She woke up, when she heard her parents' fighting downstairs. Lazily opening her eyes, finally believing that it had all been a bad dream she rubbed her eyes and sat up. Seeing the dress on her body made her realize that it hadn't been a bad dream after all.
Before she could slip into the bathroom or change, the door to her room flew open and Angela barged in with an already enraged face. Her parents were fighting non-stop these days, so it wasn't an unusual sight.
Angela gasping at her attire and state though was very new. "HI ma!" Jane tried to sound nonchalant and cool. To underline her feigned nonchalance, she waved with her hand. For a moment or two, Jane thought that her mother would either get a heart attack or faint. Well, didn't look good for her she mused and already braced herself for some sort of punishment.
First, she hadn't come home in two days – according to the blonde it had been two days. Secondly, she was looking like a hooker. There was nothing left to do then brace herself for the upcoming storm of scolding.
But to her surprise, Angela left the room without saying a word. Maybe she was tired of yelling at her family. Jane wondered if she should be worried. Probably so she mused. She quickly slid off the bed to change into a pair of well-worn jeans, a hoodie and combed her hair before she was ready to go on the lookout for her mother.
There was no need to search Angela though because her mother barged in again as she was standing dressed in her usual clothes in the middle of her room, looking for something to tie her hair into a pony tail.
"Thank god!" Angela exclaimed and wrung her hand. Jane gave her a surprised look. "I think I had some illusion of you in a hookers dress." Angela chuckled and waved with her hands towards Jane. "I should really stop drinking this tea. Cousin Raffaela already said that it would cause hallucinations."
Jane raised an eyebrow but then nodded quickly. "Yeah, looks like it." She said, glad to have been saved by whatever brewery her mother was sticking to these days under the pretense to do good for her body.
R&I
Jane had spent the entire night in turmoil, tossing and turning in her sheets until she finally gave up in the early morning hours. The 1000 Dollars that she had taken were weighing heavy on her consciousness. There was not only the fear that the police would knock on her door but also the fact that no matter how much she could use the money it didn't belong to her. It also didn't matter, that the blonde was obviously rich.
The only reason that the police hadn't knocked on her door yet, was probably that the girl didn't miss the money. The wallet had been full of 100 Dollar bills. But correct as Jane was, she decided to somehow return the money. So she sneaked up on the apartment complex and hid behind some bushes in the hope to find out which mailbox belonged to the blonde. Then she would slip the envelope which was now firmly tucked into the pocket of her coat into it and leave.
She had about three hours before she had to go to work. Three hours in which she should rest or study. But she was on a mission, hoping that the blonde would appear soon. Yet, when she didn't, and Jane had to leave she was utterly disappointed. Maybe tomorrow she mused, wanting to get rid of the money as fast as possible. At least before the blonde noticed that it was missing.
But she didn't see her the next day either which was beginning to drive her crazy. Nor did she over the next days. It was very tiresome to hide behind the bushes and peek at the building all the time.
R&I
"Hey, Rizzoli!" the voice of her best friend Frost caught her as she was walking to get some sandwich at the cafeteria. Unfortunately, her mother's intent to change her diet to something healthier had now also reached her kids sandwiches.
The yummy goodness of fluffy sandwich bread had been replaced by something made of whole wheat and Jane had given her meal to one of the fellow students who had been very thankful. She had also given him her apple.
"Frostie, what's up man?" she asked as she waited up for him.
"You have forgotten to tell me." He grinned teasingly.
"Tell you what?" Jane asked with a raised eyebrow not knowing what he was talking about.
"About your lady." His grin was now even wider. "Petite, blonde, nice curves….?" His tone was still teasing, and Jane furrowed her eyebrows while thinking. Then the penny dropped, and she hitched a breath.
"She asked where she can find you." Frost explained as they were walking towards the cafeteria. Jane stopped in her tracks. "I hope you didn't tell her." She stated and Frost grinned. "Of course, I did. Why? She looks hot and seems to be nice. What's the matter? You should really come out of the closet Jane." He nudged her slightly.
"She's a psycho! And how often do I have to tell you, that I'm not gay?" Jane exclaimed. Then she silenced because the sound of high heels on the linoleum floor were approaching fast. She had heard that sound before… at the girls' apartment. She blindly opened the door behind her back and pulled Frost with her into the sanitary room.
Frost blinked. She could even see it in the darkness. "Shhhh!" Jane said and put her finger onto his mouth. "Not a word!" she whispered a threat and felt Frost nod.
They listened as the clack clack passed by the door and then Jane heard the girl ask someone for Jane Rizzoli. Once they felt save, Frost said: "Please do explain."
Jane sighed before telling him how she woke up at the blonde's apartment without knowing how she had gotten there. And how she had fled and everything. Their eyes, now adjusted to the darkness stared into each other.
"Maybe she really just wanted to help you." Frost said after a while and Jane rolled her eyes. "Have you never seen the movie Misery?" she huffed. He grinned again. "Of course I have. Remember? I You made me watch it. I think that you should reduce your consummation of horror movies. Really!" he now sounded scolding. Jane glared at him wide eyed.
R&I
As much as Frost had teased her, he joined her on her next trip to the mailbox adventure. "Maybe we should take shifts." He said. "I can cover the mornings for the next two days because I only have classes in the afternoon." He whispered as they were hiding behind a bush. Jane studied him, thinking. That didn't sound so bad she thought and agreed despite being afraid that he might address the matter to the blonde.
He was honest like that. But he was also a good spy and a loyal friend. So, it was probably going to be okay. "All right!" she agreed.
Jane left him because she had another class in the evening. The one after which she had turned up hostage at the blondes place, she thought sourly. So, one week had passed and this rich kid hadn't even noticed that she was missing 1000 bucks?! If she wasn't as honest as Frost was, she would by now say that she just kept the money.
Or had she noticed the missing money but not called the police because she wanted to get her victim back? There must have been a reason why she had looked for Jane at the university, no? Jane was confused.
She was just about to step into her car – an old Honda civic – when she saw the blonde approach with a load of shopping bags. Panicking she drove away quickly, seeing the girl run after her in the rear-view mirror. How did she do that? Jane wondered for the rest of the drive after feeling save. She couldn't even walk in such high heels to save her life she mused.
A chuckle escaped her lips when she had the strange thought, that the woman was a cyborg of some sort. Running in high heels, the clothes were also too elegant for a student she decided. But as much as she was afraid of this woman, as much the woman began to intrigue her.
R&I
"Dr. Maura Isles." Frost said triumphantly as he joined Jane at the cafeteria for their lunch break the next day. Jane looked up from her paper which had been graded with an A. "Her name is dr. Maura Isles." Frost repeated at Janes surprised and confused stare.
"She can't be a doctor. Probably her parents' apartment. Have you seen her age?" she stated thinking to herself: or maybe a cyborg after all…
She shook her head to get rid of her ridiculous thoughts and he stared at her grade. "You could do my homework assignment you know?" he teased. Jane shrieked. "No way!" she said decisively. He chuckled. "I asked around about this good dr." he stated, stealing some fries from her plate.
"Oh yeah? What did you learn?" she asked, benching forward in interest. He gave her a sly grin. "My assignment?" he asked pointedly. Jane huffed. Of course, she could do her own research, but she doubted that people were as willing to talk to her as they were towards Frost. And by the end of the day, it would be faster and easier to do the assignment.
"Okay, tell me what you need and until when." She gave in. he made a fist bump. "That's great, because we are going to have some gigs next week and I wont have so much time for homework." Jane rolled her eyes. She still couldn't believe that sweet and innocent looking Frost could be a hard-core rapper. He gave her the details and the date. Then told her what he had found out about this Maura person.
"Her family is rich. And I mean really rich." He began and Jane thought: tell me something I don't know yet. "she's adopted, only child and science geek. Not great social skills apparently and not someone to have fun with because she's always so serious about learning and stuff. So: yeah, she got a doctor's title and is now studying to become an ME. Which with her social skills is probably a good career choice for her." Frost stated before popping more fries into his mouth. Jane had forgotten about her food completely while listening and grabbed one too.
"I tell you, she's a psycho! She probably abducted me to conduct some crazy experiments with me." She stated thoughtful. The more she learned the more she was intrigued by this woman though. She thought that she might actually be ready to face the cyborg and reclaim her stuff while giving her hers back. Should be an easy exchange, no?