Olivia glanced at her watch again. Alex was five minutes late for their "dinner". It's not like Alex to be late, Olivia thought. Ever since she and Alex had started having "dinner" after work a couple of weeks ago, Alex was always the first one at the restaurant.
I know she had a meeting with Arthur this afternoon, but would she still be in it now? Olivia thought. She dug out her cell phone and dialed Alex's number. The voicemail picked up right away. "Hi, you've reached ADA Cabot. I'm in a meeting right now. Leave a message and I'll get back to you when it's over."
"Damn it," Olivia sighed to herself. She downed the rest of the scotch in her glass, and the bartender came over and poured her another one. Olivia's vision began to blur as she stared at the amber liquid. Visions of Alex floated into her mind as she swirled her drink around in the tumbler. Olivia had studied the beautiful ADA for two years, sometimes letting her developing crush get in the way of their work. She was sure Alex didn't like her as she liked Alex, she was sure Alex was straight, so she was surprised when Alex asked her to "dinner" the week before last. Ever since then, Olivia hasn't been able to get Alex out of her mind. Her beautiful blonde hair, piercing blue eyes, the curve of her body in those tight pencil skirts, the barely-there cleavage underneath the taut blouses...
Olivia felt a tap on her shoulder, shaking her from her fantasy. She turned around and was immediately greeted by bright green eyes. Flowing red hair cascaded down onto soft, tan shoulders, accentuated with a green camisole. A shy smile graced the beautiful, freckle covered face.
"Hi," the woman said, "Are you Jenny?"
Olivia smiled, She must be here for a blind date. For a moment, Olivia considered the possibility of pretending to be "Jenny" just to spite Alex for standing her up, but then the honest cop in her took over. "No, no I'm not."
"Oh, sorry to bother you," the woman said.
"Not a problem."
The woman smiled again and walked off across the bar. Olivia went back to her scotch and took a sip. She shook of the smile that she knew was plastered on her face and took out her phone to check if Alex was coming again.
Twenty minutes had passed, and Olivia was ready to leave and go over to Alex's office just to see if she was alright. She downed the last sip of scotch and left her glass on the bar. She turned to leave but stopped when red hair caught her eye. At the other end of the bar was the woman that had come up to Olivia earlier. She was sitting alone, nursing a drink and looking nothing like the bright, eager woman from twenty minutes ago.
The cop in Olivia took over, the feeling of wanting to rescue this woman was too much to ignore. Olivia motioned for the bartender to pour her another scotch, and when he had, she took her drink over to the lonely woman.
"Do you mind?" Olivia asked, motioning to the stool next to the woman.
"Not at all," she said, the shy smile gracing her face once again. "Your date stood you up?"
"Yeah, looks like 'Jenny' did too."
"I guess, is twenty minutes late considered the time for being stood up?"
"It kind of looks that way, doesn't it? I'm Olivia. You can call me Liv."
"Polly. Just Polly."
Olivia held out her hand, and Polly took it. Their eyes met and once again, Olivia was captured by Polly's emerald eyes. Polly held up her glass and Olivia followed suit. "To being stood up," Polly toasted.
"To being stood up," Olivia clinked her glass with Polly's and sipped her scotch. "You hungry?" she asked.
"Starving," Polly replied.
"I know a place, it's actually not that close to here, but it has the best cheesecake in New York."
"I'll have you know, Olivia, that I am a cheesecake connoisseur and I will be the judge if it is the 'Best Cheesecake in New York'. What's this place called, maybe I've been there?" Polly asked.
"Stage Deli," Olivia replied, "It's up by Carnegie Hall."
"Nope, I don't think I've been there."
"Well then you're in for a real treat," Olivia said, getting up from her stool. She paid the bartender and they headed out. Olivia held the door for Polly and let herself check out Polly's ass as she walked through. Nice! Olivia thought and smiled to herself as they hailed a cab and headed uptown to Stage Deli.
"So what do you do, Olivia?" Polly asked as they each ate a half of the huge Rubin sandwich, a stage deli specialty according to Olivia.
"You can call me Liv," Olivia said.
"I like Olivia better, it's more... sensuous," Polly said as a blush crept up her cheeks. Her freckles began to stand out even more, and Olivia smiled at how the freckles made Polly even cuter.
"I'm a detective," Olivia answered.
"Really? My dad was a detective. What squad?" Polly asked.
"Special Victims."
"Oh wow. That takes a really special person to work that beat."
"Yeah, it does. It's tough sometimes, but I wouldn't want to work anywhere else. So what squad did your dad work in?"
"Homicide. He was killed in action when I was fifteen."
"Oh, I'm sorry. That's tough," Olivia responded.
"It's okay. He died doing what he loved, protecting New York. I couldn't be prouder of him."
Their waiter interrupted with an inquiry into dessert. Olivia ordered a slice of strawberry cheesecake.
"Shouldn't we get two?" Polly asked when their waiter had left.
"No. These pieces are huge. Biggest slices I've ever seen."
The waiter brought back a four inch high slice of heaven topped with huge fresh strawberries.
"Oh my God," said Polly, grabbing her fork.
"Told you. Dig in," Olivia said. Polly took a bite of the cheesecake and stopped, taking in ever single creamy moment. Olivia studied her face as she closed her eyes and took it the sensory experience.
"Oh. My. God," Polly sighed.
"Yep," Olivia smiled, taking a bite of cheesecake. "Told you it was good. So what do you do?"
Polly swallowed the cheesecake in her mouth, "I'm an artist."
"What kind of artist?"
"I sculpt. Mostly abstract stuff"
"That's really cool. I would love to see some of your work," Olivia said.
"Well maybe we could work something out tonight," Polly said with a sly smirk. She slid her foot against Olivia's leg and began stroking it.
"I would like that," Olivia blushed and took another bite of cheesecake.
Polly unlocked the door to her loft and let Olivia walk in first. She turned on the lights revealing an open, white-walled artists studio. Abstract half-finished sculptures lay on the floor in the living area. Olivia walked into the center of the studio and looked at the sculptures, taking each one in. Polly watched as Olivia looked at her artwork for a while, and then she walked over to the small makeshift kitchen in the corner of the living area, poured two glasses of Rum and Coke, and brought them over to Olivia.
"I hope this is alright, Rum and Coke is all I have," Polly handed one glass to Olivia. "What do you think?"
Olivia took a sip of her drink before answering. "They're... interesting."
"Interesting? Is that good or bad?"
"Good. Interesting is always good." Olivia sat on a small, flea-market couch splattered with paint. Polly sat next to her, one leg tucked under herself, arm on the back of the couch.
"So, where did you meet this 'Jenny' who stood you up tonight?" asked Olivia with a smile.
"Online. A lesbian dating site," Polly blushed.
"You're kidding. That's surprising; an attractive, talented lesbian like yourself can't find a date in the gay capital of the world."
"I'm just sick of the whole gay bar scene here. The only thing the dykes in New York care about is getting fucked. I want a relationship, not a one night stand. So I figured online would be a better way to meet my soul mate."
Olivia smiled and took another sip of her drink. She looked up at Polly, eyes darkening with lust. "So what do you imagine our relationship being?"
Polly smiled slyly, "I don't know, why don't we just worry about having a good time tonight and leave all that relationship stuff for tomorrow."
Olivia took a sip of her drink as Polly brushed hair away from Olivia's face. "I'd like that," Olivia said.
The bright sunlight pierced Olivia's sleep like a steak knife through butter. Olivia squinted as the synapses in her brain began to fire again. She took in a deep breath and opened her eyes, immediately closing them again. The pain of an impending hangover already started to race through her head. She rolled over in the bed so she wasn't facing the window. She opened her eyes again, this time slower, so as to let her eyes adjust to the sun-drenched white room. Confusion set in when Olivia realized she wasn't in her own bedroom. And that she was alone in the bed.