Unfortunately, my sweet mother has a habit of not closing the door behind her when she's just coming over to get something from Maura's kitchen, or deliver something. If you add some music in the kitchen it's actually impossible to hear the steps. If she had closed the door behind her, we might have heard it. But the sound that lets me know that she is in the house is her question.
"How many times do I have to walk in on you two before you actually admit what is going on?"
Let's see, the first time was the whole sugar incident on Tuesday. Then there was Wednesday night when we were cuddled up on the couch (but that was the easiest thing to explain since we always are close… on the couch... but I don't think I've ever played with her hair like that while she's been stroking my arm, like that) and then now. This might be the hardest one to explain.
"Uh…"
No good explanation comes to mind. What did we do actually? We were… cooking dinner! Or Maura was cooking dinner. I was hugging her… I might even been kissing her, that is her cheek (if it had been her lips I would probably be dead by now). Maura grabs something on the counter beside her, and the music is lowered, not turned off. Ah, music. Yes, I think we were even dancing, slowly. Talk about multitasking.
"I think this might've been the last time" I finally mumble.
No use denying this time. Both Maura and I are standing by the kitchen island with our hands folded on the counter. I think we're looking pretty guilty by the look on Ma's face. Maura looks at me and I just nod softly without even looking at her. I know what she's trying to ask.
"So what's going on?" Ma asks casually, like she has no idea.
"I think you know" I shoot back.
Ma lifts her shoulders to her ears (almost) while she gently shakes her head.
"I might have an idea, but I can't be sure until you two tell me."
She talks slowly, like she always does when she's trying to be innocent and clueless. I think I know where I've gotten my awful acting skills from. Well, I guess it's time to brace myself for hugs and kisses and happy faces… ugh.
"Ma…"
I reach over and grab Maura's hand.
"I…"
Ma looks at me before she looks at our hands. And smiles. Maura is also looking at our hands before she looks at me. I have actually tried to prepare myself for this moment. I have thought about what to say, but as usual, words disappear.
Screw it. Just dive in…
"I love Maura. I love her so freaking much that I convinced her to be my girlfriend, and now we're gonna live happily ever after."
Yeah, you really didn't need to add that last part…
A pair of shoulders shakes lightly next to me as Maura chokes back a giggle. Ma's smile is about to orbit around her head.
"It was about damn time!" she shouts.
"Ma! Language!" I laugh.
She's already walking over to us and in no time, she pulls us both in for a hug.
"I'm so happy for you!"
I try my best not to squirm, but she's hugging us pretty tight.
"Ma, don't crush us please, we still have a lot of years ahead of us."
Both Maura and Ma laugh as she lets us go.
"I'm just so happy. You two are so adorable together I could just squeeze you all day long."
"Please don't..." I say and give her a scared look.
"Of course I won't, Jane."
She blinks and I see her eyes fill with tears. Maura is already hunting down some tissues to give her. I should've known the tears were included in this.
"Ma, don't cry. There's nothing to cry about."
"I can't help it. I'm just so happy. My two lovely girls have finally realized what everyone else has known for years. And this is all I want for my life, to see my kids happy and loved. And I'm so happy that it's Maura, you two are just perfect together."
She pulls us in for another hug, and I sigh.
"Ma… please, enough with the hugging."
"Oh stop it Jane. It's not every day I see my child finally settling down."
"Whoa!"
I break away from her hug and laugh.
"Please don't go all domestic on me! You know I hate that."
"So what are you saying, you're not planning on settling down with me?" Maura asks with a sly grin on her face.
"You are supposed to be on my side!"
She laughs and squeezes my hand.
"Relax, I'm only teasing you."
It's that little thing, that simple touch that makes me realize that I actually don't have to let go of her hand just yet. I can wrap my hand around her fingers, and I can stroke my thumb over her hand, and no one will start asking questions. It's actually a relief.
"But Ma, we need you to do one thing for us."
"I know, I'll start knocking…"
I'm not really sure if I should laugh or be embarrassed.
"Yeah, that's not where I was going…"
Maura apparently finds the whole knocking-idea both amusing and desirable by the judge of her lip-biting.
"But you are the only one who knows so far. And we would appreciate it if you didn't tell anyone yet. We want to tell people ourselves."
Ma nods and rubs my arm.
"I'll do my very best to keep this to myself. But I hope it won't be too long before you tell your brothers and your friends?"
"I don't think so. We've been talking about telling everyone else on Sunday at dinner."
"Good."
Ma looks down at our hands and it causes her to smile even more.
"I guess I'll let you two get back to… whatever you were doing."
I decide to just let the remark silently pass me by. If I correct her it will just be more awkward, and I think we'll have enough awkward moments ahead of us. Ma takes a few steps backwards while she smiles at us before she turns around. She's almost at the door when Maura takes a step closer to me.
"And Angela, if you… feel like knocking, I won't mind."
I turn my head and find something very interesting on the other side of the kitchen to rest my eyes on.
To: Jane Rizzoli
From: Dr. Maura Isles
2:43pm
Do you remember when we agreed to keep work strictly professional and not share any kind of physical contact that wasn't required?
To: Dr. Maura Isles
From: Jane Rizzoli
2:57pm
Yeah? And I haven't crossed any lines… today…
To: Jane Rizzoli
From: Dr. Maura Isles
3:05pm
No you haven't. But we need to include your winking as unnecessary work etiquette.
To: Dr. Maura Isles
From: Jane Rizzoli
3:21pm
My what? I don't wink at you. Do I?
To: Jane Rizzoli
From: Dr. Maura Isles
3:25pm
Oh yes you do, detective. It's quite distracting at times.
To: Dr. Maura Isles
From: Jane Rizzoli
3:33pm
Really? And when did this occur, doctor? Apparently my memory isn't like it's supposed to be these days…
To: Jane Rizzoli
From: Dr. Maura Isles
3:37pm
You don't remember when you were down in the morgue an hour ago? Have you suffered a blow to the head?
To: Dr. Maura Isles
From: Jane Rizzoli
3:45pm
No, I know it's nothing physical that has caused this. (Nice one by the way…)
And of course I remember I was in the morgue (you were there), but I can't recall any winking.
To: Jane Rizzoli
From: Dr. Maura Isles
3:56pm
At least you remember me being in the same room as you. But you were winking, detective. As you were leaving. It was interfering with my work. I'm still lacking quite a bit of my focus.
To: Dr. Maura Isles
From: Jane Rizzoli
4:16pm
I'm sure you've heard this before, but you are really not that easy to forget, Dr. Isles. Even if I wanted to.
I really don't know what to say. I didn't know I was winking. And it certainly wasn't my intent to distract you and interfere with your work. Maybe I suffer from nerve damage in my eye?
PS. F and K are heading to the Robber soon. Join them? After all, it is Friday…
To: Jane Rizzoli
From: Dr. Maura Isles
4:25pm
I have heard that before, but I'm not sure if it was meant as a positive comment.
I don't believe you have any nerve damage. I have never seen you wink like that before, so that rules out any physical causes. But no matter what the cause, it is now considered as breaking the rule.
PS. If that was your way of asking me out again, you really need to improve your skills. But yes, I would love to. I'll be ready in twenty minutes.
To: Dr. Maura Isles
From: Jane Rizzoli
4:29pm
Take it as a compliment. I don't know who else said it, but I know it was a compliment.
Maybe I just never have had a reason to wink? Until now? But okay, it's part of the rule now. Guess I just have to get it out of my system this weekend so I won't be tempted on Monday.
PS. Oh, you haven't seen my best work yet, doctor. I can't give you my best right away, I have to leave you craving for more. You'll see…
To: Jane Rizzoli
From: Dr. Maura Isles
4:32pm
I think you just broke all the rules we've yet to write down…
"So Jane, what are you doing this weekend?"
Frost leans back in the booth at The Dirty Robber and smiles at me.
"Hoping my phone won't ring."
"No big plans? No dinner dates?"
I take a mouthful of my beer and smile.
"Not unless you count dinner with my entire family and you as a dinner date."
It really doesn't take a genius to see where he's going. After a couple of days with minimal intruding questions about my cheerful mood I've been pretty much expecting this.
"I find that hard to believe. I'm thinking you just won't tell me."
Korsak returns from the bar with his beer and slides in next to Frost. Maura still hasn't showed up, and I'm starting to wonder how long twenty Isles-minutes really are.
"You really are a good detective" I reply sarcastic.
"Yeah, I know. And you probably know I'm just getting started, right?"
He grins back at me, and I sigh. I can't blame him for trying though. I know how I've been acting this last week, and I understand why the two of them are suspicious. I would be curious as well if Frost showed up at work with a huge grin on his face every day. And I guess the e-mails and the spontaneous laughter just prove his thoughts.
"But seriously, something is going on, right? There's no way you just suddenly decide to be in a good mood for a whole week for no reason."
"He has a point, Jane" Korsak jumps in.
I start spinning the bottle between my hands because I have no idea what to say. I don't want to encourage them, but I know I can't deny either, because I can't stop smiling. I decide to keep silent as long as I can.
"See, when you don't say anything and you just sit there smiling… That's telling us pretty much everything" Frost teases me.
"Sure thing. Something is causing our grumpy detective to smile. Or should I say someone?" Korsak wonders.
By the way, where is that someone?
I keep pressing my lips together to keep me from smiling. Silence is golden, right?
"I think it's safe to say someone. You think it's someone from the seminar?"
Frost turns to Korsak.
"Nah, Dr. Isles said it wasn't someone from the seminar. I trust her" Korsak objects.
"So it's probably someone here in Boston. Since she left the seminar early."
They seem to be handling this perfectly well without me, and I know my silence is actually driving them crazy.
"Probably. And it must be someone special to get her to leave like that."
Frost suddenly turns to me and his eyebrows furrow. He's clearly come up with some sort of idea. He then turns to Korsak and smiles.
"You know what, we should ask Dr. Isles. We didn't ask her the right question last time. But she obviously knows something."
"Absolutely. And she probably knows who as well."
They clink their bottles like they've just cracked a huge case, and I can't take it anymore.
"Guys, this isn't fair. You can't put Maura in that position."
"Ah, she speaks" Korsak mocks.
"So Maura knows?" Frost asks and looks at me again.
"Maybe."
"Guess we'll have to ask then… where is she by the way?"
"She's on her way, but come on. Don't do this. You can bother me as much as you like, but don't put her on the spot like that. You know she can't lie."
"That's the whole point" Korsak laughs.
I silently groan and fold my hands behind my neck. The fact that Maura can't lie has been the weak point of this whole sneaking around-thing we've been doing. If someone (accidently) asks the right question everything will pretty much fall apart. And that's not how I want to tell people.
"Just don't do this to her. She'll hate herself."
My hands fall down to the table again and I look at the guys, almost begging them to leave her out of this.
"Then you tell us, and we'll leave her alone" Frost bargains.
"This is blackmailing" I blurt out.
They both start laughing.
"Nicely observed, detective. I can see why they gave you a badge" Frost jokes.
I ignore him and his cocky smile.
"Fine. I'll tell you. But you don't ask Maura anything about this, deal?"
They both nod, and I smile. They actually fell for it.
"Good. Yes, someone is making me smile. And yes, someone here in Boston. But no, I won't tell you anything else yet."
They both look at me with disappointment written all over their faces. But hey, they never told me what to tell them.
"Yeah, we kinda figured out that ourselves. Give us something else, like who" Korsak replies.
I shake my head and throw another look at my watch.
"Fine. Then you give us no choice. Dr. Isles it is."
"Look" I start and my hand accidentally slams into the table.
"I'm serious, okay? I want to tell you, but this is kind of a big deal for me. And I will tell you all on Sunday. So please, can we just drop it?"
I smile slightly just to assure them that I'm not mad, just really serious. They seem to get it, but they still can't let go of the whole mocking and teasing. They turn to each other, pretending to discuss whether or not they should accept my demands.
"Okay, we'll let you off the hook, for now. But if we still don't know anything more on Monday, this will continue" Frost warns me.
"Fine" I laugh as both Korsak and Frost look up and past me.
I turn around just as Maura sits down next to me, and I'm glad I'm already smiling. But I can't help staring at her just a little bit longer than usual.
"Sorry, it took a bit longer to finish up than I expected."
"I'd say… forty minutes…"
She shrugs and looks at the glass of wine on the table in front of her.
"For me?" she asks and I roll my eyes.
"No, the two male detectives and the bad-ass female detective decided to share one glass of wine after work on a Friday."
Korsak laughs.
"Sarcasm?" Maura asks, and causes me and Frost to laugh as well.
"Yeah, sarcasm" I reply and just want to kiss her when she lights up, thrilled to be right.
