Whispers at Midnight-A Caitlin Clark story

Problem.

Olivia POV:
The next morning I wake up to my early alarm, me and Toby both sigh as I turn to shut it off, "Sorry Toby, mom has a long day today." I get up and do my normal morning routine, I let Toby outside and I fill up his food and water because I plan to be out late doing things at the bakery today. I'll be able to watch Caitlin's game today though, which is a plus because I know she's nervous about today so hopefully me telling her I'll be watching will soothe her nerves. I let Toby back inside and I make my way to the bakery.

Once I get there, I realize just how much work I have to do, I'm not going to lie, I've been slacking that last few days because I was so stressed and worried about my mom, the shop hasn't been open during that time either so I'm losing money, which is also not good because I need all I can get so I can pay for my mom's treatment and keep the business afloat. I immediately start cleaning up so I can get ready to bake all the things I needed to today, I walk over to the storage closet and grab the broom to start sweeping, I wipe down tables, do the dishes, and cleaned the windows. It was definitely a rough two hours but it needed it really bad, once I get to baking, I'm immediately at ease, obviously besides reading, baking clams me down. I have fond memories of baking with my mom when I was younger, she thought me everything there was to know about baking and I would definitely not be here without her today.

Thinking about my mom got me thinking about my dad, I don't really remember him, mom doesn't talk about him much either, she said when I was little they got into a really heated argument and he left and never came back. So growing up it was just me and my mom. Growing up, I was kinda the outsider, in school, out of school, and practices. When I was in high school I played soccer, and I was actually really good, but the girls basically bullied me out of it and I quit, and I haven't touched a soccer ball since.

I'm finally snapped out of my thoughts when I hear the alarm going off in the oven, signaling that it was time to take the cookies out, I do so and put them in the display case at the register and I finally walk over to the sign and flip it to open.

A few minutes later, a man is his early 80s walks in, he's a regular here and I honestly can't remember a day when he hadn't showed up, he was very consistent coming here for the past few years and I saw grateful for that because we were able to make a friendship out of it, "Well isn't it my favorite customer! How are you today, John?"

He slowly makes his way over to the barstools and says, "I'm good!" He quickly gets distracted by the tv, a sports channel was currently on it and they were talking about Caitlin's game later today, "That Caitlin girl is a damn good basketball player." He says, I smile at him and say, "Yeah she is, do you watch her games often?"

"All the time." He says proudly, "I've been a fan of basketball for years, it's refreshing to watch a player like her, she's like nothing I've ever seen before. How about you?"

I turn around to start preparing his usual of coffee and a donut and saying, "Not really, I'll definitely be watching more now that she's in Indi now, I actually watched some of her Iowa highlights last night, I don't know much about basketball but I think it's safe to say she's pretty damn good." I turn back around and hand him his food, "Are you staying a little today?"

He sadly shakes his head and says, "No, sorry Liv, I gotta get home to the Mrs."

His wife was sick, and unfortunately there was nothing he could do about it, he said she was just to old so he is going to try and make her as comfortable as possible, "No I get it John, how is she feeling?" I say back concerned, "As good as she can be during this time." He says as he pulls out his wallet and hands me a fifty dollar bill, I quickly refuse and say, "I can't take that John, your food was only five dollars."

"Please take it Liv, I know you said the other day that the business is struggling and I know it's not much but, I'm hoping it can help you at least a little bit."

I reluctantly take the money from his hands and say, "Thank you. This means a lot."

He smiles warmly at me and says, "It's not a problem Liv. Have a nice day."

A few hours later, it was about an hour until Caitlin's game started, I hear a hear my phone go off and I look at confused because Caitlin's calling me I answer it right away and say, "Cait, everything okay."

"Yeah um," I could tell she was nervous, her voice was shaky, "I'm just um, nervous I guess and I wanted to talk to you."

"I know you nervous Cait, but I know you'll go out there and be great like you always are. Win or lose, you're still the best."

She lets out a sigh and says, "Thank you. I miss you."

My heart swells at her words ever since the kiss, we've been non stop calling and texting each other and to be honest, I missed her so much. She's become such an amazing thing in my life in such a short time, "I know, I miss you too. But you come home tomorrow!"

"Thank god. Hey, I have to go warm up. I'll text you after."

We both say goodbye and I start closing down the shop since it was getting late, I turn on Caitlin's game and watch it as I get cleaned up for the next day when I get a call, it was the hospital. My heart immediately drops as I answer quickly.

"Hello?"

"Hi, is this Olivia West?"

"Yes sir."

"Hi Miss West, I hate to tell you this over the phone, but I notified that you haven't payed for your mother's treatment yet. And unfortunately if I don't have it by the end of the week I have to stop her treatment until it's payed for."

Shit. I knew I haven't payed her bills yet because I was trying to save up for it and it's biting me in the ass now I guess, "Yeah um, how much do I owe?"

He lets out a long sigh and says, "10k Miss West."

My eyes immediately widen at that price it's a Wednesday now so I only have 2 days to come up with the money, "Are you serious? How am I supposed to come up with 10k in 2 days?"

"I'm sorry Miss West, but you know can't treatment is expensive. I'll ask if I can give you more time but it can't guarantee anything."

I let out an annoyed sigh and say, "Yeah um, thank you."

"Try to have a good night Miss West."

We hang up and I immediately start to panic. How do I come up with ten thousand dollars in two days? Obviously my mom needed this treatment, I have to figure something out because I can't lose her.

A/N

little bit of a filler

next chapter is longer dw