A/N: I think PCGirl might be happy with this one. Hope y'all are too. Until 31! xox-G
Chapter Thirty
"Livvie!?" Alison cried out, still chasing after her. "Wait a second."
Despite her better judgment, Livvie stopped and turned to face her. She knew Alison well. She was relentless. If she didn't stop now - she'd just have to stop later.
Sighing, Livvie hugged her arms around herself and turned to face her. "What do you want Alison?"
"I just wanted to talk to you." Alison looked at Livvie with concern filled eyes. "How are you feeling?"
"Nauseous. But that just might be from being too close to something so sickeningly sweet." She answered.
Alison just stared at her. "Livvie. I was genuinely worried about you. You don't have to insult me."
Livvie stared back and didn't speak.
Alison tried again, "When I had morning sickness tea and dry toast made me feel tons better. Rafe would try and make it for me every morning." She smiled as she remembered how he would burn it most of the time.
"I knew it. That's got to be a record. Two minutes and you're already rubbing it in my face." Livvie's voice shook slightly.
"What did I say?" Alison asked - completely baffled.
Livvie's voice mocked her, "Rafe - my wonderful, perfect, loving angel of a husband was by my side every single second making me toast and holding my hand." Livvie turned her back on her as she finished. "He's so fabulous that I bet he would have had the baby for you if he could have."
Alison began to get angry. "Jealous much - Livvie?" She said with a grin.
Livvie whirled back around and threw her an icy glare. "Of you?" She laughed bitterly. "Hardly. I don't have any reason to be. Remember - I had Rafe to myself once upon a time. It was fun while it lasted but he's way too boring. And he was…I don't know….somewhat disappointing." She shrugged as she added, "Besides - it seemed he ultimately preferred being with you. It's too bad. I thought he'd have better taste."
Hearing Livvie say the words brought it all back. She knew Rafe loved her and only her but those months she had to watch him with Livvie were the worst of her life. Alison blinked back tears. Livvie was hopeless. Rafe was right. Maybe this wasn't such a good idea.
She shook her hair back and stared at her, her voice quivering as she spoke her next words. "OK. At least I can say I tried. I figured you could maybe use a friend Livvie. Since I just went through this I thought that I could maybe help you - but - now I know for sure you haven't changed a bit. You still blame me for everything - you losing Jack, you being mortal, the fact that Caleb's a complete and total jerk."
Alison went on, months and months of pent up anger finally boiling to the surface. She stared Livvie straight in the eye. "And if you want to blame me for your losing Rafe - maybe you should recall that you NEVER even had him in the first place. He's always belonged to me. You tried your best but nothing you did – not any your tricks or any of your lies – nothing will ever change that."
Alison took a deep breath as she finished. "You'll never know what it's like to win if you keep holding on to everything you've lost. You can say you're not jealous Livvie but I know the truth. You're so jealous your head is spinning and you can't see straight. You're all alone and I've got everything I've ever dreamed of. The fact that you're alone has nothing to do with me – no matter how much you believe it's true. Trust me. I'll be damned if I let anything you say get the better of me ever again."
Alison spun around on her heel and made her way back to the restaurant. She was almost at the door when she heard Livvie say. "Ali. Wait."
*************
Melissa sat at the table, sipping her Diet Coke and gazing around the room. She could hear that Kate was starting to get annoyed. She put down her glass and bent down to lift Katrina out of the stroller. As she was busy doing that Jack came out from the kitchen carrying their order.
"Here's something for my two favorite girls." He said with a grin. It faded as Melissa sat upright with Kate in her arms.
"I thought you were Alison." Jack said softly.
Ugh. It's that rude bartender. Melissa thought with a sigh. "She ran outside for a second. I'm Melissa. I work at the…"
Jack finished her sentence. "Gym. Yeah. I remember." He said as he put the plates down on the table. He knew that he didn't want Alison meddling in his love life but he couldn't take his eyes off her. Her own were an almost shocking shade of green. He'd never seen anything like them before.
"It's OK sweetie." Melissa whispered as she rocked the baby back and forth. "Your mom will be back in a second." She stopped crying almost immediately.
"You're really good at that." Jack remarked, softening a bit.
"I've had lots of practice." She said, and couldn't help but smile. He may not have a sparkling personality but he was certainly cute enough.
Oh no. Jack thought suddenly as he watched her with the baby. Maybe Alison had it all wrong. She had a kid? Was she married? That would be a shame.
It was as if Melissa read his mind. She gave him a huge grin. "I'm the oldest of 7 kids. I've been babysitting since I was ten."
"Seven kids?" Jack said as he sat down in the chair across from her. "You're kidding?"
Melissa shook her head and laughed. "No. 4 girls - 3 boys and yes - my mother's a saint."
"So." Jack said nonchalantly as he stole a french fry from Alison's plate. He was sure she wouldn't notice. "Did you grow up around here?"
"Sort of. I live about an hour away. I studied health and nutrition in college and when I found out about a new gym opening here in PC I thought I'd check it out."
"An hour? You drive that far every day?" Jack asked, completely intrigued. She had the cutest sprinkle of freckles on her nose.
"It's not so bad. But I am hoping to find an apartment soon." Melissa hugged Kate a little tighter to keep her calm. "What about you?"
Jack took another fry from the plate. "No. I didn't grow up here - but I've lived here a while. My brother's here. He's a doctor over at GH."
"It's nice to have your family close by - isn't it?" Melissa remarked as she placed Kate back down.
"Sometimes." Jack said with a smile, getting lost in her eyes again. He picked up Alison's cheeseburger and dug in – not even realizing that he was working or that it was her lunch he was eating. This was really nice – sharing a meal with someone who was normal for a change – and not to mention beautiful. Melissa was really easy to talk to.
*************
Alison turned around. "Why should I wait? So that you can hurl insults at me some more?" She shook her head. "I don't need this. I'm sorry if it upsets you but the truth is – I've fought unbelievable odds to finally have the life I share with Rafe and our daughter and I couldn't be more grateful. But I won't apologize for being happy – Livvie – especially to you. I would have helped you - but you never needed anyone but Caleb since you got yourself mixed up with him - did you? I was just hoping you'd want a better life for your child. I don't know why I even want to but I thought maybe I could help you do that."
"Alison - I…" Livvie tried again.
"I've got to go, Livvie. I've wasted enough time. My daughter needs me. I have to get back to Kate." She said as she stared back at her.
It was the first time Alison had spoken the baby's name to Livvie. "Her name is Kate? You named her after your lawyer?"
Alison had never thought of that. She couldn't help smiling as she said. "No. Her name is Katrina. She's named after Rafe's mom. We call her Kate or Katie for short."
She put her hand on the door before she turned around again. "I really don't even know why I bother trying to be a friend to you but I'll just say one more thing. You can't keep this up Livvie. It's going to destroy you if it hasn't already. You keep pushing people away and soon everyone will leave."
"You don't need me as a friend – Alison. You have plenty. You have a sister now and you make more friends every day it seems." Livvie said bitterly, thinking of how she saw Alison having lunch with that redheaded girl. Alison had tons of people around her always. Unlike her. She never had anyone. She didn't even have Caleb anymore.
Alison's eyes filled with tears as she shook her head at her. "That's where you're wrong - Livvie. You were my best friend in the entire world and I really, truly loved you. The things that you did to me would have hurt so much less if you were someone I didn't care about. When all was said and done I just couldn't believe you would ever have been so cruel to me." Alison replied sadly before opening the door and walking inside leaving Livvie stunned and speechless.
It was amazing what being mortal did. Tears fell from Livvie's eyes and then suddenly she was sobbing. For the first time ever Livvie actually felt guilty about all she had done.
