Olivia’s POV
"Did you really think I wouldn’t check up on you after what happened?"
"I..." I started to respond, but he was already pulling away from the curb, driving in the opposite direction of my apartnt.
"Wait, where are we going? My apartnt is..."
"I know where your apartnt is," he said. "But we need to talk first. And I’d rather not do it in front of your building where anyone could see."
He drove for a few minutes, until we reached a quiet, tree-lined street with no traffic and few streetlights. He pulled over and put the car in park, but kept the engine running.
Then he turned slightly in his seat - not enough for to see his face, but enough that I knew he was looking at through the rearview mirror.
"Why did you do that?" His voice was low, intense. "You scared the life out of today, Livy."
"How did you know what happened?" I asked, my voice filled with frustration. "How do you always know everything? Were you in the building? Did soone tell you? Did you..."
"It doesn’t matter how I knew," he interrupted. "What matters is that you nearly killed yourself. What the hell were you thinking?"
"I wasn’t thinking!" The words burst out of . "I was angry at my stupid boss and his stupid gas and his stupid..."
I cut myself off, pressing my lips together before I said too much, before I blurted out, his stupid kisses.
There was a long silence. Then: "Your boss."
"Yes. My boss. Who is an absolute nightmare to work for..." then I stopped short, a beautiful idea creeping into my mind. "You know what, I want you to beat him up again."
"What? What did he do this ti?" He sounded almost amused.
"Nothing new," I muttered, crossing my arms. "Just his usual gas of making go completely insane. Making climb on furniture, breaking things, getting electrocuted..."
"He didn’t make you get electrocuted," the stranger pointed out. "He told you to stop."
"Whose side are you on?!" I demanded. "And how the hell did you even know!"
"I’m on your side. Always. How I know it’s really not important. I’m just trying to understand why you’d risk your life over a light bulb."
I was quiet for a mont, my anger simring. Then I leaned forward, a mischievous smile on my face.
"But I got him fair and square yesterday." I admitted, still smiling. "Want to know what I did to him?"
He laughed. "What did you do, Livy?"
"I exchanged his drinking water with toilet water."
Complete silence.
Then: "WHAT?"
I burst into laughter - a devilish laughter that probably made sound unhinged. "You should have seen him! He was running to the bathroom all day, changing suits like crazy. He ended up living in his toilet. It was glorious."
More silence from the front seat.
"So let get this straight," he said slowly.
"You gave your boss toilet water to drink?"
"He deserved it!" I defended. "He’s been torturing for weeks! This was payback!"
"Livy." His voice was filled with disappointnt. "That’s... that’s actually insane."
I bristled. "What do you an ’insane’? It was revenge! He made wash his spotless bathroom all morning."
"What if the contaminated water had killed him."
"Are you serious right now?" I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. "Since when do you care about my boss? He made clean his bathroom! He made climb on furniture to fix a light bulb! He humiliates constantly! And then, when I actually get hurt, when I nearly die, he doesn’t even bother to co check on ! You should be mad at him!"
There was a brief silence.
"Is that what this is about?" His voice was softer now. "You want to beat him up because he didn’t visit you in the hospital?"
The truth of his words hit like a slap, and I hated - absolutely hated - that he was right.
"No!" I protested, but even I could hear how weak it sounded. "It’s not about that! It’s about... about everything! About how he treats like I’m nothing, like I don’t matter, like I’m just so disposable assistant he can torture for his own amusent!"
"Livy..."
"And you know what the worst part is? The worst part is that I actually thought for a second that maybe he cared. When he caught the first ti I fell, I thought he might actually be good."
"Alright. I understand why you would be angry. But you should at least let him recover from what you did to him yesterday," the stranger said, and I could hear exhaustion in his voice, "before you ask to beat him up today."
"Oh, so NOW you’re worried about him!" I exploded. "Since when did you start caring about Maxwell? He’s the one who got into this painful situation in the first place! He made climb up there! He refused to call maintenance! And then, when I nearly died, he didn’t even bother to co check on ! He just left! So excuse if I don’t care about his recovery from drinking toilet water!"
"That’s not..."
"You know what? Forget it!" I grabbed the door handle and yanked it open. "Clearly you’re on his side now. Clearly I’m the problem. Clearly everything is my fault!"
"Livy, that’s not what I..."
"Thanks for the ride!" I shouted, climbing out of the cab. "Next ti, maybe just let take a real taxi instead of kidnapping to lecture about how I should treat my boss!"
I slamd the door with all the force I could muster, the sound echoing through the quiet street.
Then I stood there on the sidewalk, arms crossed, waiting.
He’ll call back. He’ll tell to get back in the car, I’ll pretend to refuse at first, and then he’ll say sothing sweet and I’ll give in and...
The engine revved.
And then he drove away.
Just... drove away.
I stood there, frozen in shock, watching his taillights disappear around the corner.
"Wait!" I called out, but he was already gone.
"Co back! I didn’t an..."
Silence.
I was alone on a dark street, still sore from being electrocuted, miles from my apartnt, with no way to get ho.
"What the hell just happened?" I said to the empty air.
My stranger, my mysterious guardian angel, had just left .
Actually left .
Because you yelled at him. Because you demanded he beat up soone who’s probably suffering enough already. Because you acted like a spoiled brat throwing a tantrum.
"Shit," I whispered, pulling out my phone. "Shit, shit, shit."
I had no way to call him back. I couldn’t call the number he texts with. Shit.
I looked around the deserted street, trying to figure out where I even was. A few blocks from my apartnt, maybe? I could walk, but my body was still aching and weak.
This is what you get for being dramatic. This is what you get for pushing people away.
With a heavy sigh, I started walking in what I hoped was the direction of ho, as I beca filled with regret.
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