"Jane Clementine Rizzoli!"
"What? Ma?"
"You wish!"
Her brows furrowed as she looked to her phone. Eyes closed, with a slight throbbing at her temples, she barely believed that she wasn't still asleep - yet she wanted to. But it sounded like Frankie. Definitely Frankie. Not Ma. "The hell? You're waking me up and yelling at me Frankie?"
"16 Drury Lane?"
"What about?
"You went to that address?"
"Yes Frankie, the people situated there called for our services, and I answered - as Pop would have wanted."
"As Pop would have wanted? Pop would have spanked us red if we went even near that place!"
"I went to fix their toilet and sink Frankie, not to abscond away white stuff that isn't flour!"
"Pop would care about our reputation."
"Pop would care about his still present business."
She heard Frankie's breathing so she knew that he was still on the line. She pressed hard the tips of her fingers to her temples - she should know better than to play the bitter and guilt card.
"Sorry Frankie, I shouldn't have."
"Nah, sorry sis. I shouldn't have yelled."
"Don't worry about it. Save your yelling for that rascal of a brother of ours. Get him back in the shop, and I'll have the bill delivered myself. I won't take the van, and we won't have Stanley the postman deliver it. Okay? No one but pesky nosy neighbours on that street would know. "
"It's just that Pop -"
"Pop would have liked nothing too to do with people of that sorts, as would I. But I'm a plumber Frankie. They call, I deliver; I fix what I can - the sinks, the toilets, the pipelines and whatever it is that breaks down in the toilet area." She could feel her nails digging into her palm and her own jaw clenched. Such anger and bitterness - and she felt ashamed.
She heard Frankie sigh. "I'll see you when you come in later then. Sorry for waking you Janie, and -"
"Don't worry about it." She wanted to hang up the call. "I'll see you later Frankie," she hoped she sounded no longer angry, "Don't worry. Don't feel bad about it." She resisted the urge to slam her phone against a wall; she pressed at the button to end the call after Frankie had the chance and time to utter a "later Janie".
She rested back against the sofa and yelled into the pillow she used to muffle her shouts.
"Why has the woman got to be in a mob house? In the mob house!" She sighed and picked up the scattered empty beer bottles.
"Ma and Pop would be flipping like burgers on a grill if they knew that I fixed not just the Patrick stab you in the heart with an ice pick Doyle's toilet and sink, but too dreamt of a woman I met in a mob house. In a mob house!" She silently cursed as the bottles shattered in the kitchen sink.
"And I'm drinking again!" She sighed and rubbed at her forehead.
Her fingers glided across her forehead and she felt the tension headache she woke up with dissipate. The memory of the tingling feeling resurfaced, and she smiled - it was nice. Being seen. Being touched. Being cared for for a change.
"That's quite a worthwhile bump," she joked with the empty house. "Almost worth it - being able to forget my place." She gave a small smile and stepped into the shower.
"Hadn't I wanted a reason to go back there again? Now you can Jane Clementine Rizzoli. Now you can go collect your pay for having mad plumbing skills." She let the sprays of the shower head beat away the returning headache.
A/N: Hi there! Thank you for the time =)
And...I know, an update is way way overdue but I'm busy (oh right. What's new right?) and I'm so sorry. But rest assured - truly - that this fanfic, as all the others, aren't abandoned. I'll bring them all to completion; it's all just a matter of time...
Anyway, hope that this update suffices and, my apologies...if it doesn't live up to the hype. It may not seem a lot to some, but to me, the numerical interest this fanfic has generated, delights me a ton, and I do so hope that I don't disappoint. As always, thank you for the time - and worry not! It'll all be complete, and never are you obligated to read any of my fanfics. So scamper away, scatter, be gone! Hahaha. (Because you see...if no one's reading...I probably won't feel so bad about not updating as quickly or as steadily as ideally I should be...) ;)