Frayed Edges

What Happens to Rats

Meet now.

The chime from her phone made her jump in her seat, nearly spilling the coffee in her hands across her lap. Olivia's name flashing across her screen made her nervous at the best of times but today was worse than most.

Fear was coursing through her but she didn't stop to think. She dressed in a matter of seconds and made her way to their usual spot. She pulled on an oversized jumper as she tried to fight the urge to pack a bag and leave the city entirely. In her wildest hopes and dream she believed that this might all disappear. That wasn't going to happen though. Drew wasn't that kind and neither was Olivia.

The one hope she clung to was that not even Olivia had the nerve to kill her in the middle of a diner in Brooklyn. The image of Drew's face when he laid eyes on Jake flashed through her mind for the hundredth time that day. It turned her stomach and her morning coffee threatened to repeat on her as she headed for the subway station.

She knew she was late. The distance between Jake's apartment and her destination was longer than the one from her own place, but yet when she arrived Olivia was no where to be seen.

Least she isn't waiting for me, she thought, taking a spot in her usual booth. She felt her phone buzz in her pocket and checked it under the table.

Jake:
Miss you already x

She let a smile creep from ear to ear as she typed out her response, so engrossed in it that she forgot the situation she was currently in and missed the tap tap of heels on the vinyl floor. She startled when Olivia took her place in front of her. Obviously noting her unease she raised a perfectly groomed eyebrow into an elegant arch, but didn't say anything more on the subject.

"Sorry I'm late, I had matters to attend to" she smiled in her usual sickening sweet voice. The average onlooker might even believe that she really was happy to see her. But this was strictly a formality, Olivia's way of keeping her claws neatly in every branch of her operation.

"How's business" she began, her manicured nails placed either side of the stained coffee mug placed in front of her.

"Quiet..." Mia began quickly pushing her phone into her pocket "it's the time of year, college kids have gone home and people are broke"

Olivia only smiled, she didn't like excuses and broke wasn't part of her vocabulary. She didn't speak for a while and instead brought out a newspaper from her purse before working along the morning puzzles. Mia found it funny, watching someone like her do such a mundane activity. She didn't dare look away as she focused on the numbers Olivia was doodling on the grid in front of her.

"I heard there was a rat" she said almost absent mindedly. Mia's skin froze over like a glacier as she let her fingernails delicately tap against the mug in front of her.

"I didn't hear anything" she said quickly and firmly. She fought to stop her voice sounding monotone, knowing it could be a giveaway. It wasn't technically a lie. She wasn't a rat and for all she knew no one else was sleeping with a cop. Olivia was a human lie detector, she didn't even have to raise her head to deconstruct her words.

"Maybe you didn't... it's sorted now anyway" she said continuing to fiddle with the sudoku puzzle in front of her. "It was Drew that spotted it, one of the guys hired for security... Ronald or Ronny something like that. Thuggish red head, horrible man really" she faked a shudder to emphasise her point.

"I never liked that guy" Mia muttered under her breath. Olivia didn't acknowledge it leaving a heavy awkward silence over the booth.

"Drew huh?" Mia asked breathily leaning closer into the conversation, desperate for it to end.

"Yes." She said curtly "hopefully that's the last of them, cause you know what happens to rats in my club?" it was a rhetorical question, Mia knew all too well what had happened to Ronnie and most likely his friend. Olivia slowly narrowed her eyes testing Mia's nerve but she held her own focusing on steady breaths. She nodded slightly eliciting a grin from Olivia showing her bright, shining teeth.

"Good job we have Drew then" Mia smiled back taking a large gulp of the lukewarm coffee.

"Indeed" she said flicking her eyes back to her puzzles "he's an old friend, correct?"

"One of my brother's" she stressed the difference.

"But you two have...." she paused looking for the right word "history?"

"The ancient kind"

"So he wasn't the one texting you when I walked in?" She asked raising a brow once more, Mia's eyes widened and she shook her head gently.

Olivia smirked, something she rarely did. She gently nudged her coffee back towards the middle of the table untouched and placed the newspaper and her pen back in her purse.

"Well he speaks very highly of you" she drawled almost mockingly, she placed her bag on her shoulder and stepped out of the booth before straightening her suit and placing a handful of dollar bills on the counter "I need your numbers up by next week, no excuses."

With that she left, not leaving room for Mia to respond. The click clack of her stilettos filled the room once again as she headed for the door and the bell above it chimed as it shut behind her. It was only then that Mia realised her heart was racing in her chest, her body felt white hot with panic. Drew had lied to Olivia's face to save her.

Why? The question ran over and over again in her head. The look on his face the last time she had seen him had made her predict a much different and more deadly outcome. She still didn't feel safe, she felt on edge as she drained the last dregs of the cup in front of her.

The waitress came over to collect the bills balanced on the edge of the table, but Mia barely acknowledged her.

"Wow honey, you look like you've seen a ghost"

Mia continued to stare at the empty space in front of her.

"I nearly did"

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Sorry this took a while! I haven't been well but I'm better now and ready to keep this story updated x