Whenever I woke that night, I felt Mauras body close to mine which was a very comforting feeling. We ended up sparing dinner and making love repeatedly instead and I loved every second of it.
There was no awkwardness when we awoke the next morning to the sunfilled room. No shame as we stayed in bed for a while, our naked bodies touching. My phone rang and I ignored it. "10 more minutes." I whispered and Maura agreed with a humming sound which made me chuckle.
With most participants having left by now, there was no hurry anyways I thought. The person who was calling me, thought otherwise though and the phone kept ringing until I finally reached to fetch it from the nightstand.
A grunt escaped my mouth when I read ma's name on the screen. "Pick up before she books a flight to drag you home." Maura whispered with a teasing grin before leaving the bed to my dismay. I watched her walk towards the bathroom, enjoying the soft swaying moves of her hips, when the phone dragged me back into reality.
"Ma?" I asked, already bracing myself for the upcoming reproaches. Then I listened to ma's accusations in silence, tamed by the blissful soreness that came with a night of good sex. My mood was great – no matter how annoying ma was about me giving her a heart attack for not picking up the phone at her first call. I knew that she was worried, yet I couldn't change my job, knowing that being in the field was the only thing that made me happy.
Dark clouds pushed their way into my blue sunny sky though when I realized that Maura and I were practically living thousands of miles apart and that this couldn't last forever.
But before I could deepen the thought the door to the hallway moved and I blinked when a little girl moved into the room. We had moved to Mauras home because the conference was practically over, and the precinct wouldn't pay for my nice hotel room any longer. Maura had insisted for me to come home with her, wanting to spare me having to stay at a shabby motel room or probably already planning last nights events.
It had been only in the driveway when she had told me that we had still to share a room, because the other rooms were undergoing some renovations. But she had assured me, that we would have our peace as Sophie was only be returning by the end of the next week.
Well, the five-year-old was standing in the doorway to the bedroom clear as day now and staring at me with wide eyes. I could only imagine that I must give her the same shocked look that she gave me.
Then the door was pushed open wider by a tall redhaired woman who immediately shrieked at my sight. I was glad for having covered my naked body earlier, but the womans eyes literally seemed to x-ray through the covers.
I heard my mothers' voice still chatting over the phone and hoped to find my speech again soon to tell the lady to stop staring at me.
"My tommy hurts." Sophie wined which seemed to bring the redhair back to her senses. She turned and shoved the girl out of the doorway. Maura chose that moment to exit the bathroom and swiftly swirled a towel around her body before following the retching sound from the hallway.
"Ma, I hmustgo. Sorry." I said and hung up. I heard some soothing words towards the girl while Maura reentered the room to get some more towels and stuff to clean up. She threw me some sort of helpless and begging look before leaving again to clean up the mess, while Belinda then obviously moved Sophie to her bedroom and I waited, holding my breath.
They were gone for 15 minutes and I had managed to get dressed. I sat on the bed, feeling like an intruder. I wasn't oblivious to how well Maura and the redhair worked as a team in this situation. After a while Maura and Belinda began a discussion in the hallway. At first it was a whisper that reminded me that both had once been lovers. I suddenly felt the urge to leave without turning my head.
My heart hurt and I felt jealous. But most of all I felt stupid. What the hell had I been thinking? It was too obvious that both still had a deep connection and probably always would have. While wondering and chiding myself for being stupid at the same time I stood and walked to the door. Gingerly I peaked my head into the hallway to find Maura and Belinda standing close – too close for my taste. They were still whispering. But the whispering became louder after I had managed to sneak to the staircase.
Well, I doubted anyways that they would notice me as they were deeply emerged in their talk. But I could now hear Belindas voice demanding Maura how she could dare to bring another woman home to their house, when she hadn't even moved out completely.
I searched my mind if Maura had ever mentioned how long they had been separated while stealing my way further down the stairs. Unfortunately, I could only hear a murmur when Maura replied. But despite not hearing what she was saying I could clearly detect that she was mad from the tone that she used.
Making my way downstairs I breathed a sigh of relieve. Glancing around I missed the pile of luggage on the floor and stumbled over it which produced a loud thud. "Damn!" I cursed under my breath and listened to hear the by now familiar sound of Mauras footsteps approaching the stairs. I glanced at the door and considered running, but then decided to wait. As an adult I had to wear my actions and stand my grounds.
Maura gave me a surprised look as she walked down the steps. She looked angry and exhausted. We hadn't slept much the previous night and it was showing on her face. She still looked stunning though but that was probably due to the towel that was not hiding much of her body.
I stood a bit taller when she approached me, her hands reaching out to me. The red hair was watching us from the top of the staircase and gave me a mischievous look. I mused that she hadn't been the one to end the relationship.
Unwilling to let the good doc touch me I took a step back. I wasn't mad at her. It just seemed the right thing to do in this situation when things between her and her ex clearly weren't resolved. Or maybe I just used this as an excuse in this overwhelming situation. Suddenly Belinda and Sophie had become real and neither of both seemed to be happy about my being here. I felt like an intruder.
I silently added the long distance which I wouldn't have needed to convince me of how stupid this idea or fantasy of me being with Maura had been.
Hazel eyes turned confused and sad when I explained that this had been a bad idea and I quickly turned when I saw tears burning in her eyes. The last thing that I saw was a simple nod of understanding.
My heart was aching, and my steps were heavy when I walked back upstairs to fetch my dufflebag. The red hair gave me a triumphant look which made me angry – so angry that I wanted to push her down the stairs. But as a grown up and a detective I couldn't do that, right?
I tried a grin of my own and underlined it with a shrug, thinking that this person had more than one problem. Somehow, I couldn't help but feel sorry for Maura and the evening she was facing. After seeing Mauras sad look I assumed that she was not wanting a relationship with Belinda anymore.
"See you tomorrow?" I asked, acting the adult that I didn't feel, and she simply nodded. She didn't try to reach out to me this time which made me sad now. It wasn't even an hour ago, when we had lain in bed with a huge smile on our faces and now we were all sad. Nothing was left of the glitter and good mood as I walked out of the door.