Author's note: thank you very much for all the reviews.
Chapter eleven: On That Evening
"What? You don't like this one either?" Annoyed, Maura looked at the box she was holding and put it down on the floor. Jane didn't need to reply, the face she had made was explicit enough. "I am a tad sorry to say this but... You are really not helping, right now."
"How could I? These kids don't know what good music is. Two hours, Maura. We've been forced to listen to this shit for two hours now. So no... I'm sorry but my patience has its limits. Guess Who – Operation – and the Monopoly are not tempting choices. I'm so not in the mood to play..." She motioned the social boardgames. "Any of these!"
Maura rolled her eyes. She stood up and began to pace her bedroom. She wasn't particularly fond of the music choice herself but they had given the green light to Margot for the party and didn't have anything to say, now. They couldn't complain if the teenagers preferred Lady Gaga to The Beatles.
"Why not make an effort, Jane? You know, for once...?" Too late. Maura bit her lower lip and shook her head. She shouldn't have said this. Bad move. A grumpy Jane was a delicate one to deal with. "I mean... Let's watch television."
After all, Jane had insisted to have a screen in the bedroom when she had moved in. Maura saw it as the death of the couple life but then since they weren't really married, she had abdicated.
She turned it on and grabbed the remote control to surf through the channels.
At first she had hoped to go out; to take advantage of the party to go to the restaurant or have a couple of drinks with her and Jane's colleagues at The Dirty Robber. But it had soon appeared clearly that Angela couldn't stay home to look after the teenagers while Constance had a dinner with friends in Cambridge.
That was when the hostage situation – as Jane used to call it – had started.
"May I have a refill, please? If we aren't going out tonight, make sure at least that I have more wine than I should if I had to drive..."
Jane didn't make any remark and obliged. Their bedroom had turned into a panic room, with pretty much all the amenities she needed: food, drinks, games, television.
Nothing was missing except – maybe – her possibility to go from one room to another freely. And that was annoying.
"Oh! Ghost..."
The brunette rolled her eyes and rushed to her friend. She stole the remote control from her hands.
"No, no, no, no, no. Not that one."
"Why? It isn't a bad movie." A bit upset, Maura looked at the television screen as Jane started going through the different channels herself. "You don't like it? And no sport, please."
Shrug. Silence. It wasn't that Jane didn't want to reply but she didn't know how to bring her point up since she found it slightly delicate.
"No... I mean... It's not the issue, Maura. But... I don't know... It's kind of a sad movie."
The medical examiner yawned and walked back to her bed. At least it was comfortable, and warm. She grabbed her glass of wine and took a sip.
"There are tissues if you happen to feel like crying. It is all fine, Jane. Nobody will witness it but..." She didn't have time to finish her sentence. Her friend scoffed to interrupt her.
"Jane Rizzoli doesn't cry when she watches a movie." The Italian turned around to look at her friend before focusing back on the screen.
"You know, if there is nothing on television then we can also talk."
She hadn't meant to sound reproachful that was exactly the sentiment her voice had betrayed. All of a sudden, her cheeks began to burn and she looked aside trying desperately to run away from what was now turning into a rather embarrassing moment.
Thankfully Jane didn't interpret it this way at all. Her friend's remark got followed by a scream of victory. She rushed back to the bed and settled next to Maura.
"Elephant Man. Now this is good. No heartbreaking love story. Just... A freak."
"Did you know that his real name was Joseph Merrick and not John Merrick like in the movie? It is a mistake that first appeared in the biography of Dr. Treves who..."
"This isn't Jeopardy, Maura. Slow down on the fun facts and enjoy the damn movie. I mean if you can because that so-called music is way too loud." Jane growled. "These teens...!" Now she was certain that she would never have any.
It hadn't taken them long to find a date for the party. Margot had insisted on supervizing everything and the truth was that she had showed great control of the situation. Anyway if she needed help or anything, she simply had to knock on the door of the master bedroom.
A stifled sound made Jane jump in surprise. It came from inside; from the room she was in.
She looked down and squinted her eyes at Bass who had just hit the bedside table.
"Maura, I guess your tortoise is scared or troubled... It keeps on banging its head against the night stand. Please tell me it's not changing its human form now. I don't want to witness that."
The blonde got up immediately and rushed to the bedside table. She squatted and began to pat the tortoise preferring to ignore Jane's supposedly funny remark.
"He isn't used to so much noise and he doesn't know this room very well. It is okay, Bass. We are all doing fine."
Jane chuckled. She was symbolically locked in a room with enough species to start her own remake of Noah's Ark. Jo Friday was peacefully sleeping on an armchair while Bass went from one side to another, anxious as ever. What an odd scene to witness.
"What are you doing? No, Maura! What happened to your no-pet-on-the-bed rule?"
The medical examiner sat back on her side of the bed and reluctantly put Bass down on the floor. Jane had a point. Even if it broke her heart. She refused to have Jo Friday on the bed so why making an exception for Bass?
"Maybe if we started treating animals with respect, we wouldn't have... Any elephant man case! I mean – not from a medical point of view – but from a sociological one. Joseph Merrick was really not treated well by other men. This is where the scandal lies in this story."
"Whatever, Maura. Whatever."
Silence.
"... Don't 'whatever' me."
...
Something startled Maura and only when she opened her eyes did she realize that she had fallen asleep. In Jane's arms. She yawned and stretched her arms but didn't move.
"What time is it?"
Jane was still watching television. A basket-ball game was on, she had simply turned the sound off.
"10.15pm... Within two hours now, we'll be free from this nightmare."
Maura laughed lightly and rolled on her back. She stared at the ceiling; hands on her stomach. She had missed most of Elephant Man.
"I can't believe you managed to fall asleep with that loud music going on."
She sat up – close to her friend – and shrugged. Her brain was still numbed and she was cold. She felt like sleeping once and for all.
"I don't know. I must be tired." She turned her head around to look at Jane. Her bed would be cold when their fake marriage came to an end. She had got accustomed to her friend's presence by her side every single night. "You have an eyelash on your cheek." But before Jane had a chance to sweep it away, Maura grabbed her wrist to stop her. "No. Close your eyes and make a wish."
Jane obliged, amused by a game she hadn't played for a very long time. She pouted.
"Done!"
Maura leaned up on her elbows and came closer to her friend's face; only a few inches away from it. Her hand slid on Jane's jaw and came to rest on her nape. She swallowed hard.
"Right or left?"
The detective shrugged.
"Left...?"
Jane's hesitation made Maura smile. She nodded – even if her friend couldn't see her since she still had her eyes close – and blew on the cheek to sweep away the eyelash. All of a sudden, a pair of dark eyes landed on her; dangerously close to her green ones.
"What was your wish?"
"I'm not supposed to say it..."
Jane subconsciously parted her lips at the same time as Maura in a perfect – confusing – game of mirrors. They both bent over. Barely an inch forward. Yet enough for their lips to brush.
The knock on the door made them jump.
They barely had time to turn their heads around that Margot and Constance were already coming in. Their smiles froze as they realized that they might have been interrupting something. The teen put a hand in front of her mouth while the artist barely hid a smirk. She looked amused.
"I was just stopping by to say good night and see if everything was going alright. Now that I am... Ahem... Reassured... I can leave you for the night." She pointed out Margot. "The young girl here would like to introduce Bass to her friends." Constance smiled at the girl. "Chérie, why not taking Jo Friday with you as well...? That way, Jane and Maura can have the proper intimacy they seem to need right now."
She turned on her heels and left; delighted to see her daughter and her friend slightly mortified.
