See Ch1 for disclaimers etc…
Standing next to Murray, Jane ran a hand down her front subconsciously while waiting for Maura to leave the car. She gave Murray a small, tight, smile as she stood there playing with the pearl buttons on her sleeve before reaching down to tug lightly at the bottom of her jacket. She looked at the front doors to Marriott Copley Place and felt her stomach churn.
Maura took Jane's hand gracefully, registering the damp coolness of Jane's skin and changed her hold from a delicate clutch to an entwined grasp as she stepped out. The night was fresh and crisp from the day of rain and The Copley glowed brightly. Looking at the lobby door Maura couldn't help the sensation of anticipation that bubbled up as she looked at Jane.
Under her heels the cream stone tile was hard and unyielding. Jane glanced around the lobby, looking over at the atrium wall, the dark night sky in complete contrast to the white and neutral contemporary style surrounding her.
People filled the space and Jane squarely categorized them. In one group were the hotel guests checking in with haggard faces, tired from the long day of travel. She placed together the casually dressed women walking in small packs with weighted shopping bags, crossing the space to disappear into the elevators. A third quadrant was filled by the affluent teens and college students spilling over from Copley Place into the Starbucks.
Everyone else she could classify easily by the refined clothing and feminine laughter as they walked along the lobby to the escalator. Fellow guests for tonight's event and together with Maura they filled the last quarter. Looking down she caught the sophisticated flash of her maroon shoe against a sliver sandal and as she flicked her eyes over the elegant hand on her elbow, Jane realized she was part of them.
Maura tugged lightly on Jane's arm the minute she spotted a familiar shining blond head milling with a small group of women around the lobby seating. "Jane, there is Kat, she is the friend and producer being honored tonight and the reason we're here." Maura quickened her step. "I think it has been at least five years since the last time we spent any time together." She clutched Jane's arm tighter for a moment and muttered almost to herself. "I actually think it may have been over lunch when she pitched the documentary idea to Mother, which is a shame because she really is delightful."
Kat Boralis could not believe the story she was hearing from the elderly women seated in front of her. It had been pure fate to run into her while checking in. Phyllis "Phyl" Bennett was simply indescribable and even the normally reserved Shannon was doubled over in laughter.
"Kat honey, you never gave me a parrot as a gift!" Shannon just started laughing again. "Maybe that is what I'm missing from my life, my very own swearing parrot."
Phyl grinned. "Well Cindy was the one that wanted a parrot for a pet. I just didn't realize that they imprinted quite that well on language during the time I was hand feeding."
Kat tried to stop laughing but couldn't. "Who cares about the swearing? What a way for Cindy's husband to find out about the two of you, from an African Grey parrot with pitch perfect recall that was raised in your bedroom."
Tipping her blue velvet hat towards Shannon, the ostrich feathers on the hat band moved in time with Phyl's knowing nod. "What I left out was it took the poor man over a week to put it together. Apparently Cindy wasn't exactly vocal in the marital bed."
All three women broke into hysterics.
Phyl coughed into her fist trying to catch her breath. "I can laugh about it now only because I know dear Alan ended up happy in life. He was a good man. He was just caught between Cindy and me."
Maura stood just to the side, waiting for the laughter to die down, feeling Jane's solid warmth at her back. "Can a girl get a hello around here or do I have to my press company contact your press company?"
"Maura! Come here love and give us a hello." Kat clasped Maura's shoulders and reached in to kiss both cheeks, before leaning back and giving her smile. Maura was as always exquisite and Kat let her hands linger, enjoying the sparkling hazel eyes before slowly becoming aware of the companion behind her. "Well who do we have here?" Kat slowly dragged her gaze all the way up and met two very dark eyes. Two rather intense dark eyes set in a very striking, very female, face. Maura was with a woman. Here, tonight. Interesting.
"Kat, meet Detective Jane Rizzoli. Detective Rizzoli is a colleague and a dear friend who was kind enough to play escort tonight."Maura felt Jane brush against her back fully as she moved closer. "Jane, I'd like to have you finally meet Kat Boralis, a friend and one of tonight's honorees."Maura was surprised to feel a hand clasp her hip as Jane reached around her to offer her hand to Kat rather than step to the side. It took everything in her not to turn to look at Jane.
"It's a pleasure to meet you Detective Rizzoli. " Kat raised her eyebrows at the strong grip and Maura may have introduced her as a friend and colleague but she might want to clarify that to woman who was currently standing sentinel behind her.
"Ms. Boralis, nice to meet you and just call me Jane. " Jane considered the shorter woman whose hand she was holding with her shiny blond hair that fell in flawless alignment. Her eyes were bright blue and matched the shirt under her black suit perfectly.
"Alright Jane it is. I'm Kat, but only because it would be rude to keep having you call me Ms. Boralis. A complete shame of course, because my last name coming out of your mouth sounds positively delicious. Is that something they teach you at the police academy?" Kat enjoyed the light flush she caused on the taller woman. The tough ones were so delightful when they squirmed.
Confused, Jane chewed the inside of her cheek. "Teach us what?"
"Teach you how to use your voice like aged whiskey on a rainy Sunday afternoon. I'd hand over my license and registration right now if you asked just to get your signature on my speeding ticket." Kat winked and missed Jane's deeper blush as she turned to the woman seated behind her. She reached a hand back to help Shannon to her feet. "Maura, Jane, please meet my fiancée Shannon Moore."
Surprised, Maura turned back to Kat with a light look of reproach. "Katherine Boralis you never mentioned you were engaged! I would have at least sent a note had I known." Maura studied the auburn haired woman as she reached out her hand. "Shannon, you are a wonderful surprise tonight, congratulations." Maura narrowed her eyes at Kat. "Or considering Kat has kept you a secret and is rather set on torturing Jane perhaps I should wish you best of luck."
"You can't be too upset Maura, I just managed to get Shannon to say yes last week." Kat slipped an arm around Shannon's waist. "And Detective Rizzoli seems to be the type that can take care of herself."
Jane raised an eyebrow, still not sure what to make of the feisty blond and shook Shannon's hand. "Oh I can take care of myself. I just usually have a gun at my hip for help." She bit her lip when she felt Maura's heel step on her toe. She pinched the hip under her hand but smiled at them. "Congratulations to both of you." Looking at the other two women standing together she had to admit they made a striking impact as a power couple.
Gesturing behind her, Shannon drew everyone's attention to the grinning older woman seated on the couch. "I have to introduce Phyl Bennett. Phyl is the other honoree at the dinner so she has the dubious privilege of sitting with us at the President's table."
Jane took one look at Phyl and instantly smiled. Petite and forthright she looked up at Jane with an expression that promised pure mischief. She wore a dark blue dress with a patchwork pattern alternating subtly between satin and velvet material. The skirt reached the floor and the entire thing had tiny specks of glitter. The grey hair was under a rather involved dark blue velvet hat with rhinestone embedded tulle for a hatband. Ostrich feathers poked out and waved playfully with every motion of her head.
Phyl bustled up, grabbed Jane's hand in a firm grip and pulled her out from behind Maura. She looked her up and down as she wrung her hand a few times. She gave Maura a smile that rippled every careworn line in her face and gently took her hand between both of hers and just held it. "Pleased to meet you both and before we get all caught up in Ms this and Detective that, I'm Phyl and you two are Jane and Maura. Now let's get out of this lobby and find ourselves a drink." Turning to Jane she winked. "And by drink I'm not talking some silly glass of wine. I'm counting on you, Detective, to find me something worth swallowing."
Kat and Jane both burst out laughing at the same time and it caught them both by surprise. Looking at each other they both shrugged and finally relaxed.
Kat shook her head at Jane. "I've never been one not to get a lady what she wants. How about you?"
"My mother always taught me to respect my elder's wisdom so who am I to argue?" Jane looked at Maura. "I'll take our coats and check them okay?" Stepping back behind Maura she slid the coat off her shoulders and walked across the lobby to the coat check.
Shannon linked her arm through Phyl's and winked at Kat. "Kat I'm trading you in for the night since you can't seem to behave. Phyl is promising to be much better company and we're going upstairs to go find ourselves a highball." Turning a bit to Maura she gestured to Phyl and herself. "I'm also going to check us in before the line gets any longer. Would you like me to check you in as well?"
Maura shook her head. "No, thank you though. I would like to register my credit card with the staff to avoid the line at the end of night to pay for the silent auction."
Watching Shannon walk off, Kat looked at Maura and gave a dramatic sigh. "Put a ring on their finger and they think they can do whatever they want." She caught Phyl whispering something in Shannon's ear as they walked off. "Dear lord, I wonder what they are up too. I should be afraid." She shook her head "Maura, if you have a second you have to hear Phyl's story, I want to turn it into short film at the very least and I only heard the start of it. I don't think I've laughed so hard in years."
Maura inclined her head a bit towards Kat. "I am sure Phyl has a lovely story, but I rather think you owe me a bit of a back story. I never thought I'd see the day that Kat Boralis put a ring on anybody's finger."
"I promise to tell the story at dinner. I need Shannon to help. Let's just say that she is a lawyer and leave it at that for now." Kat snorted. "Thankfully she is a very, very good lawyer." Glancing across the lobby at the coat check and seeing Jane still in line she gestured at her. "So if we're having a night of stories, Maura, what is this I see? You have a woman as an escort for the evening and not just any woman. That creature looks to be an experience all on her own. I think I might be the one who needs an update."
Maura stared at Jane, watching her tap her foot impatiently behind a couple who were cheerfully chatting with the clerk behind the counter. "I knew you'd ask that the second I showed up with Jane. But as trite as this may sound Jane is my best friend." Frowning a bit, Maura considered her words and tried to clarify. "Though, to be honest, I suppose she is more than a friend. I'd call her my family but that still doesn't seem to explain her."
Maura thought for a moment, trying to find a way to clarify something to Kat she wasn't always sure she understood herself. "Do you remember what I was like at Walnut Hill that summer? I would have spent that entire season hiding if I could have gotten away with it."
Kat nodded. "You always managed to find the oddest places to stow away too. You drove the camp counselors nuts. I do wonder what your parents were thinking sending you away to a theatre camp for the summer. I'm not complaining because I met you, but still, it was an odd choice for a girl who was reading a textbook on some sort of physics during free time."
Maura shrugged a bit. "It wasn't physics it was cell biology. They were trying to round out my interests I believe. But no matter, my point is, I used to do the same thing at the city morgue until Jane came into my life and somehow took over. "
Maura watched Jane hand over the coats and smile at the attendant. "First she just involved me as part of the homicide team but that evolved to include time together outside of work. Now I even have her mother living in my guest house." She shook her head. "The thing about Jane is she is rather arbitrary and I can never quite read her. Take tonight for example. This evening was very last minute because I never would have thought to ask her. We were eating breakfast together when Jane asked if I'd go to the movies with her tonight, found out I couldn't, seemed upset and somehow I found myself asking her to escort me and here we are."
Kat gestured to the woman stalking towards them. "Oh I'd say here we are and more. Maura, trust me, she might just be your friend to you, but are you sure that is all she views herself as? It didn't even cross my mind that she was only your friend until you told me."
Startled, Maura looked over at Kat. "Kat, I think you should know that Jane tends to prefer male company. I've even had a few rather direct conversations with her."
Rolling her eyes Kat groaned. "Maura Isles were you even there when you introduced me to Jane?" Maura was just looking at her with her head tilted, lips drawn. "Oh never mind, we'll finish this later, because your very straight friend that just happens to be looking at you like you are tonight's appetizer, is in earshot."
A/N - And so the dinner begins (finally for some of you :) ) ...
