Disclaimer: I don't remember if I said this in the first chapter or not, but I own nothing related to R&I. I just like to have a little bit of fun with the characters from time to time.
AN: So, I just want to say thank you to all of you who favorited, followed, and left me a review on this story. I don't think I've had as many reviewers beg me to continue a story as you all have done with this one. So, I said I'd try to continue it at least at least a little bit. This chapter is that result. I am sorry it took so long, but my schedule is pretty busy now that I'm in college once again. I hope you like this chapter. Enjoy!
She pulled her car in to the only parking spot she could find at the moment. Honestly, she was lucky there even was one this time of night on a Friday. She pulled the key from the ignition and opened her car door. She stepped out on the sidewalk and beeped the Mercedes closed as she started to saunter away on her high heels.
About a block down, Maura reached her destination. She glanced at the sign over the door for a moment, stalling going inside. She had no idea why it was she felt like she needed to come here tonight. She hadn't been here since they had done the undercover work for one of their cases.
Jack was out of town at a conference and Jane had started to pull away a couple of weeks ago. Turning down their end of the week ritual they had had going for months. Maura didn't know what to do. More than anything she wanted Jane, but right now Jane wouldn't have her. She needed some company, but she didn't want to be anywhere her usual friends could find her. She needed something different. So, she had decided to come back to Merch.
Though she easily got in the door, the place was fairly well occupied. Women of all kinds, everywhere she looked. Then again, that was the reason they were all here wasn't it? She slid her way through the crowd of women and over to the bar. For reasons she couldn't understand right now she really needed some liquid courage.
Maura caught the attention of the bartender and she quickly slid Maura's glass in front of her. Without any kind of ritual Maura grabbed the tumbler and downed the amber liquid inside. She nearly choked as the liquid felt like a fire burning her throat as it went down.
She signaled back to the bartender, who had barely just left her, and motioned for another drink. The bartender gave her a look, but quickly poured her another. Maura took her fresh drink and turned around on her barstool to get a better look at the bar; well club was actually a little more like it. There was enough room for the large bar in the establishment, a good sized dance floor, and quite a few tables.
The dance floor was packed with women. Maura liked the view, but to be out there in the middle of it wasn't someplace she thought she'd like. If she were going to dance with a partner she preferred to be on a ballroom floor; she had, after all, spent a few years taking ballroom lessons. She loved the structure of the dances and the closeness between partners during the Latin dances.
Maura sat back and watched all the women dancing for a while as she worked on a couple more drinks. Every so often her eyes would drift around the bar and take a look at the women who were around her talking to each other. She seemed to keep catching the eye of a brunette woman across the bar from her.
Maura took one more look around the bar and noticed that the woman was no longer at the bar. She felt a little bit sad about that fact. She had planned to get up and talk to her after the next song was over. She turned on her barstool back towards the bar and sat contemplating.
A few moments later she felt a presence beside her. "So, can I buy you a drink?" a sultry voiced asked her. She turned her head to see the brunette woman standing at her side smiling at her.
The woman had the most brilliant blue eyes she had ever seen. If she were made to describe them she would almost have to say that they were a turquoise color. "Are you alright?" the voice questioned her.
That woke her out of her stupor taking in a breath that she didn't realize she had been denying herself. "Yes," Maura answered almost breathlessly. "Sorry," she also apologized for acting like her typical socially awkward self.
"No, please. I apologize. I know I must have startled you. So, do you mind if I sit here?" the woman politely asked her.
"Please sit," Maura told her. She looked over at her glass, already knowing it was still half full and that she didn't need another drink right away. "Why don't I buy you a drink instead? I'm not due for a refill for a while, but you look like you could use one."
"Then I'd say, yes, I could use another drink," the brunette said to her as she took a seat at the barstool right beside her. They motioned the bartender over and placed the order. She came back a few moments later with the drink and set it right in front of Maura's new companion. "So, do I at least get to know the name of the pretty woman who bought me a drink tonight?" the woman asked her.
Suddenly Maura was glad that she had decided she needed that liquid courage because in this instance it really did give her courage. "Well, I suppose that depends on if I get to meet the name of pretty lady who offered to buy me a drink tonight," Maura replied to her.
The woman flashed her a dazzling smile before replying, "Kennedy."
"Maura," she responded.
"Well Maura, it's a pleasure to meet you. And thank you for the drink."
"The pleasure is all mine, Kennedy. Might I say that is a lovely name; I hear that it has made the top one hundred girl names list by the Social Security Administration. Though I don't think that it was quite as popular around…" She halted there. Apparently alcohol couldn't stop all of her googlemouth.
"It wasn't quite as popular around when?" Kennedy asked her with a sly grin on her face.
Maura grinned as well, but a blush formed on her cheeks. She was glad that she had caught herself before she had said something that would imply she was insinuating about the age of the woman beside her.
"Excuse me for just a moment," Maura said as she rose from her barstool.
"Whoa," Kennedy said as she reached out and laid her hand on Maura's shoulder. "You're coming back, right? I'd really like to finish that conversation." She smiled a sincere smile up at the beautiful woman beside her.
Maura smiled back saying, "Yes, I'll be back momentarily."
Maura left the bar and made her way around the room to where she had seen the restroom earlier. She hated to leave Kennedy, but she felt like she needed to get out of there for just a few minutes in order to calm herself back down. She didn't know why she felt so awkward around the other woman.
She moved down the hall towards the restroom. She was surprised to find there wasn't a line she had to wait in. She stepped inside, but quickly judged from the sounds it wasn't a place she needed to be right now. She didn't care what women did where, but she wasn't up for listening to it right now.
Maura stepped back into the hallway where it was a little bit quieter than the rest of the club and took a few deep breaths to try and calm her nerves. She wasn't entirely sure what she was doing here. Yes, she had originally come with the intention of finding a woman to leave with and Kennedy could very much be that woman, but when she thought about it deep down there was only one person that she wanted. She wanted Jane.
She took a few more breaths and decided that she would go back out to Kennedy. She would politely excuse herself and then get a cab to Jane's apartment and talk it out with her. She had been a fool the night she had left Jane's apartment when Jane had asked her to stay. At this moment there wasn't one decision in her life that she regretted more than leaving that night and she would do anything to make Jane listen to her.
Maura made her way back over to the bar. It had become significantly more packed in the few minutes she had been gone. She tried making her way through the crowd of women, but it wasn't easy. She was nearly back to where Kennedy was seated when she bumped into a woman who was headed in the opposite direction. "Oh, pardon me," she said.
"No, my faul-" The familiar face got out before recognition set in.
"Jane," Maura barely choked out.
"Maura," Jane said in reply.
"I was just about to catch a cab and head to your apartment," Maura confessed.
"Really?" she questioned.
"Yes, I wanted to say that-"
"Jane, there you are. I was beginning to think you had gotten lost," a redhead said interrupting what would have been Maura's apology.
The woman walked straight over to Jane and wrapped her arms around her waist, almost possessively. Maura realized then that Jane was on a date. Something inside of her felt like it broke at that moment.
"Who's this?" the redhead asked.
"Oh, yes, of course. Maura, I'd like you to meet Abby. Abby, this is Dr. Maura Isles. She is the Chief Medical Examiner for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, so we work together on nearly every case I get," Jane supplied as greeting for the two.
"Ah, nice to meet you Dr. Isles," Abby chimed in.
"My pleasure," Maura replied. She knew she needed to get out of here fast before she did something irrational. "Well, I think I'll be going now and let you get back to your date."
Maura turned on her heel and made her way as quickly as she could to the exit. Tears started to make their way down her cheeks before she could get out of the building. How could she have been so stupid and selfish she asked herself? She couldn't expect an amazing woman like Jane to just wait around until she had decided she had had all the fun she wanted out of someone else.
She made it outside the building and the crisp air hit her skin cooling it. It made her feel slightly better, but tears still streamed down her face. She hailed a cab and got in and gave the driver her address. What was she going to do now that she had lost Jane? She couldn't imagine her life without her.
She never even made it back to say goodbye to Kennedy.
Thank you so much for reading! I do hope you liked it and I will hopefully have another chapter up soon. I can't promise a time though. As always, I'd love to hear whatever you have to say about this chapter!
