Single and Seeking Barson story

Chapter 11

Author's note: Eclalant in French = dazzling
A light rain fell onto Olivia's Safire blue dress, as she quickly ran into Eclatant, a fancy French restaurant that had been in The City longer than she had been alive, but that she had never tried. It was a Saturday night in April. She had thought she was going to have a nice simple day off at home with Noah, but her days were never simple. She was called to yet another crime scene, yet another rape-murder case. Again. she wished crime could take a vacation, maybe then she could too. She was so tired." Ah Olivia you look ravishing!" I wasn't sure you were coming." Dr. Taylor said as he walked toward her. The blonde haired. brown eyed man looked taller in formal wear, Olivia thought to herself.
Olivia smiled. "If I wasn't coming I would call.
"It's good to know you wouldn't leave me hanging." He answered taking her right arm and leading her to a table for two. He pulled out a chair for her, before taking a seat across from her.
"No I wouldn't do that. I'm sorry I'm late. Dr. Taylor thank-you again for your help with Noah."
"Brad please call me Brad Olivia.""Brad", she said with a smile. "Have you eaten here before?" Olivia asked picking up the menu and reading.
"Yes, many times."
"It's pricy." Olivia said, as she continued to read.
"It is, but don't worry about it." Olivia decided what she wanted, but she didn't know what to say to this man, so she kept staring at the menu. "Do you know what you want?"
"Yes." She replied.
"Good, so do I." Dr. Taylor said waving over a waiter.
"What can I get you?" The waiter asked looking at Olivia first.
"I'll take the French Onion soup, please, thank-you."
The waiter smiled at her and turned his head to Dr. Taylor. "And you sir?"
"The Duck al'' orange, thank-you." Olivia placed her menu down in front of her, and watched as the waiter took it away along with Dr. Taylor's menu. He then walked away from the table toward the kitchen.
"How was your day?"
"Stressful,Olivia answered. I was hoping to have the entire day off."
"But you got called into work." That's why you were late?"
"Yes, sometimes I feel like I'm always running late."
"I understand, I've been there. In fact I was almost late tonight. I had another high fever to take care of."
"Is the kid Ok?"
"He'll be Ok."
"I'm glad. You still coving for Dr. Lee? She always calls to check on Noah after any kind of illness. I thought she would be back by now."
"I'm covering for her until she gets back from her honeymoon which she decided to extend."
"Oh I didn't know she was getting married. Good for her."
"Good for her she finally got a vacation or good for her she got married?" Dr. Taylor asked.
"Both." Olivia answered, making sure her voice and face didn't give any of her thoughts away.
"So Olivia, what's your story?"
"I don't have much of one, I'm pretty boring."
"I don't believe that."
"Believe it. I'm just a mom and I have worked for the NYPD forever."
"I'm sure you have a ton of stories," I'm sure you are a fascinating woman Olivia."
"Not really,and most of the stories I have to tell are work-related."
"Where are you from?" He asked.
"I've been in this City my whole life?"
"You never lived outside Manhattan?"
"No." Would you excuse me?" Olivia asked getting up I need to check in with my sitter."Good idea, it's best to do that before the food comes.
Olivia grabbed her phone and walked quickly to the ladies room. She dialed the phone and a minute later she was speaking. "Hey Lucy. Everything Ok? Good. I'll make sure I'm not too long. Have fun writing your paper." She hang up the phone. She looked at herself in the mirror for a few seconds. She wanted to be home. She put her hand in front of her face as she quietly yawned. Then she turned on the sink, and splashed some cold water on her face to wake herself up.
"Everything alright?" Dr. Taylor asked when Olivia returned to the table.
"Everything's fine." Olivia sat down.
"Good" I'm glad. I'm sure you have your own story Olivia. Everybody does."
"I'm really very boring." Olivia watched as the food arrived. The waiter gave Dr. Taylor his duck dish. He gave Olivia her soup, and walked away, "What's your story Brad?"
"I'm from Boston. My parents are still alive and married. I went to Harvard Medical School. Being a Dr. is a tradition in my family. I wanted to make my parents proud, and make a difference, save lives. I'm sure you understand that." Olivia listened and ate her soup quickly. She often had to eat quickly, due to the nature of her job. The few people she let in knew that she hated eating quickly, and savored those rare moments she could eat calmly and slowly. She saw the waiter approach as she finished her soup. He took it away, and a few moments later he was back placing another plate in front of her.
"What's this?"
"One of our best dishes? Enjoy!" The waiter said.
"I only ordered the soup." "Enjoy." The waiter said again with a smile. He walked away quickly.
"That is a fantastic dish." I told you,Olivia don't worry about price."
"That's not it. I didn't order this."
"Why did you only order soup?"
"It's expensive, and I don't have experience with French food."
"Well now is your chance."Olivia looked down at the plate of food, and because everything in this place was a small fortune,she took her fork and put some food in her month. It was difficult to get down. She forced herself to swallow, and fought the urge to flood her mouth with water. She needed coffee, and the stronger the coffee the better. "What is this?" She choked out.
"Goose liver otherwise known as Foie gras. It can also be made of duck liver."
Olivia took a huge sip of water. "Brad I'm so full." She wasn't. The bowl of soup was so tiny, she skipped lunch, and she had just sat down with Noah for breakfast when her phone rang.
"That's fine." Dr. Taylor said, smiling.
"You can finish it if you want."
"Thank-you." He reached for the plate."I'm glad you were able to try it." Olivia listened to Brad talk for the next hour while he finished the plate of food."I'm so glad you joined me tonight. The last time I called, I wasn't sure you would pick up. I'm happy you did Olivia. I guess I caught you at a rare moment when you weren't working or with your son."
"I was waiting for a verdict to come in when you called."
"Good verdict?"
Olivia smiled at him. "Yes, justice was served. It's always good to see that."_________________________________________________________
It was 11:30 at night when Olivia got home. Lucy was just finishing her paper. Olivia looked into Noah's room. The little boy was fast asleep and clutching Eddie. She closed the door softly. "Bye Liv!". Lucy called.
"Be safe Lucy!" Olivia answered. She was sure Lucy wanted to meet the man whose photo was on her phone, and had been for the past week.
"I will!" Lucy answered closing the door behind her. As soon as Olivia heard the click of the door, she ran to lock it. She went into her bedroom to grab an oversized white T-shirt. Her bed was calling to her, but so was her stomach, and it was louder. She walked into her kitchen, found the peanut butter, and a spoon, and ran to her sofa. She sat down and grabbed her remote. At that moment her cell phone rang. She throw the remote down next to her on the sofa.
"Benson." She answered.
"Hey, you Ok?"
"Yeah, are you?" She asked her friend Rafael Barba.
"Yeah, I called your land line about 9, I thought by then you would have put Noah to bed."
"Did you need something?"
"No, I knew you were off today, and when you didn't answer the phone, I started to worry." Lewis held Olivia for days before anyone knew she was in trouble.
"I'm fine Raffa", Olivia said Her heart filled with sadness for him, because he blamed himself for the hell she endured. Her heart also filled with apparition for her friend who wanted to make sure that never happened again. "I'm Ok. I got called to a crime scene this morning, so I have another case for you, and I had plans tonight."
"What are you doing now? Barba asked trying to sound light hearted,
"I'm about to watch some TV, and eat some peanut butter."
"I'll watch with you. Why are you eating peanut butter at this hour? Did you eat dinner tonight?"
"I attempted to."
"But you're staving?"
"Starving."
"The food was that bad huh?"
"The question is can I call it food?"
"Another question is how can you just eat peanut butter?"
"It's healthy, and I'm saving the jelly for Noah." Barba chuckled. Olivia placed the peanut butter and spoon on her coffee table while she flipped through channels. "Put on channel 7. Olivia said to Barba noticing that the movie He's Just Not That Into was starting. It was on her list of movies to watch since it came out, but she never had the time. She put the spoon into the peanut butter jar, when she had a good amount of peanut butter on the spoon, she took it out, and began to slowly eat. She was happy there was another unopened peanut butter jar in the kitchen for her son.
"Channel 7?" she heard Barba say "Got it!" Olivia heard the smile in his voice, and she wondered what he was thinking.

Author's Note The movie He's Just Not That Into You came out in 2009.