Author's note: Thank you very much for all the reviews (I've been too busy to reply to the PMs so far but I promise I'll do it soon).

Chapter Eight

"Are you nervous?"

Jane shrugged away the question but remained silent. There was a reason why she had asked Frost to come with her in the first place. The fact her friend had found out about her online secret had turned out to be better than what she had imagined. At least now she had someone she could rely on, someone who understood what she was going through.

"It's gonna be alright." Frost preferred to not insist on the oddness of the situation. Nobody freaked out at the prospect of meeting a friend. A potential lover however... Yet he knew that Jane was not ready to hear it. "The two of you are simply gonna chat and have a good time. No big deal."

Jane nodded but kept on focusing on the asphalt her steps were now swallowing. The day she was supposed to meet Tsiga_Poloth had finally come. She would walk in this little cafe she had chosen within a few minutes now then she would put a face on a username. A hundred questions still remained unanswered but Jane knew that they were only brought up by an important level of stress: everything would vanish as soon as she and Tsiga would start talking.

"How are you supposed to recognize each other? Have you sent her a picture of you?" Frost buried his hands in the pockets of his winter coat. The wind was particularly chilly tonight. "She won't be waiting for you with a rose on top of a book, will she?" His laugh froze as soon as Jane's features deepened in mental pain. "You're kidding..."

It was cliché and Jane knew it. Yet it made sense for they had talked a lot about literature lately. Tsiga had told her that she had a soft spot for Asian authors. Jane had desperately tried to read one of the recommended novels but the slow pace of the plot had killed her. She hadn't dared to say it to her online friend though. She didn't want to upset her.

"Listen, Frostie: I asked you to come with me just... You know, you'll scout for me." A heavy sighed passed Jane's lips. "You'll tell me what she looks like and... And then we'll see."

A strong guilt tightened a conscious grip on Jane's mind. The words she had just pronounced were extremely shameful. She was betraying Tsiga's honesty. She shouldn't care about someone's looks. The truth was that she enjoyed talking to her online friend and nothing else should even matter.

As a matter of fact, nothing else really mattered. Tsiga_Poloth could have had one eye only and a leg and a half that Jane was fine with it. Her sudden so-called concerns simply emphasized her latent anxiety before what was about to happen. It was the first time Jane was going to meet someone she had only talked to online; her lack of experience related to this kind of situation caused her to feel very shy and insecure.

"There it is."

Jane quickly motioned the door of the small cafe then made a step backwards. Tinsels were glimmering in the darkness of the early evening, bringing a magical spirit to the place. She had chosen this cafe because it was quiet enough, perfect for a chat by the fireplace.

A very winter-ish spot in Boston.

"Okay, let me see." Frost nodded then closed the distance that separated him from the door. He squinted his eyes, looking for a woman with a book and a rose. "It's crowded in there."

The snappy remark Jane felt the urge to say vanished somewhere between her throat and her lips. Frost was nice enough to play along her ridiculous little game. She couldn't be nasty with him.

"Do you... Do you see her?"

A couple walked past them on the street. The man stared at Frost as if the young detective had lost his mind. Jane couldn't blame the stranger: what kind of person literally glued himself to a door like that?

"I see a blonde and she's very pretty... But she has no book with her." Frost raised an apologetic hand then focused back on his task. It didn't take him long to finally spot a table on the right. "Ah. Now I see a book with a rose on top of it. It has to be it. It has to be your friend."

Jane's heart skipped a beat. She had never experienced such stressful situation before. Adrenalin rushed through her veins but prevented her from walking to the door.

"So?" Her voice was shaking. "How is she?"

Frost's silence was very confusing. She had hoped that her friend's presence would soothe her anxiety but it absolutely didn't work right now.

"Someone's hiding her... Oh wait, the guy's going away." Frost subconsciously held his breath as the stranger moved on his left to reveal what the person who was sitting at the table looked like. "Oh."

"Oh? What do you mean by 'oh'? Is she Aileen Wuornos' lookalike or something?" There would have been nothing more ironical than Jane making friend with someone who looked a lot like a serial killer. "Why the 'oh' reaction? Why? She's not... She's not pretty?"

After long seconds of silence, Frost finally turned around to look at Jane. A veil of uncertainty had spread over his features: he looked very torn.

"She's pretty, she's... I mean... You think Dr. Isles is pretty, don't you?"

The question took Jane aback. She had desperately tried to not think too much about her best friend if only to avoid the incomprehensible guilt she was feeling towards her. Frost's remarks didn't make sense. She felt lost, completely lost.

"Why are you talking about Maura? Yes, she's pretty. Of course, she is... But why on Earth are you alluding to her now?"

Frost ran his tongue over his lips, a gesture that sharply betrayed the storm of doubts that was now happening in his head. His dark eyes stopped one more time, very briefly, on the woman inside the cafe. He then turned back to Jane and shrugged apologetically.

"If you don't find Dr. Isles good-looking then you won't like her." The pause he marked only caused Jane to widen her eyes with great confusion. "Because it is Dr. Isles. It is... It is Maura."

Jane blinked and pondered for a brief second the tiny possibility her colleague was simply making fun of her. Sadly Frost looked very serious. She walked to the door, looked inside and felt how the world suddenly stopped turning.

She cast a last glance at Frost then walked away in an icy silence.

...

She wouldn't come. Maura cast a desperate glance at the clock on the wall and swallowed hard. BostonAvenger01 wouldn't come. Maura wasn't one to trust her instinct but the delicate excitement she had felt all day long at the prospect of meeting her online friend was cruelly vanishing as the seconds were passing by and that nobody was showing up.

"Would you like another cup of tea?"

The waitress' smile hit Maura's heart with an unexpected strength. Unable to turn down the offer, she quietly nodded then focused back on the door. People were coming and going but none of them seemed interested in the book and the rose she had set down on her table.

Thankfully, she didn't know any of the customers or else she would have died at the scene.

"Oh God." Maura's heart froze the moment she saw Jane walk in. What had she done to deserve this? "Shit."

Of course, her friend immediately spotted her by the fireplace and walked towards her. A timid smile of surprise was playing on her lips.

"Enjoyin' a late-night cup of tea?" As much as Jane tried to calm her heartbeats, her voice kept on shaking. She sat down at Maura's table and let her eyes stare at the Asian novel; at the rose on top of it. "Cute bookmark, very... Natural."

Maura was on the verge of a nervous breakdown. Of all people, Jane was the last one she wanted to see here. She felt bad enough for not having told her about BostonAvenger01, and about this stupid secret that was eating her up too.

"I didn't know that you liked this place."

Fair question.

"I was just walking on the street and decided to stop by." The lie burnt Jane's lips. A curtain of invisible tears caused her sight to turn blurry. She swallowed hard. "Any drink recommendation?"

Maura cast a brief glance at the door as it opened: a man came in, feeding a bit more her painful disappointment. She forced a smile at Jane then vaguely motioned the cup of tea that the waitress had just brought her.

"It's a lovely place, I should come more often." Jane turned around and ordered the same tea as the one Maura was drinking to the waitress who was busy cleaning another table. "Do you mind if I stay with you?"

The question was the strangest one for Jane never had to ask such thing to Maura. And vice-versa. They implicitly knew that it was alright, that they could show up in each other's life any time.

Except Jane knew that Maura was supposed to wait for someone; someone else. Someone who wouldn't come.

"Of course not." A fragile smile lit up Maura's upset features. She grabbed Jane's hand that was resting on top of the table and held it tightly. "Please stay with me."

Her statement echoed a distress in disguise both pretended to not hear.