Jane Rizzoli
"Rizzoli." I hadn't bothered to look at the phone before picking up but a second later wished I had. My mother's voice came from the other end of the line and I rolled my eyes.
"Hello, Jane," Ma sounded quite happy, or more to the point, pleased.
"Hey, Ma, is something wrong?"
"No, nothing's wrong. Why would anything be wrong, Jane?"
"Well, I don't know, Ma, because you know that I have a date tonight and you're calling me - possibly in the middle of it," My voice sounded annoyed, as it so often did.
"Are you - in the middle of your date yet? I thought it was still early and maybe you weren't with him yet..."
"No, I'm on my way to the restaurant now... hey, watch it, scumbag!" Another car had cut me and I rammed the heel of my hand on my horn. "Son of a...," I caught myself.
"Jane, that's not very lady-like," my mother scolded.
"Yeah, well, with the way people drive in Boston, you can either be a lady or dead," I gave back. I hated driving in my hometown. While Bostonians were always in a hurry, the majority of tourists never was. Which would make the guy behind me a native because he was honking for me to move.
"Oh, yeah? You are lucky I have a date or I would cuff you to my bumper and bring you into the station, moron."
"Jane, really," I heard my mother again and I rolled my eyes.
"Was there something you wanted, ma?" I asked deviding my attention once again between my mother on speaker and Boston traffic.
"I just... what are you wearing, Jane?"
"What... what am I wearing, ma? I... a dress! What else would I be wearing?" I barked at the phone, did my mother really think I was a social incompetent?
"Which dress?" Ma continued her line of questioning.
"A... a new one," came the befuddled answer.
"Really?" Ma once again had to restrain herself to keep from awwwing at the sweetness of this whole date. It was better than she had hoped it would be.
"Yes, mom. I went shopping, got myself a dress and..."
"What color?" Ma interrupted which earned her another unseen eye-roll.
"It's blue, and I bought shoes to match," I actually smiled for a moment. It was a very nice dress, long flowing, it hugged me in all the right places and was indeed rather revealing - but it was what I wore underneath that always gave me that little coy smile. Something that was always for Casey's eyes only.
"That's wonderful, darling."
I wheeled my car into a parking lot and turned off the engine. I closed my eyes for a moment, steadying my breathing. I was about to go on a date with Casey. I could do this.
"Ma, I'm at the restaurant, I need to go."
"Alright, honey... I..." Ma was at a loss for words. "Have fun tonight, Jane. Just be yourself."
"Be myself, mom?"
"Yes, of course, Jane. You are a wonderful person, you don't have to hide that." I looked bewildered for a moment, then my expression softened and I smiled happily.
"Thank you, ma. Good night."
"Good night, Janey. I love you." I felt a surge of emotions at the words. Of course, I knew that my mother loved me, Angela Rizzoli was a firece mother, protective, critical, yes, but always there for any of her children who needed her. For most of my life, though, it had been my brothers who needed her most, not me. But now, with all that was happening between me and Casey... I needed my mother's support.
