by Davis, Alexa
“Maybe the girls you hang out with when you’re living it up in Vegas,” I told him sarcastically. “Not every girl.”
“Well, I bet Olivia does. She just seems the type, don’t you think?”
“What on Earth are you basing that on?” I wasn’t sure why, but I felt a bit offended that he was making assumptions about her. I didn’t know her any better than he did, but I felt like I did. “When did you become an expert?”
“I dunno… She moved here alone, with her daughter, probably running away from, like, a crappy life or something.” Lark shrugged. “I don’t know; it just might be a way to make her life better, that’s all. Maybe she’ll be grateful for the opportunity.”
“Yeah, maybe,” I replied quietly. “I’m sure we’ll soon find out either way.”
Lark’s words made me curious. I couldn’t help but wonder why Olivia had all of a sudden moved to New York. It wasn’t any of my business, of course, and I knew better than anyone about wanting to keep an identity a secret. But the more of an enigma Olivia became, the more interested I felt.
Chapter Six
Olivia
Wednesday
Anger radiated through my body as I hammered on Zack’s door. I wasn’t sure what I’d done exactly to gain such negative attention to myself when it came to him, but I wanted it to stop – now!
I felt so impatient that I couldn’t even give him the time that he so desperately needed to get to the door. I knew he couldn’t move quickly – if his leg were playing up it’d take him a couple of moments longer than it would anyone else, but my brain wasn’t in the right place to be rational. I was pissed off as hell.
Finally, the door swung open, and just for a moment, my heart leaped up into my throat. All this time, I’d been trying so hard not to look at him. So as I stared him in the face, it took me aback a little to see his striking good looks. With his dark hair, his dark eyes, and his chiseled cheekbones, plus that strong broad body of his, he was like an Adonis. Shame he was an asshole to go along with it.
I folded my arms across my chest and tapped my foot rapidly to let him know that I was furious. I didn’t want him to think that this was anything like a social visit.
“Hey.” He smiled, causing little crinkles to form around his eyes. “Nice to see you again. What can I do for you today?”
“ What were you doing sending Dolly over to my place?” I stepped forward as if I was about to go inside his apartment, but I thought better of it at the last moment. “She keeps coming over with baked goods, demanding that I need to be one of her models. As if I have the time for that.”
“But… I mean, that’s a good thing right?” Zack smirked at me as if he didn’t understand how pissed off I was. “She’s bringing you food, basically telling you that you’re pretty enough to be a model. Even if you don’t want to do it, that has to feel nice.”
I furrowed my eyebrows and gave him a dirty look as if I needed to be told of my self-worth and to believe I got my confidence from my looks. Maybe once upon a time, I cared all about that stuff, but ever since having Meghan, I had better things to worry about.
“Meg has a lot of food allergies,” I told him prissily. “There are so many things that she cannot eat. Do you think it’s fair that she has to smell and look at lots of food that makes her mouth water, just to be told that she can’t have them?”
My breaths fell raggedly out of my mouth, and I could still feel the anger circulating me. I wasn’t sure that anything could dispel it at that point, especially not the obvious mirth in Zack’s expression. “What?” I demanded. “Why do you keep looking at me like that?”
“You’re cute when you’re mad,” he replied happily.
Of course, that only served to piss me off further. I wanted to lash out and scratch his eyes right out of his head. My fists kept clenching and releasing by my sides as I did my best not to rise to his words like he so obviously wanted me to. He’d only said such a shitty thing to wind me up. I didn’t want him to have the satisfaction of knowing that he’d defeated me.
“You better be prepared to hurt at your next physical therapy session,” I eventually spat out through gritted teeth. “Things are about to get real serious for you.”
Zack propped his body up against the doorframe; then he leaned in close until I could feel his breath tickling my cheek. “Can I kiss you?” he whispered into my ear.
Shame flushed through me…along with an intense desire that I hadn’t felt in a very long time. It wasn’t him, of course. I wasn’t actually attracted to him. It was just the suggestion, that was all, the roller coaster ride of emotions that he was taking me on. The flush in my cheeks was more to do with the fact that he’d so clearly overstepped the boundaries of normal human behavior than anything else. It certainly wasn’t anything to worry about.
“Are you kidding me?” I hissed back angrily. “What sort of person asks something like that? Of their neighbor and physical therapist, as well.” I wanted to remind him that things could get really awkward, really fast if he wanted even to try overstepping that mark. We’d have to see one another far too often to forget about it simply.
Maybe I was reminding myself, too.
“This is what I’m doing…”
This time as he leaned in I was more prepared for it. I flattened my palms and pushed them up against his chest. It didn’t physically stop him, he was far too strong for that, but he did respect my wishes and halted where he was, giving me just enough time to spin on my heels to stalk away from him. I slammed the door so loudly behind me, the pictures on the wall shook.
“Oh, Mommy, you scared me,” Meghan called out, bringing me back to reality with a thump.
“Sorry, Meg, it was an accident.”
I couldn’t go and join her in the living room yet. I needed just one more moment to myself, so I stalked into the kitchen and headed straight for the liquor cabinet. Once there I grabbed a tumbler and the whiskey, pouring myself a generous helping. I wasn’t much one for drinking, but that man really pissed me off. I mean, what the hell was he thinking? One moment he was rude, then he actually seemed human at our therapy session, then he pulled that crap?
Trying to kiss me was one step too far.
Dolly had been driving me crazy for days with this model stuff. The worst part of it was that I felt pretty certain it had to be a joke. Why would anyone want me to be a model? For one, I had none of the discipline or skill needed. I felt certain it wasn’t easy to make clothing look good. Then, there was the fact that I wasn’t even pretty enough for it. I was a plain Jane, nothing more, and I was okay with that. I didn’t need to look incredible to be a successful physical therapist.
I assumed that she and Zack were in on some horrible joke, that they wanted to embarrass me for some reason. I’d hoped Zack would enlighten me, but he left me pissed off instead.
“Mom, Mom, come and look.” I followed Meg’s voice into the living room and took my place on the couch beside her, ensuring that the tumbler was far enough away from her not to be able to smell the tiny little droplet that I had left. “Look at that! The cat is flying to the moon…”
I tried to listen to Meghan telling me all about the cartoon, but my brain was off on some other planet. Even though I knew that it was completely and utterly pointless, I couldn’t stop myself from trying to work out just what box to put Zack in. He was a real enigma, and unfortunately, that drew me in.
I needed to keep away from men like him – I should’ve learned that a long time ago. Meghan’s father was cryptic, too. I hadn’t known where I really stood with him from the beginning, so I truly should have learned.
Yet, here I was, pondering over a man again.
When the sound of my phone broke through my thoughts, I grabbed my cell and looked at the number calling me. My heart lifted and fell all at once. I wanted that link to home, I wanted to speak to my family, but I hated being reminded of all that I left behind. While I wasn’t totally settled in New York, I didn’t like the sen
sation of being homesick.
“Oh look, it’s Grandma. Let’s put her on a video call.”
I handed Meghan the phone and hit answer, bringing my mom’s face up onto the screen. We shared a lot of similar features, seeing my mom was always like looking into the future. And not in a terrible way.
“Hey, Grandma!” Meghan called. “We live in our new house now.”
“I know you do, sweetheart,” she replied with tears in her eyes. “Do you like it?”
“I do, my bedroom is cool. Should I go and get you my new toys?”
As always Meghan got distracted quickly, so she handed the phone to me while she ran into her room. “Hey, Mom. How are you?”
“Good thank you, and how are you? How’s the new place?”
I walked around, letting her see some of the apartment that I was starting to feel a little bit proud of. I had done it all myself, after all. “It’s good now that I finally have everything unpacked. Getting everything out was exhausting!”
“Oh, it always is. And, how’s the new job?”
“It’s good actually. My boss is awesome.” I smiled to myself as I thought about Ms. Simms. True to her word, she’d been really helpful whenever I needed her. “And the other physiotherapists are great, too.” None of them were quite friends yet, but I hoped it’d get there.
“And, how is the babysitter?” This was an area that my mom was less than pleased about. She didn’t think that nannies should raise kids, but it wasn’t like I had any choice.
“Drea is honestly great,” I told her reassuringly. “Meghan loves her, and they have a lot of fun together. They went to Central Park the other day and had a wonderful time.”
“Hmmm… Well, I’m sure I’ll see soon. Your father and I are coming up for a visit as soon as we can. I can be the judge of this Drea then.”
“You are?” My blood ran cold. I wasn’t sure I could cope with them coming to see us already. I didn’t feel settled enough for it. I certainly didn’t want Drea subjected to their scrutiny. I liked her; I wanted her to stay.
Plus, I’d had a strange relationship with my father ever since I got pregnant with Meghan. I had always been a daddy’s girl, and he held high hopes for my future. He hated Meghan’s father from the very first time that he laid eyes on him, an emotion that I now understood, so when he realized that my life was about to be turned on his head, he was less than pleased.
He adored Meghan now, and things were much better, but I could always feel the tension there. Things would never go back to the way they were; I knew that. It wasn’t always easy to accept, but that’s just the way it was. Meghan was worth it, anyway; that girl was my world. With her in my life, I didn’t care what anyone else thought.
“I don’t know when, but we are. I’ll let you know when I have more details for you.”
I nodded slowly wondering what to say. Luckily before I had the chance, Meghan came back, so I handed the phone to her and allowed them to continue with their conversation. I made my way into the kitchen to busy myself with Meghan’s dinner.
I needed to do something practical to keep my mind off the shitty day I’d had. Between Dolly, Zack, and my parents I felt like my head was everywhere.
Chapter Seven
Zack
Thursday
“I know it isn’t easy, Son,” my dad told me regretfully through the phone. “But that’s the hand life dealt you and there has to come a time where you move forward.”
I bit down on my tongue, desperately trying to keep my next words inside. I wanted to tell him that it was easy for him to say since he’d served his whole career in the Navy, he’d retired when he wanted to. He didn’t have a gunshot wound that tore through his muscle and affected all of his nerves to render him useless. I wanted to tell him that I still felt like I had a lot more to give to the Seals and that I found it utterly frustrating that I couldn’t do that.
But I didn’t. I couldn’t be bothered to moan about it any longer. Plus, it still wouldn’t make him understand.
I might have followed in my father’s footsteps by delving into a military life, but our experiences had been two very different ones. He might have understood me more than anyone else, but he still couldn’t totally get it.
“Yeah, I know,” I answered lamely in the end. “I just don’t like feeling useless.”
“That’s why you should do something useful with the money you won.” I could hear the excitement brewing in his tone again. This was something he felt passionate about. I should have known that I wouldn’t be able to get through a whole conversation without it.
“You should use your lottery win to create a Navy charity. That way you’ll still get to be involved with the military…even if it isn’t exactly the same.”
“How am I supposed to keep my lottery win a secret if I do that?” The idea was a nice one, and it would give me something productive to do to fill my time, but I couldn’t do that and remain anonymous.
“You’re so weird about that,” Dad laughed. “Most people would be screaming it from the rooftops.”
Maybe once upon a time, I would have done, but my accident had caused me to become a much more introverted person. Actually, I had only brought the lottery ticket as part of a bet with Lark, a way to prove that I had the shittiest luck in the world. I certainly didn’t expect to win, which was why I didn’t know what to do with the money.
In a panic, I even paid the state of New York a whole lot of cash as a bribe to keep my name out of the papers. I guess I thought I’d change my mind at some point, but it hadn’t happened yet.
“I just don’t want anyone to know. I can’t be dealing with people begging for money and stuff. I also don’t want everyone to crawl out of the woodwork and back into my life.”
“Maybe that’s what you need,” Dad replied casually. “You’ve been a little lonely recently.”
I rolled my eyes and tapped my hand against my leg in an irritated fashion. No one paid any attention at all when I didn’t have anyone serious in my life before my accident. No one even asked me about it. I’d only dated casually, I never had anyone to call a girlfriend really, and it was never mentioned. Now, all of a sudden, I’m lonely.
“I don’t feel that way,” I lied. “I’m doing good, actually, so there’s nothing for you to worry about.” I glanced at the clock, actually feeling relieved that I had a legitimate reason to cut off this call. “Anyway, I have to go to my physical therapy session, so I better get going.”
“How are things with Rebecca? She making any progress with you?”
“Actually, Rebecca is gone. She’s left to have her child. I have another therapist now.” I smirked to myself as I thought about Olivia. She truly was so adorable when she was mad. A weird part of me wanted to make her angry again because it was so fun fighting with her.
“She’s called Olivia. We’ve only had one session together, but she seems good.” I could’ve also mentioned that she was my neighbor, but for some reason, those words never came. “But she’s a ball buster about me being late.”
“Okay, well, I’ll let you go. We’ll talk soon, though, Son, okay?”
“Yep, sure.”
I felt a little hollow as I hung up the phone. I’d thought that calling Dad would help me to feel better like it usually did, but this time, I felt as uncomfortable and dissatisfied as ever. My life hadn’t been going anywhere for a long time. I’d been stuck in a rut, and I just didn’t know how to get out of it.
Anyway, I needed to forget about that; I had to prepare myself for what was apparently going to be the hardest physical therapy session of my entire life. A smirk played on my lips as I thought about Olivia being a firecracker and yelling at me. I wanted to know more about what she was like when she was in that mood, and it was finally time to find out.
Somehow, with the image of Olivia’s face in my mind, I managed to walk quicker than I normally would to the subway station and onto the physical therapy office. Something about her had made the lim
p feel like much less of an issue.
Unfortunately, that meant I would have to wait in the waiting room for a while, which I usually liked to avoid. I didn’t like sitting among other people because it made me notice their progress. If they were worse off than me, it made me feel guilty for being so miserable for so long. If they were doing better than me, I was jealous. It was better for me to avoid being around other people altogether.
I grabbed onto a magazine and tried to lose myself in the mindless articles printed inside, but I’d never found reading easy. My mind got distracted too easily, and I continually forgot what the words were trying to tell me. It was a pointless exercise, but much better than making any sort of small talk.
“Okay, that’s great, Elizabeth.” As soon as I heard Olivia’s voice, it ran powerfully up and down my spine. That woman affected me in ways that I didn’t even know possible. Maybe the thought that she lived across the hallway from me was enough to stave off that so-called loneliness for the time being. “You’re doing really well.”
I looked up to see her kindly helping a woman who seemed to have only just gotten a prosthetic leg. She couldn’t quite balance on it yet, but I was sure that would come with time. I wondered how Elizabeth ended up losing her leg. Was it a military injury, like my leg, or was it illness related? Maybe she’d had an accident. Whatever it was, something had happened to change her life forever.
Olivia was one step on the ladder to help her come to terms with her new life. Physical therapists were more important people than they were ever given credit for.
After that, Elizabeth and Olivia spoke to one another in hushed tones, meaning I couldn’t hear what was being said. Instead, I watched Olivia’s soft, caring expression and felt really touched by her attitude.
I’d seen some physical therapists grow annoyed with patients that they thought weren’t progressing at the speed they should have been, but Olivia didn’t seem to be like that. She appeared to understand what others didn’t: that the mental effects of an injury were just as horrifying and debilitating as the physical ones. Sometimes they were even harder to overcome.
