AN: Heres another one! :)
Loneliness, it was common among people who knew absolutely no one in a new place, she had no family around, she was alone. She ran her hand along her hair as she looked out the window at the foggy, wet, London. She wondered what they were doing? Her family…were they safe? Were they hiding? She wiped her face of the fallen tears as she lifted herself off the window sill and walked over to the couch grabbing a book. She needed to keep herself occupied. She sighed as she opened the book to where she had left off and began reading until her cell phone began to go off. She set the book to the side as she didn't notice the number. "Hello?" She answer putting it to her ear. "This is she." She stood up as she began pacing the floor biting at her fingernails. "Tomorrow? Yes, tomorrow would be perfect. Thank you so much!" She hung up the phone with a squeal. She had her first job interview tomorrow morning. She jumped up and down with excitement as she held the phone close to her chest. She had been in London for three weeks now, three weeks it took someone to finally call her. She sighed as she plopped back down on the couch. She didn't want to read anymore. She couldn't contain the excitement as she let out a squeal again when her phone started ringing. She yelped with a laugh as she looked at the front of it. Another number she didn't recognize. Maybe people were finally realizing she had applied for over thirty jobs and was going to give her a chance. She laughed at the thought as she put the phone to her ear. "Hello?" Her face fell as she looked around expecting someone to be there. She took a deep breath in before she answered. "Leon?" She whispered. She covered her mouth as she looked around again. "What are you doing? Should you be calling me?" She sat down on the couch as she nodded her head. "I'm fine, Leon. I found a place, just got a phone call about a job…because I don't want to be sitting at home doing nothing for the rest of my life…" She sighed running her hand through her hair. "How's my brother? How's Mia doing?" She nodded her head again as she stared down at the blanket finding the strings more interesting. "I guess that makes sense. He doesn't want to be found…I'm okay. I don't want to be here right now but I know that it's for the best. I miss my home and my family." She turned around and looked out the window. "I miss Jesse." The tears fell down face. She didn't want to cry. She didn't want him feeling bad for her. This was her decision also and she had to live with it. There was silence on the other end of the phone. There wasn't much for him to say to her. "I'm okay, Le. We are all going to get through this. I would give anything for us to do it together but I know the circumstances and I understand. It still doesn't take the pain anyway or make it hurt any less." She waited as he talked to her. She could see the fog lifting as the rain finally decided to stop. She could see the sun fighting its way to come through the clouds. "Thank you for calling me, I was in this funk. If you talk to anyone, let them know that I am thinking about them and I love them…I'll be fine, Leon. I promise. We will see each other again, I just know it…I love you too." She hung up the phone as she threw it beside her. Life was so hard right now. She knew she would get through, she always did. She had survived her father dying, Johnny completely breaking her heart…she would survive this. She grabbed the phone again as she hoped off the couch. It was going to start now. She couldn't stay locked up in her apartment for forever, she had to get out. She had to meet people. She had to live or Jesse's death would be for nothing.
She smiled down at the phone as it began to ring and Mia's name popped up. "I was just thinking about you." She replied with a laugh. She set down the set of photographs on the table and looked up at the guy and girl standing in front of her. "I am going to take a lunch." She loved her job. She had met some amazing people working in London. Henrietta and Timothy are her bosses and also have become two of her best friends. She was able to talk to them. It relived some of the pressure on her chest knowing there were two people that she could talk to about her problems. It made her time in London go by quicker. She hurried out the door and down the stairs onto the streets before talking again. "How are you?" She turned right and began walking down to the familiar coffee shop she had grown to love. "Life is good. I found a job that I love. My apartment is literally walking distance from everything. I am beginning to settle in." She ran her hands through her hair. "Oh, I miss you so much. Maybe you can come visit me soon." She loved these talks with her sister. It brought her back home and she missed that. "Have you heard from Dom any?" She nodded her head knowing she had. She bowed her head, the pain was back. Why did she do this to herself? She was being stupid. It was done. He was gone. She had to let it go. Through all of the arguing in her mind, she didn't look up, causing her to run straight into someone. "Oh my, I am so sorry. I wasn't paying attention to where I was going." She held her hand out knowing she almost took out his shoulder.
"No worries." He smiled. "I think it was my fault, I wasn't paying attention." She nodded her head as she made eye contact with him. With what hair that was on his head, it was brown, he had piercing green eyes that just bore straight through her, he was dressed like a true gentlemen with his slacks, white button up, and a long black trench coat, the collar was popped up his neck… "Hello!" Mia screamed in her ear. She shook her head as she smiled up at the man before turning around again. "Sorry." She replied. "I just ran into someone. London has a lot of gorgeous men here and those accents…" She laughed as she continued her walk towards the coffee shop.
And just like that a year passed. She didn't know where it went but she looked at the calendar on the wall and noticed it was July again. She shook her head as she tried to concentrate on the photos in front of her but she couldn't. Too many memories were going through her mind. "Hey, are you alright?" Timothy put his hand on her back. "Do you need to take a minute?"
"Yes." She whispered. She didn't wait for him to say anything to her and she hurried outside. She grabbed her cell phone from her pocket and dialed Mia's number. "Hey." She whispered. "I don't even know how I got here, Mi. I felt like I just moved here and I look up and its July." She put her hand over her eyes as she tried to contain herself. "I want to speak to him. I know you talk to him, Mia. And I am asking this one thing. I haven't asked you for anything and now I am. You get him to call me. You tell him I want to talk to him." She nodded her head as the familiar bricks laid on her chest. She tried to control her breathing as she put her hand on the brick wall, sliding down to the ground. "Just…I just want to hear his voice again." Her voice cracked as she covered her mouth with her hand. The pain was back. She thought she had gotten rid of it but it was back with a vengeance. Of course it would be hard. Jesse was killed a year ago. Elias had died a year ago. She had spent all this time trying to forget about what happened and the moment she looked at a freaking calendar everything came rushing back to her. The line was silent for a moment. "Dom?" She gasped as she lost her balance and fell to her knees. The concrete was hot as she began to laugh from the relief of hearing her brother's voice. "How is this possible? How am I talking to you?" She nodded her head. Mia had three wayed him. It didn't feel real. "I miss you, Dom." The tears fell down her face as she rubbed them away with the back of her hand. "This is so stupid for me to be this far away from you...I just want us to be a family again so bad." She leaned her head back against the building with a sigh. "This will never be over." She whispered. "The day it will be over will be the day that you spend the rest of your life in prison and I would never want that for you again." She felt the bricks release their grip as she nodded her head listening to her brother explain everything to her. It was safer for her to be there in London. She had to go on with her life. She had to live the life she always wanted. She didn't want it now. She spoke of leaving Los Angeles and leaving the racing scene but now...that's all she wanted. "I was wrong." She cried. "I shouldn't have wanted to be away from you guys. I didn't mean it." She nodded her head again. "I love you too." The line went dead. "Mi?" She breathed a sigh of relief knowing her sister was still there. She wasn't ready to stop talking to her just yet. "I know it will take time. I know it will, but I am alone too." They talked for a few minutes longer as tried to get herself together to go back into work. She knew her face was going to be red from crying but she needed this. She needed to talk to her brother.
Everything in life becomes a routine if you do it long enough and that's what happened with Olivia in London. She got into this routine, she did enough just to get by hoping one day she would receive a phone call letting her know it was time to come home. She knew that day would never come but it always stuck in the back of her mind. Her routine started getting up in the mornings and making her way down the coffee shop she had grown to love, she would grab the morning paper and extra coffees for Henrietta and Timothy before making her way up to the loft where they photographed. She spent eight to nine hours of her day helping them sort through photos, disposing the ones they didn't want, getting the mail, contacting clients…she did everything an assistant would do. They would either then grab dinner or she would go home to her empty apartment. The days went on like that for as long as she could remember. Weekends she would either be shopping with Henrietta for clothes for the models or they would go out and have drinks. She lived a boring life. She needed to live this boring life. She left all the excitement in California and she wanted it to stay there. The routine of her life turned into four years, she had spent four years of her life living in London on her own. As she looked back on her life, she wouldn't want to change anything. Those times, though some bad, made her who she was. She had finally started to accept the life that she had, the good and the horrible.
Olivia made sure her hair fell right over her shoulders and her clothes laid perfect in their place before leaving her apartment. It was the weekend and all she wanted was a coffee. The week before had ended in chaos and all she wanted to do was forget about it. She hurried down the street knowing there would be a line. She had to meet Henrietta at the boutique at eleven. She cut around the corner before coming to a stop. The shop looked closed. There was a person around. She slowly walked with her shoulders slump. She was really looking forward to that coffee. She groaned as she grabbed her cell phone. There had to be another coffee shop around. She turned to walk in the opposite direction when she felt hands grab her shoulders. "Excuse me." He replied. She slowly looked up at him. She had seen him before.
"I'm so sorry." She replied putting her cell phone in her purse. "I get focused on something and forget about my surroundings."
He laughed. "I can get like that as well. You look like you are in a hurry."
"No." She laughed. "I wanted some coffee but my favorite place is closed." She showed him the sign as she shook her head. "I was trying to find somewhere else that might sell it but it looks like I am going to be late for a meeting." He smiled at him as she looked back up at him. Those familiar green eyes were soft. His smile radiated off of him showing his pearly white teeth. "Have we met before?"
"I don't think so. I think I would remember you." He chuckled. He cleared his throat as he put his hand to his chest. "I am so sorry, I have no manners. My name is Philip." He stuck his hand out to her.
"Olivia. It's nice to meet you, Philip." She smiled taking his hand. "I should really get going though."
"I hope to run into you again, Olivia. It was a pleasure." He slowly bowed to her as she giggled, quickly covering her mouth. She nodded her head as she turned away from him. Her heart was beating so fast inside her chest. She felt the butterflies in her stomach as she hurried down the street towards the loft where Henrietta was waiting on her.
Her phone began to vibrate in her back pocket just as she reached the staircase. She took in a few deep breaths trying to catch her breath before pulling the phone out of her back pocket. "Mia?" She was amazed that she was talking to her so early in the morning. She found her keys to unlock the door and walked in. "Henrietta!" She shouted to get her attention knowing the music was on. "What's up. Mi? Why are you calling so early?" She put her stuff down as she set the phone down cutting it on speaker. "Are you there?" Mia's voice filled up the room. "Yeah, sorry." Olivia took her jacket it off. "I am late meeting Henrietta. You are on speaker phone." She grabbed the pictures off the table and began to spread them out. The line was silent as a smile formed on her face. "Mi, I met a guy." She giggled. "He was perfect. It was the first one that I actually wouldn't mind getting to know here..."
"Liv." Her voice was loud as Olivia stopped what she was doing. "I-there's something that I need to tell you."
"What is it?" Olivia asked softly walking over to the phone. "Is it Dom?"
"No." Mia whispered. "Letty's home."
"What?" Olivia slammed her hand down on the table. "What is she doing there? Where is Dom? Is she okay?"
"Calm down." Mia replied. "She is fine. She wont really talk about anything. She came out of no where saying that Dom left her in the Dominican Republic. That's all I can get out of her. I just think-I think you need to come home now, Liv. I don't know what is going to happen. I don't know anything right now. But I know that you need to be here."
"Why do I need to be there? You aren't making any sense to me right now." Olivia ran her hands through her hair as she grabbed the stool and sat down. "I was sent here to get away from all this bullshit. I have a life here now. It has taken them four fucking years to come home and now I am supposed to pick up my life again and move?"
"I think she's in danger. I can't find Dom. I can't get a hold of him to figure out what the hell is going on."
Olivia shook her head as she looked up at Henrietta standing in the doorway. She jerked the phone off the table and hit the speaker button before putting it to her ear. "Mia, I am working right now. I don't know what you want me to do. They left and went far away from us. I'm sure he is protecting her from something like he always does when he runs away. Don't let this bother you." Olivia waited as she looked up at her friend who had a concerned look on her face. "How about this...I will come home next month. I can take a couple of weeks off and I will come back to Los Angeles. We can spend some time together and maybe we can get Letty to tell us what is going on...deal. Give her some time. She never was good at talking about her feelings. If Dom left her then you need to be there for her...I love you too. I'll see you soon." She hung up the phone and looked over at her friend with a sigh. "Family drama."
"I thought you were over all that stuff that happened." Henrietta made her way over.
"I thought so too, but I guess its coming back to bite me in the ass." She moved over to the pictures on the table. "Do you need outfits for all five girls or what?"
"Yes, all five of them need at least four outfits." Olivia nodded her head as she tried to shake away the bad feeling that swarmed her heart. She knew something was wrong back home but she couldn't bring herself to do anything about it. She had started a life there. She was free. She wanted to keep it that way.
"Okay, let's go then."
Olivia smiled as she made her way down the busy street towards the coffee shop. It was the first time in days that the sun was shining and the wind wasn't blowing. She cut through a crowd of people as she stood outside in the line waiting to get in. The week was coming to an end. She had already bought her plane ticket back to Los Angeles and was prepared to stay two weeks with her sister. She knew it would fun but she wasn't looking forward to going back to that house. She hadn't been back since Jesse was killed. All the memories would come flooding back to her and she wasn't prepared for that at all. She stepped into the building as she glanced behind her. Philip, the man she had met earlier that month, was just getting up to leave. She turned ahead again, what should she do? Should she go talk to him? Should she stay where she was? She shook her head. No it was stupid. She didn't need a man in her life right now. She stepped up to the counter and ordered her drink. The line was still out the door as she blew into her drink making sure it wouldn't burn her mouth when she drank it. Her cell phone began to go off as she walked outside. Philip was still standing at the table as she made the decision to walk over to him when her cell phone began to go off. She made eye contact with him as she reached into her purse to pull out her phone. "Mia?" She answered it in confusion. "Calm down, what?" Her world stopped spinning. She felt like the breath had been sucked out of her as her coffee fell from her hand and onto the ground, spilling it everywhere. This wasn't happening again. It wasn't. It couldn't be. She felt hands grabbing her arms as they slow let her fall to the ground. She stared straight ahead as the tears fell silently down her face. Letty was dead.
