Chapter 4

Alex flinched at the knock on her office door. Even through the half-closed blinds, she could easily make out Olivia's shape. Fuck. The ADA glanced towards the clock on her desk. 2:18 pm. Oops. She had promised herself some breakfast "in half an hour or so" more than seven hours ago...

Another – this time almost gentle – knock. Regarding the fact that Olivia, too, could see through the blinds, there was no point in pretending not to be in her office. Moreover, it had been more than two full days since the "coffee mug incident" and a little less since she had kicked Olivia out of her apartment the other night. The ADA sighed. Of course she'd known she wasn't going to hide forever, but part of her was genuinely scared of what was about to come. However, she was also aware that she had been treating her friend unfairly, so she figured she had to at least let her in.

Upon Alex's permission, Olivia opened the door, but before she had even managed to set foot into her friend's office, the blonde asked firmly: "What do you want?". With a sigh, the detective quickly stepped inside and closed the door behind her. "I brought takeout" She replied simply, holding some boxes up as evidence.

"I'm busy" The ADA tried, surprised by Olivia's immediate head-shaking. "No, you're not. I ran into your intern on my way up. And I mean literally ran into him! He was basically jumping out of the elevator and said, quote 'Today's the best day ever! First, I got to do some really cool stuff and now ADA Cabot sent me home because there's literally nothing left to do, man!' unquote."

Alex rolled her eyes but couldn't help but chuckle. "He's very young - still in high school. Sophomore, I think. His uncle is friends with Arthur Branch, that's why he got the internship in the first place..."

"I figured. Doesn't mean he's lying, though..."
"Just because there's nothing to do for a sixteen-year-old doesn't mean I'm not busy, Liv!" Alex spat out defensively, and Oliva sighed. "Listen. I'm not going to argue with you about whether you're busy or not. But no matter what, you've gotta eat at some point, right? Look – I just came here to bring you lunch..." "... and to check up on me because I kicked you out of my apartment the other night and haven't talked to you since" Alex added sadly, and Olivia couldn't help but agree. "Yeah, that, too..."

The blonde crossed her arms defensively. "I'm fine" She tried weakly, fully aware that Olivia wasn't going to believe that anyway. "As I said: I don't want to argue with you, Alex – neither about whether you're busy or not, nor whether you're okay or not. The question right now is: Have you eaten?" Alex sighed, contemplating to lie to Olivia yet again, but to the brunette, her friend's silence had already been enough of an answer. "I thought so" Olivia stated worriedly.

Silence.

"Twenty minutes" The detective offered. "We eat, and then I'll go – that is if you want me to." She could tell by the conflicted expression on her friend's face that – despite her concessions – she was not fully convinced yet. "I'm not gonna ask you any questions about the other night, and I don't expect you to talk about it, either. You're more than welcome to do so if you're ready, but I won't force you. As I said: Right now, all I want to do is make sure you don't starve to death." Olivia gave her a shy smile. "I got the roasted-veggie-and-mango-curry you like so much" She held up one of the boxes and placed it on Alex's desk in a sudden flash of boldness.

The blonde bit her lip. She hadn't eaten in more than 24 hours, and although she hadn't been feeling particularly hungry earlier, the delicious scent that was now invading her nostrils was tempting enough to convince her.

"Just lunch?" Alex double-checked suspiciously.
"Just lunch" Olivia confirmed. "No questions, no pressure. I promise."

The blonde nodded and gestured towards the chair standing opposite of her.
"Twenty minutes."

That she could handle, right?