Starsky’s Other Job

Starsky knows how to vent and move on. Hutch, not so much.

Some days everything just felt like it was broken. Today had been one of those days. Hutch had got quieter as the day wore on while Starsky had grown more vocal, barking at the perpetrator and at the insensitive uniformed officer who’d made a flippant remark. In the Torino on the way back to the squad room, Starsky hurled a few insults at the universe while Hutch stared out of the window, but one hand squeezed his partner’s shoulder in agreement. Once he’d exploded, Starsky settled down and became focussed on getting the interview and the reports done as efficiently and as quickly as possible.

By the time, everything was neatly tied together, they were both ready to call it a day. But now Starsky’s other job began; helping his partner unwind. Cases like this got to Hutch and he couldn’t always find a mechanism to offload his frustration. This was one of those times that Starsky feared his partner would just sit and brood. He wasn’t going to let that happen. Hutch had allowed him to vent his own outrage: now it was time to encourage his partner to let go of his.

Starsky had a sudden inspiration and drove them towards the edge of the city. Hutch was staring out of the window, but seeing something internal, and it took him a few moments to realise they had passed by the turning for his place and were still going.

He turned towards Starsky. “Hey, where are we headed?”

“Thought it was a long time since we’ve been to The Steakhouse.”

Hutch straightened in his seat and looked interested. The Steakhouse was a rare treat; out of town where no-one knew them or what they did, straightforward food, friendly staff and a dartboard that had their name on it. It was the perfect place to have some fun, some good-natured competition and forget about the day.

“Great idea,” Hutch said. “Who won last time? Wasn’t it me?”

Starsky grinned. “In your dreams! Loser tonight pays for dinner?”

“You’re on. Hope you’ve got your wallet on you.”

“Won’t need it,” Starsky said.

As they pulled into the parking lot, Starsky was glad to see that Hutch’s focus was now external and intent on destroying him in a game of darts, which was just what he had hoped would happen