So I'm 31 minutes late. Lo Siento.
When they got to the restaurant, Serena was already seated and it didn't take long for her to engage Alex into deep intellectual conversation.
"Olivia read everything Hemmingway ever wrote by the time she was eight," Serena bragged about her daughter, "She also read everything I taught my students while she was in high school."
Olivia slightly blushed and looked away, pretending not to be paying attention.
"Wow," Alex smiled, "In high school, I was still fumbling through Canterbury Tales."
Serena took a long drink of her water then asked, "When did you get into Russian literature?"
"During my undergrad I dated a few literature majors who encouraged me. So I took a few extra lit classes on my own."
The older woman nodded and asked, "What was your undergraduate major?"
"Criminal Justice with a minor in Political Science," Alex explained, picking at the breadstick on her plate.
"Really?" Olivia asked, entering the conversation.
Alex nodded with a small smile, "My mom said I was a born prosecutor. Fighting crime since I was born."
"I believe it," Olivia grinned.
Serena reentered the conversation, "Where'd you go to law school?"
Olivia mumbled something to herself about her mother asking for Alex's social security number next.
Half an hour later, despite Olivia's best efforts, her mother ordered a bottle of wine. Olivia ran through all the possible scenarios in her head of how this could play out and tried to think of solutions to them all.
Luckily, when offered a glass, Alex accepted and Olivia poured herself one so her mother wouldn't drink it all alone.
"I don't think that's what he meant," Alex shook her head, running her finger over the rim of her wine glass, "I think he was trying to prove stream of consciousness ok her is a legitimate form of literature, which it's not. It's too easy. Writings should be through provoking and elegant. Not necessarily elegant in how it flows, but elegant in thought."
"Nice point Alexandra," Serena answered with an impressed nod of her head.
Olivia rolled her eyes. Her mother had taken to calling Alex, Alexandra. The blonde didn't seem to mind, but it was grinding on Olivia's nerves.
She glanced at the wine bottle and tried to calculate hoe much would get her mother drunk.
The bottle was almost empty, but her mother had already had two glasses. Alex quit after the first one and was back to drinking tea. Olivia looked at the bottom of her first glass. She was already feeling it, but she knew one more would send her mother over the edge.
Olivia poured the remainder of the wine into the glass and started listening to the conversation again.
After dinner, Serena paid and hailed herself a cab. As she got in she told Alex they'd have to meet again sometime and Alex just told the older woman to call her when she wanted to.
The other two women started walked back to Olivia's car. Olivia knew she could walk fairly straight, but was worried that Alex would catch on that she was probably a little tipsy.
Alex was amused by the detective who had been so quiet after finishing the wine. She deftly took the car keys out of Olivia's hand and slipped them in her pocket.
"What are you doing?" Olivia asked.
"Driving you home," Alex answered, "You drank three glasses of wine, plus I really want to drive your car."
Olivia chuckled, "You could have just asked."
"I thought my chances were better if I had a logical argument," Alex teasingly bumped her shoulder with Olivia's, "And you were a little tipsy."
"Of you could have asked," Olivia stopped at the passenger's side of the car.
The blonde seemed giddy as she slid behind the wheel.
"Turning it on usually makes it move," Olivia raised an eyebrow.
"Ha. Ha." Alex mocked, "I was just reliving my adolescence. I learned to drive in one of these."
"Yeah?" Olivia asked stretching her back.
Alex started it with a crazy, happy smile of her face.
Olivia reached back and buckled her seatbelt before placing her hand on the door handle and wrapping her fingers tightly around it.
Alex being the keen observer that she is saw it, "Oh please Liv. Have you ever ridden with yourself?"
"What do you mean by that?"
"I mean most people slow down to at least thirty before turned a corner."
That shut Olivia up until Alex had to ask fro directions back to Olivia's apartment. She wasn't really paying attention the last time they went there or when they left.
"So are you in the mood for yet another movie?" Olivia asked, watching Alex's vigilant eyes scan the road.
"Sure," Alex answered with a sideways glance at Olivia before moving them back to the road.
Alex carefully maneuvered the car into the parking garage and back in Olivia's designated spot as the detective peered out of every window to make sure Alex wasn't going to hit something.
Then when they parked, Olivia walked around the car once to check for scratches or dents.
Alex thought Olivia was being ridiculous seeing as how she hadn't even gotten close to anyone on the way back. So she started walking to the elevator, keys in hand.
She pressed the button for the elevator and the doors immediately opened. She stepped inside and pushed the button for Olivia's floor. The detective trotted over and managed to get her foot in the doors before they closed.
"You were just going to leave me?" Olivia asked, waiting for the doors to open again before stepping inside.
"That was the plan," Alex shrugged, her eyes giving away her mischievousness.
Olivia shook her head and just looked at Alex the rest of the ride up the elevator.
"What?" Alex asked, quirking an eyebrow.
"You're just…" Olivia paused as the doors opened, "So much different that I thought."
"Is that a good thing or a bad thing?" Alex asked leading the way down the hallway.
"Very good," the detective answered, "It seems I don't have a very high opinion for ADAs. Except for you now and maybe Abbie Carmichael."
Alex nodded, "I understand that. Going strictly on who I worked with before moving to SVU, I didn't have a high opinion of detectives. I guess we both learned something here."
The brunette nodded and watched Alex unlock her door. "Maybe we could hang out more often. Go to dinner or drinks after work sometimes."
"I'd like that," Alex smiled and let Olivia lead the way.
"It seems you've already won my mother over so I figure I'll balance out the embarrassing stories she tells with ones where I seem older than twelve," Olivia added, stopping to take Alex's coat.
Alex giggled, "I'll keep that in mind."