Sorry if it's a little choppy. and TW talk of Suicide
Olivia walked down the hallways of the Serena Benson's rehab clinic. The nurse walked her to her room. She saw her mom packing her bags.
"Mom, what are you doing?" Olivia asked her mother with her salt and pepper hair.
Serena looked at her daughter, "Olivia, where have you been? I need you to take me home. I am done with this place." She zipped up her suitcase.
"Are your doctors saying you can go home?" Olivia liked seeing her sober mother for a glance. She looked over to the nurse.
"Your mother is free to go if she would like."
"If I would like. I am forty-seven years old. I am a professor at Columbia. I can make my own decisions." She snapped at everyone in her room. She handed Olivia both bags. "Let's go."
Olivia's gut was telling her this was wrong, but she couldn't tell her mother no. "Okay let's go." Olivia quietly walked out with Serena.
A young Olivia was in the living room sitting on the floor finishing the chicken nuggets and tater tots she made for herself. She was watching ice skating portions of the Olympics. She was mesmerized that with the girls jumping on the ice landing on a thin blade.
"Olivia turn that off and clean up this mess." Serena snapped sitting on the couch.
Olivia turned off the TV and looked at her mother, "Do you think we go?"
"Go where?" She asked as laid back on the couch as the room began to spin.
She was picking up the plate from Serena's dinner and the empty bottle of wine and the empty glass"To one of the skating rinks. It's really a pretty sport." The ten year looked at her mom with doe eyes. She was treading lightly with her words.
Serena looked at her daughter. "Why would I take you there? So you can ask for lessons? I'm not paying for you to do a sport, that you aren't cut out to do."
"But, I just…"
Serena slammed her hand on the couch, "Stop! We're not going. That's final. Don't Ask again. GO do the dishes." Olivia's heart sank as hearing her mother not do something else she wants to do again. She walked to the kitchen, "When you're done bring me a beer."
Olivia walked into the kitchen to clean the dishes. She dried the dishes and put them away. She returned to the livingroom and whipped down the coffee table. To see Serena asleep. She placed the beer on the coaster. She took the throw on the back of the couch, to tuck her mother in. She turned the TV back on and turned the volume down to finish watching the competition.
Olivia walked into the apartment with Serena. Serena walked into the kitchen as Olivia unpacked the bags, she put everything in away in their proper spot. "Okay, everything is away. Are you hungry? Do you want me to order take out?" Olivia explained to her mother as she walked into the kitchen watching Serena drinking a cup of wine. "Come on Mom are you serious?"
"Don't be over dramatic Olivia, that place was one big annoyance." She took a sip of the red wine she's been craving.
"So you they didn't help you at all."
"Yeah it helped me realize. I don't need help and I'm perfectly capable of handling my own life." She sipped the wine again, "and I just like to come home to a glass of wine."
Olivia didn't want to have another fight with her mother but she didn't want to be responsible for her mother either. "But for you it's never one glass of wine." Olivia grabbed the open bottle to pour it down the sink.
Serena grabbed Olivia's hand that held the bottle. "You might be twenty five and out of my place. But you are still my daughter and will do what I say. I make my own choices."
Olivia tried to jerk her hand back from the tight grip Serena had on her. "Yeah your choices. You're killing yourself. I don't want to get a call one day saying you died from liver failure or worse." Olivia pleaded with her mom for reasoning while performing a tug-of-war over the glass bottle.
"Don't be over dramatic. Give me the bottle." Olivia tightened her grip as she was pulling it down. Serena finally released her grasp.
The bottle with Olivia's hand dropping on the counter with the bottle shattering. Pieces of piercing the side of Olivia's fist. "I'm being over dramatic? Look at yourself." She immediately washed the glass piece out of her body. She grabbed the hand towel to wrap her hand as she was trying to stop the blood from running.
Serena looked at the human she raised and is her current enemy. "Get out."
Olivia grabbed the broom to clean up the mess. "Go to bed, it's been a long day." Olivia didn't want to listen to her unreasonable mom.
"Do you know what I regret?" She hissed as she took the broom out of her hand. "I regret keeping you. You're the reason my life is a mess. So get out." She pointed at the door. "I don't want to see you again. And I want you to stop thinking you know what's best for me. When I look at you. You make me want to drink."
Olivia was at a loss of words. Serena hasn't been shy about being nice to Olivia. She has never told Olivia she regretted her. Serena was the soberest she's seen in a long time, "Fine. I'll see you in a week." She said under her breath she opened the door.
"Don't come back. You only cause pain and regret. I'm tired of playing this game." Serena shouted out as Olivia closed the door on her mother.
Olivia was trying hard to breath. She floated her way to her car. She did not remember driving home. She could hear times where Olivia and Serena screamed in the past. She can remember each time she's had to clean up a broken bottle, every time she had to hold Serena hair while she had too much to drink. A tear rolled down her face that she could feel the next time, she might see her mother would be placing her in a pine box.
Seventeen year old Olivia was sitting at a café with her estranged brother Simon Marsden. She was trying to get to know a sibling she found out through DNA research. She looked at the kid that was three years younger than her. He gave her information about her father. He explained how Joseph was an alcoholic that ended up leading to his suicide.
They met up a couple times to get each other. Always in a public setting. Olivia had a job as barista when she turned sixteen to earn money without having to ask Serena for money to start her freedom. She had no problem being able to buy her brother a cup of coffee. They talked about how they were doing for school and how Liv scored high on her ACT. It was nice for Olivia to have someone happy for her.
They were laughing together, until Serena walked into the establishment. "Olivia." she stood next to their table in her cream coat holding a black purse.
"Mom what are you doing here?" Olivia didn't know if she should stand next to her or continue sitting.
"I had a break in between classes. I thought I would see you and grab a cup of coffee." She looked at the familiar face. "Who's this?"
"This is Simon." Olivia gave his first name alone.
"I'm her brother."
Olivia's heart dropped to her stomach as she clenched her fist, knowing that was the wrong thing Simon could have said. "Brother?! Is that so?" She looked at Olivia avoiding eye contact. "Olivia?" She watched her daughter stay silent. "I'll see you at home."
"Shit." Olivia softly expressed as she watched her mother leave the establishment.
"Olivia, I'm so sorry."
"It… It… It's okay Simon." She couldn't be mad at her fourteen year old brother. He was trying to make friendly conversation. "But I need to get back to work." Olivia was frazzled, not looking forward to going home.
Simon touched Olivia's arm as she was getting up, "Call me if you need anything."
Olivia hugged her brother, "Okay I will." She exited the conversation to get her apron behind her bar.
Olivia came home around 10pm after to see Serena sitting on the couch. She was drinking once again. She was almost down a brand new bottle of vodka. Olivia tried to avoid Serena all together. She tried to walk past the living room to enter her room.
"Are you happy with yourself?" Serena asked, pouring another shot.
Olivia turned around to look at her zoned out mother. "I wasn't trying to do this to hurt you. I was just curious."
Serena gave Olivia dagger eyes. "Curious about what?"
"I don't know, I was just trying to find what was missing."
"Did you meet him." She took the shot.
Olivia didn't want to break her mother's heart but needed to be honest. "He killed himself." She choked out.
Serena scoffed, "So he made women suffer and what couldn't deal with the guilty conscience." She poured another shot.
"Mom." Olivia's voice shook. "Think you had enough." Olivia tried to take the bottle off the table. Serena grabbed the bottle but missed the handle to drop the bottle on the floor. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to hurt you."
Serena grabbed the neck of the bottle to lunge at Olivia. "You're my daughter. I had you. I raised you, I fed and clothed you. Do you understand."
Olivia put her hands up to calm down her mom. "Yes I get that. I don't know what I was thinking." She was trying to surrender her faults.
"Damn right you weren't thinking. As long as you live under this house, no one will have you." Serena lunged once again at Olivia.
This was the first time Olivia has ever feared for her safety like this. Serena walked closer to Olivia. Olivia froze not knowing what to do as she stared at the broken glass coming towards her. She knew she either was going to get injured or needed to react. Olivia kicked her mother in the stomach to get her to drop the bottle. She didn't think she hit her mother that hard or the alcohol got to Serena. She watched her mother collapse to the ground passing out. Olivia didn't know what to do. She stepped over Serena's body to feel her breathing.
A scared and panicked Olivia quickly went into her room to gather a bag of the things to leave the apartment
I hope you enjoy the update
