Page 103 of Waking Olivia

73

Will

Erin gaveme her brother’s address and promised she’d try to get a warning through to Olivia without tipping her off that I was on my way.

I arrive in LA around 6:30 and go straight to the apartment. No one’s there, so I wait. And wait. When Sean does finally arrive, it’s almost comical how panicked he looks to find me on his steps.

“Hey man,” he says warily. “I’m empty-handed if that’s what you’re here for. I’m gonna party at Avalon tonight.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” I tell him. “I’m here looking for Olivia.”

“Whoa, whoa,” he says, backing away as if he thinks I’m going to throw a punch. I guess I probably do look slightly unhinged right now. “My sister told me about you. I don’t need any trouble. She’s not even staying here.”

“I’m not her father, moron,” I seethe. “I’m her track coach. Do I actually look old enough to be her dad?”

He laughs nervously. “Ha, that’s funny. No, sorry, you’re right. Erin did say it was her father after her.”

“Look, I appreciate you helping her out, but I really need to find her. And I’ve got to see her in person. Otherwise, she’ll run before I get a chance to talk to her.”

“How do I know you’re not some dude she’s got a restraining order against?”

I sigh. “You don’t. Why don’t you ask Erin?”

He looks at me and shrugs. “Whatever,” he sighs. “I’ve got a party to get to. She’s at Wet-n-Wild, this strip club on Fifth Street.”

“Stripclub?” I don’t even recognize my own voice.

“It’s not that far away,” he says, as if my actual concern was the distance.

I catch a cab and lean my head back in dismay. This is my fault. It’s my fault I gave Jessica so much ammunition, that I never let Olivia know how I felt. She should have realized she meant more to me than losing than this job, but she had no idea. It’s my fault that she’s in a strange city, broke and desperate.

A strip club. “Oh God, Olivia,” I say quietly to myself. “What have you done?”

74

Olivia

Well done, Olivia. Only you could manage to lose a job on your first day of work.

So now it’s barely 10 p.m. and I’ve got $40 in my pocket instead of the $2500 I’d planned on after a full day’s work. And if I call a cab, I’ll be down another $20.

It sucks, but I can’t bring myself to regret it. I can’t believe that asshole thought he could put his handthereand get away with it. Maybe some of my rage was just at how fucking arbitrary it all is. What kind of world do we live in where Will can’t do that but a complete stranger can?

I start walking. It’s just a few miles. I’d prefer to run but I’m not that great in heels and this skirt is so damn short it’d show my whole ass with every step I take.

It’s 11 in Colorado right now. I wonder what Will and Dorothy are doing. I wonder if they’re still angry or maybe they’ve just moved on to being relieved. Eventually, they will. How could they not? Poor Will’s barely had a decent night’s sleep since I joined the team.

But I miss them. My eyes burn and blur as I think of Will sitting there on Dorothy’s couch alone, probably feeling guilty since that’s how he is. I miss him. I miss everything I had and everything I never got with him and I’m pretty sure that I always will.

By the time I get back to Sean’s, I’m beat. Not from the walking or the long day, but from my own misery. I find the keys he left me under the mat and walk in, dropping my heels off to the side of the kitty litter box and flipping on the light.

I step forward, and I hear a voice, one I have heard a thousand times in nightmares.

“Hello, Olivia,” says my father.

If he were anyone else, I’d lash out. I’d attack, or run. Instead, I stand here, still as a statue aside from my hands which shake so hard I can hear Sean’s keys rattling against each other.

If this were a movie, I’d ask him why he’s here, but in real life, my voice has stopped working. There is a just a creaking sound coming from my throat instead of words. And I don’t need to ask anyway. I know exactly why he’s here.

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