Oops, I Did It Again – Chapter 12
After Jane left the park, she wondered when she might see Maura again. When she stopped to grab some Chinese takeout, she sent a text to Maura. 'Hey, do you want to keep meeting Wednesdays at 3:30 if our schedules permit?'
Maura sent her a text back a few minutes later, 'I would love to. We might need to meet after work hours though.'
'Okay, I will plan on seeing you at the coffee shop next Wednesday. Is 5 PM okay? If I get called and can't make it, I will text you,' was Jane's replied as she walked back to her car to go home.
Maura replied, '5 PM would be fine.'
'You can text me in between if you want.' Jane replied.
'Okay, Jane, thank you.'
Jane drove home and quietly sat down in her living room and pulled out her takeout from the paper bag and turned on ESPN. She watched a game she had recorded while she ate. She planned to go to bed before 11 PM if possible, in case she got called out during the night.
At 5 AM Jane's cell phone rang, it was dispatch announcing a murder. Thirty minutes later she arrived at the crime scene with a cup of coffee in her hand. Frost smiled when he saw that she brought him a cup of coffee as well.
It was a double murder. They spent half an hour at the crime scene picking up as many clues as they could and having the CSRU photographers take as many pictures as possible. They worked the case for days with no new leads. They reviewed the financials, phone records, they talked with family and coworkers. Every time they thought they had a lead it didn't pan out. It was a dead end. Jane was very discouraged.
The highlight of her week was when she received a text from Maura on Saturday morning. 'How was the rest of your week?'
Jane called Maura. It was faster to talk than text. Maura answered her phone after the first ring, "Hello Jane."
"Hey Maur, the rest of my week sucked, we caught a double murder on Thursday morning and we are still at work trying to close the case."
"Will you have any time off this weekend?" Maura was curious as she wanted to spend some time with Jane. It was Saturday morning and she hoped her new detective friend would have some time off during the weekend.
"Probably not, the lieutenant wants this case and some others solved so he authorized overtime for the entire homicide department. Did you have something in mind?" Jane responded sadly, she would rather spend some time with Maura but she needed to solve this case. She loved her job but sometimes she didn't love the hours she had to put in.
"Yes, I thought it might be nice to have dinner together." Maura responded.
"I would love that, but I can't guarantee when. My schedule is so lopsided right now with this case." Jane smiled as she thought of how nice it would be to have dinner and chat with Maura again.
"How about if I bring you, Barry and Vince dinner tonight?" Maura offered. She could bring dinner for all three. She liked Jane's coworkers and it would be nice to spend time with them as well.
"That sounds wonderful. It would be nice to see you and I do get a little break for dinner. Of course, we could always meet at the Dirty Robber." Jane told her.
"What is the Dirty Robber?" Maura questioned not familiar with the establishment.
"It is a local bar that members from BPD frequent. They have great food and we eat there frequently when we are working on cases. It is only a few blocks from work and the service is fast."
"That sounds nice." Maura said unsure if she should have responded that way. What kind of food did they serve at a bar? She wondered, she wasn't used to eating at bars. She googled it why she was talking to Jane. "Would 5 PM be good? Or would later be better?"
"Let me ask the guys." Jane put her hand over the phone and asked Korsak and Frost. "They said 5 PM is great and they are looking forward to seeing you again. They enjoyed meeting you."
"Okay, I will see you at 5 PM." Maura stated as they ended the call. It was only 11 AM so Maura had plenty of time to get ready. She went back to her bedroom to look in her closet to find something to wear. After searching for over half an hour she picked out a beautiful green dress and found four-inch heels that would complement her dress nicely. She searched through her clutches to find the appropriate clutch and moved items between her clutches. She figured out how long it would take her to arrive at the Dirty Robber and set her alarm when it was time for her to get into the shower and get ready to go.
Now that she had her clothes set aside and alarm set, she was able to sit down with a glass of wine and read one of her scientific magazines. There were several articles that she wanted to brush up on. She had started teaching and was enjoying the interactions with the students. She always allowed time at the end of class for questions. She found this time of class her most enjoyable. She was in her element.
She loved forensic science and teaching to students who wanted to learn made her feel great. She had spoken at conferences before and felt sometimes that people didn't really want to hear what she had to say. In the classroom though, that was not the case. Her students were interested in what she had to teach them.
Time slipped by quickly. She felt like she had just started reading her magazine when the timer went off. She smiled as she put her magazine down and walked to her bedroom to get ready to have dinner with Jane and her team.
She arrived a couple of minutes before 5 PM and saw Jane sitting in a booth towards the back of the bar. As she approached the table Jane, Korsak and Frost stood up to welcome her. Jane motioned for her to sit in the booth. Jane sat down next to her and Korsak and Frost sat across from them. Maura looked over the menu and when the waitress came over, they all ordered their food and drinks. Because Jane, Korsak and Frost were still working they had sodas, Maura ordered a glass of wine with her meal.
They enjoyed a nice conversation while they ate and Korsak asked Maura a few forensic questions, which Maura was very happy to answer. He couldn't talk about the case but he could ask generic questions. He worded the questions very carefully to get as much information as possible from Maura. He valued her opinion. He really hoped she would check in with the FBI and become a medical examiner consultant with them. He would love for her to work on some cases with them.
Jane had gotten up to go to the restroom and when she came back, she slid in a little closer to Maura. Maura had taken the opportunity to move over closer to where Jane was sitting when Jane had gotten up. Jane smiled when she sat back down. She didn't mind at all that Maura had moved closer.
"This is a nice little bar. How often to you all come here?" Maura asked.
"We normally come in here after we close a case to celebrate." Korsak quickly replied. "Sometimes we come here for lunch."
"Yeah, the cheeseburgers are awesome. I could eat them every day." Jane added seeing Maura flinch at the mention of the unhealthy way Jane eats all the time.
"Jane, you know you shouldn't eat that many cheeseburgers." Maura, who was very conscious of what she put her in body said.
"I know, you have mentioned that before." Jane stated as she and Maura continued bantering back and forth. They both had smiles on their faces. They were enjoying each other's company.
Korsak and Frost were enjoying the interaction between the two ladies. They had never seen Jane so happy. They had seen some of the guys Jane had dated and she never interacted with them like this. They were wondering if there was a little something brewing between the two ladies. They both looked at each other and then Korsak stated, "Jane, why don't you take the rest of the evening off and come back in with coffee for both of us at 8 AM."
"Really, I thought Cavanaugh wanted us all to continue working on our case?" Jane replied questioning her former partner, her sergeant.
"He does but we also have to have a break and I will give Frost a break tomorrow night and I will take mine on Monday if we haven't solved this case by then. We have to have fresh eyes and have some rest. We have been going at this for days now. Please don't argue just take the evening off. Frost and I will cut out before 10 PM tonight, so we will get some rest also. Tomorrow is a new day." Korsak gave a look that meant don't argue with me.
"Okay, I won't argue." Jane said as she looked at her partner and Sergeant. "Do you want me to bring in some pastries also?"
"Sure, why not?" Frost stated as they both got up to leave so Jane and Maura could have some time to chat. "You know what flavors we like."
Jane smiled, she knew exactly what to get them. Jane and Maura talked for a little while before they decided they should go home. Jane walked Maura to her car which was a few cars behind hers and then she went to her car. She tried to start the car but it wouldn't start. Maura had started to pull out and noticed that Jane had gotten out and opened the hood of her car. She pulled up alongside and asked, "Jane, do you need some assistance?"
"My battery seems to be dead again. Can you give me a lift home?" Jane offered in response.
"Yes, what about your car?" Maura asked.
"I will call my brother and he will have some unis take care of it again. They will bring it by my apartment later when it is all fixed."
"Sounds like this has happened before."
"It has, this is third time. There has to be some faulty connection between the battery and the car as the battery is fairly new. I am scheduled to get a new car soon so we have been trying to make this one last. My brother has my extra set a keys just for this reason." Jane said as she locked the cruiser and opened the passenger door of Maura's car.
It was about a fifteen-minute ride to Jane's apartment and the two ladies talked the whole way. Jane was praying that her apartment was clean, as she wanted to invite Maura up so they could continue talking now that she had the rest of the evening off. When they pulled up at Jane's building Jane asked Maura, "Would you like to come inside and we could continue talking or watch a show?"
"I would love that, Jane." Maura replied as she shut the engine off.
Jane was so happy when she opened her apartment and discovered that her mother had been by and cleaned up a little. Her apartment wasn't that bad when she left for work that morning but this was one time, she appreciated that her mother stopped by occasionally and cleaned up and stocked the refrigerator. Normally it upset her but she had been working long hours and cleaning her apartment was the last thing on her mind sometimes.
Jane offered Maura a glass of wine, "Would you like a glass of wine? My wine is not as fancy as yours but it is nice. My mother leaves a few bottles here for when the family comes over for dinner. We try and have dinner every Sunday and sometimes we have the dinner here when I am working so when I get a chance to come home to sleep, we can eat together."
"A glass of wine sounds great. Thank you for inviting me to your apartment." Maura stated as Jane walked back over with a glass of wine for Maura and a beer for her.
They sat on the couch. "Would you like to watch something on TV?" Jane asked not sure what to watch if she said yes.
"I would like that. What do you typically watch?" Maura asked.
"Sports highlights on ESPN or a comedy. Sometimes I just turn on the news as I clean up. What do you like to watch?"
"Documentaries or movies. Depending on how much time I have. I don't watch TV every day. I read quite a bit."
"Well, I am sure we could find something on Netflix. Let me get that set up." Jane turned on the TV and pushed a few buttons and pulled up Netflix. She logged in as a guest so her playlist of action flicks wouldn't show up as suggestions. They glanced through the suggested TV shows and movies and agreed that 'The Lincoln Lawyer' sounded interesting. They had both seen the movie and wanted to see how the TV show was in comparison.
Before she started the show, Jane asked, "Do you want some popcorn or any type of snack before we start?"
"A glass of water would be great." Maura replied and Jane got up to get both of them a bottle of water. She knew she had bottled water in the refrigerator. She often grabbed a bottle as she went out to run or take Jo Friday for a walk. "Where is Jo?" Maura asked.
"Oh, my brother picked has her for the weekend. He said the ladies really like her and he has had several dates since he started taking Jo for walks with him."
"Really, he is using Jo Friday to pick up dates?" Maura laughed as she asked.
"Yeah, crazy huh?" Jane smiled as she replied.
"If it is working, I guess it isn't that crazy." Maura said as they both laughed. Jane hit play on the TV show and they sat and watched the first episode of 'The Lincoln Lawyer.' Jane had sat closer to Maura when she returned with the water bottles. After the first episode they agreed to watch another. They were finishing the third episode when they looked at the time. "I'm sorry Jane, I shouldn't have kept you so long."
"It's fine Maur. I enjoyed just sitting and watching the show with you. It was relaxing. We will have to find a time to finish the series. We still have seven more episodes."
"I would like that." Maura said as she looked at Jane and said, "Maybe we can set up a night where we meet at one of our houses and watch the show, or a movie."
"That sounds like a plan. Thank you for bringing me home tonight and for staying and watching the show with me. I really enjoyed it."
"Thank you for being my friend Jane. I need a friend right now. I am glad that friend can be you." Jane walked Maura to her car. She had a second purpose in doing that. She wanted to make sure where her cruiser was just in case she got called out in the early morning. She watched as Maura drove off. Then she found her cruiser and smiled. It had been a nice evening. Now it was time for some sleep so she would be refreshed to work on the case in the morning.
