So I actually thought i was stuck...I wrote chapter 2 about 5 times and it sucked. It really sucked. All five times.
It was forced and aweful and I thought, 'I must secretly pull this story, well that one chapter, because I had had a concept but no flow or heart into chapter 2.'
I had been trying to make it so step by step sequential...arrive, talk, eat, blah blah blah. Since when has that ever worked for me. hahaha.
But suddenly...no idea how or why... I got this. a random spot works...just one line...and I'm back in the swing...for chapter 2 at least. Fingers crossed for the next one to smack me hard in the head :D Don't hold yr breath tho...CH3 might also take a bit as this genre doesn't come as easily as suspense, drama and cliffhangers seem to. :/
Well...Happy reading my lovely fans...
and give me some ideas already...sheesh!
'WELL DONE DR ISLES.'
Maura sighs in relief as she reads the text. The last seventy minutes at the out-of-the-way cosy restaurant with Jane had been extraordinarily stressful. Between trying to avoid Jane's repetitive question about why they are there and looking around for danger, she is quite sure she has aged a year.
Jane nipped off to the bathroom a few minutes ago and the text pinged her phone to let her know she has completed her mission.
She had Jane there and on time and without any suspicion.
Finally she can breathe.
Finally she can feel the hot itchy sensation burning under her collar begin to vanish.
She rubs her neck anyway feeling the tiny bumps under her touch. She couldn't itch or touch her neck before with Jane's sharp and inquisitive eyes watching her closely as she fumbled and stammered her way around the truth for the third time. Jane almost seemed to be enjoying her discomfort.
There was also that guy at the bar that Jane kept looking at. She had been torn between concern and frustration. Concern he might be an undercover agent that Jane had worked with or recognized and once revealed it would blow the whole thing. But then there was the possibility that Jane fancied the guy...which frustrated Maura because she couldn't quite understand why she wished it was the former. Jane had fancied lots of guys before and it never bothered her. She put it down to the additional risk on Jane's life right now...how impractical a love interest would be given the current circumstances. She knew that wasn't quite true but didn't intend to delve deeper right at this particular juncture. Right now she wanted to focus on Jane's safety.
Jane who had been in the bathroom a rather long time.
Her heart skipped a beat and her mouth went dry as her rational brain tried to specify exactly how long Jane had been gone and how long she might practically need.
A text from IA, or whoever she was communicating with, that the perp was happy did not mean said perp had not chosen this restaurant in order to carry out whatever evil he had planned right here in this moment when Jane was alone in the bathroom.
Maura's eye's went wide with the realization and she pushed her chair back as delicately as she could with as much speed as she could without drawing attention to herself.
She turned and tried to gracefully rush towards the ladies rooms only to collide with a waiter immediately. A cold clear liquid rushed at her silk blouse like a miniature waterfall and although it was her own fault the young waiter apologized profusely.
"It's alright." Maura said giving him only a quick smile before heading towards the bathroom, her cold wet chest and water-stained top already forgotten.
Her feet stung after only a few steps and she internally frowned at her logic of wearing five inch heels into a situation where she might have to run, attack or any combination of the two.
The additional eight steps to the bathroom were excruciating forcing Maura to swear to permanently discard the shoes as soon as she got home.
She swung the door open harder than she meant and watched Jane spin towards the door while reaching for her belt where her gun usually hides.
They stared at each other both wide eyed and panicked, Maura being the first to sigh in relief at seeing Jane alone and perfectly fine other than a little startled.
"You're alright." Maura informs them both pressing her hand to her own heart relieved.
Jane takes a moment more to relax, "Why wouldn't I be?"
As the automatic response leaves her lips she realizes what Maura must have thought and has the tiniest stab of guilt forcing her to swallow.
"Oh, er...nothing." Maura replies forcing a smile, "I needed to use the ladies myself."
Jane's eyes wander to Maura's chest noticing the wet discoloration on the blouse, "Riiiight."
Jane then turns to finish washing her hands. And Maura notices Jane's keys and phone on the counter beside another phone that is definitely not Jane's.
"What's that?" Maura asks innocently.
Jane forgets she is facing a mirror when she looks at what Maura is pointing towards, her eyes grow wide and her jaw tense. She opens her mouth to reply but not a word comes out.
"That's not your phone." Maura informs her taking a step closer to investigate.
"I...no...I..." Jane replies stalling as her brain fires off possible reasons and simultaneously dismissing them.
"Why do you have two phone's Jane?" Maura asks with a deep frown and a slight head tilt.
Jane grabs the phone and turns to Maura holding it behind her back clutching it tightly like it might speak and reveal a secret. Maura can still see the phone in the mirrors reflection and she looks deeply into Jane's eyes for an answer, "What's going on Jane?"
No words still until finally an excuse Jane actually can use pops into her head, "It's a suspects phone..." Jane hangs her head to the side, "It's...um...evidence."
"What is it doing here?"
"I forgot to turn it over before I left." Jane says biting her lip with fake guilt and hoping she sounds convincing.
Maura pauses for a moment before she shakes her head with a frown of concern, "Oh dear...Jane...You could get in serious trouble. The correct protocols must be followed so evidence can be used in court."
Jane nods feebly while looking at her feet, "I know. I forgot."
Maura steps closer and reaches out to touch Jane's arm, "It's ok, I won't tell anyone Jane. I've got your back."
Jane looks up quickly and into unsuspecting sincere gullible honest green eyes and whispers, "Thank you."
The thank you is not entirely for the reason Maura thinks it is, but that Maura didn't suspect Jane at all. Sweet, sincere and smart Maura. She didn't ask what suspect or what case. And Jane realizes that Maura trusts her even if things don't add up. And for that trust she is grateful...and equally guilty.
Maura puts her hand on Jane's shoulder and squeezes gently, "I will always have your back Jane."
Jane forces a smile and says the first honest thing she has said all night, "I don't deserve such a wonderful friend as you, Maura."
Maura shakes her head, "Don't be silly. Of course you do."
"Nuh. I really don't. By the way...what happened to your blouse?"
Maura glances at herself in the mirror, "Oh my goodness. Yes. I need some club soda. I had a minor collision with a server carrying beverages."
"I'll get you some soda." Jane says quickly as she turns and heads out the door towards the kitchen, pleased she can get away from the intensity of her building guilt for a few moments.
Out in the hall she bites her lip as she glares at the offending phone, the text to Maura staring back at her, 'Well done Dr Isles'. She grits her teeth and switches it off silently promising to put an end to her little game immediately.
A few minutes later Jane returns to the bathroom with the club soda in one hand and some clean cloth serviettes in the other only to find Maura in her bra with her silk blouse discarded in the basin.
The thing about wall mirrors on all four walls is that, even if you look away as soon as you brain connects the dots, you can't stop seeing something that, in Janes mind, is sacred. Jane turns three times before she simply closes her eyes. But Maura, being less modest, gives a quick sniffle at the ruined blouse, not even noticing the bright pink blush across Jane's face as she tries to hand Maura the items with closed eyes.
"It's ruined." Maura states with a sigh.
Jane presses her lips together trying to force herself to care about a stupid item of clothing because Maura cares. She cannot think of an appropriate thing to say.
"It's fine." Maura encourages herself, "It doesn't matter. It's just a top."
She looks at Jane who is staring at the floor intently, "What's wrong Jane?"
"You're, uh, topless Maur." Jane replies weakly, her cheeks get redder as her eyes flicker up and quickly back to the floor.
"Oh Jane, don't be such a prude, I'm wearing a bra. It's not like you've never seen women topless before. Give me your jacket to wear home...it would be to disgraceful to wear this blouse in public now."
"Really?" Jane looks up catching Maura's partially bare chest and looking at her feet again, "Yet wearing my far to large jacket with nothing underneath is somehow alright?" Jane asks sarcasm mixed with surprise.
"I'm wearing a bra Jane. Honestly. If I hadn't met your mother I would think you were raised by the Amish."
Jane holds her tongue because the truth is, women in bras means nothing to her, but Maura showing that much skin means...something...
Jane slips her jacket off and hands it to Maura without looking. Bare skin and reflections of bare skin cause her heart to beat faster and her skin to feel uncontrollably hot.
And when Maura is covered she nudges Jane in the arm, "I'm decent now silly."
Jane growls at Maura's laugh and looks up with a squint, already prepared with an array of funny quips about how Maura looks in her jacket, only to swallow them heavily when she see's how stunning her friend actually looks in it. Blonde locks falling loosely over dark wide shoulders and the glowing soft skin and alluring edges of full breasts showing delicately between the lapels of her collar. The sleeves now unbuttoned are far too long but seeming to be so done on purpose. And the hem line, stopping right at the top of Maura's thigh, looking like a perfectly tailored lengthy coat fitting her loosely yet perfectly. If Maura was in only undergarments on her bottom half she would be the hottest calendar picture with hundreds of guys lined up around the block to just catch a glimpse of it. Jane turns crimson at the image of it.
She can't help but think she might never get her coat back and she doesn't care.
"Mmmm, it smells quite nice." Maura remarks innocently pressing the warm collar to her nose, "So, Jane, shall we get dessert before we go?"
And Jane, with sweaty palms and her brain numb to everything else, wholly straight and interested in just men, follows Maura back towards the dining room without a word.
The rest of that amazing night at dinner is why Jane, almost immediately, reneges on her internal promise to end her little game. She isn't even completely sure why. Sure she could pick the restaurants she wanted to go to, ones that had items on the menu she could pronounce and sides like deep fried cheese instead of weird disgusting things like fish eggs and snails. Sure there are so many fun activities she wanted to do with Maura instead of *yawn* art museums, art galleries and all other types of museums and galleries and art stuff.
But suddenly it's more...much more. Unexplainably so.
It's something about spending time alone with Maura that appeals to her. More than ever before.
It's a shared dessert with a fork fight for the last bite. It's an innocent touch on the lower back just as they leave. It's a peaceful and relaxed car ride together back to the precinct so Jane can 'drop off the evidence before she gets in trouble'. It's a joke about the dead people fridge followed by a silent soft look that happily lasts just a little bit long. And it's staying over at Maura's for the night because Jane suddenly can't let her jacket out of her sight, and waking up to a gentle snore and an arm thrown across her waist in the night. And, already in one night, this game gives her the means to spend as much time with Maura as she should desire. And Jane would deny it, but she desires as much time as she can get. Maura would never say no if she thought it was helping Jane. Maura would work less and delegate more for this cause. And suddenly, deep deep down in Jane's subconscious, she is no longer playing a practical joke on her gorgeous best friend. Somehow Maura is saving Jane from herself.
to be continued...
hope you like it