Olivia checked her phone; it was three-thirty, the time when she was scheduled to meet Kemi. Impatient to once again have that kind of close friendship she desperately missed with her old girlfriends back in LA, she peered around the park, scanning the faces of the people that were entering for a likeness to the photo on Kemi's profile.
"Do you mind?"
Olivia turned to look at the man who had stopped at the bench she was sitting on, motioning to the empty space next to her. He was an older man, about Peter's age, fairly non-descript to her eyes, average height, average brown hair, average everything except for the bushy beard he was sporting.
"Actually, I'm waiting for someone."
Olivia tried her best to sound cold and standoffish, wanting to scare this strange man away so she could wait for her friend in peace.
"Are you now?" The man couldn't help but smile to himself. "I'll tell you what, why don't I… sit down and when your friend arrives, I'll leave. Deal?"
Olivia's eyes that had been narrowed with suspicion at the arrival of the stranger now widened with delight.
"You're Scottish!" she cried excitedly, a broad smile spreading across her face.
"Guilty as charged."
Peter sauntered across the factory floor and into Carla's office; although she was talking on the phone, she motioned him in and pointed to a chair. She clearly wanted him to stay.
After placing a soft kiss on Carla's forehead, he slouched down into the chair she had selected and waited for her to finish the call.
When finally she did end the call, she let out a long sigh.
"Tough day, love?" he asked.
"Tough phone call," she clarified, "that was Suzy."
"Oh," Peter leaned forward in his seat now, curious as to what Olivia's other mother wanted, "not bad news, is it?"
"No, nothing like that," Carla shook her head, "but, yes, I guess it is bad news in a way."
"Well…?"
"Suzy thinks it's time for Olivia to go home. To LA."
"I see," Peter remained non-committal for now, "how do you feel about that?"
"She's got a life in LA," Carla reasoned, "she's got school, she's got friends, she's got Suzy. I can't expect her to stay here indefinitely and, I dunno, hang around all day doing nowt but whatever she gets up to on that phone of hers."
"You do know there's schools here she can go to."
"Peter, don't."
"Don't what?"
"I know it's out of character for me, but I'm trying to not be selfish and to do the right thing for Olivia. And Suzy."
"You really think the right thing is sending her away?"
"I don't have the power to keep her here," Carla bemoaned, "I have no legal rights, okay, none. I lost any rights I had years ago."
"Talk to Suzy, tell her you need more time."
"Peter, stop! Please don't get my hopes up."
"I'm just saying you've got options."
"Do I?" Carla shook her head despondently. "I'll talk to Liv about it tonight, see how she feels."
"So, you've heard the Scottish accent before?"
Olivia didn't answer the man; after her first jolt of excitement, she'd relapsed back into wariness.
"Are you not talking to me now?"
"My mum told me not to speak to strangers," she explained.
"Your mother, is she the Scottish one?" he asked. "Because I know Scottish mothers can be quite scary, at least mine was."
"Silly, if my mum was Scottish then that would make me Scottish too."
"You're not Scottish?" He feigned shock at the thought. "I would never have guessed."
"I'm American," Olivia educated him with a roll of her eyes.
"And you're talking to a stranger," he pointed out.
"Well…" Olivia scrambled for an excuse, "we're in public, aren't we, and I'm pretty sure I could outrun you if you tried anything."
He laughed heartily at Olivia's reasoning before further pressing her Scottish connection. "If not your mother, who do you know that's Scottish?"
"My uncle."
"Ahhh, so you are Scottish. A proper blood Scot."
"Half," she corrected him; "half Scottish, half English."
"And yet you say you're American. I'm not sure I understand how genetics works after all."
"It's kind of complicated."
"Do you want to tell me about it?"
"No," she shook her head and rose to her feet, "I don't think my friend's coming."
"So stay and talk to me," he suggested a little too keenly.
"I don't think so," she replied, the coolness returning to her voice, "I think I'm just gonna go home."
"Well, it was nice to meet you and I hope you catch up with your friend."
"Thanks," she half-smiled at him, "I'll seeya."
"I hope so," he muttered to himself as Olivia walked away.
Dejected, her head hanging low, Olivia began her walk home when her phone gave that tell-tale chirp accompanied by a short vibration that let her know a new message had been received. Impatiently pulling the phone out of her pocket, she read the new message from, as she had rightly guessed, her no-show so-called friend, Kemi.
I'm sorry I couldn't come. My parents found out I was meeting someone from the internet. They thought it was weird and grounded me. Really sorry
Remembering Carla's concerns over her talking to a stranger on the internet, Olivia momentarily felt guilty for thinking poorly of Kemi not showing up. But then she remembered that, despite her mum's concerns, she, Olivia, had still shown up, and the bitterness returned. Nevertheless, she replied with as much generosity as she could muster.
That sucks, she wrote. We'll do it another time
Although Olivia trudged up the stairs, her feet dragging on each step, she was happy to be home and hoped her mum wasn't working late at the factory tonight; she really needed a mum cuddle.
But, on entering the living room, she didn't immediately run to Carla; instead, she watched and listened as her mum and step-dad talked while Peter massaged his wife's neck and shoulders, planting soft kisses on her skin as he worked the kinks out of her muscles.
With both of their backs to the door, they did not realise there was anyone there to watch what they were doing or listen to what they were saying.
"I was thinking," Peter began, Carla interjecting with a soft moan before he could continue: "why don't you go back to LA with Olivia?"
"You trying to get rid of me?" she murmured.
"Just for a couple of weeks. Give you two a bit more time together. And you can catch up with Suzy, you haven't seen her face-to-face in years."
"That would be amazing," Carla said, "but what about the factory, there's no one I trust to run that place; no one but me."
"So work remotely," he suggested, "you'll figure it out, you always do."
"Yeah," Carla smiled, warming up to the idea, "that's perfect. Thank you, baby, that will make Liv leaving much easier to cope with."
"No!" Olivia cried out from her eavesdropping position by the door.
Startled, Carla and Peter both turned around, horrified to discover that Olivia had overheard them.
"You can't send me back!" Olivia declared. "I won't go! I'll runaway! I will, I'll runaway!"