Partners

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Andrea got out of bed quietly, so tired she could barely think – she’d been unable to sleep ever since she’d woken during the night to hear Chad leaving the room and calling someone. Her insides turned to ice when she turned Chad’s phone on and checked his outgoing calls – he’d been talking to Rita? When she saw that he’d called her not only the previous night but also at the time when Chad should have been out to lunch with her, Andrea put the phone down quickly and stood there staring at it in disbelief. There was only one reason why a man would call his ex-wife in the middle of the night, and it sure as hell wouldn’t be to talk about the weather they’d been having.

The memory of Rita stepping close to Chad in the changing room all those weeks ago came to her unbidden, and she felt sick. None of this made any sense – they’d had that fight about Rita the night before he’d left for Germany, and now he was calling her in the middle of the night? Making a sudden decision, she grabbed the phone and turned to walk back into the bedroom. Andrea had always told herself that she’d never be one of those jealous, nagging girlfriends… but she’d also sworn never to be a needy push-over, either.

He was already awake, so she tossed the phone down on the bed in front of him. “When did we start lying to each other? Was it when you were in Germany, or earlier than that?”

Chad blinked in surprise. “What are you talking about?”

“You know exactly what I’m talking about,” Andrea said, trying to hold onto her temper.

He just looked at her and shook his head. “Can we not do this right now? I had a hard time sleeping and I’m not really in the mood for your games, Andrea.”

“My games?” She stared at him in shock as he got out of bed and started to tug the sheets up over the pillows before tucking them in. “I think I’m the one who’s being played, here. I know that you’ve been calling Rita.”

Chad shook his head again. “And, as usual, you think you know everything.”

“It would be nice if I did know everything that was going on,” Andrea said angrily, following him into the other room as he went to grab new towels.

He hesitated a moment before closing the closet door and turning around with the towels in his hands. “Just forget it, okay? She needs my help with something that doesn’t happen to concern you.” Chad hooked a thumb towards the bathroom as her mouth dropped open. “You coming?”

“I’m going in later; I’ll take one before I leave,” she said automatically, her mind still trying to process what was happening. He shrugged and walked off, looking supremely unconcerned.

_ _ _

Andrea supposed that since every couple had their moments of trouble, she and Chad were due theirs – of course that didn’t mean that she had to like it. After nearly a week and a half of arguments that just seemed to be getting worse and worse, she was so on edge that she found herself snapping at everyone in her path.

She and Chad would fight about something and the something usually turned out to be Rita – but nothing would ever really be resolved. The tension between them kept building and building, and they’d already had some very loud, very public arguments – Faith had even attempted to intervene without much success. The worst part about all of this was that Andrea felt herself growing increasingly suspicious about just what Chad was up to with Rita. She’d always felt uncomfortable around the other woman because Rita had known Chad longer and had been actually married to him.

Andrea felt sorry for Hopper, who plainly didn’t know what was happening – despite her urges, she couldn’t bring herself to admit to anyone that she might be losing Chad… besides, Hopper was head-over-heels for Rita and Andrea knew that she should stay silent about her suspicions in case that’s all they turned out to be.

She’d finally decided that might be a good idea to sit down and have a heart to heart with Rita about all of this – God knew it was way past time. “Hey, call me on my cell if you need me, will you?” Andrea asked her partner, who looked up from writing something down and nodded at her.

“Sure thing – you off to talk some sense into Chad? I’ll never know what you ever saw in him,” Hopper teased.

“Whatever you say, Partner.” Andrea’s spirits lifted as she came to the decision that she could bring back some lunch for Chad and then she’d have a talk with him, too. She knew from experience that sometimes all Chad needed was a hefty push, but then he’d tell her whatever she wanted to know… she’d get the truth out of him one way or the other.


_ _ _ _ _ _ _


Rita had finally agreed to meeting him for lunch, probably thinking that she could mess around with him again now that he was trying to get back in touch with her. “What’s so important?” she asked him, flipping her hair back over her shoulder as if she had a chance in hell of making him interested.

She probably thought he was here trying to win her back, Chad thought in disgust. He sat down across from her and cut to the chase, glancing around to make sure they could speak privately. “I need everything you have that’s connected to the night your father died.”

Rita’s eyes widened and she looked around as well. “What– why are you bringing this up now? Did…did they find…?”

Chad shook his head quickly. “No, nobody’s found anything. I just need anything you give me that concerns the night you… he…” her eyes were still wide and fearful, so he reached across the table to take her hands in his. “Hey, don’t worry – I told you that I’d take care of it for you, remember?” He kept himself from mentioning that her thanks to him had been leaving him. “I just want to make sure that all our bases are covered.”

Rita nodded, her face still pale. “Sure, I’ll – I’ll go through my things and see if there’s anything that can help.”

“That’d be great,” Chad said awkwardly as the waiter came to take their order and she still wasn’t releasing his hands. He distracted her by asking her questions about her work and they made small talk as they ate, but she started to look worried again as soon as he walked her back into the hospital. “Hey… I told you not to worry about it,” Chad said softly. “I promised you before that I’d take care of it, and I meant it. This is just a precaution, that’s all.”

Despite his reassurances, her face started to crumple and he automatically drew her into his arms to comfort her. Chad stroked her hair soothingly and was about to release her when the squeak of shoes skidding on the tiles made him look up. Andrea stood there in stunned disbelief, staring at them. Rita looked up and jumped back from him guiltily as soon as she noticed Andrea, and Chad couldn’t keep from calling out to her. “Andrea…”

“Save it,” she spat, approaching him so quickly that there could be no doubt in his mind about what she intended – even knowing what was coming didn’t prevent him from being surprised by the stinging slap to the side of his face. “I can’t believe you…that you would…” Andrea made a sound of disgust low in her throat.

Chad had planned for this to happen – but not yet. Not quite like this. “Andy, I can explain,” he blurted, seized with the sudden, irrational urge to confess everything to her.

It was too late.

“It’s over,” Andrea hissed. The words I’m sorry stuck in his throat as she turned on her heel and walked back out the doors.

Realizing someone was talking to him, he numbly looked down to see Rita, her eyes huge. “Chad…are you okay?”

He laughed. “No.”

Around them, the people waiting at the nurses station went back to pretending they weren’t watching and Rita put her hand on his arm sympathetically. “Chad, I’m-”

“Don’t say you’re sorry,” he said loud, enough for the eavesdroppers to hear. “It’s what I wanted.”

“You can’t mean that,” Rita said softly.

Chad shook his head and laughed again, trying not to think about how he’d just inadvertently accomplished his goal. “I meant every word.”

Rita looked up at him concernedly, taking his hands in hers. “Chad…”

“I need to get back to work; call me if you find anything, okay?” He pulled his hands from hers and walked back out the doors to the parking garage, feeling like he was going to pass out. This wasn’t the way it was supposed to be, and this wasn’t the way he was supposed to feel. Chad slowly got back in his car and stared out of the windshield for a few minutes before remembering that he still had to go back to work and once he got there, he had to pretend that he didn’t care that Andrea had left him.

The rest of the day crawled by as the rumors slowly spread until the door of his office crashed open and Faith ran in, out of breath. “What…what’s going on?” she gasped, flinging herself down into one of the chairs in front of Preisser’s desk. “Heard some things.”

“Well, that didn’t take long,” he said, forcing a smile.

Faith fanned herself with a hand and smiled back. “So it’s all a bunch of crap as usual?”

“Depends on what you heard and who you heard it from,” Chad countered, wondering just how he could get her to leave.

His climbing partner frowned at him, leaning forward. “Like I said, I’ve heard things – as in, more than one thing?”

Chad kept the smile on his face. “I’m aware of the rules concerning singular and plural.” Her eyes grew nearly as big as Rita’s had when they- he ground his teeth together and just kept looking at her. “I’m a little busy right now, Faith.”

“It’s….it’s true? You cheated on her?” Faith spluttered. “But, you would never-”

He interrupted her before her shock could penetrate the façade he was straining to hold. “I don’t consider it cheating – it’s more like weighing my options and having her come up short. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have some calls to make.”

Faith’s mouth fell open as he reached for the phone and started dialing his old disconnected number in an effort to make her leave. She stared at him for a long moment before slowly coming to her feet. Chad pretended to ignore her as he dug in a desk drawer for paper he didn’t even intend to write on and she finally gave up her attempts at eye contact, turning to leave. “I never would have thought you’d have it in you, Lieutenant Shelten.”

Well, I guess that makes two of us.

tbc…
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