Disclaimer: Nothing you recognize belongs to me
Olivia turned the corner and walked into her favorite cafe. It was one of those days when things seemed to be going a bit slower than usual. She decided to try and prolong the moment by buying her favorite caffeine drink from this little piece of heaven rather than from the food cart in front of the precinct.
She took in the rich smell of freshly brewed coffee and delicious pastries. She smiled at the barista behind the counter as she ordered her latte with low-fat milk. Olivia decided to indulge in a chocolate muffin when the barista asked if she wanted anything else. While she was waiting for her coffee, Olivia languidly scanned the warmly lit space. She loved the way the wooden interior brought a cozy vacation cabin feeling to the room. Olivia smiled and thanked the barista when she called her name. She grabbed her order and headed towards her favorite corner with the big comfy sofas before she realized that someone had already stolen her spot. She frowned and wondered if this was the end to the beautiful day. Olivia was about to shrug it off and find a new table when she stopped. The person that was in her seat...he was facing away from her, his head buried in a book. But the way his shoulders slightly tensed up, the way he shifted in his seat, the way that he held the mug, could it be?
It has been five years since she last saw him. She had heard updates of him through the grapevines but when people came to her to ask about him, she always shunned them away. It was a past she tried to leave behind because of the way things ended. But the weight that was hanging from her neck and tucked inside her shirt was the evidence that he'd always be a part of her. Whether he knew it or not. Olivia often laughed at how stalker-creepy that sounded, but she couldn't bring herself to take off the Semper Fi he left her.
Olivia didn't realize that she was frozen on the spot until the familiar figure put his book down and stood up. He turned to grab an extra napkin from the bar besides the table when he turned in her direction.
He saw her.
Their gaze held.
Neither could believe it was really the other standing less than two feet away.
Olivia knew that she should be angry. Slapping him or simply walking away was the logical thing to do. Especially after the way he said goodbye, or rather the way he never said goodbye. Anger, betrayal, giving him a taste of his own medicine; she should feel something. She should feel anything but this. She's relieved. The moment their eyes met, a sense of relief flooded through her.
This was their chance for a fresh start. The baggage, the unfinished business could all wait till after. Right now, she could pretend that everything was alright.
She scoffed at her own thoughts. She knew how much she sounded like the battered wives she tried to save every day; still going back to the person that left the deepest wound; each time believing that things had changed, that everything would be okay. Except Olivia knew, the moment she looked into his calm blue eyes, that she was not walking into a death trap with no way out. That was the kind of trust she had in Elliot Stabler, her former partner.