#just gonna think about her bringing all the ada members coffee in the mornings when she's got time

[theladymuses]

❝ — ❞

[sinsiriuslyemo]

So I intended to reblog this post, and accidentally deleted it lol Thank you to those who read this morning and left me notes! And thank you to everyone who messaged me yesterday and left likes, reblogs, and comments!! Here is chapter two (again) and below is a banner by the brilliant @esparza-army, who surprised me with this beautiful gift!! Thank you so much again for making this for me!!!

Chapter Two: I’ll Bring The Coffee

“Why didn’t you tell me about the threats when they started, Barba?!”

Rafael rolled his eyes before he turned to face the Lieutenant. He was glad to have the squad watching his back, but was still slightly annoyed that Liv insisted on chewing him out for not saying anything about the death threats he’d been receiving for over three months.

“I get them all the time, Liv. I take most of them with a grain of salt. Between angry family members, disgruntled convicts--”

“You still should’ve told me. We could’ve gotten in front of this. Now we have people coming to the courthouse, corning you in elevators?” She ran a hand through her hair, shaking her head. “I’m not pulling the protective detail, just so you know.”

“Well, I expected as much,” he mumbled, rolling his eyes again.

“And I want it to be someone we both can trust, with everything that’s gone on since the trial, I have no idea who works for whom anymore.” When had the NYPD become so divided? There was a time when everyone who wore a badge was on the same team. Nowadays one could never be sure which cop was on the take, and which were on the up and up.

“Carisi volunteered,” Rafael muttered. He had put his annoyance with Sonny to bed after allowing the young Detective to shadow him during a case. He almost liked Carisi now. Almost.

“Noah and I could be in Paris right now with Ed,” Liv mumbled to herself, sighing softly as she let her eyes close briefly. Rafael frowned at her words.

He wasn’t sure why he had been so jealous of Benson and Tucker...or Benson and Cassidy...or Benson and anyone for that matter. At first he thought maybe it meant that he had feelings for her, but the closer he looked, the more he realized that wasn’t the case at all. It was because the reality was that Rafael Barba didn’t have very many friends, and he had a subconscious fear that he would lose the friend he had in Benson to her romantic life.

“I’ll be fine, Liv. This is probably nothing,” he said softly. “You can still make it to Paris, and you should go. You could use a vacation. We just lost Dodds, that case took it’s toll on all of us. Staying here won’t solve anything. Just go.” He looked at her softly, his smirk gentle on his face. “Be with Tucker, and Noah.”

“I’m not the only one who could use a vacation, you know.”

He nodded inside a shrug, raising his brows momentarily.

“Well, it appears a vacation isn’t exactly possible now for me. But trust me, I’ll be taking one after this has all blown over, and it will blow over. It always does,” he answered, trying to assure her, though it didn’t seem to be working too well.

“Mr. Barba, your nine o’clock is here.” the secretary's voice interrupted their conversation, and their eyes stayed locked another moment before he glanced at the phone on his desk.

“Send them in please. Thank you.” Carmen had a family emergency with her father, which left Rafael without an assistant. He was expecting her replacement to come in for her interview with him. For the time being he’d been sharing Hannigan’s secretary, and the poor girl was being run ragged. Not to mention she had very little knowledge of the law beyond what any citizen of New York would know.

“You’re still taking meetings?” Liv asked, gathering her jacket and sliding her arms into the sleeves.

“Carmen’s father is very ill, and doesn't have very much longer. She took a leave to be with her family,” he answered, shaking his head. “That leaves me without an assistant.”

“I hope O’Dwyer was careful with choosing a replacement for you. You knew you could trust Carmen. Who knows who they're sending.”

“He’s not dirty, that much I’m sure of. I'm sure he was very careful with his selection process,” he replied as the door opened and a tall woman with long, dark, wavy hair, wearing a black halter dress beneath a leather jacket and heels walked in carrying a clear cup of what he assumed was iced coffee.

“Mr. Barba, this is Charlotte King...” The intern manning his phone calls when his shared secretary was otherwise occupied was less than adequate. He hoped to be rid of the college frat boy soon. He also hoped Charlotte King would be his solution.

“Charlie, I...go by Charlie,” she said, snorting a little, extending a hand to him and smiling brightly.

“Charlie, thank you for coming in.” He shook her delicate hand gratefully as Liv caught his stare once again.

“I’m gonna go. I’ll call you later?”

“Paris,” he repeated, once again urging her to go on a getaway with Tucker. Charlie grinned at the female lieutenant as the woman took her leave. She’d seen the files on the SVU squad members that Barba worked closely with, and recognized the woman immediately as Lieutenant Olivia Benson. She was a lot prettier in person, Charlie noted.

She’d watched the exchange as her lips wrapped around her straw and sucked up some of the chilled drink inside her plastic, nearly empty togo cup of iced coffee. Rafael arched a brow at the loud slurping noise that sounded from her actions, and tilted his head slightly as the intern closed the door behind him.

“Please,” he gestured to one of the chairs in front of his desk. “Have a seat. I understand you have experience as an legal assistant,” he added, moving to sit in his own chair and leaning back a little.

She couldn’t help the way her eyes cast themselves downward briefly, her lips curling up a little as she spotted the way his pants hugged him just right. Sitting down, she smiled at him, and bit her bottom lip, nodding.

“Um, yes.” She laughed a little. “I do, I was the secretary slash assistant of the ADA in Los Angeles for two years, and in Washington state for four years.”

She had to hand it to The Proctor, those credentials would land anyone a position in just about any law office that they wanted.

“What brings you to New York?” he asked, looking over her resume, which had been faxed to him that morning.

“Subways, mostly. Public transportation has always fascinated me, you see all kinds of characters on the subway. Plus it cuts out the cost of needing a car. I’m also somewhat of a Sinatra fan, and according to him if you can make it here, you can make it anywhere, though one could argue that the cost of living in Los Angeles is much steeper. Still, I’m a sucker for Ole Blue Eyes.”

The more she spoke, the more the smirk on his face grew into a smile, and he nodded. Her big brown eyes stayed on his as she brought her latte back up to her lips and sipped from the straw, that same slurping sound coming with the action.

“I think that may be close to empty,” he observed.

“The best part is the very bottom,” she argued softly. “You get just enough latte in the straw to just taste it, but not enough for a full sip. It’s a way of savoring the flavor, I think.” She smiled at him, biting down on her straw with her front teeth before she closed her mouth around it again, and took another slurp.

“That’s...going to get annoying very quickly.”

“Sorry to hear that,” she mused gently, again smiling around her straw.

“You know, you don’t have the job yet,” he said matter-of-factly.

“Sure, I do,” she teased, winking at him. “I asked around, heard you’re a bit of a coffee nut yourself. I’d bring you a cup every morning,” she added. “Just the way you like it,” she whispered.

“I can get my own coffee,” he pointed out with an amused smirk on his lips.

“But you don't really have time for that, do you?” she countered with a sweet smile, tongue coming to lightly touch the edges of her front teeth. “Look, I’m a good assistant, and as it turns out, I also know the law so I can take some of the burden off your shoulders. Do you want me or not?” she asked with a smirk.

He arched a brow slightly at her choice of wording, tilting his head as he thought about his answer. After a moment he nodded his head.

“When can you start?”

“I’m ready to rock right now, boss, “ she replied, earning a snort from him as he nodded. She grinned at him.

“Alright, Charlie. You're hired. You can tell Julian out there that he can go back to...whatever it is he says he does around here. My last assistant, Carmen left everything very organized for you, and she’s a great assistant, so you've got big shoes to fill.”

“Challenge accepted,” she replied, standing up and turning towards the door before she abruptly turned back to face him, teeth clamped around the straw of her latte. “Would you like some coffee, Mr. Barba?” she asked sweetly.

“Please,” he answered with a smirk. “Cream, two sugars.”

She smiled at him around her straw and made a fresh pot of coffee when she saw that the one already made was hours old. It was important for her to demonstrate her competence and value in order for her to get close enough to gain his trust. Once she gain his, she would see about whether he could gain hers enough to be recruited. From the body language she saw between him and the female cop in his office when Charlie had walked in, things were tense with the threats he’d been receiving. This would have to be a slow burn.

While the coffee maker did it’s job, she casually let her eyes scan the floor. He had a corner office, which only left one other attorney’s workspace across from him, everyone else was down the hall, and a conference room sat about halfway down. Barba’s neighbor had a secretary of his own, though the girl looked like she couldn’t care less about keeping a job at the DA’s office. She appeared to do a fine enough job, but the college catalogue on the edge of her desk with what appeared to be dog-eared pages suggested that this may have been a summer gig for her.

It didn’t exactly say much about the attorney who would hire someone so temporary, but to each his own.

When the coffee was brewed, she poured Barba a cup, dumping a single cream and stirring two sugars into the black liquid, turning it a much lighter brown color. She smirked softly as she brought the coffee into his office, setting it down in front of him.

“How’d I do with coffee?” she asked, gesturing gently to the mug.

“Looks the right color,” he mused, a hint of a smirk playing on his mouth as he picked up the mug and took a tentative sip, nodding his approval. “Not bad.”

She smiled at him as the phone began to ring, and he looked at her expectantly. She seemed to snap out of it after a few moments.

“Oh! Right,” she whispered, pick up his phone. “ADA Barba’s office, this is Charlie.”

He arched a brow as he smiled up at her, tilting his head to one side.

“Absolutely, may I tell him who’s calling?”

She bit her bottom lip as one of her hands came up to twist the end of one of her wavy strands. Her eyes looked down at the piece of hair she was twisting as though she were studying every end, and he snorted silently.

“Okay, hold please,” she said with a smile, looking down to press the hold button before she handed him the receiver. “Judge Thompson,” she whispered.

“I'll take it, thank you,” he replied.

“You're welcome,” she said, pointing towards the door to his office. “I'm gonna go check out my snazzy new desk,” she added in a loud whisper, her nose wrinkling a little as she spoke before she turned and walked out of his office.

He grinned a little, shaking his head as he watched her leave.

Charlie had to hand it to Carmen Chavez, the woman really was organized. His calendar was color coded and labeled impeccably, and she’d even left a guide for navigating her desk. As she separated priority cases and ones that could wait or were, for one reason or another, held up, Charlie glanced up at the window that allowed her a visual on Rafael Barba.

“He’s cute, isn’t he?” she heard the younger woman beside her muse from her seat at the desk across the hall.

Charlie looked over and smiled softly with one side if her mouth.

“At least yours is nice to look at,” she continued. “I mean for an old guy--”

She seemed to realize that Charlie was exactly fresh out college either and she looked positively mortified as the new assistant grinned, clearly enjoying her discomfort.

“I mean, not...old old but...you know…”

Letting her chin rest against her loose fist, Charlie continued to watch her in amusement, propping her elbow on the corner of the desk.

“Mature,” the girl offered.

Charlie gasped almost inaudibly in a feigned realization, slowly nodding her head. She couldn't help it, it had been quite some time since she’d mingled with civilians. Most of her friends were RAUL agents.

“Right, I see what you mean,” she whispered, scrunching her nose to add, “Like a fine wine.”

“Yeah, exactly.”

“So would that make me the cheese?” she asked playfully.

“Oh! No, not at all. I-I mean it like--”

“Relax, sweetie, I’m just fucking with you.”

The girl sighed inside of a laughter of relief as the phone on her desk rang, and she quickly picked it up, thankful for the interruption. Charlie smirked to herself, giving another glance towards Barba through the window before she casually stood, taking the small bag that Brainey had given her. She leisurely walked towards the restroom, checking each stall before she placed a sticker under one of the mirrors. One would be surprised how much was talked about in a restroom, though she would have to wait until the office was empty to place one in the men’s room.

Flushing one of the toilets, she washed her hands and moved back to her new desk just as the phone rang, and she placed another sticker on as she picked it up.

“ADA Barba’s office, Charlie speaking…” There was static on the other line, and she could hear some faint breathing. “Hello?” she asked casually, listening closer for any other sounds.

“Hi...I’m supposed to meet with the ADA later this evening...I was just calling to confirm.”

“Sure. He’s actually on a call right now, but what’s your name?” she asked cheerfully. “I can let him know you called.”

“Olivia Benson,” the voice answered.

Well, she knew that was bullshit. Evidently whoever this was hadn’t done their homework enough to know that Benson had just been in Barba’s office.

“Okay, I’ll let him know…” No she wouldn’t.

“If you wouldn't mind just confirming for me what time he’ll be leaving the office…”

Really? She arched a brow, looking down at the neatly organized calendar and noting a scrawled in appointment at 7:30pm with O. Benson that wasn’t in Carmen’s handwriting. It wasn’t color coded like the rest of the page either.

This must have been jotted down by either the girl across from her, or the useless intern...Julian, was it?

“Seven,” Charlie answered. “He’s scheduled to meet with you at 7:30, according to his calendar.”

“Perfect, thank you.” The Benson impersonator hung up, and Charlie smirked to herself. Perfect indeed; this mission may be a lot easier than she’d originally anticipated.