Chapter 9
Olivia
Connor still being single at twenty-eight while immersed in a culture that heavily pushed getting married and having babies young blew Olivia’s mind. Not because she thought that would be the best lifestyle for him, but because the women he surrounded himself with were absolute rock stars.
Daisy was the most supportive and upbeat person she’d ever met.
She’d gotten a little taste when they went to the game together, but seeing her drop everything to care for Connor endeared her to Olivia.
Daisy was everyone’s cheerleader. Olivia loved that Connor had this sunbeam of a human being on his side.
They’d just hit play on the third episode of the reality dating show Connor and Daisy were behind on when a knock sounded on the front door. Whoever it was didn’t bother to wait for someone to answer. The woman let herself in.
Olivia didn’t know whether to be concerned that most people let themselves in. Connor was welcoming to his friends and family any time, day or night. His door didn’t even require a key. If you knew the code, you were welcome.
The newcomer was beyond gorgeous with light brown skin, a full sleeve of tattoos, and septum and eyebrow piercings. She greeted them with a blinding white smile, arms open wide for a hug nobody moved to give her.
“Ayy! You’re here!” Connor yelled, excited. He did his best to jut his lower lip out through a full grin. “I was beginning to think you didn’t love me anymore.” If he could easily stand, he probably would have run to scoop her up the same way he did with Olivia.
“That would imply that I ever liked you to begin with,” the woman teased. She placed her purse on the kitchen island and crossed the room to ruffle Connor’s hair.
He swatted her hands away. “Don’t be mean. I’m your favorite, and everyone knows it.”
“Yeah, Roxie. Don’t be mean to him,” Daisy said. She changed her voice to sound like she was speaking to an adorable little puppy and pinched Connor’s cheeks. “He’s had such a hard day, hasn’t he?”
Connor laughed and said, “Fuck off.”
Olivia didn’t understand the dynamic between these three, but she instantly liked Roxie.
She shouldn’t be surprised considering Connor had pushed so hard for them to meet months ago.
Feeling an involuntary grin spread across her face at their playfulness with each other, Olivia kicked herself for wasting all those months trying to make friends Lance approved of while a group of her people existed twenty minutes away.
The four of them spent the day together, wasting time. They ordered dinner and watched the Freeze kick New York’s ass. Roxie and Daisy took diligent notes, and occasionally, Connor would offer input and say, “You can quote me on that.”
When dinner was put away and the game ended, Connor groaned. “I should go to bed. I need to take a pain pill and that shit knocks me out.”
Roxie and Daisy helped Olivia get Connor settled for the night.
It was next to impossible because he kept asking them for different things.
He got settled in bed but needed a glass of water that Daisy fetched.
Then he couldn’t sleep without the lip balms he forgot, which Roxie had to dig through the bathroom to find.
Then he needed an eye-mask that, try as she might, Olivia could not find.
All three women were tearing the room apart looking for it when Connor said, “I think it would be fun if you told me a bedtime story.”
They all stood from where they’d been hunched over in opposite corners of the room and turned to him, hands on their hips. Olivia’s lips twitched, her amusement over their synchronization hard to hide. “You don’t even own a sleep mask, do you?” she asked.
“I’m pretty sure I do…” Connor said.
Daisy threw her hands up and walked out of the room, Roxie close behind her. They acted pissy, but Connor and Olivia could clearly hear them giggling right outside his bedroom door.
“I knew you would love them,” Connor whispered loudly.
“They’re great.”
“I know you struggle making friends, but you can trust them. They’re good people. The best.”
“I don’t struggle making friends. I love people!” Olivia argued.
Connor didn’t even bother to respond with words, instead directing a pointed raised eyebrow at her.
“Oh, fuck off,” she said.
He grinned. “Goodnight, Livy.”
“Goodnight, Connor.” She backed out of the room and turned off the overhead light.
As she closed the door behind her, he yelled, “I looovvee yoouu!”
Together, Daisy, Roxie, and Olivia yelled, “Love you too!”
The game ended around the time games usually started to accommodate a matinee schedule, so the night was still young. She mulled over Connor’s words. If he said she could trust Roxie and Daisy, she could. And if she was going to be rooming with Connor, she’d need all her stuff.
She gathered her nerves and forced herself to trust her new friends. “Hey, what are you guys up to tonight?” she blurted as they walked together toward the living room, scared they would gather their belongings and bolt with Connor asleep.
The girls had planned on spending the entire evening with Connor. Their night opened up when he went to bed so early. Olivia explained her situation with Lance, and Daisy and Roxie agreed to help her. She was thrilled to have emotional support while retrieving her belongings.
“What kind of music gets you fucking psyched?” Roxie asked, climbing into the passenger seat of Daisy’s car.
Olivia said, “80s hair bands,” and Roxie turned it on, no further questions.
She didn’t know where the answer had come from.
When she wanted to get fired up, she usually turned to 2000s bubblegum pop, but that didn’t seem to fit the vibe.
They rocked out together for the twenty-minute drive, Roxie playing the air guitar while Daisy and Olivia belted out incorrect lyrics to iconic songs.
Daisy parked in front of Lance’s apartment. “You’re sure he won’t be home?” she asked.
The pump-up strategy worked because sitting in front of the building Olivia had spent the last six months of her life in filled her with fire rather than the utter despair and dread she’d experienced in the days leading to this moment.
Olivia nodded and got out of the car. According to the hospital schedule Lance would be working until late the next morning. She scanned into the building, her entourage following her.
She hadn’t bothered to tell Lance she was coming. He had no claim on her time, no entitlement to her whereabouts.
The apartment was exactly how she’d left it.
But instead of her normal sense of hesitant relief upon entering, annoyance surfaced.
Nothing in the apartment spoke to her. She could leave everything behind and not miss any of it.
The carpets, walls, and furniture were beige and clean enough that it looked like nobody lived there.
There wasn’t a single piece of décor that highlighted her personality or interests.
All photos on the wall were carefully curated portraits of Lance’s family.
Olivia didn’t have family photos to put up.
She couldn’t remember the last time she’d taken pictures with Jayden and her father.
Probably her high school graduation when Christina insisted they pose and smile with Olivia’s diploma.
She led the way to the bedroom and showed Daisy and Roxie which drawers needed to be emptied. Olivia took a duffel bag into the bathroom to gather her toiletries and favorite towels.
“Hey Olivia?” Roxie called from the bedroom before she’d emptied the linen closet.
Olivia stuck her head out the bathroom door. “Yeah?” she asked.
Daisy and Roxie had their heads bent together. They stood next to Lance’s dresser.
“You should see this,” Daisy said.
Olivia’s stomach hollowed out as she crossed the room to join them. “What is it?” she asked.
Roxie handed Olivia a little black box. “I shouldn’t have snooped. I’m sorry.”
Olivia opened the velvet box, revealing the ugliest ring she’d ever seen in her life. Who on earth would choose such a gaudy engagement ring? The question hadn’t even fully formed in her mind before she knew the answer.
“Ew,” she said reflexively.
Daisy and Roxie snorted, and they all broke into giggles as Olivia showed off the wretched thing.
“Where did he find that?” Roxie asked, covering her mouth with her hand.
“You dodged a bullet,” Daisy said.
“Fuck yeah, I did.” She broke down into giggles again. “I sent him like a hundred inspo pictures. His mom definitely chose that monstrosity.”
Her emotions should have been all over the place, but seeing the terrible piece of jewelry had her giddy about never silently smiling and accepting whatever he gave her again.
For so long she let herself disappear to make him happy.
Never again. Olivia snapped the lid on the ring box shut and tossed it into Lance’s top drawer, paying no mind to where he’d had it hidden.
It took them twenty minutes to clear every piece of Olivia’s existence out of the apartment. She left her key on the counter.
During Olivia’s next shift, Amanda cornered her in the break room. The nurse had her hair in a bun far messier than usual. Dark circles rimmed her eyes, and her cheeks and nose were raw with tears.
She wiped her nose on her sleeve and invaded Olivia’s personal space, whispering, “I need to talk to you.”
“I have nothing to say to you.” She had struggled to remain cordial.
Olivia could have aired out all their dirty laundry in public, but she didn’t.
She kept her head down, did her work, and tried her best to ignore the rumors she overheard about her own relationship.
The least Amanda could do was leave her alone.
She tried to step around Amanda to leave, but Amanda sidestepped, blocking her path.
“It’ll only be two minutes. Please.”
Olivia studied her former friend’s face. She looked as if she’d been through hell. Checking the clock, Olivia sighed. “Fine. Two minutes.”