CHAPTER 15: WHAT IF I LEFT SOUTHIE?
Olivia's flight was early, at six, so she snuck away at four and gathered all her bags and clothes while Scotty snored, and finished getting ready in Crawford's room. He watched her move all around the room double checking she had what she needed.
"Let me drive you." He moved slowly and sat at the edge of the bed.
"No, you sleep, I've got a cab coming, I'm going to to to the beach while I wait." She zipped up her suitcase for the final time this trip and sat on his lap, hugging him tightly.
"I'll see you soon." He kissed her tenderly. She left her bags at the front desk and went out to the cold beach and bent down, letting her fingers graze through the sand.
"I'll see you soon." She told the waves.
Boston was cold and windy and Andrew was late. He screeched to a stop in the pick-up zone. "Hey there." He jumped out with a cheesy smile on his face.
"Hi." She sighed, shivering.
"I could friggen kiss you." He whooped and yanked up her luggage.
"Please don't."
"You are everywhere. Well online, ESPN, the news shows, all the hippies went ape for your fundraiser last night. Everyone wants you! PureSide sales with your code are off the charts. This fight is gaining some serious momentum now that you're being seen in real life. I'm going to set up some interviews."
"No, I don't want to do the interviews. If you want to do anything, you can get publicity for the Foster Home fundraiser."
He slammed his door closed and turned the heater up for her, "You're hard to manage you know."
She pulled her coat tighter around her and buckled up, "Have you seen Benny?"
"I've seen him, sure."
"He okay?"
"I don't know, he hates me. He looks bigger though, must be training hard."
"What if I left Southie?" She asked quietly, the Audi swerved abruptly, "WHAT?"
"What if I moved out West?"
"You can't, I mean you can, but you can't. You are Southie Olivia." She stared out the window.
"Maybe I'm not anymore"
"Did something happen in Cali?" He kept looking over at her every other second.
"Yes, I felt free." She said wistfully, picturing herself back in the surf.
"Get your head out of the clouds kid. That West Coast life is just a pipe dream, this is life here." He pulled up smoothly to the gym curb.
"Who says it's a pipe dream?" She turned her head to look at her manager.
"You can't leave Olivia, what about the gym and the home? Mulli is really old, and then there's Benny." His words knocked around her like a pin ball. She unclicked her seatbelt and cracked the door.
"What about me Andy?"
He sighed and retracted, "That's not what I meant Liv."
"Thanks for the ride." Johnny ran out and grabbed her bags.
"Oh thanks John." She said.
"How was Cali boss?"
"It was great, hey PJ." He was wiping down machines. Johnny handed her a stack of mail. "Everything go okay here?" They both nodded in unison.
YOU ARE READING
I choose me.
Fiksi Umum"I choose me" follows the story of Olivia Granger , her life from an orphan, to an athlete and business owner, to a woman whose life turns in a direction she never ever thought it would go, a direction she never even knew could exist. It is a hear...
