Pulling into Ivory Mountain, Olivia spotted Emmett dropping Rae off at the employee entrance.
She had really hoped that she would have more time to mentally prepare for her, but that apparently wasn’t going to be the case.
It was time to face the music and it was better to do it now than later. Getting out of the car she walked towards the waiting couple.
“Hey guys.”
“Hi Liv. Everything okay?”
“Yep. Everything is just peachy. I’ll catch you inside okay?”
Not waiting for Rae’s response, she turned and walked towards the entrance as fast as she could. That still didn’t stop her from hearing the words that Raelyn muttered.
“Daddy, she looks so sad. We have to do something, they are both suffering.”
“No, Little duckling. We aren’t getting into the middle of their relationship. Do not hound her today about it or you will be getting a spanking when you get home. Am I understood?”
She didn’t hear anything else as the door shut behind her. Olivia had to thank Emmett for that. He knew how bad his wife could be and that might just have been her saving grace for this shift.
Throwing her stuff into the locker she shared with Rae, she took off out the door before anyone could say anything. Grabbing her assignment, Olivia took off down the hallway with her head down.
Lunch time had come and gone without a single interaction with Raelyn and she knew that was killing her best friend. Olivia’s heart broke even more knowing that she was hurting everyone.
Deciding it was time to face the music, Olivia went and hunted down Rae. Finding her sitting in the breakroom, charting, she sat down beside her and laid her head on Rae’s shoulder.
“Are you finally ready to talk?”
“Not really, but I miss my best friend.”
“Liv what’s going on? And don’t lie to me.”
“I can’t tell you Rae, but know that everything is going to be okay. I just can’t do it anymore.”
“You would tell me if it was something serious right?”
“Sure. I don’t want you to worry about it though. I’m okay, I’m sorry for hurting your friend though.”
She felt Rae give her hand a squeeze. “You do know that he’s not going anywhere, right.”
Olivia couldn’t let that seed of hope be planted. Hope only leads to heartbreak and she has had enough of that to last her another lifetime.
“He really should just move on. I’m not the girl for him.”
“I don’t think you believe that anymore than I do. You’re scared and I can see that. I know that we don’t really talk about what has happened to you that makes you scared of committing to things, but he is someone worth committing to.”
She couldn’t continue to talk about this or she was going to be racing towards another breakdown.
“Anyways, I need help putting Ms. Georgeann to bed. Care to help me? She’s been in a pretty feisty mood all day and I’m not ready to get my butt kicked again.”
“Of course. There’s no one else I would rather get my butt kicked with than you.”
Olivia wrapped Rae in a hug. She held on just a second longer wanting to memorize this moment. There wouldn’t be another one and these memories would be the only thing that would keep her company in the future.
They stood making their way to the door as Olivia’s phone buzzed. Stopping, she pulled it out and her heart sank again.
Unknown: Tick Tock. Tick Tock. The time is coming soon, Darling. We will be together again like it should be.
“You good?” she heard Rae call out from the doorway.
