Chapter Seven – They're Magically Delicious!

"One for you and one for Suvi. His is water of course. His face after a smoothie is not a pretty picture. The thought of you cleaning fruit out of his nose is even worse."

Olivia's face flashed into a look of minor disgust, wrinkled nose and all.

"Yes, thank you for putting that picture into my head."

"My pleasure."

He gently touched her elbow and nodded away from the service window. After grabbing both cups she followed after him and they took a seat at one of the tables. Suvi settled under the table with his water.

"This side is usually quieter," Ben explained.

"You really have been here a lot if you know where the quietest place to sit is."

"It's one of my favorite places," he admitted before popping his straw into his mouth and taking a sip.

Olivia really wasn't sure what to say to that so she kept quiet and focused on her smoothie. Had that been the real reason he'd brought her here? Because he liked it? Had he wanted to impress her? (She had to admit the smoothie was incredibly good.) Or had his initial explanation been the main reason? Eventually she decided it was a combination of at least the first and last possibilities. As far impressing her, there was a good chance it was that too. While he definitely wasn't pushing or actively trying to date her by most standards, she could tell he was interested.

"So, what's the occasion?" he asked as he waved toward her clothes.

"I had a speaking thing this morning."

"And it went well?"

"Mostly. There were a lot of questions at the end which is good. It meant they were paying attention and honestly thinking about everything."

Ben contemplated her as he tipped his cup up on its edge and held it with a finger. He let the cup rock back and forth before settling it back on the table.

"Sorry, but aren't questions a bad thing?"

"These guys are kids. The more questions they ask the more they're learning, and that's what they need."

Which was true. If she were working at the academy she would never think the cadets were ready. They were too young and too clueless. She knew that the best way to truly learn was to get out there and gain experience, but still… Training cadets was definitely a job she would not like to have.

Ben had to assume her lecture had been something related to her consulting job, but he wasn't sure. While she sounded like she knew what she was talking about, he wasn't sure a consultant would be more knowledgeable than a detective. Then again, maybe they were more knowledgeable about certain subjects and that was why they consulted.

"If you're teaching you must know a lot about something." The minute he finished he realized what he'd said and his face flushed a bright red as he quickly tried to correct himself. "Uh, I mean I'm sure you know a lot about lots of things… ah."

Watching Ben squirm was actually a bit amusing. She'd understood what he'd meant the first time and what he'd been trying to ask too. The longer she made him wait the better. It wasn't like she wanted to talk about what she was covering when she taught anyway.

"Suvi isn't going to help me out of this one, is he?" Ben asked uneasily.

"No, but you can relax. Your face looks like a tomato, and you're nearly sputtering."

There was a look of undisguised laughter on her face though she wasn't doing any actual laughing. Ben calmed. She couldn't be pissed at him when her eyes were glittering like that and a smile was pulling at her lips.

"Let me try that again. What are you an expert in?"

So this was the moment of truth. Revealing what she did for a living always was. It was usually what put an end to relationships too. While Ben wasn't her boyfriend, he was a good guy, fun to hang around, and a friend she didn't want to lose. Friends were a little easier to come by now, but she didn't have a wealth of them. Olivia looked down at the table and ran her finger through the water there that had sweat off her cup as she prepared herself. There was really no good way to explain, so she just came right out and said it.

"Sex crimes."

Ben blinked, at a complete loss as to what to say. He had definitely not been expecting that answer.

"You're kidding, right?"

"That's not exactly something you would want to kid about."

"Good point. That was a dumb question. Here's a better one. Why, of all things, would you want to specialize in something like that?"

Olivia looked down and gently brushed a strand of hair behind her ear. How was she supposed to explain that without giving away more than she wanted to? Hopefully just a general answer would work.

"Because if there's one group of people that needs someone in their corner it's these victims. They've had everything stripped away from them. I'm good with victims. I can give them some of their power back."

"Yeah, but… geez, Olivia. Doesn't that just feel wrong?"

"It can be hard, yes. Overall it's worth it though."

Most of the time. There had certainly been moments during her career when she'd wondered whether that was true. Why she continued doing it despite that was even harder to explain than why she'd started in the first place. Sometimes she wasn't even sure there was a good reason aside from the fact that she simply couldn't give up.

"And you like it?" he asked.

"Yeah, I do. I can't see myself doing anything else."

Even when she'd had the opportunity to go in a different direction with her life, she'd returned to the world of sex crimes.

"Well, good for you then."

Olivia was caught completely off guard by his reply. What? That wasn't a response she'd ever gotten before. It was better than the over interest, but she wasn't sure it was a good answer either.

"Good for me?" she asked skeptically.

"Yeah. A lot of people hate their jobs. If you like yours then you're ahead of the game."

Olivia was giving him such a strange look that he actually stopped and looked at her in confusion.

"What?"

She shook her head at him before answering.

"Just trying to figure you out. Your views of things are so wildly different from what I'm used to."

"Because I'm a "beary" special person. At least according to my teddy bear."

He flashed her a bright smile, and Olivia snorted in amusement.

"I can see that."

Ben rested his hands on the bench and tipped his head back so he was looking up at the sky.

"I guess I've learned you can either respond to what happens by looking at it differently or letting the bad swallow you. I'd rather look differently."

Olivia could see the touch of sadness and memory on his face. Based on what he'd said, she suspected he'd been hurt badly at some point in his past. She wasn't going to pry though. Everyone had scars. If she didn't want her own picked at, she wasn't going to poke at anyone else's.

When he looked back down at her he had a goofy smile on his face again, all remnants of sadness gone.

"It's like making pictures out of the clouds when you look at them."

Olivia laughed.

"You look like such an ordinary guy, but really you're just a weirdo in disguise."

"And you look like this kind, soft woman, but you've got some sharpness in you. Some bite," Ben retorted, though he didn't sound in any way angry.

"Ask anyone that really knows me and they would confirm that."

Almost more than anything else that hardness was what she'd been known for. The people that worked with her knew how good she was with victims, but that knowledge wasn't as well-known as her badass persona.

"I see where your dog gets his self-esteem crushing ability from."

Before Olivia could come up with anything to say she felt the sudden weight of Suvi's head on her thigh. Immediately a flash of fear and frustration flooded her. Not here. Not now. She did not want to have a seizure in front of him. Usually that was what pressure on her leg meant, but it was almost always accompanied by a bark or two. She hadn't moved, but he still hadn't barked his insistence that she better. Curious, she glanced under the table at him. Suvi wagged his tail at her in reply, something he would never do when warning her of a seizure. When she continued to watch him he licked his lips. Understanding struck, and Olivia shook her head with a smile.

"You aren't getting any of my smoothie."

He whined and licked his lips again with a clear message. I really want some.

"Yeah, much too good to share with a dog," Ben agreed. "If you even have any left that is."

Olivia lifted her cup and shook it a bit to determine how much she did have. As Ben had guessed, not very.

"There isn't any more left, Suvi."

Lies. All lies. He knew there had to be more. He hadn't even gotten any yet! After squeezing out from under the table he nosed at her cup to determine the truth for himself. A few licks told him that sadly there was nothing good to be had. He huffed at Olivia in annoyance and flopped back down onto the ground.

"She did try to tell you, Bud," Ben said. When he received no response he looked up at Olivia. "I guess we're both in the dog house on this one."

"Seems so. I'll have to give him something at home. And speaking of that, it's probably where I should be heading."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah." She extricated herself from the table and stood up. "I had a really good time, Ben. We should do this again."

Ben's face lit up like a Christmas tree and he nodded at her. All of the baby steps were finally starting to pay off it seemed.

"I'll see you two later."