3:45 am:
Olivia unlocked the door to her and Anna's assigned hotel room for the rest of the night.
She placed her hand on the wall closest to the door, searching for a light switch. When she finally found it, she turned the light on, eliminating all the darkness in the room.
Olivia went out to her car that was coincidentally parked in front of the room. She carefully opened the back door, not wanting to startle her sleeping child. She bent down, unbuckling her seatbelt. She weaved the seatbelt from being around her without causing Anna to awaken from her deep slumber. Olivia placed her hands underneath Anna's underarms, lifting her out of the carseat.
Anna shifted in her arms for a moment before resting her head on Olivia's shoulder. Once she was in the room, she walked over to the queen size bed, pulling back the covers, laying her daughter down with as much ease as possible. She untied Anna's sneakers, dropping them next to the bed. Olivia laid the covers on top of Anna before placing a gentle kiss on her forehead.
"I love you, my angel."
A small grin crossed Anna's face, her green eyes remaining closed.
"I love you too, mommy."
Olivia stood upright, heading back out to the car to get their bags.
"Mommy."
Before Olivia's foot was outside the door, she turned around to look at Anna, whose weary green eyes were now opened.
"What's wrong, Anna?"
"Can you get Elsa out of the car?"
"Of course I can get Elsa."
Managing to make only one trip, Olivia set the bags down on the table that was next to the room's window.
She strolled over to Anna, handing her Elsa.
"Thank you," she placed Elsa under the covers next to her with the doll's head next to her on the pillow.
"You're welcome."
Olivia brought the bag of items she purchased at the 24 hour CVS she stopped at a couple of hours ago into the overly lit bathroom.
She rummaged inside the plastic bag until she came across a box of Garnier hair dye in Blue Black and a pair of scissors. With the hair tie she already had around her wrist, she tied her long blonde hair into a ponytail, bringing it to the side. She ripped open the package that contained the scissors, cutting her entire ponytail off. She watched as it fell to the white tiled bathroom floor along with the hair tie. Her hair was now up to her jawline. Tearing her eyes off of the bathroom mirror, she looked down at the box of dye, and skimmed over the directions for a brief tutorial.
Well, here goes nothing.
6:30 am:
A part of Olivia wished she didn't shower after dying her hair. The shower caused her to become even more restless than she already was. It was too late for her to try and make an attempt to go back to sleep. She wanted to be on the road by at least eight o'clock. Like any normal human being, she perferred driving during the day. At night, people tend to drive like fucking psychopaths. She didn't want to risk, god forbid, getting into a car accident with Anna.
Olivia fed the payphone that was a few feet away from her hotel room four quarters. After she inserted the last coin, she began to dial her mother's house number. She brought the phone to her ear, holding it a couple inches away from the skin. You never know what kind of germs these public phones carry.
"Hello?"
The sound of her mother's voice nearly made Olivia break down and burst into tears.
"Mom, it's me."
She heard her mother gasp and begin to weep, trying to control her sobs to remain coherent.
"Livy, oh my god.. are you and Anna okay?"
"Yeah, we're fine. I take it you already know what happened?"
"I do.. It's all over the news right now. The police are lookin' for you, baby."
"Yeah, I bet. Have they questioned you yet?"
"No, but I'm sure they will make their way here soon."
A painful silence occured between the two women.
"Livy, you should know what you did was right. If you didn't do what you did, it would have been you and Anna on that kitchen floor."
"I know.. it's just the authorities in Reno don't see it that way."
"We all know why that is. Please tell me you're at least out of state."
"Yeah, I am."
"Good. Do you need me to wire money to you somewhere?"
"No, I'm good mom. I'm calling you now because I'm going to drop off the radar for a while."
Olivia's mother sighed, hating the idea her daughter has to be on the run for a crime that should be labeled as self defense.
"I understand. I love you. Tell my little monkey I love her too."
"I will. I love you."
Olivia hung up the phone and the tears busted through the emotional levy. It was good she was getting it all out of her system now when Anna isn't in front of her. She needed to be strong for her. Be her rock no matter what happens.
She wiped her fallen tears away with both of her hands before reentering the hotel room where Anna was. When she opened the door, she found her watching Frozen for the millonth time on Olivia's Ipad.
"Hey baby, you're up early."
Anna looked up at her mom, her mouth agape as she took in her mom's new appearance.
"Whoa! You look different."
"A good different, right?"
Anna nodded.
"Can I dye my hair too," she held up both of her blonde pigtails.
"That all depends, what color do you like?," she replied sarcastically.
"Really? I can have purple hair?"
"Absolutely not. You're perfect just the way you are."
Anna pouted, going back to watching the movie on the Ipad.
"I was thinking we go get some pancakes at the diner across the street. Are you as hungry as I am?"
"Can I have chocolate chip?"
"Yes."
Anna bounced on the bed in excitement while she was sitting Indian style on the bed.
"Let's get you dressed so we can feed our tummies. Does that sound like a plan?", Olivia pulled out some clothes from Anna's back pack.
"That sounds like a puan," Anna replied, recieving a chuckle from Olivia because of the way her daughter pronounced plan.
Olivia cut up her daughter's large plate of chocolate chip pancakes while Anna looked at the map opened up on the table.
"Can I pick where we are going to live, mommy?"
She set down the used utensils, moving the plate back in front of Anna.
"Really? You want to pick where we live?"
She nodded, pouring syrup all over her plate, nearly emptying the container, handing it to her mom.
"Thanks."
"You're welcome," she responded, stabbing her first piece of pancake with her fork.
"Okay Anna, wherever you decide to live, that's going to be our permanent home, so choose wisely."
She swirled her small finger around the map for a good fifteen minutes until she placed her finger down somewhere in California.
"Where did you choose to live?"
Anna stared at the word with intensity.
"Chha..Chaa..", she tried to pronounce the word to the best of her ability.
"Would you like some help, Anna banana?"
She nodded, turning the map to Olivia, keeping her finger on the map. Once the map was one hundred percent in front of Olivia, she removed her hand from the paper.
"Charming. You want to live in Charming?"
"Yes."
"Charming it is, my princess."