Chapter 6: She's Too Young

Olivia walked into her apartment and headed straight for her bedroom. The rest of the day had seemed to drag on forever. Her mind was preoccupied with thoughts of the girl she'd met earlier. Of course Elliot could tell that she was distracted and he kept asking her what was wrong. She just kept telling him it was nothing. "I'm fine. Just tired", she'd say. She knew he didn't buy it but what could she do? She couldn't tell him that she was thinking about his daughter's best friend and how absolutely stunning she is. So she just used the "I'm tired" excuse and hoped he would just drop it. She couldn't wait to get out of there but of course the more she watched the clock, the slower the time seemed to pass. When six o'clock came around Captain Cragen emerged from his office.

"Hey, have you all got all your fives in?" They had just finished a case and had to send all the necessary paperwork to hand it over to the DA's office.

"Yep. Finished mine an hour ago" Elliot said feeling accomplished. Munch and Fin nodded in the affirmative. Cragen turned his attention to his female detective.

"Benson, what about you?" he asked pulling her from her thoughts.

"Oh, yeah. I'm printing them out now." she said quickly getting up and walking over to the printer.

"Alright, well, it doesn't look like much is happening today so you guys go on home. Get some much-needed rest. Keep your phones close though, in case we get a call." They all nodded and quickly gathered their things heading for the door before something happened and they'd all have to stay. Olivia walked into the Captain's office sat her finished work on his desk and said her goodbyes before heading towards the elevator. On her walk out of the squad room, the light hit something just right and caught her eye. It was a phone. She went over and picked it up. She pushed a button and waited for the screen to light up. Once the screen was illuminated she was greeted by Araeyah turned around looking at her over her shoulder giving her a peace sign. She couldn't help the smile that spread across her face. "You're so beautiful" Olivia thought to herself. She wished that Rae was standing in front of her so she could tell her how beautiful she thought she was. After staring at the screen for a moment, she put the phone in her purse and heading for the elevator.

It was nearing seven when she finally made it home and she was yearning for a nice hot bubble bath and a glass of wine. She went into the bathroom and started the water for her bath, adding bubble bath soap and bath salts. She lit some candles and put them around the bathroom to set a nice, relaxing mood and then went into her bedroom removing her clothes as she went. She put on her bath robe and went to the kitchen to get a glass and choose a bottle of wine. When she went back into her bedroom she heard the chime of a phone.

"Ugh. That better not be work." She pulled her phone from her purse and looked at the screen but saw nothing to show she'd gotten a message. Then she remembered the phone she'd picked up on the way out of the precinct. Olivia ran into the bathroom and turned off the water before the tub could overflow and sat her glass and bottle of wine next to the tub before returning to her room to get Rae's phone. "She's probably going out of her mind wondering where this thing is" she thought to herself. "I bet she looks really cute when she's worried". She knew she shouldn't think things like that but she couldn't help it. There was just something about Araeyah that made all her rational thought go out of the window. Unlocking the phone, the same image as before greeted Olivia, accompanied by an impressive amount of missed calls, voice mails, and text messages.

"Of course you're popular. You're too amazing not to be" Olivia said before rolling her eyes at how cheesy she sounded. She contemplated calling Maureen and telling her that she had Rae's phone but decided against it. Something about Rae directly seeking her out gave her a funny feeling in her stomach. "She'd actually have to know you have her phone for her to come talk to you, Liv." she said inwardly. But really she wasn't worried. Somehow she just knew that Rae would figure out that she had her phone and she'd come looking for her. Smiling to herself, she put the phone back in her bag and went into the bathroom.

She took off her robe and hung it on the back of the door. She turned off the lights allowing the candles to illuminate the room and stepped into a perfect bubble bath. She felt herself instantly relax. She poured herself a glass of wine and sipped it as she continued to think about all the possible ways she could run into Araeyah again. "God, how could someone seem so perfect? How do you even know she's perfect? I mean, come on, you only spent ten, maybe fifteen, minutes with her. But sometimes you just know." She let her head fall back against the tub shaking it from side to side, letting out a long sigh. "Come on Liv, you're being ridiculous. You can't feel this way. She's a kid and you're a grown woman and it would be wrong for you two to get involved. Not to mention she's your partner's daughter's best friend. How would you explain your relationship with a teenager to him or to anyone for that matter? You arrest people for things like this. Face it, she's just too young for you."

"That's it. It can't happen." Olivia said a loud to herself. She finished her second glass of wine before washing up and reaching forward to pull the release on the bathtub. She dried herself off before wrapping herself in her robe and walking out to her room. She put on underwear and an oversized t-shirt and picked the clothes she'd be wearing to work tomorrow. She didn't realize it but she picked the pair of black jeans that hugged her in all the right places and her favorite blue top that people always complimented her on. She poured one more glass of wine and sat it on the bed side table before walking into the kitchen and putting the bottle in the frig. She continued to hear Rae's phone in her bag which was making it really difficult for her thoughts not to drift to the girl. So when she returned to her bedroom, she took the phone from her bag and set it to vibrate before putting it back. She crawled into bed and settled down with the book she'd started reading last week. It didn't take long before she'd drifted off to sleep, her dreams filled with nothing but images of her and Araeyah together.