Rafael had been settled into the bar at Maxwell’s for well over an hour. Less than a day back from his Holiday vacation and SVU had already managed to drown him in paperwork. Now the defence was doing the same in an attempt to stall the trial even longer, to say he was unimpressed and annoyed as an understatement.
You were at the opposite end of the bar, sipping on a cinnamon margarita while you picked at some yam fries. The stranger in the sharp suit caught your eye when he had originally walked in, it made sense, Manhattan was full of men in fancy suits. But this one didn’t look like one of those sleazy Wall Street guys, and his suit was immaculately tailored to his body, the colour choices of the tie and pocket square picked out perfectly.
The only person you’d seen who looked that good was the bruenette in the red skirt suit, hair flawlessly curled and half pinned back, but she seemed almost too intimidating to approach. Not to mention she’d only stayed long enough for half a glass of wine, your assumption on both people were that they were lawyers, considering the proximity to the courthouse. And the way the woman seemed to be striking some kind of deal. You weren’t involved in the legal world at all, but you’d watched enough television dramas to know the bare minimum.
The man let out a small huff, pinching the bridge of his nose as he paused in his paperwork. Stress. Frustration. You’d recognize that anywhere, basically your entire last year. Your now ex, who had been living with you was caught in a web of cheating and lies, breaking your heart and then destroying your mental health. You’d ended up in court battling over things since you were technically common law, but weren’t married or anything, and he was an upright asshole. Once your lawyers had managed to battle everything out, you may have began to delve into the casual dating a little heavily…and very casually. There were some you didn’t even know the names of, anything to get your mind off the bullshit of the year (all done safely of course).
The bartender came over to check on you, you asked for a refill, and to send the stressed out man whatever he was drinking on your tab.
“Oh..I didn’t order that.” Rafael stated as the bartender placed a fresh glass of Macallan down in front of him.
“I know.” The bartender replied, “seems you’ve got an admirer.” They nodded slightly in your direction and you held up your drink in a ‘cheers’ fashion with a small grin on your face. Rafael let out a soft chuckle, repeating the motion and returning the smile, mouthing ‘thank you’. He felt flattered, it wasn’t often things like that happened, and after a rough couple of weeks, it had his ego boosted.
You occupied yourself by polishing off your fries, scrolling through your phone and replying to a few emails. You knew the man was obviously working, and by the looks of things, busy, you weren’t pressed. If you needed or wanted to leave, it would’ve been easy enough to slide him your phone number. You were distracted by a buzzfeed quiz, your eyes on your phone when you saw another margarita slide its way into your peripheral vision. Your gaze pulled up from your phone, meeting the emerald ones of the man from across the bar, god, he was even more attractive up close
“You always buy people drinks and then ignore them?” He teased. You laughed, the smile remaining on your cheeks.
“You looked busy.” You retorted, “besides…my New Year’s Resolution was to stop sleeping around… although you’re making that very difficult.” He chuckled, you stuck out your hand, “y/n.”
“Rafael.” He gestured to the bar stool beside you, “may I?”
“Of course.”
