The Ant in Your Sugar Bowl
Title: The Ant in Your Sugar Bowl
Rating: K
Fandom/Pairing: The Closer; Raydor, Gavin, Johnson
Word Count: 284
Author’s Note: Dedicated to outuendo_11 on the occasion of her admission to graduate school! May it be a challenging and worthwhile journey!
Disclaimer: It all belongs to James Duff and the people at TNT. No copyright infringement intended. Thanks for letting me play.
“I just don’t understand why she has to make everything so difficult! It’s a damn bag, not her first-born child! She must take this interview seriously!”
Gavin sat his fork down on the edge of his plate with a soft ding and interrupted Sharon Raydor’s diatribe.
“Sharon, can I ask you a question?”
“You can but I can’t guarantee I won’t mock you for it after.”
“Always so snarky, dear. But seriously, I’m curious. Why do you want Brenda Leigh Johnson, the ant in your sugar bowl, to be your boss, the next Chief of Police?”
Sharon stalled with a bite of her caprese salad.
“I know I disparage her frequently…”
“Frequently? How about every other eye blink!”
“Do you want an answer?” Gavin dialed back his taunting at Sharon’s cold glare and settled in for what he surmised would be a carefully constructed response.
“Despite the…frustrations I face in working cases with Deputy Chief Johnson, I do respect her ability to lead. She is competent, focused…courageous…and tackles problem solving like it’s a chocolate fudge brownie sundae with sprinkles on top. That and her team, who once despised and sabotaged her, is now the most loyal unit in the LAPD. Next to my own, of course. If given the chance, I believe Chief Johnson could make a fundamental contribution to this city. Much more than she already is.”
Sharon took a breath and reached for her wine. Gavin sipped his syrah, eyeing his closest friend over the crystal rim.
“So it’s not just because she’s one of the most beautiful ranking woman in the LAPD and you hope to use her femininity to break that last glass ceiling?”
“Well, there’s that too.”