You guys are awesome!=) I'm glad many of you are interested in reading more. Hope you like this next chapter.
Maura made it back to the precinct in record time and immediately immersed herself into work. She didn't want to give the detectives, namely Jane, any more reason to belittle her, especially in front of her staff. She had been sure there had been a moment… they'd had a moment right as they'd locked eyes, she could feel it. Jane had seemed as mesmerized as she had felt, yet there all evidence pointed to the contrary. Not only did Jane not seem interested in any kind of interaction, she already thought poorly of her position and qualifications to fulfill it diligently.
The autopsy was fairly routine. Her mentor had always taught her to never guess on anything when it came to science, it spoke for itself. Cause of death in this case was exsanguination via the severing of the carotid artery. Though there were other deep cuts on her body, they'd not really played a role since she'd already lost the majority of blood through the neck injury. Maura typed up her report and because she wasn't in a mood to interact with homicide for the remainder of the day, opted to e-mail the report to the detectives in charge of the investigation. The medical examiner seldom made trips up to the bullpen anyway, so it wouldn't seem out of place. For a reason she couldn't fathom, she still couldn't get the raven haired detective out of her head. A knock on her door a few minutes later shook her out of her reverie.
"Come in."
The door opened slowly to reveal a questioning looking Jane. "Good morning doctor, may I?"
Maura couldn't help but have mixed feelings at seeing the detective. "Of course, detective; what can I do for you? Was there a problem with my report?"
"No, not at all. I found it to be quite extensive and complete. I have to say, we never got anything quite that detailed with Pike."
"I'm glad to see you find my work to be satisfactory."
"About that… I just wanted to apologize once more. I truly behaved like an ass this morning, and it wasn't my intention. I know it's no excuse, but I'm a completely different person when I'm dragged out of bed at 3 in the morning and I've yet to have caffeine in my system. What I said was out of line and uncalled for. I hope that you won't hold it against me forever, and hope that we can establish a good professional relationship at some point. We are going to be working together quite often; I'd like it if we could get along."
Maura certainly hadn't been expecting an apology, and was surprised to hear the other woman was interested in keeping the peace. She knew it would be better if they kept an amicable professional relationship, so she didn't hesitate to let it be known. "I accept your apology, detective. I too, would like it if we could get along. I think it would make our jobs quite burdensome if we were to constantly deal with someone we didn't like. I think it is quite obvious how it would go; look at what happened with my predecessor."
"The reason no one liked Pike was because he was an arrogant ass that didn't have the goods to back it up. He was constantly messing up and he didn't take his job seriously. I can see clearly that that isn't you at all. Can we just start over?"
Maura smiled. "I would like that."
"Hi, my name is Jane Rizzoli and I'm one of the homicide detectives."
"It's a pleasure to meet you Jane, I'm Dr. Maura Isles, new Chief Medical Examiner for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts," replied Maura, shaking the proffered hand.
"The pleasure is all mine doctor. Listen, Frost, Korsak and I were going to go grab a couple of beers after work today. Would you like to join us?" Jane asked, hopeful.
Maura thought it over for a second before she gave her answer. "I appreciate the invitation, but perhaps another night. With the early call this morning, it's been a long day already and I'm looking forward to getting home and getting some rest."
"Of course, I understand. It's been a long day; maybe some other time. I'll leave you to it, doctor. I'm sure you're still busy." Jane felt rejected and disappointed and felt the need to get out of that office as soon as possible.
"It's Maura. You may call me Maura."
"Ok, Maura. You may call me Jane."
"I hope you have a good rest of your day, Jane."
"You too Maura."
Maura sat back at her desk, wondering if she'd made the right decision in declining Jane's invitation. It was the truth, she was tired and wanted to get home to get some rest, yet she had also been curious to see Jane outside the work environment. Either way, the decision had already been made, so she put those thoughts aside and returned to her work hoping that there would be another time.
Do you think Maura made the right decision in turning Jane down? Will there be a next time?
