"Miss?" She was being shook, "Miss? Are you okay?" Olivia opened her eyes, it felt like early evening, what had happened? Where was she? She sat up, in Portland right? "Hey, are you alright?" Crawford was standing in front of her in running shorts and a tank top, ear buds draped around his neck.
"Um, what happened?" She stood on shaky legs.
"I saw you sitting here when I started my run, I ran, ate and walked back, and you're still here, sleeping." Her mind was reeling a thousand miles an hour in all different directions.
"How'd we get here from Portland?" She looked around and her stomach dropped, why were they at the dog park in Southie? He looked at her, but it wasn't the look of her husband or lover, it was the look one stranger gave to another.
"I—uh—I'm not sure what you mean."
"Crawford, stop playing—did I hit my head or something?" She rubbed her hands together and noticed the absence of a ring, then noticed she was in her old maxi dress, and her old scratched sunglasses that had broken at least a year ago were on the bench next to her.
"Have we met?" He asked, her vision began blackening around the edges. Olivia started to get mad.
"Crawford! We are married! The house, in San Diego? The log cabin on the beach?"
"You're Olivia Granger, from PureSide." Sick nausea rolled in her stomach, she leaned over the bench and threw up.
"What year is it?" She wiped her mouth, he looked a bit frightened. "What year is it?" She couldn't believe this.
"It's 2016, early May, Boston, it's nearly five in the evening." May-fucking-2016? Where were the cameras? Who orchestrated this prank? "You look ill, can I take you home? Someone I can call for you?"
She didn't really remember much after that, he held her elbow and she must have told him where the gym was, "How is this possible?" She asked, walking the familiar street to the gym. Benny rushed out the door as they approached.
"Jesus Christ Livvy! I've been looking for you all afternoon!" Their embrace felt awkward, to touch like this, they weren't together anymore! "Are you okay?"
"She was at a dog park on a bench, sleeping, she threw up. Seems really really disoriented." Crawford said, her heart was in pieces, how could he not know who she was, all the times- "I'm Crawford Wallace." The two shook hands, Benny's arm went protectively around her.
"Benny Hagen, thanks for brining her home."
"Sure, see you then." He patted her shoulder and she watched him go, wanting to follow after him. They went upstairs to the apartment, same as it had been forever, but it wasn't supposed to be like this.
"Where is all of Kiki's stuff?" She looked around, everything was as it had been that fateful May day.
"Kiki? She lives with her cousin Livvy, what is wrong?" She curled up on the couch and covered her head with her arms, she'd lived almost four years in a two hour nap? What about the break-up? Miami? Oliver—her companion, Crawford, her savior, he had looked at her like he'd look at anyone else. Mulligan? She jumped up, panicked.
"Where's Mulligan? Is he okay?" She yelled it, Benny came out of the bedroom, looking at her like an absolute loon.
"He's fine, probably drunk." She collapsed and began sobbing in relief, he wasn't dead, that was good. She sobbed for his safety, for her loss, her dog, her marriage. How could all of that only been a dream? Stephanie? Their daughter. Sometime later, still curled up on the couch, the door opened.
YOU ARE READING
I choose me.
General Fiction"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...
