Elliot watched Olivia reorganize her desk for the third time that day. She huffed, her body feeling tight from fidgeting. He knew something was bothering her. The whole department had failed to get Harper any justice and it had been months. It was bothering hin. He knew it was bothering her.
When she leaned her head in her hand and just glared at the folders on her desk he leaned forward. What's eating you?" He asked, the ghost of a smile on his lips. Olivia sighed again. "Is it Harper? She took the line-up really hard." Olivia caught his eyes and then avoided them.
"It's everything." She answered, her voice uncharacteristically solemn. The smile and playfulness disappeared from Elliot's face.
"What is it?" Olivia caught his eyes again, battling with whether or not she even wanted to say something.
"I've been, uh, thinking about something. Something Brian said to me." Elliot's eyes narrowed into two blue slits.
"Brian?" She nodded.
"I took your advice and just literally acted like that night didn't mean anything." Elliot sniffed.
"Did it?" She shook her head.
"No. Not really." He leaned forward.
"So, what is it?" Olivia folded her arms across her chest.
"He said that I'm definitely getting married. And when I do it will be an affair to this job." A vein pulsed in Elliot's neck, his protective streak over his partner growing. "Do you think he's right?" He looked into deep, brown eyes.
"You want me to say something to him?" Was his only response, fingers drumming aggressively across his desk.
She laughed a little. "No, I don't wish a conversation with Bri on anyone. He's the least reserved or nuanced person I've ever met." She said, her face troubled again. "It just caught me off guard. And he seemed like he really meant it." She rubbed the back of her neck in discomfort.
"C'mon. Don't give Cassidy free rent in your head." Said Elliot, pointing at her with a pen. "He's never gonna have a shot with someone like you again and he knows it. He just wanted to make you feel how he felt about it, don't let him." Olivia nodded, figuring he was probably right.
Elliot slugged on his jacket and handed Olivia hers. "C'mon. No more talk about Cassidy. Dinner at the diner, on me." He grinned, sticking his pen behind his ear. Olivia smiled truthfully for the first time in a few hours.
"Okay, be ready in five." She watched Elliot head through the door and she wondered if Brian had meant a relationship would be an affair to this job, or maybe to something else.