The LAPD Ball Part 2
Jane's viewpoint
"To friendship and new beginnings"
Sipping my champaign, I looked over the rim at Maura and saw the twinkling of her eyes; it was obvious she was intent on having a great time. I certainly hadn't missed her smile when Flynn had said everyone was part of the team.
Just seeing Maura having a good time made me happy, happy enough to overlook the uncomfortable shoes, the dress, the makeup and the rest, just to make her smile. 'God Rizzoli, Ana's right, you are so whipped.
To distract myself from that thought I looked around the group, an even dozen of us.
Flynn and Provenza were sharing a joke, Buzz smiling at Maura and complimenting her dress, Natalie and Ana smiling at everyone, standing there, arms around each other's waists. Gabriel and Brenda chatting, although Brenda's eyes were flicking back to Sharon where she was laughing at a comment Sanchez had made.
Tao leaned in to me.
"I don't think I've ever seen the Commander so relaxed and happy, I wonder what's going on" I wasn't going to out them before they'd even begun so I played dumb and smiled.
"I don't know, but I'm not complaining, it's a night for having a good time" He nodded and saluted me with his glass.
"It is that, cheers Jane" I smiled and we tapped glasses. I felt Maura's hand on my arm and turned to smile at her.
"Hey babe?"
"Jane, I was mentioning the video wall we had back at Boston Homicide to James here…' She nodded to Buzz; only Maura would call him James. "…and I thought you could do a better job explaining it as you're more familiar with it"
I laughed, that wall was Frost's pride and joy.
I started to explain the way it was set up and how we used it, how useful it was, to Buzz's obvious interest. Before I knew it Tao was also listening in. Talking to them it was obvious that they could see lots of uses for it so I found myself promising to put them in contact with Frost back in Boston.
That led into a discussion about what we missed since we relocated, a subject I was happy to drag Maura back into, I hated her not being a part of the conversation. Besides, watching her smiling and happy was all the reward I needed. I felt a gentle tap on the shoulder and turned to face Ana, standing there with a glass in her hand.
"See Jane, I promised I wouldn't leave you in the lurch" She smiled and indicated the dress she was wearing. I laughed, remembering our conversation a couple of weeks back in their kitchen.
"Well, so far half of what you've foretold has come true; we'll have to see about the other half" Ana just smiled and leaned in.
"No worries there Jane, you look great" I shrugged.
"You can thank Maura for that; she has all the taste when it comes to clothes"
"Well the red works really well, so I'll have to compliment her on her taste, in clothes if not in girlfriends" I laughed.
"I'm not the one who's been abandoned by their partner already" I nodded to where Natalie was laughing at one of Provenza's stories. Ana's eyes followed mine and she smiled.
"Nice try Jane" She leaned in, her voice dropping. "I'd heard that Maura and Nat had a hand in Brenda's outfit, they do nice work, damn nice work" I looked over at Brenda, admiring her, she looked, what was that word Nat and Ana liked using? Oh yeah, delicious.
She looked good enough to eat, and I could imagine that Sharon was thinking exactly that.
"I think we can safely say that if Brenda hadn't caught Sharon's eye before, she sure as hell would have now" Ana nodded.
"They both look great, they'll look even better together" I nodded and smiled, before leaning back and resuming my normal tone, in case anyone was wondering what we were talking about.
"Natalie has good taste too, well at least in clothes. You look really good Ana, white suits you" She blushed slightly.
"And red suits you" I was about to say something when Natalie stepped up, favouring us with a cheeky smile.
"I hate to interrupt this mutual admiration society, but we're supposed to be taking our seats for dinner soon and I would like to remind you both to behave yourselves tonight" I smiled; my voice as innocent as I could make it.
"Who us?" She wasn't having a bar of it.
"Yes you, both of you. Maura and I won't be sitting next to you to keep you in line, so behave" Ana immediately looked unhappy, something I felt as well.
"You won't?"
"No, unfortunately not, the seating plan sees us spread round the table, so behave yourselves or Maura and I will be forced to take stern measures tonight" I grinned, I love a challenge.
"What sort of stern measures?" Nat's eyes flashed to Maura and back again.
"Both our places have couches, you might want to consider that they're a lot less comfortable than our beds" Ana chuckled.
"To be a valid threat, It has to be believable Blondie" I grinned even wider.
"Yeah, you mean to tell me that you can look at Ana here, looking like that, then kick her out onto the couch tonight" Ana wasn't having a bar of it either.
"Nat, there is no way, having wrapped Jane up looking like that, Maura is going to deny herself the pleasure of unwrapping her too" I winked at Ana.
"Damn straight, besides, given how good they both look tonight, I'm looking forward to unwrapping Maura about as much as you are Nat here" I saw a faint red tinge start to bloom on Natalie's cheeks. Ana saw it too. It was fun teasing Nat for a change, normally it was the other way round.
"Jane's right Nat, it's a cliché, but while that dress looks lovely on you, it's going to look so much better on the floor of our bedroom" Maura's voice, warm with humour broke in.
"We've barely arrived and here you are already skipping to the after party Anastasia? Really?" I smiled at her as I slid an arm around her waist.
"Nat was telling us to behave during dinner or we're likely to be banished to the couch tonight" Ana smiled as she pulled Nat close.
"And I was telling Nat that a threat has to be believable to work and that one wasn't" Maura nodded once, before looking at Nat.
"I'm afraid they're right Natalie, I don't think the stick will work tonight. We need liberal use of the carrot, especially when they look this good. In fact Anastasia, you look good tonight, very, very good." Maura ran her eyes very slowly, very obviously up and down Ana, bringing a slight blush to her victim's cheeks.
I turned to look at her, eyebrow lifting at the very blatant flirting. Natalie narrowed her eyes for a moment.
"Good point Maura" She looked across at me and smiled a very slow, wicked smile as she ran her eyes over me slowly. "Jane darling, you look utterly, totally delicious in red. I'm looking forward to dancing with you tonight. I'll even let you lead, so I can snuggle up nice and close during the slow dances" I licked my suddenly dry lips as Natalie leaned in
"I'll try and keep my hands to myself but it'll be very hard, with you dressed like that, so don't be too upset with me if I can't"
She smiled, obviously aware of the impact her words were having as I felt myself reacting. I turned to look at Maura, wondering what she was thinking, but I didn't have to wait long. Maura was smiling at an obviously stunned Ana, her voice that soft, sexy purr I love, as she leaned forward a little.
"I'm also looking forward to the dancing Anastasia, or should that be Tsarina. Can I call you Tsarina? Natalie tells me that you have some wonderful moves on the dance floor, I can't wait to get some close-up hands-on experience" Ana swallowed as she blushed, not helped by Maura's next words.
"Like Natalie, I'll try and keep my hands to myself, but not too hard"
Maura and Natalie exchanged smiles and looked back at us.
"Of course, all of these good things are dependent on how well you both behave yourselves; after all, I believe the men from Major Crimes are also looking forward to dancing with us tonight" Natalie smiled.
"Yes, apparently David Gabriel does ballroom dancing and Andy Flynn's reportedly a very good dancer too, so we do have other options"
I looked up at Ana and we exchanged an 'oh shit' look, before I turned to look down at Maura.
"Nothing to worry about with us" Ana was equally certain, looking at Nat.
"Nope, we're good" The girls exchanged warm, satisfied smiles, before Natalie disengaged herself from Ana with a smile and a quick kiss
"Excellent, now if you'll excuse us both, Maura and I need to compliment Sharon on that dress, she looks amazing" With that they broke away, Maura giving me a quick parting kiss on the cheek, leaving us standing there, looking after them wistfully. Finally I spoke softly, looking down into my glass.
"Holy…" Ana's voice was quiet.
"…shit" I nodded.
"Y'know, I always thought Nat was going to be a bad influence on Maura, now I'm certain of it. Maura would normally never flirt with someone else like that"
Ana glanced across at me for a moment, before looking over to where Maura, Nat, Brenda and Sharon were clustered, laughing at something, then she looked back at me, her face pensive.
"I was going to say the same thing but the other way round, it's like Maura brings out Nat's playful, teasing side" I considered that for a moment.
"It's like mixing nitro and glycerine, the result's pretty explosive" Ana smiled.
"Well, last weekend confirmed that" I looked down at the floor for a moment, remembering that particular experience.
"Um yeah, that was… something else" Ana cleared her throat, obviously remembering that night as well.
"That it was" We stood there for a moment, before Ana leaned in close. I could smell her perfume, it was spicy and tantalising. "Did Maura tell you about Sharon's comment about last weekend?" I frowned, Maura hadn't mentioned anything.
"No? What comment?" Ana looked around quickly before leaning in closer, her voice low.
"Nat said that Sharon hoped that she and Brenda' would be able to come to The Intersection with us one night soon, plus that she would be up for the same dare" My head swung around to look at Sharon and Brenda nearby, before swinging back to Ana.
"Oh god, they know about that?"
I felt a combination of shock, embarrassment and excitement run through me. I couldn't imagine how I'd feel about Cavanagh back in Boston knowing that much about my personal life, but here my boss obviously knew. Not only knew, but approved.
"Yep and they want to play too" I shook my head, looking over the two beautiful women standing there chatting to our lovers.
"Wow, really? I'd never have guessed" Ana smiled softly.
"Yeah, looks like, I underestimated them too" I frowned.
"I didn't think they'd got past the flirting stage" She shrugged, the smile growing wider.
"I don't think they have either, but damn, those two when they finally get going…" I laughed.
"Yeah, stand back and watch the fireworks"
"Fireworks?" I turned to see Gabriel looking at us with an interested look on his face. Ana stepped in before I could speak.
"Just talking about how I haven't seen a good fireworks display in ages. What's the best one in LA?" I smiled 'nice save there Ana'. Gabriel smiled.
"Oh, that'd be the 4th of July fireworks, they're probably the biggest and best each year" I nodded.
"Great, I'd like to see those too" He nodded and leaned slightly in.
"You think you and Dr Isles would stay here in LA then?" I smiled.
"It's certainly something we'd consider; we're both enjoying it here" He nodded slowly.
"I can't speak for the whole squad, but I'd like you both to stay if possible" I smiled.
"That's nice of you to say so, I appreciate that" He looked awkward.
"Well, it's not really you so much, it's kinda more about Dr Isles" I folded my arms and looked at him. Suddenly realising what he'd said he tried to backtrack. "I mean, oh shit, that came out totally the wrong way, I didn't mean it like that" Sanchez had obviously heard Gabriel shove his foot in it and stepped up to us to hear him try and back out with his hide intact, a huge smile on his face. I just looked at Gabriel.
"This had better be good" I saw Ana trying to hide a dreadful smile at Gabriel's predicament as he stared into his drink.
"Well, the Doc, she does autopsies and I sit in on a number of them y'know, the Chief asks us all to do that" I nodded slowly and waited.
"Well not once, in the entire time she's been here, has the Doc handed me a body part to hold. Morales used to do that. All The Freaking Time! It gave me the creeps" Sanchez laughed.
"Yeah, he did that to a couple of victims, mostly the squeamish ones. Connolly in Robbery Homicide used to be his favourite target; he'd go green and run for the bathroom" I grinned, letting Gabriel know he was off the hook.
"My partner in Boston, Frost, he has a weak stomach. Great guy and a good detective, but he used to go green at the gills at the sight of a messy body. Maura ended up helping get him used to autopsies so he could face dead bodies, he's got a lot better lately. Mind you, the smell of a bad decomp never fails" Ana nodded.
"I used to have the same issues when I first started out; I got queasy at dead bodies. I'm better now" Sanchez looked interested.
"Oh?" She shrugged.
"A tour in Afghanistan and another in Iraq; after seeing your first few suicide and car bombings, you get used to it" Gabriel pointedly changed the subject.
"I don't know how we got onto this subject, but I don't think it's all that appropriate for tonight. This is supposed to be a good night" Ana smiled, conceding the point.
"I understand you do ballroom dancing David" He looked slightly embarrassed.
"Yeah, it sort of grew out of the church I go to, they arranged it for teenagers as a safe way to meet other kids and I liked it, so I kept it up" He smiled a little wistfully. "That's where I met my girlfriend Ann" Ana raised an eyebrow at Sanchez.
"What about you Julio?" He smiled.
"Dancing yes, ballroom no, it wasn't a big thing in the barrio. Where'd you learn?" She smiled.
"On army bases, my dad was in the army and used to attend formal dinners and functions in the Officers Mess. I went to a lot of them as a teenager as his escort and they included formal dancing" Her laugh was warm and happy. "I got to dance with a lot of dashing young army officers and cadets, unfortunately most of them were terrified to be dancing with the Colonel's daughter while he was watching, so they were on their best behaviour"
Gabriel and Sanchez smiled and both looked at me. I shrugged.
"I had an Italian mom; I was supposed to do ballet, which I absolutely hated, so she switched it to ballroom dancing, so I learned to dance. I stopped it when I could, but Maura likes to dance and was formally trained, so I started up again. It was either that or watch her out on the dance floor with guys trying to pick her up, so I started dancing again" Gabriel looked at me curiously.
"But the Doc will be dancing with us tonight; you're ok with that right" I smiled, a little nastily.
"Yep, because I'll be watching and everyone knows that I will personally kick your ass if anyone tries anything" Ana chimed in, smiling sweetly.
"The same goes for Natalie, but I know your intentions will be entirely honourable, mostly out of self-preservation"
They both smiled and nodded, the message obviously getting through.
I smiled at them as I realised I wasn't having any of the issues I thought I might tonight. I'd decided that I was going to be completely open with everyone tonight, that Maura and I were here as a couple and that we were more than happy that everyone knew it. So far everyone had accepted us here together which had made it easier.
As for being 'out and proud', I was already kinda out to the people we worked with and they hadn't given us any grief, I hoped the rest of the night went as well.
As for the proud part, well I couldn't have been any more proud of the fact that I was here with Maura, that we were here together and that I was her lover. I knew that half the men and more than a few of the women here tonight were jealous of the fact that I was here with her.
I'd seen the looks that Maura had been getting as we made our way through the room, men and women openly admiring her, for damned good reason. She was stunningly beautiful and I was proud to be the one person here she called hers.
I looked over to where she stood next to Natalie; each was beautiful, seeing the pair of them together was breathtaking. Blonde, beautiful, intelligent, charming, sexy, they drew the eye to them, they attracted desire and lust and awe, simply by their presence.
As I looked at them both standing there, I realised that I was simply blessed. One of the most beautiful women I'd ever met loved me and the other was our friend.
I glanced over to where Ana was charming Tao with a story from her Army days and smiled. We were both so damned lucky, sometimes I'd wake up in the middle of the night and just lie there, looking at Maura in the dim light and simply allow myself to understand this was real, that somehow, out of a completely fucked up life, I'd managed to find my way to love Maura Isles.
"It's not hard to work out what's on your mind Rizzoli" I started at the voice beside me, turning to look down at Provenza standing next to me.
"Oh, how so?"
"Well, in the time you've been in the squad, I've seen the whole range of emotions from you, pissed, happy, angry, laughing, confused and so on, but this has to be a first, I've never seen you do pensive before" I just looked at him with a raised eyebrow and tilted my head.
"Well, given you were standing there staring at the Chief, Natalie and the doc, I can guess it's neither Brenda or Natalie, so I'd hazard a guess and suggest you were looking at Maura and wondering how the hell you managed to get so lucky" I just stared at him for a moment then nodded slowly.
"Not bad, pretty much spot on" He smiled.
"Can't say I blame you, I've walked down the aisle a few times…" He pulled a face. "Too damn many actually and I can tell you when it's the right one" He shrugged. "Looking at you two, I'd say that's the right one"
"And exactly how many times you been married Provenza?" He smiled and nodded, conceding the point.
"Four times and before you say it, I loved each of them. The thing was I let the job get in the way of what I had" I noticed Maura looking our way one eyebrow raised. Provenza lifted his glass to her and saluted her with a smile, to which she smiled back happily. He leaned in to me.
"You've got a beautiful woman there Rizzoli, you got a lot to be happy about" I nodded slowly, my eyes on Maura where she was glancing over to us curiously as she chatted to Brenda.
"That I have, that I have" He stood a little straighter, obviously going to say his piece, before turning to face me directly, his face serious.
"When you do marry her Rizzoli, do what I didn't and remember what's really important. Jobs come and go, but you'll never find another like her"
He nodded to me and wandered off towards a waiter. I stood there, looking after him for a minute, watching as he chased the waiter down and grabbed a beer and a coke, before walking over to talk to Flynn and Sanchez, handing the coke to Flynn.
I stood there for a moment, thinking over his words. 'You'll never find another like her'
For the moment standing there alone with my thoughts, I considered the truth in what he'd said. He was right, I'm just a cop; she's so far out of my league that the idea of the two of us together was so unlikely as to be a bad joke. Somehow we'd managed to survive everything that life had thrown at us, overcome every obstacle, to be together.
I don't know what I'd done to win the lottery of life, but somehow I had, I woke up next to the best thing to ever happen to me every day and thanked god for my blessings.
Thinking back to what Provenza had said, I considered his advice. I would have thought after four attempts, he would have soured on the whole marriage thing, but he'd said 'when' not 'if' I marry Maura. I'd considered it, plenty of times. I couldn't imagine anyone else I could be with, to be married to, to have kids with and grow old together with.
It was sappy but true. The thought of marrying Maura wasn't scary, it just felt right. I wanted to, but I didn't want to rush it, we'd only been together for less than a year, but I wanted to do the right thing and marry her, I just needed to give it time.
"A penny for them Jane" I started at the warm voice from beside me, turning to look at Sharon, who'd appeared by my side, a warm smile directed at me. She looked great. I smiled back at her.
"Hey Sharon, if you don't mind taking compliments from a fashion disaster, you look amazing" She laughed gently.
"Looking at you, the last thing anyone would think was that you were a fashion disaster. You look good Jane, very good" I could feel my cheeks warm, everyone was complimenting me tonight.
"That's Maura's work, she's the fashionista in our house, I just wear what she suggests"
"She has good material to work with Jane, when you're not trying to hide it under work suits and slacks you're a beautiful woman" I looked down into my now empty glass, feeling the embarrassment flood through me. Being me I looked for an out.
"Um, can I get you a refill?" Her laugh was easy.
"Jane, you have to learn to take a compliment in the spirit it's given. I meant it, you look good" Spotting a circling waiter she beckoned him over. We swapped our champaign flutes for a white wine and a beer as Sharon smiled at me.
"You were standing here alone, staring off into the distance, definitely not here, so I decided to come and see if you needed some company" I shrugged.
"Just thinking, nothing bad" She looked at me, tilting her head to look me at with one eye over the rim of her glasses.
"Should I leave you to your thoughts or do you mind some company?" I smiled.
"Happy to have the company, I was just admiring Brenda, Natalie and Maura over there" She chuckled.
"Ah well, that's completely understandable, they're definitely worth admiring. I love Maura's dress, she looks lovely" I nodded.
"They all are. I'm kind of used to seeing Maura looking great and Natalie's usually stunning, but the Chief was a real surprise, I mean she's normally attractive, but tonight she looks amazing"
"That she does. I'm enjoying just watching her" I turned to her.
"I do that too, I can look at Maura all night, enjoying her having a good time" I paused for a moment, before pressing on. "I understand that you and Brenda are planning on getting together when you're ready?" She looked at me for a second, glancing over to Brenda before looking back, her voice a little lower.
"We're giving it time; I don't want to rush her. It's all new to her" I shrugged.
"It was to me as well, but once I got over that, well I'd never want to go back to how I was"
"Well, I'm hoping that's how it turns out here too" I noticed Ana take her leave of Buzz and walk over towards us as I spoke.
"I'm sure it will Sharon, it's just a matter of time" Ana stepped up on the other side of Sharon and leaned in.
"I noticed you two admiring the three prettiest blondes in the room, so I just had to come and join you" Sharon just smiled and looked down at the floor for a moment, as I smiled at Ana, who smiled back before looking at Sharon.
"So Sharon, Do you dance?" Her head came up, surprised by the question as she looked around.
"Uh, yes, I do. I'm not fantastic or anything, but I can dance" Ana smiled happily.
"Oh excellent, then we just have to get you and Brenda dancing together tonight" Sharon head swung back to Ana, a shocked look on her face, before she forced herself to relax, as her voice dropped to an urgent whisper.
"We can't do that, not in front of everyone. Brenda's not ready for that, hell she may never be ready to come out like that" Ana exchanged a smile with me before looking back at Sharon.
"Relax Sharon; Maura and Natalie apparently have something planned for tonight" I could see Sharon biting her lower lip uncertainly, looking across at Brenda. On one hand I could see she didn't want to cause Brenda any trouble, on the other she wanted to do it, so badly.
I almost laughed, the feared head of FID, she looked… well the only word that came to mind was cute.
"Don't worry Sharon. I can attest that when Natalie and Maura put their heads together, nothing but good things come of it" Sharon recovered and looked back at me, then glanced at Ana.
"I don't want to do anything that will cause Brenda problems" I laughed.
"I'm sure given the chance, she'll jump at it" Sharon still looked dubious.
"Maybe, but we'll have to be careful, as I said, I don't want to cause her any problems, nor push her to do something she doesn't want to do"
Ana smiled as she noticed the waiters moving through, indicating we should take our seats for dinner.
"Trust us Sharon, none of us want to cause either of you trouble, we just want you both to have some fun" I nodded.
As for making her do something she doesn't want to, we're talking about the Chief here" Sharon nodded as we started to move to the table.
"We'll see whatever happens" I smiled.
"The night's still young, Sharon, give it time"