Chapter 13: I Know You Want Me
A week had passed and Rae and Maureen still weren't speaking. Maureen would call or text every other day but Araeyah ignored her. She'd almost given in a couple of times and answered the phone but she'd decided against it. Maureen had done what so many people do to her all the time; reduced her to her money. Nobody ever thought she did things because of her character. If she did anything good it was credited to guilt she must have for having so much money. If she did anything bad it was, "Well what do you expect from a spoiled rich kid?". Friends were friends and enemies were enemies because of her money. Everything was about her money. She was sick of it. She'd kept to herself all week at school and ended up spending her free time with her mom and her weekend with kids from her parents neighborhood.
When Monday morning rolled around, Rae decided that she would go into school late. It was her senior year and she had all her credits so she had the option to either come to school late or leave early. She chose the former. Plus she didn't want to take any extra classes, so her second period was study hall. Whenever she got the urge, she would skip out on study hall and show up in time to get to her third period class. She got ready for her day same as always but instead of going in to school she went to a coffee shop close enough that she could take her time. Maureen had been calling and texting her all morning but she was still ignoring her. She was still furious about everything Maureen had said. Rae had ordered and was standing to the side waiting for her coffee. Her phone started to vibrate in her pocket. She took it out and saw that Maureen was calling...again. She pushed the decline button sending the call to voicemail when she heard a familiar voice. Looking up from her phone she saw the brunette detective at the counter placing her order. Rae had returned Olivia's call the day she fought with Maureen and they'd talked quite a bit since. They were still in the flirtation stage and Rae had to admit she wanted to move things forward and really get to know Olivia. It had been a couple of days since they'd talked last. Olivia had called Rae but she got busy and forgot to call her back. Olivia hadn't noticed her so she went up to her to speak.
"Hey there stranger." she said standing on her tip-toes to whisper in Olivia's ear. Olivia recognized the voice immediately and a shiver ran down her spine. She turned around so they were face to face. Rae stood so close that when Olivia turned around she could've leaned down and kissed her. And goodness did she want to. Olivia could feel the eyes of other patrons watching them so she took a step back. Rae was wearing a short red dress with different colored flowers and a thin red waist belt along with brown boots that came up to her mid calf. Her hair was curly and put up into a loose ponytail. She wore white rimmed glasses and no makeup. "God, you're so beautiful." Olivia thought to herself as she continued to stare at Rae.
Araeyah just stood there and allowed Liv to take in her form. She loved the way she was staring at her; so full of want. It made Rae melt inside. It was then that Rae heard her name and she stepped forward to take her coffee. She went over and said something to the guy at the register before returning to where Olivia was standing.
"I'm sorry I missed your call the other day. Things were a little hectic. I meant to call you back..." Rae was starting to ramble. Olivia chuckled a little at how adorable it was. She decided to interrupt before she got too lost in trying to explain.
"It's ok. I understand. You were busy." Olivia said with a reassuring smile. The barista called out Olivia's name and she stepped up to take her coffee. The guy at the register came over to Olivia and gave her money back explaining that it was taken care of. Though she was confused, she took the money and went back over to Rae. "Apparently someone paid for my coffee." Rae had a sly smile on her face. Olivia noticed and shook her head. "It was you?" she said slightly surprised.
"Well technically I didn't pay for it. I get coffee here for free." she was met with an inquisitive look from Olivia. "I'm in tight with the owner." Rae said. "You wanna grab a table?" she asked hopeful that Olivia didn't have anywhere to be. Olivia knew that she shouldn't but before her brain could catch up with her mouth she said, "Sure. I'd like that." They sat at a round table in the corner by the window. The sun hit Rae's eyes just perfectly for a second and Olivia saw a flash of green. In an instant it was gone and she saw brown again. "Could this girl be anymore enchanting?" Olivia thought. As much as Olivia was taking in Rae's features, she was doing the same. She loved the way the sun made Liv's skin glow and her hair shimmer. Rae thought she looked absolutely beautiful. After a moment, Olivia decided to break the silence.
"So, shouldn't you be in school?" she asked.
"Ummm...yes and no. I don't have a first period class. Senior year perk. My second class is study hall so sometimes I just skip it." Rae explained. "My teacher doesn't seem to mind. What about you? Shouldn't you be at work?"
"It's my day off." Olivia said taking a sip of her coffee.
"You're up at 9am on your day off?"
"Haha. Yes. Internal clocks and what not." Olivia said shrugging her shoulders. "Oh. Well, lucky me." Rae said slightly seductively. "So...what did you want to talk to me about?"
"Talk to you about?"
"When you called the other day. What'd you want to talk about?" Rae said sipping her coffee. Olivia shuddered when she saw Rae's tongue part her lips to lick the lid of her coffee cup. Rae could tell she was making Liv squirm and she was enjoying every second of it. "Oh right. I called your landlord and left a few messages. He hasn't returned any of my calls. I was calling to tell you that, since I'm off work, I'm gonna go by his office today and talk to him face to face."
"You know you don't have to do that today. I mean it's your day off. You should do something you really want to do." Rae said genuinely.
"What if doing something for you is what I really want to do?" Olivia's tone said that they weren't talking about her going to see Rae's landlord anymore. Rae connected with Liv's eyes and she bit her bottom lip thinking about the possibility of exactly what it was Olivia wanted to do for her. "Well, if doing something for me is really what you want then I definitely won't stop you." Rae brought her coffee cup to her lips and took another sip. She kept eye contact with Olivia and slowly licked the lid of her cup again. Olivia's breath hitched in her throat at the sight and a small moan escaped before she could stop it. The moan, though very subtle, was just loud enough for Rae to hear and it made her heart skip a beat. She had just elicited her very first moan out of Oliva Benson and all she had to do was lick her coffee cup. "I wonder what will happen when I finally get to lick her." Rae thought to herself. Olivia realized what she was doing and she tore her eyes away from Araeyah's. "You have to stop flirting with her. Just change the subject. Say something...anything." Olivia said inwardly. She cleared her throat before continuing their conversation. "Ok. So I'll pay him a visit later."
"Great." Rae said flatly. She could tell that Olivia was fighting her feelings for her. She was debating whether she should be forward or just continue the subtle chase. "Forward." she decided. Before she could say anything Olivia spoke again.
"So how was your weekend with Maureen? Did you two have fun?" Rae face dropped at the mention of blonde and she rolled her eyes. "What is it with these two using each other? Maureen uses Olivia to pout to get attention and Olivia uses Maureen as a distraction from talking about her feelings for me. I know how to solve this problem." Rae thought.
"Maureen and I aren't friends anymore. Actually we haven't spoken since last weekend. We got into a fight. I was so angry I took her home and I haven't spoken to her since. I went home to my mom's to vent and we ended up spending the day together. I can always count on her to be my friend."
Olivia was caught off guard by Rae's admission. "Wait, what? What do you mean you're not friends anymore? When I saw you two last Saturday you were joined at the hip."
Rae took this as her opening. "Actually she started acting weird on Friday...after we met." Rae said indicating that she meant the meet between Olivia and herself. "It just got worse as the weekend went on." Rae wasn't being completely honest but she couldn't explain everything without telling Olivia about her money and she wasn't ready for her to know about that yet. "It kind of just came to head on Sunday."
"What did?" Olivia said confused. "Her jealousy." Rae said simply. "I don't understand." Olivia looked down at her coffee cup which told Rae that she understood perfectly what she was saying. But if Olivia wanted her to lay it all out for her she would. Well minus the part about the money. "Maureen is jealous of my feelings for you. She thinks that if we become...involved that I'll forget about her. That I...won't have time for her anymore." Rae continued looking at Olivia but she refused to meet her gaze. "I explained to her that would never happen and I thought she was ok...but then on Sunday she saw that you called and she got jealous again." Rae saw that Olivia was about to say something but spoke again before she could get anything out. "Don't worry. Our friendship isn't over because of you. There are other things that complicate the situation...but it started with you...with us." Olivia's eyes snapped up and met Araeyah's at her use of the word us. Rae remembered what Maureen said about it being a bad idea for her to get involved with Olivia but she decided in that moment that she didn't care. She felt something strong for this woman and there was no way she wasn't going to take the chance to explore it.
Rae leaned in closer to Olivia staring directly into her dark browns. She lowered her voice to a tone that Olivia found incredibly sexy. Then again, there wasn't much about Rae that Olivia didn't find sexy. "I want you Olivia. And I know you want me too; that you want to be with me. I know you're fighting you feelings because you think they're wrong, but I also know that you won't be able to fight them forever...and I won't stop trying to make you give in." Olivia's breathing was shallow and her mouth was dry. She didn't know what to do or say. She couldn't move. She couldn't find any words. She was paralyzed under Araeyah's gaze. She was finally able to look away. "Rae...I..." she started to speak but was interrupted before she could go any further. "You don't have to say anything right now. Take some time and think it over." Rae paused before continuing. "I have to go. I hope you'll call me later." Rae sat there for a moment longer before getting up and moving to stand beside Olivia. She leaned down, cupped Olivia's face and kissed her softly on the cheek before making her way out of the coffee shop and on to school. Olivia brought her hand up to her cheek caressing the spot that had just been kissed by Rae's soft lips. "That girl is going to be the death of me" she thought before she stood, grabbed her coffee, and left.