Occurs directly after Betrayal. If you have not read or finished reading the fourth book of the Cainsville Series, please do not go further – SPOILERS.
All rights to characters, places, and story themes belong to the author of the Cainsville Series, Kelley Armstrong. I am merely borrowing them.
When she got back to her apartment the next morning, she was lost as to how to spend her day. She wasn't ready to face Gabriel yet, and had asked Rose not to mention that she was back from her trip early. He might find out, however, since he worked with the Satan's Saints. If the trouble Ricky was called home for was big enough, Don would have no choice but to discuss it with Gabriel. Don might mention in passing that Ricky was back, or Gabriel might see him himself at the clubhouse. The idea that he might find out about the break up from someone other than herself made her skin crawl. She hated keeping secrets from him, but refused to stoop so low as to ask Ricky to leave it to her to tell him - it would be too easy for Ricky to read something into that, and she wanted to keep her friendship with Ricky as Gabriel-free as possible. After she fed TC and finishing the cup of coffee she had made herself, she decided to clean up, just to keep busy. She washed down the counters, and swept the floor. She cleaned TC's litter box, and food dishes. When she went to wash her few breakfast dishes, she noticed just how much coffee was left in the coffee pot - without realizing it, she had made enough coffee for two. She couldn't remember the last time she made coffee for just herself, which, in turn, made her think of the first time she hadn't made it for just herself. It was the morning after the first time Gabriel had stayed on her couch. He had been leaning against her counter, feet bare, shirt untucked, watching her work her coffee machine. She remembered thinking his eyes were so blue that it was like he was looking into her soul. Her stomach did a flip. And with that thought, she decided to take a long, cold shower.
As she was getting dressed, Olivia noticed something she hadn't noticed in a long while - her tattoo. She had gotten it to represent her bond with Ricky. She loved it at the time but now it seemed incomplete. She wondered to herself how much it would cost to add to it, and impetuously looked up Chicago tattoo parlours on her phone to make an appointment.
An hour and a half later, she was pulling into a small parking lot - she had been lucky, some young girl had cancelled her appointment, and she had been able to easily convinced the guy to see her instead of taking a long coffee break. She looked incredibly out of place walking into the parlour, but she didn't mind. She couldn't stand the idea of having a symbol for the Cwn Annwn on her body, and not one for the Tylwyth Teg - ah hell why lie to herself, she couldn't stand having branded herself with a symbol for Ricky and not Gabriel. She considered having her tattoo changed to Matilda's symbol, a mix of both the sun and moon, but thought better of it. She was no more Matilda than the men were their ancient characters. She once described it to Gabriel like a spoke on a wheel, and that's how she saw it. She wasn't Matilda, just a descendent. She talked her idea through with her artist, and an hour later, walked out into the bright sun with a renewed sense of closure. Instead of being petty and changing the moon to something entirely different, she had shown the tattoo artist the Matilda symbol, but had him tweek it. The sun and moon were no longer together, but their own separate entities, close enough to each other to represent Matilda, but far enough away to represent their individual princes as well.
Feeling much better than she had that morning, Olivia decided to grab a mocha, and do something she hadn't done in a long while - shop. She didn't care for it like other women, but with a little nudge from Gabriel, she had decided to purchase the Carew house, so she may as well take the time to look for decorating ideas and more furniture while she had the time. She would come into her inheritance soon enough, so picking out furniture and placing it on layaway now would save her time later when she could afford to buy it outright. She had hit a few department stores and hadn't found anything she liked enough to place in her own house, when she came across a banner advertising an outdoor furniture sale. By the time she bought the house, she wouldn't have many nice evenings to spend in her garden, but decided to look anyway.
As soon as she saw it, she knew she had to have it. It was a stand-up fire pit with a wide enough rim around the middle to place drinks. It was beautiful. She had just over two grand in her bank account, and decided she could afford to spurge a little. Gabriel had purchased most of the essential furniture she needed so she really didn't have too much left to get. She decided she would get some chairs along with it and surprise Gabriel. He had suggested setting up a fire pit or outdoor heater so she could enjoy her garden on cool nights. She suspected he also enjoyed sitting in the her garden, but would never outright ask him. He always seemed more at ease when they were sitting on a park bench, or watching the view of the city from the wall sized window he had in his apartment.
By the time she was finished looking through everything they had, she had narrowed down her choices to two. The gravity chairs, which she enjoyed a great deal, were buy one get one 50% off which was a great deal considering she was on a budget, but she had also found a large, and incredibly comfortable outdoor love-seat. It was just big enough for two, and came with two small end tables. It was a little more than she would have liked to spend, but she convinced herself that the end tables and comfiness made it worth it. Deep down she knew she chose it because she wanted an excuse to sit next to Gabriel, instead of in a separate chair. She was able to talk the sales consultant into having her purchases delivered that afternoon, and called Rose to ask for her help setting it all up.
Olivia spent that night with Rose again. She spent her time poking through Rose's knick-knacks and books. Rose didn't mind, and encouraged her to inspect things she felt Olivia would enjoy. Before going to bed, she texted Gabriel to say that she was back from her trip early and would see him at the office in the morning. All she got in return was a messaging saying he had a meeting at 10:30am and he would expect her to accompany him.
When she got to the office the next morning, the building was extra warm. She greeted Lydia and passed over her morning coffee, which Olivia always brought with her. She spend a few minutes making small talk, asking about her grandchildren. Once their regular pleasantries has been exhausted, Olivia inquires about the 10:30 meeting. Lydia had apparently not been informed of any new clients, but had been told to not expect them back for several hours. As Olivia gathered her things to make her way to her own desk in Gabriel's office, She hesitated at the door... She normally walk right in, but she didn't want to appear presumptuous today. She knocked and waited. Instead of calling out a brisk "come in" Gabriel opened the door for her like he had been waiting on the other side like a butler. He accepted the coffee she offered him, and invited her in. Once she was in his inner office, she knew why the place was so warm - he had his fireplace going.
"Oh my god, you remembered!" She exclaimed, forgetting how nervous she had felt a few moment earlier.
"Of course, what made you think I had forgotten?"
"Well you HAD been drinking, and you slept on your own living room floor that night." She teased.
"You spent the night next to me on that floor, if you recall. If you can remember our conversation, why wouldn't I?" He countered. Her cheeks heated at the memory. Before she could get her mind back to the present, he said, "We should get going, I don't want to be late." Brisk as always.
