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“Yes, I'm having an incredible time. This feels like a fairy tale,” Olivia admitted, feeling like it was true. Her initial terror of attending the event had dissipated, and she found she enjoyed conversing with the others at the table. She didn’t feel awkward or out of place, and found she held her own easily. Not needing Colin as a buffer nearly as much as she feared she would.
The lights went low before the speaker came on stage and gave a long speech about the cause they were all there to support, The Charitable Heart Foundation. Before ending her speech, the speaker announced the last event of the evening would be a raffle, all the proceeds going to the charitable cause. She’d announced the winners quickly, Colin nor Olivia winning anything, before announcing the dance floor would be open after dessert.
Olivia was in the middle of a bite of the creamiest éclair she’d ever had when her worst nightmare happened. She’d been busy laughing with Colin at something when she suddenly heard a familiar older voice say, “McDermont! Is that you, son?”
The hairs on the back of her neck stood up as Colin turned to address a man who just approached him. Glancing up slowly, she paled, seeing Judge Carmichael standing there with a young Asian American woman.
Oh No! Oh God, not here. Please, please, not like this. What the fuck, Olivia panicked. Her skin breaking out into goosebumps.
Olivia swallowed hard and turned to the front, trying to find a way to escape. Feeling sick, she placed a hand to her breast, trying to stifle choking gasps. Her heart crawled into her throat and was busy strangling her windpipe.
“Olivia, I’d like to introduce you to Judge Carmichael. He sits on the supreme court bench,” Colin bent down to help her out of her seat, and she stiffened as she stood and turned to face him head on, a small smile on her face. She was holding back hot, stinging tears.
Her night was effectively ruined.
The judge's eyes widened before his brows furrowed in recognition. There was an incredibly tense and awkward silence before he slowly held his hand out for her to take. With effort, she froze her facial muscles into an impassive look. But inside, she was falling apart. Why, of all people, did it have to be him?
Oh my God, Olivia cried silently in her head. Her fingers trembled as she clasped them together tightly before unlocking her grip.
Reluctantly she stepped forward, not wanting to appear impolite in front of Colin, and placed her hand lightly in the judge’s. Barely touching him. Her teeth ground as he bent down to kiss the back of her hand, lingering slightly. Olivia saw Colin give her a sharp look, noticing the noise. Thankfully, he didn’t reprimand her.
Her brief relief dissipated, and she died a million deaths when Carmichael’s eyes slid to Colin’s briefly before leaning forward towards him.
“I didn’t know you dabbled, McDermont? Kat’s good isn’t she?” Judge Carmichael whispered conspiratorially, with no regard for the woman next to him. Olivia made a very low sound in her throat when Colin’s hand suddenly tightened on hers painfully. Her heart let go of its grip on her windpipe and decided to free fall into her stomach instead. She tensed as her mouth went dry.
Oh my God, what the entire fuck. Please don’t say anything else you stupid, idiotic man! Fucking fuck this is unbelievable, Olivia groaned to herself.
Her hand started sweating, and she tried to extract it discreetly from Colin’s once more. Desperate to turn around and grab her champagne. He didn’t let her.
“I’m not sure I know what you mean, Carmichael. I don’t dabble in anything. My tastes are well above board,” Colin drawled smoothly, his voice deceptively calm, compared to his grip around her. Sneaking a glance at him, Olivia noticed that his eyes went from cool to hard in a nanosecond. The edges crinkling, betraying his emotion.
The judge tilted his head at Colin before his eyes slid to Olivia’s once more. She broke out in goosebumps as his gaze lingered longer than was necessary before he did a smooth perusal of her form. Her lips quivered as a hot wave of desperation swamped her senses suddenly.
Olivia felt one of her knuckles crack with the pressure that Colin gripped down on her. She gasped in pain before covering it up with a small scoffing sound in her throat. She attempted to speak.
“I’m sorry?” she giggled uncomfortably, feigning her nonchalantness. “You must have me confused with someone else, I’ve been getting that a lot lately. My name is Olivia, not Kat,” she smoothly lied, attempting to twist her hand out of Colin's grip before he accidentally snapped a bone in her hand.
He didn’t let her go, so she switched tactics, rubbing her thumb along his fingers. Trying to soothe him.
Judge Carmichael’s eyes now blatantly roamed her hair and body greedily, lingering on her breasts. Olivia sucked her teeth as her hand suddenly went numb within Colin's harsh grip. She felt her face go numb right after, from the strain of keeping her expression neutral.
Keep it together, keep it together, keep it together, she chanted inside her head, mentally attempting to retreat inside her brain.
“I’m sorry, Judge Carmichael. You must be mistaken. Olivia is not from around here,” Colin interjected once again, his smooth voice like silk against her ears. He didn’t appear to be outwardly affected by the judge. Colin didn’t seem to be intimidated by much at all, she suddenly realized.
Olivia felt rather than saw the judge’s date eyeing her with spite. She turned her green eyes onto the lady and narrowed them.
Say something bitch, she dared, narrowing her eyes further.
“Oh please. I would recognize that hair and those eyes anywhere. There aren't many green-eyed redheads in the area,” he said, giving Olivia a pointed look and nodding sharply to Colin before turning to Olivia and smiling.
Colin tilted his head slightly, his eyes flashing as he dismissed the judge’s words.
“Well, in any event. You have made me miss my dear friend desperately. She rather rudely and abruptly blew me off a few months ago. You’re a kind reminder of what her presence still means to me. We had something quite special, irreplaceable, in fact,” the man’s teeth gleamed brightly in his face as he licked his lips.
“All things are replaceable Judge Carmichael,” she said smoothly, narrowing her eyes at him.
“I respectfully disagree. Kat wasn’t. I look forward to having her back soon,” he paused a beat as they stared into each other's eyes for an uncomfortable length of time. “See that’s what’s wrong with people nowadays. They enter your life desperate, become your companion, your source of salvation for years, and then they discard you as if you mean nothing. After you’ve invested into the relationship, spending so much time with one another, coming to a mutual understanding, just to have your heart torn out as if you meant nothing. After a connection like that, One often times wonders why people are so shocked when heinous crimes are committed. A betrayal like that is unforgivable.”
