Hale and Olivia

Chapter 4

Hale entered the classroom and said: "Turn to page one hundred seventy-one." As the students flipped through their textbooks, his gaze fell on Olivia. She held her head low, slowly leafing through the pages, with her hair covering her face. "Olivia, please, read the title of today's topic," he urged.

Her eyes scanned the black letters on the white paper, and she said: "Utopian and dystopian literature."

"Correct, and could you tell me something about it?"

Olivia clenched her jaw. If she could, she would have scolded him right then and there. However, they were in public, and all the curious eyes were focused on her. So she just shrugged and decided not to answer.

"Did you forget to prepare?" Hale commented. "Please come to my office after class."

Olivia heard a malicious giggle.

The day dragged on horribly. Olivia's fatigue grew. Her tired body and disgusted feelings towards herself barely allowed her to close her eyes at night. The hotel bed was soft, but it reminded her too much of Bruce and his actions. Although he wasn't her first, it had never been as bad as it was with him.

Afternoon approached, and the bell rang for the last time. Students scattered, heading home. Olivia, however, walked around the corner of the hallway to the office. She didn't know what to expect. Hale would surely be curious about her attempt to intrude into his apartment yesterday. Although he was home, he had mentioned that it was not a convenient time. Perhaps he had planned a date? Or maybe he had a friend visiting? Either way, she was almost certain that she hadn't rung at an appropriate time and secretly hoped he wouldn't be too angry about it.

She knocked twice on the door and waited for an invitation inside. Hale opened the door personally. She kept her head constantly lowered, unwilling to look at him. She entered the small room, and the click of the lock sent shivers down her spine, reminding her of the previous night at the hotel.

"Take a seat," he invited.

She pushed the chair across from his, on the other side of the table, and sat down, leaving her bag full of books on the floor by her feet.

But Hale didn't take the seat opposite her. Instead, he crouched nearby and asked: "Could you finally look at me?"

"Rather not," she replied, her voice tinged with sadness.

"Olivia," he said more firmly, attempting to convey that her attempts to avoid his gaze wouldn't last long.

Olivia cursed under her breath and finally lifted her head.

She looked into his worried eyes. His gaze shifted from the bright monocle on her face to her neck, and his eyebrows furrowed noticeably. She knew exactly what marks he saw there; she also saw them in the hotel mirror reflection that morning. Bruce's fingers had left their marks.

"For God's sake, Olivia... Who... We need to report this to the police," he decided immediately and stood up.

Olivia reached out and grabbed his shirt sleeve: "No, no, no, no, no. Please, no..."

He looked at her: "These are serious injuries, I can't just ignore them."

"Hale, please," she sobbed dryly and slowly stood up from the chair. She took a step closer to him and said, embarrassed: "I went with him willingly. I never said no to anything."

"What...?" he began, but eventually realized it on his own. "This is from sex?"

"Yes," she confessed.

"When you rang me yesterday... you wanted..."

She quickly shook her head: "No, not that. Of course not. I just needed somewhere to sleep. Since you couldn't accommodate me yesterday, I went to town, to a bar, where I met a certain man, and he offered to... help me."

"Olivia, that is sick!"

She snapped at him: "It's not something I haven't been through before, and I couldn't just stay on the streets!" she gestured with her hands. "If you haven't noticed, it's still relatively cold outside, and I doubt it's any better at night!" she argued.

Hale quickly covered her mouth with his hand: "The walls are thin here. If someone overhears our argument and especially how you're calling me, we'll have a much bigger problem than this," he pointed at her face. "I need to stay here for at least another hour. Go somewhere nice, sit down for a warm tea and then we'll meet. Here's my phone number," he scribbled it on a piece of paper on the table and handed it to her. She looked at it confusedly. "Text me where you are, and I'll come to pick you up by car."

"Wait... what?" 

"You'll stay with me tonight," he ordered and urged her away. 

They did everything exactly as Hale had planned it. While she sat in a café sipping a warm drink, she saved his number in her phone. She entered it there as David. She wouldn't be so foolish as to save the number under his real name. 

It took him a little longer than an hour, but Olivia wasn't angry. She was grateful for his willingness and the risk he was already taking. Both of them were lost in their own thoughts as they rode to the apartment building.

When she sat on the blue couch and watched a comedy, he approached her with a white tube in his hand.

"Bruise cream. It'll come in handy," he explained.

She smiled gratefully and accepted it. He sat down next to her on the sofa and lowered the volume on the TV. Since they left school, he had been constantly frowning.

"Is something wrong?" she worried.

He sighed and slouched even more: "I regret it. I should have let you in yesterday. If I had, it wouldn't have turned out this way."

"It's okay. You had other plans, that's normal."

He shook his head: "Actually, I didn't... I just... I got scared."

"Scared of what?"

"We should maintain a strictly professional relationship, but suddenly, you're here, we're talking, watching series together, having dinner, and that's really dangerous. Especially for my work and reputation."

"I understand why you're afraid, and I deeply regret dragging you into all of this. However, I can handle things on my own. So far, I haven't had any problems. Whatever this is, we can end it right here and now. We'll move on as if nothing ever happened."

He smiled and looked at her: "I don't think I can do that anymore. I know too much bad stuff about you. I would disappoint myself if I left you alone with those beasts."

She laughed unhappily: "You don't have to save me from anything. I'm a stranger to you. In six months, I'll disappear somewhere, and you'll never see me again."

"Are you going somewhere after school?"

Olivia looked up, her eyes fixed on the bright ceiling. She smiled like never before: "I long for a life in the countryside. A small house, a simple job, peace and quiet. Watching summer storms approaching from behind the hills, enjoying the scent of autumn rain and the smell of spring flowers in the wind, waking up to snowy winter mornings... Once I'm in a place like that, I'll never come back here again."

Hale observed her with bated breath. Suddenly, he saw her in a completely different light. She had a fighting spirit, yet she yearned for peace. He knew that once she achieved it, she would share smiles like this one with everyone she met and greeted every day. He could imagine her in that countryside, happy, with rosy cheeks from genuine laughter, wearing long summer dresses and a straw hat to protect herself from the sun. The image completely captivated him.