Chapter Five
Alex watched as Olivia rushed out of there. The whole situation embarrassed her. She should have known better than to try and mess things up for Olivia. Olivia was seeing someone. Alex, on the other hand, was in Witness Protection. She exhaled deeply as she picked up her plate and Olivia's. She had to go back to work. Even though her shift had ended, she would work all weekend for the possibility of seeing Olivia again. Although they could no longer date, Alex needed to see her.
Once her elevator opened on the seventh floor, Olivia rushed out of it and down to her room. She had to make this right. She did love Casey. She grabbed her key and twisted the handle. The door seemed stuck. Olivia pushed harder. She could get it a few inches open before she saw the reason why it would not go any further. Casey was standing there, her eyes filled with a look of anger and hurt.
"Casey, please," Olivia begged.
"Please what?" Casey responded bitterly. However, she did move out of the way to let Olivia enter. The rest of the hallway did not need to be in their business. She did not bother closing the door. Instead she walked over to the bed and grabbed her suitcase from underneath it. She opened it and started throwing the few things she had used back in.
Olivia closed the door and walked back to Casey. She sat down on the opposite side of the bed. "What are you doing?" she asked plainly.
"What's it look like?" Casey responded bitterly. "I'm packing." Her words cut deep inside Olivia. Casey turned around, grabbed her slippers, and shoved them inside her suitcase. Was there anything else she needed? She could not remember. If she could not remember, then it probably was not important. She glanced at the night table and saw that nothing on it was hers. It was all the hotel's.
The suitcase was a chilling sign. Olivia hated it now. Earlier, it was part of their secret. They were getting out of New York. They could go somewhere and be a couple without the fear that someone they knew would see them. Now it symbolized everything that went wrong today. She could not have it end that way. "Please, let me explain," she said.
From Casey's standpoint, Olivia did not deserve the chance to explain. What she did was simple. It was so convenient this way, too. Olivia could have known that her ex worked here. Olivia would be getting her romantic getaway, just not with Casey. "What's there to explain?" Casey asked as she started zippering her suitcase. "Last night, you told me that she would not get in the way of our happiness. You said that you didn't love her. Was that all a lie?"
"No," Olivia started.
Casey was not finished. "Did you want me to walk in on the two of you? Is that why you didn't wake me up for breakfast?"
"Heavens, no," Olivia answered. "Casey, you were beyond tired last night. I couldn't bring myself to wake you because you needed your sleep. I honestly had no idea she would be down there. I thought her shift would be over." She walked over and tried to hug Casey.
"Don't touch me," Casey yelled. She knew her words hurt. Despite of everything that happened, it hurt her to hurt Olivia. Tears formed in her eyes. She did not want to even look at her girlfriend. She faced the wall before she spoke. "Liv, I want to hear what you have to say. I want to be able to forgive you," she began. She continued before Olivia could say anything. She had a feeling that the detective was about to open her mouth. "I can't yet. You have to understand how hard it was for me to see you with her. I'm sure you'd have a valid reason, but I can't hear it right now. I need some space, ok?"
Olivia looked at Casey. Of course, she made sense. She was unsure if Casey was finished. The silence was eerie. Haunting, even. Finally, Olivia decided it was safe to speak. "Of course, sweetie," she promised. "I'll be down by the pool when you're ready to talk."