Part 2
Jane and Riley were sitting at the bar of their hotel, nursing their drinks and enjoying their usual banter. It had been a lame day at the conference with lots of boring lectures and Jane was happy that Riley had joined her on this trip to Dallas for the event. She would have probably fallen asleep if it hadn't been for Rileys comments and jokes during the long hours in the stuffy conference room.
She glanced up at the other woman when she felt a touch to her arm. "Looks like one of us could get lucky tonight." Riley whispered with a smudge grin. "There's this woman over there by the table. She has been watching you all day and evening." She continued in a conspirators whisper.
Jane gave a short chuckle and then shook her head. "Maybe she's looking at you." She said, taking a sip from her cold beer. "Oh no, I'm sure that she's into you." Riley said with a grin. "I already tried my tricks like winking. She didn't react to my doings but kept looking at you." Her friend looked all regretful as she winked at Jane. "Why don't you give it a shot? Its been a long time."
Jane huffed slightly, not turning to the woman in question despite being curious. Instead, she stated "You know that I don't do relationships. I'm not made for it. Besides, she's probably from god knows where." She shook her head again.
"No one is saying that you've got to enter a relationship. I'm talking about having a little bit of fun Jane." Riley rolled her eyes and Jane noticed that she was almost better at that than she was herself. She chuckled again and looked at her friend.
Sure, Riley was right. It had been a while, but she was fine. Wasn't she? Why was everybody always trying to play matchmaker? "Not going to happen." She replied dryly and Riley grunted in frustration. "People are made to be in company." Riley stated, before sipping from her Amaretto sour with a grimace.
"I am in company. I have plenty of friends." Jane replied and pointed towards Riley at her first sentence. Rileys reply got interrupted by the bartender placing another bottle of beer in front of Jane. There was a number scribbled onto the piece of paper placed underneath it.
"See interested!" Riley said triumphantly and glanced around to find the other woman gone. Instead, there was another woman waving at them with a grin from the other end of the bar. "From her?" Jane asked dumbfounded and the bartender nodded.
Now Jane felt somehow at a loss for missing the one who had been staring at her the whole day. She spent the rest of the evening telling herself that it was probably for the best, that she hadn't looked or made contact. But the conference was going on for three more days anyways. Either the woman would have given up or lost interest or she would appear again she mused as she lay in bed much later.
As much as she had told herself that her playing days were over, she suddenly felt the familiar tingle in her groin and groaned. Maybe she should give in after all. Her hands found the folded piece of paper the bartender had given her with the beer and unfolded it to find a room number and invitation. It said 'Anytime, find me if you want to have fun."
As a well-trained detective Jane had noticed the ring on the womans finger and huffed in frustration. Following the invitation would doubtlessly be a bad decision she thought. There was a raging husband behind these women most of the time. Moreover, she wasn't for sure the one to crash a couple or marriage. She crunched the paper into a small ball and threw it into the dustbin with another frustrated sigh.
"Not going to happen. Don't need it!" Jane said in determination and rolled to her side and closed her eyes. She had to sleep because she would have to climb the podium the next day to present the BPD and some of their high-profile cases. So, there was no room to fuck around anyways.
R&I
Jane had always been aware of her attractive features. She was used to women flirting with her and slipping her their numbers. When she had been young it had been a joy to follow through with some of the invitations. But now, being 32 years old, Jane had grown tired of them. So much so, that she had bought herself a wedding band.
She chuckled when she remembered her mothers shock at the sight of it. "Without me? Who?" she had gasped. It had been thanksgiving and they had had their usual family dinner. "No one. We all know that Jane is married to her work." Frankie had dryly stated the truth which had made Angela even madder.
Truth was though that the stupid wedding band had solved a lot of her problems. The invitations from women had subsided remarkably and the gossip mill at work was since raving about who might have dared to marry Jane instead of her sexuality. She gave the small golden band on her ring finger a satisfied grin when she heard her name being announced. "….the famous detective Jane Rizzoli who today is representing her precinct of the Boston Police Department to tell us about her high profile cases like the serial killer Hoyt."
Jane cringed. Oh, how much would she like to forget this prick that had tortured her. She sub-consciously rubbed the palm of her right hand that still hurt when the weather was changing or when she was stressed. Her eyes caught a reassuring look from Riley who stood with the rest of the audience and clapped.
This was one of the rare occasions when Jane wished not to have solved so many cases. Her feet felt a bit wobbly when she climbed the stairs to the podium. She quickly handed the assistant the USB stick which contained her presentation before she walked on to the microphone.
The men who had announced her shook her head and grinned as if she was some famous actress or a star in general and she replied with a polite grin. Turning towards the audience, which in the meantime had taken their seats again, she cleared her throat.
And as her eyes quickly scanned the room she saw her – dr. Maura Isles was sitting right in the first row, staring at Jane with a flabbergasted expression. Jane thought that she would faint and held on to the small desk in front of her. The world around her was spinning fast and she cleared her throat again.
Forgotten was the speech which she had prepared meticulously in order not to make a fool of herself. And she gave a dry cough to which the assistant quickly stood and brought her a bottle of water, which she drained in one huge gulp.
Riley gave her a questioning look and Jane tried to gather her marbles while clearing her throat again to make some joke about the Texan air being so dry that it gave her asthma. The crowd laughed. Everybody except for Maura who wore a concerned look. Jane recalled that look from when her side had itched while climbing the stairs when she had brought Maura home for the first and the last time.
She also remembered those beautiful hands roaming her body, feigning an exam while Maura just wanted to touch her skin.
The world was still spinning, and Jane knew that she had to avoid looking at the blonde. Otherwise, she would faint or make a fool of herself. Hence, she began with her speech that thank god she knew by heart. It went pretty well, and the audience raised from their seats once she was finished to clap again. It was time for a lunch break, but unlike the previous day where people had pushed to get out of the room and to the buffet, everybody stayed and asked questions.
Jane who was feeling relaxed and at ease now replied to each and every one of them until she saw Mauras hand raise. She would have loved to ignore her question, but she couldn't out of politeness.
"Dr. Maura Isles, Chief ME of New York." She presented herself like everybody else had done before her. "How is your husband or wife coping with being married to a cop and how does it influence your work?" she asked, and a small, curious smile tugged at her lips. Jane felt the eyes directed at her, interested and curious. She suddenly had a dry throat again and opened her mouth slowly. She didn't know how to reply until her eyes fell onto Riley who looked at her with a raised eyebrow. "Well, my wife is working as a detective as well, so she knows the working hours and the job." She replied. All curious eyes now stared at Riley in jealousy. Riley smiled proudly at Jane, immediately falling into her new role. But Jane saw how she was trying to kill her with her looks.
Ther was some inexplicable hurt in Mauras eyes as she took her seat again. Jane cursed her because she had opened the way to a new void of questions. Most of them private.
R&I
"Great! You know that you just ruined my weekend, dont you?" Riley pouted when they found a quite minute after the presentation. People were looking to get out and have lunch. "I'm sorry." Jane apologized. "I didn't say that it was you though, did i?" she tried to defend herself. Riley snorted. "No need to say it Jane. We are inseparable. And you looked at me when you said it." She said between gritted teeth. Jane knew that Riley was right. She was hardly aware of the clacking sound of high heels approaching them from behind.
Riley who must have heard them too changed into a lighter tone. "You did great baby!" she said in a proud voice. The action made Jane almost scoff.
Maura appeared in their vision and Jane blushed when Riley grabbed her hand. Mauras eyes went to the entwined fingers and she wore an unreadable face.
"Hi Maur, or is it dr. Isles now?" Jane asked in an attempt to be polite. She could see how Maura seemed to take her words the wrong way. She looked attacked and angry and sour. "You can still call me Maura if you want. Dr. Isles is fine as well though. What do you want me to call you?" Maura asked and Jane bit her lips. She felt a reassuring squeeze of hand from Riley – maybe also a reminder to present her. "Jane is fine for me. May I present you my uhm… this is Riley. Riley, this is dr. Isles."
Rileys hand left hers to shake Mauras. "Pleasure to meet you Dr. Isles. I've read a lot about you. You solved some pretty hard cases as well." Riley said politely. Jane glanced at her in surprise when her friend began to rattle down some cases.
Maura blushed at the compliment and Jane suddenly got the feeling that Maura had hated Riley but now found it harder and harder to do so by the minute. She thanked Riley with a genuine smile. And Jane didn't know how, but they ended up eating lunch at the same table and Maura chatting away with Riley while she tried to gather her senses. Jane nodded and chuckled at the right places but didn't say much. She was basically happy when their lunch break was over and they had to return into the conference room. Janes mind kept turning in circles. If Riley and Maura got friends, and Riley was her best friend, and Maura was in New York which wasn't that far away from them she would probably see Maura more often.
Maura who had never replied to her last message, who had never given her the chance to talk. It still made Jane angry despite knowing that the blonde had just done what she had thought was the best thing to do.
R&I
"You can't be serious." Jane mumbled as they took their seat at a bar in town. A gay bar at that. Riley gave her a fake sweet smile and grinned. "Why not? Now that we're out they won't question our decision to visit a gay bar." Jane scoffed, knowing that Riley meant their colleagues. Also knowing that Riley had chosen this location because she didn't stand a chance to find someone to lay at the hotel where everybody knew them as a couple now. "One of these days I'm going to kill you I swear!" she muttered under her breath before ordering a Margarita. Riley chuckled mischievously, her eyes beaming in j amusement. "You wont and we both know that. Now chill, would you?"
Jane rarely felt the need to get drunk. Tonight, was one of these occasions and she was in with her third rita when Maura appeared with another woman. She almost chocked on her drink and Rileys questioning glanced quickly turned in understanding when she saw what had her friend chocking.
"Seems like you also messed up your own life by being married to me." She whispered; her voice full of sympathy. Jane shook her head and blinked the tears away. "Its much better this way." She replied, not believing herself. "Is she the reason why you never..?" Riley asked silently and Jane blushed. "Its water under the bridge." The brunette managed to say. But Riley wouldn't let go. She reached for Janes hand and squeezed it quickly before she let go again. "Do you want to talk about it?" Jane shook her head vehemently. "No. as I said: its better that way."
She ignored Maura and the brunette who went straight to dance floor. "I'd like to leave though. It's been a long day and I want to hit the hay." Jane stated. "You can stay of course." She added but Riley who was the best friend Jane could imagine simply shook her head and said: "Lets go."
They were just about to leave when Jane turned abruptly. Riley who bumped into her huffed. "No, you know what? We are not going to let this spoil our evening. Let's go and dance as well."
Riley followed her to the dancefloor with a raised eyebrow. Jane could see that she was still a bit amused though. "Jane…" Riley said in a reasoning tone, seeing exactly what her friend was trying to accomplish with her action.
But stubbornness was Janes biggest virtue, and she wasn't willing to let go. Maura and the other woman were dancing away and the detective was surprised that the doc actually danced to all kind of music, recalling her collection of classical music from university.
Riley gave in and fell easily into step with Jane. They were dancing close to Maura and her friend. When the doc noticed them she looked surprised. All of them exchanged polite smiles, though Riley who had once called Maura a nerd seemed to feel highly uncomfortable with the situation.
Mauras companion seemed to notice the tension as well and did her best to mark her territory by pulling Maura closer. It was then when a slow song started, and the woman began kissing the blonde and whispering words into the docs ear as they were impossibly close.
Jane swallowed hard and glanced at Riley who slightly shook her head like saying: I'm totally fine with playing your wife, but I wont kiss you! Her eyes were glaring warningly at Jane who took a step closer. The other detective finally gave in, and they awkwardly moved into each other's arms. "No kissing I promise." Jane swore as they fought for the lead. Jane mused that it must look strange from the outside and rolled her eyes. But they did the best they could, and Jane gave up the lead to Riley in order to make it look more realistic.
Riley was a very good dancer to Janes surprise, although it felt awkward to give up control. She followed the other detectives step and was so focused not to trip that she forgot to watch the other couple.
At the end both couples were glad when the song changed into a quicker one again. Jane didn't know why or how but they all ended up in the same booth at one table. Speaking of awkward she thought. It was obvious to her that they all felt uncomfortable. All for maybe except Mauras friend who kept marking her territory in so many not-so-subtle ways that it was highly unnerving.
"Why aren't you wearing a wedding band?" Maura asked Riley after their second drink. They were all intoxicated now. The blonde gave Jane and her friend a curious glance. Riley almost chocked on her beer. "Because I don't like wearing it. I take it off for showering or housekeeping and sometimes forget to put it back on." She explained with a dry smile to Jane. "Jane keeps scolding me for it all the time." She added. Mauras curious eyes wandered to Jane who shrugged helplessly.
"Don't you feel closer to me if you wear it?" Jane slightly nudged Riley who huffed. "I always feel close to you baby." She twittered in a sweet voice. The whole situation was highly nauseating. One couple constantly touching and being cheesy and one bickering. It was all truly believable.
Jane used the upcoming silence to interrogate Mauras friend and learned that she was an ME at San Francisco. She was 10 years younger than all of them and loved pop songs and a lot of artists which Jane hadn't even heard of.
Riley followed the exchange with interest and sometimes studied Maura who was looking bored. At least there was no more touching.
"She is such a bitch!" Jane hissed after the couples had parted ways. It had been Riley who had gently pushed Jane by 11pm and reminded her of some plans with a wink. It was obvious that she was handing the last coup to the game. "All right, but this time I want to be on top." Jane joked after realizing what Riley intended to achieve and chuckled.
"We'll see. You have been on top the last three times. I think that its my turn." Riley replied with a stubborn glance at Jane who shrugged. "Can't blame me for trying baby." She chuckled again. It was actually easy to fall into their new roles. Too easy and too funny Jane thought. Maura gave her an indifferent glance. She looked exhausted. So were Jane and Riley as they left the elevator to stroll to their rooms.
"She's young Jane." Riley replied to the brunette's remark about Mauras companion. "I think that you and the doc should have a serious talk."
Jane scoffed "And tell her that I'm not married and played her?" It was then when Jane realized her mistake. No, Maura would kill her. It was too late now, right?