Close Calls
Summary: See ch1
Disclaimer: 19 chapters later, and Dick Wolfe still won't let me have them:(
A/N: Keep the review coming!
Dinner
The day had gone by quickly. Cragen had let Olivia leave early since she wasn't working on a case.
She had used the extra time to her advantage.
When she got home, the silence was almost deafening. She had only been living with Elliot for a week, but she had become so accustomed to having someone there when she got home.
She pushed through the silence, hung up her coat, kicked off her shoes, and took advantage of having time to herself by drawing a bath. It had been ages since she had had the time to indulge in a bath.
Olivia let the warm water run as she collected some things to add to her relaxation. She grabbed some candles, a CD player, a glass of wine, and some bubbles.
As she filled the tub, put on her music, and lit the candles, she could already feel the relaxation setting in.
She climbed into the tub, and submerged herself up to her shoulders. She let the warm water relax her overworked body, and slowly sipped her wine.
After an hour and a half, Olivia began dozing off. If it weren't for the ringing phone, she would have never made it to her date.
She jumped out of the tub, wrapped a towel around herself, and raced for the phone, still dripping.
"Hello." She breathed into it, out of breath from the sprint. "Hello?" She asked, when there was no answer. "Is anyone there?"
The next thing Olivia heard was a click on the other end.
"Guess it was a wrong number." She thought. The phone call quickly left her mind when she saw the clock on her VCR and realized that she had to meet Elliot at the restaurant in an hour.
She rushed around her room doing her hair, putting her makeup on, and finally slipping into her cocktail dress. It was a classy back one with off the shoulder sleeves. It was one of her favorites. For her feet, Olivia chose simply black heel sandals. After placing two drop pearl earrings in her ears, and a simple silver chain around her neck, she rushed to the door.
Before going out she checked the mirror one last time. Her light brown hair fell dusting shoulders, and her makeup looked flawless. She smiled at how feminine she looked. With work, she rarely got the chance to just look pretty.
She grabbed her clutch purse, and rushed out the door.
When she got to the restaurant Elliot was already sitting waiting. She smiled at how he looked. She could tell that he was nervous, although she couldn't understand why; it was just her after all.
He was sitting at one of the tables in the middle of the restaurant playing with the silverware. He was wearing a deep blue tie, and a dark suit. He was freshly groomed, and looked amazing.
"May I help you Mame?" The matrede asked.
"I'm meeting someone here." Olivia answered.
"What's his name?" The man asked.
"Elliot Stabler." Olivia said. Her voice was quiet. She still wasn't used to this relationship.
"Ah yes, right this way." The man said, leading her to the table Elliot was already at.
When Elliot saw her he immediately stood from his seat, making a smile form across Olivia's face.
"Hey Liv." He smiled as he pulled out her chair.
"Hi." She answered, sitting and allowing Elliot to push it in for her.
"Someone will be right with you to take your drink orders." The man informed them before leaving.
Elliot took his seat across from Olivia. She could see that it still hurt him to move. "You didn't have to get up." She told him.
"What kind of gentleman would I be if I didn't?" He asked smugly.
"I wasn't aware you were a gentleman." She said with a teasing smile. "The Elliot Stabler I know likes punching walls, and on occasion, people. I wasn't aware he even took the time to brush up on gentlemanly skills." She smiled.
"I too have secrets Benson." He smiled back.
Olivia just laughed. She had never seen this gentle, caring, romantic side of Elliot before, but she liked it. It was a strak difference from the cold, profession Elliot she knew from work. She liked this Elliot.
"Can I get you two anything to drink?" A young waiter asked as he approached the table. He kept his eye on Olivia a little too long for Elliot's liking.
He reached across the table, and took her hand in his, getting the young man's attention. "We will have some champagne, to celebrate our first official date." He said smugly, to let the man know where he stood.
But, just in case he didn't get the hint, Elliot stared him down with a look Olivia had only previously seen him give the filthiest of perps.
"Right away sir." The waiter said, scurrying away.
"Nice." Olivia simply commented rolling her eyes.
"What?" Elliot asked, pretending he had no idea what she was talking about.
"What? Why not just slap a sign on my head that says 'Elliot's girlfriend?'" She asked, pulling her hand out of his and indicating her forehead. He could tell that she was annoyed.
"Great." He thought. "Way to start off the evening. She may be your girlfriend now, but she's still the same stubborn, head strong Olivia."
"Okay fine, so I'm a little possessive." He began, trying to explain himself.
"A little?" Olivia asked.
"Okay, a lot. But Liv, you gotta understand that this is new for me. I've loved you for a long time. And in that time I've watched you go out with more men than I would have liked." He explained, reclaiming her hand.
"Yeah, but now I'm with you, and I'm not going anywhere." She smiled.
"I'll keep that in mind." He said as the waiter brought the champagne to the table.
"Are you ready to order?" The man asked, careful to not make eye contact with Olivia.
"Yes. I'll have salmon please." Olivia answered kindly.
"And I'll have the steak." Elliot answered.
"Your meals will be out shortly." The man said before again scurrying away. He wasn't about to stand there longer than he had to.
Elliot pulled the champagne bottle out of the ice bucket. Fortunately, the restaurant had already popped the cork, otherwise Olivia was sure Elliot would have hit someone with it.
He poured two glasses and handed one to Olivia.
"What about your medication?" She asked, always looking out for her partner.
"The doctors took me off of it the other day. They say I'm healing fast." He smiled.
"That's good to hear. Any word on when you'll be back at work breaking my ass?" She smiled.
"Well, Cragen already said I could come back to a desk later this week." He answered happily. He hated sitting home doing nothing as much as the next cop.
Elliot then raised his glass. "To us." He smiled. "To us finally getting enough sense to go for what we really wanted, and saying 'screw you' to any doubts or fears we may have had."
"Eloquently put." Olivia smiled as she clinked glasses with him. He may have cleaned himself up, and could pull out her chair all he wanted, but it was still the same Elliot!
"So, how was your day?" Elliot asked, eager to hear all about what he was missing at work.
"Long. Turns out our missing vic, was never missing." She began sipping her drink. "She was an informant for the Marshalls on some un named drug lord. She gave them information that lead to his arrest, but his men got away." She explained. "It seems that the rapist, slash, guy she killed, was one of this guy's men. The Marshalls put both her and her family into protective custody."
"It was nice of them to tell you." Elliot commented just as their food was arriving.
"Well, you know the Marshalls and their whole 'need to know basis.'" She sighed as she cut her meat. "Part of the reason why I left Andy." She added, more to herself than to Elliot.
Unfortunately, he had heard it. "Andy" Elliot asked. "What's he got to do with anything?"
"Oh, nothing." Olivia answered.
"Then why did you mention him?" Elliot pushed, irritating Olivia.
"He was the one who came to inform us about what happened to Beth. This whole jealousy thing is already getting old El." She warned.
"I… sorry." He apologized. "So, anything else exciting happen?" He asked, trying to change the subject.
"Well, Casey informed me that many of New York's finest were taking part in a bet concerning when we would have sex." She said calmly.
Elliot almost choked on his dinner at the revelation. He grabbed for his water to stop himself from having a coughing fit. "They what?" He forced himself to ask.
"Yeah, apparently Munch and Fin started it. Casey's in, along with the rest of the squad, and a handful of people we know from other squads." She said still eating. "Lucrative business too. Seems it costs 50 bucks to enter, and then and other 20 each time you want to add another bet."
"And, you're okay with this?" Elliot asked as his coughing got under control.
"Well, I wasn't at first, but then I started thinking." She said with a sly smile...
TBC...
This chapter was basically just to set a bunch of stuff up for the future! If you keep reading and reviewing it will all be explained later!