Chapter Five
Olivia walked into the bathroom and walked up to the mirror. She leaned over, bracing herself on the counter. She was having trouble balancing on her shoes, and stepped out of them. Standing in her bare feet, she looked at herself in the mirror. She grabbed a paper towel and wiped the few remaining tears from under her eyes.
"What the hell am I crying about?" She thought to herself. "Get a grip. Did you really think this was going to work out? He's been divorced for months; he has had plenty of opportunities to make his move. Did I honestly think I could put on a sexy dress, smile and flirt, and he would fall into my arms? God, I am such an idiot. All these years…I thought he felt something for me. I thought we had something. That if only he wasn't married. Well, he's not married now, and he doesn't want you." She rocked back and forth from the vanity, trying not to completely lose it. "I have to get out of here."
With that thought, she grabbed her shoes, and made her way to the bathroom door. She looked outside the bathroom, and didn't see anyone she knew. She took a left out of the bathroom, in the opposite direction she had come from. She made her way to the front door, and stepped out into the cool night air.
The bouncer standing outside the door looked at her. "Are you OK?" he asked.
"I need a cab." Olivia said. She was teetering, even in her bare feet. She didn't think she had that much to drink, but it was all starting to catch up with her. The beers, the shots, the arguments, the emotion. She wanted nothing more than to get back to her apartment and lock herself in and crawl into bed.
The bouncer hailed a cab for her. "Are you sure you're OK? Do you know where you're going?" he asked with concern.
"I am an NYPD detective. I can take care of myself." Olivia snapped. She climbed into the cab and the bouncer shut the door behind her. She gave the cabbie her address and leaned back into the seat. She was so exhausted; just spent. "What time is it?" she asked the cab driver.
"It's 11:30" he said.
Olivia couldn't believe it. It seemed like it was 3AM. She let her head fall back against the seat and closed her eyes. "Don't fall asleep." She told herself. "Not a good idea to fall asleep in the cab." The next thing she knew, the cab driver was shaking her awake. Olivia startled, looking around to get her bearings.
"Sorry." She started to climb out of the cab, but the cabdriver grabbed her arm.
"Hey. It's $22.50" he said.
Olivia stopped. "Shit!" she thought to herself. "I don't have any money. I don't have my keys. Or my phone. Damn it! Damn it! Damn it."
"Um. Listen." She said to the cabdriver. "I left the bar without my purse. I don't have any money with me. I am an NYPD Detective. If you please, just let me go, I swear I will reach you tomorrow and pay you. Please. I have had a really rough night and I just need to go home. I can give you my badge number and my phone number. Please." She was tearing up again. She did NOT want to have to call Elliot or anyone else to come rescue her.
The cabdriver looked at her, eyeing her up and down. "Maybe we can work something out." He said.
Olivia looked stricken. "What? What did you just say? Did you not hear me say that I am an NYPD detective? Have you lost your mind?"
"You don't look like a cop…" the cabdriver moved towards her, grabbing her by the arm.
At that moment, a man came out of Olivia's apartment building. Olivia recognized him as an accountant that lived on her floor. She had talked to him once or twice in the past couple of months. He saw Olivia and the cabbie standing there. "Detective Benson, are you OK?" He walked over towards her.
Olivia breathed a sigh of relief. She was in no condition to deal with this cabbie. "John! I'm sorry, but I need some help. I just left a party and forgot my purse and now I can't pay this fare. Can I borrow $25 from you? Please?"
"Sure. No problem." He gave the cabdriver a dirty look and the cabbie stepped back, releasing Olivia's arm. He gave the cabbie his money, and the cabdriver got in the cab and drove off.
Olivia sagged against her neighbor. "Thank you."
John looked at Olivia. "Hey, are you OK? You seem…"
"I'm fine. Can you just open the front door for me? I'm freezing and just want to get inside."
"Sure" he said, letting her lean on him as they walked to the front door. "Where are your shoes?"
Olivia looked down. "Damn it! I left them in the cab." What else could happen to her tonight?
John opened the front door and Olivia stepped into the foyer of her apartment building. He looked at her, swaying slight. "Are you sure you're OK? Do you want me to walk you upstairs?"
"No. No. I'm fine. Really. Thanks so much. I will pay you back tomorrow." She smiled at him. "I really appreciate it." She started towards the stairs, waving an arm at him. He turned and left. Olivia slowly made her way up the stairs until she got to the 4th floor. She wasn't sure what she was going to do once she got to her apartment, since she didn't have her keys. Why had she given all of her stuff to Elliot? Damn it. But she knew why. She was hoping for a very different ending to this evening. She started to tear up again. Damn Elliot.
When Olivia reached her apartment door, she tried opening it, hoping she had forgotten to lock it. She knew that wasn't likely but she didn't know what else to do. She slumped down to the floor, with her back against the door. "Damn it" she said to herself for the twentieth time that night.
Meanwhile back at the bar…
Casey had rejoined the group, but avoided Elliot. She started talking to Melinda and Alex.
"Where's Olivia?" asked Alex, noticing Elliot standing off talking to some of the guys. "Elliot's usually hovering over her, especially when she's been drinking."
"She went to the bathroom. Those two are fighting. Again." Casey said, rolling her eyes. "I told her they should just have sex and get it over with."
"You're telling me they haven't?" said Alex. " I find that hard to believe after all of these years."
"Well, according to Olivia, they haven't. And you don't think that Liv would never have had an affair with Elliot while he was married. No way." Said Casey. "I believe her."
At that moment, Elliot walked up and they fell silent, guilty looks on their faces. Elliot figured they had been talking about him.
"Casey. Where's Liv?"
"She went to the bathroom Elliot. She'll be back."
"Well, she's been gone a long time. Can you check on her?" asked Elliot.
"Elliot…quit smothering her. She's upset and just needs some space. She'll come out when she's ready." said Casey.
"Casey. Please. She's really drunk. I want to make sure she's not sick or passed out. I won't talk to her. I just want to make sure she's ok."
Casey sighed. "Fine. Alex, come with me."
Casey and Alex walked to the bathroom, and pushed open the door. "Olivia?" called Casey. "Where are you?"
There were lots of women in the bathroom, so Casey and Alex pushed their way through the crowd, calling for their friend. They waited as women came and went out of the stalls, but there was no Olivia.
"We must have missed her." Said Alex. They walked out and back over to the crowd. They looked around their crowd of friends, but didn't see Olivia. As they walked up, Elliot came over. "Did you find her? Is she OK?" he asked.
"Elliot. She wasn't in the bathroom. Did she come back here?"
"No. I haven't seen her." Elliot was starting to get worried. He walked over to Fin and Munch.
"Hey guys. Have you seen Liv? She isn't in the bathroom, but I haven't seen her come back. Help me look around the bar and find her."
They circled around the bar, looking on the dance floor, and the bar and in every dark corner. Olivia was nowhere to be found. They met back at the table.
"Where the hell is she?" asked Elliot. He was getting worried. "She's not here! Where the hell did she go? She doesn't have her keys or her phone. She doesn't have any money. And she had too much to drink." Elliot pounded on the table in frustration. "I should never have let her out of my sight."
