Drink: Smoothies
Title: Smoothies
Rating: PG
Pairing: Alex/Olivia
Disclaimer: The characters are not mine, but I am using them for entertainment only and not for profit.
Notes: Another short “Drink” that is not related to any other short piece. I actually liked this one and hope you will, too.
She recognized the blond hair, despite the haphazard knot in which it was secured on the ADA’s head. If she were to be honest, Olivia Benson also recognized the erect posture and the curve of Alex Cabot’s ass. But the detective wasn’t particularly interested in honesty at 8:43 on a Saturday morning. She made a concerted effort to ignore the ADA and focus instead on the fruit smoothie that she’d walked ten blocks to buy. She grimaced as the tart drink mingled on her tongue with the lingering taste of toothpaste.
Like many things, the clash of flavors will pass… She took another sip and closed her eyes.
She felt the scowl that accurately reflected her mood and pressed her fingertips against her brow.
“Hangover, detective?” The amusement in the alto voice did nothing to improve Olivia’s mood.
“The least of my worries,” she replied, vaguely but honestly. “What are you doing in Chelsea? Isn’t this a bit far downtown for you?”
Alex tipped her head to the side and observed the detective, choosing to ignore the hint of snark, because Olivia’s heart obviously wasn’t in it. She noticed the way the snug jeans and ribbed cinnamon turtleneck showed off a body that managed to be both athletic and feminine. Womanly. Olivia’s dark hair was wet and she wasn’t wearing much makeup, but despite her unusual pallor, her wide, long-lashed brown eyes, high cheekbones and strong jaw line, combined with her soft, wide mouth to create the impression of startling beauty. Alex indulged the desire to stare openly for several seconds before looking down at the blended fruit drink in her own hand and replying, “I try to come down here on Saturday mornings - whenever I’ve managed to get a good night’s sleep on Friday. I shop at the Union Square farmers' market, but the smoothies here are always a special treat.”
“Would you like to join me?” Olivia gestured to the empty chair across from her at the small outdoor table. “Unless you get here before eight, it’s hard to find a place to sit. I was lucky.”
“Thanks.”
They sat sipping their drinks for several minutes before Alex asked with a small smile. “So, Detective, are we going to talk about it?”
Olivia shrugged. “Nothing to say, is there.? Except maybe that if we keep doing what we did last night, it's gonna cost one of us her career. If Trevor Langan or some other dick of a defense attorney finds out...”
“Is that why you left?”
“I get seen leaving your apartment alone at midnight, I can maybe say I went to ask for a warrant or to discuss a case and we worked late. I get seen leaving your apartment, or even your building, after 3 am and not a hell of a lot is open to interpretation.”
“Or you just didn't want to wake up in my bed,” Alex challenged mildly.
“Don't act like you don't understand, Alex,” Olivia sneered, her dark eyes flashing with anger. “After that trip upstate, you were very clear about the sleeping arrangements when you spoke to Cragen.”
“Oh, come on, Olivia! What was I supposed to do? Tell Don that although New York County had paid for two hotel rooms so that the detective working the case and the ADA could get a good night's sleep, not only had we not used one of the rooms, we got damn little sleep?”
“What happens now?” Olivia asked, knowing that the question meant conceding the point.
Alex tipped her head to one side and observed her companion. “We can try avoiding being alone together?”
Olivia relaxed and shook her head, because Alex was being facetious. “I'll keep that in mind the next time the Captain orders me to talk you into getting us a warrant for some asshole's apartment and Elliot isn't available to act as chaperon.”
Alex smiled. “Oh, so what you did last night was your idea of talking, Detective Benson?”
“I remember parts of it being distinctly... vocal, Counselor.”
Alex leaned closer and asked quietly, “Are you sure you don't mean... oral, Detective?”
The response seemed to stun Olivia into silence for several seconds before Alex's grin snapped the tension between them and she started to laugh helplessly. “It's not the kind of distinction I should need to blur, is it? Although some of the information now at my disposal should help me when I'm trying to persuade you to see things my way on a warrant.”
“Which brings us full circle and back to the subject of work. And it leaves us with a small problem. If avoidance of being alone is not a solution...”
“We're not teenagers, Alex. And we were friends for years before the trip upstate, so we should be able to act like mature adults and...” she lowered her voice, “keep our hands off each other.”
“You mean, the way we did last night?”
“We'd been drinking.” Alex's mouth opened to object, so she rushed on before the ADA could get a word in. “I'm not saying we were drunk, but knowing that we have a... weakness maybe means we should avoid the combination of alcohol and being alone.”
“We were sober the night Elliot invited us to see the twins' play,” Alex pointed out reasonably.
Olivia felt a warm flush suffuse her face and she groaned. “We almost had sex in the car...”
“We managed to make it back to your apartment almost fully clothed.” Alex was looking at Olivia's mouth as the memory of that night distracted her from the point she had been trying to make.
“We were in such a hurry, but god it was good...” Olivia replied, eyes locking with Alex's. “We were so desperate for each other that we never made it past the hallway inside my front door.” Her voice was husky.
“I just needed to feel you...” Alex whispered.
Olivia leaned closer and placed her mouth against Alex's ear. “I needed to be inside you more than I needed to breathe that night,” she admitted.
Alex pulled away so that she could look into Olivia's eyes. “I know,” she said with such complete understanding that Olivia's body responded with a rush of warmth.
“I somebody using this chair?” The woman's voice startled both of them. They had not even noticed the third chair at the table where they sat. They had not noticed anything except each other in more than ten minutes.
“Uhm... no, you can go ahead and take it.” Alex managed to say in a voice that sounded alien to her own ears.
“I guess we just killed another theory, huh?” Olivia asked, returning her attention to her smoothie and taking a sip from her straw. Neither of them was, after all, drinking alcohol, but the heat that had risen up between them was undeniable.
“I have nothing against exploring working hypotheses, Olivia, but unless you can tell me that you're not as wet as I am right now, I'd say that the no-alcohol-and-we-can-be-friends idea is completely without merit.”
Olivia offered her a crooked smile. “Do you have any better ideas?”
Alex sipped her own drink before replying. “I could take that transfer I've been offered to Major Cases. It would be looked upon by the people I work with as a promotion.”
“I wouldn't get to see you during the day... but I also wouldn't have to rack my brain to think up excuses to go down to Hogan Place, just so I can spend a few minutes with you.”
“And I won't have to pretend an urgent need to observe the interrogation of suspects, just so I can visit the 16th Precinct. Truth be told, I think Don was starting to find my presence suspicious.”
“We'd be able to see each other outside of work without worrying about... consequences.” Olivia's brown eyes lit up at the prospect and Alex laughed at the sheer joy in her expression, because it reflected so perfectly what the blond lawyer felt.
“Oh, I think if we behave the way we did after leaving the play that night, we'd still have to worry about consequences,” Alex joked.
Olivia sobered. “But you get a lot of satisfaction out of prosecuting SVU crimes. There is no other unit that's going to give you the chance to help such vulnerable victims...”
Alex put a finger against the detective's lips to stop her, but the touch turned into a caress. “I've found more and more that the only thing keeping me sane in a world where people do such terrible things to each other is you,” she said simply. “I don't think I could have continued indefinitely in my role in SVU and the next career step would have been an administrative position. But I enjoy being in a courtroom. I like trying cases. So the move would allow me to continue doing that while providing other... benefits.”
“What kinds of benefits do you mean, Miss Cabot?” Olivia teased.
“There are so many that listing them all would take much too long, Detective Benson. And there is strong demand for tables in this juice bar.”
“Then why don't we go somewhere a little bit more... private. And instead of telling me, you can show me.”