OLIVIA FOX [Completed]

CHAPTER THREE

Thanks for reading.
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“Mable, I’m leaving this hospital.”
“Olivia. Darling. I think you should stay a while longer for observation. I want to make sure you are okay.” Mable is playing with the daisies in the glass vase.
“I can’t stay here any longer. I need to leave. I’m okay. I feel okay. If anything happens, I could always visit Dr. Brooks. And this is what you’ve always wanted right? For me to leave?” I am sitting at the edge of the bed and I am moving my legs to and fro.
“Please tell me this is not about the handsome young man that visited yesterday. What was his name? Orlando?.” Mable has stopped playing with the flowers and she is now looking at me. Intently. She has crazy hips. Like a woman should.
“No. It is not about him. This is what I want.” My eyes are fixed on my legs.
“Why didn’t you tell me about him? And Olivia, I know you. You are running away from him. Maybe he could be a distraction. A sexy one. You know? Just like before.” Mable winks at me.
Mable is out of her mind. I am not that woman anymore. I have not been that woman since I met Cosmos and I cannot be that woman again. Right now, I am scared. And scarred. And I do not want to get hurt again. Ever again. If it means me going away and living in a cave all by myself, I will do it. Mable would never let me live in a cave. Mable.
“Do you like him? At least?”
“I am not really in a place to like or not to like anyone.”
“Could you just agree that he is hot. Can you do that for me?” Mable is teasing me.
“Yes Mable. He is hot. He is very hot. Happy now?”
“Oh Olivia. You have made my day.” Mable hugs me.
Orlando is hot. I cannot deny that. He has to be the hottest guy I have seen. And trust me, I have seen plenty hot guys. His demeanor. It is so calm. And he looks like someone that laughs in the face of his problems. It would be nice to get to know him. Nice. And totally unadvisable for me.
“So where do you want to go to after you leave here? Do you still want to stay here in San Jose?”
I think for a while. “Yes. I want to stay here. In San Jose.”
“Really? Are you sure?”
“Yeah. Could you please make the arrangements. Find me a place to stay? A place that will feel a bit like home”
“Olivia. Are you sure?”
“Mable. I will be fine.”

The SUV is parked in the parking lot outside the hospital. It is a 2016 Lexus RX 350. My car. I have missed it. And I want to ride it.
“Give me the keys.” I say to Mable.
“You want to drive?” She seems uncomfortable.
“Mable. Keys. Come on.”
She puts the keys in my open hand. I exhale and walk to the driver’s door and get in. I grip the steering wheel; so tightly and I close my eyes and start the ignition. Mable is still standing outside. I honk and she gets in.
“You need to stop worrying about me.” I place a hand on her thighs.
“I can’t help it. I just care about you so much.”
“I know.” I smile my widest smile. It hurts my cheeks.
“You’ll have to direct me to the house.”
It feels good to be outside. Three months. Who would have thought? So many thoughts bombard my mind as I drive. I am thinking of what to do with my life. I am not sure about anything.
We arrive at the estate in no time. I am really scared to come down from the car. This is it Olivia. This is it. You can do this. Please life, be kind to me. I cannot take anymore. I get down from the car and Mable does same. There are two people standing near the entrance of the house. A man and a woman. The man looks awfully familiar. Too familiar. Carl. It is Carl. The gardener’s son.
“Carl? Carl.”
“Miss Fox.”
I rush to him and embrace him.
“How have you been? What are you doing here? Mable?”
“I ran into him few months back. Turns out he is into the security business and when you said you were leaving the hospital, I, well you hired him to be your guard. He’ll be in charge of your protection while you are here.”
“Carl. We have a lot of catching up to do.” I say nicely. He was a friend.
“That would be nice Miss Fox.”
Carl. The guy I lost my virginity to. It is so nice to see him again. He grew up pretty well. Last time I saw him, he was a lanky tall boy. But now, he is a man.
“This is Laura. She will be the housekeeper.” Mable points to the woman standing next to Carl. She has been smiling since we got here.
“Welcome Miss Fox.”
“Thank you.”
“Come see the house.” Mable says.
The house looks beautiful. At least from the outside. The walls are painted ash. I never knew ash looked this nice.
There is a small mahogany table on the porch. And there is a sofa. The porch is spacious. Very convenient for resting in the evenings. A heavy thick glass door leads to a mini sitting room. The ceiling is white and white transparent curtains run from the top to the ground covering the tall and wide glass window. The flat screen TV is on the wall together with the sound system and a red couch directly facing them. The wallpaper on the walls on the sitting room has an ash background with black flowering. There is a long black couch in front of the tall glass window and a long lamp beside it. A wooden table stands close to the lamp. A brown rug is in the center of the sitting room. And the magnificent wall clock hangs on the wall. Nice job Mable. Nice job. You are always so reliable.
The house smells so clean.
“You like it?”
“Yeah. It feels like home already.”
“I’m glad. If you want, I can stay here with you. Even for tonight.” Mable says with her hands on her waist showing how narrow her waist is and her hazel eyes, golden brown and beautiful are scanning the sitting room as if to detect that something that is missing.
“No. You don’t have to. I can manage. Thank you for everything. Don’t know what I would do without you. ”
“Absolutely nothing.” She is being funny. “I got you some new clothes. Dresses, pants, blouses, shorts, pajamas but mostly dresses. I know how much you love those. I got you some shoes. You know. Everything is in the closet. Your body care products and make up are on the dresser in the bedroom. It’s the first bedroom on the left on the hallway… Laura will take care of the house and she will be cooking your food. And the Apple cake is in the fridge. If you need anything, I’m just a phone call away.”
“Thank you Mable. Really. Thank you.”
“Anytime. Shoot.” She looks at her wristwatch.
“I have to go now. I will see you tomorrow?”
“See you tomorrow.”
She hugs me tightly and  leaves.
“I’ll be in the kitchen Miss Fox.” Laura says.
I nod.
The smell of wood. Brings back so much memories. I stand in the sitting room for a few minutes just looking around. There are paintings on the wall. My dad loved paintings. He loved art. He loved antiques. He was a collector of such. Seeing these paintings bring memories of him.
Carl is now in the sitting room. He is standing.
I slowly walk to the dinning room. The round table and the three chairs with foam paddings remind me of my family. The family I lost. I blink, blocking the thoughts. There is a flower case in the middle of the table and fresh daisies are in it. Mable.
I walk into the kitchen. Laura is fiddling with a towel. Geez. Calm down Laura. I am not going to bite. The kitchen smells of scented candles. I look at the stove and I freeze. My palms are sweaty and I feel hot air from my nostrils.
“What would you like me to prepare for you Miss Fox?”
“Not now Laura.”
Maybe Mable was right. I might not be ready. But I cannot stay in the hospital forever.
I stride to the staircase and begin to walk up the steps firmly gripping the banister. The staircase leads to the not very wide hallway. I see five doors. Two on the left. Three on the right. I go into my bedroom.
The bedroom looks cozy with the lemon flowered wallpaper, a large bed with white and ash covers, a couch at the foot of the bed. There is a chandelier hanging from the ceiling, pointing at the middle of the bed. A lamp resting on the chest of drawers beside the bed and a small shelf with some books. Books. I go close to the shelf and scan the books with my eyes. I have not read most of them. Mable must have kept them there to keep me busy. There is a giant creepy painting hanging on the wall near the head of the bed. I do not like it, so I carry it down and hide it under the bed. I see the large long mirror by the side of the bedroom and I want to see myself. I take off my clothes one after the other and look into the mirror. Pewter grey round eyes stare right back at me. I close my eyes. My dark full lashes rest on my face. I open them again. I look pale. My honey blonde hair cascading down my oval face. My not so small breasts with pink nipples poking out from the middle of my large areola look foreign to my body. Is it just me or do I look lean? And holy shit. I really need to shave. I grimace.
My body looks strange to me. Not just my breasts. My belly. My thighs. They look very unfamiliar. My hair. I do not like it anymore and I want to cut it. I ransack through the drawers in the dressing table and I find a scissors. I run the scissors slowly and carefully through my hair, the strands falling on my feet. As the hair falls to the ground, I feel better. I feel slightly released from my distress. I spend time. Cutting. Trimming. Still naked.
I need a shower. I step into the bathroom. I notice a large table with two drawers, a mirror on the wall above the table, a water closet beside the table and a glass door leading to the shower area. I see a shampoo, a hair conditioning, a hair removal cream and a liquid body wash on the table. I grab them with my underarms and one hand and I slide the glass door open with my free hand and turn on the shower.
As the cold water runs from my head to my naked body, wetting me, I shut my eyes. I remember him. Orlando. I will probably never see him again. Why am I thinking about him? I wash my hair and body thoroughly after removing the hairs on my legs, underarms and vagina area.
I get out of the bathroom and I stand in front of the mirror again. All better. All better Olivia. The hair gives me a new look. Different. It makes my neck appear longer. I feel cold. I go into the closet. Clothes all in hangers hanged on the rail. I go through them, shifting the clothes one after the other to the right. Then I see the pajamas. I grab them and wear them immediately.
It is getting dark outside. I am hungry. I climb down the stairs. Carl is still in the sitting room.
“Carl.”
“Miss Fox.”
“Come on Carl. Call me Olivia. We were friends.”
“It will be a little unprofessional.”
“I don’t mind Carl. Come on.”
“Okay Olivia.”
“Better.”
“I would really like to talk but I’m tired. Maybe you should go home so you’d get some rest too.”
“Mable said I shouldn’t leave you alone.”
“What? So you are going to be sleeping here?”
“Yes. She’s already shown me my room.”
Is that necessary? I will be the one paying Carl. So he has to do his work just the way I want him to.
“And Laura.”
“She’ll be staying here too. Mable thinks it will be good for you. Having company in the house.”
“Okay.”
Laura walks in. “Miss Fox? Would you like me to cook for you now?” Her clear luminous eyes widely open. She looks like she is in late twenties.
“You can cook for yourself and Carl. I would have a cup of coffee and Mable’s apple cake.”
“Yes Miss Fox.”
Mable’s apple cake. Laura serves me a slice. It’s delicious. How could I forget?
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