Blue
Chapter 7
Disclaimer: Jane Rizzoli and Maura Isles do not belong to me. No infringement intended and no profit will be made from their use.
Early Thursday afternoon, Jane sat in her office reading through the case files. Most of the headquarters building was deserted. Most of the detectives were at home or wherever they went for Thanksgiving and simply on call if anything came up. Any officers that actually had to work today were out on patrol.
Jane's phone rang and she answered, "Hi, Ma."
"Jane where are you?"
"At work."
"Work?" Angela yelled. "It's Thanksgiving. Frankie and I are waiting for you."
"I, uh, I'm really involved in something and-"
"Maura's not here," Angela interrupted.
"She's not? Where is she?" Jane asked.
"Her father had business in New York City, so she's visiting him there for the holiday."
"Oh."
"Yeah, oh."
"Okay, I'll be there soon."
Maura arrived in New York City on Wednesday evening and checked into her hotel. Her father was busy so she ate alone and went to bed early. They spent Thanksgiving together. After breakfast they walked through Central Park and then watched some of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, something they had done a few times when Maura was little. And they had a simple Thanksgiving dinner together at the hotel.
On Friday her father had more meetings during the day and it was unseasonably warm so Maura spent the day wandering around Manhattan. They often spent holidays here when Maura was growing up and Maura revisited many of the spots she remembered going to and hadn't seen in years. Seeing the places that had been pleasant memories for her made Maura long not for more time with her mother and father, but for Boston and her new family, and of course for Jane.
Friday evening Maura and her father met at Per Se for dinner. In the middle of dinner her father said, "Darling, you know I don't like to pry, but you seemed preoccupied all of yesterday and you are awfully quiet tonight. Do you want to talk about what's been bothering you?"
"I think I made a mistake...about someone... and I'm not sure how to fix it."
"Well, that was sufficiently vague."
"I'm not sure how to explain it and I'm afraid you'll think I'm ridiculous if I try."
"Maura, if you want to talk about it I'm willing to listen but why don't I say a few things first. I am so proud of you and what you have achieved. And beyond that, I'm proud that you decided to use your skills and abilities to help people, for something larger than yourself. But I never had any doubt that you would have success in your professional life. I have always hoped that you would have an equal amount of success in your personal life, but I'm afraid your mother and I failed you in some way there. Perhaps we should have encouraged your emotional development with the same enthusiasm we had for your intellectual development. When there was conflict or things got difficult with friends you tended to retreat. We shouldn't have let you do that. Maura, you are an extraordinary person. If you've found someone who is worthy of you and who understands you, don't throw it away just because it became difficult."
Maura's eyes were bright with tears and she said softly, "What if I already ruined it?"
"It's never too late to fix it."
Jane arrived at Maura's house about an hour later after going home first to take a shower. It was the first time she'd been inside Maura's house in almost three months. Walking inside she was immediately hit with Maura's familiar smell and was tempted to turn around and walk right back out of the house.
But Jane didn't get a chance to leave because Angela was right there saying, "Finally, Jane."
"Hi, Ma." Jane gave Angela a kiss on the cheek and then found Frankie on the couch and sat down next to him. "Hi Frankie, how are you feeling? You look good."
"I'm doing good. I'm going to be ready to go back to work in a few weeks."
"That's great, Frankie." Jo Friday came padding into the room then and jumped up on the couch, tail wagging, and promptly rolled over on her back. "Hey, there's my girl," Jane said and rubbed Jo's tummy. "Are you having a good time with Uncle Frankie?"
"We're good. I'm happy to keep her until I'm ready to go back to work. It's nice to have her around when I've got nothing else to do."
"Good. I think I was neglecting her. I'm glad you can take care of her a little longer." Jane lowered her voice and said, "How do you think Ma is doing with, you know, the separation?"
"I don't know. It's hard to say if she's any different than she was before. As long as she has people to fuss over she's okay I think. It's probably good for her to be away from Pop for awhile. I'm not sure if you could say she was really happy before."
"Jane, Frankie," Angela called, "Come sit down, dinner is ready."
Jane and Frankie took their seats on opposite sides of the table with Angela at the head. "This looks amazing, Ma," Frankie said.
"Thank you, honey. Will you carve the turkey?" As Frankie cut slices of turkey and distributed them, Angela continued, "And we all need to remember to thank Maura for letting us use her house while she's away. Have you seen Maura recently, Jane?"
"Please don't start, Ma."
"It's a simple question-" Angela started but Jane interrupted.
"Don't play innocent. You damn well know what you are trying to ask."
"Jane! Watch your mouth, it's Thanksgiving."
"Excuse me, can I ask what the heck you two are talking about?" Frankie interrupted.
"So, this is Thanksgiving now, huh? The three of us bickering at each other?" Jane said.
Angela sighed. "It doesn't have to be like this. Next year I hope Maura will be here. Tommy will hopefully be here. Who knows, maybe even your father will be with us."
"That's a nice thought, Ma, but I think the only way that's going to happen is if you have Thanksgiving without me."
"Jane!" Frankie and Angela both yelled at the same time.
"It's okay. I know everything is my fault. Maura's not here because of me. Pop isn't here because of me. Hell, even Tommy is probably still locked up because of me."
"Jane, would you cut it out!" Frankie growled.
Jane stood up from the table. "I'm sorry. I-"
"Sit down, Jane!" Angela yelled, and then once Jane had sat more softly said, "You may have succeeded in driving Maura away and I know you are trying hard at driving everyone else away, but it is not going to work with us. You are going to sit and eat Thanksgiving dinner with us and you are going to be thankful for all the good things in your life you haven't managed to lose yet. It may not be what we are used to, but the three of us still have each other and we sure as hell are going to appreciate it today."
All three ate in silence. Frankie was somewhat bewildered at the events of the afternoon and kept glancing back and forth and Jane and Angela waiting for them to explain. As they finished eating, Jane said, "I'm sorry about what I said earlier. I am truly thankful that we are together today. There's been a lot going on with me the past few weeks and I am probably not dealing with it as well as I should be. If neither of you mind, I think I will clean up the dishes and then head home to try to get some sleep."
Angela cleared her throat and said, "If that's what you want, that's fine, Janie. But remember what I said and think about what you want Thanksgiving to be like next year. Come on Frankie, let's go talk in the guest house."
Jane cleaned up and drove home but instead of going upstairs to her apartment she walked around her neighborhood until she found a bar that was open. She went to the bar and ordered a Jameson with a MGD64 back, downed the shot and the beer and then ordered another round. This time she sipped the beer slowly.
As she neared the end of her third beer a woman sat down on the stool next to her and said, "Are you Irish?"
"No, I'm Italian," Jane answered and finished her beer.
"Drinking boilermakers alone on Thanksgiving. I haven't seen such melancholy since my Irish grandfather died."
Jane looked fully at the woman next to her for the first time and said, "That's the most original pickup line I've ever heard."
"Why do you think it was a pickup line?"
"Do you want to go somewhere more private?" Jane asked.
"Sure."
"See, it was a pickup line. My apartment is a few blocks away."
"Okay."
They walked to Jane's apartment mostly in silence, hunched against the chill that had settled in the air once the sun went down. Once inside, Jane went to the kitchen, opened two beers and handed one to her guest, who had followed her into the kitchen. They clinked bottles and Jane took a long drink before pressing herself against the woman leaning against her counter. Jane kissed her and when the woman kissed her back, Jane pressed against her harder, pressing a thigh between her legs. Jane slipped her hand under the woman's shirt and palmed a bra-clad breast, squeezing roughly.
The woman turned her head away from Jane's lips and with her hands pushed Jane back. "Hey, slow down, what are you doing?"
"Oh for christ's sake, isn't this what you came here for?"
"I don't know."
Jane walked to the other side of the kitchen and over her shoulder said. "Well, I know that during the time I could spend fucking you, I can forget that I'm drinking alone on Thanksgiving as you so helpfully pointed out. If that wasn't your intention too you should probably get the hell out."
"Jesus Christ. Yes, I think I will leave now."
Jane heard the sound of her door closing. She finished the rest of her beer, lay down on her couch, and fell asleep.