It had been three nights since Alex and Olivia had gone out for drinks and the brunette hadn't heard from the blonde at all. She also hadn't called her, intent on making Alex make the first move for their friendship.
"Benson."
"Hey Liv, it's Alex. Do you have a minute to talk?"
"Sure. What's up?"
"I was wondering if you wanted to grab dinner tonight?" Alex sounded nervous even to her own ears. She mentally chided herself for being nervous about asking a friend to dinner.
"Yeah. What time and where? And do you want to go together or separate?"
"We can go together. My treat. I'll be done here by 6. I'll meet you at the station."
They ended the call and Olivia felt lighter at the thought of going to dinner with Alex, something Elliot noticed.
"What's up? Hot date?"
She laughed. "Hardly. I'm having dinner with Alex."
He looked at her strangely. "Dinner plans with Alex put you in this good of a mood? Wow. You need to get out more."
She threw a paper wad at him. "We used to be good friends Elliot. I've missed having some estrogen around here. You have no idea how hard it is to be the only woman."
He raised his eyebrows. "What was Casey?" He knew better than to mention Graylick. The young ADA had rubbed them all the wrong way.
Olivia waved him off. "Casey was….not Alex. I mean, the woman had no sense of style, she was annoying and we never really respected her, you know? At least when Alex severely bent the rules, it helped us. Casey lied and got disbarred. How stupid can you be?"
Elliot gave her his trademark, "Ooookay."
XXXXXXXXXX
Olivia looked around the place Alex had chosen. It wasn't upscale nor was it casual. It was somewhere in between and not a place she would have ever picked for Alex. Alex saw her casing the place and smiled.
"What's the matter? Don't you think I belong here?"
Busted Olivia finally just shrugged. "Well, the old Alex wouldn't have dined in a place like this. Her tastes were more…refined. A place more fitting of a slinky red dress or a complete dive. There was no in between with you. This is in between."
Alex took her words in and looked around the restaurant, seeing it through Olivia's eyes.
"You're right. The old Alex was one extreme or the other. I rather like this aspect of the new Alex. I learned the hard way that moderation gets you further."
"How so?" As soon as the words left her mouth she felt stupid.
"My life never would have changed had I been more bendable on Velez."
"I'm sorry Alex. I realized what I'd said as soon as I said it."
"Don't worry about it. Let's order."
They were almost finished with their meal when Alex got a deer in the headlights look on her face. Olivia turned to see what was causing her distress and frowned as a man made his way toward them.
"Alexandra."
She gave him a tight smile and her eyes dimmed ever so slightly. "Robert."
He stood there looking at Alex and Alex was physically shrinking away without actually going anywhere. Olivia frowned as she watched the interaction.
"Hi. I'm Det. Benson." She stood up and held out her hand. Robert looked at it as though it had offended him, but finally shook it. Olivia could have sworn he discretely wiped his hand on his pants afterwards.
"May I have a moment Alexandra?"
"Robert, I'm having dinner with an old friend. I'd like to be left alone please."
The muscle in his jaw twitched but he nodded and turned and left.
"What was that?"
Alex sighed. "A very major mistake that ended badly." She looked at Olivia to see if she might know anything about her broken engagement. The realization that crossed her face was proof enough for Alex that the grapevine had been abuzz even over at the 1-6.
"Ah. I forgot about…well, whatever it was that happened between you."
"I cheated. We all know it. And to add insult to Robert's injury word got out that it was…on my desk with a subordinate." Her face flamed.
"Ouch." Olivia debated asking the question she wanted to know but just couldn't go there.
"You want to know why all of that happened." She smiled. "I was trying to catch up on things I thought I'd missed out on while I was gone. I was trying to fit back into the mold I'd left long before Velez." She shrugged. "As for sleeping with Jim Steel on my desk, well, that was probably self-sabotage. I knew early on that I wasn't happy with Robert or that life. I let things get to that point with Jim. And I was secretly hoping it would get back to Robert, which it did."
Olivia nodded. "And he didn't take it well?"
Alex shook her head. "That would be an understatement." She shivered remembering his reaction.
Olivia realized why Alex was shivering and pursed her lips.
"Alex…what did he do to you?" She put her hand on the blonde's.
She looked away and then back, tears in her eyes. "He didn't hit me. He just grabbed me and shook me. Hard. My right shoulder gives me problems sometimes from the shooting so it hurt worse than it should have."
Olivia wrapped her hand around her butter knife and squeezed.
"But you left as soon as you could, right?"
"It was about 3 days later when I packed up and left and returned his ring. He tried the entire contrite thing, gift thing and finally down right groveling. He thought my moving out had more to do with him shaking me than the fact that I just didn't love him. His ego couldn't handle it. He still refuses to believe I don't love him."
"What was he doing here? He's definitely not an in between or dive kind of guy."
Alex laughed. "No, he's not. He knows I come here on most Thursday nights."
"Stalking you huh? Want me to do anything with him?"
"No. He's just a mistake I'll have to live with."
"So, are you dating anyone now?"
"Heaven's no! I haven't dated anyone since Robert. It's just easier that way. What about you? I heard about you and Kurt Moss."
Olivia looked surprised. "How'd you know about that?"
"Same grapevine Olivia. I'm sorry it ended."
Olivia shrugged. "Eh, it just is what it is."
Now it was Alex's turn to study her friend. "Did Sealwood have anything to do with it?"
Olivia coughed and sputtered. "Sorry. I didn't think you'd know about that. It was supposed to be hush-hush."
Alex shrugged. "Only a few people know your identity in the D.A.'s office. It was sealed as a sexual assault." She watched the color drain from Olivia's face. "When I heard it was an undercover sting that had to do with rape I knew it was you. I demanded Jack let me see the file." She took a sip of water. "Olivia, did you tell the truth in the report?"
The brunette couldn't look at the blonde but she did manage to nod.
"I'm sorry you went through that. I'm sorry I didn't call you."
Olivia waved her off as dinner came to a close. As they waited for the waiter to bring back their change, Olivia decided to ask Alex about her plans.
"Hey Alex, I'm going to an exhibit at the Met on Saturday. Would you like to go with me?"
Alex smiled. "Only if you'll go see MILK with me on Sunday?"
"Ok. I meant to catch it when it first came out, but I just never got around to it. Where's it playing?"
"The Gay & Lesbian Center . It's a fundraiser for their youth program."
"Ok."
Alex dropped Olivia off at her apartment and sped home, happier than she had been in a long time.
