Secrets.

Chapter 1

Chapter 1.

Olivia was exhausted. She had started her new job at a new city away from her family 2 and a half weeks ago. Handling all the new and sudden adult responsibilities was a lot more difficult and stressful than what she thought.

Having to leave her mother and brother back home in Florida was tough but it was what needed to be done. After her father died in a tragic fire accident 12 years ago, the family fell on pretty hard times. Her mother Catherine, was having a hard time trying keeping up with all the expenses of the house and the kids private school tuitions. Their lives dramatically changed after that. Her mother had to find a job as an assistant and although it was good money, it wasn't enough to keep afloat so they lost their house and had to move to a tiny apartment in a not so great part of town. When Olivia turned 16, she managed to get a paid internship as a photographer in one of her mothers  friends company, in order to help with the bills. Her bother, at the time was 2 years old so most of the responsibilities of taking care of the house, went directly to Olivia, as her mother worked both shifts.

Photography was something Olivia always loved. In a way, she felt like it kept the memory of her father alive. Her father was the one who got her the first camera. He was a very busy man who didn't get too much time to spend with his family, so this was his way to spoil and win over his  daughter.

Having to move to a completely different city where she knew no one, was hard. She spent the first 4 days alone in her apartment after work, feeling too intimidated to ask any of her coworkers if they wanted to hang out with her. Eventually, she started socializing with them a little more, but she didn't feel comfortable enough to invite them over to her place; she almost felt embarrassed by her apartment. It was tiny and in the bad side of town but it was all she could afford as she was sending most of her money back home to her mother and brother.

Turning on her favorite playlist, and grabbing a few pots and all the ingredients to make dinner, she went ahead and started chopping some onions for the dish she was making, trying to copy the way her mom showed her but knowing very well that it could never compare to hers. Cooking was never her forte but she enjoyed it as it distracted her from all the stress that invaded her mind.

"Dreams" by Fleetwood Mac allowed her to get so lost in her cooking that it took several seconds for Olivia to even notice the loud knocks coming from her front door. Turning the flame down on the 2 pots she had going in her tiny kitchen and rinsing her hands and turning down the volume down, she quietly made her way to the door, worried about who might be at her door as her neighborhood wasn't the safest and she wasn't expecting anyone.

When she heard 3 more loud knocks, this time she calmly yelled "Coming!".

Opening the door halfway she noticed her neighbor, and old lady from across the hall.

"Can I help you?"- she murmured, still feeling slightly on edge.

"I'm so sorry to bother you dear, I was just wondering if you've seen my cat? She's black with a white spot on her head. Her name is shadow. She got out this morning as I was leaving for my doctor's appointment and she still hasn't come back".

"Oh I haven't. I got home a while ago and I didn't see her outside either. Maybe I can help you look for her?".

"I don't want to be a bother, I'm sure she'll turn up once she gets hungry" -the old lady denied.

"It's no problem really, but would you like to come in while you wait? I'm just making dinner."- Olivia suggested. She was so desperate to talk to someone outside from work and she figured the old lady wasn't dangerous, and even if she was, she was pretty sure she could take her.