CHAPTER FOUR
Olivia stomped into the precinct a good ten minutes late Monday morning. She was still reeling from her encounter at Noah's kindergarten; Olivia didn't like to feel so defenseless. He caught her. He caught her staring in the park, and he caught her staring again this morning, and worse yet, he caught her in a moment of weakness where her attraction to him was so visible - it was mortifying.
Olivia chucked her bag down on her desk and sat down so emphatically that her chair scooted back a couple of inches on the linoleum causing a pathetic scraping sound. At the sudden disturbance Amanda looked up from her paperwork, her eyebrows crinkling in concern. Olivia waved her off, propping her elbows on the table and putting her hands on the side of her face - shielding Rollins from view. She breathed deeply, trying to shuck off the feeling of uneasiness that that man caused.
Chief Dodds came into the precinct, the resonance of his shoes hitting the floor always gave him away. It was almost twangy, the solid wooden heel hitting the floor differently. Even with her head still bowed toward her desk she could hear him coming, his footsteps getting gradually louder with the occasional brusk 'hello' to her detectives. There were three rhythmic knocks on her door - he always knocked that way, it was as clear an identifier as the sound of his shoe on pavement. Olivia looked up reluctantly, barely meeting his gaze. He marched into her office anyway, invading her space like he always did: with little regard to her wishes.
"Good news! We're getting a new ADA" This peaked her interest. Olivia looked up at the Chief with a quizzical yet guarded expression. She saw him scan her subtly, stopping multiple times at her torso. His eyes would dance around her face momentarily - trying to maintain eye contact - but quickly focusing back on her blouse. Instantly Olivia thought he was checking her out, but then, with a quick look down at her blouse she remembered the coffee spill and how unfortunately revealing her white blouse had become. Olivia cringed, tightening her suit jacket around herself. Trying her best to salvage any semblance of professionalism in front of her boss, Olivia quickly straightened herself out.
"So soon? We just put the last one away for child pornography charges." Dodds rolled his eyes at her rebuke, not necessarily wanting to be reminded of his previous colleague's failure. The assistant District Attorney assigned to work with the Special Victims Unit being outed as a pedophile publicly was a media maelstrom; It was embarrassing for the whole department.
Olivia, seeing Dodd's discomfort, softened her tone a bit, "Chief, you can't blame me for not being enthusiastic?"
Chief Dodds sat down on the chair opposite her with a tired sigh, "No. No, I can't." He crossed his legs, put his arms on the sides of the chair, resting his weight. There was silence, amicable easy silence. Their years of knowing each other filled enough space that words weren't necessary. Dodd's Finally Dodd's shifted in his chair, the movement forcing Olivia to look back up at him.
"I trust that you will welcome him to the team." Dodd's raised his eyebrows at her, conveying the importance of his instruction. He paused briefly and then quickly stood up and walked out of the office.
"Of course, Chief" Olivia murmured to his back as he exited her office, the only clue that he heard what she said was the slight wave of his hand as he disappeared out of the precinct.
Olivia rolled her shoulders back, taking her first deep breath of the day. She settled further into the booth, adjusting the hem of the NYPD shirt she was forced to change in to after the coffee incident. It was slightly too tight on her, had a hole in the upper right shoulder and was a far cry from her usual work place attire - leaving her feeling exposed. She looked around the booth; the entire team decided to head down to the bar across the precinct to unwind. Amanda had left work a couple of minutes early to save a booth for everyone, and now, about two hours of drinks later, the stress of the day still hadn't worn off. The case they just wrapped up was tough - well all of SVU cases were tough, but this one had drained them all. Now they were holed up in a bar trying to nurse their depleted emotions. It was in the middle of Fin's second 'Good Ol Day's' stories that she first spotted him. He walked up to the bar with such confidence, his suit the same as it was this morning - clean, crisp with no wrinkles in sight. Her stomach tightened reflexively - a typical reaction to him it seemed. She watched him sit down on the bar stool across from her; part of her wanted to believe that he did it purposefully, so that she would be forced to make eye contact with him, but her rational brain kicked in reminding her that she was the one with the school girl crush - and those, she regretted to remember, were always one sided.
The whole team laughed jovially at a joke that Olivia missed while she was busy lecherously eyeing the man at the bar. "Yeah, Liv witnessed the whole thing!" Carisi explained, gesturing towards Olivia expectantly. The whole team shifted their gaze towards her, smiles still plastered on each one of their faces. Olivia swallowed, having trouble meeting their gazes, "Yeah, it was crazy" She muttered, taking a sip of her drink. Olivia leaned back into the booth, cradling her second wine of the night in her hands. She tried not to look over at him; he was right in her eye line, so she sunk into the booth, hiding behind Fin to reduce the temptation. She swirled the wine in her glass nervously, passing the cup from each hand; feeling the cool glass.
"And then Lieu smacked the smug smile off of his face!" The whole table erupted in laughter. 'Carisi must have been continuing the same story, that doesn't narrow it down, I've slapped a lot of people.' Olivia thought. The team was still laughing, looking at her expectantly. Olivia sat up a little and hesitated a glance over at the guy at the bar; he was watching her. A shiver ran up her spine, and her fingers started to once again fidget with the stem of her wine glass.
"I bet he went down hard didn't he?" Amanda questioned, putting her hand on her forearm softly, catching her attention.
Olivia looked over at the bar again; he was still watching her; sipping his scotch almost seductively. She swallowed hard, wrenching her eyes away from him. Bolstered with new confidence from his attention, she turned back at her team suavely and phoned in her response, "Yeah he went down hard, a have the faintest recollection that he cried." She chuckled softly, putting on a little bit of a show for him as she flipped her hair over her shoulder, looking back at the bar - finally meeting the mystery mans gaze directly. He smirked in response, and with a slight shake of his head, he looked back down at his drink.
Rafael walked down the street across from the Court House. He had a billion meetings today and was exhausted from cozying up to all the big wigs in the District Attorney's office. He was officially hired as Manhattan's newest ADA; he signed the paperwork today and everything. Rafael had been fretful about the move from Brooklyn, but he always aspired to work in Manhattan and after his sister died he felt like the best thing for Luciana was a fresh start.
Rafael ambled around looking for some place to kill time. Luciana was having dinner with his mother, and he wasn't thrilled to hurry home. After his sister's death, his relationship with his mother was shaky, to say the least. He turned the corner with a sharp click of his heel and spotted a bar a little further up. He knew his mother would have something to say about keeping his niece waiting to get a drink - but after the day he had a scotch sounded good.
Rafael stopped outside the bar door, shifting his weight on his feet to stall time. He hesitated momentarily, worried to go inside the bar because, since it was so close to the courthouse, some of his future colleagues could be inside; and Rafael didn't like his business and personal lives to mix. With a couple of glances inside the darkened windows, he decided that since he hasn't started the job yet, one drink couldn't do much harm. Walking inside, the dingy atmosphere hit him first, but the dark lighting and slight musk were almost welcoming. He spotted an empty seat at the bar, walking over he stumbled over a couple of familiar faces from the court house. Smiling amiably, he dodged their attempt at conversation with a curt nod and sat down at the bar ordering a scotch on the rocks, quickly taking his phone out as a distraction; he always found that if he looked occupied fewer people would try to insert themselves into his space.
He was just taking his first sip of his drink when he heard it; the familiar sound was ringing out from in front of him causing him to snap his head in that direction. And there she was - sitting in the middle of a group of people. He expected to see her like this, someone that beautiful should never be sitting alone. She was so completely different here, in the dark of the bar - surrounded by wood and leather. Her features morphed into something softer, creating new shadows that were infinitely appealing. She looked eminently more comprehensible here then when he saw her rigidly sitting on that park bench, or when she fought tooth and nail with him in the middle of a kindergarten hallway, she was relaxed; smiling. The people around her told jokes, and she laughed - a sweet, deep sound that rolled from her; he swore that he could almost feel it; in waves.
Her eyes snapped up to his for a second, fluttering across his face momentarily, one eyebrow raised imperceptibly, in what Rafael could only assume was faint recognition and he had to bite back a smirk. Her eyes grazed back to the people sitting in the booth next to her almost as fast as they met his gaze and he chuckled, taking another sip of his scotch. Rafael rubbed his chin, a nervous tick he picked up in law school, and tried his best to ignore the alluring brunette sitting across from him. But when the booth erupted in laughter once again he couldn't tear his eyes away.
"And then Lieu smacked the smug smile off his face!" A tall brown haired man almost yelled in the busy bar. Rafael could hear the accent in his voice, and it instilled in him an immediate fondness. Somehow the thought of this woman, whom he doesn't know, hitting someone was not out of the realm of possibility. It was suitable actually. Rafael had gotten a front row seat to her life for the past couple of days. He'd seen her rigid with stress, sweating building at her brow, with out a stitch of make up in a public park. He'd witnessed her propensity to be late, her combative attitude and been on the brunt of her acerbic wit; and now, dimly lit and tipsy - she still had all of his attention.
"I have the faintest recollection that he cried." Rafael couldn't stop the smile spreading on his face when he heard her say that. It was so fitting for what he knew about her; biting yet soaked in honey. He felt his body lurch towards her; there was so much unwritten familiarity for this woman which was only further compounded when she ran her hands through her hair, looking back at him with a terribly flirtatious smile.
The night was coming to a close, Fin had already left, and Carisi and Amanda were finishing their last drinks - already planning their ride home when she dared to look at him again. He was sitting alone - the bar almost empty now. She was tempted to go slide up next to him, look him right in the eye and say something bitty or daring to make up for the way he embarrassed her at Noah's school today. But Olivia doubted that he would remember who she was, and even if he did remember her, she doubted that she could ever say anything that would leave him raddled. So, instead, she sunk further back into the leather of the booth and waited for the others to finish so she could make her way out of the bar alone - somehow the night called for that kind of distance.
"Do you want to share a cab liv?" Amanda asked, slurring her words slightly.
Contemplating her escape, Olivia paused; sharing a cab with her two detectives would be the rational thing to do, but something was holding her back. "No, I'll be okay. You two go ahead" Both of the detectives nodded obediently, putting their coats on and with congenial waves headed out of the bar.
Olivia took out her phone from her pant pocket, checking to make sure Lucy hadn't reached out to her. When there were no missed calls, she concluded that she could idle a couple more minutes at the bar. Olivia placed her phone back down on the wooden table, looking around the now sparsely occupied bar. She located him almost immediately; he was still sitting in the same spot, perched high on his barstool like he belonged there - tie loosened, a wry grin plastered on his face and his thumb running along the rim of his glass. He was still watching her; openly, unabashedly studying her. Olivia started to blush and looked away, picking up her phone and fiddling with the buttons to occupy herself. She picked up her wine glass and took a drink quickly noticing that there was nothing left in it.
'Damn it' Olivia thought, 'I can't very well stall in a bar without booze now can I?' Olivia was tempted to order another drink but the man that was sitting in the way of her booze, the man that was still openly staring at her, made her halt. Building up her nerve she rose from the booth where she had been hiding most of the night, if this man were a parent at her son's school, she would have to see him some time. Collecting her phone, jacket and empty glass, she headed towards the bar.
Rafael attuned his attention to the captivating brunet when he heard the telltale sound of weight shifting on leather, a slight scratching noise as her pant buttons scraped the leather as she slid out of the booth. His heart jumped, and when he saw her head toward him he couldn't bite back the smirk any longer, and with every thump of her heeled foot on the concrete floor, his heart beat faster.
Olivia reached the bar, sliding into the seat close enough to the man that she could hear his soft flirtatious exhale when she made it to the bar but far enough away that it wouldn't infer her intentions. The bartender, noticing her empty glass and instinctually refilled it. Rafael saw that he didn't ask her what she wanted before he poured her more wine; she must be a regular he thought.
"Im glad you decided to cover up." Rafael leered, and Olivia immediately tensed. How could this man so easily get under her skin? She cursed his ability to undercut her usually unshakable exterior.
"I was worried that you recognized me" Olivia replied in a kind of despondent exhale.
"How could I not?" Rafael retorted cockily, moving into the bar stool next to her, unbuttoning his suit jacket as he sat down, facing her. "I don't generally make it a habit of forgetting women who flash me and then yell at me in a kindergarten hallway."
Sensing his flirtatious tone, Olivia loosened her posture turning to face him slightly, matching his tone "Oh and that situation happens to you frequently?"
He chuckled in response, a sound that was full of mirth and it hit Olivia right in her core. She shuddered, trying desperately to hide it by taking a sip of her now replenished glass of wine. By the simpered snicker from the man sitting next to her, she could only imagine that she didn't hide her reaction well.
Her undeniable attraction to him emboldened Rafael, "I have been flashed and yelled at before, yes. But none have left such a…" Rafael raked his eyes up and down Olivia's form, taking extra time around her chest, where the fabric of her worn NYPD shirt clung a little too tightly, "lasting impression." with a lascivious smile, Rafael took another swig of his scotch. Olivia squirmed under his gaze, unconsciously fidgeting with the hem of her shirt.
Olivia, making a quick recovery turned to face him again - the Lieutenants mask firmly in place. "The yelling I can see, but the flashing I'm not so sure about."
"You don't think people would flash me?" Slightly offended, Rafael stated more emphatically "I am very flashable!"
Olivia laughed in response. The foolishness of the current conversation mixed with the alcohol she had consumed made her feel positively giddy. "And exactly how many people have to flash you to quantify you as 'flashable'?" Olivia asked.
"It's not really about the number, more about the potential."
"Oh, I see." Olivia was still laughing, her un-comfort now long forgotten and her eyes reflected the mirth displayed in the man sitting across from her.
On a whim, Rafael leaned into Olivia's space, reaching out his hand he brushed back a loose strand of hair that had fallen into her face. When Olivia looked up at him confused by the sudden displays of intimacy; Rafael retreated with a shrug, explaining only "it was blocking my view."
There was a long silence between the two, taking the occasional sip of their drinks while sneaking glances at one another. The atmosphere around them was calm, the bar quieter than before; there was only a handful of people left, and most of the waitstaff had already begun cleaning the tables and stacking the chairs. Over time, they scooted closer together. First, it was an innocent brush of hands; quick and fleeting. Then it was an increasingly more heated touch of her leg against his under the table, the more she faced him, the higher her knee traveled. He coughed faintly, looking around the bar to see who had witnessed her provocation. When his eyes meet hers again, he saw the same alluring invitation. He leaned in slowly, ghosting the side of her cheek and his minimal amount of stubble brought a pleasant shiver to radiate through her body. She sighed reflexively and could feel him smile against her ear in response.
"Let's get out of here" he whispered, and soon Olivia had a smile that matched his.
This took me forever to finish; I just wasn't inspired I guess. I know I said this last time, but the next chapter will go up in rating. Please review, it makes me so happy to see what you guys think!