A Beautiful Mess (Beautiful Mess 1)

“Did you sleep with him? You didn’t tell me that!” Kiera exclaimed.

“No!” Olivia shouted. “That’s the thing. We didn’t even sleep together. We fooled around a few times. Wednesday night when he took me home and I was all drunk, he barely even laid a hand on me. Hell, I grabbed his hand and made him feel me up, but he felt like he was taking advantage of me because I was pretty far gone. He helped me get into my PJs since I was too wasted to even attempt it, but he was so sweet about it. It’s almost like there’s two sides to him. He can be rather forceful when he wants to be, but also sweet and caring.”

“How so?” Kiera asked. “I see the way he looks at you and I’d give anything to have a guy look at me that way. Even last night. The heat between you guys was palpable.” She fanned herself, making Olivia smile before her serious expression returned.

“Well, I didn’t want to tell you,” Olivia said, glancing over at her friend. “But I’ve been having those nightmares again. They’re more clear now than they’ve ever been. And I see the person who pulled me out of the car. It’s a boy who probably wasn’t that much older than I was at the time, and he has those same green eyes as Alexander.”

“Have you spoken to Dr. Greenstein about these dreams?” Kiera asked.

“Not yet. I mean, it’s on my list of things to bring up with her, but we’re still kind of playing catch up.” Olivia fidgeted in her seat, hating to talk about her ongoing need to see a therapist with anyone, including Kiera.

“Did you have that dream when Alexander stayed over?”

“I did. And that night it changed again. The boy with the green eyes pulled me from the car, just like he had been doing. And he placed me in another car and then I saw someone come up behind him and hit him on the back of his head with a gun, knocking him out. I woke up screaming. And Alexander was so sweet during the whole thing. He jumped out of bed and turned on the lights and just held me for like hours it seems like.”

“Aww. I mean, he wouldn’t do that if he didn’t care about you.”

“I know. And that’s the part I’m struggling with. It’s like he was a totally different person this past week than the person I saw at the bar last night. It’s almost as if he’s hiding something from me. I don’t for a second believe that he and Adele are in a relationship. I mean, there are photos online of the two of them, but the dates are so random. If they were dating, there would be a lot more photos, ya know?”

“Exactly. So why are you ignoring his calls?”

“I want him to be honest with me,” Olivia exhaled. “I don’t want him to keep things from me. There was some reason that he wanted to get as far away from me as possible last night at the bar. And I want to know what it is. And until he comes clean, he can fuck off for all I care.” Olivia crossed her arms in front of her body and looked out the window to see the Boston skyline appear in the distance. She was happy to be getting closer to home.

“Are you sure you’re not just using this as an excuse to push him away?” Kiera asked quietly.

Olivia opened her mouth, surprised at her friend. She closed it quickly, knowing Kiera was probably right. Olivia was looking for a reason to push Alexander away. She was scared at how close they had gotten over the past week. And pushing him away seemed like a good idea, if only to save her the heartache.

~~~~~~~~~~

Alexander hung up his cell phone, swearing. He had called her countless times, left dozens of voicemails and texts, and still had yet to hear from Olivia. He was getting worried. What if something had happened to her?

“Hey, bro,” Tyler said as Alexander walked downstairs into the kitchen in the early afternoon on Sunday. “Heading out?”

“Yeah. I need to try to smooth things over with Olivia. She’s not answering my calls. I may have fucked things up.”

“What happened last night?” he asked, leaning against the breakfast bar and drinking a coffee.

“I don’t know,” Alexander replied, running his hands through his hair. “One minute I was at the bar and then the next minute, I looked across the dance floor. She was dancing in the corner and some asshole had his hands all over her so I fucking snapped.” His face flamed just thinking about anyone else touching Olivia. “And then,” he continued, “Adele had planted photographers at the function Friday so there were photos of the two of us all over those gossip websites, and Olivia saw them. I never called or texted her all weekend, so she just thought the reason was Adele and that we’re in some sort of relationship. This is one big fuck-up and I have no idea what I’m going to do.” He opened the refrigerator and grabbed a bottle of water for the drive back to Boston.

“Well, good luck with that. I’ve been dying to meet the girl who stole your heart all those years ago. Drinks this weekend?”

“Yeah, sure. I’ll be in touch.” He gave his brother a hug, walked out the door, and within minutes was on his way back to Boston. During the two-hour drive back into the city, he thought about what he could possibly say to Olivia. He was new to this whole relationship thing, but he knew he fucked up. He dug himself into such a hole.

The weekend had started out perfect. Visiting Olivia’s gravestone at the cemetery. Telling her all about the woman she had become. And then Adele happened. And, as usual, she clung onto him, wanting the entire world to see her name next to his to up her social status. Alexander knew he should have ignored her from the start, but he had a tendency to want to make everyone happy.

But, at that moment, the only person he wanted to make happy was Olivia and he would do anything to get her back. He would grovel. He would beg. He would do everything, except the one thing she wanted. He just didn’t think he could tell her the truth yet.

Alexander pulled off the Mass Pike and drove straight to his office, needing to review the report Simpson had prepared before deciding what to do about Olivia. Sitting behind his desk, the sun shining through the large glass windows, he opened the file.

According to her birth certificate, Sarah Olivia Adler was born almost twenty-eight years ago on October sixteenth. The same day as Olivia DeLuca. Her medical records were fairly normal until twenty-one years ago. That year, according to a hospital report, she received a head injury and suffered from several cracked ribs as well as internal bleeding.

He compared the information on the medical records in front of him to the records of his other Olivia. Her death certificate listed the cause of death as blunt force trauma to the head causing severe cerebral bleeding. Then something struck Alexander. He looked at the signature of the medical examiner on the death certificate. He held it up next to the other hospital records from the same year belonging to one Sarah Olivia Adler. They were identical.