35-Safety-2

I couldn't not worry, it was impossible. The hardest thing I ever had to do was leave her when I knew she needed me the most. I had disappointed her because I couldn't just suck it up and be a man. Now I stood at a point where I could possibly lose her forever. "Bruce, what can you tell me about Doctor Gina Mathews? She owns a private practice down on the Upper West Side." I rattled on the address Andrew had given me, knowing that Bruce must have been with her during the appointments. If the doctor had any sort of relation with Olivia then I would know who my first target would be. "The gynecologist? Don't you know all about her?" There was obvious confusion in Bruce's voice and my brows were being pushed together too. Why would I know her? "No, I've never heard of her. Is she the doctor Arianna went to for her check-ups?" He was quiet for a while until I heard him curse loudly at the other end. It took him a long time to calm down and an even longer time before I had his attention again. "What the hell was that? Do you know something?" "They were all in it! Randy, that damn doctor, all of them. I should've known, I should've known they were up to something." "Calm down and tell me what happened." I had to use my authoritative tone, making sure that he realized that I wasn't in the mood for mind games. His words were wreaking havoc on my nerves, I was close to a meltdown and I didn't need his rambling to push me off the edge. "You...you should sit down. You're really not going to like what I'm about to tell you. "So Doctor, exactly how much money were you given to ruin my marriage?" She cowered and pushed herself back in her chair. Weak and pathetic, exactly the kind of people Olivia preyed on, ones she could manipulate to do her dirty laundry for her and Gina Mathews was the perfect victim. "You...you don't understand. I had to do what she said, if I didn't then she'd have my license cancelled; I wouldn't be able to get work, I wouldn't be able to support my family..." Her voice trembled before it broke into sobs and I had the guards escort her out. I didn't need to hear more of it; all I wanted was for her to sign some papers claiming that the clinic had made a mistake in its documentation and that I hadn't scheduled the abortion. A piece of paper wouldn't be enough to make Ari believe me but when the time came I wanted to give her every ounce of proof possible to convince her that I would never even dream of such a thing. When Bruce had told me about their visit to Dr. Mathew and what she'd told Ari, I nearly broke my phone because suddenly it all made sense, why she hated me so much, why she didn't want to be near me, why she wouldn't even look me in the eye. She was afraid of me. She thought I would hurt her and not even in my wildest imagination would I have thought that Olivia would've thrown such a low blow. Well if she wasn't holding back then I had no reason to either. "How did it go?" We were sat at the dining table, me and Nick and he'd just returned from work. He'd been working there for about two weeks now and today he'd finally run into none other than Olivia. "You should've seen her face! I was surprised her eyes didn't pop out of her skull, she looked like she'd seen a ghost or worse, someone wearing last season's Prada." He chuckled to himself and ate hungrily, obviously liking the kind of food that was served here. "Did you talk to her?" I stirred the spoon around my plate, playing with the cherry tomatoes. I could almost picture my mother yelling at me to keep still and eat but it was a nervous habit. Nick had to make a lasting impression on Olivia, she had to see him as a new conquest because if she didn't then the plan would fall apart. "I gave her the cold shoulder, ignored her. That's what chicks like her dig you know, you gotta play it cool, like you're bored and would do anything with legs but not them." A grimace passed my lips but I kept my opinions on his morality to myself; he did have a point though. Women like Olivia were driven crazy if men didn't pay attention to them; that would make them keep coming back. It was surprising how Nick had enough brains to figure that out. "Well tomorrow there's going to be a meeting of the board of directors and you and Olivia will both be present. Do what you're doing, don't let her get to you easily and we'll see where this goes." I pushed my plate away; I couldn't eat so there was no point in pretending. Picking up my keys from the hook on the living room wall, I left Nick, who was still devouring the food, and headed out for the night - a couple of drinks were really needed. "How is she?" I asked as I drove towards the Manhattan area. Bruce called me once or twice a week to tell me how Ari was doing. I texted him daily though and each day he would reply the same way, a very vague 'she's fine.' "Well she started school today, the Langdon's had to pull a lot of strings to have the school take her at this time but she's in." I felt proud of the fact that she was getting on with her life, making a new start which was exactly what the doctor ordered. "That's good but that also means that you'll have to find a way to be at her side, any plans?" "Don't worry, it's all under control." He clearly wasn't telling me how he planned on watching Ari in a place full of teenagers. Oh well, at least he knew what he was doing. It wasn't too far now, not too far until we could be together again. I had Olivia right where I wanted her and we had men looking everywhere for Randy. Soon all the people who'd ever hurt Ari would be punished for what they did but until then I had to be content with loving her from a distance and for what it was worth, it was worth all the while.