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Part 6
With that he walked out. Olivia watched him leave, stunned. She had thought that this would last, that she'd finally found someone who understood what it meant to her to have this job in the SVU. The dedication, and the emotional toll police work could take. It was the most emotionally difficult unit there was.
Without a word, she turned back to the file she'd been reading. After a few minutes of silence, she looked up to find everyone looking at her.
"What, you've never seen a break-up. Let's get back to work." She surprised herself, her voice hadn't even broken. She was so close to tears, she could feel them at the back of her throat, and stinging her eyes. She looked back at the file in front of her, which was swimming through the sheen of tears threatening to fall. She knew the others were still looking at her.
"Damn it! Quit staring at me!" she yelled her voice finally cracking, and the tears falling. She stood and did something she swore she'd never do, she ran crying to the rest room.
Elliot looked around. "Come one guys. Enough already, get back to work."
He walked to the ladies room, knocking lightly. "Liv?"
"Go away El. I don't wanna talk."
Standing outside the door he tried again. "Come on Liv. You need to talk about this."
Slowly he opened the door. Olivia was standing at a washbasin, splashing water on her face. Elliot took one of the hand towels from the dispenser and handed it to her.
"Thanks," she said thickly. He stood next to her and put a hand on her shoulder. She turned and rested her head on his shoulder. He put his arms around her and pulled her close. She started sobbing again.
Elliot smoothed her hair and let her cry. After a few minutes her crying tapered off. Sniffing, Olivia turned back to the basin. Elliot grabbed a few more paper towels so she could clean herself up.
"Thanks El," she said uncharacteristically shy.
"You did the same for me when Kathy died."
Nodding she said, "Your wife was involved in a drive-by shooting. She was in a coma for three weeks before you were forced to switch off life support. You had every right, and reason to cry. A man dumps me, and I start crying like I'm 15 and the boy of my dreams didn't ask me to the dance. I wish Alex were here."
Elliot smiled. "I'll put a wig on if you want, get a couple of pints of Double Chocolate Choc-Chip ice cream, which we'll eat while watching 'When Harry Met Sally'."
Olivia let out a small laugh. "I hate that movie." Sniffing a little she said, "Actually, I prefer 'Lake Placid' when I'm upset."
Elliot smiled. "Okay, whatever pushes your buttons, 'Lake Placid' it is. When do you want me to come over?"
Olivia's smile broadened as she grabbed another hand towel, and started cleaning her make-up. "Thanks Elliot, you're sweet, but I'll be fine. Give me a few minutes to clean up."
"Sure, you're going to be okay?"
"Yeah, thanks again. You're a good man." Elliot smiled as he left.
Olivia looked at her face. Damn she hated crying, even more so in front of her colleagues. She splashed some more cold water on her face, straightened her clothes and went back to her desk.
The others wisely kept reading as Olivia took her seat. Elliot gave her an encouraging smile as they both went back to trying to find some clue as to who the killer was.
At 6pm Olivia left without saying a word. Elliot watched her walk out. Munch and Fin watched him. "Well, you going to see what's wrong?" Munch finally asked.
"Probably just got tired of looking at your ugly mug," Fin shot back.
Elliot grabbed his coat. "Shut up guys. You really upset her this morning, how about next time showing a bit of tact huh?"
Both Munch and Fin had the decency to look sheepish as Elliot followed his partner into the evening.