**** Thursday ****
To say that she was a little cranky this morning was an understatement. Having woke up at 6:00am without the assistance of her alarm clock after alternating between tossing and turning in the bed and staring at her ceiling all night, the last thing Olivia wanted to deal with this morning was an overzealous, flirty EPA agent on top of knowing that two men she didn't even know would be in her loft today gathering info on Ethan Zobelle. This should be fun thought Olivia as she made her way to the jobsite.
"Miss Parker, it is Miss, isn't it?" asked Todd Samuels, California EPA Field Agent.
"Yes, it's Miss. As you can see, all permits are in order and we have implemented all eco-green conditions to make our community qualified for the E-Friendly rating."
"It does appear that everything is in order. I'll submit the documents once I get back to my office. Why don't I call you when I have everything processed and I can answer any questions you may have over dinner tomorrow night?"
Oh, he's trying to be smooth…."You've done such a great job explaining everything during this process, that I actually don't have any questions. Here's my business card. I know you're extremely busy and I wouldn't want to take up anymore of your time." Olivia stated nicely hoping Mr. Samuels caught on. While the flirty EPA agent was attractive, he didn't cause her stomach to flip…not like a certain tall, tan, tattooed, extremely silent biker….."Damn it!"
"Excuse me?"
Suddenly realizing she had said that out loud she quickly recovered. "I'm sorry. I just remembered an email I need to get sent before lunch." Olivia said hoping she was convincing. "Thank you for helping us with this process. We really appreciate everything you've done to expedite the paperwork. I'll be looking for your email." Olivia said making her way back over toward the vehicles.
Realizing his flirting was getting him no where he settled on watching the stunning brunette walk ahead of him and being able to look at her ass. Opening his car door, he put the paperwork in the back seat. "I should be able to have the package to you by end of business tomorrow." the dejected man said. "Have a nice afternoon, Miss Parker."
"Thank you. I hope you do as well." smiled Olivia silently thanking that this meeting was now over. Walking over to her car, she quickly checked for missed messages.
"Olivia, you know what time Elliott will be here?" asked Michael.
"He should be here around one. He had a parent-teacher conference this morning and was coming up after that."
"Okay. Surprised to see you here so early this morning. Didn't think you wanted to deal with Mr. Samuels?" Michael said grinning at his co-worker.
"Oh, I had no intention of dealing with him but he emailed me late yesterday saying that this morning was his only available time unless we wanted to wait three weeks."
"Well, at least that's handled. You staying up here today?"
"No, I need to get back to the office. The invitation proof should be available later today and I'm anxious to get it approved and sent back so the invitations can be ready next week. With the event just over a month away, I still have a lot left to do."
"'We're on schedule here. Finalizing the roads this week. Corners are marked on the lots in phase one. Thinking we'll start construction on the model by middle of next week."
"Michael, that is music to my ears. The sooner we can get construction started the better. Gosh, I better be getting back to the office. Let me know if you need me to bring anything up tomorrow." Olivia said walking over to her SUV.
"Drive safely."
With the sunroof open and Lady Gaga playing on the radio, Olivia was enjoying her peaceful ride back to Charming. Approaching Ralphs' Diner she caught herself scanning the parking lot for bikes. She'd be lying to herself if she denied wanting to see a certain biker, but she was determined to not let her newly found lust for an outlaw distract her anymore. Refocusing on the road ahead of her, she silently praised herself for maintaining her self control while at the same time she felt a tinge of disappointment.
He had been up all night working on Clay's "project" and had found nothing. Olivia Parker had no record, no unpaid parking ticket, nothing. Her printout off the unmentionable website was only one page….Clay was not going to be happy. Not that he ever would question his President, but Juice himself couldn't reason why Clay wanted a full-scale background check on the hot brunette. Always the dedicated intel-soldier, he grabbed the report and headed out of his room to find Clay.
"Juicy boy, you finally decide to grace us with your presence?" Chibs asked finishing his coffee.
"Yeah, yeah. Where's Clay?" Juice asked looking between Chibs and Bobby.
"He's in the office." said Bobby, eyes looking over the rim of his glasses.
"Thanks." Juice said making his way to the garage office. Looking in the window he saw Clay sitting down, reading the paper with his feet propped up.
Knock Knock….
Looking up from his paper, Clay motioned for Juice to come in. "You been working on our project?"
"Uh, yeah. Was up all night. Searched the DMV database, Illinois and Georgia court system and found nothing."
"Nothing? What the fuck you mean nothing?" Clay said already aggravated at his intel officer. "I asked you to find everything on the bitch and you're telling me you found nothing?"
"I also hacked into homeland security with an untraceable router and found nothing. Clay, she's got the cleanest record I've ever seen. She has no record." Juice stated hoping his president would ease off Olivia.
"Juice, no one is that clean. I want to know everything about this woman and I mean everything. I don't give a damn what you have to do, just do it!" and with that, Clay stood up from his chair folding the single page report into his pocket and walked outside.
"That went well." Shaking his head he walked back into the clubhouse heading straight to his dorm. To appease Clay, he had to find something on Olivia cause he sure as hell didn't want to face Clay's wrath if he didn't.
Deciding to eat lunch before going into the office, Olivia made her way to the Main Street Diner, finding a quiet booth in the corner. Enjoying the quiet atmosphere of the restaurant, she started checking her email while she waited on her vegetable plate. "Lunch by yourself today?" asked Lyla
Somewhat startled, Olivia slightly jumped in her seat. "Uh, yeah. How are you Lyla?"
"Not bad. Mind if I sit with you?"
"No, it's fine." smiled the brunette. "I'd love the company. How's your day been so far?"
"Not bad. Just out running some errands. What about you?"
"Had a meeting earlier at the jobsite and plan on going in the office for a few hours. Nothing too exciting. How's the wedding plans going?" Olivia asked picking up her iced tea. She immediately noticed that Lyla eyes shut and she turned her head toward the parking lot. "Lyla, are you okay?"
Fighting her tears, the blond took a deep breath and faced her lunch companion. "I'm okay I guess. Actually, I don't know anymore."
Reaching her hand across the table to offer some support, "We don't have to talk about it if you're not comfortable. I know we don't know each other very well." Olivia stated giving an understanding smile.
"No, it's not that, I just don't know where to start." said the bride to-be quietly. "I'm not sure there's going to be a wedding."
"Why do you think that? You were so excited about the wedding the other night at dinner."
"I know, but I'm starting to think that Opie really doesn't want this and I can't be the only one to want this marriage.
"Has something happened? The few times I've been around you two, he seems to be happy with you."
With tears in her eyes, she tries her best to hold them back. "I know he cares about me, but he's just going through the motions with us. I'm not sure if you know or not but his first wife Donna was killed about a year ago in a car wreck and he's never gotten over it. I knew all this when we got together and I honestly wasn't looking for anything more than just having fun, but he kept coming around and pursuing me and I ended up falling in love with him. He proposed a few months ago and we've been somewhat living together since then. I think his kids hate me, but I swear I'm not trying to replace their mom."
"I doubt anyone would even think that Lyla."
"Oh, you'd be surprised. If you ask anyone of the women around the club, I'm just the former stripper who's hell bent on becoming an old lady."
"Tara and Gemma think that?" questioned Olivia.
"No, I know that Tara doesn't think that now. We weren't exactly close when I first met Opie but she's been great to me now that we've gotten to know each other. Gemma, well let's just say that no woman can live up to her expectations. She's been better lately, but I'm always so damn nervous around her."
"Yeah, I'm with you on the nervous part. From what I've learned from Tara, she's definitely a force to be reckoned with. Did she get along with Donna?"
"Not really, but Donna hated the club. Didn't want Opie in it so she constantly butted heads with about everyone." Lyla said sipping on her hot tea.
"Not trying to pry or anything but hasn't Opie been in the club as long as Jax has?"
"Yep. Didn't matter. She wanted him out and he wanted to stay. Needless to say it caused major problems for them. When she died in the accident, his guilt went through the roof."
"I can see how that would cause problems in a marriage. Do you believe that Opie loves you?"
"I'm not sure. I know he cares about me, but I don't feel that he'll ever be over Donna. I don't want to compete with a ghost, cause I won't ever win." with tears coming down her face, Lyla reached into her purse for a tissue.
"I'm sorry, Lyla. I don't know what to say. I do understand where you're coming from though."
"I just somehow have to get up the courage to talk to him about this, but SONS aren't known for their communication skills."
"I'm sure if you tell him that you need to talk to him, he'll make the time. Lyla, I truly believe he loves you. I barely know either of you and I can see it. He was constantly smiling at the barbeque."
"Yeah, but he was with his family. He used to smile when we were alone, but now his focus is on the club and I'm left to deal with his kids alone. I love those kids but they resent me being around so much."
"You've got to talk to him about how you feel."
"I know but I also know that there's a real chance that he feels the same way and I'll lose him."
"Can you marry him and be happy the rest of your life feeling the way you do right now?"
"No. I watch Jax and Tara and wish that Opie looked at me that way." Lyla said looking out the window.
"They do have something really special but they've also had their own share of bad times."
"But they want the same thing….each other. A blind person can see the total love those two have for each other. I know I sound bitter and jealous. It just sucks being in a relationship that you feel like you're not enough."
"Oh, I know that feeling. Trust me."
"Sorry, it's just hard for me to believe that you have men trouble." laughed Lyla.
"I'm the queen of men trouble. Always pick the wrong one. They end up trying to control or change me and I end completely going into withdraw mode. Tara's always told me that I refuse to invest in the relationship which I guess is true."
"Have you ever been close to getting married?"
"No. Lord no. My last relationship lasted for four years and he wanted marriage and children but I never felt that with him or anyone else I've dated for that matter."
"Weren't you in love with him?"
"No, I mean I loved him but I was never in love with him. Does that make sense?"
"I think so."
"I've had a few serious relationships but I've always felt that I was some prize they won. Either they loved parading me around at their company events or they were putting me on display to their families in hopes that I'd eventually pop out some babies. And to top it off, every single one of them cheated on me. I guess you could say that I'm always the latest, must have toy that they get, play with for a short time then want to play with something else. In some weird way, finding out they've cheated actually makes me feel better knowing that I've not been able to invest anyway."
"That's so sad."
"Yeah. It would be wonderful to find a man to grow old with, but I don't have any expectations to finding that one man who I'll be enough for. I just don't see that for me. That doesn't mean that you can't have it though. You really need to talk to Opie about your feelings. I'm sure the two of you can work through this."
"His mom is taking the kids this weekend, so I plan on talking to him Saturday. Tomorrow night the club's having a party to unwind, so it'll have to wait until then. Hey, why don't you come tomorrow night? The guys seem to love you so say you'll come?"
"I'm not sure. I'm going down to Oakland tomorrow to meet with a hardwood floor dealer and I don't know what time I'll be back." Olivia said hoping she gave herself an out.
"Well, lucky for you our parties don't start until after nine, so I'm sure you'll be back before then."
"I promise I'll think about it. Lyla, I really do believe everything will work out for you and Opie. You just need to"
"Well hello Olivia. How are you today." spoke Ethan Zobelle silently walking up to the two women.
Startled from the unexpected visitor, Olivia noticed Lyla's immediate change of demeanor. "I'm just fine Mr. Zobelle."
"Ethan. You can call me Ethan. It's a gorgeous day today, I would like to take you for a walk in the park."
"I appreciate the offer, but I'm not interested." Olivia said emotionless hoping the man would get a hint and leave.
"I'm hoping we can get better acquainted. I'm concerned for you."
"You have no reason to be concerned for me and as I've already told you, I'm not interested." Olivia said looking Ethan Zobelle straight in his eyes. "Now if you'll excuse us, my friend and I were in the middle of a conversation." trying to remain as polite as she could.
"Friend? I'd highly doubt a woman of your stature would want to associate with not only a known stripper but also the soon to be whore wife of a member of SAMCRO. I know you're better than that Olivia." Zobelle said.
"Excuse me but who the hell do you think you are? I suggest you leave and we'll pretend that we never had this conversation."
"Olivia, I'm simply just looking out for you. Associating with common trash will only cause you problems and I don't want that for you."
"Mr. Zobelle this is the last time that I'm going to say this. I'm not interested in you or anything that you stand for. We're not going to be friends, nor will we associate with one another. Now accept that and leave me and my friend alone."
"I'm afraid I can't do that. You see, I'm here to help Charming re-establish the purity of the community and you associating with the unworthy is simply not acceptable."
"No one tells me who I can associate with and I'm certainly not going to let you continue to insult me or Lyla. Leave or I can assure you I will make a phone call and today won't be a good day for you."
"Olivia, I hate to tell you this, but I'm not afraid of the Charming Police Department and I'm certainly not afraid of SAMCRO."
Smiling at Lyla, "Who said anything about the Charming Police or SAMCRO? Mr. Zobelle, I promise you that if you don't stay away from me, you'll simply force me to make a phone call causing a hell to reign down on you that you won't want. Now get the hell away from me." Olivia calmly said.
Running his fingers over the pocket knife inside his pants pocket, Ethan Zobelle smiled at the two ladies. "Olivia, you and Miss Lyla have a nice afternoon." as he turned and quietly walked away from their table and made his way back outside.
"Holy shit Olivia. That man scares the hell out of me." Lyla said completely freaked out with Zobelle approaching them. "I need to call Opie."
"Trust me, he makes my skin crawl too. I need to get to the office, why don't we leave together and you call him from the car?" Olivia said looking out the window watching Zobelle walk back toward his cigar shop. "Hopefully, he'll leave me alone now."
Getting up from their table, Olivia quickly threw some cash down for her check and walked behind Lyla out the door. "Are you parked close Lyla?"
"Yeah, I'm right here. I'll call Opie and tell him I need to talk to him now. He'll want to know about this."
"I'm sorry the asshole interrupted our talk. I'm here if you want to talk some more."
Walking over to hug Olivia, "Thanks, I really appreciate it. Hopefully we can have another girls night soon."
Hugging Lyla back, "That would be great. Listen be careful and I hope everything goes well when you talk to Opie." Waving bye to her new friend, Olivia got into her SUV, finding herself looking around to make sure Zobelle was no where near. To say the man was creepy was a huge understatement. The man was pure evil. Hopefully her more forceful approach would finally make him understand she had no interest in him. Hearing her phone beep, brought her out of worrying about Zobelle.
Hi Gorgeous. Be sure to check your email. K
Smiling at the text message, she noticed the light had turned green. Throwing her phone back in her purse, she made her way to her office.
With the morning runs continuing to be uneventful, Happy was making his way to the warehouse to check on the afternoon shipments. Up and on the road before eight this morning, he and Tig met up with the Tacoma guys at the designated drop, completed the exchange and started back to Charming. Having stopped at Ralph's for lunch, he again caught himself looking for a certain sexy brunette to walk through the door…..but she didn't. He hadn't seen her since he had her pushed up against the wall in the clubhouse….going on two days ago. He could still feel her firm body pressed up against his and how fucking good it felt kissing her. Hitting the throttle, he cussed himself for letting Olivia Parker continue to invade his mind. Turning off onto the dirt road leading up to the warehouse, he saw Tig roll up beside him.
"Brother, you in a hurry?" Tig asked putting his helmet over his handle bar. "Thought for sure we'd be running from the pigs about now."
"Just focused on business." he said walking into the warehouse. True he was focused on this gun deal, but his mind was also being occupied by a very intriguing woman….that he hadn't seen in two days.
Pulling into the T-M garage, Lyla noticed that Opie's bike wasn't in the lineup. Her first instinct was to simply turn around but she had already been seen by Gemma, who was standing in the office door. Waving her over, the Queen of SAMCRO turned and walked back inside. "This should be fun" as she made her way into the office.
"Hi Gemma." the softly spoken blond said noticing Gemma filing paperwork.
"Hi yourself. Op's out with Bobby and Jax. How's the wedding plans going?"
"Slowly coming together. I know he's busy with club stuff so I haven't really been able to talk to him about things." Lyla said playing with her necklace.
"Honey, is something wrong?"
"No. Yeah. I mean, shit I don't know."
"Sit down." Walking over and closing the door into the garage, Gemma walked back around and sat behind her desk. "Talk."
Briefly closing her eyes, she opened them to find the queen staring back at her.
"Not going anywhere so start talking. I've got all day."
"I don't think Opie really wants to marry me." The minute the words left her mouth, the tears began to fall. Actually hearing the words come out of her mouth only made the possibility of it being true that much harder to accept. "I'm sorry, I don't mean to"
"Stop right there. You're an old lady and we don't apologize for shit. Now, why do you feel Opie doesn't want to marry you?"
"Gemma, but I'm not an old lady. Yes, Opie proposed to me but ever since we set a date, he's pulled away from me. I honestly feel more like the nanny and his future wife. He's still totally in love with Donna, and I get it. If she hadn't died, I wouldn't even be in the picture. I can't compete with a ghost, especially one who's so damn high up on his pedestal."
"Let me tell you something about Donna. She never accepted that Opie was in this club even though he was SAMCRO long before she came along. I watched for years how she twisted Opie around for wanting to be here. When a woman decides to get involved with a SON, she needs to know that it's for life. Donna knew that but the little twit still managed to play his emotions. He couldn't win. If he chose the club, he'd lose her and the kids and she constantly used that to her advantage. Don't get me wrong. This life is hell on a good day…but if you choose to commit to the man, you commit to the club as well." Gemma finished taking a drag off her cigarette.
"I can handle the shit that comes with the club. What I know I can't handle is living the rest of my live in the shadow of Donna. I just can't do it."
"Maybe you should post pone the wedding until after the club finishes this deal. It would give you some time to really think about how you're feeling without adding to Op's stress. Lyla, you're good for Opie. Take some time before you do anything drastic."
Simply nodding her head, she stood up walking over to hug Gemma. "Honey, I promise everything will work out."
"I hope so. Thanks for the talk, Gemma." Lyla sincerely said blotting the remaining tears from her eyes.
"That's what I'm here for. Listen, tomorrow night we can all unwind and forget our troubles. Us old lady's will have our own private party up on the roof."
"Sounds good. Oh, I hope I've not overstepped but I sorta invited Olivia to come tomorrow night." Lyla shyly stated hoping to not piss off the queen.
A little caught off guard, Gemma quickly recovered "I'm sure the guys won't mind the eye candy. Koz won't shut up about her. Like that fucker has a chance."
Suddenly hearing bikes, both women turn their attention to the guys pulling into the parking lot. "Listen, remember what I said. Give yourself sometime before you make a life altering decision." Gemma said kissing Lyla on the cheek before walking outside to meet Clay. Seeing Opie park his bike, she made her way over waiting for him to park.
"Hey. Didn't know you were coming by." Opie said wondering why Lyla was here.
"Hadn't planned on it. I need to talk to you about something. I don't know if it's important but I feel like I need to tell you." Lyla said hoping she was not about to cause trouble.
"What is it?" Opie asked now curious as to what she was about to tell him.
"I was running errands this morning and I stopped at the diner on Main Street for lunch and ran into Olivia."
"And?"
"We had been talking for awhile, we Ethan Zobelle appeared out of nowhere. He was just all the sudden there."
"WHAT! What did he say?" Opie all but yelled pissed that the racist fucker was anywhere near Lyla.
"Opie, calm down. He didn't say anything to me. He seemed completely focused on Olivia which didn't go over well with her at all. Op, she basically told him off."
"Anything else?"
"NO! He finally left and after we made sure he was back at this store we both walked out to our cars together and I told her I was going to tell you. She left for her office and I came here. Are you mad at me?" Lyla questioned wondering if she shouldn't told him. It wasn't like Zobelle had sought her out.
"No, you did good. I don't want you anywhere near him. He comes near you again, get away and call me immediately. Is that clear?"
"Yes, of course."
Kissing her on the lips, he runs his hand across her cheek. "I mean it Lyla. I don't want you anywhere near him."
"I won't be. I promise." Lyla said reaching up and kissing him back.
"I need to tell Clay about this. Hang here until I get back." he said walking toward the clubhouse. Opening the door, he immediately saw Bobby over by the bar. "Where'd Clay go?"
"Chapel."
"Clay, we need talk." Opie said loud enough for Clay to hear him. A little annoyed he was being summoned by Opie, Clay jerked the chapel doors open and walked into the bar.
"Problem Op? What the fuck you yelling about?" demanded Clay.
"Zobelle's my fuckin' problem!" Opie shouted causing everyone in the clubhouse to stop what they were doing.
"What happened?" Bobby asked looking at Opie who face was blood red.
"Fucker walked up to Olivia and Lyla at the diner on Main Street earlier. Lyla said he's focused in on Olivia. I don't want that prick anywhere near her. Clay this shit's got to be dealt with."
"I agree, but we've got to be smart about this. Op, as much as I'd love to walk in his store and blow his damn brains out, we can't risk bringing heat back on the club. That fed bitch is barely off our ass. Bobby, go pull Chibs from the garage. Jax should be back in a few. Go get Lyla and let's hear exactly what went on earlier. Everyone in church in ten." Clay said already calling Jax.
****Olivia's loft****
Johnny and Reed had been filming every single person that entered the cigar shop since early this morning. They both knew how important it was to learn who all Zobelle had working for him, but hanging out in some random chicks loft no matter hot fucking hot she was got old after about two hours.
"I haven't seen anyone go in there that didn't look like a regular person. How the hell are we to know what we're looking for?" asked Reed.
"Shit head, they're skinheads. Look for bald or shaved heads." Johnny said not believing what was just asked. "Olivia's fuckin' hot dude! Man, I thought I'd be sporting a major hard-on before she left this morning."
"Fucker, she didn't even give you a second glance. I was prepared to hear her bitching at us this morning after Jax said she wasn't exactly thrilled we'd be doing this." Reed said looking out the window through binoculars.
"Yeah, I thought that too. I didn't think she was too bitchy, I mean she doesn't know us and we're all up in her shit for who knows how long. Shit, I hope we're not stuck here for too damn long. You see anyone?" said Johnny now sitting on the floor.
Turning around, Reed looked surprised to see Johnny on the floor. "Why the hell are you sitting on the floor?"
"Hey, I ain't taking no chances. Jax told us not to bother her shit or be snooping. I'm not even risking sitting on her furniture. I'm not losing my chance at being patched….no chance fucker!"
"She seems nice. You think she's got an old man?"
"Reed, shit man, a woman like her isn't going to have an old man. She's not MC, not one damn bit. But fuck what I wouldn't give to fuck the hell out of her."
"You and me both!" Standing up, Johnny walked over to the windows.
After informing Jax, Chibs, Juice and Bobby about Zobelle's latest stunt with Lyla, Jax made a quick call to check in on Tara. So far Zobelle had never approached her, but Jax just wanted to make sure she safe at home. Quickly confirming she and Abel were okay, he walked over to Opie and Lyla.
"Lyla, you okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine. He just creeps me out. We didn't even hear him walk up. He just came out of nowhere."
"Don't worry, we're going to handle Zobelle once and for all." Jax said motioning for Op to walk with him. "Be back in a minute and we'll head home." Opie said looking back at Lyla.
"Zobelle's seeking Olivia out isn't good. We need to make sure that we keep Elliott calm. We don't need him going off on Zobelle."
Nodding in agreement, Opie took a drag from his cigarette. "Lyla said Olivia handled it cool. You think she's told Elliott?"
"Don't know. From what Tara's told me about her, she's independent as hell. I doubt she's mentioned anything to Elliott cause if she had he'd already been blowing up Clay's phone. Prospects should be leaving there shortly. Juice can pull up the footage once they get here."
To her surprise, the afternoon was quickly going by. It helped that ever since she arrived at her office, nothing had interrupted her….no texts, phone calls or clients. Opening her mail, she heard Christy coming down the hall.
"You've been busy today." Christy stated noticing Olivia's desk was cleared off of the stack of files that were on there earlier today. "Leaving anytime soon?"
"Actually, I'm going to leave in about ten minutes. I'm quite proud of myself. All I needed to do was lock myself in here to get everything done. How's your day been?"
"Not bad. Been able to get a lot of the filing done today. Shawn and I are grilling out tonight…why don't you come over for dinner around seven?"
"Well, thank you. Are you sure you want company? I know he's been working a lot lately and I don't want to impose?" questioned Olivia.
"No, we'd love to have you over. Shawn's excited to meet you and he's actually off this weekend, so we'll have plenty of time to be alone. So we'll see you at seven?"
Smiling at her co-worker "Yes, I'll see you at seven. I'll even bring the wine."
"Here's the directions. It's just a few miles from here. Call my cell if you have any trouble."
"Thanks. I'm going to go ahead home then. Call me if you need anything." Olivia said gathering her purse and laptop bag. Walking behind Christy down the hall she was almost out the door, "Why don't I bring dessert?"
"Just yourself and the wine. We've got everything else. GO….we'll see you at seven." smiled Christy.
"Okay. See you a little later." Olivia said waving bye and walking out to her car. Checking the time she saw she had plenty of time to go home and relax before she need to leave for dinner. Driving down the streets of Charming, she couldn't help but smile at just how picturesque this small town actually was. Tara had been completely accurate on her pre-move description of her new town. Turning into the parking deck, she turned left and headed over to her assigned spaces. There sat the "painters" van that she first saw this morning when she left. As pissed off as she was at how she was told not asked that SAMCRO would be using her home to spy on Ethan Zobelle, she had been pleasantly surprised at the two prospects that walked through her door this morning. Neither one looked the biker type, and both seemed to be nervous as hell in front of her. While she could have punched the hell out of Clay for how he treated her, she felt somewhat better when Jax actually called late last night apologizing for how forceful Clay had been. She was sure that Tara had a hand in Jax calling. She knew when she left their house that Tara was just as pissed as she was. Opening her front door, she wasn't sure what she was expecting to see. Totally not what she thought. She must have startled both of them, because the two prospects each had that deer caught in headlight look.
"Hey"
"Uh, hey"
"Hello." Shutting the door behind her, she turned and put her purse and bag on the counter. Suddenly realizing that the tall one was sitting on the floor. "Why are you sitting on the floor?"
"Uh. We're not supposed to inconvenience you." Johnny said somewhat stuttering while Reed just stood there speechless.
"I appreciate that you don't want to inconvenience me, but you can sit on the furniture if you'd like. Hardwood floors aren't comfortable." Olivia said surprised at these two potential outlaw's manners.
"We're fine. We'll be leaving for the day shortly." Reed said finally finding his voice.
"Oh, okay." Sitting down at the bar, she started going through her mail when she heard the guys start to pack up their stuff. "I take it you'll be back tomorrow?"
"Yeah, as far as we know. Should be here around the same time, unless that doesn't work for you?" Johnny asked.
"No, eight thirty is fine. I've got appointments outside of Oakland tomorrow, so I'll be leaving early in the morning."
"Okay. See you in the morning." said Johnny as he and Reed walked over to the door and left.
Exhaling, Olivia took a moment and looked around the loft from where she was sitting. Nothing looked moved, she could tell the furniture had not been sat on and there were no dirty dishes in the sink. Turning she looked down the hall to her bedroom. Nothing in the loft was hers except her clothing, shoes and accessories. She may be considered a freak, but the one thing she worried about was what if these two men she didn't know decided to check out her bedroom…would they go through her lingerie drawers? Surely not. Opening her bedroom door, she immediately knew no one had been in here. Being the clever woman she was, she purposely did a quick vacuum of her bedroom before they arrived this morning. She could easily tell that no one had walked on the carpet since the vacuum lines were all still present and no shoe prints were visible. Okay, maybe this won't be so bad thought Olivia as she walked into her bathroom to change clothes and freshen up.
Finally making it back to the clubhouse, Happy was eager to take a long hot shower and relax, maybe get some time in hitting the bag. With the runs going better than expected, he was going to actually take the opportunity to enjoy the calm because he knew all to well that a storm was always brewing, it was just a matter of when it hit. Backing his bike into his spot, he removed his helmet and climbed off.
"Damn, I didn't think today was going to end." bitched Tig as he walked over to Happy. "Prospects better have the damn bar stocked."
Shaking his head, he just slapped his brother on the back and made his way inside, heading straight to his dorm.
Seeing Bobby behind the bar "Fuck man, give me a beer." yelled Tig as he walked over.
"Rough day?" asked the bearded biker.
"Nah. Runs are going smooth as shit, man. In fact, here's the first installment payment." Tig said handing the envelope over to the club's treasure.
"I'll just be locking this up. Nice to be in the black for a change. I'm in the back if anyone needs me." said Bobby walking into the back office to work on the books.
Leaning back against the bar, he watched Chibs walk in from the garage. "Ay, run go okay?" the Scot asked reaching for a bottle of whiskey.
"Yep, brother, we just need to keep doing what we're doing. How's the southern drop?"
"Fine. Think it's smart we're not doing a run every night. Can't get too routine about this."
"Where's everybody?" Tig asked downing his second beer.
"Juice is working on something for Clay, Op and Jax just left to go home and Clay's in the office with Gemma."
"I'm goin' go shower, then I'm going to kick your ass on the table."
"Fucker, I got a hundred that says you won't." laughed Chibs knowing Tig would be drunk before they'd get halfway through a game of pool. With no pussy in sight, Chib's knew Tig would go to his favorite backup…booze.
Freshly showered and dressed, Hap opened his door and walked out. As soon as he stepped into the hallway, his mind flashed with a vision of he and Olivia pushed up against the wall just down from his door. Shit! He had managed not to think about her all day, well at least since they arrived at the warehouse. Putting together tomorrow's gun shipments was a good distraction all but temporary, because yet again here he was thinking about her. Two fucking days. Clinching his fist, he turned and made his way back to main room. Walking over to the bar, he grabbed a bottle of Jack and sat down at the table with Chibs.
Raising his bottle toward Hap "Gotta say brother, this deal with Laroy is pure genius. Glad you brought it to the table when you did."
"Just doing my part." Happy said never taking a compliment. "Shipments are ready for tomorrow. Going to enjoy some downtime this weekend." he said pouring another shot.
"No shit. Fucker bring me another beer." Chibs yelled at Tig seeing him walk back into the room and over to the bar. Sitting down at the table, Tig handed Chibs his beer "Clay still with Gemma?" asked Tig pouring a shot out of Hap's bottle.
"Yeah. Enjoy the quite while you can because shits about to kick off with Zobelle. Op's not happy about him approaching Lyla earlier today."
"Fuck, where'd this happen?" Tig asked watching Happy down another shot.
"This afternoon. She was at the diner on Main Street when the fucker came up to her and Olivia."
As soon as he heard her name, he slammed his shot glass on the table. Happy could feel the blood starting to burn through his veins. Tig just happened to catch the killer's reaction out of the corner of his eye. Yep, something's up thought the SAA.
"What happened?" asked Tig honestly wanting to know the details but also to see if he could get a clue as to what was causing Happy to react.
"She said they were sitting there talking when he just appeared out of nowhere. Said he was completely focused in on Olivia saying he wanted the two of them to get better acquainted and he was concerned for her. From what Lyla said Olivia told him to leave her alone."
Out of the corner of his eye, he could tell Happy was white knuckling the bottle of Jack Daniels that was sitting in front of him. He knew Happy hated Zobelle, but Tig was starting to wonder if it was solely Zobelle or if it had anything to do with a certain brunette.
"Lyla okay?" Tig asked.
"Yeah. Just creep'd out. Said Zobelle didn't say anything to her, was zoned in on Olivia." Chibs said downing his beer. Again, Tig caught Happy reacting. Gripping the whiskey bottle with one hand while clinching his fist with the other.
Olivia had actually had an enjoyable evening the Christy and Shawn. The newlyweds were completely adorable together, totally in sync with each other. Arriving back at her loft, she immediately kicked off her shoes when she heard her phone beep. Grabbing her phone she walked into her bathroom to get ready for bed.
Let's get 2gether tomorrow….need girl night! Love ya, T
Smiling at the text, she remembered the message she got earlier today. Sitting the laptop on her bed and turning it on, she walked back into the bathroom to wash her face. With her face freshly washed and her teeth brushed she was ready to climb into bed. Logging onto her email, she found she had a new message from Travis. Smiling at seeing his name, she opened it….
Hey there gorgeous! Not state side right now but wanted to let you know that I had an alert that someone has pulled an extensive background check on you. It's an illegal IP address registered to a Juan Carlos Ortiz. Traced the address to a building in Charming, an auto garage. Should be home in a few days and I'll be in touch. Reply back to my text if you need me to send someone. Stay sweet.
Travis
Stunned. She read it again. You've got to be kidding me! Background check? Who the hell is Juan Carlos Ortiz? Reading it yet again, it hit her square in the face…..an auto garage…..Teller Morrow Auto. Livid! Gently moving her laptop from her lap, she ran her hands through her hair. Sitting there staring at the email for a few minutes, she got out of bed. Well, let's just make this easy for Mr. Ortiz.