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It was only because the bar was as full as it was that Olivia was able to navigate her way through the throng, drink in hand and park herself in the corner without being molestered. She may have received the odd stare or wink, but if she had, she didn't notice. Her thoughts were heavily preoccupied with a certain Navy SEAL.
Seeing Clint again had brought back a wave of emotions that she didn't even realize she still had. She had acted rather cold to him outside of Captain Warrick's headquaters, she knew that. It wasn't done out of spite, or anything like that. It was purely a defense mechanism. She just had no idea how she should have acted. Clint had always been a pretty easy going guy, making it very hard to get a reading on him. Did he harbor any feelings of animosity toward her over how things ended between them?
The break-up of Clint and Olivia four years prior wasn't anything sinister. The two had met in the Naval Academy, both in the same year and both with similar aspirations. But after a year of study, Clint all of a sudden quit, citing his desire to join the Navy SEAL's instead. At the time Olivia chastised the decision, calling him foolish and claiming his was throwing away his future. That was the reason she gave him anyway.
The real reason for her anger at the time was that she knew that if he left to join the SEAL's, she wouldn't see him again for at least a year. He was the first man she had ever really developed feelings for and was furious with herself for letting him get to her and with him for acting like their relationship didn't matter. For all she knew he thought of her as nothing more than a way to kill some time.
It was because of this that they got into a big fight, he left and they never spoke again.
As she sipped on her drink, enjoying the isolation she was currently receiving, Olivia made the very bold decision to apologize to Clint the next time she saw him. She was going to be the bigger person. Maybe he had changed? She was going to --
"Hey there beautiful." It was a greeting that Olivia was all too familiar with. That, coupled with the drunken slur of the man who spoke it, indicated pretty clearly to Olivia that it was a greeting that wasn't going to be worth turning around for.
Sure enough, the moment that Olivia turned to see who had spoken, she wished that she hadn't. He was a Marine, of that she could be sure. With a shaved head, a square set face and very thick neck, he was the quintessential Marine that Olivia knew only too well. She also knew that he was the kind of Marine that she should avoid at all costs, especially while in a bar.
"I said hey beautiful," the Marine tried again. When he first greeted her we was a good ten feet away, watching her from the distance like an animal stalking its prey. Now though, becoming sudd
enly emboldened, he moved right up to Olivia, leaning himself on the table that she was sitting at.
"No, I heard you. I just chose not to respond," Olivia said, careful not to make eye contact as she spoke. She could smell the alcohol on his breath and judging by the way he swayed as he stood over her, he was more than a few drinks into his night.
"What brings a pretty thing like you into this dive?" he asked, powering on with his attempted pick-up. Realistically he wasn't even listening to her.
"Nothing. Just looking to have a drink, alone," Olivia continued, still careful not to actually make eye contact with the Marine. She knew his type. He would talk to her for a moment or so and as soon as he realized that he wasn't going to be getting any, he would move on. It was annoying sure, but ultimately bearable.
"Alone? Where's the fun in that?" the Marine asked. As he did his hand, resting on the table, slipped out from under him, resulting in him stumbling forward before rebalancing himself.
"No fun. Just drinking. Alone." She made sure to really emphasize the alone part. She didn't want to seem rude, but she also wanted to make it as clear as possible that his presence wasn't welcome.
"Let's see if I can change that --" the Marine suddenly made to pull up a chair at Olivia's table.
"OK. I'm going to have to ask you to leave," Olivia said, reaching across and grabbing the chair before he had a chance to seat himself in it. "There's plenty of other people here you can talk to tonight. Thank you."
"Now just a minute," the Marine continued, wrenching the seat from her grip and falling into it. "I'm just trying to have a friendly conversation. No need to be a prude or nothing."
Olivia had to bite her tongue at that comment. If there was one thing she hated it was the assumption that she was a prude just because she didn't feel like being hit on by every man on the planet. "Listen, soldier. I'm a commissioned officer, you're an enlisted man. I'm asking you to leave me be."
"Now, now," the Marine continued, sliding in a little closer. "There's no need to pull rank all of a sudd --"
Olivia had had enough. She threw the rest of her drink down, scooted her seat back and was on her feet before the Marine had a chance to finish his thought. A second after that and she was gone from the bar, leaving the Marine in her wake.
Free from the confines of the bar and from the arrogance of that Marine, she was finally able to stew in her own anger. Really she just could not believe what had happened. She had been hit on before in a simialr fashion of course. But after the first or second no, they always got the point and moved on. This time however --
"Hey love!" Olivia stopped in her tracks, a cold shiver running up her spine. She thought she recognized the voice, but didn’t want to turn around and confirm it. "Where are you going?" It was the same Marine. He had followed her from the bar and was making a beeline toward her. He wasn't so much walking as he was stumbling; a fact that made the situation even more frightening.
"I think you need to turn around and go back inside," Olivia said, keeping her voice calm and steady. As she spoke she took note of her surroundings. The parking lot was completely empty. The only other signs of life came from inside the packed bar; a space so crowded and noisy that no one would hear a thing. "That's an order."
"An order?" The Marine asked, sounding bemused as he got steadily closer. Twenty feet. Ten feet. Olivia didn't run, she knew not too. Like a rabid dog, such an act would only provoke. "Let's not be too serious here. I'm just trying to talk to you."
"I appreciate that, but I don't want to be talked to. Now please, I would greatly appreciate it if --"
"Hold on a second," he cut her off as his hand reached out and grabbed onto her arm.
Olivia, still calm, tried to pull her arm from his grip, but he wasn't letting go. "Please, can you let me --"
"Why are you acting like this?" he asked, increasing his grip on her arm. "All I want is to talk."
For the first time that night, Olivia felt scared. The Marine wans't in the frame of mind to be reasoned with or battered with. The fact that she was an officer and he was an enlisted man didn't seem to make a difference. Olivia was willing to bet that there wasn't much that was going to dissuade him. And because of that she had no idea what to do.
