Jaxon - Roadtrip to White Ridge

Olivia arrives exactly at 11am in the morning. Her father comes into the house to say 'hi' and 'thanks for spending time with her'.

"I'll pick you up, day after tomorrow at 12pm, take good care of yourself and don't get into any trouble."

"Yes, Daddy," replies Olivia. She hugs her father, he nods at us and leaves the house.

As soon as he is out the door, Olivia squeals in excitement, she literally jumps up and down and takes Ava's hands.

"We're going to have a blast!" She tells Ava grinning like a clown.

Ava smiles at her excitement and guides her to the sofa to sit down.

"What would you like to drink? Tea? Coffee? Fruit Juice?"

"I'll have a hot chocolate if you have any."

"We do," Ava confirms and goes to the kitchen to prepare it, leaving me to speak to Olivia.

"So, where are we headed to?" I direct my question at Olivia.

"White Ridge", she answers.

"That's four hours away." I say while checking my app on my phone that gives directions and calculates distance.

"Does Andreas know we're paying a visit,?"

"Yes, I managed to speak to him over the phone, he will meet us, once we arrive there."

"Where are we staying?"

"I got us covered, I booked us the largest room at the Lavender Motel."

"Great, should be fine since we'll only be there for one night."

"Hope you don't mind sharing a room with us girls, it was fully booked when I made a reservation for us."

"I'll be fine, I have a sister and a mother I stay with, so I'm good." I reassure her.

Ava comes in with a steaming mug of hot chocolate and a plate of butter cookies and scones topped with jam and whipped cream.

"Oh God these scones are heavenly," remarks Olivia taking a huge bite and munching on it happily.

"Ava, I did a bit of shopping at a jewelry store close to home and here I got you a bracelet." She pulls out a gold chain bracelet with a key charm on it and presents it to Ava.

"Oh it's beautiful, thank you I really like it," says Ava putting it on her wrist and admiring it.

"Jaxon, I got you this," says Ava giving me a small black box with a huge silver ribbon on top. I open it and inside is a silver band with my name on it.

"Thanks Olivia, it's cool."

"It's sterling silver," she informs me.

I put the band on my right hand and see it glint under the sunlight.

"So shall we leave after you're done eating?"

"The sooner,the better," agrees Olivia.

We say our goodbyes to Mr. and Mrs. Hartwell, Jedidiah , and Mary-Anne.

We pile into the car, Olivia at the back, Ava in front with me driving. We start our journey to White Ridge, making one stop to pump the car with petrol before continuing on the road. During the drive there, we listen to a mixture of old love songs and pop songs. Olivia spends the whole trip, chatting with her friends on WhatsApp, out loud.

Ava checks out some articles on White Ridge on her phone, I just concentrate on the road following the map displayed on my phone. We arrive at White Ridge at four o'clock in the evening, we make a stop at Holly's Coffee House, for tea break.

"Shall I ask Andreas to meet us here ? Lavender Motel is less than 15 minutes away from this place."

"Good idea,go ahead we can wait for him here." I tell her and Ava nods her head in agreement.

I'm not sure what to expect from this guy Andreas,

"let's hope he provides more answers to the questions we have regarding Olivia's kidnapping."

"I'll tell him to bring Betty," says Olivia.

"Whose Betty?" I ask.

"His current girlfriend, she's also insanely good with computers and facial recognition software."

"You're ok with that?" Ava asks Olivia, with concern in her voice.

"Yeah, I mean he has to move in life and so do I, I didn't think he would be hanging around waiting for me or something like that." says Olivia with a tight smile.

"Besides she might be able to identify people for us who could have been involved in the kidnapping." She further adds on.

"I'll be fine, it would be nice to see him happy again."

Ava takes Olivia's hand and gives it a squeeze, "you're so kind and understanding, don't worry things will work out for you too."

"I hope so", says Olivia.