Billionaires and Brilliance

Chapter Five- Does This Qualify As A Kidnapping?

Olivia dragged herself down to dinner with her heart heavy. She sat down in her seat and started eating quietly. The girls laughed and talked loudly. They'd gotten more comfortable at dinner. Tony was chewing, his expression cold.

The waitress took her order. It was Mexican night, normally exciting and full of Tacos, but tonight she just wanted a drink and some rice.

Anthia and Ryan had left their lions in their rooms so that Jessica's cat, Charlie, could roam around undisturbed. Cassidy had taken the opportunity to bring her parrot, Coco, to dinner.

"Taco taco!" Chirped the bird, looking at Cassidy's dinner. "Taco taco!"

Cassidy nodded, petting the bird's head. It was sitting on the top of the back of her chair, craning its neck to observe her meal. "That's right, Coco, you're such a smart girl!"

"Can I have some lettuce?" Coco requested, squawking.

Jessica gasped. "Oh my god, your parrot is so smart! She knows what lettuce is."

Coco nodded her head dramatically. "Smart bird, smart bird."

Cassidy grabbed some of the shredded lettuce and held pieces up to the parrot, who snapped them up happily. It almost looked like the bird was smiling.

Olivia shoveled rice onto her fork and ate it, not even chewing much. She felt like she didn't have any strength left. Her eyes were dry after crying so much, so she sipped her water and blinked them slowly. It didn't help. She looked at Tony, who didn't seem angry anymore. He met her eyes for a moment and sighed, trying to apologize without speaking. He knew his words were harsh.

Olivia gave a faint smile in forgiveness. He returned it. She felt a bit better and started turning the conversation over in her mind again, this time in a more constructive way rather than in an emotional one. Maybe if she got a pet she could emphasize more with the other girls, possibly connect better. That might make her feel better. But she didn't really want anything. Maybe a dog, but those were a lot of work. She was sure that she could get the maids to do all the work she didn't want to do, but that felt unfair, even if they were probably being paid well by Tony.

She ended up pulling out her phone and ordering a goldfish. It'd arrive tomorrow. Olivia had no idea how to take care of a goldfish, but that was what wiki how was for.

***

 Olivia's fish ended up dying in a week, but she did her best not to be bitter. What did she expect, getting a goldfish? Those things always either died in days or lived for like twenty years. There was no in-between.

But things with Tony were better now. It was probably good for them to have an argument and air their grievances. Olivia's mom always used to say that bottling up anger and avoiding fights by stuffing them in boxes was the perfect recipe for a fallout. Addressing the problem at hand was much more healthy for relationships of all kinds.

Olivia and Tony hadn't spent much time together since moving in, but they started doing things together, like spending time talking in his office or going on walks. They were starting to get closer, and Olivia found that she didn't resent him anymore. That was probably a good thing. She was even getting used to letting go of control and just going with the flow, even when she didn't understand a single thing that was happening because it always ended up making sense in the end. She had to do that a lot. Explaining and having discussions prior to action wasn't Tony's style. He was much more impulsive, making snap decisions and initiating them without forethought. That was a good thing sometimes, but it could also be bad.

For example, one time Tony pulled Olivia into his helicopter and the driver took them to fly out over the Hudson Bay. That was fun.

But when Olivia was sitting in the helicopter for the second time and looked up from her book, feeling like they had been flying for a really long time without reaching a destination and saw that the only thing for miles was water, she flipped out.