Furniture Shopping
By Plead The Fifth
Disclaimer: The characters- not mine. The premise- notice the author's name. Profit?- not a cent.
One day, it could have been any day, in point of fact it was a Tuesday, Olivia and Alex were out shopping. The unconventional furniture store appeared merely exclusive. The 'by appointment only' sales approach just off putting enough to shed the casual innocent client. The fact that an 'obtained by personal reference only' code word was required for an appointment ensured complete discretion. All the furniture itself was high end, finest materials, distinctively tasteful in design with discrete alternative amendments in purpose. The saleswoman appeared strictly professional and indeed exuded detailed knowledge of the products and an indifferent air to their uses. Maybe her deep crimson skirt was cut too high, her crisp black button blouse unbuttoned immodestly too low, but it only added to the sub textual ambiance.
"As you can see," the saleswoman emphasized her point with a sweeping gesture low over the surface, "this desk has a comfortable width as well as length. The edges and corners are slightly padded, covered with a tasteful contrasting accent of well conditioned, durable, high grade leather. The surface wood itself is hand varnished to remain smooth and warm to the touch."
Alex trailed her fingers over the surface of the desk, her thumb caressing smoothly across the slightly beveled padded edge. She turned fully towards Olivia and grinned mischievously. Olivia was standing off to the side, her arms crossed over her chest, shaking her head, but her own answering smirk gave away her interest. Finally Olivia relented and uncrossed her arms. She sauntered over to the desk and leaned against the side, noticing with no small amount of anticipation the pleasant way the edges gave into the pressure of her thighs rather than biting into the tensed muscles.
The saleswoman continued, "There's a hidden drawer underneath to hold accessories or necessities."
Olivia dropped to her knees to inspect the veracity of the feature, her interest growing despite her initial reticence.
The saleswoman noticed Olivia's position and quickly moved on with her next selling point. "Plus, if you'll notice, there is plenty of negotiable space beneath the desk while remaining completely concealed. The low front panel provides absolute cover. Besides," the saleswoman continued with a conspiratory smile, "it's also nice to simply be able to remove your heels while you work, hmm?"
"Indeed," Alex smiled and nodded her accent to the statement.
Olivia was just about to crawl into the space for her own assessment when a new voice forced her to freeze.
"Alex, I must admit, this is a surprise. Shouldn't be, I guess, but there it is."
"Sonya," Alex acknowledged while chancing a quick glance down to Olivia's position. Olivia was kneeling beside the desk, not under it. 'Nope, certainly not concealed', Alex realized. She returned her full attention to Sonya Paxton. The situation provided equal inevitable embarrassment and need for discretion; besides, she had never let herself feel intimidated by Sonya during their time together in the Appeals Division. She would hardly start now over this. "The surprise, I believe, is that you would need new office furniture. Or are you shopping for your home?"
The saleswoman stepped away for the moment to allow her clients their privacy.
Sonya smiled. "My job in the DA's office might have ended, but the suspension's been lifted from my license. I'm throwing my shingle out for private practice. Thought I'd get off to the right start. Is that detective Benson hiding down there?"
Olivia slowly stood up. Though she was far less comfortable with the situation than Alex appeared to be, she forced herself to look Sonya in the eye. "I wasn't hiding, Sonya. You caught me as I was about to check out one of the selling points." If Alex could bluff indifference, surely she could.
"If you're referring to the amble space under the desk, it's there," Sonya hinted none too subtly at personal experience. "In sharp contrast to our standard desks in Appeals. God, mine was just awful. Yours though, Alex, had some edges worn down to a quite comfortable level through I suspect many years and ADAs. Couldn't talk them into moving the desk over to your new office, huh?"
Alex smiled ruefully. "No. That proved too difficult for even my negotiation skills. Certainly not possible without tipping my hand and there was no way I was giving Jack in supplies that image in his head."
"Too bad," Sonya acknowledged. "That was a great desk."
"Yes, well," Alex quickly wanted to interrupt any walk down memory lane, "I did manage to receive permission for personal expenditures; thus, our shopping trip."
"You finally got her, huh?" Sonya gestured toward Olivia's continued stoic and seemingly casual stance next to Alex. "Good for you." Sonya's tone softened.
"We've acknowledged our need to work out some of our professional differences," Alex acquiesced as discretely as she could under the circumstances.
Sonya just nodded then smiled warmly, "I hope the personal has started to get cleared out as well."
Before either Alex or Olivia could respond a new voice entered their discretionary space, easily arriving before the physical presence. "Sonya, there's a great desk chair that has arms that tilt to the side making a great stable area for the knees. The wheels even lock easily…" Elliot halted anything else he was about to say when he arrived at the group and realized Sonya was talking to someone other than a salesperson. In fact, when it dawned on him who Sonya was speaking to, he belatedly remembered to close his mouth.
Alex turned toward the newest arrival, eyebrows raised. This was a surprise. Olivia tensed at the voice, took a calming breath, crossed her arms over her chest and tilted her head. "Elliot," Olivia just managed to keep a smirk off her face and the 'busted' tone out of her voice, remembering that she too was in a compromising situation.
Alex burst out laughing and visibly, honestly relaxed. "I guess both ADAs have found a way to work out their frustrations with these detectives."
"Their frustrations?!" Olivia finally relented to the situation and chuckled while attempting to glare at Alex.
Elliot succumbed to the blush he felt and took a deep breath. He even dared a grin. "So, this never slips out to Fin, Munch and especially the captain."
"That went without saying," Olivia confirmed.
"You and Alex, huh?" Elliot continued. "That's good. As in right." He paused and glanced toward Sonya. "Sonya and I… it's different," he felt the sudden need to try to explain.
"I know what it is, Elliot," Olivia interrupted warmly. Her next words held a sharper tone, "but don't think I won't tease the hell out of you next stake out."
"Well then," Sonya interjected, "maybe we should return to our respective shopping. I found an interestingly accessorized table that could substitute for the plain ones found in an interrogation room. I thought maybe I could convert a spare bedroom at home into a version of an interrogation room. You know, that god awful green-gray paint for the walls, bars on the window."
Elliot shook his head. "You couldn't handle a real interrogation, Sonya."
Alex tilted her head up and tried to shake the sudden, unbidden image from her mind.
Olivia rubbed the back of her neck with her hand and looked anywhere but at Elliot approaching Sonya. "Splitting up sounds like a good idea."
Sonya smirked, first at Elliot then towards Alex and Olivia. "Don't forget to have her show you both the pull out headrests at the front and sides. They make all the difference." Sonya then walked casually away back into the store. Elliot raised his hands in surrender and followed.
Alex leaned against the desk and smiled. "Sold?"
Olivia uncrossed her arms and sidled up next to Alex. Ironically, with the secret shared she found herself more comfortable than ever. "Sold."