Maybe Daddy should speak to Cleo about his mental health since the accident, because Olivia knew she wasn’t the only one who was suffering.
Daddy placed her on the floor beside the stage where her barbies would put on a fashion show, before turning to the pretty lady who sat in her rocking chair.
“Olivia, this is Ms. Cleo. She’s a friend and someone you can trust, okay?”
“Hi Ms. Cleo. I’m sorry for running away from you.”
“It’s okay, Little one. Meeting new people can be scary. I was just as scared to meet you as you probably were to meet me.”
Olivia raised her eyebrows at her statement. Adults didn’t get scared like that. They were big and strong and could face the world head on.
“Would it be okay if I just sat down beside you and played barbies?”
She took a second to think about Ms. C’s question. There was no harm in them playing together and Olivia always had more fun when Daddy played with her, so she didn’t think this would be any different.
“I think that would be okay.”
Ms. C took off her shoes and climbed down beside where Olivia sat before picking up one of the barbies.
“That’s Sugarplum! Daddy always plays with her when he hangs out with me.”
“Oh! Then she must be a very good barbie! Let's see, what outfit should we put on her for the show.”
Olivia felt Daddy press a kiss on her head before she heard him slip out the door closing it behind him.
That was something else that they had discussed about Ms. C coming over today.
Everyone thought that it might be best for Daddy to sit out this first session so that Olivia would feel free to bring up anything at all about her past.
Liv knew that it was probably killing him to sit out there, but it was for the best.
She knew that if Daddy heard about some of the horrible things that David used to do to her he would want to kill him all over again. Olivia shook those thoughts from her mind and continued to dress her barbie, Lemon Pop, for the show.
Forty-five minutes had passedas Olivia and Ms. C, who told Olivia that she could call her Auntie C if she felt comfortable, played with the barbies.
“Olivia, can you tell me a little bit about your relationship with David.”
She tried to push down the panic that was rising up again. Olivia needed to face these memories in order to manage them or they would forever run her life.
“David and I met when I was nineteen and a sophomore in college. He had just graduated from the police academy. We met at the coffee shop that I was working at during that time.”
Auntie C continued to play with her barbie as Olivia worked through all of the emotions and memories that were running wild in her mind.
“At first, I turned him down. I wasn’t looking for a relationship at the time and was just wanting to focus on school.”
“What were you studying?”
“I hadn’t settled on a major yet. I was just working on my pre-reqs, but I was considering being a nurse or a physical therapist.”
“Both are good career choices.”
“Anyways, David eventually wore me down and I agreed to the date. From there on we were an item. In the beginning of the relationship, David was the sweetest guy I knew. He always bought me flowers to work, opened my door, let me vent about my classes, and was my sounding board for all the problems I faced. He really was the perfect southern gentleman, until he wasn’t.”
Olivia closed her eyes as the memory of the first time David hit her played out in her mind like it was a movie on the big screen.
“Take your time, Liv. You don’t have to face it all today. This isn’t a sprint and we don’t have to continue to talk about it at all, we can just go back to only talking about the fashion show.”
“No, it’s okay. I know I need to get through it. I want to be able to have a future with Miles and that will be hard if I don’t work through the trauma that David brought me.”
