Disclaimer: The characters below belong to Tess Gerritsen. The music belongs to the rock goddess that is Joan Jett. I don't profit from them in any way! Apologies for any grammatical mistakes. Enjoy.
CHAPTER 2: ROCK 'N ROLL BABY
Thursday morning found the Detective typing away madly at her computer. She was starving and determined to finish the latest case report by 1 o'clock. Occasionally taking a sip of her now cold coffee, she was relieved to finally finish by her deadline.
"Score!" She pumped her fist in the air.
"What's up? You find some bad-ass accessory for your bike or something?" Frost chuckled.
"Noo and if you keep up the sarcastic remarks I definitely won't let you ride her."
"Ride who Jane?" Maura had, as usual, appeared at the most awkward juncture in the casual conversation. Frost suppressed a laugh which resulted in a humorous snort, earning a glare from Jane.
"No one. Uh, you ready to go to lunch? I'm starving."
Puzzled, but too hungry to address the comment, Maura smiled and nodded.
Over lunch Jane talked incessantly about her love for her new bike. It had only been a week since the purchase and the Detective was clearly smitten. Luckily for Jane, Maura had taken her friend's new interest to heart and had done much reading on the subject matter. Consequently, she could talk mechanic with the best of them.
"Sorry Maur, I am obsessing over the bike again. New topic. What are your plans for the weekend?"
"Well I…oh shoot!"
"What's wrong?"
"I forgot to mention, I'm going to New York this weekend."
Maura looked apologetically at Jane, admonishing herself for not keeping Jane up to date with her life.
"Oh yea? That's nice. What are you going to do in the city for the whole weekend…by yourself?"
Secretly Jane hoped that Maura's next words would not revolve around "meeting a secret lover" or "weekend tryst".
"Well my mother will be in town since she is overseeing a new art installation this month. She invited me stay with her at the Gramercy Park Hotel."
Maura smiled broadly, her eyes lighting up like a child's. Jane shared in the smile; partly because her friend was not visiting a secret lover and partly because Maura looked so damn adorable when she smiled like that.
"Haha, that's great Maura, I'm so happy that you'll get to spend some time with her. Do you want me to look after Bass?"
"Actually yes, I was supposed to ask you that on Monday to give you sufficient time to check your schedule. I'm sorry, that was rude of me."
"No problem Maur. My only plans this weekend are to kick back with a beer and maybe kick Frankie's ass at a game of basketball."
Maura laughed lightly and bit her tongue. She avoided reminding Jane of the nose injury she sustained the last time she beat Frankie.
"Then that works out perfectly. You are welcome to stay in the main house and use whatever you like. The pool cleaner has already cleaned out the pool and hot tub if you're interested. And I'll leave the fridge fully stocked with your favorite beer."
"Sounds good. Just one thing…is there any chance you can somehow forget to tell Ma I'll be right next door this weekend?"
"Jane…"
The Detective grunted and sighed.
"Fine."
The Detective spent her Saturday night in Maura's living room watching movies from the ME's extensive DVD collection while eating her favorite pizza and drinking her favorite brew. Maura really had stocked the fridge with all things Jane: beer, freshly made lasagna courtesy of Angela Rizzoli and cookies and cream ice cream. Halfway into the second chick flick Jane's thoughts began to wander towards her relationship with her best friend.
She began to realize how much Maura did for her out of kindness on a weekly basis. It was all the little things that came to mind, like offering to have her suits dry-cleaned or bringing her coffee from her favorite café in the morning. The detective chalked up the new surge of sappy emotions to the 4 beers and 2 romantic comedies, but she also admitted that she cared a great deal for Maura as well.
Tomorrow I'm going to do something nice for her to show her how much I appreciate everything she does for me.
At 10 a.m. on Sunday morning Jane Rizzoli awoke to the sounds of birds chirping outside the guest bedroom window of her best friend's deluxe abode. She stretched, reveling in the feeling of sleeping in late and the comfort of an expensive mattress. She always said that she slept better at Maura's place than her own apartment.
After brushing her teeth and pulling on a white tank top, she fed Bass and Joe and put a pot of coffee on. While opening the fridge to get cream she was reminded of the promise she had made herself the previous night.
Alright what's something that Maura needs to get done but won't do herself...
Looking around the meticulous home she ruled out the possibility of house-cleaning. Then it struck her.
"Her car! She said she need to get it washed, I'll just do it for her. Oh, I wonder if she has car wax", she said excitedly to her only captive audience. Joe simply barked and wagged her tail.
After a light breakfast of scrambled eggs, Jane got to work. She first searched Maura's closet for something she could get dirty but also avoid receiving a scolding for getting dirty. After a few minutes of rummaging through a storage box marked "for donation" Jane found an old, worn-out pair of cut off denim shorts.
"Perfect! She definitely won't be missing these. Although I will have to ask her when she ever wore these…can't imagine Maura in these at all."
Jane chuckled at the thought of how the ME must have dressed in the 80's. She then applied sunscreen and put her hair in a loose pony-tail. She looked down at Joe who was already standing in the hallway outside the garage door.
"Let's do this Joe."
It was a beautiful, warm Sunday and the drive from the airport was pleasurable. Maura had enjoyed her time with her mother and was looking forward to spending the remainder of her weekend with Jane. She had such a good friend in Jane, and she felt lucky to have people who cared for her deeply.
After the cab dropped her off at her front gate she made her way to her front door. Midway on the walkway she stopped in her tracks. A strange noise could be heard emanating from the back of the house.
What on earth is that noise? Is Jane having a party while I'm away?
Leaving her suitcase in the foyer she went back outside to investigate the source of the noise that was blaring from the driveway.
"Midnight, gettin' uptight. Where are you?
You said you'd meet me, now it's quarter to two
I know I'm hangin' but I'm still wantin' you.
Hey, Jack, It's a fact they're talkin' in town.
I turn my back and you're messin' around.
I'm not really jealous, don't like lookin' like a clown.
I think of you ev'ry night and day.
You took my heart, then you took my pride away."
The lyrics became more familiar to Maura as she approached the side of the house. A grin spread across her face as she remembered the first time she had heard the song.
"I hate myself for loving you.
Can't break free from the the things that you do.
I wanna walk but I run back to you, that's why
I hate myself for loving you."
Her first girlfriend had introduced her to the album, which she claimed she had stolen from her older brother at the time. The short relationship was kept private of course because Maura knew her parents would not approve of her dating a female…especially one who didn't come from a wealthy family nor attended private school. But Maura had enjoyed those thrilling make out sessions with the dark-haired, punky girl who had introduced her to Joan Jett. She hadn't thought about these memories in years.
Maura's thoughts were suddenly interrupted by a loud howl and the sight of a gyrating Jane Rizzoli wearing her old pair of cut-offs and washing her Prius. She could feel her pulse increase as a familiar sensation of longing began to creep from her abdomen to lower regions.
Oh my…
Unaware of her audience and deafened by the awesome guitar riffs Jane continued to sing the words she knew and dance to her favorite album. The Detective was in rock 'n roll bliss until…
"Ahem!"
Maura attempted to gain the Detective's attention as subtlety has possible over the loudness.
Feeling her face turn a deep shade of pink from the imminent embarrassment, Jane looked down at her soaked shirt and shorts before attempting to compose herself.
Awesome.
She turned away from the trunk of the car.
"Oh, hey Maura! You're back early, let me just turn down the music!"
The Detective managed to blurt out a greeting before turning quickly towards the CD player.
Happy for the distraction, Maura instructed herself to stop staring at Jane's soaked tank top and prepare for a friendly interaction. Emphasis on 'friendly'.
"I see you're washing my car. That's so nice of you; I've been meaning to get it cleaned."
"You're welcome. I'm almost done applying the wax coat actually."
Jane gestured towards the gleaming car.
"It looks wonderful and I'm glad to see that Joe has been helping."
The ME chuckled and pointed at a napping pooch whose scruffy head was currently resting on a large, yellow sponge.
"Hah. Yea she's been keeping me company. Why don't you go inside and change. You're probably tired from travelling. I'll join you in a sec, okay?"
The ME suppressed a yawn and agreed, suggesting she order their favorite Thai delivery for dinner.
As she turned towards the house Maura couldn't help herself from making one parting remark about Jane's appearance.
"You know, Jane, you look much hotter in those shorts than I ever did. You should hold on to them."
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