Chapter 37: No More Worries
Rae didn't have to meet with Olivia for dinner until seven thirty. She had a show coming up with the band next weekend so she, Ashley and Maureen decided to go to the mall so she could get some new clothes. Maureen wanted to stop by her dad's job to see if he would give her money for shopping. Rae insisted that she didn't need to do that. She was happy to pay for whatever Maureen wanted but Maureen insisted. So they drove over to the precinct to see Maureen's dad. Rae tried to stay in the car but both Ashley and Maureen goaded her into coming inside. She finally relented and got out of the car to go inside with them. Ashley already knew detective Stabler but she and Olivia hadn't been properly introduced. She was excited to formally meet her after hearing so much about her over the past couple of months. She also wanted to apologize for the trouble she'd stirred up between her and Rae. They walked into the squad room and saw everyone but Maureen's dad there.
"Hey Liv" Maureen said approaching her desk. Olivia looked up and Maureen, then noticed Ashley and last Rae.
"Uh, hi Maureen" she said nervously. She glanced back at Rae and gave her a smile. Rae smiled back. Maureen saw Olivia's gaze shift and turned to see that it had landed on Rae. When Rae noticed the look Maureen was giving her she looked down at the floor and put her hands in her back pockets. Maureen turned back to Olivia, "You already know Rae" she said, "but I don't think you've met Ashley before. Ashley this is Olivia Benson, my dad's partner. Olivia this is Ashley Williams." Olivia stood up from her desk and held out her hand, "Nice to finally meet you properly" she said. Ashley smiled, "It's really nice to finally meet you too", she said before taking a step closer, "and I just want to apologize for anything I've done that's caused you and..." she paused, "you know who any problems" she whispered. Olivia smiled, "Don't mention it" she said with a small wave of her hand. Ashley sighed and smiled, relieved that Olivia had accepted her apology.
"Maureen?" Elliot had entered the squad room and seen his daughter and her friends there. "Girls?" he said greeting Ashley and Rae. "What are you doing here?" he said addressing his daughter. Rae quietly backed away towards the squad room doors and subtly motioned to Olivia to follow her. She turned and walked to the bathroom. Olivia hesitated for a moment before following. Maureen and Ashley, in their conversation with Elliot, didn't notice them slip away. Olivia walked into the bathroom and saw Rae leaning against the sink.
"Hey there you" she said walking over to her. She pressed their bodies together and leaned down kissing Rae full on the lips. She ran her tongue along her bottom lip, asking for entry. Rae parted her lips and allowed Olivia's tongue to enter her mouth and caress her own. Worried that someone might walk in at any moment, Rae ended the kiss.
"Hey" she said softly. Olivia leaned in for another kiss but Rae pulled back and pushed Olivia away. "What?" Olivia asked. "Liv, this isn't a good idea. Not unless you want someone to walk in here and see us making out." she said explaining her actions. Olivia shrugged her shoulders, "I don't care who sees us" she said closing the space between them again. "Since when?" Rae asked. She moved away from the sink and leaned against the wall. "Since right now" she said trying again to get closer to Rae. "When I saw you in the squad room the first thing I wanted to do was kiss you. Then I remembered I couldn't because people don't know about us" Olivia attempted for the third time to get closer to Rae. This time she didn't let her slip away. "I want to be able to kiss you any time, any place, in front of anyone. I don't wanna hide anymore" she said. Rae couldn't believe what Olivia was saying. It all seemed so sudden. Just yesterday they were talking about how to keep Maureen from telling anyone and now Olivia wanted to tell everyone. "I...I...really?" Rae asked in shock. "Yes" Olivia said amused by Rae's surprise. She leaned down to kiss her but again Rae pulled away. "Can I think about it?" Olivia was confused. She thought Rae would be happy that she wanted people to know about them. "Uh, yeah. Of course." Rae smiled and nodded. She pulled away from Olivia and walking out of the bathroom, leaving her standing there dumbfounded.
Walking up to the squad room doors, Rae heard a familiar voice. "No, it can't be" she thought to herself. As she walked into the squad room, she saw that it was just who she thought it was. "Maaman" she said. She was extremely confused as to why her mom was at the precinct. As if matters could get any worse, Charles was with her. A moment later, Olivia walked into the squad room. She immediately sensed that she was walking into an awkward situation. She looked and noticed that Charles was there. She turned and locked eyes with Rae who held her gaze for second before looking away. "Suri, there you are" Soraya said happy to see her daughter. Rae's mother walked over, greeted her, and started talking to her in Farsi. She said that she and Charles were driving back from a late lunch with some of his clients when they saw them walking into the precinct. "You just happened to be driving by the precinct where Olivia works?" she thought. She glared at Charles knowing he had done this on purpose. He just wanted to see where Liv works and he happened to drive by when she was walking in. "Just my luck", she thought.
Rae's mother stepped over to where Olivia was standing. She stood in front of her and held out her hand, "You must be detective Benson" she said, "it's very nice to meet you" Rae's eyes got big and Ashley and Maureen watched the scene before them in awe. This couldn't get any more awkward. "Uh, it's nice to meet you too" Olivia said obviously confused about who this woman was. Then it hit her. She recognized her from the pictures Rae had shown her. "You're Rae's mom?" she asked. "I am. Soraya Caston" she said back smiling. "Charles told me how you helped our daughter out with her problems with Daniel. I want to thank you" she said sweetly. "Oh, it was nothing" Olivia said shifting uncomfortably at the mention of Rae's landlord. "It's my daughter. It's everything" she said looking over at Rae. Rae gave a soft smile to her mother but it quickly went away when Charles spoke. "Yes, we really appreciate it" he said walking over and putting an arm around Soraya's shoulder. Rae rolled her eyes at his antics. Soraya turned to face the rest of the team. "I want to invite all of you to our home for Thanksgiving Dinner" she said enthusiastically. Rae almost fainted. "What?" she said. "Yes" said reaching over and touching her daughter's hair. "We have plenty of room and there will be plenty to eat. You should all come and bring your families" Soraya said nicely.
"Sounds good to me" Fin said standing from his desk. "Yeah, me too. I was planning on going to see a black and white movie marathon. You just saved my holiday" Munch quipped. "What about you Cap?" Fin asked. Captain Cragen had just come out of his office to see a full squad room. Elliot stepped over to do the introductions. "Cap this is Araeyah Caston, Maureen's best friend." Rae gave a small wave and Cragen nodded his greeting. "And these are her parents, Soraya and Charles. They've invited us all over for Thanksgiving dinner." Capt. Cragen smiled in appreciation. "Well, that sounds wonderful. Saves my from spending the holiday alone" he said. "I'll call Kathy just to make sure but I doubt she'll say no. She'll be grateful she doesn't have to cook" Elliot said smiling. "What about you detective Benson" Charles asked smugly. "Will you be able to join us?" Olivia wasn't sure what Rae wanted her to say. She looked at her for some sign of what to do. Rae subtly nodded her head. "Yes. I would love to" she said. "Wonderful" Soraya said. She looked very pleased that everyone said they would be coming.
"Should we bring anything?" Fin asked. Soraya shook her head. "No, please. I will take care of everything. You just bring yourselves" she said. Everyone looked around at each other, shrugged and nodded in agreement. "Great. So I will see you all on Thursday at say seven; dinner to start at seven thirty?" Everyone nodded again and gave thanks to Soraya for her invitation. Soraya went over to her daughter and placed her hands on either side of her arms, kissing her firmly one cheek and then the other. Rae returned the greeting. They said their goodbyes and Soraya and Charles left the squad room. Maureen got money from her father and the girls left not far behind Rae's parents. They went to the mall as planned and stayed for about two hours. Truthfully, Rae hated shopping, especially in the mall. Whenever she went to the mall, she knew exactly what she was looking for. She never stayed for more than half an hour. Of course, both Ashley and Maureen loved shopping so when she went with them the stayed for what felt like forever. Ashley and Maureen wanted to get food so they went to a bodega. Rae only got a drink since she was going to dinner with Liv later. For the first time, she was able to tell both of her friends where she was going and who she was going with. Being able to tell the whole truth felt really good.
She parted ways with her friends at six to get ready for her date with Liv. Now that Ashley and Maureen were getting along, Ashley was able to drive her home. Olivia told her to dress nice but she wouldn't tell her where they where going. She put on the white dress that she'd found earlier at the mall. It was strapless and stopped just a few inches under her butt. She put on a pair of white stiletto heels her mom bought her for her sixteenth birthday that she hadn't ever worn. She pulled her hair back on the sides and pinned it with a black clip and wore matching black necklace and stud diamond earrings that had belonged to her grandmother. She put on black eye liner and mascara, a light coat of white eyeshadow and a little gloss on her lips. She was just finishing up when she heard a knock at her door. She walked into her bedroom and grabbed her purse before going out into the living room. She glanced at the clock on the stove on her way to the door and it was seven fifteen. She went to the door and opened it, smiling. Her smile quickly faded when she saw it wasn't Olivia as she expected.
"What do you want Charles?" she said clearly annoyed by his presence.
"Wow" he said taking in her appearance, "you look great". Rae was a bit surprised at how genuine the compliment sounded. "Thanks" she said flatly. "What are you doing here?"
"Just wanted to tell you that you and your girlfriend should prepare yourselves for Thanksgiving dinner. I plan on it being a very...informative night." The kind tone he had a moment before had disappeared and replaced itself with the usual jackass.
"You came all the way over here to tell me that? You could've just called" Rae seemed unphased by his threat. Charles was expecting more of reaction from her. Olivia was walking up the stairs when she saw Charles standing in the open doorway. "What the hell does he want?" she thought. She sped up trying to reach Rae and make sure that she was ok.
"Detective Benson, how nice to see you" he said sarcastically. "I was just telling Rae what great plans I have for Thursday's dinner." Olivia ignored him and stepped into the doorway looking for Rae. She laid eyes on her girlfriend and lost every breath she had. She looked stunning. Every thought of Charles left her mind as she looked over Rae's appearance. Her tanned skin was flawless against white fabric. The features of her face were fully exposed from her pulled back hair. Olivia couldn't find any words. She could barely find her breath. She stood there for a moment just staring at Rae silently. Rae did the same. Olivia wore a form fitting red dress and black heels. Her hair fell in waves, perfectly sculpting her face which was covered with a light layer of makeup. She looked incredibly beautiful.
"Hi" Olivia said softly when all other words failed her. "Hi" Rae repeated with a little laugh. "I..uh..you look amazing" she whispered, barely able to find her voice. Rae smiled and smoothed her dress. "You don't think it's too much?" she asked a bit self conscious. Olivia shook her head. "No, you look perfect". Rae smiled, "Thanks. You look really beautiful too" she said. Neither one of them was paying Charles any attention. "Thank you" Olivia said blushing lightly. Rae stepped forward out of her apartment. She turned and locked the door then turned back to Charles. "You give whatever information you want Charles." She stepped over to Olivia and took her hand, interlacing their fingers. "We're not worried", she said looking at Olivia with a smile. They turned and headed down the stairs and out of Rae's building to enjoy their evening together.