It had been awhile since Jane had last made use of her early childhood taught plumbing skills. However, since her dad had been such a douche and took off with that floozy, she was bound to do it by herself.
Without further hesitation, and continuously negative thoughts on him, she grabbed the toolbox. She laid out everything she needed within reach and disappeared under the sink. Due to her mom still flushing everything possible, jamming the garbage disposal again, the kitchen sink drain had gotten clogged up. Jane had to disassemble the whole pipe system in order to get the problem fixed. She knew it would take some time, but Frankie was on the job, Tommy had never showed any interest in the family business, and her ego was too big to ask anyone else for assistance.
"I would be spending my Sunday cleaning up ma's mess... Why is she so damn stubborn?"
She reached for the water pump pliers and the adjustable wrench to unscrew the garburator from the s-trap. A wave of brown water approached rapidly making a mess of the woman who was just trying to get her kitchen sink fixed. A loud array of foul-mouthing filled the little apartment.
"Jane, are you okay?" Jane struggled to get up from under the sink, all wet and smelly, the kitchen floor as slippery as the Bruins ice-rink.
"Can you believe this?" she continued, not bothered by the fact that Maura was squeezing her nose in an attempt to ignore the stench of garbage water which quickly filled the air. "Is she ever going to take this seriously? She's been married to a plumber for years for Christ sake! Do you know how many times my dad came home, complaining about people who overeagerly stuffed their garburator up to the point where it would almost explode?!"
Maura tried hard to suppress her laughter but a small giggle escaped her.
"What?!" Jane exclaimed. But the truth hit her as fast as the words left her lips. She looked down and saw the brown water run in little streams down her legs into the pool she was standing in. Her BPD training t-shirt was soaking wet with unrecognizable pieces of food stuck to it. Lettuce and strips of carrot were floating on what was once her kitchen floor. Nervously she started picking of the pieces that stuck on her shirt before making eye contact with Maura again. "I think I let myself drift a bit of too far on my anger." She reached for her ponytail and started twisting the hairs.
"Wow Jane..." Maura sighed, waving her hand in front of her nose. "You smell awful!"
Jane looked a bit confused and took off her diving mask. "Dear Father Francis, I smell like an open sewer!"
The extremity of Jane's facial expressions, expressing revulsion, made Maura laugh so hard that tears were running over her cheeks. "You can't take a shower here 'cause you probably closed off the main tap. Come on, I'll take you over to my place." Maura walked passed Jane into the bedroom to grab her some clothes while instructing Jane to fetch some bin bags to protect her Prius' leather car seat upholstery.
"Aren't you worried about me messing up your car? I mean, you could always put me in one of your spare body bags!"
Jane couldn't help but smile at the thought that Maura would let her sit in the passenger seat in her current state. Normally, Maura would flip at the idea of transporting any form of insanitation, but she was clearly making an exception this time.
Maura entered the living room holding Jane's BPD sports bag which seemed impossible to zip up.
"Don't you think to go all sarcastic on me Jane Rizzoli, 'cause I would seriously consider that!" She pointed at Jane. "First things first, you are in desperate need of a shower and I don't want to stay here lingering any longer than needed. Since it's Sunday, there won't be any plumber working. I figured you're staying with me."
She threw Jane some towels to put on the floor so the water wouldn't seep any further underneath the floorboards and laid her bathrobe on the kitchen counter. As soon as Maura saw Jane taking the robe in her hands ready to put it on, she interrupted her. "Jane, you really need to take those off before putting on that clean robe!"
Jane started fidgeting on the hem of her shirt, but she was left no choice then to strip out of her dirty clothes. There wasn't any good reason to just keep them on. She dropped her shirt and her shorts in the sink and quickly put on the robe. She felt her face turning red at the idea that Maura saw her strip, even though it was set in totally different circumstances than she actually had secretly hoped for. But still, she felt an undeniable desire rise for the woman who was willing to let her go all garbage water in her beloved Prius.
"What were you doing here anyways?" Jane asked in an attempt to rapidly change the subject to distract herself from forbidden thoughts.
"Your mother tried to call you and when you didn't pick up, she called me. I think she wanted to warn you not to use the kitchen sink. So, she instructed me to go take a look and see if you were doing okay. I asked her why, and she said I would know as soon as I entered your apartment."
Jane took her phone from the bookshelf. She had missed four calls and received one text message.
Don't be mad! Ma
Love you,
"The nerve... I bet she was just too chicken to deal with me herself," Jane mumbled.
Maura took Jo Friday. "I'm glad she did though. Now I had a legitimate opportunity to let you strip in front of me without it being awkward." She turned around triumphantly.
"Don't forget your bag and close the front door on your way out!" She called while gracefully walking down the stairs wearing what was probably some new pair of Jimmy Choo's.
Jane sighed, grabbed her bag and the bin bags from the coffee table and quickly followed. While turning the key to close off the door she asked herself what the heck Maura meant by that last comment...