Jane Rizzoli
Imagine your head is a baby elephant. Pretty heavy, am I right? Now imagine the baby elephant is smashing cymbals together over and over and over again. Pretty loud, am I wrong? Then try lifting your baby elephant head off a perfectly comfortable cloud-like pillow to stop the smashing cymbals by answering your phone.
"Shut up, I'm tryna sleep!" I exclaim, in my head, but verbally it comes out as a soft murmur resembling, "ShaaMmtawsseeb."
I groaned into the pillow, but when the noise stops, I sighed and make a note to myself to put that damn thing on silent forever and ever, amen.
Not even a minute later, the phone rings again.
I peaked through an eyelid only to find that my hair is all over my face. The sun coming in from the windows shocks my body even more awake. I rolled over to the other side, gently placing my hand down finding only cool sheets.
I whimpered in pain as I pushed myself up on my shaky forearms. I slowly looked left... then right. This is not my bedroom.
I looked down. Oh... that explains the cool breeze. I'm naked.
Still not yet alarmed, I reached for my stupid smart phone on the arm of the couch. With one push of a button, the screen lights up.
Sunday 11:45 | 9 missed calls from Maura.
"Holy shit!"
Forgetting the ache in my head, I jumped off the couch and fell to the ground when the tangled sheets refuse to loosen their grip on me. There's no time to dwell on that though as I started scrambling around the room to find my clothes. Under the couch I found my panties, then dangling off a lamp shade I spotted my lace bra, but nothing else.
No longer caring about my state of undress, I walked to the kitchen following an unknown blurry path. The smell of coffee carried me all the way as I grabbed the first hot mug I saw.
I leaned against the kitchen counter, mug in hand, staring out the window above the sink, into the backyard. Not hearing Casey's entrance, he slides his arms around my bare waist. I took in his scent as he rested his chin on my shoulder. I could feel the corner of my mouth turning upward.
"You're up early this morning." I turned to give him a proper hug.
"I couldn't sleep so I decided to make some coffee." He signals to the cup I was now holding in my hand.
After taking the first gulp, I scrunched my face up, sticking my tongue out as if in response to my gag reflex, "What the fuck is this? Decaf?"
"One too many, huh?" Casey chuckled a bit to my annoyance before having another bite of his morning snack.
"God, you're giving my hangover a hangover." But Casey was too busy munching away to reply. "Someone's got the munchies."
"Here, have a muffin. You look like a hurricane had it's way with you."
"You would know."
His chewing slows down a bit and he averts his gaze from me, grinning in mirth, "You mean you don't remember?"
My expression softens as I reminisce about last night. I had no problem walking around in only my undergarments before, but now I felt a strange sense of overexposure. I had drunken sex with Casey.
Now embarrassed, I had took the action of refilling the mug. Casey grabs it from my hand and empties the entire contents into the sink.
"Casey!"
Keeping me away, Casey holds me securely at bay, "I think you've had enough."
"I only had one..." I held out one finger with a pained expression on my face. "You're so bossy," I huffed.
"Am not," he affronted.
"Are too. You're just all polite and nice about it."
Casey's and I debate was interrupted by a little girl with wild curls in her graphic tee and ruffled striped pajama shorts, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes.
I bent down and kissed her on the forehead. "Good morning baby," I whispered into her ear.
"Morning Mommy" she yawns and cuddles into my side, looking with her dark colored eyes at her father. "Morning Dada." Her voice was more of a raspy whisper.
"Morning Izzy." Casey smiled, lifting the young girl off the floor and into his arms where he began to tickle her side.
More awake now than ever, Isa's sweet giggles echoed loudly throughout the big house.
I stood back up, smiling at the sight of my daughter and Casey enjoying one another's company.
"Mommy, help!" Isa giggled a plea for me to get Casey off of her.
"You got yourself into this mess, you can get yourself out." I laughed along with my daughter.
"No fair!"she yells and Casey lets up.
Then the two looked at me and smiled and I slowly backed away. Those looks could only mean one thing: The tickle war had begun.
__________
Maura ended up spending the rest of the day at the Rizzoli's mansion, nursing me back to sound mental health using her own wackadoodle methods while Casey took Isa to the Boston Commons, the largest park in the city to let her run wild. We usually spent our Sunday's together whenever I was free from work, but today I needed this time apart.
We lied on my bed side by side staring at the beautifully painted ceilings.
"So... what do you remember from last night?" I asked Maura, looking down at my fellow best friend whose been patiently waiting all day for me to come back to earth.
Maura narrows her eyes and sticks her tongue out in deep thought and concentration. "It's all a bit blurry after we started playing those made-up drinking games,"she says hesitantly.
"And for some reason, I kept losing!"
"Don't beat yourself up about it," she bursts out into a fit of laughter and pats me on the head. "What about you?"
"Only bits and pieces," I told her. "Well, I remember the boys line dancing on top of the bar while clumsily spilling liquor everywhere, and some guy..." I trailed off, the name escapes me.
"Yeah, Darren Crowe. I saw that part."
"You were there the whole time? Why didn't you come say hello?"
"I did, but you and Casey were too busy having eye-sex." Maura waggles her eyebrows.
"Wha- that's not- we were drunk."
"Tipsy maybe, but that had nothing to do with it."
"Anyway," I continued. "We left and came back home..."
"Ooh... The plot thickens." Maura rests her chin on our interlinked fingers. "Story time."
"I, uhm," I blushed and covered my eyes with an arm across my face.
Maura's jaws plummets. "Oh. My. God. It was THAT good?!" Maura chimed, emphasizing the word 'that'.
I rolled my eyes, wincing from the loud tone of her voice.
Maura let out a small chuckle, "Sorry, I forgot."
I haven't been able to speak to anyone about any of the conflicting feelings I had, but with Maura I felt a kindred spirit. Maybe she could make sense of some of these emotions I've been experiencing.
I shook my head not believing my own flashback, "I wasn't in my right mind last night."
Maura smiled, "Who can think straight when Casey Jones's naked on top of you?"
I went blank. I had no idea how to answer that question.
Maura smiles at the thought, but that quickly turns into a devilish smirk.
I adverted her tease and found myself staring at the beautifully painted ceilings again. "Why do I even bother?"
