They walked into the hotel where New York's well dressed socialites came to smooze and booze. A large sign read "Americans for the Arts Fashion Show."
Alex leaned over to Olivia and whispered, "Just once I'd like to see the NRA put on a fashion show."
Olivia chuckled.
"Alex!" a man called from behind them.
They turned around and saw a well groomed, nicely dressed man walk up to them.
"Hi Max," Alex politely smiled.
Max smiled a charming smile. "I didn't think you'd come."
Alex shrugged, "I got guilted into it."
Max laughed, "Me too." Then he turned to Olivia, "Max Franklin." He extended his hand to her.
Olivia shook it, "Olivia Benson."
He then turned back to Alex, "So have you been ignoring my dinner invitations again?"
"Yeah," Alex answered bluntly, "I don't have time."
"If you'd join my firm, you'd have the time," Max put his hands in his pockets.
"I prosecute criminals," Alex replied, "What makes you think I'd want to defend them?" Alex turned to Olivia and rolled her eyes, "Let's go get something to drink."
They walked over to the open bar and opted for sodas instead of the ever popular champagne.
"Are you having fun yet?" Olivia smirked.
Alex just shook her head.
"I could tell by the steam coming out of your ears," Olivia replied.
Alex slowly smiled, "We better go sit down before someone else recognizes me."
"Alex!" a woman called.
Alex opened her mouth to Olivia who silently giggled. Alex gave her a playful glare before turning to the voice.
An older woman who was about Alex's height with blonde hair, wearing a pants suit walked over to them.
"Mom?" Alex asked the older woman.
"Hi dear," Alex's mom smiled. She had a warm smile, like Alex's. She looked to Olivia, then smiled back at Alex.
"Uh mom," Alex turned to Olivia, "This is Detective Olivia Benson. Liv, this is my mom, Celine Cabot."
They shook hands. Celine beamed, "It's so good to finally meet you. Alex speaks so highly of you."
Olivia smirked to Alex who was blushing, "It's nice to meet you too."
Then Celine turned to Alex and pointed a finger at her, "You're in trouble."
"Me?" Alex asked, in her best innocent voice.
"You were in the hospital and you didn't call your mother," Celine went on. The smile in her eyes betrayed the stern look on her face.
Alex smiled, "Sorry."
"I'm just glad you're okay," Celine took Alex's hand and held out her arms. She examined all the parts of Alex she could see.
"I'm fine mom," Alex pulled her hands back, "Just hypothermia, nothing major." Alex gestured the Olivia, "She's the one that got stabbed."
Celine turned a sympathetic face to Olivia and touched Olivia's arm, "Are you okay dear?"
Olivia nodded, "I'm fine thanks to Alex."
"I told you that being a lifeguard four summers in a row was going to come in handy," Celine joked with Alex.
Alex smiled at her mother, then took a sip of her drink.
"So how did Alex convince you to join her here?" Celine smiled to Olivia.
"Um," Olivia shrugged with a slight smile, "She bribed me. With food and shiny clothes."
Celine chuckled, "That's my Alex."
Alex looked at her watch, "Maybe we should take our seats."
"Of course," Celine nodded.
They all walked in and saw the long catwalk down the center of the room. They sat in the second row from the catwalk, Olivia between Alex and her mother.
Olivia slowly and stiffly sat down.
"Are you okay?" came from both Cabot women.
Olivia smiled, "I'm fine."
"Mrs. Cabot," a woman smiled next to her, "How are you?" She had an exotic beauty to her with long dark hair and golden skin.
"I'm great," Celine stood to hug the girl. The then turned to Alex and Olivia, "Alex, Olivia, this is Kim Donovan. Kim, this is my daughter Alexandra Cabot and her friend, Olivia Benson."
They all exchanged polite greetings as Kim made her way to her seat next to Alex.
Olivia noticed Kim look Alex up and down a few times, before trying to engage her in conversation. A hint of jealously coursed through Olivia's veins.Well, maybe a hint was an understatement.
A hand on her arm brought her out of her thoughts. Olivia looked at the hand and followed the hand's arm up to Celine's face.
"I wouldn't have had Alex sit next to Kim if I knew you were coming my dear," Celine reassured her.
Olivia was shocked. Was it that obvious that Olivia was insanely jealous?
Celine patted Olivia's arm, "I've been alive a long time and I've done a lot of watching. I've learned to catch onto things that other people don't."
Olivia slowly nodded. She checked to see if Alex was watching out of the corner of her eye, but Alex was engaged in a conversation with Kim.
The lights went down and the show started. Olivia was interested only in how ridiculous the outfits were that the models wore, than the models themselves. In Olivia's eyes, no one could compare to the blonde haired beauty next to her.
She slowly looked over at Alex, who was watching the runway, but saw Olivia look so she looked back. Alex gave Olivia a small, sweet smile. Alex gently took Olivia's hand and squeezed it, before releasing it.
Olivia took a deep breath debating the next move she knew was inevitable. She reached over and took Alex's hand, gently holding it before looking back out on the catwalk.
Throughout the show, Olivia would glance over at Alex who was watching the catwalk, or the wall across the room, Olivia couldn't be sure. Then Olivia would glance at their joined hands.
When glancing over once, Olivia saw Alex yawn. She leaned over and whispered, "Tired?"
Alex smiled and whispered back, "Bored. You wanna get out of here?"
Olivia nodded.
Alex leaned over Olivia to her mother, "We're going to go."
Celine smiled at them, "Okay. Have fun and call me later."
Alex just nodded and walked out with Olivia in tow.
They walked outside and Alex handed the valet her ticket. She crossed her arms and looked at Olivia, "That was a colossal waste of time."
"I wouldn't say colossal," Olivia smiled, "But I've certainly done better things with my time."
"Well," Alex smiled back, "Since we did my thing, what do you want to do now?"
Olivia thought for a minute before beaming.
The young ADA raised an eyebrow, "I don't know if I like that smile."
Alex drove them home so they could change and they convened in the living room.
"So," Alex leaned on the back of the couch, "Where to?"
"It's a surprise," Olivia replied with a smirk. She extended her hand. Alex took the keys out and handed them to Olivia.
Olivia slid into the driver's seat and watched Alex get in. Alex should definitely wear jeans more often.
Alex watched carefully where they were going. It wasn't somewhere she'd been before. Olivia parked on the side of a small street, next to a vacant, eerie-looking building.
Alex looked over at Olivia, "Don't tell me you're a ghost hunter."
Olivia laughed, "We're not going there."
Alex looked around. It was definitely not a neighborhood she's go to alone.
Olivia got out and Alex followed her closely. Olivia walked down the sidewalk and glanced back at Alex who was looking around.
"Do you seriously think I'd take you somewhere you could get hurt?" Olivia asked, turning the corner.
Alex weighted it out in her head, "Well…there's a few times I thought you'd kill me if we were in a dark alley without witnesses."
Olivia smiled sweetly, "I couldn't kill you."
Then Olivia stopped in front of an old movie theatre. There was an old ticket booth where a nice looking older woman was sitting and knitting. Olivia looked at the board behind the woman and saw the names of the two movies playing.
Olivia looked back down at Alex, "Roman Holiday or The Jazz Singer."
"Roman Holiday," Alex smiled.
Olivia walked up to the window, "Hey Chloe."
The older woman looked up and smiled, "Hi Olivia."
Olivia slipped the woman some money, "Two."
Chloe took the money and handed Olivia two cardboard coasters.
"Thanks," Olivia smiled and led Alex inside. Alex followed, completely bewildered by the coasters.
It was old but decent looking on the inside and there were a few people milling around from all walks of life. There was peeling gold leafed molding around the ceiling and musty red draped along the wall. One either side of the concession stand were two sets of large wooden doors.
Olivia handed Alex a coaster and led her to the concession counter.
A college aged man smiled at them, "What can I get you lovely ladies?"
Alex glanced behind the counter and saw plastic wine glasses next to boxes of wine and a refrigerator with beer and sodas in it. There was no cash register and no money to be seen so she figured drinks came with admission. She was also wondering how legal this whole place was.
"Corona," Alex told the man.
"Ginger Ale," Olivia replied and looked at Alex with a raised eyebrow.
The man nodded and walked off.
"What?" Alex asked Olivia.
"I always pegged you as a wine drinker," Olivia smiled.
Alex smirked, "I don't drink wine out of boxes."
Olivia chuckled.
"How'd you come across this place?" Alex asked lightly, as the man came back with their drinks.
They took their drinks and started walking toward the doors on the left. "I was just driving around after class one day and saw it."
Alex nodded. They walked into the theatre, where purple velvet seats had seen better years and the red curtains that hung needed to be cleaned. Alex was sure that if she left her feet on the floor for too long her shoes would be permanently stuck. There were long wooden tables in front of each row of chairs. Some patrons were eating some kind of food waiting for the movie to start, while others chatted and sipped wine.
Olivia took Alex's hand and pulled her though the threshold, "It just has character."
And mold. Alex thought. And possibly rats. Then her thoughts were ripped away by the feeling of Olivia's hand around hers. It was so warm and strong. It was also a lot softer than she figured the detective's hands to be.
They sat down and set their drinks on their coasters. Alex leaned on the armrest, close to Olivia, "I love this movie."
"Me too," Olivia smiled at Alex, "It's one of my favorites."
The lights went down on the last syllable of Olivia's sentence.
As the movie went on, Alex leaned ever closer to Olivia. Olivia noticed this and moved the armrest out of the way. Alex smiled in the glow of the movie screen and snuggled into Olivia. Olivia wrapped her arms around the blonde and thought about how natural it all felt and how perfect their bodies fit together.
When the Princess walked away from Joe Bradley the lights came up. Alex sat up and straightened her hair and Olivia finished off her drink.
"I never liked the ending," Alex commented as people started herding out of the theatre.
"Why not?" Olivia asked, standing.
Alex smiled shyly, "I always wanted them to end up together."