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Enjoy!

Olivia was staring at him with her eyes wide open, unable to utter a single word. Everything was going so smooth and then this happened. How did he even recognize her? It was only one day and two weeks were a long time.

When Olivia woke up from a shock, the handsome guy was already talking.

"Is that for real?" It sounded like a rhetorical question. He wasn't even maintaining an eye contact with anyone. It was as if he couldn't believe he met an alleged criminal, as if things like that happened only in movies.

Amy was taking a similar stance. "Never met a mutant before," she murmured, her eyes filled with childish curiosity.

None of them was scared and Olivia found herself thanking all the saints. Frankly, she expected them to act more like Marcus.

"Don't you understand?" He began pacing angrily, never letting go of her gaze.

He stopped abruptly. "She could kill us all!"

Marcus' angry yelling finally got to the two and they snapped out of their thoughts. They were both looking at Olivia with an expectant eyes now, but not fazed by Marcus' comments in any way.

"That's not true," she defended herself.

Before any of them could react, Mr. Fields barged in. His expression tired. Similar fights occurred daily in the office and he was getting frustrated. Although arguments including mutants were new. It was usually for more trivial things like unmarked boxes in the fridge or who ate the last bagel.

Mr. Fields eyed Olivia first. He noticed her defensive stance, she had her arms crossed in front of herself and though she looked angry, he noted the faintest traces of fear. He knew of her past and the real story behind her work termination.

Secondly, he glanced over to Marcus, only to see the man furious. His red face was getting redder every second.

"What is all this ruckus?" he asked. The question was aimed for Amy since she looked as the most calmed one in the current situation. He couldn't believe it, she was usually the energetic one, always jumping to action or argument.

"How could you hire a criminal? And especially a mutant?" Marcus' face almost desperate and all formalities gone. In his pissed off state, Marcus let go off all the rational thinking. Screaming at his boss wasn't the best idea. Luckily, Mr. Fields was a very thoughtful and understanding man. He also believed that raised voices weren't necessary, good argument was quite enough.

"Calm yourself down Dorn, Olivia was falsely accused, she is well fitting for this job, even some impressive people provided references and I could go on," he tried to reason with Marcus. But it wasn't Mr. Fields who finally got some sense into him. It was the third guy's comment: "You're being racist man, not cool."

Marcus stared at the two guys who united against him. His eyes scanned everyone in room and he could tell they all blamed him. Of course he didn't mean to sound racist! Couldn't they all understand that he was just trying to protect them? Clearly not. But he warned them.

Olivia watched the conflict unfold ahead of her and she didn't even have a chance to speak up. The two men were defending her pretty nicely. Though she wasn't sure what Mr. Fields meant by those impressive references, she wasn't aware of any. She would have to ask him later if she remembered. She let it slide for now.

The all hell broke loose and they were all in a heated argument by the time Olivia concentrated back to what was happening around her. She managed to catch up with them. Not so surprisingly, they were talking about mutant and human rights and all the stuff around. She shook her head in disbelief. "Guys? I'm right here!" The silence followed immediately.

The rest of the day was pretty uneventful after things settled down a bit. Olivia continued with her work, Marcus was sending her glares for the whole time. Amy was still trying to ease the tension, which slowly build up during the day. In the process, Olivia finally learned the handsome guy's name. It was Daryl and he was actually a gay. Dealing with him would be so much easier. It'd keep her from getting involved romantically because girl had to admit. Daryl seemed perfect. He had the looks, manners and brains. One man was going to be really lucky someday.

The whole week went fine if you exclude that minor hitch in the beginning. Though the mood in office was not ideal, she performed her work easily. Marcus didn't attempt to set things right and she successfully ignored him. They talked only business. No one dared to mention her mutation just yet or simply ask what kind of power she had. But Olivia noticed that during her conversations with Amy, the girl often seemed like she was about to ask that particular question but she never did.

Daryl and Amy were just like her childhood friends whom she abandoned back then. They were both trying to include her in their chats about weather, movies or weekend plans. She could sense that they tried not to pry but wanted to talk and get to know her nonetheless. But Olivia didn't talk much and Amy was keen on getting her to talk soon. The determination was shining clear in her eyes whenever Olivia approached her.

The oldest woman in the office, Mary, was always so polite and helpful. She kept sending her small smiles and provided any advice regarding work that Olivia needed while accommodating to new workplace. It was mostly with that goddamn printer.

Everyone was taking the mutant fact greatly apart from Marcus who had that annoyed look the whole week and Laura. The woman was so nervous, though she tried to hide it unsuccessfully. She always spilled something whenever Olivia came close but she covered it with 'being clumsy'. Other than that, the two women were on good terms, they politely greeted each other and Olivia ignored the obvious nervousness of the other one.

Weekends were her days off and now, Olivia was getting ready for the visit to her neighbors. Edna slipped a note through her door when she was at work. The note said that the pie would be done at three o'clock, Saturday.

She slipped on her favorite dark jeans and decided to go in a simple grey sweater. She didn't bother with make-up. She rarely did these past few days. In a week, she noticed that almost none of her coworkers dressed formally. Only Marcus wore suits. Olivia then decided that she wouldn't spend hours in uncomfortable skirts if she didn't have to, so her wardrobe quickly changed from elegant to more casual one. It was another thing which was completely different from Worthington Industries. And she liked it. It made her life so much easier.

Olivia stood at the neighbors' door just in time, waiting for someone to answer her ringing.

Norton invited her in and explained Edna's lack of presence. The older lady was in the garden with three more people from neighborhood.

Olivia entered and greeted everyone gingerly. She thought it would be only her and an older couple, instead there was a middle aged woman, introduced as Bethany with a small kid and another older lady with a walking stick. Olivia awkwardly sat there and mostly just listened to their conversation. They mentioned a lot of people and places she didn't know and she was often left confused and therefore she didn't engage in the talks. The pumpkin pie which Edna served her in a huge amount was as delicious as the lady promised. Olivia was full but she kept eating until the plate was empty.

Bethany soon excused herself and left because her child needed his nap and it was the right time. Edna packed her a piece of pie and Olivia just smiled at the pair before they left.

The other old woman, who everyone here called Granny, kept complaining about something in her garden. Olivia wasn't really interested in the topic but listened and nodded occasionally. There was nothing she could do with the pests or any other problem Granny had. She turned her attention to Olivia and started asking some very personal questions. Olivia was thinking hard how to answer without sounding harsh or revealing too much but Edna helped her out.

"Granny, shouldn't you be on your way to church already?" the woman inquired. It made Granny look at her watch intently. She then nodded her head and slowly stood up to leave. Olivia just smiled at Edna gratefully and the woman winked at her in return.

She was left in the garden alone for few minutes until Edna returned with two mugs and boiling water inside a kettle. She made them some chamomile tea.

"So how do you like it here in Dundee so far?" Edna asked kindly. She decided that slower approach would turn out to be more effective since Olivia was so closed up. So Edna let her talk about whatever she wanted. The question was open to any topic. Olivia could lead the conversation to work, people or maybe her new house.

She chose the last option and admitted that she considered repainting her living room and bedroom.

Somehow it reminded Edna of her son and Olivia didn't interrupt her since she found her monologue quite interesting and she was also happy that the questions weren't aimed at her anymore.

"Our son, Henry, he is quite skilled and really smart, let me tell you, he even graduated so young! He is also so good looking but what I don't understand is no wife, or girlfriend. He is 29 already, that's the right time to settle down, if not late! I want at least one grandchild. There is nothing wrong about that!" She let out a long angry sigh and glanced back at Olivia. As if she just remembered something, Edna leaned closer and put her elbows on the table.

"What I meant to say," she began. "He'll gladly help with the painting, I'm sure. He is such a sweet soul, that my boy. And he hasn't visited in a while."

Olivia wondered what this Henry was really like. According to Edna he was perfect. Handsome, smart and kind but she was his mother so Olivia couldn't hold her opinion high. Parents tended to think the best of their children and it wasn't necessarily the truth.

But once again, Olivia surprised even herself with agreeing. She wasn't stupid or extremely stubborn and she could acknowledge the fact that painting walls was not her strong side. She wanted to watch some youtube tutorials beforehand. So accepting this offer was reasonable.

Olivia didn't notice it but she was slowly changing. She was slowly getting used to people helping her, maybe it was because everyone here was so nice, she didn't know. If she was still in New York and it was few weeks ago, if anyone offered a help she would look at them suspiciously and wait for them to ask something in return. Maybe even Xavier's offer wouldn't sound so bad. But she was secretly thankful that she declined. It turned out that moving was a great choice. Now she had a nice job with mostly good coworkers and she was satisfied with her position. Working for Xavier would be, frankly, not what she enjoyed. As weird as it might sound, she actually liked accounting and what Xavier offered would never suit her.

Olivia patiently waited for Edna to pack her a piece of the tasty pie. Edna handed her the white box and said: "I'll give Henry a call right away."

"Are you sure? I don't wanna be a burden if he has a work..." Olivia asked, hesitating for a moment.

"Nonsense!" Edna interrupted with a grin. "He works with a friend of his, so his schedule can be bend easily."

Olivia smiled back and with many thanks, left.

Thank you for reading and let me know if you spotted all those hints throughout all the chapters in a review, please.