Maura neatly folded her hands in front of her standing straight on her heels.
"I'm afraid Val hasn't." Her eyes kept on Val as she spoke.
"Maura, I.." Val trailed off.
Nina still had her back turned towards Val and her neck turned to look up at her.
"Maura, Val had not maliciously led you on or anything of the sort. I mean, we both know you are incredibly fit. Jane is absolutely lush as well. Most importantly however, we know that you are both falling for each other." Nina finished.
Maura's eyes fell towards the bathroom floor before glancing up.
"I don't think I understand." Maura sounded aloof. Her eyes purposefully looking blank.
"Maura, for the past week I had observed Jane. I think it is undeniable how attracted to you she is. Even from my stance."
"For you as well, Maura. I know we have just met, and maybe my professional background helps, but I have watched the way you look at her for the past two hours."
"It would be fortunate if it were that simple, however Jane has her own agenda." Maura finally broke.
"We know." Val and Nina had answered in unison.
"Apologies in advance, but what is the interest?" Maura asked still bewildered.
Nina's smile grew enormously and Val had blushed.
"It hits close to home for both of us." Nina answered.
"I don't understand, you're both from Europe." Maura's eyes searched their faces for clarification.
Nina giggled slightly. "Oh, my."
"What Nina had meant to say is that you and Jane remind us of us." Val's accent slid through the room like silk.
"Maura, did you drive here?" Nina spoke, almost counteracting Val's accent with her own.
"No, Jane had driven me."
"Where do you live?"
"The upper North Side."
"Then that is where Val and I live. Let us give you a ride home so we can discuss further. We must hurry back. Jane will grow suspicious."
Nina held Val's hand before letting it go before the bathroom door leading her back to the booth. Jane sat quietly observing the guests around her. Her eyes glanced up and had met Nina's first then a short glance at Val's.
"I didn't realize it took three of you to pee."
"We were adjusting our make-up." Nina answered
"Beauty comes with a cost, wouldn't you say, Jane?" Val asked.
Jane nodded her head as she watched Maura walk back to the booth from the bathroom.
"Beauty is in the eye of the beholder as they say." Nina chipped in. She watched Jane's eyes follow Maura.
Aaron had appeared back before all of the women with a check. Jane had asked for it while they were in the bathroom. Jane began digging in her bag. Nina placed her hand over Jane's free hand and paused her.
"My treat." She smiled.
"Oh, Nina. That's very generou-" Maura spoke.
"Hogwash. I definitely had the best time. Hadn't you seen how many glasses of wine I have had? I couldn't put a price on the company either." Nina winked at Jane.
Maura's face held a twist of emotions across them.
"Thank you." Jane's raspy voice interrupted the facial glances.
The four women paid the tab and began walking out of the restaurant. They stood in the parking lot briefly before Val spoke.
"Jane, do you live far?" Val asked.
"Just a bit in the East side."
"and Maura?"
"I live in the North side. Jane had driven me here." She answered specifically.
"Both Nina and I live in the North side. Let me drive both of you home." Val spoke.
"It's really not a problem." Jane continued defensively.
"Oh, nonsense. We don't want our 'badass' detective to not get enough rest." Nina cut in.
Maura and Jane had exchanged a glance.
"If you do not mind..." Maura finished towards Val.
Nina threw her arms around Jane for a surprise hug to say her goodbye.
"It was a pleasure to meet you, Jane." Nina spoke in her ear. Her hands fell down Jane's backside sliding her card in the back of Jane's pants. Jane's eyes widened at the contact. Maura stared daggers.
Val stepped into briefly hug Jane. Reluctantly, Jane had let her. Then Jane had stared at Maura. The doctor stared back powerfully with her eyes. They both eventually smiled and Maura threw her arms around Jane's neck and kissed it secretly so Val and Nina did not notice.
"I'll call you later." Maura spoke quickly in her ear.
Eventually the three women waved goodbye to Jane as they had approached Val's car. It was a dark blue Volkswagen. Nina insisted that Maura sit in the front and her in the back. Val had started the engine of the car and navigated the stick shift on the way home as Maura had given directions to her home. They had eventually arrived and Maura had set tea on the stove to brew before pouring the cups for the women sitting on the couch quietly in the living room. Maura sat facing toward Val and Nina who had shared the couch.
"You have a beautiful home, Maura." Nina complimented.
"Thank you."
"I suppose you are waiting for us to explain the secrecy of our engagement." Val stated.
"Yes." Maura answered quickly.
Nina chuckled at her eagerness.
"Well, it had all started in our criminal justice class at Oxford. I was an out and fun loving, bisexual, uni girl." Nina started.
"And according to Nina, I was the quiet, over-analyzing 'geek' who sat too proper and did not participate in side conversation."
Nina smiled with adoration at Val as she spoke slowly. She eventually began navigating the story more often then Val.
"We were assigned a group project and I watched curiously as Val had struggled to find a partner. My friend had dropped the class and I decided to ask Val. After I had heard her accent, it dawned on me how sexy she was."
"Unfortunately, it was a different time of my life."
"Our project covered sentences of "life without parole". Needless to say our opinions had drastically differed and we began noticing that wasn't the only part that differed. Every opinion I held, Val had counter reacted it with her own response. She nearly scoffed when I had mentioned my girlfriend."
"I grew up extremely religious." Val defended herself.
"Yes, and extremely gay." Nina smirked.
"Unknowingly."
"You always stared at my chest." Nina teased.
Maura smirked at the relevance to her and Jane's relationship.
"Anyways, one night we had another heated debate. I asked her if we could hurry up and finish the project so I could meet with Amy, my girlfriend at the time, and Val rolled her eyes."
Nina paused as she sipped more of her tea.
"I asked her if she had a problem and of course she had said no. I was fed up with it. So, I outlashed. I said,
"It must be horrible."
"What is 'horrible'?"
"To know everything, except who you are."
Then Val said;
"I do not want to argue-
Then I snogged her good. I laid one right on her lips and watched her shocked expression as I up and left her dorm room. I told her to call me if she needs anymore help with the project."
"Did she?" Maura asked now, gratefully intrigued.
"No. I finished it myself." Val answered.
"We did not talk for the rest of the semester. It wasn't until after Holiday had I ran into her at a party, snogging some other girl."
Val bit her lip in embarrassment. Nina smiled with the same satisfaction she felt when she had first kissed Val.
"Eventually the two had to come up for air then I had passed Val a knowing look and raised her a cheers with my glass. Her cheeks were darker than her hair after seeing me."
"I did not understand how Nina had seen me before I had even seen me. It bothered me. I did not understand how she saw me. More months had gone by and then we both had the same history class. History repeating itself. Another group project, only this time I had asked Nina to be my partner. It took much of my charm for her to finally say yes, and it took even more of her charm to kiss me again." Val smiled while telling this part.
"A bit too much of your charm, babes. You are all charmed out." Nina responded.
"Anyways, when I had first observed you and Jane, I couldn't help but see an image of Nina and I but with a twist. So, I was intrigued." Val finished.
"I appreciate your concern, but that is completely unnecessary." Maura responded dryly.
Val sipped her tea.
"Maura, may I ask if you and Jane have expressed emotions to each other?"
"We have."
"And nothing of that?"
Maura's eyes drifted towards the light in the outside of the guest house being lit up.
"It is difficult for Jane to commit to something other than casual sex, which is contradictory to her usual heterosexual sex life."
Nina began to speak,
"Oddly enough, I can understand that. There's a part of this story that Val and I had both skimmed over. Before Val had finally addressed me again, she had a friend."
"Rachel, she was wondrous. She had helped me realize my feelings for Nina and helped gather my courage." Val finished.
"She also kissed you a couple of times too." Nina said with small bitterness in her words.
"If you are insinuating that Nina kiss Jane, you are completely out of line." Maura threatened.
"No, no, no. Oh, god no. Maura, Val and I are monogamous. That is simply out of the question. Just, just let me be Jane's friend."
"I don't think you need my permission." Maura answered.
"Maura, you realize that Jane is falling for her one true friend. Who else is she supposed to talk about this with?" Val asked.
Maura's face looked slightly shocked as she analyzed that bit of information.
"And our point has been made." Nina spoke.
"That is very generous, however, I still do not understand your concern." Maura sat bewildered.
"Help Jane help me. Truly help me. I very honestly would like to be a detective, but not if Jane continues to make me her secretary." Val spoke.
"Jane had said that you personally requested her."
"What? Cavanaugh had told me that Jane had volunteered for it!" Val exclaimed.
"I find that far from the truth. Jane did not do that. I don't know why Cavanaugh would say that." Maura answered.
"If you want Jane to truly help you, it probably does not help that you flirt so openly in front of me." She continued
Nina cast a teasing glare over at her fiancé. Val looked like she had her hand in the cookie jar.
"Unfortunately, until Jane claims your relationship to be beyond platonic, you are free to flirt with. Unless, however, you wish me to stop." Val answered.
"As much as Val was an uptight, closeted college girl, she could still clearly charm nearly anyone. It might be beneficial for Jane to take note of that." Nina responded while squeezing Val's hand.
"I am still uncomfortable with the idea of manipulating Jane." Maura responded.
"Is it manipulating Jane though? As I see it, I am becoming Jane's friend, which I would like to do regardless, and Val will openly flirt with you. Which I'm sure she will do anyways." Nina pinched Val's leg. "Both bound to happen anyways. Keeping our relationship quiet, which is our business anyways, might just help that situation. We are all just doing what we would do anyways, but maybe with more attention and effort."
"May I ask why you keep your relationship secret?" Maura asked. Surely, she would have heard of Val's beautiful girlfriend. Especially with the large number of men in the workplace.
"I have also failed to mention that my ex girlfriend is the woman who landed me this job here as well as who helps me with my cliental base. She is leaving for a new job in several months. I did not know when she helped me with this job opportunity, she was also hoping for a second shot at our old relationship. Val and I had figured it might be better to wait it out to tell everyone until she is gone. She is not very fond of Val, unfortunately."
"I see." Maura finally said.
"So?" Nina asked quizzically.
A/N Took me long enough, huh? I'm back. How are you liking Nina and Val? I have an odd liking for Nina.