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Olivia simply nodded and smile at Teddy's response. She did know a little bit about wine pairings but she didn't want to make the egregious mistake of assuming someone was a meat eater. Besides, now she knew something about her boss that was useful and she didn't even have to ask.
When the waitress came, they gave the order and Olivia's attention was back on Teddy. She kind of saw the question coming and she gave the other woman a sheepish grin. "It's not like I hate the nickname. And...she's just being familiar I guess." She shrugged. Of course, she wasn't going to admit that she wanted Teddy to be the only one calling her by her full name. That was weird.
"Um...I don't mean to overstep but you did give me the opportunity to feed my curiosity...but, what made you relocate here?" Olivia asked, straightening her back and leaning forward.
Teddy's answer had Olivia nodding and she scanned the menu for recommendations. "Okay, so the filet mignon here just melts in your mouth. I usually get that."
Olivia continued to recommend a few other dishes, including the vegetarian options before deciding herself on what to eat. "You really can't go wrong here." Olivia shrugged before putting the menu down. She stole a glance at Teddy and a ghost of a smile appeared as she admired the other woman's flawless complexion.
The past week had been testament to how much self-control Olivia actually had. She wasn't stupid, she knew she was attracted to Teddy but it still felt so damn confusing. It wasn't like she had been deprived of beautiful her entire life and suddenly Teddy was like a well of fresh water. Olivia had been so certain she liked men and yes, she appreciated women and their beauty; who wouldn't, women are just naturally beautiful. But she never actually felt such an attraction to women until now.
Frankly, she was a little scared.
"Are you ready to order?" Olivia asked to shut away her confusing thoughts.
Ducking her head in slight embarrassment, Olivia hid her smile behind her bottle as she finished half of it before setting it down on the bar top. She didn't know whether she should let Teddy in on the fact that she'd pretty much mastered all the hobbies she'd picked up because that usually made her sound a little insane. In fact, one of her ex-boyfriends did tell her she was insane because of that very reason. She liked to learn new things, she didn't understand why that was such a problem.
Time management was one of the things she managed to learn and incorporate into her life so it made picking up hobbies doable. Of course, she also had another reason for picking up the hobbies. It wasn't that she was lost, like Teddy was thinking. Olivia just didn't like having time to herself.
She turned and smiled at Teddy, raising her bottle in cheers to her being inspired by Olivia. "If you have the time, the notice board isn't going anywhere." She offered a smile before turning to the hostess who cleared her throat to get their attention.
"Your booth's ready, Miss."
They were ushered to the booth and Olivia looked through the menu to find something she hadn't tried yet. "Oh, right...I never asked, but have you been here before?" She looked at Teddy over the menu.
Olivia nodded in agreement to Teddy's sentiment. "Especially now that I'll be making it lighter." She added with a grin.
Teddy's question was simple and Olivia wondered briefly whether the woman was a mind reader. She seemed to know exactly what to ask to keep her mind at ease. She'd noticed it in the office and now out in the world. "I sign up for classes around the town square." She offered with a shrug. "The notice board offers different classes every six months and I've tried to dip my foot in almost all of them."
Most of them she did alone but sometimes she gets Kenny excited for some and they end up doing it together for weeks.
"There's a Korean cooking class next week that I'm kind of excited for." She grinned as she sipped from her bottle.
Olivia had to say, she had never been paid attention to the way Teddy was paying attention to her then. Her ice blue eyes on her made Olivia's cheeks heat up. She tried recalling a time when a man looked at her this way and she felt this intensely gazed upon and she couldn't, for the life of her, remember feeling this way.
Gulping inaudibly, she tried to concentrate on Teddy's answer. "I know exactly what you mean." She nodded, taking another long sip from her beer. "I've been here for three years and I still haven't seen a lot of it except for the town square, the office and my apartment." Olivia responded.
"Are you looking to explore any time soon? I know work's been cooping you up in the office but you must have some time off?" She asked before a teasing tone came out. "Or do you use that time to work too?"
Taking off her jacket and hanging it on the back of her stool, Olivia waited until the bartender, Halley, was gone before turning to Teddy. "Just under three years," she grinned sheepishly. "Before I actually settled down in my apartment, I came here every day before I started pacing myself."
Being outside of the office and in a familiar place made Olivia a lot chattier and considerably more at ease. Even her smiles were unrestrained. Untrained eyes could see she was in her comfort zone.
The bartender came back with their drinks and Olivia raised her bottle in Teddy's direction. "Cheers." She took a swig before craning her neck to see whether her booth was open. It wasn't.
"So, Teddy...are you settling in here in Stagford?" Olivia asked.
Glad to see the smile, Olivia was emboldened and returned the smile with her own. As Teddy continued, Olivia couldn't help but laugh lightly.
"Might have been thinking it was the exact opposite, to be honest. But no, I'm rather enjoying working under you. I've fortunately been blessed with great bosses." She responded blatantly.
The hostess finally attended to them and ushered them to the bar. "Hey, Livvy! The usual?" The bartender smiled at Olivia before her head turned to Teddy. "Hey, you brought a friend! What can I get for you ladies?" She asked.
Olivia responded with her usual order of beer and turned to Teddy with a questioning look.
She nodded at Teddy's question and smiled at the restaurant. "I reserve a place here every Saturday night." She grinned sheepishly. "I've been in Stagford for short of three months and I'm already a regular." Shrugging, she bit her lower lip before asking Teddy.
"Are you here alone?"
After a pause, Olivia plucked up the courage and took a deep breath before asking. "If you're not with anyone, would you like to join me? Might have to wait a while because I think my booth is occupied but we can have drinks first."
Stagford was still a mystery to Olivia but she was assimilating quite nicely. Her job was now a guaranteed constant and her family life was also stable. She had time to herself that she was trying to use up by signing up for the gym, a baking class and several other classes that didn't clash with each other's timing.
She wasn't much of a cook so she had taken up the habit of eating out, sometimes with Kenny, most of the time alone. She found that she enjoyed her own company although sometimes, it did get a little boring.
She had even found a restaurant she liked above many others and though it was a little pricey, Olivia was a proponent of quality over quantity and the restaurant was worth every single penny she splurged. It was there that she ran into the person she was starting to like.
"Mi-Teddy!" She exclaimed as she walked up to the entrance of the restaurant where Teddy was standing. "Um...hi. Sorry, I was just going in and I saw you so I thought I'd say hi." She gave the other woman a full genuine smile.
Olivia wasn't about to admit that her name sounded a lot better coming from the woman sitting before her. Especially not when this wasn't the first time she said it. She took a short breath and smiled, standing up and drew her hand out.
"Thank you for the opportunity, Teddy. I won't let you down." She promised, one she intended to keep. She was sure she would be able to. She'd already done it before.
"I'll take my leave if there's nothing else you would like to discuss."
As astute as she was when it came to her work, Olivia often dropped the ball on cues from people. So she missed the glances Teddy gave her but she did not miss the smile. That only made her cheeks heat up even more. At that moment, more than ever, she wished she had the ability to control her emotions. Which were, for reasons she was still not entirely sure of, out of whack right then.
She managed to nod when Teddy assured her of the work. She was about to take her leave when Teddy asked her a question she didn't really ever have the time to consider before. Nobody really ever asked her that question before either. A small frown creased the middle of her forehead and the corner of her lips quirked up slightly.
"I never really thought of that." She answered at first before shrugging. "I think I got used to it because I've been called that for so long. But I do prefer Olivia." She admitted with a small smile. Briefly, she wondered why she was being so guarded. She wasn't like this with her previous employers. It was becoming a little maddening.
Though general, Olivia thought Teddy's expectations of her could be easily met. Olivia was self-motivated and if given the opportunity and space, she knew she would be able to flourish. And if this conversation they had been having was any indication, Teddy was the type to push her out of her comfort zone, so that would help quite a bit, she suspected.
Olivia was hardly new to law but when it came to this specific law, she could do with some help and Teddy, being a mutant herself, was more than capable of teaching her whatever it is she needed to learn. So Olivia was definitely going to take advantage of Teddy's offer.
The next portion of Teddy's answer felt personal and Olivia couldn't help the rising heat on her cheeks as she was called out for the addressing issue. "Alright, Teddy." Olivia responded, trying it out. She wasn't quite used to calling her superiors by their first name and they usually made her call them by their honorific. Teddy clearly didn't operate on the same level. It was something Olivia needed to get used to.
"People usually call me Liv. If that makes things easier for you." She offered before giving Teddy a small smile. "Does the work start now?"
The offer to ask her new boss whatever was quite tempting but Olivia wasn't good at coming up with things on the spot. She sucked her bottom lip into her mouth and chewed on it as a nervous grin twitched at the corner of her lips.
The darker brunette's friendly and seemingly open smile was not helping either.
Admittedly, now that she knew she was going to spend more time with her, Olivia was starting to get nervous about how she was going to conduct herself around her. She'd always been professional in all three of the companies she had worked for before, even as a personal assistant to one of her previous employers where she went to his house every day of the week and worked late nights. It helped that he was a devoted family man but with this one, Olivia wasn't so sure anymore.
"What are your expectations of me?" She finally asked. It was perhaps a broad and general question but it was one that gnawed at Olivia's mind.
Being a commodity sounded a lot better than being an outcast, especially in a firm where Olivia was obviously the minority. She knew having her boss as an ally might probably make it a little complicated with her colleagues but she also knew she needed to seize the opportunity she was presented.
Not to mention, the idea of spending more time with Teddy appealed to her a lot more than she initially thought.
Olivia ran her fingers through her hair and gave Teddy a smile. "Thank you, Miss James. I'm grateful for this opportunity. And I'll try to remember your advice." She leaned forward and uncrossed her legs. "Is there anything else you'd like from me?" She asked, wondering how much of Teddy's time she'd wasted already.
Olivia already had trouble holding people's gazes on a regular day but having her boss, who had to be one of the most intensely beautiful women around, hold hers, even if it was just a few seconds, made the thirty year old paralegal sweat. Furrowing her brows once more, she leaned forward and tried to keep their eye contact but failed halfway in. She decided to focus on Teddy's defined cheekbones instead.
"I'm not saying I'm not good at what I do. I came here for the sole purpose of making mut...meta humans' lives less difficult. I'm just sure there are a lot more qualified people to do the job." She paused and closed her eye for a brief moment before looking back at Teddy.
"I'm more than happy to help you with your research, Miss James. I'm sure you'll have a lot to teach me."
