12 Options Open
"Jane?"
At Maura's quiet call I looked up from an article on the Celtics' latest roster issues to see her looking at me from the other end of the couch on a quiet Sunday afternoon.
"Would you be opposed to taking six month's leave to stay in another city?' I blinked, wondering where that had come from.
"I dunno Maur, what's the deal?" She lifted the tablet in her hand.
"The latest issue of the Journal of American Forensic Medicine contains an advertisement by the Los Angeles Police Department. They are apparently seeking a senior, suitably qualified individual with experience running a major city medical examiner's office, for a six month period to lead the Los Angeles Medical Examiner's office" I nodded, Los Angeles…never been there, out on the far side of the country, the weird side, all those Hollywood types and celebrities.
"Well there's no doubt you'd be perfect for it, given your skills and experience and stuff, but what brought this on?" She lowered the tablet and sat back.
"I've been considering it for some time, partly from a professional development standpoint, time spent in a larger city medical examiner's organisation would be professionally very rewarding" I nodded, any city that had Maura working for them would be very lucky, but still…
"You haven't mentioned this before though" She shrugged.
"I had not done so previously because I did not want to leave you, given your devotion to your role I did not believe you would wish to leave it to accompany me" I smiled happily at what she was saying, that she'd passed up something she wanted to be with me, then covered it with a smart aleck comment.
"That sounds kinda like a guess there Maura" I got a soft kick to my leg as she smiled then replied.
"Initially we were not together and I did not feel I had the right to ask you to accompany me" I nodded and prompted her.
"And then?"
"We became a couple and I was very happy here thus I had no desire to overturn the fruit basket by asking you to take a leave of absence from your role"
"It's upset the apple cart Maur" I smiled at her then continued. "And I'd have considered it if you'd asked" I shrugged. "If it's something you really wanna do, I'd support it, you know that" I got a shy smile.
"Thank you Jane and I do know that now" We traded smiles for a bit before I brought us back to the topic.
"So what changed that you wanna go for this job on the far side of the country?" Maura laid the tablet down and leaned forward, drawing her knees up to her chest and hugging them as she answered.
"There are several reasons. From a professional development standpoint, managing the very much larger Medical Examiner's organisation in Los Angeles would be both challenging and rewarding" I nodded at that as she continued. "In addition the range of cases would be significantly larger, exposing me to new challenges, and the requirement to manage a considerably larger organisation would require me to hone my personnel management skill set" I could see where she was coming from now, something I let her know.
"Okay, I can completely understand that" She smiled and nodded before continuing.
"I had not seriously considered it previously, given your role here, however with the current, intolerable situation as it presently stands, I felt that you may be willing to take leave and accompany me"
I nodded at that, she wasn't wrong. Cavanagh had amped up the harassment, very carefully doing nothing too over the top that I could complain to HR about, he was careful to not do anything too questionable himself, instead leaving the outright harassment to people like Crowe and Tompkins and the others. Cavanagh was instead assigning me the worst of the cold cases and the crap details like sitting on HR meetings and other stuff that kept me away from solving real cases. His latest had been sending me to attend meetings on diversity in the BPD. As he'd put it 'as the resident dyke I should be happy to hang around with the others'. I'd kinda hoped they might have been something interesting but instead it had turned out to be all about meeting federal and state quotas and finding minorities and LGBTIQ members of the force to attend events to show how 'inclusive' the BPD was.
I'd kept my mouth shut so far but I was getting to the point that I was contemplating going over Cavanagh's head to Captain Marquette, hopefully he'd give me a fair hearing and get things back to the way they'd been before Cavanagh turned into a gay-hating prick, all without Cavanagh punishing me for doing so. God knows he'd threatened to send me back to Vice often enough, the bigoted old prick probably would if he thought he could get away with it. So far I hadn't done anything that he could use as an excuse, so far.
The thought of six months away from all that was pretty attractive and all, but on the other hand I couldn't sit on my ass and not work while she did. There was no way I was going to sponge off Maura's money, something I tried to explain to her.
"It sounds good babe, but I couldn't sit around in a strange city with nothing to do, I'd feel bad about that" I knew Maura was aware how I felt about her money. "Maybe I might be able to get a security job or something while we are there though" Maura frowned at that idea, something she explained.
"That would be a dreadful waste of your talents and experience Jane" I shrugged, playing it off.
"Maybe, but I'd have to do something, I couldn't sit at home keeping Bass and Jo company, I'd probably drive them crazy" She smiled fondly at me, making me realise just how lucky I was all over again.
"I am sure they would appreciate the company, however I understand your position darling. Shall we agree to table this discussion until I submit an application to the Los Angeles Police Department?" She shrugged. "In any case they may not be interested in my application" I shook my head vehemently.
"No way Maur, they'd be damned lucky to have you, any city would be" Maura gave me another shy smile.
"Thank you darling, I hope so" She smiled a little wider. "With your agreement then I shall draft an application and submit it later this week" I nodded agreeably, we'd cross that bridge when we came to it. Maura meanwhile had changed the subject. "We have received an invitation to the annual TB12 charity fundraising ball next month, so we should discuss what we will wear" I was about to roll my eyes at the thought of another charity shindig; I mean I understand the good works they do but it meant I had to wear a dress and heels and stuff, when I suddenly stopped dead.
"TB12, that's Tom Brady's charity right?" She nodded and explained.
"Indeed, it supports the treatment and rehabilitation of children and young adults who have suffered sports-related injuries" Maura smiled. "Given the Isles Foundation is a supporter of TB12, we have been invited to the event and will be seated at the main table" I felt my jaw drop.
"We'll be sitting with Tom Brady?" She smiled indulgently.
"Indeed, together with his partner Giselle" I felt a grin break out at that, Oh! My! God! Tom Brady, this was gonna be awesome, something I happily told her.
"That's so cool Maura, I can't wait" I got a long, quizzical look followed by a slightly bemused smile.
"I have to say Jane; it is a refreshing change to see you looking forward to attending a charity event. Normally you require significant encouragement to attend" I wasn't fussed, this was gonna be amazing, as I tried to explain.
"It's Tom Brady Maura! The man's a legend" She smiled and nodded.
"I have to agree, while not the football aficionado that you are, he should prove interesting company, plus I am looking forward to meeting Gisele once again" I suddenly stopped dead, Maur knew them….
"You know Gisele Bundchen?" Maura nodded innocently enough.
"Yes, I have met her as part of the initial discussions regarding the Isles Foundation's support to the TB12 charity's endeavours" I tipped my head to regard the endlessly surprising woman at the other end of the couch.
"How did I not know you know one of the world's top models, plus a former Victoria's Secret Angel?" She smiled gently at me as she explained.
"I meet many interesting people from many walks of life Jane, Gisele is but one of many" I nodded, a little ruefully, I was still getting used to how far the Isles Foundation's tentacles stretched and into how many different fields.
"Yeah, you're just full of surprises" I got a cheeky grin at that
"You, of all people, should now be aware of that" she said; my mind immediately raced to some of the things Maura had done that had surprised me, in good ways, very, very good ways.
"And don't I know it" Her grin widened.
"And I still have so many more things with which to surprise you darling" I felt a sudden thrill run through me, I'd enjoyed her 'surprises' so far, even the one's I initially didn't think I would.
"Oh, like what?" Maura just smiled slyly at me, stretching her legs back out and sitting back before retrieving her tablet and immersing herself in whatever she'd been reading, immediately triggering my legendary patience. "Maur…" I got a lifted eyebrow even as she kept reading.
"Good things come to those who wait my darling, so practice some patience and good things will follow"
"But Maur…" I hated how whiney I suddenly sounded. "…when?" She looked up and smiled.
"Perhaps tonight, should you demonstrate sufficient patience to wait that long"
Despite my prodding and pleading, she refused to say anything more besides that it would be worth the wait.
Turned out, like in most things, she was right.