The Next Chapter (A Rizzoli & Isles fanfiction)

17.

Maura and Jane took the elevator down to the lobby floor, then exited through the main entrance of the hotel. The second they were outside, Maura put her sunglasses on and smiled as the sun hit her skin. 
"This really is a beautiful day." Maura giggled ever so slightly, linking her arm through Jane's. It was an action that she didn't even second guess. Jane didn't flinch away, so there really wasn't a need to overreact about this simple gesture of closeness. 
"It is. I kinda wished I brought my sunglasses now." 
"You didn't grab them from the hotel room?"
"No, I left them in Boston!" With a shake of her head, Jane laughed. 
"Oh, Jane!" Maura lightly tapped the back of Jane's hand as they walked away from the hotel. 
"It's fine, Maur'."
"We'll stop and get you some on the way to the Notre-Dame." 
"Shopping? Maura, no."
"Fine but do you have any idea how harmful those sun rays can be to your eyes?"
"Okay! Fine, fine. /One/ shop and that's it, okay?"
"Glad you agree, because there's a Zara just down the road." 
"Trust you to know that..."

Maura guided Jane straight down the streets of Paris. She knew exactly where she was going, because she had done a little bit of research before booking that hotel. She was expecting to be in Paris alone, so she had to make sure she knew her way around a little. She knew it was a straight line down to Zara, Sephora and a few other shops. But they weren't there for shopping today. Maura knew that. All they were going to Zara for was some sunglasses. Nothing else. 

When they arrived at Zara, Maura freed herself from Jane's arm and started to look around. She couldn't help but to be drawn in by the clothes. There was something so captivating about fashion for Maura. The way things were stitched, the stories behind where the item came from, the way a shoe was moulded perfectly to fit the feet of the many women who walked amongst her on this earth. Maura was fascinated by fashion, but taking one look at Jane, she could see the other female didn't feel the same way. 

"Maur', you promised no shopping." Jane groaned like a child. 
"Yes, I know. I'm sorry." Maura shook her head and then placed down the blouse she had been looking at. It was a silk material, in a beautiful pearly white, with buttons down the middle and cuffed sleeves. Maura would look so good in this blouse, but Jane was right. Now wasn't the time. After hanging the blouse back on the rail, Maura walked with Jane to locate some sunglasses. They stopped at a stand of sunglasses and Maura stood back so that Jane could pick. 

The detective pulled several different pairs from the rail, trying every single one she picked on. She picked one with a heavy black frame, but decided it was too big for her face. Then she picked a pair of white ones, with a narrow frame, but she didn't like those either. A pair of black and amber printed ones went straight back on the rail the second Jane saw them in the light properly. 
"Maura, I can't decide. Can you help?"
"Yeah, of course."  Maura stepped in and looked carefully at each pair. She stopped upon a pair of aviators, with a very thin frame and a yellow/brown tinted lens. "How about these?" Maura handed them to Jane, who put them on after careful inspection of them. She grinned as she looked into the mirror.
"These are the ones. Thanks, Maur'." Taking them off, she began to walk towards the checkout, but then headed back towards the front of the store. 
"Jane? Where are you going? The counter is here." Maura furrowed her brows as she stood near the sunglasses rack, watching Jane walk off. 

She waited for a few seconds, trying to see what Jane was doing, but she was simply too short to see over the rails of clothes centred in the store. Maura was about to go and find her when she saw Jane emerge from the crowd, with a hanger in her hands. The blouse Maura was looking at. 
"I'm buying this for you." 
"What? No, Jane. I don't-"
"-No arguments. I said /you/ couldn't shop. I didn't say I couldn't." Flashing a mischievous smirk, Jane paid for both her items and then left the store with Maura, rocking her brand new shades. 

"Thank you for doing that, Jane. You really didn't have to."
"But I wanted to." Jane nudged Maura lightly, handing over the Zara bag with Maura's new blouse in. "Right come on tour guide. What way is the Notre-Dame?" Maura was rather impressed by Jane's pronunciation that it took her by surprise slightly. She laughed a little at Jane and then signalled for Jane to head right after leaving the store. 

Maura had google maps pulled up on her phone so that she wouldn't get lost. She followed the arrow down a straight path, until it guided them through the most beautiful park she had ever seen. There, stood Saint-Jacques Tower. Maura stopped, fishing her camera out of her bag and taking a few photos of the tower. It was breathtaking. Jane also grabbed her camera and took a few snaps of it. 

"Wow, look at that..." Maura muttered under her breath. 
"Stand in front of it and I'll take a picture of you with it." Jane said with a small laugh. Maura stood in front of the tower, on the gravel path and smiled. Jane took the picture and then handed Maura her camera. "Take a photo of me with it, but stand as far back as you can." Jane asked. Maura furrowed her brows and did as Jane said. Then, Jane raised her hand, palm flat and upright. "Does it look like I'm holding the tower?" Jane posed with her mouth wide open and Maura checked the image. It really did look like Jane was holding the tower. She nodded her head and snapped the shot, laughing as she showed Jane. 
"I've gotta send that to Frankie later. But I think we have somewhere to be right now." After placing the cameras back in Maura's bag, Jane linked her arm through Maura's and continued on their journey, leaving Saint-Jacques Tower. 

They headed straight down again, passing through Pont Notre-Dame. They stopped to take a thousand photos before continuing down their journey. They didn't get lost once, but the walk was much longer than the alleged 17 minutes google suggested, simply because they had stopped to take photos and had stopped in a little shop on the way to buy a few bottles of water to keep hydrated in this heat. But it wasn't long before they finally arrived at their destination, linked arm-in-arm, filling the journey with endless conversation and chatter.