Hush (13 page)

My eyes popped open.  I wasn’t at my home and the constant crash of the ocean coming to shore didn’t hum in my ears here.  It was unsettlingly quiet.  I sighed as I consumed the sight of Olivia, peacefully sleeping next to me, undisturbed by my presence.

A fleck of streetlight peered in between the window blinds, casting a faint orange glow onto her exposed skin.  So smooth.  So silky.  So distracting.  If she had been awake too, there would have been no stopping me from having her again.  I refrained from breaking her restful slumber, though it was awfully tempting.

Instead, I eased out of her bed.  I didn’t like being a snob, but I really didn’t sleep well unless I was at my own place.  With Olivia’s demanding schedule and the convenience of being at her house, I either had to see her here or not see her at all, and these days, the latter wasn’t an option. 

She was like a disease.  She infected my mind at all hours of the day.  And, unlike the last few women I had casually seen, it wasn’t just about the sex.  With Olivia, the sex was a perk.  It was a bonus to just being in her company.  What she was doing to me was unheard of.  It wasn’t anything I was prepared for and was something I was defenseless against, not that I was putting up too much of a fight.

I was nearly dressed when she stirred and sat up in bed, one of her hands stroking the spot where I had just been lying.  “What’s wrong?” she whispered sleepily.

“Nothing.  Nothing’s wrong.”

“Where are you going?”

I sighed, leaning onto the bed.  “I’m a bit of an insomniac.  I have trouble sleeping.”

“Really?  You didn’t seem to have any trouble sleeping when I was at your place,” she said.

I smiled.  “Well, that’s because you wore me out.”

A groggy chuckle filled the room as she fell back onto the pillow.  “If that’s the case, let me help you back to sleep.”  She grabbed a handful of my shirt, pulling me onto the bed.  When I was close enough, she kissed me softly, releasing her hold on my shirt to wrap her arms around my back.

“You need to sleep,” I said when we parted.  “I didn’t mean to wake you.”

“I don’t want you to leave.  I hate waking up without you,” she said, pouting slightly.

I sighed heavily.  “You’re going to be the end of me,” I mumbled as I started shedding the layers I had just put on.  I crawled back in to bed with her.  She nuzzled her way into the Olivia-sized nook between my arm and my chest, resting her cheek and her hand on my pecs.

“I’ve been meaning to ask you.  Do you have plans for the holidays?” Olivia asked.

I smiled lightly.  “You know, I’ve been meaning to ask you the same.  I know your office is closed for the week and I was thinking about the two of us getting out of town, having Christmas in New York.  Just the two of us, shacked up over Central Park for a few days, maybe long enough to see the ball drop.  What do you think?”  I knew she hadn’t ever been to NYC and I’d been itching to have her to myself for a couple of days.  Between the two of us and our rigorous work schedules, we didn’t get near as much time with each other as I’d like.

“You don’t have to work?  Aren’t the holidays busy for you?”

I shrugged.  “That’s why I’ve got a fleet of lackeys to do all the work for me.  You wouldn’t have to pay for a thing.  I’ll fly us out there, I’ll have a car waiting for us, and we’ll stay at the apartment.  We can go grocery shopping.  We can rent movies.  We can just hunker down.  Can you imagine?  We can just do this,” I said, referring to our current state, squeezing her tightly.

I heard her chuckle.  “That does sound so great.  You know, I’ve never been on a vacation before.”

“What?”

She shook her head.  “No, I’ve always been too busy.  You know, schooling.  I was in school all summer long.  And living with foster families, they all barely had the means to support me, let alone treat me to a trip.”

“What about when you were in college?  Surely you went on spring break trips or Christmas vacation, right?  I mean, you celebrated graduating with a trip to Cancun or something, right?”

“No.  I usually just hung around here for the holidays, with Erin and her folks, if I even had the time off.  When you’re an accelerated learner, that’s pretty much all you do; learn.  If I wasn’t behind a book, I was working.  And after I graduated, I already had a job so there wasn’t any room for me to vacation.  I’ve always been on the go.”

“All the more reason to come with me.  That trip to Chicago was probably the closest thing you’ve ever had to a vacation, huh?”

“I suppose, but even there I was working.  I didn’t have any time to do any vacation type stuff.”

“So are you going to come with me or is your family expecting you?”

She hesitated.  “I’m sure they’ll understand.”

I smiled widely.  “I can’t wait to have you all to myself.  No cell phone, no ducking out for an emergency.  Just you and I.”

“There’s one stipulation,” she started.  “And I don’t want to seem presumptuous, but if I go on this trip with you, that’s my Christmas present.  The trip and the accommodations is all I want.  You’re not allowed to turn up Christmas morning with a gift for me, deal?”  She pointed her finger at me.

“Deal,” I agreed.

Olivia slumped back into me.  I could feel her body relaxing around me.  “Can I ask you another question,” she cooed after a few moments of silence.

“Sure,” I said.

“Did you go talk to Michael Drake for me at his hotel?”

My mind raced.  How did she find out?  Had I said something on the phone?  Had she overheard a conversation?  Did she hear me leave that night?  “Yes.  I did.”

“What did you say to him?”

I licked my lips and cleared my throat.  “I just told him what he needed to hear.  I know you told him you didn’t want anything to do with him and you weren’t interested in letting him into your life.  I was just hoping the same thing coming from me would have a bigger affect on him.”

There was a pause.  “What did he say?”

“He tried to explain his reasoning for coming to Huntington and approaching you, but I told him it didn’t matter and that he wasn’t welcome.  I told him leaving was the best thing for him.”

There was another pause.  I could feel her breath on my skin as she exhaled deeply.  “Why didn’t you tell me you did that?” she asked carefully.

“I just didn’t want to upset you anymore than you already were.  I should have told you.  I shouldn’t have stuck my nose where it didn’t belong.”

She wriggled closer to me, tightening her grip on my chest.  “It’s alright.  I appreciate you looking out for me, but you didn’t have to.”

I rubbed her arm, pushing her shoulder into me so I could kiss her forehead.  “Yes, I did.  If I had been thinking rationally, I wouldn’t have, or I would have consulted you first.  Rational thinking seems to have left the building since I met you.  I don’t know what you’ve done to me.  You’ve bewitched me body and soul.”

She lifted her head off my chest and looked at me.  “Don’t try to use Jane Austen to seduce me.”  She smiled slyly.  “Not unless you want me to start calling you Mr. Darcy?”

“Not much gets past you, does it?”

Olivia nuzzled back into her comfy nook.  “Not usually.”

I wanted to ask her how she found out about my little meeting with Mr. Drake, but I didn’t want to push it.  She’d already caught me in a bit of a lie.  I should stop while I’m ahead.  I racked my brain, trying to imagine how she would have found out, but came up with nothing.  I was quick.  That was it.  There was nothing more to it; nothing for her to stumble across.

Rick had to work overtime to fill my Michael Drake request.  This Drake character had a record longer than my forearm.  Possession of an unregistered firearm, possession of a controlled substance, possession with intent, fraud, assault, assault with a deadly weapon, theft, petty theft, and some of those charges were on the list more than once in more than four states.  That right there was enough for me to pass judgment on the drifter, let alone the fact that he was harassing Olivia.

“He called me, you know,” she mumbled sleepily.

“Who did?”

“Michael Drake.”

“When?”

“Tonight.  He called my cell phone.  He didn’t tell me how he got the number, but I told him not to call it again.  He was the one who told me you’d sought him out.  He called to warn me that you were a bad man.  He said you threatened him and he didn’t trust you.”

“You’ve got to be kidding me.  Was he still in Huntington?”

“Yeah.  He was, but said he was leaving and I wouldn’t hear from him again.  He said if I was interested in knowing him later down the line, I could find him.  He said he wouldn’t come around anymore and wouldn’t bother me, but he couldn’t, in good conscious, as he said, leave without warning me about you,” she scoffed.  “He sounded very desperate if you ask me.  Throwing one last line out to see if I’d grab the bait.”

“He said I threatened him?  Really?  I’m glad he’s taking off because he’s crazier than I thought he was.”

“I thought it was pretty farfetched when he told me that.”

I was glad she hadn’t taken him seriously.  Truth was I had threatened him.  Told him if he didn’t leave, I’d put one between his eyes and toss his body off the pier in high tide so it would never be found.  I told him if I saw him near Olivia, heard of him contacting her in anyway, I’d hunt him down and wouldn’t stop until his heart stopped beating.  My glock had done most of the threatening as it rested on his perspiring temple while I spoke so eloquently of the many ways I could finish him.

I exhaled deeply as the room grew uncomfortably silent again.  Looks like Mr. Drake wanted to call my bluff.

It had been three days since I brought her home.

It had been three days since I’d seen her.

She has been in the spare room and hasn’t left.  She hasn’t eaten, though I’ve tried coaxing her morning, noon, and night; she has refused each of my offers, not even opening the door to talk to me.  Sometimes, she doesn’t even talk to me at all.  I’ve been home all three days, hoping she’d emerge so we could talk. 

Truth is I didn’t want her to do anything stupid.  I didn’t want her to leave again.  I didn’t want her to hurt herself either.  Did I think Olivia would really hurt herself, no, but I couldn’t take the chance.  I don’t know what I would do if…

I didn’t want to think about it.  Three days had come and gone.  I was now growing impatient and intolerant of her games.  “Olivia,” I called, knocking on the spare room door with my knuckle.  I waited for a response, but got none.  “Olivia, please open up the door.  It’s been three days.  You need to come out.”  I tried not to sound stern or demanding.  I knocked again when I got nothing from her.  “Liv?”

I knocked a little harder and waited.  I’d at least give her a chance to come out.  There wasn’t really anything in there she could hurt herself with.  I don’t think she’s left the room since we came home, but I suppose she could have crept out of the room while I was sleeping.  When was the last time I heard her?  I think yesterday morning.  She yelled at me to go away and leave her alone.  It’s been a whole day since I’ve heard anything from the other side of the door.

I cupped the knob in my hand and tried to turn it.  It was locked.  I drove my master key into the lock, feeling a sense of urgency flood over me.  I nearly broke the key off in the lock turning it so quickly.  When I opened the door, I found a cloudy bit of sunlight painted across the wall and Olivia fast asleep in bed.

Hurrying over to her, I gently put my fingers to her neck and felt a pulse.  I sighed heavily as I looked down on her.  She was fine.  She was okay.  I shook her shoulder lightly until her eyes started to slowly open.  “Olivia,” I whispered.

She took one look at me and scurried away to the other side of the bed.  “What are you doing in here?” she asked defensively.

“I had to check on you.  I hadn’t heard from you since yesterday.”

“I don’t care.  Get out,” she barked, pointing at the door.  Her eyes were dark and she looked very pale in the murky light of the room.

“You need to eat.  You look terrible.  You’re going to get sick.”

“I said get out, Callem,” she shouted at me.

“Please, Livy.  Just come and have a bite to eat and I’ll let you be.  I’ll leave you alone.  I’m worried about you.”

“I don’t care.  I don’t want to see you.  I want you to leave me alone.  Get out of here.  Just go, Callem.  Go!” She pointed her finger at the door.

“Enough,” I shouted over her.  “I’m not asking anymore.  I’m telling you that you need to get out of this room before I drag you out.  It’s your choice.  Go on your own or against your will.”

Olivia’s lips got very thin as she seethed at me, chest rising and falling with anger.  “Something tells me that’s how life is going to be with you from now on,” she said much more calmly.  “You’re just going to keep pinning me in a corner until I do things the way you want me to.  I’m just a fucking puppet now, aren’t I?”

“I don’t want it to be like this.  I just want you to take care of yourself.  I just want you to eat.  Then you can come back in here for as long as you want.  I don’t care.  I know this isn’t easy for you, but I’m not going to let you hurt yourself.  I’m not going to lose you over this.”

“I hate to break it to you, but you already did.  Remember, I signed up to get out of this.  I was forced here, not physically, but with threats.  You’ve already lost me, darling, whether you see it that way or not.”  I had never seen Olivia like this as long as I had known her.  I’d never seen the vindictive side of such a sweet person.

I could only nod silently.  “Please,” I opened my arm, gesturing to the open doorway.  “Just come downstairs and have some food.  Have a shower, change your clothes, and you can come back in here for as long as you need.  I won’t bother you, only to eat of course.  Don’t do it for me.  Do it for yourself.  You need it.”

Slowly, her rigid expression drooped and she sighed, backing down from the fight.  “I don’t want to talk.  I just want to eat and shower and come back to bed.  Got it?”

I nodded quickly, knowing I was making progress and I wasn’t going to try to entice her into anything else.  “That’s fine.  Can I cook you something?”

“No,” she answered quickly.   “I can do it myself.”

“Alright,” I mumbled.  I stood and stared at her for a long moment.  Though the room was tense, I couldn’t have been more ecstatic that she was here.  I couldn’t be happier that she had spoken to me and that we were moving forward, no matter how slowly it was happening. 

“Well, I’ll leave you be,” I spoke, clearing my throat as I walked out of the room.  I had to stop while I was ahead.  This was going to work.