has been placed in jeopardy.
Monk didn’t agree. He believed that risking my life was part of my job as his assistant and that I should have been used to it by now.
“I don’t recall you ever saying when you hired me that risking my life was part of the job,” I said as we stood outside of Brenda’s house.
“I don’t see why you are complaining,” Monk said, examining Aaron’s camper truck. “You didn’t get killed.”
“If I did, then you’d have to give me some time off.”
“Let’s cross that bridge when we come to it.”
“I’m done for the day, Mr. Monk. Either I can drop you off at home or you can ask the captain to do it on his way back to the station.”
I turned my back on him and walked up to my car. Monk hurried after me.
“You can’t be serious. You weren’t even nicked.”
“I had a knife held to my throat by a murderer until it was shot out of his hand by a cop.”
“So what? I washed the dishes. You don’t see me asking for the rest of the day off.”
“It’s not the same thing,” I said. “Your life wasn’t in danger.”
“You obviously didn’t get a good look at the dishes.”
“Good-bye, Mr. Monk.” I unlocked the car and opened the driver’s-side door.
“Fine. We’ll go home.” He walked around the front of the car and got into the passenger seat. I started the car and was pulling away from the curb when he spoke up again. “But I am only paying you for half a day.”
“You do that and I’ll quit.”
“If you aren’t working a full day, why should I pay you for one?”
“Because I was nearly killed,” I said. “Consider yourself lucky that I don’t demand hazard pay.”
“You aren’t being reasonable or rational about this.”
“See? That’s what happens when I have a near-death experience. Clearly I need some rest.”
He sulked all the way to his place. I dropped him off and went straight home.
But I was only in the house for a few minutes before I started to feel anxious. It wasn’t that I was afraid. I just didn’t like being alone after nearly getting killed. I needed companionship, the comfort of another person’s company. I needed to be with somebody. And no, that’s not a euphemism for getting into bed with someone, though that certainly would have been nice if I’d happened to be in an intimate relationship. But I wasn’t.
It would have been enough just to sit at the kitchen table with Julie while she did her homework or ate her dinner. But she was off at Berkeley now, starting her own life. Even so, I called her to see whether she was interested in having dinner with me, but she was busy, studying with friends for a test.
So now what?
Before Stottlemeyer got married, I could have called him and we’d get together for a casual coffee. But now it would have felt inappropriate, even though there was never anything romantic between us. His free time belonged to his wife, Trudy, now.
I didn’t have any other friends to call. Being a single mother and working for Monk took up nearly all my time, so I didn’t have an opportunity to make friends or maintain the friendships I once had. The truth was that, except for times like this, my life was so chaotic that I didn’t really miss not having friends.
There were some old boyfriends and some wannabe boyfriends I could call, and I knew that they’d be glad to see me, but I didn’t want them to get the wrong idea. More important, I knew how easy it would be for me to fall into bed with one of them and then regret it in the morning, leaving both of us feeling lousy.
I felt adrift.
I was so desperate that I almost regretted dropping Monk off. I was about to make the big mistake of calling him when I realized that there was someone else I could call, someone I could relax with and who could give me the simple companionship I needed.
I picked up my phone and dialed.
He answered on the second ring. He always answered on the second ring. Or the fourth. Any ring as long as it
Monk didn’t agree. He believed that risking my life was part of my job as his assistant and that I should have been used to it by now.
“I don’t recall you ever saying when you hired me that risking my life was part of the job,” I said as we stood outside of Brenda’s house.
“I don’t see why you are complaining,” Monk said, examining Aaron’s camper truck. “You didn’t get killed.”
“If I did, then you’d have to give me some time off.”
“Let’s cross that bridge when we come to it.”
“I’m done for the day, Mr. Monk. Either I can drop you off at home or you can ask the captain to do it on his way back to the station.”
I turned my back on him and walked up to my car. Monk hurried after me.
“You can’t be serious. You weren’t even nicked.”
“I had a knife held to my throat by a murderer until it was shot out of his hand by a cop.”
“So what? I washed the dishes. You don’t see me asking for the rest of the day off.”
“It’s not the same thing,” I said. “Your life wasn’t in danger.”
“You obviously didn’t get a good look at the dishes.”
“Good-bye, Mr. Monk.” I unlocked the car and opened the driver’s-side door.
“Fine. We’ll go home.” He walked around the front of the car and got into the passenger seat. I started the car and was pulling away from the curb when he spoke up again. “But I am only paying you for half a day.”
“You do that and I’ll quit.”
“If you aren’t working a full day, why should I pay you for one?”
“Because I was nearly killed,” I said. “Consider yourself lucky that I don’t demand hazard pay.”
“You aren’t being reasonable or rational about this.”
“See? That’s what happens when I have a near-death experience. Clearly I need some rest.”
He sulked all the way to his place. I dropped him off and went straight home.
But I was only in the house for a few minutes before I started to feel anxious. It wasn’t that I was afraid. I just didn’t like being alone after nearly getting killed. I needed companionship, the comfort of another person’s company. I needed to be with somebody. And no, that’s not a euphemism for getting into bed with someone, though that certainly would have been nice if I’d happened to be in an intimate relationship. But I wasn’t.
It would have been enough just to sit at the kitchen table with Julie while she did her homework or ate her dinner. But she was off at Berkeley now, starting her own life. Even so, I called her to see whether she was interested in having dinner with me, but she was busy, studying with friends for a test.
So now what?
Before Stottlemeyer got married, I could have called him and we’d get together for a casual coffee. But now it would have felt inappropriate, even though there was never anything romantic between us. His free time belonged to his wife, Trudy, now.
I didn’t have any other friends to call. Being a single mother and working for Monk took up nearly all my time, so I didn’t have an opportunity to make friends or maintain the friendships I once had. The truth was that, except for times like this, my life was so chaotic that I didn’t really miss not having friends.
There were some old boyfriends and some wannabe boyfriends I could call, and I knew that they’d be glad to see me, but I didn’t want them to get the wrong idea. More important, I knew how easy it would be for me to fall into bed with one of them and then regret it in the morning, leaving both of us feeling lousy.
I felt adrift.
I was so desperate that I almost regretted dropping Monk off. I was about to make the big mistake of calling him when I realized that there was someone else I could call, someone I could relax with and who could give me the simple companionship I needed.
I picked up my phone and dialed.
He answered on the second ring. He always answered on the second ring. Or the fourth. Any ring as long as it
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