A short chapter this time. Enjoy!
6. Partners
They're tired and it's showing. Their caseload is just too much and even Captain Cragen is losing sleep over the two cases that they just can't seem to be able to crack. On top of the gang rape between two apartment buildings that nobody seems to have seen or heard - which none of the Detectives really believe - they now have a case involving small children. Those are truly the worst. Olivia stifles a yawn and then gives her partner a tired smile when she catches him watching her.
"Not much we can do anymore today," he observes, and she nods.
"You got plans?"
The question is innocent enough, since it's a Friday night and Fin and Munch have been talking about getting a drink together after work, but it makes Olivia pause anyway.
No, she doesn't have plans. Wes is out of town for business, and she has been trying very hard not to think about Gene. He had called her a few days after they'd seen each other so unexpectedly and now he keeps popping back in her mind.
(flashback to that phone call)
She is very surprised to see Gene's number on her phone screen. Somehow she hadn't expected to hear from him again after he had seen her with Wes.
"Hi," she says, answering the call quickly while walking to her couch to sit down. She's glad he is calling her while she's home alone. She doesn't need an audience for this.
"Hey, how are you doing?"
"I'm good. You?"
"Sure, sure. Wasn't that a coincidence, running into each other at that restaurant?"
He's getting straight to the point.
"Yeah. It was. I had never been there before so what are the odds, right?"
"Exactly. But anyway. I was wondering if you're free next Sunday."
Olivia pauses. She can't go out with Gene now that she's seeing Wes. She may be into casual sex but she's not that shallow. She and Wes are dating so she's not available for anyone else right now.
"I'm sorry Gene, but that man you saw me with … we're dating. I can't."
It's Gene's turn to pause. He had been afraid she'd say something like this. He knows it's not fair but he doesn't like it one bit that she's seeing someone else. He sleeps with a few other women who are having affairs while still seeing him, but once they are in a real relationship, they're usually off limits - unless he is their affair of course. He feels he isn't done with Olivia yet and he hates how she has suddenly become off limits. It's too soon.
"Dating? Sounds serious. Have you known him long?"
He tries to sound relaxed but even he can hear the tension in his own voice. He doesn't quite know what to make of it. Olivia certainly isn't the first woman to blow him off and she won't be the last.
"A few weeks," Olivia replies vaguely.
"Is he any good in bed?"
Olivia can't help laughing at the super direct question. That's typical for Gene and she likes that about him. He's an open book.
"I'm not complaining," she tells him with a smile that he must be able to hear in her voice.
She means it too. She's slept with Wes a few times now and he's definitely satisfying her. He's a little less adventurous than Gene but he gives her good orgasms. Not earth-shattering but good. And she's the only one he's sleeping with and that is definitely worth something.
Gene sighs dramatically and she can just imagine him putting his hand over his heart to emphasize the drama when he tells her,
"I have to admit that I seriously thought you had something going on with that partner of yours."
Olivia frowns at Gene's words. Where would he have gotten that idea?
"No, of course not. He's married and we have to work together."
"Right. But there's something there. I could feel it when you were questioning me together."
"Well,I guess you felt wrong. There's nothing going on between him and me. I'm with Wes now," Olivia says curtly. She doesn't want to discuss her complicated relationship with Elliot with Gene.
"Oh well. I will just have to find someone else to bring to this function. I thought we'd mix business with pleasure together but it looks like it's not to be."
Business? He had wanted to take her to a business thing? She has to admit she's curious now but she can't. If Wes found out, they'd be over in a heartbeat. Even if she didn't sleep with Gene but just went to this 'function' with him, Wes would never believe her. And she can't blame him for it either. And so she tells Gene that she's very sorry but he will have to find someone else to accompany him.
"What about that redhead you were with. She seems nice," she blurts out.
"She is," Gene responds without missing a beat.
He doesn't know yet who he's going to ask along now that Olivia is unavailable. Olivia is the only one he had pictured himself going with and he needs some time to decide who else he could ask.
"Well then," he hears Olivia say, and he knows he should end the phone call.
She's taken for now. He just adds,
"Alright Olivia. Just … if things don't work out with this guy, don't be a stranger okay?"
…
"Liv?"
"Ah, no. No plans," she tells her partner quickly, realizing that he's been waiting for a reply.
"Red rose guy not working out?" he asks, trying for an innocent smile but Olivia sticks her tongue out at him.
"He's out of town if you must know," she tells him. "And no, I'm still not telling you who he is."
Elliot holds his hands up defensively.
"Alright alright. Please don't shoot. But you're coming along, right?"
"Sure."
It's been a while since they've all been out for drinks and she welcomes the distraction. She doesn't know if Wes is going to call but if he does, she can just take the call in front of the guys. They know she's seeing someone after all.
45 minutes later, the Detectives are all seated in a booth at their usual hangout with a beer in front of them. They try not to discuss their cases, needing to unwind and just forget for a while. After a few beers they turn to the stronger stuff and the conversation becomes interesting.
First, Munch asks Elliot if he's ever had sex with his wife outside and both Fin and Olivia smirk when Elliot seems embarrassed by the question.
"Of course he hasn't," Olivia says, clapping her partner on the back and slurring her words a little. "He's a decent guy. Evvvv-rything by the book. Right El?"
"I don't know Liv, Fin chimes in. "You never know with these white picket fence type o' guys. Wanna bet he and the missus are secretly super kinky?"
"Mr. and Mrs. Stabler? No way!" Olivia laughs.
"Well, how about you?" Munch asks her and then three pairs of eyes focus on her suddenly.
"Yeah Liv. Tell me you're not a prude after all," Fin chimes in.
"Well, we all know you aren't," Elliot quips and Olivia adds, "Right, Mr. Porn watcher."
"Every guy likes to watch porn and you know it, Stabler. No sense in denyin' it."
"Alright alright. Let's all answer the question then," Munch suggests. "If you've ever done it outside, raise your hand … now!"
They all burst out laughing when four hands are raised instantly and they agree that even though they're sex detectives, they don't need to be prudes.
After a few more drinks, the questions become more daring. Elliot is the only one who can answer the question about how many people they've slept with easily.
"One."
"Yawn!" Fin exclaims. "Not even one other before you knocked Kathy up?"
"Nope."
"Man, no wonder you're so frustrated all the time. You need a change of diet. Liv, wanna volunteer?"
"Hey hey hey," Olivia protests. "I'll have you know I'm seeing a great guy so I'm not available to teach this man some new tricks right now."
"Who says I need to learn new tricks," Elliot huffs. "You learn the best tricks by riding the same horse every day."
"You did not just call your wife a horse!" Olivia exclaims and they all laugh again, the volume of their voices rising with the alcohol levels in their blood.
When they discuss the weirdest positions they've ever done the deed in, they all make some interesting confessions and Olivia bites her lip when she hears Elliot describe how he and Kathy had once had sex on the rear deck of a motor yacht they had rented with a group of friends and family, while the other guests were either inside or out front.
"Wasn't Kathy terrified you'd be caught?" Munch asks but Elliot confesses that his wife had actually gotten a real kick out of the sense of impending danger.
"So she gets off on it. I bet you found ways to milk that after," Fin grins.
Elliot just rubs the back of his neck but his face looks quite guilty. Olivia can't help looking at him differently now. He may be Mr. Monogamous but that doesn't have to mean he's Mr. Boring at all. She can see how he would have learned a lot, not in spite of but because he's been with the same woman for years. It must be great to be so in tune with someone else. When she and Elliot stand up simultaneously for a much needed bathroom break after all that drinking, her shoulder bumps his chest accidentally. She can feel his body heat through their clothes and it sends a shiver through her system. She looks up and into his eyes, wondering if he felt it too, but Elliot looks away quickly. His jaw is tense and that's his tell. He felt it too.
They part ways quickly in the bathroom area, Olivia turning right towards the ladies and Elliot left towards the gents. Once she plops down on the toilet, Olivia takes a few deep breaths. If she can still feel this way about her partner while dating Wes, that doesn't bode well for her new lover. She had hoped it would be different this time but it looks like it's the same song all over again. As long as she carries a torch for her married work partner, nobody really stands a chance of winning her heart.
Her mind drifts back to Gene almost automatically but she shakes her head. No. It's just sex with Gene. That's what they both want it to be. Nothing more. Nothing more …
…
Hmmm. Are you sure about that, Olivia? And what about that partner of yours? Wouldn't it be interesting to see if you could teach each other some tricks after all? What do you say, readers? Wes? Gene? Elliot? All or none of the above? I have a few ideas myself but I'm open to suggestions :)