THREE'S COMPANY
SUMMARY: AU- Elliot and Olivia have been happily married for ten years. They have two children together. Then one day, Elliot stumbles upon a woman who makes him question his entire life and his love for Olivia. Will their marriage survive Elliot's affair?
DISCLAIMER: I own nothing.
AUTHOR'S NOTE: This story contains the pairings, EO and ED. Also, Elliot and Olivia are not cops. They actually live pretty boring lives.
Elliot sat in front of his computer watching the glowing screen flash into different images. His fingers tapped the keyboard in boredom. His only salvation was his wife waiting at home for him. He only had to wait another four hours before he could see her.
"Stabler!" Elliot looked up from the monitor to see his boss, Mr. Munch, walk up to his cubicle wearing the same scowl always plastered on his face. Elliot let out a small groan as he stood up to meet his boss' eyes. They were hidden behind his usual set of sunglasses.
"Yes Mr. Munch?" Elliot said as politely as possible. In reality, Elliot wanted nothing more than to punch his boss on a daily basis. But he never had to balls to do that.
"Word of advice Stabler, nobody likes a kiss-ass," Elliot squeezed his fists together tightly. "Your report is shit," Mr. Munch threw a large packet of papers onto Elliot's desk. "Redo it. And if you give me shit again, I'll fire your ass. Got it?"
Elliot nodded. "Yes, Mr. Munch." Even though he was silently cursing his boss under his breath. Mr. Munch turned to walk away.
"Have some dignity man. I don't want to see you on the ground kissing my feet just yet." He winked at Elliot before moving on to yell at another poor son of a bitch.
Elliot Stabler absolutely hated his job. He despised it with the white hot intensity of a thousand suns. Truth be told, he always thought he would grow up to be a police officer. His father was one, his brother was one, he wanted to become one as well. But then his first wife, Kathy, got pregnant. He had to drop out of college and get a job as a waiter. Eventually he got a better job (not much better) at a Sam Adams brewery. But without a college degree he was limited on how far he could rise. So now he was stuck under Mr. Munch, the biggest prick ever to walk on two scrawny legs, with four kids to raise and pay for.
He started rewriting his inventory report. He really didn't know what was wrong with the first one, he supposed that Mr. Munch was just being a dick. He could believe it.
At that moment the phone rang. He smiled when he saw the caller i.d. He picked it up on the third ring. "Hello," he said, suddenly much happier.
"Hi sweety, how's work?" Elliot's spirit's lifted much higher after hearing his wife's voice. Olivia was his second wife. Ironically, she was his divorce attorney. When he and his first wife, Kathy, split, she got him through it. He fell in love with her almost immediately. He asked her to marry him after only seven months of dating. That was ten years ago.
"Perfect, well at least right now." He heard her chuckle into the phone. He loved her chuckle.
"You are so tacky Stabler." It was his turn to chuckle. "So, what time can I expect you home tonight?" Elliot checked his watch. Still fours hours left of his shift.
"At about seven." The line was silent for a moment.
"Alright." he heard her say. "Listen, El, can you do us a favor. I haven't done the shopping yet, do you think you can pick up something for dinner?"
Elliot nodded, even though he knew she wouldn't be able to see him. "Yeah, um, how about Applebee's? That sound good?" He left his computer long enough to go searching for a menu.
"Yeah, that sounds good. You know what I like. And Dickie and Elizabeth." Elliot nodded.
"Of course, you guys get the same thing every time." She laughed. "I'll see you at seven, baby." He hung up the phone after Olivia said goodbye. He suddenly felt so much better after talking to his wife. She always seemed to have that effect on him.
Four and a half hours later, Elliot walked into Applebee's flinging his car keys over his shoulder. He was hungry, he was tired, and he wanted nothing more than to go home, hug his children and fuck his wife. He walked up to the front podium. A young woman stood there in a dress too short for a family restaurant. She was definitely pretty. Elliot felt a tightening in his pants as she looked up and smiled at him.
He tried to shake the feeling. This girl was as old as his daughter. "Hi, how many?" She grabbed a bright pink highlighter.
"Actually, I'm here for a pick up."
"Oh, you can pick up all meals at the bar," she pointed him towards the bar. He nodded and quickly hurried away. The faster he got away from the young beauty the faster he could forget she ever existed. He stepped up to the bar, but the bartender was nowhere to be seen. He waited only for a few moments before someone stood up from behind the counter.
He only saw her back, but it was a woman. That was obvious. From the back, she looked attractive. Her figure was slender and her rear end, though small, was a slight to see. He cleared his throat to get her attention.
When she turned, Elliot's voice got caught in his throat. She didn't just have a pretty backside, she had a pretty front too. Actually, she was beautiful. Drop dead gorgeous. Her eyes were bright blue, her hair was a wavy blond that she tied back from her face, and she had a smile that melted Elliot's heart.
"Can I help you?" She had a bit of an accent that Elliot wasn't familiar with. She placed two bottles of beer next to two tall glasses that were fogged as if they had been frozen. She leaned forward and pushed all four objects towards the end of the bar.
"Yeah, pick up for Stabler." He tried to take a peak down her shirt but it was too high on her chest for any sort of view. Mentally he had to slap himself. What am I doing? I'm married for god's sake!
The bartender bent down again. When she came back up she was holding two large bags. She dropped them in front of Elliot.
"That'll be $56.47." Elliot already had his credit card ready. He handed it to the pretty bartender. After another few minutes, Elliot was out the door and into his car. The bartender's face still in his mind. He tried to shake it out but he couldn't.
He just shrugged it off. He had been married for ten years, it was only natural that his mind would wander off every now and then. It wasn't the first time he was attracted to another woman, and it certainly wouldn't be the last. The most important thing was that he always came home to his wife and children.
It wasn't long after that he got into his car that he arrived home. The living room light was on and the shades were wide open. He could see his twins, Dickie and Elizabeth lying on the floor watching some cartoon. Elliot had seen enough cartoons to know it was Spongebob Squarepants. He knew the show well, it was one of his favorites.
He climbed out of the car with the bags of food, after honking three times to get the attention of his family. The front door opened. His twins Dickie and Elizabeth ran out to meet him. He dropped the food onto them. Dickie rolled his eyes, and Elizabeth handed the bag back to him. He sighed. Typical children.
Standing on the front stoop was his wife. His beautiful wife that he loved more than anything. Olivia Stabler. Wearing her casual clothes. At least that's what she called them. In reality it was a giant sweatshirt and an ugly pair of yoga pants. She didn't do yoga. She never even liked yoga. Women.
But something was strange tonight. Normally, he came home, saw Olivia standing on the porch, and his entire day brightened with her smile. Today, he didn't even see Olivia. Instead, he saw a blonde bartender with skinny legs and bad sense of fashion. He shook his head, both physically and mentally, till he saw his wife again. She smiled as if he was just thinking she looked too beautiful to comprehend.
He didn't understand. Why was he still thinking about the bartender? He should be over her by now? He decided to ignore his thoughts, and walked up the steps to the home he shared with his wife and two children.
