Healing Love (A Bensler fanfic)

Dinner With Elliot

The following day, Elliot was at work immersed in grading papers. He was a teacher at a high school in New Jersey. For the past three years he had been teaching Intro to Criminal Justice and he really enjoyed it, although it was relieving when school ended and there were no more loud, rowdy teeangers around. For the past twenty-four hours Olivia had been the center of his thoughts. After he had read what happened to her in the newspaper, his heart broke for her, he was angry, no, infuriated, with the son-of-a-bitch who had treated her like an animal, worse than an animal, actually. He felt it his responsibility to check on her, to make sure she was okay. He had been nervous to see her again, worried about how she would react. That worry turned into reality because Olivia's reaction hadn't been good. Elliot knew what he had done was wrong, but couldn't Olivia seem at least a little happy to see him?

It was time for Elliot to leave school and as he climbed into his car to head to the gym, his cellphone rang. He checked the caller ID and was surprised at who was calling. It was Olivia. Elliot stared at the phone in shock before getting a grip and answering five rings later.

After work on Wednesday, Olivia sat in her car before leaving and looked through her cellphone contacts and found Elliot's number. Since the day he left she had kept his number in her phone, and now was the first time for her to call it. Olivia clicked the call button and took a deep breath.

"Olivia, hi," answered Elliot, and Olivia could hear the surprise in his voice. She cleared her throat before speaking.

"Elliot, um I'm sorry for not giving you a very warm welcome yesterday, and for yelling at you. I was just shocked to see you and I was angry. I mean, I'm not going to lie, I've been mad at you ever since you left. But that doesn't mean I haven't missed you, because..." Olivia was choked up on tears but managed to get out the last couple of words. "Because I have," she whispered clutching her cellphone tight as if it were Elliot and she were putting just how badly she had missed him into a hug. 

"I missed you, too," he relpied. 

"Um, do you want to catch up over dinner sometime?" Olivia asked feeling a bit nervous. She was sure Elliot was going to say no. She didn't blame him, she had treated him like crap the day before. But it was her turn to be surprised.

"That'd be great, Olivia. Is tonight good?" Olivia smiled and nodded her head as though Elliot could see this.

"Yeah, tonight's perfect. What about Aturo's, the Italian restaurant?" she suggested. Italian was her absolute favorite. 

"Aturo's it is then. See you at 7?"

"I'll be there. Bye, Elliot," Olivia said smiling into the phone. 

"Bye, Liv." Hearing Elliot call her by her nickname brought back memories of times they had shared together. The memories were bitter-sweet, but Olivia felt hopeful that the bitterness would slowly diminish during her and Elliot's dinner that evening. 

Dressed in skinny jeans, boots, and a v-cut red long sleeve shirt with silver jewelry, Olivia arrived at Aturo's Osteria and Pizzeria at 7 pm sharp. Elliot was waiting for her outside and she gave him a warm smile when he saw her. 

"Hey, Liv. You look great," Elliot told her. "Great" barely did justice for the brunette. Elliot thought Olivia looked stunning.

"Thank you. Let's go eat." They asked for a quiet booth because the restaurant was known for its boisterous and crowded atmosphere. The waitress gave them the best she could find. 

"What would like to drink? she asked them.

"I'll have unsweet tea with lemon, please," Olivia said and Elliot asked for a water. The waitress was back in a minute with their drinks. Olivia and Elliot were looking through their menus. 

"I'm craving a pasta," Olivia said, feeling her stomach growl in hunger.

"I'm going for a classic pepperoni pizza. You can never go wrong there," Elliot said with a smile. They gave their waitress their order and then settled into easy conversation.

"So, how is your family?" Olivia asked taking a sip of her tea.

"They're doing really great. I actually have a recent picture of them." Elliot reached into his wallet and pulled out a photograph. Olivia shook her head in admiration.

"Wow, I can't believe how grown they are," she said. "How is Kathy?"

At this, Elliot looked up from putting his wallet back into his pocket. "Um, well... we divorced about a year ago," he muttered looking down, his face turning red. 

"Oh, Elliot. I'm so sorry," Olivia whispered reaching for his hand. 

"It's okay, it is," he said and gave her a reassuring smile. "Anyways, what about you? How old are you now?" 

Olivia gaped at Elliot and laughed. "Well don't hold back there, El," she said and he laughed. "I'm kidding. I'm 46," she answered and Elliot raised an eyebrow. 

"No way. You don't look a day over thirty," he said.

"Elliot, are you flirting with me?" Olivia asked giving him a sly look.

"Maybe I am," he admitted circling the top of his cup with his finger. 

"But anyways, I've been working..." Olivia stopped midsentence and remebered the past month. "Um, actually I've been at home the past month, recovering..." she said looking down. Elliot knew what she was talking about and he felt the fury grow inside of him, but also sympathy and pain for her.

"Olivia, I'm so sorry what you went through. If you ever need anything just..."

"I'm fine," Olivia interrupted. "Let's not talk about it okay?" 

"Yeah, of course."

There was a moment of silence until Olivia spoke up.

"So where are you working? Do you still live here in New York?" Olivia asked. Elliot shook his head.

"I moved to New Jersey back in 2011. I'm a teacher at the high school. I teach Intro to Criminal Justice," he said.

"Really? Wow, that's great. I can see you as a teacher," Olivia said and they both laughed. "Are you seeing anyone?" 

"No, actually. What about you?" 

"No, although I have dated a couple men these past few years. It never worked out in the end, though."

"I'm sorry about that," Elliot said. He couldn't imagine why a guy would break up with Olivia, if the guys were the ones to end it. 

They enjoyed their meal and conversation, and at the end of dinner Elliot walked Olivia out to her car. 

"That was really nice, Olivia. I hope we can see each other again."

"I had a great evening. And yeah, let me know when you're in the city and we'll do something. Goodnight, Elliot." 

"Goodnight, Liv," and Elliot leaned in to kiss her on the cheek.

"Woah, that was a surprise," Olivia said with a nervous laugh.

"Couldn't resist," he said shrugging.

"Go home, Stabler," Olivia said getting into her car. They waved and Olivia drove off. All the way home she replayed the evening in her head. She had a great time with him and when he had kissed her cheek, she wanted to take his face in her hands and kiss his lips. "Where the hell did that come from, Liv?" she asked aloud. For the past three years she had been angry with him and all of a sudden she wanted to kiss him? She shook her head not able to comprehend it and went home.