Chapter 19: Acceptance
"Who is Elliot?" Alex asked as they stood outside Olivia's apartment whilst Olivia dug around in her bag to find the apartment key. The question took Olivia completely by surprise as she really hadn't expected it at all.
"Just a friend" Olivia dismissed, she was really not having any of this discussion with Alex about Elliot right now. That was a discussion for later tonight with plenty of wine, if they really needed to have this discussion at all that was.
"A friend that is asking you over for dinner tomorrow night? Or apparently lunch if you would prefer" Alex continued to explain, and Olivia was officially confused. Why was Elliot inviting her over to dinner? He didn't need to do that.
"He just sent you a text message, don't decline his offer on my account" Alex started to tease as she held the phone out to Olivia once they were inside the apartment and sure enough, on her screen there was a new text from Elliot.
"So...Are you going to accept his offer? It sounds like he really wants you to go over? Also, he has kids? Were those the kids that were with you in the attack?" Alex continued to ask to which Olivia just nodded, her best friend was hitting the nail on the head here.
"Yes, that was Elizabeth and Richard Stabler, Elliot's children but we really are just friends. I'm not sure it's really wise for me to accept his invitation to dinner or lunch. His daughter is in my class and I really don't want things to be taken the wrong way and making that awkward. He's a genuinely good guy and I really enjoy spending time with him a lot" Olivia explained.
"Sounds like to me firstly, you need to accept his offer for dinner and secondly that we have a whole topic to properly discuss"
"We're going to need some serious wine for that discussion"
"I mean what I said first though, tell that man that you would love to come to dinner tomorrow night, I'll look after Chloe" Alex remarked to which Olivia just smiled. She did like the thought of going to dinner with Elliot and the twins. She liked the thought of spending more time with them all but particularly with Elliot.
Olivia: Dinner tomorrow night sounds wonderful. The appreciation really isn't necessary but I will never turn down a good meal and great company. Let me know what time and if I can bring anything? My friend, Alex, is going to stay home with Chloe for me :) Olivia quickly replied to Elliot before putting her phone to the side, deciding that her focus should be on her friend who was with her right now rather than just texting with Elliot, even if she did want to continue this discussion.
Alex was sure something more serious was going on with her, this 'Elliot' was clearly more than just a friend to her or at least there were hopes that he'd be more than just a friend. Alex was the kind of person who really wanted to know more about this Elliot and help her friend come to see that if she was in fact finding herself thinking of him like more than a friend, that was ok. She just wanted Olivia to be happy and after everything she had been through with Brian, she deserved it. Alex knew that she would get her friend talking about Elliot and she would simply do more digging in it later tonight. Alex was convinced that these feelings were more than just friendly and she would get her best friend to see that. She would also try to get her best friend to be interested in hopefully pursuing a relationship with this man and pursuing her happiness. Alex knew that if this man was inviting Olivia over for dinner then it wasn't really a 'meal of appreciation' or anything, it was a meal that was meant to have a deeper meaning on the whole. Alex knew this from personal experience, dinner was never just a 'thank you'.
But Alex had concerns, she was concerned about how much this man, who Olivia had been spending so much time with, actually knew about Olivia's past. Alex knew that Olivia was a very private person when it came to her past and especially when it came to Brian. No-one outside of family or close friends knew that Brian was Chloe's father or even really about Brian's existence and as far as Olivia was concerned, they never would. Alex agreed with this as really, it wasn't anyone else's business except those that were close to her or had been there through it all. Alex had the hope though, that whoever Olivia did have a relationship with in the future, would come to love her and care for her like she deserved. Alex hoped that this future man, would show Olivia how amazing true love can be and that not all men are like Brian.
FLASHBACK
Alex sat at the back of the diner in a booth by the window, she was in a spot that would be private but it was visible enough that Olivia should easily see her when she walked in. Olivia had called her at 2am this morning and Alex had instantly known something was wrong. Olivia had been in a completely emotional state, in a way that Alex had never seen her like before. Alex had been so concerned for her friend at the time that she had spent over 2 hours on the phone with Olivia, just talking, and trying to calm Olivia down whilst getting to the bottom of what happened. The pair had agreed to meet at the local diner, where they often grabbed a meal or a coffee and then they would be able to talk it through in person. The main issue was to do with Brian and Alex needed to get her best friend away from him in a place they could talk. Alex didn't want to be anywhere near the horrid man that Brian was.
Alex had been telling Olivia that she needed to leave Brian forr the longest time but she wouldn't. That was the issue with being in love with someone, is that you often don't listen to what others day. Olivia kept telling Alex that things would get better. She kept telling Alex that she and Brian were in love and that real love means you don't just walk away and give up when things get tough. But Alex definitely had to admit that she had different opinions on this as real love shouldn't cause so much pain.
Alex waved as Olivia walked into the diner and already Alex could tell that she'd been attacked last night. The woman had a slight limp as she walked over and it was as clear as anything to Alex that there was make up trying to hide the bruising on her cheek, her top lip was also swollen. It was times like this that Alex really wanted to take Olivia away from it all because it was clear that she was in no position to take much more of this.
"It's really not as bad as you are thinking" Olivia greeted.
"Really? You have a nasty bruise on your cheek and I know you're trying to hide it with make up but it's simply not working well. Not to mention, your limp" Alex replied, she wasn't going to take her friends dismissal as everything was normal when it clearly wasn't.
"We just had a slight disagreement with dinner, Brian has apologised since" Olivia replied.
"Apologies don't take the pain away"
"But I love him"
"Love shouldn't be violent Liv, love is supposed to bring a smile to your face everytime you think of that special person. Love is supposed to give you those butterfly stomach feelings and you are supposed to be happy. But when I look at you, I can only see pain" Alex explained as her friend looked away again. Alex knew all too well that her friend didn't want to believe what she was saying. Olivia truly felt like she loved Brian and she didn't want to believe that what he was doing was actually wrong. But Alex just wanted to save her friend.
"He does love me, I know he does and I love him"
"But you deserve SO much better than this Liv! You can't keep putting yourself through it, you can't keep doing this" Alex tried to convince her friend again but she knew deep down olivia wasn't listening.
"I'd be lost without Brian, I can't just leave him" Olivia replied once more.
END FLASHBACK
Alex knew that Olivia was now thriving in New York but she knew the attack the other day would have shaken her up a bit. It would have given her serious flashbacks to Brian, all because of the psycho who had lost control in the lobby of the hotel. Alex knew Olivia would talk to her about it when she was ready and now was not that time yet. It was likely going to be one of those "late night and wine" talks that they would have whilst Alex was here. Alex knew she was really going to have to start making a mental list in regards to what they needed to talk about. Thankfully Alex had at least a week here in New York, with the flexibility to extend her time here if she was needed. She had a lot of leave banked up from the law firm she worked for and had finished a few really big cases recently so she deserved to take this time off. There was really no where she would rather spend her time off than with Olivia and Chloe or with her boyfriend Micah.
The following afternoon, Elliot was rushing around the apartment like a headless chicken. Olivia had actually agreed to come over for dinner tonight and he felt like nothing was even close to ready. They had bene to Richard's soccer game this morning and he'd scored the 2 winning goals in the game so they'd then gone out to lunch with friends to celebrate. But in the process of doing so, he'd been left with limited time to get everything ready for dinner that he needed. Thankfully though he had a collection of staff who were on hand to assist with anything that he may require. Elizabeth and Richard were entertaining themselves in their rooms and Elliot had already confirmed the meal with chef. Olivia would arrive about 6:30pm and dinner would be at 7pm tonight. This was a little later than usual for the twins but chef had asked for more time to make sure the meal was right and Elliot had said that would be fine as Chef had agreed to his meal choice. Elliot already knew that Olivia wouldn't mind with a slight change in timings. He was just flad that she had even agreed to come to dinner tonight.
"Daddy" Elizabeth asked and Elliot looked up from where he was organising things in the living room. Elizabeth was standing by the bottom of the stairs looking at him intently.
"Yes honey?" Elliot answered
"What time is Miss Benson coming here? I want to make sure my drawing for her is good" Elizabeth asked.
"She will be here in about 2 hours but honey I'm sure she'll love your picture with whatever it looks like, I know it because you drew it" Elliot explained.
"But it's a gift daddy and so it needs to be the best I done"
"Alright well then like I said, she will be here in 2 hours so at 6:30pm. That's when the clock in your room reads 6 and a 3 and a 0" Elliot tried to assist the little girl.
"I know what 6:30 looks like daddy. Miss Benson teached me in school when we did time" Elizabeth replied before running back upstairs to her room again.
"Of course she did" Elliot said as he watched Elizabeth run back upstairs. He likely had just enough time to check on both twins again, shower and get changed into something more presentable before Olivia would arrive. He just couldn't shake this nervous feeling he had at the moment. It was Olivia, they had spent time together before, they had hung out and so he didn't understand why he was so nervous now. Tonight, just felt different to him, tonight felt like it was a special night and the night for change.
Elliot had to admit that he had more than one reason for his invitation to dinner tonight, he wanted to show Olivia his appreciation for everything that she had done during the attack. But he also wanted the opportunity to talk to Olivia about these feelings that he had, he knew he couldn't keep putting them of like he had. The attack and everything with Dani in the past had made Elliot realise how much he wanted to see what was growing between them. It had shown him how much he wanted to be able to show affection towards Olivia in ways more than a friend could. He really wasn't sure that Olivia felt the same, in fact he was pretty certain she felt the opposite and that they were just friends. But he couldn't keep everything in anymore. Elliot felt like tonight would be that night where he discussed this with Olivia.
A/N: Next chapter; Dinner but...what's going to happen?
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Until Next Time :)
