Delicate Balance, Parts 6 & 7
PART 6
Almost exactly an hour later, Olivia heard the buzz coming from the front stoop where she assumed Anya was waiting. Instead of letting her up, Olivia spoke through the speaker to her to say she'd come down. Anya told her to make sure she was wearing a jacket because it was a little chilly out. Thoughtful.
When Olivia came through the front doors, she saw Anya waiting in a sleek black coupe, illegally double-parked. She was certain that Anya looked even more beautiful today than she did on Tuesday, but she was going to have to stop thinking about her like that because she knew Anya would pick up on it and she didn't want to end up disappointing her. But her hair was pulled halfway up, allowing certain slow curls to frame her face, and she looked irresistible.
Olivia must be trying to kill me, Anya thought to herself as she watched the woman approach her car. She's wearing that sexy brown leather jacket again. This time she wore the coat over a black, low-cut shirt, and tight, dark-colored jeans, not so different from her own that she wore tonight. It made Anya more than flustered just to look at Olivia. Yep. If she's not interested in me then she sure as shit is trying to play games.
"Nice car." Olivia acknowledged as she ducked into the car.
"Thanks." Anya checked her mirrors, changed gears, and then took a glimpse over at Olivia. "You look beautiful."
Wow, she's not wasting any time. "Thank you." Olivia blushed a little, but turned away so Anya couldn't see it. She consciously ceased her fidgeting hands and shoved them into her pockets after buckling her seatbelt. "Um, so do you." She said nervously. It was true, after all.
Anya acknowledged her compliment with a smile. When Olivia reached into her pockets, she found a ballet program that John had given to her. "Oh, uh, before we go - and before I forget - I have kind of an embarrassing favor to ask of you." Olivia kept her head down and shook it.
"Shoot." Anya remarked, putting the car back into park.
"Well, one of my co-workers was hoping he could get me to ask you to sign this Giselle program to gain some brownie points with one of his ex-wives."
She's already told her co-workers about me? Wasn't expecting that. "Wow, Giselle, huh? That was a few years ago. He must be in some trouble to go digging this one out." Anya thought back to the year when ABT had done that production and where she was in her life at that time. It seemed like ages ago.
"Knowing him, he probably will always be in trouble with someone." Olivia said rolling her eyes. "Would you mind?" Olivia held out the old, curled up program for Anya to hopefully sign for her so they could move on with their evening.
"No, I don't mind." Anya took the program from Olivia and reached into her purse for a pen. Her signature was violent, entirely illegible, and left deep creases on the page. Completely opposite of Olivia's very careful and legible signature. "Even if this is just to get some brownie points for your friend, it's still flattering." She put the pen back into her purse and handed the program back to Olivia, who set it aside in the car making a mental note to not forget about it later. Anya shifted the car back into drive, checked her mirrors, and pulled the car forward. The car moved so smoothly Olivia barely noticed that they were moving at all. She wished her squad car was this comfortable, being that she spent many hours in it with Elliot staking out an area.
"John's a fan of yours as well. In fact, he'd be pretty jealous to know we were going to be hanging out again tonight."
Hanging out? Ha! Who is she trying to kid when she's dressed to kill? Anya tried to bite her tongue and her pride, but failed, "Lots of people would be jealous of you right now, Olivia."
Olivia looked back at the sandy-haired woman and smirked, letting out a slight chuckle. Her confidence was unbelievable. Must be a performers thing. "So where are we going?"
"Brooklyn." Anya replied, glancing at her mirrors before changing lanes and heading downtown towards the Brooklyn Bridge.
"Brooklyn!? What the hell's in Brooklyn?"
"You're from New York, right?"
"Yeah…"
"Then I'm sure you've been there before." Anya turned her attention back to the road as flocks of taxis, service cars, and New Jersey resident cars wove in and out of lanes like seagulls attacking a sandwich on the beach. She leaned forward and turned on the radio. Olivia was still staring at Anya with a tinge of questioning fury in her eyes; uncomfortable with the lack of control she had with the situation at hand. "Relax, Olivia," Anya said as she allowed her right hand to leave the steering wheel to rub and then lightly grip Olivia's thigh. Oh my god, she's touching me. Do I want her to touch me? I can't tell, but I know I can't relax with her hand on me? "You'll enjoy this little trip, Olivia, I know you will."
Anya turned her attention quickly back to the road, and removed her hand from Olivia's leg. She was growing frustrated with the lack of competent drivers on the road. "Shit," she said under her breath. She swerved quickly to the right in order to get onto the ramp and was compounded with a series of car horns blaring at her from all angles. Someone called out some kind of an obscenity at her. Anya yelled out the window at another driver, except that her obscenities were in a foreign language Olivia didn't know. She shouted at the driver as she reached out the window, flipping her middle finger up at whoever had cursed at her before speeding towards the ramp. She let out a deep sigh as she accelerated onto the ramp. Olivia had to do a double take; she could swear she was driving with Elliot.
After they managed to get onto the bridge, Olivia asked Anya, "Was that in Russian or…?"
"Yes, Russian." Anya looked over at Olivia with a timid smile. "Excuse me. I guess I should have warned you, but I'm not a very friendly driver."
Olivia reassured her with a smile. "It's okay. I'm used to it."
"Do you find my accent hard to understand?" Anya asked, looking towards the beautiful woman.
"No, not at all."
"Okay, good." Anya shrugged, "Some people do."
Her accent makes her all the more intriguing, Olivia thought. She turned her attention back to the tinted passenger side window to watch Manhattan move further away from her, wondering what this woman had in store for her this evening.
PART 7
Anya took the first exit from the bridge and after driving around a few blocks, she whipped her car into a tight parking spot on the street.
"Ah, so you do know how to park legally?" Olivia joked, referring to Anya's previously double-parked car.
"Oh, it's not like you've never double-parked in your life, Olivia. Please. This is New York." Anya laughed at the cop while she locked theft-deterring equipment on her steering wheel. She reached behind her seat, her body turning dangerously close to Olivia's, to grab a light sweater jacket, but couldn't reach it. She sat back down and started to get out of the car.
"I'm a cop. I can park wherever I want, but that doesn't mean that you can or should." Olivia reprimanded her. She reached behind herself for the jacket and handed it to Anya.
"Thank you." She acknowledged the kind gesture from the dark-haired woman before getting out of the car.
Olivia closed the shiny black door behind herself. She never really thought twice about grabbing the jacket for Anya, it was just in her nature, but it was nice for someone to have noticed. "We're going to a deli?" Olivia asked sarcastically, observing her surroundings.
"Well, that wasn't the original idea, but I have a feeling that you'll quash a critical part of my plan." Anya said walking towards the small bodega.
"And what was that?" Olivia said, following.
"Check the backseat."
Olivia hesitantly walked a step back to the car, as Anya clicked the keyless entry to unlock it. She opened the door, and looked down towards the floor where she found a bottle of white wine wrapped in a paper bag. Knowing that Anya had told her to wear a jacket tonight, she assumed they'd be outdoors and followed her thoughts. She shook her head and closed the door again. Anya relocked the doors. "Anya, don't put me in a position where I'm going to have to arrest you for consuming alcohol in public."
Anya shot her an aghast look, "Olivia, you wouldn't!" She studied the woman's face for an answer. "Would you?"
"Without even giving it a second thought." Olivia answered and walked back to Anya to head for the deli for a non-alcoholic beverage. "Surely you knew that was illegal and wasn't going to happen when you're out with a cop." She walked a half-step behind Anya and as they approached the door, Olivia opened it for her and guided her in by pressing her hand lightly onto the small of Anya's back. Anya couldn't help but blush at how gentle Olivia was with her. She's so old-fashioned and doesn't even realize it.
"Not just any cop...a detective." Anya said pointing an accusing finger at Olivia as she canvassed the aisles.
"All the more reason for me to not get in trouble. I've had enough of that this week." Olivia sighed.
Anya sighed, whimsically and melodramatically. "I guess I was just hoping you weren't so 'by the book.'" But I love that she is.
"Sorry to disappoint."
Anya reached into one of the refrigerator doors, pulling out a non-alcoholic beverage. "I guess seltzer will do." Anya winked and headed towards the counter to pay. "Do you want anything?"
"Yeah, I'll have a coffee, I guess." Olivia said walking towards the station with multiple flavors and types of coffee. She stuck with the standard Columbian roast, hoping the flavor wouldn't be atrocious. As they walked out of the deli, she took a sip. Eh, not bad.
Anya started walking down Clark Street and Olivia stood next to her, following her lead. "Will you tell me where we're going now?"
"Olivia, we're going to the Promenade." Anya reported as if she had expected her to figure it out. "Haven't you ever been?"
"I'm sure I have; it's just been a really long time." Olivia replied.
"That's what I thought." Anya said, leading the way.
After only a few blocks, the two women strolled down a path through the park before reaching the Brooklyn Promenade. The sun had already set and the moon hung low, but was rising over the water. It had been a long time since Olivia had come out here and after she saw the spectacular view of Lower Manhattan from the sidewalk, the sight took her breath away almost as if she'd never seen the city before that moment. The buildings sparkled in their watery reflection between the boroughs and despite that other people were present and the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway was above their heads, it was so peaceful there that she almost forgot that she was still in Brooklyn. Olivia took a seat on one of the park benches to just take in the view for a moment. She took a deep breath and another sip of her coffee, feeling a warm comfort wash over her.
"It's so beautiful, isn't it? Anya asked, walking away from Olivia. She leaned on the iron fence and was equally in awe of the view.
"Yeah, it is." Olivia answered. "I had forgotten all about this place."
"I come here all the time, even if it is a trek from my apartment." She said, not turning away from the city. "Sometimes I just need a reminder as to why I live here. A reminder that I belong here, maybe. There's so much negativity, so much struggle, and so much pain that you see all the time just by living here..." Her voice drifted, "sometimes I just need to fall in love with the city again to get a fresh start. So I come here." She laughed to herself. "And it works every time."
Olivia watched Anya as she spoke without reservation. She was either a very trusting individual or a very honest person with both herself and with others regardless of who was around. Olivia didn't think she could ever be like that, but she had a lot of respect for the woman in front of her because she was.
"When I met you this last Tuesday," Anya continued, turning around to face Olivia, "you seemed like you needed to fall in love with the city again too. I don't know what you do as a detective, and it's not my business unless you want to tell me, but I imagine that you deal with some pretty despicable people and see things you could never express with words. That's why we're here, Olivia, and I hope you don't mind." Olivia stayed quiet, but felt her words cut through her. She could not be more right. Anya approached Olivia on the bench and reached out her hand. "Come on," she said grabbing Olivia's tentative but outstretched hand, "let's walk." She had gotten so comfortable that she didn't really want to do anything, but Anya managed to lift Olivia from the bench with little struggle.
Part Eight