Jane never thought she could be so jealous of something covered head to toe in couture. The new barely 20-something summer lab intern working alongside Maura in the morgue was bubbly, cute as a button, and dressed to the nines everyday. Her perfectly beach-waved raven hair cascaded around her long, statuesque neck and the color perfectly coordinated with her shoes; probably the new Manolo Blah-blahs in the magazine that Ma and Maura had been having a fit over last week. Whatever. It didn't matter. All Jane knew was this girl had everyone at BPD wrapped around her finger – especially Dr. Isles.
Ever since last Wednesday, the doctor and her lab tech had been inseparable. Every time Jane came down to the morgue to have a chat with her best friend Maura, Geena – bleck…even her name sounded pretentious – would be standing right beside her, the two of them a pair of giggling lab coats and goggles. The first few times, Jane let it slide. She knew that Maura must have just been excited to have someone of her intelligence level to talk to for once, although Jane was pretty sure Geena's head was as empty as a flower pot. Her trampy heels would never step foot onto a crime scene. Geena couldn't take the heat. Jane knew that she had her mother's intuition when it came to new people, but this one seemed too obvious. Couldn't Maura see past the act?
One Friday morning, Jane decided to put her theory to the test. She grabbed some particularly gruesome shots of the crime scene from their most recent case file and told Korsak she was heading down the to morgue. He grunted after her, and when she looked back she noticed Frost wink at Korsak who replied with a smirked and shook his head.
"I saw that," Jane said without looking back. The guys just loved to tease her about her close relationship with Maura. She had been shrugging off this type of reaction from guys ever since school. In fact, it didn't even bother her anymore. She knew who she was, and Maura was the best friend she'd ever had. There was no sense in beating up jealous men left and right for the sake of a stupid rumor.
Once she was underground, Jane stopped to wince at the giggling from under the door of the morgue. She almost pushed it and walked right in before she heard Geena say something that stopped her in her tracks.
"I mean the frizzy hair is one thing – I get it, she's Italian. There's not much you can do about your roots, right? But those shoes? I mean what are they – Sartos from 1994?"
An uncontrollable bout of giggling ensued, but Jane noticed that Geena was the only one laughing. Jane could tell Maura was smiling when she spoke next, but there was something serious in her tone that Jane took note to remember later.
"Ah, yes...those are her favorite work shoes. Jane doesn't really indulge herself in fashion, but when she dresses up for an occasion, she easily turns every head in the room."
Jane's heart stopped.
"Jane?" Geena was thrown. "We are talking about the same woman, right? Detective Jane Rizzoli?"
"Yes, Detective Jane Rizzoli. She may not know Chanel from Gucci or how to properly dissect stomach contents, but she is wonderful at her job. She puts her heart into everything she does - especially her friendships. I don't know what I'd do without her."
Jane had been rendered completely immobile until the horrible sound of Geena's excited gasp burst through her reverie.
"OMG. Maura – I forgot to tell you I found the perfect shade for you last night at the Estee Lauder counter in the mall. You have to go there with me after work!"
Maura's smile grew as she responded, "Okay, okay! I'll see what I can do. I'm not used to having all these social plans after hours…I may have to start coming to work earlier!"
Jane took their mutual laughter as her cue. If she didn't go in now, she never would.
"Uh..hi Maura."
A wave of strawberry blond curls flipped across her back as Maura turned with a huge smile on her face. God, she always looked like a million bucks.
"Jane! It's so good to see you. I was beginning to think you were giving me the silent treatment because I won the melted chocolate vs. blood debacle last week in the Miller case."
Even though she was still miffed at Geena's presence, Jane tried to ignore it and play along. "Yeah, yeah. Rub it in Dr. Smartypants. Anyway Maura, speaking of blood I wondered if you wouldn't mind taking a closer look at some of the shots we took at the scene yesterday."
Jane shot a tacit look at Geena who had turned to face the wall. Jane smirked as she saw the pitiful new girl nervously unbuttoning her top collar button. She knew it. This girl wasn't cut out for homicide.
Maura started to comment on the shots, but noticed her lab tech conspicuously cowering in the corner.
"Geena?" The younger tech stood at attention. "Would you mind stepping into the lab and asking Sr. Criminalist Chang to find you those new clamps that came in yesterday?"
"Oh, sure Dr. Isles!"
Once she disappeared through the double doors, it was Maura's turn to smirk.
"Jane, what's this about? You know we triple-checked these photos last night before we left. It's a simple open/shut case - "
"I knew Geena couldn't take the heat. Did you see that?"
"See what?"
"Geena is more squeamish than Frost!"
"Oh Jane, just give her a week or two to get her sea legs…"
"Why did you even hire her? She's only going to slow us down."
"Us?" Maura laughed to herself before she continued, "Jane…I can handle my interns, okay? Trust me."
Something about those sparkling hazel eyes always made Jane trust her.
Maura crossed back over to her table before continuing, "I think you're just jealous, Jane Rizzoli."
Jane's shoulders tensed. "What?! Jealous? Of what? Her…her spray tan? You're out of your mind if you think I'm jealous of that bimbo."
"Oh Jane, I just mean because you and I haven't been able to spend as much time together lately. I have to admit even I'm not used to having more than one friend to go out with."
"Yeah…I guess."
"Besides, Geena told me you gave her the rub off on Monday."
Jane's mouth flew open in shock before she closed her eyes in realization and chuckled silently. "I think you mean 'brush off' Maura."
"Fine. But either way, Geena said you and Frost were having a paper football tournament when I sent her up to ask you a question about the case. You told her – and I quote – 'I don't have time for interns. Buzz off, kid.'"
Maura gave her a scolding look with a half smile as Jane sighed and rolled her eyes.
"Ugh, whatever! Frost started it. Besides, since when do you not come up for information about the case?"
"Since I have an intern, Jane. She has to get experience. Remember when you were on the squad just dying to work your way up?"
Jane scoffed and starting scuffing her shoes, looking down and pacing around the morgue.
"Well when I work with Geena, I remember what it was like when I was fresh out of medical school. It's not an easy field to start out in, Jane."
"Yeah, I guess. I just… I don't know. I have a weird feeling about her, ya know? I do miss…I miss hanging out with you."
Maura smiled. "I promise we'll do something soon, okay Jane?"
"Yeah, okay." The door to the lab swung back open.
"Here's the clamps you wanted, Dr. Isles."
"Thank you, Geena. You can start cleaning those test tubes over there for me."
Jane picked up the case file and caught Maura's reassuring look before she headed out the door. Once up the stairs, she took an immediate detour to the restroom. Finding it empty, she put her back to the wall and let out a long, shaky sigh. She had wanted to ask Maura to go for drinks at the Robber with her after work, but somehow she hadn't been able to find the words. Why did this preppy little sorority sister suddenly make her life more complicated?
She drew in a deep breath and pulled it together before heading back to the bullpen. A quick glance up at the clock explained why Maura was having Geena clean up. It was ten till five, and the weekend just couldn't come any sooner. She slumped down in her chair as she tossed the file haphazardly back on the desk. She let her neck roll back and her eyes close, reveling in the thought of going home and having a cold beer next to Jo. That's when she heard the laughter coming up the stairs. Maura was coming for her jacket that she always put on their rack each morning just so she could drop in and say hi to the team. Jane realized she had one more chance at an evening with Maura.
As soon as she appeared with Geena at the coat rack, Jane popped up from her chair and practically shouted, "Hey Maura!"
Everyone in the bullpen looked up in confusion. Jane hadn't realized just how loud her nervous voice sounded. She looked back and Frost was shaking his head and stifling laughter. She was beginning to think he knew something she didn't, and she made a mental note to ask him about it later.
As Jane turned back, Maura too looked a little confused, but intrigued. "Yes, Jane?"
Silence. Why was this so hard?
After a few seconds, Jane managed, "Uh, umm… So. I was uh…can we…"
Frost snickered behind her and Geena's judgmental glare taunted her.
"Hey, do you wanna go to the Robber? Monsanto on me."
Maura's eyes lit up and the little corner of her mouth raised ever so slightly. "I think you mean Moscato, Jane."
"Yeah, that wine you always get it's on-"
"Maura, you promised…" Geena interjected.
Thankfully Maura missed Jane's predatory glare when she lifted her hand to her forehead. "Oh, yes, that's right. Jane, I'm sorry. I completely forgot I told Geena we could go to Copley Place to shop after work."
Rejected. And Geena just had to make it better.
"Oh Maura, don't forget about the pool at my country club tomorrow. You promised." This time she shot an unmistakable death glare at Jane who just stood speechless in front of her best friend.
Maura looked devastated as Geena grabbed her by the arm and began to drag her toward the lobby. "I'm so sorry, Jane. Call me?" The doctor offered.
Jane nodded and stood firmly planted by the coat rack as she watched them go. It could have been several minutes that passed before Frost grabbed his coat, slapped her on the shoulder, and said, "You win some, you lose some." Before walking out the door.
Alone in the bullpen, Jane slowly pivoted back toward her desk as she heard stomping and a gust of rushing air before she felt herself stumble forward.
In the most sickeningly sweet tone imaginable, Geena said, "Whoops, sorry Jane." She whipped around to see her grabbing her "forgotten" coat off the rack. Jane started to rush toward her to give her a piece of her mind, or maybe her fist, when Geena held up her perfectly manicured hand to stop her.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you. I'd hate to have to tell Dr. Isles that you threatened me."
Jane stopped in her tracks. She couldn't believe this bitch had the balls to mess with a homicide detective who's packing heat. Jane crossed her arms and cocked her hip, looking down at the bane of her existence.
"Oh yeah? Well I've known Maura for quite a long time, kid. She's trusted me with her life. She would believe me over you in a heartbeat. We're best friends, Geena. So you might as well back off."
Geena laughed. "Best friends, huh? Then why has she been spending all of her time with me? You must be too boring for her."
If looks could kill, Geena would have been lying dead on the floor. Jane closed in and stood towering right above her nasty, caked over face. But nothing could have prepared Jane for what happened next.
"But you know what the best part is, Jane? Your little crush on Maura is too obvious for her to handle. And you don't even have the guts to ask her out because you're afraid you're not good enough."
Jane backed up slowly, suddenly feeling incredibly dizzy.
"Tell me I'm wrong," Geena demanded.
Silence.
"That's what I thought. So you can just forget about it, Jane. I'm the only girl in Maura Isles's life now…" Geena closed in until she was right in Jane's face as she finished, "..and that's the way I like it."
The clicks of her heels down the hallway seemed endless.
Jane had no idea how she ended up in the café, but Angela had taken one look at her daughter and knew something was up.
"Oh, honey…what happened? Come here. Sit down and tell me all about him."
Suddenly Jane was on a barstool in front of her mother as she watched her flip the café sign to "Closed".
"Well come on, spill!"
Jane didn't have a voice, but she eventually croaked out, "It's not…a man, Ma."
Her mother sighed and went back to rubbing down the counter with her towel. "Okay…something at work bothering you, then, Janie?"
"The intern – "
"Ah. That girl wears her panties a little too tight, if you know what I mean. And she follows Maura around like a lost puppy."
"Yeah, Ma I know. That's the problem. I never see Maura anymore, and when I do, Geena distracts her."
"Oh, honey…it'll pass. You know Maura is crazy about you. You two are the best of friends, and nothing can change that."
"But Ma…it feels like she doesn't want me around anymore. Like she'd rather hang out with this kid and talk about makeup and chemistry and shit…I dunno."
"Oh, come on! You and Maura always found ways to share your interests before."
"Maybe she was faking it."
"Oh, Janie. Stop getting down on yourself. It's not attractive."
"Look, Ma… Geena told me Maura thinks I'm boring." Jane decided it would be best not to go more in detail. After all, she was still coming to terms with something she'd known all along but had chosen to suppress. If she mentioned it to Ma now, they'd be here all weekend.
"Jane Rizzoli, there is no way that's true. You are prettier and smarter than that girl! She's just jealous!"
Jane had been hearing that word a lot lately.
"Oy…suddenly I feel like I'm back on the playground…" Jane laughed pitifully in spite of herself.
"What? It's true, Jane, and you know it. This girl is just a flash in the pan, but you…" Angela grabbed her daughter's hand and looked her in the eye. "…You're special, Jane. And you wanna know something else?"
Jane watched her mother's face curl up into a knowing smile. "Maura loves you. I mean it, Jane. She could never think that you're boring – you're her world." The twinkle in Angela's eye told her all she needed to know.
Jane drew in a centering breath and squeezed her mother's hand. She got up from the barstool and started to saunter off with her head held high, but something crossed her mind just as she reached the end of the bar. She placed her hand down on the counter and turned back.
"Hey Ma?"
"Yes, dear?"
"Those, uh, designer, fancy shoes you and Maura were looking at the other day, what were they called?"
"Manolo Blahniks."
"Thanks, Ma." Angela knew that she meant it for more than just the shoes, and after her tender moment passed, Jane could sense Angela was about to gush about the shoes again.
"Jane you should really try – "
"Not now, Ma…" she insisted as she ran off toward the parking lot.
Jane sauntered through the mall like she owned the place. She was grateful that she had taken Maura's advice a few months ago and thrown a change of clothes and a stick of deodorant in a gym bag in the trunk of her car. Maura had said, "You never know what could come up." Jane decided that couldn't be farther from the truth. She sauntered down the path in a pair of white Chucks, destroyed jeans, a loose white tank top, her black leather jacket, and Aviator glasses for good measure. She hoped she looked as good as she felt.
Detective Rizzoli moved with purpose as she made her way to place she'd been all too often on a Friday evening like this one. It was almost as if no one else was in the mall – all Jane could see ahead of her sitting at the base of her favorite fountain was Maura Isles.
Although she was still in the tight red dress and heels she had worn all day long at work, Maura still looked so incredible that Jane wanted to stop and marvel at how gorgeous she was, but she just couldn't stop moving toward her. She was on a mission.
Suddenly, from about 50 yards off, Jane could see Maura turn and look toward her. It was almost as though she could pick up the heat waves she was giving off. This is where Jane expected herself to get incredibly nervous, but instead, she flashed her a smile and kept on steppin'. Maura's expression transformed from surprised to curious.
Ten yards. Jane could hear the annoying drone of Geena's voice beneath the haze – something about belts on sale at Barney's – but she didn't care, and apparently neither did Maura.
Geena became aware of Jane's presence in the mall just as Maura rose to greet her. Geena was seething with a look of sheer jealousy. Jane would have taken the time to revel in it, but she was mere feet away from what she had come here for, and there was nothing Geena could do to stop her.
Jane reached up to pull off her aviators and shoved them in her pocket. Maura opened her smiling mouth presumably to greet her as Jane captured it with her own. She brought Maura in to a searing first kiss as Geena and the mall-goers looked on, but in this moment, Jane didn't give a single fuck who was watching. This moment was pure magic, and as her arms wrapped around her best friend like they always longed to, Maura melted into them, finally feeling safer and more loved than she ever thought possible.
When Jane pulled back to look into Maura's eyes, she watched as the doctor brought a hand up to her face in shock as she uttered, "Wow…that was…ohh Jane…" and she went in for more.
Jane cut this one short, because she was acutely aware of the fact that Geena and her gaping mouth had somehow come even closer to them. She pulled her lips away from a dazed Maura very softly before lightly pushing Geena back by the shoulder.
"Listen, kid. You will not touch Dr. Isles for any reason, nor will you speak to her ever unless it's directly related to casework or else your ass is mine. Got it?"
Geena carefully backed away, scowling and defeated as Jane pulled Maura in for another passionate kiss.
As she gave one final look to the intern, Jane said, "And that's the way I like it. See ya, Geena."
Jane turned them around, and Maura gratefully accepted Jane's offer to hold her hand as the M.E. was finding it increasingly difficult to remember how to walk.
Jane felt ten feet tall as she carried Boston's finest woman on her arm.
"So, Dr. Isles. Where would one go about purchasing some Manolo Block-nicks for the prettiest girl in Boston?"
"I think you mean Blahniks, Detective."
Jane smiled and kissed the crown of Maura's forehead. "Isn't that what I said?"