Chapter 46: Pleasant Surprise

On Monday morning, Rae woke up early to get dressed and make breakfast for her and Olivia. They ate together and talked about their schedules for the next few weeks. Olivia, of course, had work which was always unpredictable and Rae had finals coming up. In three weeks, she'd be a high school graduate. She also had to make a decision about whether she was going to start college in the spring or take a semester off. She needed to decide soon so she'd have a chance at a good schedule and pick of classes. She asked Olivia's opinion but all she would say was that it was up to her and she'd support whatever decision she made. So basically, she was no help at all. They cleaned up the breakfast dishes, got their things and left the apartment together. They kissed each goodbye and got in their cars and parted ways for the day.

The week went by quickly with Olivia working around the clock on a case and Rae busy studying to prepare for finals. She was pulling all nighters at the library while Olivia pulled all nighters at work. They only saw each two days out of the week and talked to each other four days. It was now Saturday and Rae was home getting ready for her show. She was waiting for Liv to call and let her know whether she'd be able to make it. She left her apartment at eight and headed over meet the band at the bar where they were playing. There were some acts on before them so they were sitting at the bar waiting. Ashley was already there and Maureen would be coming later with her mom. Rae's phone vibrated in her pocket and she took it out to answer. She took a deep breathe when she saw Olivia's name on the screen and mentally crossed her fingers.

"Hi, babe" she said answering her phone.

"Hey." The tone of Olivia's voice told Rae that she wasn't gonna show tonight. "Listen baby, I'm really sorry but I..."

"Have to work" Rae said finishing her sentence for her. "Yeah, I know" she said sadly. "Don't be mad, okay? I tried really hard to get out of here but..." Rae really wasn't in the mood to hear any of Olivia's excuses for why she wasn't showing up for her again. "It's fine, Liv. Really, I understand." Olivia knew that Rae was upset no matter what she said. "Listen, I have to go. I'll try to call you later and tell you how it went." she said not wanting to talk to her anymore. "Ok, I..." Before Olivia could finish her sentence Rae hung up. Rae turned around to the bar and wanted so badly to order a drink but she couldn't. She had to go on stage in forty five minutes. Ashley noticed that Rae's mood had changed since her phone call.

"Was that Olivia?" she asked. Rae nodded. "She's not coming?" Rae sighed and shook her head no. "Oh honey, I'm sorry. That sucks. But don't let it get you down, ok? You're gonna do great tonight. You and the guys, you're gonna have a great show." she said trying to cheer her up. "I just wish that she'd pick me sometimes, you know?" Rae could deal with Olivia having to work if at least once out of ten times, she chose to be with her instead. So far, she hadn't done that. It was work all the way. "I know, babe." Ashley said rubbing Rae's shoulder. Kathy and Maureen arrived fifteen minutes later and joined them at the bar. Rae was thankful for them. They helped to take her mind off the fact that Olivia wasn't going to be there.

Focused on a conversation with Ashley, Rae didn't see Olivia walk into the bar. She spotted Rae sitting at the bar with a group of people. Ashley was standing in front of her. They were looking at each other in the eyes and Ashley had her hands on Rae's shoulders. Rae threw her head and laughed the way Olivia loved. She couldn't help the jealousy that washed over her. "Don't let it get to you" she said to herself. She took a deep breathe and started walking over. Ashley sat down on the next bar stool and Rae turned to face her. Olivia saw that the shirt Rae was wearing came to a bow at the base of her neck and opened up to expose her toned back. Her eyes traveled down, stopping for a moment on the dimples in her lower back that she absolutely loved before continuing down to the black seam of her jeans at her waistline. Rae was still talking to Ashley, trying to keep herself positive. The time until she had to go on stage was steadily dwindling and it was just twenty five minutes until show time. Olivia walked up behind her and leaned down to whisper in her ear.

"Hey there gorgeous" she said in a low sexy tone. Rae whipped around at the sound her voice. "I take it that face means you're happy to see me" she said laughing. Rae looked dumbfounded to see Olivia standing in front of her. After a moment she found her voice, "What...What are you doing here? I thought you wouldn't be able to get away from work" she said still in shock. "I lied. I wanted to surprise you. So...surprise" Rae grabbed Olivia's face and pulled her down to kiss her. Ashley sat and tried not look uncomfortable but she had the feeling she wasn't doing to good a job at that. She turned to Maureen and Kathy, who were both watching Rae and Olivia. Kathy was smiling but Maureen looked just as uncomfortable as Ashley did. "I'm so glad you're here" Rae said, her lips still touching her girlfriend's. "Me too" she said continuing their kiss. When their kiss finally ended Rae remembered Ashley, Maureen and Kathy were sitting there. She turned to face them, "Sorry guys" she said blushing. "No problem" Ashley said. Matty walked up to Rae and touched her shoulder, 'Hey, come on over. We're gonna do a little warm up before we go on" he said. Rae nodded and hopped down from her bar stool. She turned to Olivia with a big smile and kissed her again. "Good luck, babe" she whispered in her ear. Rae took a deep breath and let it out, "Thanks." She turned and went over to where the guys were standing beside the stage. Olivia sat next to Kathy while Maureen and Ashley sat next to each other, each pair having their own conversations.

After another fifteen minutes, the bar owner introduced the band. When they stepped on stage, there was no doubt that all eyes were on Rae. She wore her hair in a high ponytail so not to hide the detail in her blue top. Her jeans were two toned; white in the front and black in the back and she wore black stiletto boots with blue shoe strings. She looked beyond sexy. The band put on a great show as expected. They sang everything from Sweet Child of Mine by Guns n' Roses to Everything by Michael Buble to This Love by Maroon 5 and Who Says You Can't Go Home by Bon Jovi. Rae even did a song by herself, Gravity by Sara Bareilles. When the show was over, Rae came off stage and immediately went over to Olivia and wrapped her arms around her waist.

"So...what'd you think?" Olivia leaned down and brought their lips together in a smoldering kiss. When they finally parted, she looked Rae in the eyes, "You were amazing" she said resting her forehead against Rae's. Rae had the biggest smile on her face and it would've taken a major disaster to strike for it to go away. They all went out for dinner and drinks after the show and then parted ways. Rae and Olivia got back to Rae's apartment just before midnight. They'd barely made it through her door before they started stripping each other of their clothes. Olivia gripped the back of Rae's thighs and lifted her to carry her into the bedroom. They fell lazily onto the bed, continuing the exploration of each others bodies. Hands, lips, teeth and tongues were roaming all over leaving marks in their wake. The shrill of a phone ringing filled the air and Olivia growled in frustration when she recognized that it was coming from her phone. She decided to ignore it and focus on her lover. The ringing stopped but it wasn't long before it began again.

"Just answer it" Rae said breathing heavily.

"No, just ignore it." Olivia brought their lips together and buried her hand between their bodies, finding Rae's center and gathering her wetness on her fingers. Rae moaned in her mouth and grinded herself into Olivia's hand. No matter how much they tried to ignore it, the ringing wouldn't stop.

"Damn it, Liv. Just answer the phone" Rae said annoyed. She pushed Olivia away, "Answer it" she motioning in the direction the sound was coming from. Olivia moved off of the bed to go get her phone which had fallen just outside the door, where she'd removed her pants. Rae overheard Olivia talking and knew that she had to leave and go back to work. "Yeah, yeah ok. I'll be there. Bye." Olivia walked back into the room to see Rae sitting up in the middle of the bed. "I'm sorry, babe. I have to go. Another child is missing and I ha..."

"It's ok. You don't have to explain. This is important so just...go." Olivia walked over to the bed and kissed Rae on the lips. "I'm glad you came tonight" she whispered. "Me too" she said before giving her another kiss. "I'll call you?" Rae nodded her head. Olivia turned and left the room, quickly put her clothes back on and left the apartment. Rae wasn't even upset. How could she be? Olivia had shown up for her show when she could've been at work looking for the sick bastard who was kidnapping and raping kids. She was more than happy with the time she'd gotten to spend with Liv tonight. She got under the covers and fell asleep with a smile on her face.

The next day, Rae went to an orientaion at an art school with Ashley and Maureen. She had convinced Ashley to consider going to college and agreed to help her decide on a school should she choose to do so. After the orientation, they went to dinner and a movie and then back to Ashley's house. Maureen's mom said she could stay the night and head to school with them in the morning. She'd also convinced her husband to let Maureen go to Rae's show the night before. He compromised and said she could go but Kathy had to go with her. Kathy was definitely more open to giving Maureen more freedom than Elliot. Rae couldn't blame him though. Hearing from Olivia all the things they saw on the job, it was understandable why he was so protective. All the same, Maureen would be on her own soon and no amount of sheltering on his part was going to change that. They got online and looked at schools for Rae and Ashley and did job searches in case they decided to take a semester off. Ashley let Rae search for jobs on her own, making it very clear that she didn't need nor did she want to work. They went to bed around ten thirty so they could get up for school the next day.

The next morning, the girls got up and barely made it to school on time. Both Ashley and Maureen spent more time in front of the mirror than Rae would ever understand. "When you look like you do naturally you don't have to spend a lot of time in the mirror", Maureen said receiving an eye roll from Rae. They went to classes, met up for lunch, and then went back to class, same as any other day. Rae was so happy she'd be done with the monotony in just a week if she didn't count the weekend. She had three finals to take: AP Lit, AP Chem, and AP Calc. She'd been exempted from her other finals because she'd maintained an A average in those classes. If she did well on all her finals, she'd finish out her high school career having maintained a 4.0 all four years. She was really proud of that and she knew that if her father were here, he would be proud too.

The next few days went by quickly. Olivia was ordered to take a few days after working so many hours on the child abduction case the team had been working on for the last week and a half. This would've been the perfect time for her and Rae to spend some much needed time together had it not been for Rae's finals. She was spending all her free time studying at cafes and the library and on the couch in either her or Olivia's living room. It was now Thursday and Olivia's last day off and she really wanted to spend it with Rae when she got home from school. No study groups, no books, no internet; just the two of them. Rae walked into her apartment at four thirty. Olivia was sitting on the couch watching the discovery channel. She turned off the tv when Rae came in.

"Hey" she said as Rae walked up to her. Rae leaned down and kissed Olivia on the lips.

"Hi, how was your day?" she asked dropping her bag next to the couch and sitting down.

"Exciting" she said sarcastically, "I ate popcorn and watched a planet earth marathon. How was yours?" Rae groaned and put her head in a pillow. "That good, huh?" she said laughing. Rae sat back up on the couch, "I'm just so ready for finals to be over." Olivia could tell that she was tired but she was hoping she wouldn't be too tired to spend the rest of the day with her. "So what are your plans for the rest of the day?" Rae sighed, "I have to finish my paper for AP Lit. It's due tomorrow along with my final packet for AP Calc and some bullshit review sheet for AP Chem but I can do that during study hall tomorrow." She settled on the couch and pulled her laptop from her bag to start working on her paper. She powered it on and waited for the login screen to come up "I'm guessing you wanted to do something tonight?" she asked looking over at Olivia.

"I just... I have to go back to work tomorrow so I wanted to spend some time with you. We've both been so busy over the last week and a half that we haven't had much time together" Olivia said sadly. She was really missing Rae and wanted her to take some time away from studying for just one night to spend time with her. "I know" she said as she logged into her computer and pulled her paper up. "I mean, you were working on that case and I've been swamped with finals and college applications and job searches and...it's just been really hectic." She was trying to talk to Olivia and work on her paper at the same time. She paused for a moment before speaking again, "Speaking of college and jobs, I've made my decision." Olivia looked at her expectantly. "I'm gonna do both: work and school. I got into the pre-health professions program at Fordham and I'm sure I could find a job with no problem." Olivia nodded her head. "I already picked my classes. I start on the sixth of next month" Rae was waiting for some sort of reaction from Olivia. "Don't look so excited" she said, her tone laced with sarcasm.

"I'm sorry. Congratulations" she said. Olivia was happy for Rae but she couldn't help but feel the moment was bitter sweet. "What is it?" Rae asked, not understanding why Liv was in such low mood. "We already barely have time to spend together" she said. "And that's my fault?" Rae asked. "I've been her for three days and I've barely seen you." Rae let out a harsh breath. She couldn't believe Olivia was blaming her for the time they didn't get to spend together.

"I've been here for three months and I've barely seen you" she shot back. They'd been officially dating a little over three months now. "You're always working, Olivia. And when you're not working, you're getting a call about work. I have never once complained to you about how much you work or how many times you've canceled our plans for work, or when you couldn't show up to my show because of work. And now, the one time I can't spend time with you because I have to study, it's my fault that we barely see each other?" She was practically yelling by the time she got to the end of her rant. "What happened to I'll support whatever decision you make?" Olivia could feel the waves of anger coming off of Rae. She knew it wasn't right for her to come down on Rae or to blame her for time strained relationship. "I'm sorry. You're right. I know I work a lot and I cancel on you a lot and I missed your show and you are very understanding of all of that. And I do support your decision. I'm just saying that it'll be even harder now for us to find time together, that's all." Olivia didn't want to ruin the evening with Rae, even if it was to just sit with her while she studied. Rae took a breath and tried to calm down. "Well, I'm pretty good at managing my time, Liv. I've been doing it for a while now." she said turning her attention back to her paper. She didn't have much left to go and when she was done with that she had to finish her Calculus homework.

"I know. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to upset you." She moved closer to Rae on the couch and started to scratch up and down her back the way she loved. She felt her relax immediately into her touch. She leaned over and kissed her on the corner of her mouth. Rae turned her head to bring their lips together. "Congratulations. I'm really proud of you" she said before kissing her again. "Thank you" she said softly. "If you go away, I can finish all of this in no time and we can spend the rest of the night together." Olivia quickly got up from the couch without saying anything else and started to go into the bedroom to let Rae work. "Hey" Rae said stopping her, "Come here." Olivia walked back over and stood in front of her girlfriend. Rae reached up and grabbed her shirt pulling her down into a kiss. She released her shirt, "Now you can go." Olivia chuckled and turned to head into the bedroom.

It only took Rae two and half hours to get her homework done. By seven, she'd put everything school related away and devoted all of her attention to Olivia. It was cold out, so they decided to spend the evening inside. Rae decided to give Olivia a cooking lesson. She taught her how to make Fesenjan and Qatayef. They made a mess in the kitchen and had fun doing it paying no mind to the fact they'd have to clean it up later. They sat on the floor in the living room at the coffee table to eat and played Candyland. Rae won the first game and Olivia won the second. They finished eating and put the food away and cleaned up the mess in the kitchen together. They returned to the living room and Rae gave Olivia a lesson in Farsi. She was still trying to learn the language but it was slow going. They made flashcards for her but they were useless if Olivia never got to use them. Tonight was the first time in a week that she'd even looked at them. It was good for her that Rae had so much patience. Rae just loved that Olivia was even trying. She was quizzing Liv on vocabulary and each time she got one right she'd take off an article of clothing. The downside of that was the more clothes Rae took off the less she could concentrate. It took Olivia an hour to get her completely undressed. She carried her into the bedroom and had her way with her until she couldn't take anymore. Rae was completely worn out. Before Liv knew it, she was asleep. She cuddled up next to her and joined her in a peaceful sleep.