by T. K. Leigh
After the short ride, Marshall pulled up outside of the coffee shop, the financial district bustling with activity on that warm summer day. Olivia grabbed two coffees and walked over to a table to wait for Adele, who walked through the doors a few minutes later. She spotted Olivia and began heading in her direction, the normal bitchy look on her face nowhere to be found. Instead, she looked forlorn and solemn. “Thank you for coming, Olivia,” she said, taking a seat.
Olivia slid the extra coffee toward her.
She smiled in appreciation before bringing it to her mouth and taking a sip.
“So, Adele, what is it you want to say to me?”
She stared at Olivia, still in disbelief that she was sitting across from the girl she used to play Barbie’s with when they were young. “What do you know about Alexander’s childhood?” she asked cautiously.
“If this is about his friend who had the same name as me, I already know about that, and I don’t think that it’s weird. My real first name is Sarah anyway.” She raised her voice, becoming a bit defensive. “Olivia is my middle name. He didn’t fall in love with me just because I go by the same name as that little girl.”
Adele lowered her eyes, hesitant to say what she was about to say, but it had to be done. She needed that money she had been promised. “Olivia, it’s not that you go by the same name as that little girl. You are that little girl…”
Olivia looked at Adele as if she was crazy. “Adele, that little girl died. Alexander told me so. He goes there every year to visit her grave and…”
“Your parents were killed, weren’t they?” she interrupted.
“Yeah. What does that have to do with anything?” Olivia’s heart began to race.
“Isn’t it a coincidence that they were killed the same day as Alexander’s Olivia?”
She sat there in silence, unsure of how Adele even knew when her parents died, or what to think of her inferences. She had never proven herself to be trustworthy in the past so she was hesitant to believe a word that came out of her mouth at that point. Still, it was a huge coincidence. But that’s what she always thought it was…just a coincidence.
“I grew up in Charleston, Adele,” Olivia responded, snapping out of her unsettled thoughts. “That little girl lived near Alexander in Mystic.” She started getting nervous. She couldn’t remember anything about her life before being sent to that boarding school in Charleston. That’s where she must have lived before the accident. Why would she be sent to Charleston if she didn’t live there? It didn’t make sense.
“Look at this, Olivia.” Adele reached down and pulled a few old photos out of her purse. “I went home this weekend and searched my parents’ house for my old photo albums. Here.” She handed her a photo. “I couldn’t find many of the two of us. We never really got along that well.”
Olivia stared at the photo. It was of her when she was a little girl. Her hair was in two braids on the opposite sides of her head, and she was standing next to a small blonde-haired girl. They were both holding their Barbie dolls and smiling at the camera.
“All this proves, Adele, is that we knew each other when I was little. I don’t remember much about my life before the accident that killed both of my parents,” she said, trying to ignore the loud voice in her head telling her that her worst fears had become a reality.
Adele sighed. “Well, how do you explain this?” She pushed another photo across the table.
Olivia gasped when she saw it. It was probably taken the same day as the previous photo. Olivia sat on a swing set in a large backyard. She recognized the yard. It was where she had her engagement party. Alexander’s house was visible in the distance.
“So, it’s Alexander’s backyard. I have no idea how I could have been there but, like I said, I don’t remember anything. That doesn’t mean that I knew Alexander or that I’m his Olivia,” she said more for herself than anything. She didn’t want it to be true, but knew she wasn’t going to get her wish. It all made sense. All the puzzle pieces that she had ignored or excused away over the past several months were falling all too neatly into place.
“Here.” Adele threw the final picture at Olivia. “I just don’t want you to go on any more not knowing the truth,” she explained compassionately.
Olivia looked at the picture, tears welling in her eyes. It was her. She was sitting on the same park bench across from the Mystic River where she recently sat with Alexander. In her hands was a bowl full of ice cream. She could faintly make out a few pieces of pineapple on her spoon.
And next to her was the boy with green eyes from her dream.
“He pulled me from the car. I remember that,” Olivia said quietly.
“That little boy in the photo is Alex. You’re his Olivia…the little girl he lost all those years ago. I grew up with him and he was beside himself after you died, but he never believed for a minute that you were actually dead. He was always suspicious for one reason or another…or maybe he just didn’t want to say good-bye to you.”
It all made perfect sense. That’s why Olivia heard herself calling the green-eyed boy Alex in her dreams. Because Alexander was the green-eyed boy. “Does he realize who I am?”
Adele looked at her, unsure of how to respond. She wanted Olivia to trust her. She wanted her to leave Alexander, but she didn’t want it to seem so apparent that it was her goal, given her history. “I don’t know, Olivia. I truly don’t, but Alexander is very good at keeping secrets.”
Olivia stared at the three photos in her hand. She had so many questions. Why was she taken away from all her friends and family? Why didn’t her uncle tell her any of this? Why couldn’t she remember anything from before the accident?
But one question remained at the forefront of her mind. Did Alexander know? And if he did, how long has he known?
“I need to get out of here,” Olivia said suddenly, quickly getting up from the table. She was almost out the door when she realized that she was still clutching the photos in her hand. Turning around, she met Adele’s eyes again.
“Keep them, Olivia.”
She looked down at the photo of the green-eyed boy, gently caressing the picture. “Thank you.” She ran out of the shop and into the waiting SUV.
Within moments, Marshall was driving toward Atlantic Avenue and Olivia’s home that no longer felt like a home.
She walked through the front doors of her penthouse and the place never seemed so small to her. She felt as if the walls were closing in, suffocating her. She glanced around, wondering if Alexander was back, seeing no sign that he had gotten home yet.
She grabbed her cell phone from her purse and saw a missed text he had sent less than twenty minutes beforehand.
Alexander: Just landed. Be home in about thirty. I love you. XOXO
She had maybe ten minutes before he would be getting home. Dropping her purse on the kitchen island, she walked down the long corridor toward his office. She tried the doorknob with no luck. It was locked. She punched a few different number combinations into the keypad with no success. Just when she was ready to give up, she tried one more…the date she supposedly died. The door beeped and she slowly turned the knob, pushing it open.
Her jaw dropped as she entered the room, looking at the walls covered with framed photos of his family and other important people. Her throat closed up when her eyes settled on a photo that must have been taken while Alexander was on leave from the Navy. He sat at a table, clearly in his family’s enormous backyard, with a younger version of Tyler and Carol sitting on either side of him. Immediately behind Alexander stood his mother. And next to his mother stood someone she assumed was his father, but it couldn’t be. It was her Uncle Charles. She backed up, trying to process everything, and bumped into the desk. A framed photo fell to the ground.
She picked it up and a memory came flooding back.
“Whatcha doing, Olibia?” a young Alexander asked, entering her play room.
“Nothing. Just playing house.” Olivia had just received a toy sto
ve and kitchen set for Christmas, and she was excited to finally play with it.
“Can I play, too?”
She looked up from her toys. “You can’t play house with me, Alex. We’re not married.” She laughed, returning to baking her make-believe cake.
Alexander scratched his head. “Well, let’s have a play wedding and then we’ll be married and we can play house all we want.”
Olivia thought about it for a minute. “Okay!” She ran to her dress-up chest and grabbed a long white veil and a top hat. She threw the hat on Alexander and grabbed his hand, dragging him down the hall.
“Mom! Dad! Alex and I are getting married!” she yelled joyfully.
“Oh, look at you two!” her mom said, laughing. “Jack, go get the camera!”
Olivia’s father came running back with the camera and snapped a photo.
~~~~~~~~~~
ALEXANDER WAS UNEASY ABOUT returning home and talking to Olivia. He still wasn’t sure how he was going to tell her everything. The information could ruin her. And put her in danger.
He walked through the foyer of his penthouse, anxiety coursing through his veins about their impending conversation. “Olivia,” he called out. “Are you here?”
He listened for a few minutes. The house was eerily quiet, the only sound that of the dog snoring on his bed in the living room. Glancing at the kitchen island, he saw Olivia’s purse sitting there. He wished she wasn’t home. He had never been as scared about seeing her as he was at that moment. He wanted to tell her everything, but knew that she would never understand why he had kept that information from her. He couldn’t bear the thought of losing her, but he had a feeling that it was already too late.
Alexander made his way toward the staircase when he noticed a light on in a room down the hall. He figured Olivia was in the den watching TV, which struck him as odd. She barely ever watched television.
Walking down the corridor, he followed the source of the light. But it wasn’t coming from the den. It was coming from his office.
He quietly made his way down the rest of the long hallway, his breathing growing uneven. He turned the corner and looked into the room. His heart dropped to the pit of his stomach at the sight that greeted him.
Olivia stood there, holding the picture he kept framed on his desk. Tears were flowing down her face. “What is this, Alex?” she asked, her voice empty of all emotion as she stared at the picture in her hands.
“Olivia, please. I can explain.” He took a step toward her, pleading with his eyes for her to understand why he had done what he did.
“You knew?” She looked up and Alexander could see the pain in her eyes.
“It’s not what you think, Olivia. Please.”
“How long?” she asked quietly.
Alexander remained silent, words escaping him.
“I said how long, Alex?!” she repeated through clenched teeth, her tone raised.
He ran his fingers through his hair, his voice full of resignation. “Since August.”
“What?!” Olivia screeched, her eyes growing wide. “You’ve known who I am since August and didn’t have the decency to say anything?!” She pushed past him, running toward the living room, still clutching the framed picture.
“Olivia, wait!” He chased after her, catching up to her in the kitchen. “I had no choice. Just let me explain.”
“No, Alex!” She spun around to face him. “The time for explaining is so far past! You’ve known about this since August and you didn’t say anything! Nothing! You kept me in the dark even when you watched me struggle with my past! You held me after I woke up screaming from my dreams! You listened to me talk about the green-eyed boy, wondering who he was or if he was even real! And it was you! You heard me talk about the man I thought was my uncle, Alexander! And you never thought it was important enough to mention that he was your father?!” She took a deep breath, her chest heaving through her heavy sobs. “You sat there holding all the answers and you kept them from me!”
She grabbed her purse and started toward the foyer, pushing the elevator call button repeatedly. Feeling Alexander approach behind her, she refused to face him, cursing the electricity that was still present.
“Give me a chance, Olivia. I beg you.” He gripped her shoulders and spun her around, holding her in place as he stared into her tear-drenched eyes.
“I gave you more than enough chances, Alex. I did. You’ve had so many opportunities to come clean. But, instead, you chose to keep this from me.”
The elevator car dinged, announcing its arrival.
Olivia rid herself of Alexander’s grasp and ran into the elevator, pressing the button for the lobby. “You know, Alex,” she said, her lips trembling. “I thought you were a decent person. I thought I was important enough to you that you’d tell me the truth.” Taking a deep breath, she raised her eyes to meet his. “I guess I wasn’t worth it.” The elevator doors closed and Olivia collapsed under the weight of everything she just learned.
~~~~~~~~~~
NATHAN ROBERTS WAS SITTING across from Alexander’s waterfront penthouse, watching. A short while after following Olivia during her coffee meeting with a tall blonde that looked eerily familiar, he observed her running out of the Starbucks in tears. He followed her to the building she had been living in the past several months, surprised to see her storm out of the skyscraper a short time after Alexander returned. He immediately knew something was wrong.
He picked up his cell phone and dialed the one person who had the answers he needed. “What did you do to her?!” he barked into the phone.
“She knows, Jack. She figured it out,” Alexander said, a lump forming in his throat as the realization sank in that he lost his Olivia.
“FUCK!” Nathan shouted, punching the steering wheel of his car. He took several deep breaths, trying to calm down. “What does she know?”
“All she knows is that we were childhood friends and that she is, in fact, the little girl who supposedly died all those years ago. And that the man she referred to as her Uncle Charles is actually my father. Other than that, I’m not sure.”
Nathan breathed a sigh of relief. “Okay. Okay. We can work with that. This isn’t as bad as I expected. Whatever you do, you cannot tell her everything. She mustn’t know.”
“What are you saying, Jack?!” Alexander exclaimed, fuming. “This is ridiculous! I just lost the best thing that’s ever happened to me because I kept her true identity a secret. Hell! She doesn’t even know her real name! She stormed out of here without me even getting a chance to explain anything to her!”
“Alex, I understand your position,” he said calmly. “But she can’t remember. The only thing keeping her alive is that she is the only one who knows where that evidence is hidden. If you tell her about her past, she may start to remember certain things. If she remembers, she’ll be able to point some very bad people in the right direction. And at that point, she’s no longer valuable.”
Alexander’s heart sank as the line went dead. Olivia’s father was right.
~~~~~~~~~~
OLIVIA DIDN’T KNOW WHERE she could go. She needed to think. She needed time to clear her head so she did the only thing she could think of…she walked, clutching the photo of her and Alexander’s play wedding in her hand.
The sun began to set over the city, the tall buildings casting shadows on the streets as she walked down Atlantic Avenue in the direction of Columbus Park. People on the street stared at her as she wailed, tears streaming down her face. She felt as if the ground had just been ripped from beneath her. She didn’t know who to trust anymore. The one person she had learned to trust and opened her heart to had lied to her.
She needed someone to comfort her and tell her that everything was going to be okay, but the only person who ever did that was the one person she couldn’t go to. He hurt her more than any person had. How could he be so selfish as to keep her past a secret from her?
Olivia reached into her purse and grabbed her phone, wanting some
one to take the pain away. She collapsed on the park bench, desperately trying to clear her mind. All of a sudden, she realized who she needed at that moment. The one person who had helped her through her darkest time in the past.
She scrolled through the contacts in her phone and pushed the call button, a voice on the other end answering almost immediately.
“Cam…” she sobbed.
“Olivia. What’s wrong? Are you okay? Has something happened?” He hadn’t expected to hear from her again.
“I don’t know who I can trust anymore. Please, Cam. I need you.”
The pain in her voice was so raw and real. He immediately knew that she shouldn’t be alone, not in her fragile state. He had seen and heard that pain on the day that she swallowed those pills, but this was far worse. “I’ll be on the next flight out. Please, just hang tight for me. Okay?”
She nodded her head, sobbing.
“Olivia. Please say you’ll be okay until I can get to you. Please,” he begged.
“I don’t think I’ll ever be okay again,” she cried, dropping her phone on the ground as tourists walked by, staring at the girl with brown eyes whose world was falling apart around her.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
SLIPPING AWAY
“WHAT IS IT?” AN irritated Donovan shouted into the phone.
“It looks like your little plan worked, Kiddish.”
Shit, he thought. It’s him. He always made Donovan nervous.
Donovan cleared his throat as he straightened in his chair. “Of course it did. I was certain it would. No woman wants to be with a man who lies to her.”