Olive's eyes darted to and fro, sweeping across the perimeter of the Pie Hole, scanning it nervously. This gave her the appearance of one of those ridiculous looking cat clocks, minus the swinging tail pendulum, as she idled behind the counter ready to run at the slightest sight of Trevor Trask Jr.

She wiped the counter, paying no attention to the morning customers seated there, but keeping full attention on the door should he appear once again. This time she was ready and would not let him enter without her knowing. Perhaps she was a bit too jumpy; when she heard footsteps behind her she let out a stifled squeal and fell to the floor, only to see it was just Ned carrying a fresh pie out to the display case.

"Olive?" Ned stopped in his tracks to stare at her as she crouched behind the counter, holding the dishrag over her head as if somehow it was to protect her. "Is something wrong?"

"Oh, heh." Olive turned a bright shade of crimson as she stood up and removed the rag from her head. "Oh, um, no not really." She laughed, trying to play off the strangeness of the situation. "I thought I saw a mouse." She lied, whispering so that none of the patrons would hear and think that the Pie Hole was unclean.

Ned looked dubious as he placed his latest confection in the glass case. "Uh huh. Don't people usually jump up—like on a chair—when they see a mouse, instead of dropping to the floor?" He whispered back.

"Uh, did I say mouse? I meant bee, yep bee. They fly." Olive said quickly. "Yep, I had to duck to avoid it. Missed me by this close." She smiled, pressing her finger to her thumb.

Ned snapped the glass case door shut and whipped off his apron, tossing it aside. "Maybe you can see if anyone needs anything?" He suggested, trying his best to change the subject. "I'll be over there if you need me." He nodded his head over to the booth where Chuck and Emerson were seated before walking off to join them.

Olive let out a sigh and pressed herself up against the wall. Her nerves were as such that right now it was the only thing keeping her body upright, as her legs were wiggly as gelatin. She was quite embarrassed she had let herself act this way, that she let Trevor have an impenetrable hold of fear on her.

When her nerves subsided she put on her best smile and began chatting up the customers seated at the counter. While asking what type of pie one would like she heard the tinkle of the door as it swung open. Instinctively she looked in that direction and felt her whole body go cold.

There he was, as ugly as ever. His dark hair was slicked back revealing the beady eyes she so vividly recalled. He was also still wearing a ridiculous green bowtie, visible from underneath a heavy wool blazer. Olive let out a silent squeal and fell to the floor once more. She could hear his footsteps inch closer and closer to her on the parqay floor. Holding her breath all she could hear was the clinking of silverware against china and the muted laugh of Chuck from a few feet away. Then after a minute or two she heard retreating footsteps and the tinkle of the door as it opened once more.

Gathering her composure, she slowly lifted herself upwards until the tops of her eyes were the only part of her visible above the countertop. She took a quick glance around to see that the coast was clear. He was indeed gone, and as she climbed to her feet she found, yet again, another postcard lying on the counter. The customers seated there all gave her the strangest of looks, but she was more concerned with her narrow escape to care. She grabbed the postcard and dashed over to the booth where the trio was sitting, enjoying coffee and a few slices of pie.

"Is, is he gone?" Olive slid into the booth next to Ned, practically climbing over him to look out the window.

Ned's body grew tense from the close physical contact. "Um, who?" Olive slid away from him and fell back into the seat. "Does this have anything to do with that mouse and or bee from before?" He asked, suspecting something was up.

"Kinda."

Emerson, looking up from his piece of pie, took notice of the look of fear in Olive's eyes. "Wait a minute," His eyes traveled to the window, to where Olive was seated, to the counter and back. "Is this mouse and or bee the same mouse and or bee I was supposed to find before he found foundyou?"

Ned and Chuck looked thoroughly confused.

Olive nodded. "Yep." She tossed the newest postcard on the table. "Guess I won't need your help after all. He already knows where I live and now where I work, so it's inevitable I'll be running into him."

"Wait." Ned said abruptly. "What's going on?"

Chuck leaned forward eagerly. "Who are you talking about?"

"A person from my past I never wanted to see again." Olive sighed. "He came in and left me that. I take it that's about number 9 or 10 by now." She pointed to the card on the table and Chuck reached for it, turning it over in her hand. "He's been sending them to me all week."

"Emevollliwuoy?" Chuck read out loud. Her eyes squinted as she pondered its meaning. "That's odd—what does it mean?"

Olive shrugged.

Chuck flipped over the card and smiled. "This looks like a nice place. I take it has some significance for you?"

"Yes it's where I trained to be a jockey."

"So wait a minute," Ned interrupted. "the person who gave you this is someone from your jockey past, but someone that seeing again bothers you so much that you would go so far as to hire Emerson to keep him from you?" Ned looked back to Emerson for answers.

"Hey I know about as much as you do." Emerson replied. "Which is nothing." He stared in Olive's direction and squared his jaw. "I think it's time you filled us in on what's really going on with this guy."

Olive sighed. Now that there was nothing short of fleeing town that would keep her from eventually meeting up with Trevor, there was really no need for secrecy anymore. It was time to let them in on all the embarrassing details. "He's my ex."

The three of them sat in a stunned silence. Ned looked particularly taken aback and after a moment Emerson laughed. "I've heard of desperate measures taken to avoid an ex, but this is ridiculous."

"Oh." Chuck said. "I guess things didn't end well then?"

"Not really. It ended with me breaking off our engagement, so I guess that doesn't qualify as ending well."

"You were engaged?" Ned choked.

"Yes, a long time ago." Olive shuddered. She hated to talk about it, but knew she had to. Olive hoped that if she got it all off her chest, it somehow might make things better.

"About ten years or so."

Chuck looked quite intrigued. "And now he's shown up after all these years?"

Olive nodded, wondering what the reason was for his sudden appearance in her life.

"Well I think it's sweet." Chuck smiled. "One toe this side of stalker—but sweet nonetheless." She giggled. "I mean it's obvious that he still cares for you. So much that he didn't stop thinking about you all this time. Knowing that one day, somehow, someway, you would reconnect." Chuck sighed.

Olive Snook realized that the dreamy expression in Charlotte Charles' eyes was probably brought on by thinking about Ned. She did her best not to roll her eyes bitterly.

"Maybe you two can get past the whole broken engagement thing and…"

"No!" Olive said a bit too forcefully; her and Trevor were definitely not like Chuck and Ned. There was no yearning to reconnect on Olive's side. "I mean," She regained her composure. "There's nothing to get past, nothing to get over. I just never want to see him again. Ever."

Chuck looked confused and Ned and Emerson wisely stayed out of the conversation, instead staying quiet observers. "What happened then, between you two?"

Olive readied herself to tell the tale she rarely told.

"I met Trevor Trask Jr. at the track I trained at—he was the owner's son. To be blunt, from the first moment I met him I couldn't stand him."

"Well, some of the best romances start out that way." Chuck wagged a finger in her direction. "Just consult any chick flick for reference."

"No, No." Olive shook her head.. "It wasn't like that. I literally couldn't stand him. Everything he did made my skin crawl, his voice was like nails on a chalkboard, and all I ever felt for him was a mixture of pity and disgust until…."

"Until you fell in love?" Chuck smiled.

Olive was horrified. She refused to believe she ever felt such a true and powerful emotion for him. "It wasn't love….it was more of an infatuation. "I can't explain it." Olive looked at Ned and Emerson. While Ned looked typically uncomfortable, as he usually did whenever Olive discussed her personal life, Emerson was quietly picking at his pie with his fork. He had clearly lost interest in her story once he found Trevor was just an ex and nothing more. "One day I saw him in the stables and suddenly the only thing I could think about was him—wanting to be with him. Everything I once hated I adored. The more I was around him the stronger the feelings grew…until one day we were engaged."

"Hmm," Chuck reached for her coffee and took a long, slow sip. "Must be pheromones." She said thoughtfully.

Ned raised an eyebrow. "Pheromones?"

"Undetectable scents we give off to attract the opposite sex. He must have been chock full of pheromones."

Olive highly doubted it was pheromones; instead she liked to blame the sudden attraction temporary insanity.

"Soon after getting engaged," Olive continued. "I turned pro and my jockeying career took off. I was apart from him more and more, and pretty soon I found that my feelings for him faded away. It was as if I had never had those feelings at all."

"Well, people do grow apart." Ned said quietly.

"Yes. But whenever I saw him again it was like—bam!" She pounded her fist on the table which rattled the dishes. This got Emerson's attention. "Those feelings came rushing back and I couldn't control it. I couldn't think straight, I couldn't…" She trailed off; unable to vocalize the strange, intense way she felt when she was around Trevor. Words didn't seem to do it justice. "It was like the feelings had come back from the dead. Do you know what that feels like?" She glanced around the table. "When something you thought was dead and buried just pops back up and…"

Chucks cheeks flushed a bright pink while all the color drained from Ned's face as he let out a nervous chuckle. Emerson looked back and forth between them, enjoying their obvious discomfort; obvious to everyone but Olive, who was too distressed to notice. "We get it." He replied. "Trust me, we all get it."

"Well, I couldn't stand it. I hated feeling so….so….powerless." She moaned; finally she had found the perfect way to describe it. "So I broke it off. But Trevor's very persistent…"

"Obviously." Chuck nodded.

"And no matter how many times I told him we were over, he just kept popping back up in my life through the years. But when my horse Pie died and I quit the jockeying world, I told him I was leaving to do missionary work in Africa…"

Emerson snorted.

"I never wanted to see him again." Olive sighed and slouched over the table, resting her head in her hands. "And I thought it was the perfect escape. I have no idea how he found me."

Chuck reached out and touched her arm reassuringly. "Tell you what, if he shows up here again we can tell him he's made a mistake and that you're still in Africa."

Olive smiled. "Thanks."

But Olive Snook was not in Africa doing missionary work as she had told the man she never wanted to see again. She was sitting in the Pie Hole. And as she sat in the Pie Hole, talking about the man she never wanted to see again, that man came strolling in through the front door.