Dear all, I have no excuse for this 13 month delay! I actually sat down to reread this entire story before continuing to write, hoping to capture the same vibe for it again. There isn't a whole lot left to write and I will try to stick with this story now until it is Completed. I tried to move the story along in this chapter. Onward …
PS. We didn't know Angela Wheatley yet when I started writing this story, but feel free to imagine a slightly younger Tamara Taylor as this Angela, too. Only my Angela is much less devious!
…
43. I'm fine
Olivia had been a little nervous about going shopping with Anne but she shouldn't have worried. Anne is so easy to get along with and is such a natural at making her feel at ease and at home, that she finds herself laughing and joking around freely with the older woman in the dressing rooms. Anne is convinced she can wear anything and look stunning, and Olivia comments that Anne herself can still rock a cocktail dress just fine, something the older woman doesn't deny. They end up chatting the afternoon away over drinks after making their purchases for the 4th of July party and Olivia almost regrets having to part ways because of her dinner plans with Jonathan and Angela.
"We should do this again soon," Anne says with a warm smile. "I can't wait for Gene to see you in that dress."
Olivia smiles, biting her lip. She is really looking forward to her trip to Florida with the family and can only hope there will be no emergencies at work to prevent her from going. When she expresses her concern, Anne asks if they can actually call her in when she's taken a couple of vacation days.
"Well, technically I guess I could refuse to come in but it kind of goes with our line of work that we want to be there when something big is going down. I mean … we're dealing with people's lives," Olivia explains. "What they've gone through … I can't turn my back on them."
Anne nods and then squeezes her shoulder gently, her eyes sparkling with happiness but also tearing up a little. The moment needs no further words and Olivia has to look away before she tears up herself. She has never felt more welcome in her entire life and truly feels like Anne may become a mother figure for her, if she hasn't already.
After Anne drops her off at Gene's house, Olivia lets out a content sigh before entering the beautiful mansion. She has a key now but the huge house doesn't feel like home yet. Not like the penthouse in the city. She feels like she's on vacation, and when she notices the delicious smell of food coming from the kitchen, it feels even more as if she's walking straight into a movie. There is an actual chef making dinner for them in there.
When Gene spots her, he rushes over to wrap her up in his arms. He kisses the side of her neck softly and when he lingers there for a moment, Olivia feels chills run up and down her spine. She wonders if she will ever not respond this strongly to Gene. She suspects he knows exactly what he's doing to her but before she can say anything, he quickly grabs her hand and tells her to dump her bags at the door and come and meet their guests. Olivia takes a deep breath to shake off the instant sexual tension and when Gene looks at her and winks at her as they make their way to the dining room, she is certain he knows what he's just done to her. She vows she'll find a way to get back at him before the night is over.
Jonathan and Angela are lovely people and Olivia marvels at Angela's huge baby belly. When she glances at Gene she wonders if this is really what he wishes for her; to look this huge. But without knowing about her thoughts, Angela assures her that most women get back to their old figure and won't really feel differently physically afterwards.
"It just takes some a bit more effort than others," the charming black-haired woman tells her with a grin.
Jonathan chimes in then, praising his wife for her efforts after they had their first baby.
"She spent months at the gym but she said she felt better than ever. And she certainly looked better than ever."
"Until now," Angela jokes, rubbing her huge belly but Jonathan assures her she is even more beautiful now, carrying their new child.
When Olivia looks at Gene, she sees a tenderness in his eyes that makes her breath hitch. He really does want this with her and she swallows, needing to look away. If Jonathan and Angela notice anything, they expertly pretend not to and when they all sit down to eat, the conversation moves to different topics. Naturally, the couple's first child is mentioned several times and Olivia has to admire some pictures of the little boy. She holds her breath when she feels Gene's hand squeeze her thigh underneath the table and she quickly hands the photographs back to Angela across the table.
"He's adorable. He will be thrilled to become a big brother," she says with a smile.
When the conversation moves back to business a short while later, Angela and Olivia share a look and Olivia chuckles when Angela rolls her eyes. She likes Angela and she is relieved that she and Gene's friends are hitting it off. When she sees Jonathan sit up straight and glance at his wife briefly, she raises an eyebrow. Is Angela doing what she thinks she's doing? The woman winks at her and Olivia remembers that she has a little score to settle with Gene herself. She pretends to be focused on tasting the second course of their meal but her right hand finds Gene's thigh underneath the table. She slowly moves her hand up while her fingers curl between his legs until they are brushing against his crotch.
It is Gene's turn to sit up straight and Angela has to suppress a giggle, coughing softly instead while avoiding looking at Olivia. The women are definitely getting to their men and they are waiting to see which one of the men will break first. Olivia can feel Gene's body responding to her touch and that seems like the perfect moment to retract her clears his throat before taking another bite of his food and then tries for a subtle glance in Olivia's direction, but it's more like a glare and she almost chokes on her own bite, trying to keep from laughing out loud.
"I do believe the ladies are tired of the business talk," Jonathan remarks dryly then and they all laugh.
Gene leans over to kiss Olivia sweetly on the lips and Jonathan does the same with Angela. All in all, Olivia has a wonderful evening and when they say goodnight later on, she and Angela share a heartfelt hug. Although they have only just met, Olivia feels like she's saying goodnight to a friend.
Once they are alone, Gene leads Olivia into the living area, where they sit in front of the fireplace they had lit earlier while the chef and her aide had cleaned up. Gene adds another log to the fire and then takes off his suit jacket before sitting down next to her in front of the sofa.
"I had a great evening," Olivia tells him, and Gene says that he's very happy that she and Angela are hitting it off.
"I don't have a lot of friends who are happily married," he tells her. "These two are special to me."
"I can see why," Olivia confirms. "They seem to be keeping the flame alive."
"You noticed that, huh?" Gene says with a grin.
He caresses her thigh with his hand and then lets his hand dip between her legs, just like she had done to him earlier. Olivia chuckles and leans over to him to kiss his cheek. She feels relaxed and thinks she could fall asleep right here, basking in the glow of the fire. They are leaning against the sofa, sitting side by side on the floor, their legs stretched out in front of them and their upper bodies turned toward each other.
"Tired?" Gene asks her. "How did it go with my mother?"
"Oh, great," she assures him, and he sees a sparkle in her eyes while she tells him how much she's enjoyed shopping with his mother. He knows that his mother is very taken with Olivia and he's glad that the feeling seems to be mutual. She becomes a little secretive when he asks her what they bought, and while that makes him very curious about what she has in store for him, it also makes him very happy that she and his mother have their own little secrets already. When he sees Olivia stifle a yawn, he suggests going to bed but Olivia shakes her head.
"This is just so nice," she says. "I could sit here all night."
He loves to see her so relaxed and he can actually see them cuddle up on the sofa and fall asleep right there in the living room. He leans in to kiss her behind her ear and he smiles against her skin when he feels her shiver. He knows it's not because she's cold and he can't help wondering out loud how far along her period is by now.
"Almost over," she tells him and when he wiggles his eyebrows she chuckles and repeats, "I said, almost."
He kisses her behind her ear again and Olivia sighs, shivering again. When he begins licking her tender skin her breath hitches and he grins, feeling proud that he can make her feel like this.
"Maybe in the shower," he hears her mumble and she doesn't need to tell him twice.
He jumps up and pulls her up alongside him. They both laugh as they sprint towards the bathroom. It's been too long for both of them.
…
It's July 2nd, and Gene has begun packing for their trip to Florida while Olivia wraps things up at work. They will leave the next morning and Olivia is hoping they won't catch a new case at the last moment. But fate strikes and she and Elliot are sent out to pick up a suspect, one of the victim's neighbors from her take the elevator up to the fourth floor of the apartment building, and just as they exit the elevator, they hear a door slam and then the distinct sound of someone running away fast.
They jump into action immediately, assuming this must be their suspect, and start running after him down the stairs. They can see a denim jacket flapping while the suspect keeps disappearing around the next corner. They are bounding down the stairs as fast as they can, skipping several steps, but the man is faster and they hear the door to the building slam shut just when they arrive on the ground floor. Elliot yanks the door open and Olivia runs outside, ready to resume the chase as soon as she knows in which direction the man has gone. But before she can look one way or the other, the wind is knocked out of her and she falls back. Elliot catches her under her armpits and her attacker runs away fast.
"You okay?" Elliot asks, setting her back on her feet and giving her a quick once-over, and even before she can answer him, he takes off again after the man.
Olivia gasps for air for a moment but then begins walking again as well. What was she hit with anyway? A baseball bat to the ribs? Whatever it was, it was hard. She picks up some speed when she sees her partner running down the street at high speed. When Elliot tackles the man she slows down to a light jog until she reaches the two men. Her ribs are killing her and she knows she'll have an enormous bruise. She can only hope no ribs were broken. Their suspect is still resisting even now that he's down and Elliot is trying to restrain him, and Olivia steps in to help Elliot. When Elliot pulls the man up into a standing position, one of his arms firmly twisted behind his back, Olivia reaches for his other hand to put handcuffs on him. But he still won't cooperate and swings out his elbow, hitting Olivia in the face.
"Whoa, whoa!" she shouts. "Give it up man. We've got you!"
Once they finally manage to cuff the man, he gives up at last, going from a hundred to zero in an instant. He must be on drugs, the Detectives deduce, and they decide to call for a blood test immediately. Once the suspect is in the cage, Olivia goes into the bathroom to assess the damage the man has done. She's been told she was hit by a flower pot! She shrugs out of her leather jacket and peels her shirt up carefully. Her skin has already begun to turn blue and when she looks at her face, she sees that she has a bruise on her cheekbone as well from where the guy hit her with his elbow.
When Olivia returns to her desk, she sees Elliot walking up to her with an ice pack. She takes it from him with a grateful smile and quickly stuffs it underneath her shirt.
"How bad is it?" her partner asks.
"I'll live."
"I just hope it won't interfere with your plans for the weekend," Elliot says as he sits down across from her at his own desk.
Olivia huffs when she realizes that she has no idea how Gene will react when he sees her bruises. She's had worse but Gene doesn't know that and frankly, it has never really mattered to her before. It's simply an occupational hazard. But she's been looking forward to this family gathering and things could have been a lot worse. If their suspect had hit her head instead of her ribs, she would most likely be at the hospital now and she wouldn't have been able to cover up her injuries with makeup and clothes. Perhaps they would even have kept her overnight.
"It'll be fine. Everything has been taken care of," Olivia assures her partner.
"No doubt," Elliot says with a grin and she rolls her eyes.
Her coworkers' jokes about her boyfriend's wealth are becoming a bit old and she hopes they will find something else to joke about soon. But she knows they are all happy for her, and when Cragen finally tells her she can clock out late that evening after they have wrapped up all their interviews and paperwork, they all wish her a very nice weekend in Florida.
…
Gene is relieved when he hears the elevator ding, announcing Olivia's arrival. He has tried very hard not to text her to check whether she's going to be home on time, not wanting to crowd her. He has everything packed for their trip except for Olivia's makeup bag, since he assumes she will be needing that before they leave in the morning. He walks up to her, ready to welcome her home, but he stops in his tracks when he sees a large bruise on her cheek.
"Baby, what happened?!" he exclaims, hurrying towards her and holding her upper arms while his worried eyes scan her face.
"I had a little run-in with a perp," Olivia says with an apologetic grin.
"Oh my god," Gene whispers, taking her in his arms and holding her close to him.
He hears her breath hitch and pulls back to look at her again. He sees resignation in Olivia's eyes even before he can ask her what's wrong and she admits that her torso is bruised as well. He feels a knot forming in his stomach instantly and his eyes scan her body for more signs of discomfort.
"I'm fine, really," he hears Olivia say but he's not fine with this. Not at all.
"Show me," he says, his voice hoarse and trembling. He can't believe she's gotten injured at work.
"Gene," Olivia sighs but he repeats,
"Show me!"
She sighs again and then shrugs off her jacket. He catches it and tosses it on the couch, never taking his eyes off his girlfriend. She gingerly lifts her shirt and Gene's eyes go wide when he sees the dark blue and purple bruising on her skin.
"Good lord," he sighs, reaching for her shirt to pull it up even higher.
She has a massive bruise across her lower ribs and he can't help wondering if her ribs aren't broken. Olivia tells him that she doesn't believe so but he isn't convinced.
"We have to get X-rays done."
"Gene, please. That's really not necessary. Even if there's a fracture, it will just have to heal. I already put some ice on it at the station and it's really not that bad."
But Gene isn't convinced and he begins to pace, shaking his head. This just can't be. People can't go around hitting his girlfriend and getting away with it. Even when Olivia tells him that this man has been charged with assault of a police officer and resisting arrest on top of a rape, he finds that he still can't calm down. His stomach is in knots and he doesn't know what to do, and he finds it irritating that Olivia is pretending like it's no big deal.
When Olivia walks into their bedroom to undress before taking a shower, he follows her and watches her take her clothes off gingerly. She is obviously in pain and he knows he will never get the image of her bruises out of his head again.
"Join me in the shower?" Olivia asks with a smile and he knows what she's doing. She is trying to distract him.
Is this really normal for her, he wonders. Is this what it's like to be a cop? Can he expect her to come home injured more often? Or will he be called one day by someone telling him to come to the hospital?
Part of him thinks he should have known all of this. He knows that police officers have dangerous jobs. But until now, it had just been something he'd see on TV or read in newspapers. It had nothing to do with his own life. But there is no way around it now. His Olivia is just as vulnerable as all those other cops who get injured and even killed on the job. And he doesn't know how to feel about that.
"Gene?" Olivia asks, and there is concern in her eyes as she approaches him.
She has finished undressing and is now wearing a thin satin robe and nothing else.
"Come on," she says, tugging at his hand. "I'll prove to you that I'm absolutely fine."
"Olivia, no."
She frowns and Gene can tell that Olivia is not amused. Can't she understand that he needs a minute? She sits down on the bed and shakes her head, and he just watches her. He wants to focus on the fact that she's okay and that she's still his own stunning Detective, but the bruise on her cheek is taunting him, and he can't help it that his mind has started conjuring up all kinds of other dangerous scenarios.
When Olivia looks up at him, the sadness in her eyes hits him hard. And when she finally speaks up, her words hit him even harder.
"Gene, you've always known what I do for a living and I thought you were proud of me. But if you can't accept it after all, maybe we need to reconsider the whole thing."
…
A/N: Dun dun … typical Olivia, right?