see this!“
Sharon ignored Provenza‘s protest and smiled at Andy. He turned fully around to take in the looks of her. He did love her quarantine hair. It had gotten long and silver at the roots. At first she had mourned the loss of the auburn and complained that it made her look her actual age, but Andy had just rolled his eyes. He thought she was even more beautiful like this.
„Remember how this working from home rule is in place to protect you,“ Sharon cautioned. A raging global pandemic was exactly Sharon‘s thing, he had learned. Retired after her brush with death due to a now healed heart condition, she did seem to miss the rules quite dearly. Covid-19, to his chagrin and her delight, gave her the chance to constantly remind everyone around her of the new rules. Andy was sure that if she told Rusty to wash his hands one more time, he would strangle her with his bare unwashed hands. That was if he ever surfaced from his online law school courses ever again. He did those dressed in a UCLA sweater and boxer shorts by their pool and Sharon kept nagging him to at least put on a pair of jeans every once in a while.
Andy was oh so glad that they had finally managed to buy a house just before the pandemic hit, because all cooped up in that small condo of theirs, they would have surely killed each other already.
„The husband did it,“ the cat on the screen announced. „He was being shady during the interview. Never even looked me in the eye.“
Sharon reached over and unmuted them. „It was a zoom conference, Lieutenant. Kind of hard to look anyone in the eye during those.“
„Stay out of this, retiree!“ Cat-Provenza snapped with a dismissive wave of his pink paw. „The LAPD does not need old ladies to meddle with their investigations!“
Sharon just snorted. She was used to Provenza‘s glee at the fact that she had retired before him.
„Go back to your yoga!“ he added.
Andy chuckled. While everyone kept putting on the corona pounds, Sharon used her free time to swim, do yoga, run and perform the weirdest stretches he had ever seen.
Sharon snorted. „And you turn that filter off before Sykes joins you with the suspect.“
„Damn grandkids!“ Provenza grumbled, fumbling with the settings and filming the underside of his chin while doing so. Sharon‘s eyes widened. Oh no, the rules.
„Grandkids? Lieutenant! You are supposed to socially distance!“
„I am distanced alright, okay? And you are not my boss anymore!“
It seemed that Provenza had found the filters as he was now sporting a black mustache and Harry Potter glasses. But on the upside, at least he wasn‘t a cat anymore.
It was going to be a long day.
Love this!🤣
