Advantage

Chapter 4

Olivia opened her eyes slightly, testing the waters. Her headache was marginally better, and while her stomach was feeling a little unsettled, it was nothing like it had been when she woke up this morning. She opened her eyes completely and shifted, looking at the clock on the nightstand. It was just a little before noon, so she'd been out for another six hours.

She ran her tongue against her teeth and grimaced. She was incredibly thirsty and she needed to brush her teeth. She propped herself up and grabbed the glass of water, downing it all. She set the glass down on pushed herself up so she was sitting on the bed, and then sat for a moment, letting her body and brain adjust. Hangovers sucked and she chastised herself again for letting this happen.

After a few moments, Olivia swung her legs out of bed and placed her feet on the floor. She saw her jeans on the floor and she leaned over to scoop them up, fishing for her phone in her pocket. She hoped to God Cragen hadn't called. She was off this weekend, but that never stopped him for calling her in if something happened. Of course, he would have called Elliot and Elliot would have gotten a hold of her.

Elliot.

No. She was going to have an Elliot free day today. She wasn't going to think about him. She wasn't going to talk to him. She was going to keep the commitment she'd made to herself last night. And that was to put any romantic notions she had about him in the past. Move on. She had obviously been delusional in interpreting what she thought were signs that maybe he felt the same way.

If he had any interest in her, he would have done something to change the nature of their relationship once the ink on his divorce papers was dry. She was an idiot to have kept hanging on to the notion that they could be more.

She opened her phone and saw 20 missed calls and 10 text messages. She rolled her eyes, knowing before she even opened them that they were probably all from Elliot. She closed her phone and threw it on the bed. She wasn't even going to look.

She pushed herself up off the bed and walked slowly into the bathroom. She splashed cold water on her face and pulled out her toothbrush. As she brushed her teeth, she looked back at her phone as it lay on the bed.

No. She wasn't going to read his texts or listen to the voicemails. She didn't care what they said.

An image of his face at the party last night popped into her head.

No. This was an Elliot free day. She spit into the sink, wiped her face and hands on the towel, and looked at herself in the mirror. God, she looked like shit. She had shed her clothes, so she was just wearing her bra and underwear, and she noticed a bruise on her body resembling hickeys. She was wondering how she had gotten it. Probably running into things.

She should take a shower, but it seemed like a lot of effort. Especially since she was probably just going to crawl back in bed. Her phone was sitting there as she walked back into the bedroom, and she grabbed it angrily as she sat back on the bed.

OK. I'm just going to read through these and listen to the voicemails and then delete them. Just in case it was work-related.

Which was absolute bullshit and she knew it. They wouldn't be work-related.

She thumbed open her text messages and saw that one was from Fin.

Call me when you wake up tomorrow. Just want to see how u doing.

She smiled. Fin was a good friend. She hit reply. I feel like shit but I deserve it. Thanks for getting me home.

Olivia opened the string from Elliot next and braced herself. They started out simply enough, and she could see from the time stamp that they were roughly ten minutes apart.

Just want to make sure you got home safely. Text me.

Text me back. Just need to know you're OK.

Come on. Just want to make sure you're OK.

Liv. I know you're mad but I'm worried. Just tell me you're home.

The nature of the messages changed then, and she could tell he was getting pissed that she wasn't answering.

Just tell me to fuck off or whatever. Just something please.

Going out of my mind here.

Olivia. Answer me. Just tell me you're home.

As if using her full name would let her know that he was SERIOUS now.

OLIVIA!

That was the last message. She wondered if that was when he had resorted to calling. As she thumbed open her phone app, she saw she had 15 missed calls and only 5 voicemails.

"Liv. I know you're pissed but I can't reach you and I just want to make sure you got home OK. You don't need to call me back. Just text me back and tell me you're home."

"Liv, it's me again. I haven't heard back from you. I know you're mad, but I'm worried. You were drunk at Fin's and I just need to know you made it home."

"Olivia. Please don't do this. If I don't hear back from you in the next five minutes, I'm going to go over to your apartment."

The next voicemail was scarcely two minutes later. So much for waiting for five minutes.

"OK, I'm coming over. And you can't be mad at me for showing up because you're the one not answering."

She could hear the concern in his voice, and for a moment, she felt bad about making him worry.

"You are really pissing me off. I'm letting myself in your apartment and you'd better be there. I mean, I hope you're there."

She could hear the anger in his voice, probably borne of frustration. But she also heard the ultimatum. You'd better be there.

The sympathy she'd felt for making him worry turned into anger. She didn't answer to him. She could do whatever the hell she wanted. She didn't need a babysitter. He was overreacting and pulling this overprotective bullshit and it pissed her off. She didn't belong to him and she wasn't his responsibility.

When she had seen him standing in her apartment this morning, she hadn't been able to fully process why he was there. He had obviously let himself into her apartment. Had he sat there until she made it home? Presumptuous son-of-a-bitch.

Olivia lay back down on the bed and let out a small groan. So far, her Elliot free day wasn't going very well. She pulled the phone back in front of her face, and deleted the messages and the voicemails.

That made her feel marginally better. She sat back up. She needed some food and some more water. She pulled on her robe on over her bra and underwear, and tied the sash. She opened her door and padded out into the living room. As she rounded the corner of the couch, she let out a small yell as she jumped back.

Goddamn Elliot was stretched out, sleeping on her couch.

When he heard her yell, he startled awake and sat up quickly. "Liv."

So much for her Elliot free day.