Chapter Two: Misconception
Summary: In which Olivia returns to work and Rafael thinks he knows everything.
"Come on, sweet boy," Olivia encouraged her young son to move it along in the airport security line. The Paris Charles de Gaulle airport was busy despite the early hour.
"Ok, momma. Why isn't Ed coming home with us?" Noah squeaked with the innocence of childhood curiosity.
Having avoided thinking about the disastrous proposal and subsequent blowout argument that cemented the end to their relationship, Olivia spared few words in gathering up Noah and their belongings before rushing to the airport for an early morning flight home. A full 4 days earlier than planned. The cost to change their tickets was nearly as much as the original roundtrip flight, but Olivia did not care. She needed to get out of there and back to the United States asap.
Taking a few moments to consider how to explain it to such a young child, Olivia chose the simplest explanation and braced herself for an onslaught of questions. "Ed and Mommy decided to breakup, Noah. So, that means he is going to stay in Paris for a few more days and he won't be coming over anymore."
"Oh, ok," Noah replied with a shrug of his shoulders. "He's not as fun as Uncle Rafa or Uncle Sonny anyway."
Smiling at her brilliant boy, Olivia could not argue with the simple logic of the youth. "No, I imagine he's not nearly as fun as either of them."
Feeling lighter in mind, body, and soul than she had in longer than she cared to admit, Olivia and Noah proceeded hand-in-hand through security to their departure gate to await their flight home to New York. Watching Noah entertain himself with a tablet, she absently toyed with the new white gold necklace around her delicate neck, a small white gold ring engraved with Noah's initials and her own dangling from the end. Noah's birthstone set delicately on the ring. It was the one selfish purchase she made while in Paris – the ring caught her eye while strolling through the Column at Place de la Bastille during one of the rare moments she spent alone during the trip while Tucker entertained Noah at their hotel. It was beautiful and she didn't even care that the ring was a size too small to fit on any of her fingers. It was equally beautiful on the necklace.
Happy to be heading back home for a quiet weekend alone with Noah, Olivia felt a strong sense of relief wash over her.
…
"Hey Lieu!" Detective Dominic "Sonny" Carisi called out as Lieutenant Olivia Benson rushed into the squad room, bags in hand. She looked refreshed despite running late on her first day back. "How was Paris?"
"Yeah, was it as great as everyone claims?" Detective Amanda Rollins chimed in.
"Hi Carisi, Rollins, Fin!" Olivia rushed into her office to drop her bags and turned back around to check in with her team. "Paris was… beautiful. I'm glad to be back though." She planned to leave it at that but knew Carisi and Rollins would want more details later.
"That's great!" Rollins called from her desk. "You didn't miss much while you were away. Just a couple minor cases and one new one that came in yesterday."
"Well, that's good. What's the new case?"
Carisi, Rollins, and Fin gave Olivia a rundown of the initial details of a rape and battery case involving a young businesswoman who was on a Tinder date gone wrong.
"Have you tracked down the date from Tinder?" Olivia asked, tapping one fingernail on the tabletop. She felt antsy despite the relaxation of the past few days though she could not quite figure out why.
"He's in the interrogation room as we speak," Rollins replied. "We're just waiting on Barba to get here before we jump in."
"Speak of the peacockin' devil," Fin murmured as ADA Rafael Barba strutted into the squad room clad in a dark gray three-piece suit with a light blue dress shirt beneath and a pink checkered tie.
Olivia felt a bubble of happiness rise up within her at the sight of him and wondered if he was hiding those wild pink stripe suspenders beneath the suit. Peacockin' indeed. Pleased to see her friend again, she smiled broadly. "Morning Counsellor."
Avoiding gazing directly at her, Barba nodded to the group in general and got right down to business. "Lieutenant, detectives. What do we have so far?"
Olivia's gaze traveled over her friend as her team re-iterated what they just told her about the case. The ADA looked well, really well, actually. Was that a bit of tan on his flawless skin? She wondered if he went on another adventure with whichever of his friends had the yacht while she was away.
"Let's see what Mr. Wrong has to say for himself," Barba sassed with a final tap of a pen to his lips.
Rollins and Carisi rose from the table and entered the interrogation room as Fin went back to his desk to follow up with the victim. Olivia continued to watch Barba as he slipped a legal pad into his briefcase and turned toward Olivia's office to observe the interrogation. He still hadn't looked directly at her.
"Are you joining us, Lieutenant?" Barba called over his shoulder as he bounced on the balls of his feet into her office.
Lips pursed and eyes narrowed, Olivia rose from the table moving toward her office. Given the uncharacteristic chilliness emanating off the man, Olivia stood further away from Barba than was typical. Staring straight ahead through the observation window, she used half her brain to mull over what could be going on with the ADA next to her while listening to Carisi and Rollins question the Tinder date suspect.
As much as their friendship was tested when he found out about her relationship with Tucker and subsequently had her transferred (however temporarily that might have been), she thought they were well on their way toward mending things between them. They were at least cordial with each other last time she saw him. His intense green gaze would actually meet hers before she left for Paris with Tucker. What in the world happened while she was away?
Tuning back into the suspect's evasive and non-sensical answers to simple questions, Olivia absent-mindedly pulled her necklace from beneath her blouse and toyed with the ring dangling from the end.
"This clown is clearly lying and already forgetting the lies he's told," ADA Barba murmured. "This should be an easy open and shut case."
He turned toward the Lieutenant in slow motion and their eyes met for the first time since Olivia returned to New York. Barba's green eyes were shining with the knowledge that this would be an easy case, and his lips quirked upward for a brief moment as they gazed at her brown orbs. Olivia's hesitant smile widened. "Hi Rafa," she whispered.
Frostiness momentarily softened; Barba opened his mouth to inquire about her trip when he was distracted by the movement of her right hand at the base of her neck. The sparkle of a white gold ring with a gemstone sliding back and forth across a delicate white gold necklace caught his attention and his heart dropped. The atmosphere within the room once again laden with tension as his expression morphed to a blank slate. His eyes no longer shone with affection, or anything, really. His worst fear was just realized. Damn it. Sometimes he hated being right.
Clearing his throat, Barba adjusted the grip on his briefcase and declared, "I've seen enough. Let me know when your team gets a confession."
ADA Rafael Barba fled the room before Olivia could formulate a coherent response.
"What the hell just happened," she wondered aloud, tossing her hands in the air in utter bafflement at the man's odd behavior.
