1

Olivia stared back at her reflection in the mirror and sighed. She should have known agreeing to this would be a huge mistake. Her friend had pushed her into it, insisting that she'd have a great time and here she was stuck with the dullest, most irritating man she had probably ever met in her life. Moreover he was hideously fussy about his food, refused to share any dishes and had deliberately picked the cheapest thing he could eat from the menu. He had resisted her suggestion that they get a bottle of wine and had asked deliberately for tap water, stating that he was not about to pay for a bottle of mineral water when it was probably just filled from a regular faucet anyway.

It wasn't that she had anything against being thrifty, but this was their first date after all. Was it really necessary to scrimp quite so much? Besides this guy was generally doing her head in. She wondered how she could get out of it early. The plan had been dinner followed by a movie. She supposed it wouldn't be too tortuous to go along to the cinema. At least if they were watching a movie there would be no need for conversation. However, she wasn't in the mood to be potentially fending off his advances if he decided he liked her and tried to make a move. She got the distinct impression from his leering grin, that he was probably keen. She was really regretting choosing this outfit now. The thought of kissing him almost turned her stomach. No, she would have to make her excuses and escape early.

She ran her hands under the water. She was probably pushing it with the amount of time that she could keep him waiting without him sending a search party in for her. Sighing again, she reached for her phone and placed it to her ear. It was time for the fake 'I'm sorry I've been called into work' act. The irony was that such a call usually only came when she was out with someone she actually liked.

She stepped back out into the restaurant and immediately saw he was sitting staring intently at the rest room door, waiting for her. As soon as he saw her he waved frantically, grinning inanely at her and his actions caused several nearby diners to turn their heads to see who he was waving at so energetically. She tried to suppress the embarrassment she felt at having this much attention drawn to her bathroom trip and quickly walked across the restaurant and sidled into her seat, pointedly closing her phone as she did.

"I was about to ask the waitress to check in on you," he said worriedly.

Seriously? she thought. What if she had a perfectly legitimate reason for taking so long in the bathroom? When you gotta go, you gotta go, right?

"I'm sorry," she said apologetically. "I had a call. It was my boss."

"No!" he said loudly, once again causing nearby heads to turn. She shrank down a little bit into her chair as he continued excitedly. "Don't tell me, you've been called into work?"

"Erm, I'm afraid so," she said awkwardly. "I'm on call I'm afraid." She reached for her glass of water to take a quick sip. Her throat suddenly felt extremely dry.

"Give me your phone and let me have a word with your boss!" he said mocking sternness before erupting into a huge guffaw of laughter that took her by surprise and almost caused her to drop her glass.

She amicably feigned a small chuckle and picked up her bag, clutching it under her arm. "Well, I have to dash, but thanks for tonight. Do you want something towards the meal?"

"Forty should cover it," he said quickly. "After all you had that glass of wine…" She frowned. Forty would more than likely cover most of his meal too. They weren't exactly in the Ritz.

"Fine," she said handing him the money, deciding the sooner she escaped his company the better. Arguing over the bill would just prolong the torture.

"Call me!" he said.

"Sure," she lied, giving him a quick and awkward smile before she left, quickly.

She stepped out into the warm summer night and hailed a cab. As she sank down into the back seat, she resolved never to go on a blind date again. It was far better to be single than go through another experience like that.

"Where to, Ma'am?" the cab driver asked her.

"Joe's on 53rd," she instructed. She wasn't in the mood to go home yet. The night was still young after all… and she needed a drink more than ever now.

They were almost there when she heard her cell phone ringing. She grimaced as she wondered if it was him calling her already, but when she checked it her heart almost stopped. There was a name she hadn't seen for a while and certainly hadn't been expecting tonight! Elliot.

She cradled her phone for a few more rings, wondering why he could possibly be calling her now, after all this time. She felt a surge of hurt replaced immediately by anger. It had been almost two years since he had upped and left without explanation. Since then she could count on one hand the number of times he had phoned her, although admittedly he had sent her the very occasional email. Who on earth did he think he was, calling her out of the blue like this? Did he expect her to just drop everything and answer him? It was Friday night. Shouldn't he be assuming she was out… with somebody?

Her curiosity got the better of her though and before her brain could prevent it, she realised her fingers had already pressed the 'answer call' button.

"Elliot!" she said as neutrally as she could.

There was a slight pause before a very familiar voice spoke back to her.

"Hi Liv." It was strange how normal he sounded to her after all this time.

"Hi." She repeated. There was no way she was going to make this easy for him. There was another brief silence.

"I missed you," he finally said.

"Don't give me that bull shit," she replied curtly. "What do you want El...liot?" It was almost too easy to fall into the familiar nickname she had for him. She was determined to maintain an obvious distance. He had hurt her deeply with his sudden disappearance and hearing his voice again, she realised just how much it still stung even now.

"I need to see you."

"Why now?" She could have kicked herself. She should be telling him no, she was too busy, out on a hot date or something.

"Can I come over? I'll explain when I get there."

"OK." She again found her mouth moving before she could stop herself.

"Be there in twenty minutes," he said before hanging up.

She made it back to her place a good ten minutes before he arrived and had enough time to change. There was no way she was treating him to the provocative outfit she had for some reason thought would be a great idea for her date this evening. She quickly pulled on a pair of jeans and a top and tied her hair back in a pony tail.

The doorbell rang and she buzzed him in.

He stepped inside, a little sheepishly to his credit, and refused her offer of a drink, parking himself on her sofa. He looked kind of agitated.

"Why are you here, Elliot?" she asked finally.

"Liv, I know this is sudden and I know I should have stayed in touch better, but you know I still think of you as my best friend?"

"How can you say that? I've hardly heard from you in the last two years!"

"I know Liv and I'm really sorry. Truly I am. It's just I…I need you right now."

He needs me? What about when I needed him? Where was he the last two years?

She looked at him and suddenly realised that he was actually pretty upset.

"Tell me. What's happened?" she asked gently. It was amazing that all this time could pass, that he could treat her like he had, yet at the end of the day she found that she still cared about him. She could see that something was bothering him and since it had brought him here after all this time, she recognised it must be something big.

"It's Lizzie," he said desperately. "She's disappeared." She heard the catch in his voice and saw the distress on his face. Olivia's heart sank as she took in his words and unconsciously she reached out to him resting her hand supportively on his arm. "She and a friend were determined to travel this summer," he continued. "If only I had put my foot down and insisted she shouldn't go."

"She's nineteen Elliot," Olivia said. "She's not a child any more."

"I know, but it was to Japan, Liv. Why couldn't she have gone somewhere more, I don't know, normal: Europe or Canada or somewhere? Why Japan?

"Japan? Wow!" Olivia was impressed. She had no idea that Lizzie had been interested in the far east.

"She and her friend Tammy left a couple of weeks ago. They were having a great time by all accounts, but two days ago she just disappeared. Tammy waited a whole day before letting anyone know too, deciding to try and look for her herself first. No one has any idea where she is or what happened to her. Tammy's parents are flying out tonight to bring her home. I have to go there, Liv. I have to find Lizzie."

"OK," said Olivia, wondering exactly what this had to do with her. She didn't have to wait long for the answer.

"I want you to come with me!"

"What?" she stammered.

"Come with me, Liv. Help me find her."

"What about Kathy?" Surely she was the person he should be asking to travel half way around the world with him? "

"She needs to stay with Eli. We can't all go. Besides he has school."

"Fine, I get that, but why me?"

"You're great at languages. According to Lizzie they don't seem to speak much English over there."

"I don't speak a word of Japanese though," she said, baffled.

"I know, but you're good at communicating with people. You might pick some words up. Besides, I need someone I trust with me, someone to keep me thinking straight and keep me calm. I need you Liv."

She tried to take in what he was asking of her. He had the nerve to turn up like this out of the blue, no explanation as to why he hadn't been in contact all this time and then he expected her to just drop everything to travel half way around the world to a country she knew next to nothing about to help him find his missing daughter. He must be crazy.

"I can't just drop everything and go with you to Japan!" she said incredulously.

He moved his hands then and took both of hers in his and looked directly into her eyes. She noticed then that his eyes looked slightly damper than usual and he seemed to be struggling to control himself. Her heart suddenly went out to him. She had never seen him looking quite this distraught, this desperate. She could only imagine the worry and pain he felt at the thought of what might have happened to his youngest daughter.

"Liv, I know what I did to you was unforgivable, but I need your help. Please say you'll come with me."

It went against everything her good sense was screaming out to her, but seeing him like this, virtually begging in front her, how could she refuse?

"OK," she said.

"OK?" he asked cautiously.

"OK," she said. "I'm due some leave. I'll ring Cragen right now and tell him I need some time off. You're lucky I just wrapped up a case! When do you want to leave?"

"You're serious? You'll really come with me?"

"I told you yes, didn't I?"

"Oh Liv, I promise I'll make this up to you. Thank you, thank you. You'll never know how much this means to me." He raised her hands to his mouth and kissed them impulsively. She pulled her hands away feeling incredibly awkward. They didn't do that.

"When do you want to leave?" she asked, glad to move the focus away from what had just happened.

"As soon as possible!" he said. "You ring Cragen and I'll ring the airline and get us the next available tickets."

"Fine," she agreed.

What on earth had just happened? Had she really just agreed to go with him to Japan? This had to be one of the weirdest days she had ever experienced. She was floored. She had absolutely no idea what to expect. She thought of poor Lizzie and wondered what could have happened to her. Her years in the job she did, meant that she had little difficulty in imagining potential worst case scenarios, but she was unwilling to accept that something bad could really have happened to Elliot's daughter, a girl she had effectively watched grow up. No, they would find her. They had to. If they didn't she was certain it would destroy her old partner and despite everything, she had no desire to watch that happen.