No Strings

Chapter 8

You were dreading Monday, the entire weekend has been wasted on you anxiously awaiting your meeting with Olivia, you and Rafael *technically*  didn’t work in the same department, but considering the closeness of your positions, it could definitely still be a problem, especially on your end. You made sure you were up as early as you could be, giving yourself ample time to get to the squad room on Monday, not surprised when you found yourself the only detective there. Liv’s door was open when you got there, you dropped your bag on your desk, amping yourself up one last time before gently knocking on the door.

“Y/L/N….You’re early.” Her voice was surprisingly gentle as she greeted you, gesturing to the chairs in front of her desk. You tried not to look so ashamed as you took your spot in the office.

“Sergeant, I’m really sorry about this obviously it’s not how we wanted anyone to find out it’s kinda just a giant mess at this point and I mean I don’t really…” She held up her hand, signalling you to stop the rambling panic you were clearly feeling.

“How long has this been going on?” She calmly asked, you hesitated, knowing it probably wasn’t what she wanted to hear.

“August….Langan’s party…” You muttered, “He offered to walk me home, one thing kinda led to another…” You could barely look up from your hands, Olivia may have been a personal friend of yours, but right now all you could feel was the fact that she was your boss.

“That was nearly NINE months ago?! You had more than enough time to disclose.” You opened your mouth to reply, then closed it, confused at just about everything, looking up you found your friend Olivia looking back at you, eyebrow cocked, waiting for your response.

“It’s…it’s kinda hard to disclose when you don’t exactly know what it is you’re disclosing…” Your head hung, ashamed that something that was supposed to not only be private, but strictly friends with benefits had been exposed to your boss, and potentially your entire squad. You hated having to admit you’d fallen for the A.D.A. those calls over the holidays hadn’t helped, whether it was him being friendly or you overthinking things, you’d fallen, hard. 

“Hey… Y/N..” Olivia spoke softly, “It’s okay, there’s not a whole lot I can do about a detective and an A.D.A. together, but I’m putting the paperwork in. Lawyers don’t have to recuse themselves from personal cases, but this is going to affect the number of cases you can take lead on, or any you end up having to take the stand.” She paused, “Hell, you’re lucky Buchanan hadn’t somehow found out and wiped the floor with you, it could have gotten the entire case thrown out.” That was definitely the truth, the man was harrowing when it came to trial, “AND, I will definitely be keeping an eye on how much time you’re spending at the D.A’s office from now on.”

“Thank you Sarge.” You quietly replied.

“Oh…and you’re definitely on desk duty for the next two weeks.”

“Of course” You breathed out, “Makes sense.” You looked back up and Olivia had a smirk in her eyes, you cocked an eyebrow, questioning the smirk.

“The kitchen table really??” You let out a barking laugh, knowing that your lecture was over and your friend was back.

“It was the first time!” You protested, “Besides, you ever hear of KNOCKING?!” Benson let out a laugh as the two of you realized how ridiculous this situation was, outside of the work relation.

“Okay, I forgive you, now get back to work.” She nodded towards the squad room, 

“Ugh.” You roll your eyes as you stood, “I will.” You give your sergeant a soft smile before exiting into the squad room, happy your news was at least somewhat private for the meantime.