Partners in Crime

Chapter twenty-nine

Theo's PoV
I watch the door close behind Olivia, before I turn back towards Rosie, doing my level best not to grin at Olivias parting words. I understand why she doesn't want anything to do with me anymore, Rosie is a piece of work and even I'm finding it hard to deal with her right now.

Rosie only stays for just over an hour before she has to leave. Once she's gone, I do a quick clean up around the house, before grabbing my phone and typing a message to Charlie.

You up for a drink?

It only takes a few minutes for his response of approval to come through and we agree to meet at Harry's. I grab a random red sweatshirt and throw it over my head, before slipping my arms through.

I get to the bar before Charlie, meaning the first round is on me. "Hey man." Charlie slips into the seat beside me at the bar. "Sorry I'm late, we had to do a quick detour for a pickup."

"We?" I glance around to see what he's talking about. Olivias slipping into a booth with Tammy sitting across from her. When I throw Charlie a questioning look, he rewards me with a shrug. "She said she wanted to get drunk, Tammy didn't have a problem with helping her."

I nod in response and take a sip of my beer. Charlie huffs. "So you two are moping for what reason this time?"

"I'm not moping." I give him a stern look. "I'm having a beer with a mate."

"Then Olivia is moping because....?"

"Why is it my fault? How am I supposed to know."

"Oh I don't know, it might have something to do with the fact one day you were telling me that the girl drives you crazy and not in a bad way and the next day your telling me you have a girlfriend."

"We also agreed to be friends which I'm pretty sure means I'm entitled to have a girlfriend." I retort.

"So if the guy that's flirting with Liv over there becomes her boyfriend, you'll be good with that?"

At his words, I glance back towards where Olivia and Tammy are sitting. True to his word a blonde is standing at the top of their table, his attention clearly on Olivia, who's grinning up at him.

Ignoring the nagging feeling, I turn back towards Charlie. "Couldn't care less."

True Charlie style, he shrugs before moving onto our typical sports talk. We're at the bar about an hour when Tammy walks up to her fiancé. "Can you drop us at the club?"

"Is Olivia not working tomorrow?" I ask her, already knowing the answer to my question.

"I don't know are you asking as her colleague, because otherwise I'm pretty sure it's none of your business." Tammy crosses her arms.

I grin at the situation. "One second your so thankful and the next your pissed at me, can I do anything right?"

"I'm pissed at you because your bitch of a girlfriend thinks she can walk all over Livvy and you seem to think it's fine."

"I've lost her as a friend too, you know?"

"Because you picked your girlfriend." We all turn around to see Olivia standing behind us with her arms crossed. "You lost me as a friend, or whatever the hell we were because you chose your girlfriend."

"I didn't realise there was a choice."

Olivia shrugs. "There isn't one anymore. I'll see you at work tomorrow, colleague." She walks back to her booth and picks up her stuff before pushing open the front doors and slipping through.

"I'm gonna go see if she's ok." Tammy informs us, before also leaving the bar.

"Well that was intense." Charlie laughs, before finishing his beer. "And not to be the third person to ditch you, but I'm their designated driver which sort of means I've got to bid you farewell."
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Two weeks has passed since the night at the bar. True to her word, Olivia and I have only interacted with each other if it's related to work and we're also still on desk duty, which Olivia is getting pretty restless about.

There's a knock on our office door knocking me out of my daze. Jake peeps his head through the door.

"Olivias not here." I inform him, taking a sip from my water bottle.

Jake shakes his head, before stepping in and closing the door behind him. "I was actually hoping to talk to you."

I nod. "Shoot."

He hands me a few files. "Clare needs you to sign some of these clauses, for insurance reasons and all that."

I nod. "I'll take a look at them, thanks Jake."

"No problem." Instead of leaving, he leans against Olivias desk. "Liv's quite the catch isn't she. I mean those legs whew!"

My mood turns suddenly sour. "Isn't it against the rules for you to say that?"

"Not if I'm gay, pretty sure that makes me an exception when I compliment girls."

"Come again?" I look over at him in shock and Jake throws me a grin.

"Is everyone around here blind or is it just you and Olivia," He laughs. "and I say that about more than one case."

I laugh. "I can't believe I didn't know."

"I'm not your stereotypical gay person, so I always have to tell people." He shrugs.

"You'd probably pull more girls than me mate."

"If I did like girls, Olivia would be at the top of my list." He informs me. "She's not gonna be a free agent forever, you know."

I nod. "Don't I know it."

A few minutes later Jakes tablet pings. "Well that's my queue, before Clare sends a search party out looking for me."

I laugh. "Your jobs one I definitely wouldn't like."

"What can I say, I'm good under all types of circumstances."

"That you are."

Jakes about to leave the room, when he turns back. "Clare just text me, she's set up a meeting with you for seven, so you'll have to stay after shift."

I nod. "I'll be there."

Olivia leaves the office ten minutes before my meeting with Clare. I spend my extra few minutes reading the clauses Jake gave me earlier, after quickly skimming over the words I realise it's an insurance doc for me to sign.

I glance at the clock, deciding I'd discuss it with Clare before signing anything, because I'm pretty sure it has something to do with the topic of today's meeting. I knock on the door to Clares office and let myself in when I hear her typical. "Come in."

"Everything good?" I ask, taking a seat across from her.

Clare nods. "I just thought I'd let you know that it's over on Friday."

"It is?" I ask, relief causing me to relax. "We've got all the evidence?"

"For the most part, yes we do. You'll be required to get yourself invited to the Gala on Friday night, there I'm hoping you can get some photographic or audio recording evidence just to make sure it holds up in court."

I nod. "And then Olivia and I can go back on field work?"

Clare nods. "If you can bring Rosie Taylor down on Friday, then you and Agent Bennett will be back on the field by Monday."

"Bring on Friday."