A Beautiful Mess

by T. K. Leigh

  As she stared at her face in the mirror, Olivia was unaware how much time had passed since she abruptly left Alexander at the table. Slowly opening the door to the bathroom, she saw piercing green eyes staring back at her. Alexander grabbed her arm, leading her down the hallway, his face awash with concern. “Are you okay?”

  “Oh no,” Olivia spat out, crossing her arms. “You don’t get to go all Navy SEAL interrogation specialist on me.” He gave Olivia a questioning look. “That’s right. I Googled you.”

  Alexander softened the intense look he was giving Olivia. “I bet you did,” he smirked, raising an eyebrow. She couldn’t help but to laugh in response. And not just a small polite laugh, but a gut-splitting, all-consuming laugh. This feels good, Olivia thought to herself.

  That sound was like music to Alexander’s ears. He decided right then and there that he would do everything in his power to make sure he could hear that sweet melody as often as possible. He pulled Olivia into his arms, stroking her hair, whispering, “Top ten favorite sounds.”

  Holy crap! He feels good, Olivia said to herself as she nuzzled her face against Alexander’s broad chest, listening to his heart race. Hers was racing, too. She turned her chin up and stared into his eyes, feeling so small enveloped in his arms. He licked his lips and Olivia was certain he was going to kiss her.

  Alexander gazed down at the beautiful woman in his arms. He wanted to kiss her so badly. She was asking for it, pleading for it with her eyes. With her mouth. Should he kiss her, even given his suspicions? What if he was right and it’s her?

  After a few intense seconds, he exhaled loudly, shaking his head, and released Olivia from his embrace, grabbing her hand to go back to the table.

  Olivia was confused. Maybe he wasn’t as attracted to her as she was to him. He was so sweet and caring one second, and the next she couldn’t read his behavior. He was almost cold and removed.

  They sat back down at the table where another round of beer awaited them.

  “I ordered another round. I hope you don’t mind.” He glanced at Olivia, but didn’t hold her gaze.

  “I’m sorry about that. I mean before, when I, well…”

  “When you had a near panic attack?” He raised his eyebrow, taking a sip from his beer.

  “I can’t hide anything from you, can I?”

  Alexander remained silent, not prodding her, but Olivia knew he wanted an explanation. After a few brief seconds and several gulps of liquid courage, Olivia took a deep breath before telling Alexander about herself. “I don’t really have as many panic attacks as I used to. Talking about my parents usually triggers them.”

  “I’m sorry,” he responded. “I didn’t know. I would never have asked you about them if I knew it would harm you in any way. The last thing I want to do is hurt you, Olivia.” The soft look was back in his eyes. Mr. Warm, Caring, and Compassionate was back. Olivia wanted him to stay. And she wanted to be the reason he had that sparkle in his eyes.

  She continued to share some personal information with him. Information that took her years to share with Kiera and Mo, but something about Alexander seemed so familiar, as if he knew her story. “They were killed when I was six. Car accident. I don’t remember anything. I think what hurts the most is that I can barely remember anything about my life before the accident, and I’ve tried. God damn it, I’ve tried so hard,” she trembled as she took a deep breath. “The one thing I do remember is they never called me Sarah. I have no memory of that ever being my name. But I do remember my dad calling me Livvy.” Tears threatened to spill down her face. “I was in the car when it happened. But I survived somehow.” She thought about telling him about the boy with green eyes she had been seeing in her dreams the past few nights, but she couldn’t be sure that he actually existed. None of it made any sense.

  Alexander looked at her, torn about what to say. She just admitted her parents were killed in a car accident. And that her father called her Livvy. He remembered that. He was the only one that called her Livvy. Too many pieces were fitting into place. He could brush off maybe one or two similarities between the woman sitting in front of him and the girl he knew all those years ago. But there were too many coincidences now.

  He was smiling on the inside. Is it really her? he thought to himself. But at the same time, if it wasn’t her, this was still a girl who lost her parents so young and that had shaped the woman she had become. And probably the reason she seemed to keep everyone away.

  “That must be very hard for you, even after all these years.”

  “It is.” Olivia breathed a sigh of relief. It felt good to actually share that with him. “I just wish I could remember them. I feel like I should, but they died when I was so young. I have a few good memories of my mom, but I wish I could remember my dad. I don’t even have that many photos of them. They say that photos can help trigger memories.” She finished her beer and Alexander signaled a server to bring another round.

  “I remember spending summers with my uncle, begging him for photos of my parents. And he got so angry with me. I never understood why I couldn’t have any photos of them. And as the years went on, I started to forget what they even looked like. I’ll never forget my sixteenth birthday. My uncle sent me a card and in it was a photo of me and my parents when I was little. He said it was taken just a few months before…”

  Reaching across the table, Alexander grasped Olivia’s hand, clutching it. “I won’t pressure you to talk about anything you don’t want to. I understand that, even though this happened years ago, the pain is still with you. And it will probably never leave you. And it shouldn’t. That way your parents will always be alive, here,” he said, dropping her hand and placing his now free hand over his chest where his heart was.

  Olivia imitated him, knowing that he was right. She could almost sense that Alexander had been through a terrible loss, too. There was something in his eyes as he spoke to her about her own loss that made it all too clear that he was still dealing with his own issues. “I saw a shrink for years and you’ve made more sense in a few minutes than she made in nearly ten years.” Olivia laughed and he joined.

  God, that's a beautiful sound.

  Olivia finished her story after a server dropped off another round of beer. “I was sent to a boarding school after my parents died. My uncle kind of took care of me. He wasn’t really my uncle. I mean, I called him Uncle Charles, but he was a close family friend. So the title just kind of stuck. He was originally from Boston, I think, but had some property in Charleston and would come down from time to time, mostly when I was on school break. For whatever reason, he thought it was more important for me to stay in Charleston than to travel up north to him. The older I got, the more time I spent at my school during the breaks for various extracurricular activities, although he did keep a rather watchful eye on what activities I was allowed to be involved in. That infuriated me the older I got.” Olivia took a deep breath.

  “When I was applying to colleges, he suggested giving Boston a try, that way he would be nearby. I got into Boston College and he helped me find my own place. We weren’t that close. I think it was painful for him to be around me because I reminded him of my parents, especially my mom.” She paused, remembering him always keeping watch on her, even in college while she was bartending. She recalled leaving the bar many nights to see him sitting in his car. It really put a damper on her ability to take someone home with her for a quick fling.

  Alexander grabbed her hand again and looked at her, letting her know with his eyes that she could stop talking whenever she wanted to. But Alexander hoped she wouldn’t. There were more pieces falling into place. Or maybe he just wanted them to fall into place.

  “The day of my college graduation, I got a phone call telling me that my uncle had passed away. He was in the wrong place at the wrong time and was shot by a stray bullet, according to the person on the other end of the phone.” Olivia closed her eyes, remembering how she felt when she received that phone call.

 
Alexander did the math in his head. When Olivia opened her eyes, his eyes were closed and he was rubbing his temples with his free hand. She continued. “The only family I had left was gone.”

  Alexander looked at her and squeezed her hand. He was suddenly hopeful. But if it was her, then where had she been all these years? He immediately feared for her safety. He hoped with everything that he was wrong and it was just a matter of coincidence. A whole lot of coincidence. If it was her, his father had obviously tried to protect her identity, telling Alexander that she died in that accident. Now that his father was dead, who was protecting her?

  “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have told you that whole sob story. We barely know each other and I’m like a freaking Lifetime Movie over here.” Olivia tried to lighten the atmosphere.

  Her trick worked. He smiled slightly. “Lifetime Movie?”

  “Yeah,” she replied, laughing. “You know. Poor pathetic broken girl with a troubled past that she just can’t get over, so she refuses to form relationships with anyone so that she won’t get hurt anymore. It’s such a tragic cliché, but I can’t control what happens to be my life.”

  “You have nothing to be ashamed of, Olivia. Your past made you the woman you are today. If one thing was different about your life, you may be on an entirely different trajectory.” He looked in her eyes, bringing her hand to his mouth. Kissing it ever so gently, he murmured, “And then we never would have met, and that is a mother fucking tragedy.” The twinkle in his green eyes sent Olivia’s heart soaring.

  Alexander didn’t care if she was the girl from all those years ago; the one who stole his heart when he was a little boy and he never really got it all back. Because the girl sitting in front of him now was filling the pieces of his torn heart. And she was worth getting to know.

  ~~~~~~~~~~

  Across town, a middle aged man sat in a stark room with all metal furniture.

  “Simon MacKenzie. My name is Paul Flinnigan. I’ve been hired by Donovan to represent you.” The tall, lanky man motioned to Donovan who was sitting next to him at the cold metal table in a private room at the local jail.

  “Alright, listen up, Fucker,” Donovan said, leaning into Simon. “I’m doing this to help you out. But here are the rules. This does not go to trial. You do not mention my name at all. My real name is dead to you. You will take a plea deal. Flinnigan will do what he can, but I don’t give a shit that you may be facing possible prison time.”

  The towering, muscular man sitting across from Simon was very intimidating. He had only spoken to Donovan on the phone. Simon made a mental note to never cross him again. He got drunk and stupid. He should have been more patient, but he was so eager to get his hands on the rest of the pay-out money he was promised.

  “Mark, I mean Donovan,” Flinnigan said, winking at Donovan. “Don’t worry. I can most likely get a plea with little prison time. Simon has no priors so his chances are extremely good. He’s never even received so much as a parking ticket. I’ve talked to the D.A. and it’s looking like it will be just an assault and attempted murder charge he’ll be arraigned on. I’ve gotten guys to walk on worse than that.” Flinnigan continued pouring over the case file as Simon sat silently across the table.

  “There may be a slight hiccup that you should probably be aware of.” Simon looked up, noticing that Flinnigan was speaking to Donovan and not to him. “The arresting officer. It was Wilder.”

  “What the fuck, Simon??” Donovan shouted. He immediately stood up and paced the short length of the room. “Unbelievable.” He ran his hand through where his hair once was before he shaved it off.

  “What’s the big deal?” Simon had no idea why that was so important. He never told Donovan that he had been subdued by a crazy man after he failed to get the information he needed from Olivia. Simon was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time. Just his luck lately.

  “Yes. And the swearing witness, Donovan. None other than Alexander Burnham. Apparently, he was walking down the street and saw your boy wonder chasing one Sarah Olivia Adler as he was waving a knife after last call on fucking State Street.” Flinnigan emphasized Olivia’s name, giving Donovan a questioning look. “He was able to subdue and restrain Mr. MacKenzie here before calling in his sister to make the proper arrest.” Simon wondered why they made a big deal out of the bitch that arrested him and the dude that knocked him out.

  “Okay. Okay. We’ll deal with it.” Donovan paced back and forth. Then he stopped abruptly, clearly remembering something. “Actually, this could work. Are we done here?”

  “Yes,” Flinnigan responded as he gathered his belongings. “Simon, I will see you tomorrow.” Flinnigan and Donovan turned to walk out of the jail together, leaving Simon behind.

  When they were out of earshot and walking down the hallway to the jailhouse exit, Flinnigan finally spoke. “Mark, are you still on that Olivia DeLuca thing? I thought that was dead and buried, no pun intended?”

  “It was. Until I got a phone call a few years ago. The guy that hired my Dad to fix this whole mess over twenty years ago found out she was still alive and being protected by Burnham, Senior. We tried to get her location, but nothing worked. We ended up killing the old man, hoping it would bring her out, but apparently she fled the city.”

  “So, it’s really her? Does she know where the infamous box is?”

  “It’s hard to say. But if anyone would, she would.”

  “What’s the plan?”

  “We bail Simon out. Tomorrow. Let him stew for another day. He owes us big, so we let him do our dirty work. Then we bide our time. We don’t rush into this. If what Simon said is true and she has no memory of her past, we need someone to help her remember. And once she remembers something about her past, she will lead us right to it. I’m sure of it. From what I know of this girl, she is so desperate for memories of her parents. So once she has that memory, she will lead us where we want.” He winked and left Flinnigan speechless. He thought back to his law school days, wishing he had chosen a different path and hadn’t been mesmerized by money.

  “Wait. Mark!” Flinnigan shouted as he ran to catch up with Donovan. “How do you know all this about the girl?”

  “I never reveal my sources, but let’s just say Dad’s client, the one who hired him to deal with the DeLucas all those years ago, has been in constant touch over the years. He’s the one who actually found her a few months ago. Lucky for us she was in Boston.”

  When Donovan was safe in his car, he picked up his cell phone.

  “Cheryl. It’s Mark… Yes, it has been a while. I’m hoping you can help me out here. Target is Sarah Olivia Adler. I’ll also be looking into her, but see what you can do to get close to her.”

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  SENSELESS

  AFTER another round of beer, Olivia and Alexander made their way to Fenway Park to watch the game. During their walk down Yawkey Way and underneath the grandstand, Olivia held onto Alexander’s hand and the spark between them intensified. The smile on her face grew.

  Alexander’s seats were fantastic! They were three rows behind home plate and the view was amazing as they sat watching batting practice before the game began. Olivia had always wanted to see the Sox and couldn’t believe she had such amazing seats for her first game. It was getting late in the baseball season and Sox fans were starting to get nervous, hoping to either place first in their division or win a wild card. It didn’t look like either was going to happen that year, but you wouldn’t know that looking at the excitement of all the fans inside Fenway.

  The first three innings passed quickly and Olivia’s nerves began to settle. The Sox were beating the Orioles by two runs. Olivia had a huge grin on her face and enjoyed every little thing about being there, from the vendors walking up and down the aisles to hearing the crowd cheer for Big Papi every time David Ortiz stepped up to bat. Alexander couldn’t help but smile as he watched Olivia get into the game, cheering for the Sox and booing the opposing team.

  Around the fourth inni
ng, the temperature started to drop, making it slightly more comfortable to be sitting outside watching the game.

  “Do you want a beer or anything?” Alexander asked between innings.

  “A beer would be great,” Olivia smiled as he stood up from his seat.

  “How about a hot dog? You need the full baseball experience and part of that is having your very first Fenway Frank.”

  Olivia glanced down at her hands. “Umm… Thanks, but I don’t eat meat.”

  “What?” he gasped at her.

  “I’m not vegan or anything, don’t worry. I just don’t eat meat. I’ll eat seafood, but that’s it.”

  “Well, that I can deal with. If you said you didn’t want to go out for oysters with me, say, Tuesday night, I’d be heartbroken.” Alexander turned quickly before Olivia could even answer him. She was reeling from the thought of seeing him again.

  Alexander felt giddy as he strolled up the aisle heading underneath the grandstands to find some decent beer. It was such a strange feeling for him. What self-respecting almost thirty-year-old professional got butterflies in his stomach? He did. And Olivia Adler put them there.

  After Alexander left to get a few beers, Olivia felt her cell phone buzzing in the purse on her lap. She grabbed it to see who was texting her.

  Kiera: Oh my god! I’m at a bar watching the Sox game and you’re on TV! PS – who’s the hottie you’re with? Dish, baby, dish!

  Olivia hastily texted a response to get her friend off her back.