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With that statement, it seems as if everything slows down around me.
Oh, no.
No, no, no, no.
I don’t want to be in a low. As if I have a choice. If I did, I wouldn’t feel like this. Does this mean I can’t survive without Olivia? Is her being gone why I feel like this? No. It’s about that time. That’s all. Somehow, I need to find something to hold onto while I ride it out for however long it plans to stay. Or at least until Olivia gets back, and then I can hold onto her until I can pull myself out of this funk.
Standing up, I decide to go lie in my bed. My eyes catch sight of the damn football, making me stop next to the end table. This is all its fault. I pick it up and with a grunt, I hurl it at my door with a sudden flood of anger. A shriek quickly snaps me out of it. Olivia pokes her head around my door, which my football bounced off of moments before, narrowly missing hitting her.
“Corey? That’s not exactly the welcome I was hoping for. Bad day?” she finishes as she steps inside.
Her presence dumbfounds me. “What are you doing here?” Have I lost track of what day it is?
“I decided to come home early.”
I breathe a sigh of relief at not having gone so far off the deep end like last time. “Sorry about the football. I’m glad to see you, I really am, but,” I point back to my room, “it’s time for bed.”
She frowns, probably because it’s only six thirty in the evening. I brace myself for her to pepper me with questions and push me already. She doesn’t. Instead she says, “Can I join you?”
Don’t think I tell her no, especially since it looks like we’re not going to talk. Plus, I have missed her, so it’ll be nice to have her around. She joins me in the bedroom. I let her borrow some of my clothes to sleep in, and soon, we’re climbing into bed. We face one another, her head against my chest as I hold her to me, running my fingers up and down her spine. My eyes close, my breathing slows, but my mind keeps working. Why is she home early?
“Everything okay, Olivia?” I mumble, hating the fact I’m asking the very question I despise.
“No talking,” she replies quietly. A bad feeling punches me in the gut with her response. Ignoring it, I tighten my arms around her, deciding to embrace the opportunity to enjoy the silence with her. We’re quiet for fifteen minutes and I’m almost asleep when she speaks again. “I missed you. A lot, not a little.” Olivia nuzzles her face against my chest.
“I missed you a lot too. And doing yoga.”
“Dinner, yoga, and One Tree Hill at my place tomorrow then?”
“Sounds good.”
She doesn’t say anything else. Instead, we fall asleep.
AFTER ANOTHER DAY of going through the motions at work and feeling sluggish, my footsteps are heavy as I make my way up the stairs to our apartments. Standing outside of my door, though, is a guy with a similar build as mine. Broad shoulders, narrow hips, but he has shaggy brown hair where mine is short and black. His hands are stuffed in his pockets and he keeps shifting his weight from foot to foot as if he’s nervous.
“Can I help you?”
His head snaps towards me as I approach him. “Uh, I must have the wrong apartment.” His voice is gruff with surprise. “I’m looking for Olivia Bayne. Do you know which one of these is her place?”
A knot immediately forms in my stomach. “Maybe.” He tilts his head at me, studying me with eyes the same shade as mine. “Who are you?”
“Aaron Clemson.” The knot bursts and anxiety attacks my blood as it pumps twice as hard through my heart. “Do you know Olivia? I’m an old friend and I really need to see her.”
Gulping, I nod. “That’s her apartment.” I point to the door across the hall and he chuckles at his mistake.
“Thanks.” Aaron crosses the hallway, but before he can knock, I ask him a question.
“Did you used to play football by any chance?” I swear, he has the look of a football player. One who doesn’t play anymore, but still works out to keep in shape.
He looks over his shoulder at me. “Yeah. I quit in high school, though. Thanks for your help,” he dismisses me, knocking on her door.
I take my time sticking my key into my doorknob, wanting to see and hear Olivia’s reaction. Is he why she came home early? Something might have happened with him while she was there.
The door opens while Olivia says, “Why are you knocking, Cor—” She cuts herself off at the sight of Aaron. “Aaron,” her voice softens. “What are you doing here?”
My keys jingle. I glance over my shoulder as I push my door open and see Olivia’s eyes widen when she notices I’m out here too. My stomach turns into a massive black pit, fueling my anxiety as it sucks all the good from the past few months away. My door slams forcefully behind me with Aaron’s answer, “You left like a bat out of hell yesterday. We need to talk.”
I wait on the other side for five seconds. When I hear Olivia’s faint voice telling Aaron, “Come on in,” I realize I was waiting to see if she would follow me instead.
