Olivia put on a brave face but the truth was that seeing Rachel flirt with Alex had disconcerted her. And she couldn't stop herself from imagining what it meant. She fell into conversation without drawing any unnecessary attention but needed a breather from it all. She excused herself to the ladies room.
Olivia was just coming out from the stall when Rachel entered the bathroom.
"Hey" Rachel said, her tone effervescent.
"Hey yourself" Olivia responded, quickly making her way to the sink and avoiding eye contact.
Rachel closed the stall door behind her but continued chatting, oblivious for the moment.
"So Alex is really great" she said in a loud voice.
"Yup" Olivia replied curtly, letting out a deep breath. It was becoming increasingly hard for her to keep her cool.
"No, seriously, I really really like her" Rachel reinforced, seemingly unfazed by Olivia's lack of engagement.
Rachel flushed, emerging from the stall.
"Hey, did you hear me? I said I really like Alex."
"Yeah, Rach, you made that very clear" Olivia said more pointedly than she had intended. She turned back to the mirror, pushing a few loose strands of hair away from her face.
"Whoa, what's your problem?" Rachel asked, pausing at the sink to look directly at her friend.
"I don't have a problem" Olivia said, knowing it was far from believable.
Rachel stared at her for a few moments, trying to understand where this tension was coming from.
"Liv... I'm confused. I was just being friendly. You and I broke up years ago and this hasn't been an iss-" Rachel ventured before Olivia cut her off.
"Please, don't flatter yourself. I'm - whatever, just drop it" Olivia said, yanking a sheet of paper towel from the dispenser.
"Wait a second, exactly who are you jealous of here?" Rachel asked, realization slowly dawning on her.
"I'm not jealous of anyone" Olivia snapped.
"Oh my god, you like her" Rachel stated softly.
"I don't like her. I just don't need my co-worker groped by one of my friends, that's all" Olivia bit back, turning to lean against the sink with her arms crossed, finally facing her friend.
The look on Rachel's face immediately made her regret her words. She had gone too far.
"Ok" Rachel started, carefully. "I'm pretty certain that you're dealing with something here so I'm going to let this slide. And when you apologize, which you will, I'll accept. But... if you ever pull this shit with me again, we're going to have a big problem, understand?"
Olivia looked down at the floor, unable to face her. She knew she should apologize but couldn't bring herself to do it.
Rachel started for the door but stopped. She didn't bother to look back at Olivia.
"And for what it's worth, she's been staring at you all night, you fucking idiot" she said before pushing the door open and leaving Olivia by herself.