Author Note: Thanks so much for all of the comments, follows, etc. It's great to see so many of you are here for this one. I hope it won't disappoint. I always enjoy reading what you think of my stories, so thanks for sharing your thoughts.
A week later, Jane Rizzoli stood in line outside the Acacia Bar. She tapped her boot against the concrete flags, impatiently waiting to be allowed inside. The fall night was cooler than she'd expected, and she regretted not bringing a jacket. Once inside, she made a beeline for the bar, her eyes searching for the beautiful blonde from the week before.
"What can I get you?" a tall man with a dazzling smile asked.
She hesitated, her eyes trailed along the bar. "Is Maura here?"
He thrust his chest forwards, his shoulders back. He glanced to his side. "Nah. But I can attend to your liquid needs."
She raised an eyebrow, distracted by the curve of his smile. "Erm, no. Thank you. Is she not in at all, or is she on a break?"
"Not a clue, I finish soon," he said, quickly losing interest. He moved to her side, to a younger woman in heels and a low cut shirt. "What can I get you?"
Her cell buzzed against her hip. She slipped the phone from her pocket and answered it immediately. "What's wrong?"
She rolled her eyes, listening to the drone of her mother's voice. She shoved a finger in one ear and rushed through the crowd toward the corridor where the restrooms were.
"Ma, can't you deal with it?" She gritted her teeth. "Of course it's my job, but, just give me a couple hours. I'll be back soon."
She hung up the phone and returned it to her jeans pocket. The corridor was cooler than the rest of the bar. When she returned to the main room, a swarm of newcomers entered, taking up much of the space. Jane hovered by the wall, her eyes trained on the crowd, desperately searching for Maura.
"Excuse me," she said, catching the arm of someone headed for the back. The woman had black hair tied up at the base of her skull. She stared at Jane. "Is Maura working tonight?"
"She'll be here at nine." She waited a moment. When Jane didn't say anything more, she continued on her way.
Jane checked her cell. It was nearly eight forty. She considered going outside, but she knew she'd have to wait another forty minutes to get back in again. There was not enough alcohol in her system to get on the dance floor, so she headed back to the bar.
"I'll get a boilermaker," she said, slapping down a ten when the bartender handed over a shot of whiskey. She waited for him to pour the other half of her drink, then downed the shot and followed it with a mouthful of beer.
Change rattled together in her pocket. Jane carried her glass of beer across to a booth and sat on a stool beside a table that had already been claimed. A couple of jackets were slung over the seat, but the owners were nowhere to be seen. She supped the beer quickly, spurred on when a couple of guys started shouting to her.
"Chug! Chug!" She slammed the glass down on the table and they cheered, their arms still in the air when they wandered off across the dancefloor.
With no drink to distract her, Jane stared absentmindedly into the crowd, wishing that someone would come along to chat to her, if only for a minute. She watched a man slide his tongue into the mouth of a woman who looked about ready to topple over in ridiculously high shoes.
"Billy said you were looking for me."
Jane twisted around quickly, toppling to one side. She tumbled off the edge of the stool; her hand hit the ground before her body. A pink glow coated her cheeks, disguised only by the dim lights.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you," Maura said, holding out a hand and helping her to her feet. "Everything alright? Hopefully you didn't need saving from some asshole in a rhinestone belt?"
The crease between Jane's eyebrows deepened. She didn't let go of Maura's hand. "You what?"
"Nevermind." Maura waved her other hand towards the bar. "Need a drink?"
"I." Jane stared at her. Her eyes locked on Maura's, her breath caught in her throat. Her fingers felt sweaty in Maura's hand. Every day for the last week she thought about that moment, what she would say, how she would broach the subject, and yet there she was, confronted by Maura, and she had nothing.
"I've still got five minutes before I start." Maura let go of her hand, much to Jane's disappointment. "Let's get some fresh air."
Jane followed her out the back door into an area full of dumpsters and empty boxes. "Are you gonna murder me?"
"Excuse me?" Maura asked, taken aback.
"Sorry." Jane shrugged. "It's dark. I was making a joke."
"Did you want something in particular?" Maura asked, turning a beer barrel onto its end and motioning for Jane to sit down on a second one. "Patrons don't usually come in looking for me."
"I assume you don't usually stare at Patrons lustfully, either," Jane said, resting her elbows on her knees.
Maura's lips curved at the edges. "Touché. What do you want, Jane?"
"That's a good question." She searched her mind for the answer. The carefully prepared, and rehearsed speech had fallen out of her brain. "I don't know."
"You…don't know." Maura made a clicking sound with her tongue. She stood up and sighed. "I need to start my shift. When you figure it out, come find me."
She took a step away when Jane stood up, gripped hold of her arm and twisted her back round. Maura spun a little faster than intended and collided with Jane's chest. She stared down into Maura's hazel eyes, just a few inches below her own. Her heart thrummed against her chest.
"You."
"Me?" Maura stared back. "What about me?"
"What I want…" Jane sighed. "I haven't been able to get you out of my head all week."
"Oh." Maura tilted her head to one side and smirked. "You liked what you saw?"
"Something like that." Jane's throat tightened and she wished she still had her beer to rehydrate. "I'm not interested in women. I was practically married to the same man for six years."
Stepping backward, Maura looked her up and down. The mere act sent a feeling coursing through Jane's veins that she'd never felt before. A flash of Maura's tongue thrust into her mouth filled her mind and she couldn't move.
"Jane. You're an attractive woman, but I'm not here to play with someone who doesn't know what they want." Maura reached for the door, turning back around briefly. "I suggest you go home, do whatever you were going to do before you thought you'd preposition me, and forget you were ever here."
A metaphorical knife sliced through Jane's heart leaving her bruised. The door swung shut behind Maura. She lowered herself back down onto the beer barrel, words lost in the silence of the night. She'd rehearsed the act of sharing a kiss with Maura repeatedly, had practiced many times with the men in her life over the last two decades. She was not prepared to be shot down before she had even introduced the idea.
"Not now, Ma," Jane snapped, answering her cell. "No. Okay. I'm coming home."
She stood, pulled the door open, and walked back through the building. Maura was already behind the bar, flirting outrageously with a man in a rhinestone belt. The sight filled her with a rage she hadn't expected. A burning desire to go over and slap him across the face, before claiming Maura as her own, was one she pushed aside quickly.
"Good evening," Maura said loud enough for her to hear.
She glanced back. Maura tilted her head in farewell and Jane didn't know what to do with the feeling that burned in the pit of her stomach. She opened her mouth to speak, but she was already too humiliated.
"Note to self," Jane whispered. "Don't bother."
Out on the street, she kept a fast pace toward the cab line. It was empty, barring one man who hobbled on a swollen ankle. The night was still young, barely nine. She wondered at what point in her life she'd become the person who left the bar first. She didn't need to go home. There were a dozen other places she could go. But she'd promised her mother, a mother who would call her incessantly until she finally turned up.
"Ma," she said, holding her cell to her ear. "Something's come up. I'll be later than I thought."
She pulled the cell away from her ear, rolling her eyes at the frustration coming from the other end of the line. She wasn't ready to be that person. Not now, not ever.
"Alright, alright, Ma." Jane set off down the street towards another bar. "I won't be too late. Thanks for all that you do."
She listened to her mother's continued rant.
"I know. I'm sorry I take you for granted. Kiss Lottie goodnight for me. Tell her mommy loves her."
