Melinda has trouble in her eyes as she hands Olivia a refill. "Is he gay?"
"Excuse me?"
"The ADA. Surely not. Ever thought about it?" Olivia knows that smile, she recognizes the twinkle in her friends eye. Stick to the facts, she thinks.
"All his exes I have heard about have been female."
"Oh." And at this point Olivia can see Melinda trying to contain her cat-ate-the-canary grin. "So you've talked about previous lovers then?"
"Melinda."
The warning tone does nothing to dampen the mood of the ME who simply takes a sip from her cup with a loaded "hmm".
A few more drinks in and the topics back again, this time with a slightly giggly Rollins joining in. Her accent is thick with alcohol and Liv is glad to see her so carefree, but if Amanda keeps saying things like this the Sergeant wonders how she'll ever work with Barba again. "But just imagine, he'd have some quirks, surely. Look at him, he's dominant, he's cocky… There's gotta be something. Not saying it wouldn't be good, because it would, but he'd keep his damn suspenders on or something."
She's talking to him later, struggling to keep her thoughts clean. Because sure it's been a while, but this is Barba. And his smile is bright and wide and doing strange things to her heart. Melinda's words keep rebounding in her head as she watches the Cuban throw his head back with a laugh. ["Melinda, you're happily married!" "I am. But you're not."]
And if the next day Amanda throws her a wink as Olivia's gaze lingers a moment too long, well, Barba doesn't notice.