7
A week later
"You know this is ridiculous, don't you?" she said, exasperated, stepping away from the door to go and finish touching up her make-up before her shift. For the last week he had been coming over to walk her down the road to the bar and while in some ways she thought it was sweet, it was now beginning to thoroughly piss her off. When had it changed from him thinking of her as a capable police detective to some silly woman who needed protecting on a short well-lit walk to work, down a busy street no less? By all accounts Harris had his head down and was determined not to risk any chance of being sent back to jail. It was extremely unlikely he would come after her and even if he did, she knew how to defend herself. It did sometimes worry her, the idea that he was out there, but she knew that was more to do with her own demons and not linked to any real current threat.
"How long are you going to continue doing this?" she asked impatiently as she patted at her lips with a tissue to remove the excess lipstick. "Don't you have better things to be doing?"
"Not really," he said good-naturedly, from the doorway to the bathroom, smiling with that infuriating grin of his as he watched her get ready.
"What about your girlfriend?" she snapped, frustrated that he wasn't taking the bait, but also a little irritated at the way he just invited himself into her personal space.
"We split up."
"You did?" This was news to her. "When?"
"A couple of weeks ago."
"Oh really and you didn't think to mention it?"
"I just did."
"You're an ass. Look, I'm busy. I have to get to work. I don't need you coming by to walk me any more. I'm fine really. Lawrence has my back too."
"Oh well that's reassuring! Thank goodness for that!" he said sarcastically.
"What is your problem?" Elliot had made it more than plain that he wasn't Lawrence's biggest fan, but she truly had no idea why he had taken such a dislike to him.
"Oh come off it, Liv. He's full of shit."
"I'm not even having this conversation with you, Elliot. Just go home, would you?"
Finally finished with her make-up, she spun round to leave the bathroom. Elliot was still standing in the doorway, blocking her way. Irritated, she made to push past him, just at the same moment he chose to change positions himself and as a result she collided into him, lost her balanced and stumbled. He reached out to steady her and so she found herself in the clichéd position of having literally fallen into his arms. Her cheeks flushed and she wasn't certain if it was anger, embarrassment or something else entirely. She immediately tried to pull away, but instead his arms tightened and so she stopped struggling, instead glaring at him furiously.
"What are you doing?" she asked indignantly, but before she could say anything further, he leaned in and planted a kiss on her lips. Completely taken aback, she stared at him flabbergasted. What the hell was he doing? She was too furious with him to think straight. She pulled herself out of his grasp and headed over to where she had left her purse and keys on the dining table.
"Liv?" he asked. He sounded almost nervous. Part of her wanted to return to that position in his arms and repeat the kiss, but she suspected he was just playing some kind of power game or something. It hadn't exactly been a passionate kiss. It was more like something you'd expect between friends or maybe even family. True, it had been on her lips, but it had just been a peck. Sometimes she wondered how he could possibly have no clue what this kind of thing was doing to her. Teasing her with a kiss like that should be written up in the torture books.
"Elliot, I'm going to be late," was all she managed to say. Her mind was racing.
"Yeah, Liv, I'm sorry," he said. She ignored him. He followed her over to the main door and slipped through first, pausing as she exited right behind him and locked the door securely behind them.
"Are you mad with me?" he asked.
"Yes," she replied crossly. Then she softened. "Look, I need to get to work. You really don't need to walk me any more, okay?"
"Okay, if that's what you want."
"It is."
…
It was a quiet night, drink orders were sporadic and so she found she had plenty of time to think about what had happened in her apartment. Part of her was desperate to believe that he meant something more by that peck, but the years of well-practiced self-defence mechanisms kicked in and she convinced herself that he hadn't meant anything by it. Besides, even if he had meant something, he had just split up with his supposed girlfriend after a relatively recent end to his marriage. If that didn't scream out 'rebound' she wasn't sure what would. There was absolutely no way she was willing to play that role. No, if he wanted a relationship with her, then he would have to work for it, sit down and actually tell her how he felt. She wasn't interested in a 'bit of fun' or a 'one night stand'. She definitely wasn't going to risk their friendship over something meaningless.
She sighed. Why did he have to go and kiss her like that? Things were good between them. They were getting on well mostly. Well, apart from the walking her to and from work thing anyway. They had been hanging out and mostly enjoying it. It was true they argued, but it was part of the way they had always interacted. The arguments were comforting in a way. It meant everything was normal.
"Hey, Liv… you with us?"
She spun round at Lawrence's voice as it penetrated her brain and she quickly realised it obviously wasn't the first thing he had said to her.
"I'm sorry," she apologised. "I was miles away!"
"Obviously. Is something up?"
"No, just thinking. What do you need?"
"We need some more Cointreau out of the stockroom."
"Sure…"
She headed out the back and found the liquor bottle quickly.
"Quiet tonight, isn't it?" Lawrence said from the doorway, startling her. She wondered why he couldn't have just gone and got the bottle himself, if he was just going to stand there anyway. It was one of the more annoying aspects of working for someone else in this kind of job, she decided.
"Maybe it'll pick up?" she said. They sometimes got a flurry of late night drinkers from some of the local firms where they often worked late.
"Liv, can I ask you something?"
She looked at him, nodding cautiously. He seemed awkward. In fact he looked like he was sweating. A sudden feeling of dread about what might potentially be coming, swept over her. What was with men today? She desperately hoped she was wrong. She really didn't want to be in the position of having to knock her boss back.
"Well, erm, I was wondering if I could take you out to dinner sometime."
She inwardly cringed. Her instincts had been correct. The one good thing was that at least he had come straight to the point and not drawn it out. She took a slow deep breath before she replied.
"Look, Lawrence. I like you. You're a great guy and I'd love to do dinner with you sometime, only I have to be honest. I'm afraid I'm not interested in anything more than friendship."
"Oh. I see. I'm sorry." His gaze fell down and she could almost see his embarrassment coming off him in waves and she felt terrible.
"Lawrence, I'm sorry. I really do think you're a great person. It's just me I guess. I'm just not in a good place at the moment and just not looking for a relationship right now."
"It's OK, I get it. Although you know, you're hardly a spring chicken! Maybe you should just go for it sometime… you never know, you could end up being happy!"
She stared at him in shock. Had he really just said that? He had gone from asking her out to insulting her in a matter of seconds. It was a lot to take in. She had no idea how to respond. She had never felt so uncomfortable in her life.
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean that. Olivia, please, I'm really sorry. Forget I said anything?"
"Sure," she lied, deciding that now would be a good time to escape the confines of the stockroom and return to the bar where she could mull over the latest incident to occur on a day that was rapidly getting worse and worse. She glanced at her watch: another three hours until her shift ended.
…
The following morning she was woken by the doorbell, but her annoyance soon dissipated when she saw the reason: a delivery man handed her a beautiful bouquet of flowers. She reached for the card as soon as the man had gone, but it didn't say much, just "I'm sorry!" She smiled. It had to be Elliot. He hadn't contacted her since the kiss and she guessed he was probably feeling embarrassed over the incident. She was glad in a way that he hadn't called, for avoiding the issue of the kiss certainly made it a lot easier to deal with. That was a conversation she definitely didn't want. She transferred the flowers into a vase, taking a moment to breathe in the pleasant aroma. She couldn't remember the last time someone had bought her flowers. It was a shame they were an apology but she would happily take what she could get.
Reaching for her phone, she tapped out a very short message and sent it to Elliot, hoping that would be the end of the issue.
"It's OK. We're good :-)"
