Damn Her Pt.10

"Do you have plans for lunch?" I asked, poking my head into Serena's office. Blue eyes looked up at me from behind her desk. A head of long dark hair turned around and dark soulful eyes caught mine.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt," I apologized.

"No interruption," the stranger told me.

"Alex, this is Abbie Carmichael," Serena said, standing up behind her desk. "Abbie, Alex Cabot."

"The legendary Abbie -"

"Ah, THE Alex Cabot -" we said in unison.

Abbie stood up and extended a hand. I took it and shook it. As expected, she had a firm handshake. If I hadn't already been impressed by the stories I had heard of Abbie Carmichael when I joined the DA's office, a split second of meeting her and shaking her hand was enough to tell me that she was a strong woman, one not to be messed with. I felt that if we got to know each other we could become friends.

"I've heard a lot about you," I told her lamely. "You left big shoes to fill."

"And I've heard you filled them well," she said with a dimpled smile and a wink. I felt myself blush.

"Anyway, if you guys have plans, don't let me interrupt," I said, looking over at Serena.

"No, no, you guys go ahead," Abbie answered before Serena even opened her mouth. "I was going to make my rounds visiting the rest of the office here and then visit my favourite NYPD detectives."

If I hadn't been looking, I would have missed the slight raise of an eyebrow by Serena. The movement was swift and subtle. Abbie excused herself, leaving Serena and I to head out for lunch.

"Okay, spill it," I said, leveling a gaze at my colleague and friend across the table from me as we sat on the patio of our favorite lunch time restaurant.

"Spill what?" she asked innocently and took a sip of her water.

I raised an eyebrow at her without saying anything further. Silence always made people uncomfortable and I loved using it to get people to talk. Unfortunately for me, Serena was just as comfortable with awkward silences.

"Something going on between you and Abbie?" I finally asked.

"Hardly, but that's not for a lack of wishing on my part," she replied wistfully. "First of all, Abbie has never been one to settle down, and secondly, I'm not Abbie's type."

"My mistake," I said, embarrassed that I had jumped to that conclusion. "I just somehow assumed she was gay."

"Oh, she's gay," Serena confirmed. "I'm just not her type."

I chuckled. Lawyers and our love of semantics and technicality.

"Then what is her type?" Hmm, why was I so curious?

"Um," Serena began and I had a strange feeling in my stomach. Serena never started sentences with "um", unless she was stalling or about to give bad news. I eyed her and waited patiently for her to continue.

"She likes brunettes," Serena said slowly, looking down at the table, and then up towards the sky. "Tall, athletically built brunettes….who carry guns."

My water glass froze on my lips. I locked eyes with the woman across from me. I lowered the glass and swallowed the sip I had already taken. "Abbie and Olivia dated?" I asked. I could slowly feel my heart beating harder.

"I wouldn't call it dating," Serena answered slowly and then shook her head slightly. "It was a long time ago." I knew she was trying to assuage any anxiety that might have begun to stir within me. She was hesitant to continue, but I just raised my eyebrows, imploring her to continue.

"They were off and on," she continued. "Mostly 'off' because Abbie doesn't do relationships."

Again, she paused and seemed to be biting something back. Something in the way Serena was carefully navigating this conversation was bothering me. "And when it was 'on'?" I asked the leading question.

"It would be 'on' because Olivia can't say no to Abbie," she replied. "We all have our weaknesses and Abbie was Olivia's kryptonite."

One of the skills I've always prided myself on was my poker face, especially when talking to suspects and their lawyers, but today, my face must have betrayed me. "I stress the 'was', Alex," Serena added. "Their history was a long time ago, long before you ever came into the picture." She reached over and gave my hand a squeeze as if the gesture alone could reassure me. "Olivia is head over heels in love with you. You don't have to worry about Abbie."

The rest of my lunch with Serena had gone by in a haze. For the rest of the afternoon, my mind was preoccupied with thoughts running wild over the "off and on" relationship between Olivia and Abbie. Were they merely friends with benefits? Or had Olivia in fact been in love with Abbie and wanted more from a woman who wasn't willing to give her more? The fact that Olivia had never mentioned anything about Abbie in our time together started to nag at me, but then again, I hadn't shared with her about every lover I had had in my past.

I never thought of myself as the jealous type. In fact, in past relationships, I'd often felt that if the person I was dating wanted to be with someone else, then I was better off alone without them, than to deal with fighting for them, or worse yet, beg them to stay with me. But this time, I was feeling something different. I hadn't lied about what I had heard about Abbie's reputation and the legacy she left behind when she left the DA's office. She was a damn fine lawyer and everyone in the DA's office often spoke fondly of her. Even Serena basically admitted she had a thing for the brunette with the dimpled smile and husky voice. Hell, I couldn't help but find myself attracted to the woman the more I thought about her. Then there's Liv. My Liv. Would she be mesmerized by Abbie the moment she saw her again? Did she still harbor feelings for her? If Abbie were to hint at wanting to be 'on' again, would she still be Liv's kryptonite? The last thought lingered in the back of my mind until it came to the forefront and I couldn't ignore it any longer. I had a sudden urge to pay my girlfriend a visit.

I checked my watch. It was well after five. Most of the offices on my floor would already be empty at this time of day, especially on a Friday. I closed the file folder I had been working on and put it away neatly on the stack of folders on the corner of my desk. I took the remaining two folders that still needed my attention and slid them into my satchel. Grabbing my jacket, I locked my office behind me and ducked into the restroom. Checking myself in the mirror, I smoothed out my hair and touched up my lipstick. I pulled on my jacket and straightened out my skirt and blouse. I was glad I had chosen the baby blue skirt suit today. It was Liv's favorite in my entire work wardrobe. Once I was satisfied with my appearance, I headed downstairs and hailed a cab to the 16th precinct.

As I approached the entrance to the bullpen, I heard waves of laughter float down the hallway. My heart started pounding in my chest as a husky feminine voice reached my ears. Part of me was surprised that she was here as I knew she hadn't worked a lot with my SVU squad when she was in the DA's office. Another part of me was not surprised at all. In fact, this part of me dreaded the idea that she was here, talking and joking with my SVU squad, specifically, my girlfriend.

When I reached the bullpen, there was a small crowd around Liv and Elliot's desks. Liv had her back to the entrance, and next to her was Abbie Carmichael, standing so close that their shoulders were touching. I felt a hot flash of heat spread across my chest. Elliot was facing them, a curious smile on his face and then we locked eyes.

"Might wanna check with Alex," he said, looking at Liv. He gave her a wink and then a slight lift of his eyebrows to indicate my presence.

Both Liv and Abbie spun around. Liv broke out into a wide smile, the kind that made my knees turn to Jello on numerous occasions. Even though everyone in the squad knew we were together, we always kept things professional at work. Every once in a while, we'd allow ourselves glances that would last a few seconds longer than normal, or smiles that were brighter than usual. Seeing her smile the way she did at that moment, especially when I was feeling this foreign jealousy inside me, made my stomach flip.

Abbie smiled as well, but hers was one of surprise as she glanced between Liv and myself. I walked towards the group and Liv reached out and touched my elbow. This was a first. With her hand still on my elbow, she started the introduction. "Abbie, this is Alex Cabot," she began.

"It's okay, Liv, we met this morning in Serena's office," I told her. Abbie reached out her hand and I took it.

"Nice to see you again," she said, beaming her dimples my way. God, I hated those dimples. She turned to Liv and raised an eyebrow. "Liv?"

I knew exactly what she was asking. She heard me call her 'Liv'. Everyone at the DA's office called her Olivia or Detective Benson. Only her squad called her "Liv". She had picked up on the fact that I had also used the shortened name. She glanced back at Elliot, then to Liv and then to me. I could see the gears working away in her head as she processed what Elliot had said and what she heard me say.

"Are you two...together?" she asked quietly. The woman was sharp. We both gave small smiles and small nods of confirmation.

"I'm sorry, had I known, I wouldn't have asked," she said, the last part of the apology directed at Liv.

"Asked what?" I inquired, my curiosity rising. I tried to keep my tone light. I hoped I was successful.

"I'm in town for a wedding tomorrow and my date came down with the flu," Abbie explained and I felt a knot in my stomach. "So I asked Liv if she'd be my date."

I looked over at Liv. She was blushing. Why was she blushing?

"I didn't know if we had plans this weekend," my girlfriend started.

"Look, I didn't know…" she said, waving a finger in between us, indicating the relationship. "I don't want to make things awkward."

Well, I guess it was a little late for that. Of course it was awkward now. What was I supposed to say? 'No, you can't go to a wedding as the date of a woman with whom you've had history and never told me about'? Of course I couldn't say that. I couldn't be THAT insecure girlfriend. I silently cursed Abbie Carmichael for putting me in this position. There was only one answer I could give.

"We don't have any plans this weekend. In fact, I have cases to work on," I said. "Go, help a friend out."

Liv smiled and exhaled, letting out a breath I'm sure she didn't know she had been holding.

"Thank you, Alex," Abbie said and gave my shoulder a squeeze.

I simply smiled.

Damn her.