The seven year old in her who truly loved the sweater that had been left for her won over the part of her that simply wanted to ball it up and shove it in the back of her closet on the account of Karen being the one who had given it to her. Karen didn't comment upon seeing Olivia in it the following day, though nodded to show she noticed it. Olivia wanted to thank her, but didn't know how to go about doing it. How did you thank someone who was bruising your ribs one day and bestowing gifts upon you the next? Her uncertainty to enjoy it, however, left her once she was at school, when all she wanted to do was show it off. She even folded it up, placing it neatly in her cubby prior to going out for recess, not wanting anything to happen to it while she was hard at play, proud of how well she was taking care of it. Nevertheless, all that was lost when she returned from recess and found it missing. Her throat dried up, her eyes stung, her breath left her; not being able to even begin to fathom what her father, and particularly Karen, would do to her if the sweater didn't turn up upset her far more than actually losing it did. She called to her teacher, near tears, who put the class to a quick scour of the classroom, but the sweater was nowhere to be seen. Olivia didn't even try to hold back her tears by the end of the day, just let them run freely down her face, not caring who saw. Her teacher sympathized her, gave her a hug, assured her that they'd find it somehow, but the teacher didn't understand. No one could possibly understand what losing that sweater meant for Olivia. She trudged out miserably to the limo waiting to pick her up, the pale pink t-shirt she had worn under the sweater the only thing shielding her from the autumn chill.
"Something bothering you, Miss Olivia?" the driver asked her pleasantly.
"Um, no, nothing," she lied, settling back in her seat and wishing the world would open up and swallow her.
"We need to stop and pick up Miss Karen, that is, if you have no objection."
Olivia had a world of objection at the moment, but had a feeling the driver had only said that to humor her. "From work?"
"Yes, from the office."
At this, Olivia brightened slightly. The prospect of seeing Grace nearly made her day. She begged to be the one to go up and get Karen, which made the driver smile.
"Please tell Miss Karen to take her time."
Olivia nodded eagerly and made her way up to the headquarters that was Grace Adler Designs, but let herself in tentatively. Her gaze first landed on Karen, leaning back in her desk chair and carefully reapplying her lipstick, then shifted to Grace, who seemed engrossed in the notes she was making. She wasn't sure what to do, not wanting to interrupt either of them, but cleared her throat a bit, causing both of them to look up.
"Hey you," Grace greeted her with a welcoming smile. "I didn't expect to see you back here so soon."
"I wanted to say hi," Olivia said shyly, more to her pink high tops than to Grace. "And the driver said you wanted him to pick you up, Karen."
She nodded absently. "I'll be ready in a minute."
"What are you working on?" Olivia asked Grace, walking closer to see for herself.
"Well, I have a client who wants some work done on his penthouse," she said, scribbling away. "I met with him this morning and I'm going to see the place in a few minutes here. Do you want to come with me?"
Olivia was all set to say yes before Karen intervened.
"I'm afraid Olivia has some other things she needs to be doing this afternoon, Grace," she said coolly. "She'll have to join you some other time."
Olivia felt as if she had punched in the stomach, but knew it was in her best interest not to argue.
"Yeah, but that's okay," she said. "I'll come some other time, like Karen said."
Grace shrugged. "Oh. Well, I'll have to let you know what I come up with. I'm sure I'll need some opinions soon."
"Come on, Olivia." Karen's voice cut into her like a knife. "See ya, Red."
"'Bye, Karen." Grace smiled at Olivia. "'Bye, sweetie."
"'Bye, Grace," Olivia said distractedly, more focused on Karen at the moment. Did she know about the sweater? Could she sense it? Already sweat was pooling in her palms and all she wanted was to hide behind Grace and never come out.
"You must be cold," Karen remarked as they took the elevator downstairs.
Olivia instantly grew colder at her words.
"No, I'm…I'm okay."
"Well, even if that's so, you wouldn't want to catch a cold. Why don't you put on that nice little sweater?"
"I…" She had some quick decisions to make. How much worse would Karen go on her if she told the truth versus lied? Or if she lied versus telling the truth? She honestly didn't know, but was certain that her father would hear of it eventually and somehow he always knew when she and Mason were lying instead of telling the truth.
"Did you leave it in the limo?"
"No."
"Where is it?"
Olivia walked faster then. She couldn't do this, she couldn't--
She felt herself being jerked roughly backward, Karen forcing her to look her in the eye.
"Where is the sweater, Olivia?"
"I…"
"I'll know if you lie to me."
"I…I'm not going to." Olivia drew in her breath. "I--don't know where it is."
Karen's grip on her tightened. "You don't know?"
"No, Karen, I was trying to take such good care of it." Olivia's eyes searched her future stepmother imploringly. "Really I was, I didn't want to ruin it at recess time so I put it in my cubby and…" She trailed off when she saw that Karen was not accepting what she was saying. But even Karen was smart enough to pull anything so near Grace's office and simply hauled her outside to the limo, with such a force that Olivia literally feared that she would lose her arm. The ride back to the manse was dead silent, save for Karen brusquely demanding if Daddy was home yet, and the driver responding that he would be several more hours that night. Olivia trembled, knowing exactly why Karen had been asking. She wasted no time once they had pulled into the driveway dragging Olivia into the manse, Olivia praying to disappear with every furious step Karen took and up to her bedroom, where she threw her on to her bed. Olivia instinctively reached for her favorite doll, one she had recently saved up her very own money to buy and loved very much, clutching it to her.
"Good God, let go of that damn thing," Karen snapped at her impatiently, sick of seeing Olivia wandering all over the house with it since the day she got it, but for once, Olivia did not obey.
"I said let go of it," Karen ordered through clenched teeth, snatching it away from Olivia before she knew what was happening.
"Give her back!" Olivia shouted at her, leaping forward to take back her beloved doll, but Karen held it just out of her reach and used her free hand to shove Olivia backward. Her head connected painfully with the wall, causing Olivia's eyes to water.
"My goodness," Karen said with a mock seriousness, "if you think that tone of voice is the best way for you to get what you want, I think you have another thing coming." She took the doll in both hands, examining it rather roughly. "So adorable of you, Olivia, the way you saved your precious little pennies one by one to buy this."
"Can I please have her back?" Olivia begged softly, trying to keep her voice devoid of the sobs that threatened.
"Not quite yet," Karen replied smoothly. "Tell me, Olivia, isn't it just the most satisfying feeling in world to have bought something with your own money? Isn't it? I'm asking," she added a bit more scathingly, "because I expect an answer."
"Yes," Olivia sniffled.
"We agree on that then, good. Now let's say we…turn the tables a bit, hmm?" Without warning, she flew into the rage that had evidently been repressing itself since the office, first striking Olivia with the doll several times before smashing it against the wall, the headboard of Olivia's bed, anywhere she could do one of Olivia's most prized possessions the most damage.
"No! Karen…don't do that to her, please give her back to me…" Olivia was sobbing openly now, there was no point in hiding it.
"Stop it!" Karen shouted at her lividly, pausing only to deliver a painful blow to the side of Olivia's head. "It's a stupid doll…and you're a stupid brat…throwing away a two hundred and fifty dollar sweater I didn't even have to buy for you…"
With Daddy's money, Olivia didn't dare to say out loud.
"You're not going to ruin this for your father and me, you're not," Karen continued vehemently. She threw the remains of the doll at the foot of Olivia's bed. Olivia slowly gathered up the pieces that were left, though knowing there was no hope of repairing them.
"You're going to stay in this room, and only when your father comes home might I consider letting you out," Karen told her before slamming the door so hard that the walls shook.
But at the moment, mourning the loss of her doll and still shaken over Karen's wrath, she wouldn't have minded staying in her room for the rest of her life.