Chapter Four

Olivia could barely sleep that night. She was the first to awake Saturday morning. The sun was already shining into their room. Olivia carefully disentangled herself from Casey. She sat up and glanced back down at Casey. The young lawyer was so cute and innocent. And she was snoring slightly, Olivia realized. Casey was definitely not waking up anytime soon.

Olivia walked over towards the bathroom. She closed the door, but did not lock it. She had no need to. The bedroom door was locked, and she would not mind if Casey walked in on her. She turned the shower water on and began looking for the hotel-issued bottles of shampoo. After finding them and smelling them, she debated on whether or not to use them. She shrugged as she grabbed one of the bottles and walked into the shower.

She was out in less than fifteen minutes. She quickly dried her hair and got dressed. She was dressed only in a pair of jeans and a red t-shirt, but it was comfortable. She liked that. She poked her head back into the main part of their hotel room. Casey was still asleep. When her girlfriend was like this, it would take the entire U.S. army to wake her. Olivia simply smiled and searched for something on which to scribble Casey a note explaining that she went to breakfast.

Olivia grabbed one of the keys to their room and left quietly. She was back in the hallway. She could see the exact spot where she had last seen Alex. It was crazy, but she half expected Alex to still be there. She wanted her to be there. There was so much she wanted to tell her.

As she made her way to the elevator, she was tempted to ask one of the other staff members for Alex's, or "Miranda's" phone number. No, she thought. The risk was too great. The last thing she wanted to do was jeopardize Alex's life more. The fact that she had seen her the previous night was risk enough.

The elevator ride down was lonely. In the whole seven floors down, Olivia was the only person there. She was not bothered. Normally, she would probably be asleep at 7:30 on a Saturday morning. The elevator came to a stop on the ground floor. Its doors opened with a ding, and Olivia proceeded to the small restaurant inside. Food was definitely a good thing.

The restaurant was nearly empty. An elderly couple sat in the corner. A business man was at the buffet table. A woman was at a round table in the far back corner. She was brunette and facing away from Olivia. Olivia walked over to the beginning of the buffet table before she got a good look at the woman.

Alex smiled over at Olivia. She had two plates in front of her. One was obviously hers as the bacon was half-eaten, but the other one contained all of Olivia's favorite breakfast foods that the buffet offered.

Excitement filled Olivia's body as she rushed to Alex. "Oh my god," she whispered. "Al--Miranda, this is wonderful." She frowned slightly. "Where's my English muffin?"

"Hard as a rock and dryer than the Sahara," Alex responded simply. "I've worked here for nearly two years now, Liv."

Olivia nodded. Two years. Two years of wondering where Alex was, what she was doing, if she was even still safe. Did she find someone else? It felt like a lot longer than two years.

"I'm fine, Liv," Alex continued. She knew exactly what was going through Olivia's head. It was one of the things that made being in WPP the most difficult. No one could come close to having what she and Olivia had. "This is a safe hotel, and I live in a safe neighborhood."

"In Atlantic City?" Olivia asked doubtfully.

Alex shook her head. "Not exactly."

Olivia did not ask further. Knowing where Alex lived would only tempt her to come and see her more often. The two of them knew that until Alex was out of WPP, then that idea was out. It was bad enough that they had talked yesterday and were now eating breakfast together. Olivia knew that Agent Hammond would be having a fit if he knew what was going on.

"So how is everyone?" Alex asked. "Anything new or exciting going on back in New York? Munch still sarcastic? Fin still a Republican? Elliot still your best friend?"

Olivia smiled. She missed this. Too much. "Not too much exciting stuff," she responded.
"Catching sexual predators, putting them in jail."

"Those are the things Olivias do best," Alex pointed out. She gazed fondly across the table at Olivia. Olivia looked so perfect. Her hair had grown out some. Alex liked it. "Well, what else is new?"

Olivia smiled again. Same old Alex. She always had hated waiting for things. "After you left, I called Elliot," Olivia began. "He gave me specific instructions to tell you to get your ass out of Witness Protection," she whispered.

Alex chuckled. "I'll try my hardest," she promised.

"What's new with you?" Olivia asked.

Alex shrugged. "My mother died," she said finally. "I just found out the other week." She drew in a deep breath. "Her funeral was last Wednesday, and I couldn't go."

"Oh, Alex," Olivia said sympathetically. She extended her hand out and rubbed Alex's arm gently. "I'm so sorry, honey."

"That's not even what bothers me most," Alex continued. "The worst part of it all is that my mother died thinking someone had killed me. She still thought I was another one of those unsolved murder cases in the New York City police files somewhere."

"Oh, honey." Olivia did not know what else to say. She kept massaging Alex's arm. Nothing could make the former ADA feel any better. Nothing she could do.

The two of them sat in silence. Olivia continued to run her fingers along Alex's arm. She stopped and grasped Alex's hands, holding them tightly in hers. They just gazed into each other's eyes. Nothing around them mattered anymore. They had each other. Even if it would only be momentarily, they were together. Simultaneously, they stood up and moved their heads towards the middle of the table. They were each moving towards the other.

Their kissing was inevitable. They were only centimeters apart when a noise startled them. The sound of a plate dropping to the hard linoleum floor startled them, and they moved back. They turned in the direction of the noise.

Casey was standing there. Her mouth was open wide with shock. Her eyes were filled with tears of betrayal. In front of her feet were the remains from what was going to be her breakfast. She looked at Olivia as if condemning her. She shook her head once and turned around. She rushed out of the restaurant.

Olivia's face burned with embarrassment. "Casey, please," she called. She doubted Casey could hear her. Her stomach lurched. She glanced back at Alex. Alex gave her a signal to run after Casey. Olivia nodded as she quickly walked out of the restaurant. She needed to make this right. She just hoped Casey could forgive her.