Rose set the paper on the table between the coffee and the croissants. Gregory asked for little at breakfast and adding Olivia to the early mornings hadn't changed his habits. She ate what he did. Olivia was the first one down this morning, humming to herself as she came through the glass doors onto the patio.
"Thank you Rose." She didn't look up as Rose disappeared back inside. Rose had Caitlin, Sean and Ethan's breakfast to make. Roger was up and gone already. He preferred to run in the earliest hours, before the sun was hot overhead.
Olivia sat down and picked up the paper. The front page was still all about the new hospital project. Today they featured an interview with some of the faculty coming in from England, Roger Baxter included. She glossed over his interview, smiling as she pictured him looking academic in his tweed jacket.
The publicity for the project was going splendidly. Revamping the hospital was good for the public and the idea of a new university was enough to spin off a score of articles on scientific interest. As she flipped through the front pages she felt a surge of pride. Olivia recognized articles she had suggested, notes she had passed along, and content with the Sentinel, she turned through to the gossip column.
A few days ago, Bette's article had needed the whole page to show pictures of the ball. Her sapphire necklace had been a sidebar all to itself. Today, the Queen of the Night's section was topped with a smiling picture of Alex. She reached for her coffee, settling back in her chair to read Bette's take on Alex's new project.
Gregory went directly for the croissant, tearing the corner off as he crossed around to read the paper over Olivia's shoulder.
"She sounds sad." Olivia pointed out as her husband leaned down to kiss her cheek. "Not her usual self at all."
Pouring himself a cup of coffee as he took another bite of his croissant, Gregory finished the article before offering his opinion. "Alex has always hated doing shots of people. Maybe she's just challenging herself."
Olivia looked over the article again, the tightness in her eyebrows suggesting she didn't agree. He rubbed her shoulder thoughtfully, admiring her black suit as he sat down across from her.
"I could learn to like the professional Olivia. Especially when you put your hair up." Waiting for her to look up and take it, Gregory held a croissant with butter and raspberry jam out towards her. "It makes you look elegant. Sophisticated."
"In sharp contrast to the real me who lacks both of those traits." Olivia replied dryly, earning a smile from her husband.
She tapped the paper, frowning at Alex's picture. "I still think there's something wrong. She's never been the sentimental type before." Exchanging the croissant for the paper, she refilled her coffee cup. "Maybe you should read it again."
"People change Liv." Gregory watched as she licked jam from the rim of her cup. Smiling as he studied the exposed line of her neck beneath the subtle string of black pearls. "Alex has been gone for years, maybe she's changed more then we realize."
"Meaning what?" Olivia asked with a bite of croissant still in her mouth.
He set down his coffee cup firmly, causing the saucer to clink. "Meaning I know what it's like to look around and suddenly see that you don't like where you are."
She reached across the table and took his hand, squeezing it hard enough to make his fingers ache. "You aren't there anymore."
"So I tell myself." Gregory looked down as his coffee, watching the dark liquid move lazily in his cup. "But it sounds better when you do."
Olivia traced the band of his watch with her fingers. Wondering when he had started to take her opinion over his own and surprised that he had admitted it so freely. "You have changed, darling, believe me."
His silence was his thanks. Gregory hadn't come quite far enough for anything else. Olivia was slowly picking up the crumbs from her plate with one finger when he finally changed the subject.
"We're meeting Alex on the beach tomorrow morning at five for our session."
Olivia groaned as she finished her coffee. "Five is ungodly early."
Gregory held open the door while she put on her shoes. "It's when the light's the best. Just this one morning-"
"I'm doing it for Alex." She agreed as they both took their briefcases from the hallway and headed to thegarage. "And don't you look so smug. You're not going to like it either."
Gregory raised an eyebrow as he unlocked the charcoal Jaguar. "Why aren't I going to like it? I don't hate mornings."
"Tonight, I am going to bed early and I'm going to sleep." She threatened firmly as she climbed into the passenger seat. "No matter what ideas you may have to the contrary."
Turning to her as he opens the garage door, Gregory grinned devilishly. "I haven't the faintest idea what you're talking about sweetheart." The engine purred to life as Gregory pulled out of the garage. "Not the faintest idea."
He shifted into drive when he hit the street. "Though, we could always move the board meeting back until after lunch."
Olivia pretended not to hear him, looking out over the water as the Jaguar glided effortlessly through the quiet morning traffic on the way to the Liberty building.
Gregory walked her to her office. Insisting on a parting kiss that became far more passionate then either of them intended, Olivia's arms wrapping around his neck as he pushed her back into the door.
Roger's overly polite cough from the secretary's desk broke them apart. Olivia took a moment to catch her breath, but Gregory managed to look entirely composed. "Morning."
"Good morning loves. Seems you are both in excellent spirits today." Roger hopped off the desk and insinuated himself between them as he opened the door to Olivia's office. "I need to steal your better half for the next hour or so. I have some architectural designs to go over with her before she meets with Senator Rafferty."
Gregory smiled in goodnatured defeat. "All right. You win this round Baxter."
Olivia ran after him a few paces, catching him to kiss his cheek. "I'll see you at lunch darling."
"I count on it." He replied patiently as he played with a loose strand of her hair before tucking it behind her ear. "Have fun with Roger." Olivia smirked impishly and shut the door to her office before Roger could get in a sly comment. Gregory could hear their muffled laughter as he walked down to his own office.
Emily, his secretary, was already waiting for him. As he collected the morning's paperwork, she explained her mystery of the morning. "You got an envelope first thing this morning. Hand delivered to the receptionist, no note." She pointed to his door, shrugging. "I put it on your desk. It doesn't even have a return address."
"Thank you Emily. I'll deal with it." He set his briefcase down on the floor by his feet. The envelope that had her so puzzled was an unlabled brown manila. 'Gregory Richards' was written in black block lettering across the front center, but no other markings were present. Curious, he took his silver letter opener to the seal.
Dumping it out on his desk, Gregory found two newspaper clippings and a folded yellow sheet of paper, from a legal pad. Both clippings were from the gossip column on Monday. One was a picture of Olivia on his arm when they arrived at the charity ball. Her smiling face had been circled with red marker. The second was the header from the short piece the Sentinel's fashion department had done on the Mahadevi's River, Olivia's necklace. It too had been circled with the same red marker.
Frowning intensely, he unfolded the yellow piece of paper, careful to only hold it by the edges in case any fingerprint evidence was present.
Written in the same dammed red marker, two words assaulted him, grabbing his heart with icy fingers-
"Choose one."