The next morning Mae was sitting on her bed rubbing her legs, which were still sore from the night before. "Ah, that feels good."
"Yeah, I'm sure it does, but it doesn't look good," came Rigsby's voice from the doorway.
Mae looked up. "Morning."
"Morning. Now, you have two choices, you can either tell me everything that happened so I can relay it to Lisbon, or you can come down to the office, sit in an interrogation room and tell Cho what happened," Rigsby replied.
"Can I take a shower first?" Mae asked.
"Yes, the skies above know you need one," Rigsby answered.
"It's not my fault, he would only let me shower twice," Mae responded.
Rigsby left without saying anything. Mae gathered an outfit to wear and took a long deserved, and needed, shower. Mae let the hot water run all over her body and through her hair; the water felt good on her sore legs. After her shower Mae came out to eat breakfast before going and sitting all day in an interrogation room.
"Does it normally take you thirty minutes to take a shower?" Rigsby asked as he set a plate of pancakes, eggs and bacon, and a glass of milk in front of her.
"No, but considering the facts that I haven't showered in about a week and a half, I needed to shave, I had to wash my hair, like twice, and my muscles are sore, can you blame me for taking that long?" Mae replied.
"No, I guess not, now eat up," Rigsby responded.
Mae grabbed a fork-full of pancakes and shoved them into her mouth.
"You're braver than you aunt."
"Why?" Mae asked with her mouth half full.
"I cooked breakfast," Rigsby answered.
Mae grabbed the napkin and spit the half chewed food into it, and then she gulped down half the glass of milk, but she had to admit, the pancakes were pretty good.
"Oh, don't worry; I didn't poison it or anything."
"I'm not taking my chances, every time I ate, Red John drugged the food so I fell asleep shortly after eating," Mae said.
"Sorry, I didn't know," Rigsby replied.
"By the way, where is Aunt Grace?" Mae questioned.
"She left right before I went into your room," Rigsby responded.
"So for about the past half hour it's been just you and me here?" Mae inquired.
"Yes, is that a problem?" said Rigsby.
Mae didn't say anything and just continued to eat. After Mae was done eating she went back to her room to style her hair and put on makeup. When they arrived at the CBI Cho met them.
"All right, let's get this over with," said Cho.
Mae followed Cho into an interrogation room. Cho sat down, and she sat across from him.
"Let's not waste each other's time." Cho place a cup of coffee next to the case file. "Here." Cho passed her a bottle of Arizona Green Tea, Mae's favorite, Grace must have given it to Cho to give to her.
"Thanks," Mae replied.
"Now, tell me everything that happened," Cho responded.
"Well, it all started about a week and a half ago..."
After several hours of relying everything that happened to Cho, Mae was finally allowed to go home. As soon as she got home, she went into her room and hopped on Facebook. She changed her status to: "Now I know how a criminal feels, I spent half the day in an interrogation room, I'm wiped."
Several seconds later, an IM popped up from Amanda
We still on for our GNO? Amanda asked.
No, I'm bushed, besides I need to go talk to Steven, I need to know where we stand. Mae answered.
Oh, okay, maybe tomorrow night. Amanda said.
Yeah sure. Mae replied.
Well, good luck with Steven; let me know how it goes. Amanda responded
I will. Mae said.
Bye. Amanda replied.
TTYL. Mae responded.
Before leaving to go over to Steven's Mae attempted to call him, but he didn't answer. Since Grace left after she dropped Mae off, Mae left her a note on the kitchen table, letting her know that Mae was going over to Steven's. When she arrived at Steven's house she took in a deep breath, let it out, and then rang the doorbell, moments later Steven's mom answered the door.
"Oh, hello, may I help you?" said Mrs. Walker.
"Hi Mrs. Walker, I'm Mae, is Steven in?" Mae replied.
"Yes, he is, come in," Mrs. Walker responded. "Steven, Mae is here to see you!" she called as she closed the front door.
"I'm busy right now Mom!" Steven called back.
About that time Mr. Walker came out of the living room. "Who was at the door?"
"Honey, this is Mae," said Mrs. Walker
"Hello," Mae responded.
"You and Steven going somewhere?" Mr. Walker asked.
"No, I need to talk to him," Mae answered.
"Steven, get your butt down here now!" Mr. Walker exclaimed.
"I'm busy!" Steven yelled from upstairs.
"Steven, if you don't get down here right now, so help me!" Mr. Walker screamed.
In some ways Mr. Walker reminded Mae of Rigsby, both of them were strong, muscular, intimidating, but they both had a soft side.
"I'm busy!" Steven repeated.
Mae knew the real reason why Steven wasn't coming downstairs; it was because he hated her for who her biological father was.
"Excuse me," said Mr. Walker before going upstairs.
Mae could only wonder what Mr. Walker was going to do to get Steven to come downstairs. About five minutes later Steven came downstairs with Mr. Walker right behind him. Mr. Walker motioned for them to go into the living room. Steven sat at one end of the couch and Mae sat on the other.
"Steven," Mae said.
He wouldn't even look at her.
"Steven, I know you're not thrilled about knowing that Red John is my biological father, neither am I, but that doesn't change who I am as a person."
He didn't say anything, much less look at her.
"Steven, please, look at me."
Once again, Steven didn't look at her.
"I need to know where we stand."
Steven didn't say anything.
"If you tell me to leave right now, I will walk out of that door and you will never have to see my face ever again."
Again, Steven didn't say anything.
"Steven, please, look at me, say something, anything, I'm begging you."
Steven just sat there.
"Fine, when you're ready to talk, I'll listen." Mae got up off the couch and started to leave.
"Mae, wait," said Steven.
She turned back to face Steven.
"I'm sorry for the way I've been acting, it's just that when you told me that Red John is your biological father it didn't sit well with me because I hate him so much, but I don't hate you. I still want us to be together."
Mae returned to the couch and sat next to Steven. "Me too."
Steven grabbed her chin, leaned in, and they shared a kiss. After a moment he pulled back and looked down at her wrist.
"Where is the bracelet I gave you?" Steven asked.
Mae pulled the bracelet out of her purse. "I brought it, just in case things didn't work out between us."
Steven took the bracelet and placed it on her wrist.
All of a sudden, Mrs. Walker entered the living room.
"Mae, would you like to stay for dinner?" she questioned.
"Yes I would, let me call my aunt and let her know," Mae answered.
Mrs. Walker nodded and then went into the kitchen.
Mae pulled her cell phone out of her purse and called Grace.
"Hello," she answered.
"Hey, Steven's mom invited me to stay for dinner, is that all right?" Mae said.
"Yeah, that's fine, just be home before your curfew," Aunt Grace replied.
"I will," Mae responded.
Mae closed her phone and placed it back in her purse. Steven wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her closer to him.
"Want to watch T.V.?" Steven inquired.
"Sure," Mae said.
Mrs. Walker cooked a wonderful and delicious dinner of black beans and yellow rice, one of Mae's favorites. After dinner Mae hung out at Steven's for about another hour before going home. When she pulled into the driveway she saw Rigsby's car parked in the driveway, why should she have expected anything else? When she walked inside she found Grace in the kitchen.
Probably cleaning up from dinner. Mae thought.
But she didn't see Rigsby. "Where's Rigsby?"
"Right here," he answered from behind her.
Mae turned around and instantly regretted it, she saw Rigsby standing there in nothing but his boxers, holding a video camera.
"NO! MY EYES!" Mae exclaimed as she ran into her room as she could despite the fact that her legs were sore. She flew into the bathroom, closed and locked the door, and began to rinse her eyes out. About five minutes later she came out of the bathroom, she wasn't going to risk going out of her room, just in case Grace and Rigsby were "having some fun." She hopped on Facebook and seconds later a message from Amanda popped up.
So, how did it go? Amanda asked.
Good, we're cool. Mae answered.
That's great. Amanda said.
I'm totally scarred for life. Mae replied.
Why? Amanda questioned.
When I walked into the house, I saw Aunt Grace in the kitchen, but I didn't see Rigsby, I knew he was here because his car is sitting in the driveway, and I was greeted by the sight of him in nothing but his boxers. Mae responded.
I pity you. Amanda said.
Thanks. Mae replied.
GNO tomorrow night? Amanda inquired.
Yeah, I'm game. Mae responded.
What do you want to do? Amanda asked.
Shopping, movie, dinner, I don't care, if we do go out to eat, we are NOT going to a fast food place. Mae answered.
Why? Amanda questioned.
All I ate for a week and a half was fast food, or worse, I'm NEVER eating fast food ever again. Mae said.
That sucks, but I understand. Amanda replied.
Thanks. Mae responded.
The next night Amanda and Mae had their girl's nigh out, they went to dinner at Olive Garden and a movie, and they also did a bit of window shopping. When Mae went home that night, she wasn't surprised to see Rigsby was there, but thankfully he was fully clothed.
"Hey, how was your girl's night?" Grace asked.
"Good, we went to dinner Olive Garden and a movie, we also did some window shopping," Mae answered.
"Sounds like you had a good time," said Rigsby.
"Yes, we did," Mae replied before going into her room.
About a week later Mae came home one evening from hanging out with Steven, when she pulled into the driveway Rigsby's car was sitting there, no surprise. The moment she closed the front door behind her, Grace and Rigsby glared murder at her. Rigsby thankfully was wearing at least a wife-beater. The whole house reeked of beer, and Mae saw about twelve beer cans scattered around the living room. She stood there in shock. What happened?
A/N: Thank you to everyone who had read this story, and I hope you like it so far.
DebbieOz: Thanks for giving me my first review. I hope you will continue reading.
Until next time!
¬Forest Princes