When Olivia stepped out of Bardwell's office, she was immediately met by her friend, Sasha, who looked like she was intentionally waiting for her at her desk outside of Bardwell's office. Olivia cannot help but notice the way Sasha looked. Though Olivia has a very good fashion sense being a model once in a while, her outfit in the office was mostly casual business compared to Sasha who looked like a real-life barbie with her pink skirt and frilly blouse.
"Hey, are you okay?" Sasha asked, making Olivia wonder how she looked for her friend to ask if she is ok.
Olivia nodded her head. "Yeah, why do you ask?" Why would she not be okay? Her assignment with Jove Latimer has finally concluded and now she got two weeks off which she badly needed.
Olivia continued to walk toward her cubicle knowing that her friend will follow her.
"You just seem…off," Sasha said as she followed Olivia.
Olivia was surprised that Sasha noticed it. Was it all over her face? Though she really was okay with how her conversation with their tyrant boss ended up, generally she was still feeling a little bit off. Because though she had finally finished Latimer's case, the way it ended up opening a lot of secrets was just too overwhelming for her.
Not to mention she almost got kidnapped and sold off to Jove Latimer himself. Until now, Olivia was still feeling anxious at the thought. If Matthew didn't come on time, Olivia doesn't know where she will end up.
But then, now that she already knows how capable her boyfriend is, she doubts if anything bad will happen to her even if Matthew didn't come on time to rescue her. She could only imagine the worst that could happen to the woman who was about to take her and the two men who manhandled her.
But then again, she thought, is there anything worse that could happen to them than being in the underground facility, inside the torture cells, with the certainty that they will be tortured and uncertainty if they will live long?
But knowing Matthew, he could come up with something. After all, it was Olivia who was almost harmed.
Everything that Olivia discovered about Jove Latimer and how she discovered them was nothing compared to what Matthew divulged to her. It was as if another version of Matthew appeared in front of her but for some reason, she still felt the familiarity.
Olivia knew that Matthew is capable of killing people, he had said so himself. But knowing that he did and he could still surprise her. But because of that and Matthew's explanation, it became easier for her to accept it.
She'll just have to get used to it.
Olivia ignored Sasha's words and instead, went straight to her desk and gathered her things.
Sasha, who was now standing beside Olivia's desk, noticed her friend's strange behavior. A frown appeared on her forehead and asked, "Where are you going?"
Olivia only has a few things on her desk because she always brought her work to her apartment so she only took a minute or two to gather them all. Once she was done, she looked up at Sasha and answered, "I took a break. You know…all this thing is starting to get a little bit…" Her voice trailed off knowing that Sasha understands what she meant.
Their working environment could be so stressful and having Bardwell as their boss is another thing.
Sasha's frown deepened. She pursed her lips and said, "I understand. I am glad that Bardwell gave you a break. You deserve it,"
Olivia smiled. "I have to go," She said, and then she started to walk out of their office.
But it looks like Sasha is not yet done. "Wait! In case Daxon–"
Olivia immediately cut her off and rolled her eyes. "Cut it, Sasha," Sasha is so head over heels in love with Daxon even though she hasn't met the man or even seen him in person. Olivia wondered how Sasha would take it once she learned how eccentric and messy the man she was pinning was.
Only a few will find an eccentric man attractive and yes, Olivia admits that she is one of those few, she is not sure if Sasha is one of them as well.
"I'll see you around!" Olivia said, waving her hand in the air as if she is not going to return to that place when she'll only be gone for two weeks.
Thirty minutes later, Olivia stood behind the closed door of her apartment. Her gaze swept through her apartment which appears to be from two different places.
On her left is her kitchen and dining area which was clean and spot-free as if no one lived there and was maintained by a caretaker.
On her right is her living room. If one would call a massive pile of papers littered all over the place to the point that she cannot make out her carpet, a living room. Three rolling boards were everywhere blocking the view of what was supposed to be a magnificent view of the city from her living room.
Now that Olivia has finished her assignment, she is now able to take in the chaos that she made in her living room. Not to mention the chaos that she left untouched in her office.
Her apartment…or rather Matthew's apartment that he rented out to her was beautiful and homey. But because of her job and curiosity, she made a mess out of it. Olivia suddenly felt bad and guilty for not taking care of the apartment.
Olivia's break was approved. So she has two weeks free to do anything she wants. And she wanted to start it by cleaning her apartment and making it look how it used to be…clean, cozy, and homey.
So Olivia went to her bedroom and changed into comfortable shorts and an old gray shirt that she stole from Matthew's closet. It was the shirt that she borrowed from Matthew the first time she slept in his apartment, which was years ago when they were just at the beginning of their relationship. She doesn't know if Matthew is aware that she stole it from him because until now, they never talked about it. He never even asked.
After changing into comfortable clothes, Olivia tied her hair into a bun, and then she went to the laundry room where she keeps all the cleaning materials in the apartment.
She came out with a vacuum and a garbage bag and then she went straight to the living area where she started picking up the papers on the floor, on the sofa, and on the coffee table. And then she proceeded to clean up her board.
Normally, Olivia will keep all the papers and pile them up in her office for future reference even though she has a copy of it on her computer but for some reason, she doesn't want to keep anything that is related to Latimer's case.
Once done in the living room and satisfied with its cleanliness, Olivia dragged the black garbage bag near the kitchen, and then she went to her office with the vacuum and more garbage bags.
The image that greeted her in her office was worse than in her living room. How come she didn't realize the mess she had made in her office? It appears that she had more clutter in her office than in the living room. The clutter being papers and clips about her vigilante theory.
Looking around her office, Olivia remembered the first time that she showed them all to Matthew and told him about her theory. She suddenly felt angry even though she was questioning herself if she should be angry.
Yes. She should be angry. All this time, Matthew knew what she was talking about. In fact, he was the vigilante that she was talking about. He feigned ignorance and naiveness as if everything she was saying was not making any sense at all.
As if she was crazy.
He played her and made a fool out of her.
How many times did Matthew pretend that he didn't understand a thing that she was saying? How many times did Matthew pretend as if she was not making any sense at all?
How good of an actor he was!
Olivia pursed her lips and stomped forward her rolling boards. Her mood shifted and her vexation started to crawl on her skin. She pulled the papers from the board making the pins fly everywhere in her office without any care that she will be the one to search for them later on or she might step on them and would hurt herself.
But she doesn't care at all because that is the only way for her to channel her vexation.
After thirty minutes of taking out all her vexation and anger in cleaning up her office and throwing everything related to her vigilante theory, she sat in her office chair with a satisfied smile on her face.
Though her apartment is air-conditioned, her forehead had beads of sweat and her skin was flushed. She only cleaned her living room and office because there is nothing to clean in the other parts of her apartment but she already felt like she worked out for hours.
She looked around and felt happy and light that her books were back on the shelves, the wall art was visible again to be appreciated and the light could finally enter the room through the window without those boards blocking it.
Near the door are two garbage bags filled with papers and other clutter that she picked up in her office.
She stayed in her office a little longer until she heard the bell door ringing. A small frown appeared on her forehead because she was not expecting anyone.
Unless the person she hasn't seen in the past two days finally decided that he already had enough of giving her time and space.
Olivia stood from her office chair and dragged the two trash bags out of the office. She brought them near the kitchen with the other trash bags and then she went to see who was ringing the bell for the second time as if the person on the other side of the door couldn't wait any longer for her to open it.