Rizzoli and Isles

Conversations in Bars

Cops and Welders

Jane, OC

Pausing just inside the door of the bar, Jane looked around as she allowed her eyes to adjust. After leaving Maura following a rather heated argument, she found herself driving around and looking for a little hole in the wall dive bar.

Still dressed for work in black slacks, a simple red shirt, her favorite boots, and badge and gun on her hip, she slowly walked up to the bar with her trademark swagger, scowling to herself, realizing there was no one around to witness it except for a half asleep bartender at the end of the bar.

Choosing a chair at the end of the bar to allow her to keep an eye on the door and the rest of the room, she sat down heavily on the well worn wooden stool. The man approached her with a bartender's towel in one hand and a warm smile.

"Good afternoon, OOfficer. What can I get for ya?" he inquired as he placed a beverage napkin down in front of her.

Sighing, Jane leaned forward and rubbed her temples, closing her eyes for a moment. "Do you have anything back there that can make a cop from Southie elegant enough to escort her way out of her league girlfriend to a black tie gala? Or if that's too ambitious, how about just worthy enough to wash her dirty socks?"

The man let out an unexpected hearty laugh as his eyes twinkled. "I am a bartender, not a miracle worker. Give me something to work with here" he teased good-naturedly.

Jane groaned and put her face into her hands, her forearms resting on the bar.

The man smiled at her antics. "People only come into a bar like this to drink their troubles away or unload them on an unsuspecting barkeep they will never see again." He raised an eyebrow in challenge as she lifted her head up.

With a huff she placed her chin in her right hand while toying with the napkin in her left. The man crossed his arms and leaned on the wet bar behind him, waiting patiently. Jane thought through why she was even there. When something bothered her, she usually just hid it behind sarcasm and a quick right jab. She would usually think things through in her own time and go from there. That hadn't worked this time. If she was honest with herself, she was looking for someone anonymous to talk things through with.

"Like I said before, my girlfriend is so far out of my league it borders on ludicrous," she started. "We had been best friends for years before we started dating. It honestly never even occurred to us that we were closer than normal friends. There wasn't anything particularly earth shattering that brought it on. We were just sitting on her couch watching TV one night. I looked over at her and she was staring at me. I felt something inside me shift into place and I leaned over and softly kissed her." Jane laughed deprecatingly, "When she kissed me back I almost passed out."

"I remember the first time I kissed my Bonnie" the man said with misty blue eyes. "We grew up together and had known one another for years. I pulled away with a blush on my face only to see a huge smirk on hers. And do you know what she says to me? That woman had the audacity to ask me what took so long!" He laughed softly at the memory. Shaking his head, he quietly reminisced, "Isn't it funny how we always seem the last to know?"

"It is a wonder, isn't it?" Jane replied.

They both quietly pondered the women that seemed to know them better than they knew themselves for a few moments before Jane spoke up once again. "She is a doctor. Not just any doctor, though, this woman is the very definition of intelligence. She can remember things she has only read once and is always trying to share that knowledge with those of us lucky enough to be around her. I learn something from her every single day."

Jane paused for a moment before continuing even softer than before. "I am with a woman who is literally one of the smartest people in the world and I count my stars that I finished high school."

The bartender pulled a glass down and poured himself a glass of apple juice. Smiling Jane said, "I'll have what you're having."

Placing the glass he had just poured on the napkin he had given her earlier, he reached for another glass for himself. "Bonnie was an accountant. The things that woman could do with numbers and how she would calculate things in her head left my head spinning. I was a welder by trade and didn't have much use for such things. She never seemed to mind though, even after going over finances for hours so that I could understand them. She would always tell me that if we were all meant to know the same things, we would all be the same and how boring would that be?"

"I was raised by a plumber" Jane stated, "There is something to be said for a good day's work. Something you accomplish with your own two hands. No shame in being a welder."

"There is no shame in protecting my city, either, Officer." He stated matter-of-factly.

Jane grumbled under her breath before resuming her train of thought. "Before we started dating, I would often go with her to these things. I would grumble and complain, but I always secretly enjoyed being there with her and watching her in her element. She was raised by very well off parents and she learned how to interact with these people at an early age. Before if I were to embarrass her, it was OK because I was just some quirky friend, but now, now I am her girlfriend and if I would to embarrass her it would reflect poorly on her."

He sipped his apple juice thoughtfully for a minute before responding. "Did you ever embarrass her when you were friends?"

Jane laughed, "There was this whole fish incident. And she is always swatting my arm telling me I am being too loud or inappropriate."

His next questions caused her to pause. "Is the fish incident a lesbian thing or is there something more to that?" He stopped her response with a hand gesture. "On second thought, I don't really want to know the answer to that question. Instead let's go with how did she respond to those incidents. Was she legitimately angry?"

His mock squeamishness put Jane a little more at ease. "No, the fish thing has to do with them putting a whole fish, eyes included on my plate and me freaking out a little. As for Maura's response to the fish and other events, she thinks it's funny as hell and still brings up certain comments that were overheard that should never be spoken in high society. Her humor is actually quite dark."

"Does she embarrass easily?" He questioned.

Jane replied with her dimples showing and shaking her head. "No, actually. It takes a lot to embarrass her. Part of the reason is she is a little socially awkward." Jane held up her forefinger and thumb close together before spreading them much wider. "But the reality of it is she really doesn't care what other people think."

He pondered that for a moment. "Do you embarrass easily?"

Jane huffed her answer. "I am a cop. From Southie. The only thing I get embarrassed about is my over bearing mother asking inappropriate questions."

His blue eyes sparkled as he looked at her. "So the real issue isn't that you are afraid of embarrassing her, it is that you are simple afraid she will wake up one day and realize she is slumming with the plumber's daughter." It wasn't a question.

After finishing the apple juice, she set her glass down and looked out the window as people went about their business. She turned her attention to the empty glass and began rolling it around in her hands.

Breaking her reverie, the man continued. "As I was saying before, I married up as well. Way up. I always knew that woman was out of my league. But she made me realize something. She spent all her time with me for no other reason than she simply enjoyed my company."

He began to wipe the bar down so that he had something to do with his hands. "She passed away from cancer some 10 years ago. I drank myself in to a stupor for five years, until a good friend came to me one day and made a very valid point. Bonnie would have been so pissed at me for dwelling on the sadness instead of remembering all the times we made one another laugh. She would have stopped talking to me for not taking care of our children and grandchildren. To put it simply, I was no longer someone she would have enjoyed spending time with. That was enough for me to drag my ass to my first AA meeting. The knowledge that the part of me she loved so much was all but gone encouraged me to be that person once more."

One particular spot on the bar held his attention for a moment as they both ignored the fact that his previously sparkling eyes were now misty. "Tell me, Southie. If your woman is so damned smart. Why would she waste her time on the likes of you?"

A ghost of a smile played across Jane's face. She knew what he was doing, but was powerless to stop her response. "I treat her unlike anyone else in her life ever has. I treat her like she matters and I care what she has to say. I protect her without smothering her," he raised his eyebrow at that. Jane conceded, amending her statement, "most of the time. Most importantly though, I treat her as if nothing in the world matters to me as much as she does."

He pressed on. "Why is that such a big deal to her, Officer?"

Realization struck. Jane drew herself to her full height as she stood and pulled a $20 out of her wallet, dropping it on the bar. "Because no one else in her life has ever loved her just for her. Her bio parents. Her parent parents. The people she grew up with and around. Not even her ex's."

Dimples on display once more as she walked out the door, "I am late. Really late. I've got to go make the only person in the world who matters know just how much she matters to me." With that she raised a hand over her shoulder in goodbye.

Picking up the bill, he spoke to an empty bar. "Lucy only charges 5 cents."