Chapter 18: Chapter 18

The rest of the day went by with not much interesting happening. Looking back at her busy life in San Francisco, she never understood “taking a break” or “relaxing”. Whenever she finished something, she always found something new to do. Accomplishing things was the only reason she never had a mental breakdown over the work overload.

After lunch, she set her only goal for the whole day: Call Kate. She knew Kate would still be awake at 03:00 in the morning, sitting behind her computer, after having consumed many cups of coffee. Curiosity. I know her too well, Olivia thought.

Like everybody who work in the city, the phone didn’t ring long before Kate answered.

“Hello.”

“Found something?”

“Hello to you too, my dearest friend,” said Kate with lots of energy from all the caffeine that is starting to kick in. “Yes, it’s not that big.”

Olivia could hear from Kate’s tone that Kate was trying to hide her excitement just to reveal what she had found a few seconds later.

“What is it?”

“Mr Smith received a great deal of money from one account and paid it into another.”

“And you don’t know who it is, I guess,” said Olivia.

“Nope.”

“Tyler’s brother arrived here this morning. He looks like a monkey with his head in a golden pot. Maybe you should research him.”

“Okay. I just don’t see how he fits in.”

“I overheard them talking this morning. I assumed it was about money.”

“I’ll search them both, just to make sure.”

“Tyler? I don’t think so,” said Olivia, her tone more uncertain than she would’ve liked.

“You don’t sound convincing. Anyway, we are real stalkers now. We tick all the boxes.”

“Detectives, you said last time. Got to go. Talk again?”

“Yes. Hopefully I’ll find something, Detective Acker.”

“Bye, Kate,” laughed Olivia, as she hung up the phone.

Olivia threw her phone on the cushion, falling back on the bed on her back. She stared at the roof, trying to put the pieces together. Silence always filled her head with deep thoughts, but that day she drifted off to sleep in the silence.

She woke later with a knock on the door. It was followed by the door opening. Tyler popped his head inside and quickly tried to close the door again when he saw that she was asleep.

“No, wait,” Olivia said.

“Sorry,” Tyler whisper. “I thought you were asleep.”

“I mean I was.”

“I thought we could go for a ride on the horses. Your choice.”

“At eight at night?”

“Yes. I want to show you something and get some fresh air,” said Tyler, with a sneaky smile like a naughty child.

“You make it hard to say no.”

“Why do you think I close new deals so fast?”

She got up and grabbed her only warm coat. Soon they were heading out. They walked on a small road with flower bushes on both sides. She was always scared walking in the dark. I’ve watched too many mysteries, she thought. Strangely, with him by her side, she wasn’t scared at all.

Eventually they could see the bright light on the top of the enormous, bright red barn. The building reminded her of her family’s barn at home. There were horses in all the stables on either side of the barn.

“Pick one,” said Tyler.

He already got his horse out of its stables. The black saddle blended in with the pitch-black skin of the horse and its curly, black mane.

There were too many horses to choose from. She walked up and down the two rows of stables, looking at the best behaved and best looking one. That's the tactic she used when she picked Poppy and it worked out pretty great.

A light brown mare with a caramel coloured mane and a white spot on its face got her attention. She stood in front of the horse and put her head on its side, brushing her finger through the horse’s mane which had a few neat braids.

“Her. What is her name?”

“Cami. She is very well behaved, and pregnant too.”

“Oh, then I should probably pick another one.”

“No, you can still ride her.”

As Tyler saddled the horse for Olivia, she broke the truth.

“Here’s the thing: I am a pretty good rider.”

“Look at you! I like a challenge. It doesn't surprise me looking at those legs of yours.”

Blushing, Olivia replied, “Challenge accepted.”

He kindly helped her onto the saddle, and they set off. Still blushing, Olivia followed behind him.

A few minutes of riding beside each other, Olivia’s curiosity set in.

“You’re like an owl. You only come near me at night.”

“Good one!”

“No, seriously. Why?”

“I guess I don’t want people to see… .”

“That you can open up?” said Olivia, finishing Tyler’s sentence.

His silence was all answer she needed.

They stopped on a small bridge, with lamps that brought the only light in the area. She followed Tyler’s lead as he climbed off his horse. They stood on the bridge, looking at the river, with Tyler’s hands in his pockets. Olivia looked around her, trying to figure out what was so interesting about this particular spot. Suddenly, the light of the lamps went out and they stood there in the dark silence.

“Why did the lights go out,” Olivia asked.

“Every night, the light goes out at eight.”

“And you know this how?”

“Regular visits.”

“Why…,” Olivia began to ask, but she was quickly interrupted by Tyler.

“Shh! Look up.”

And there was the treasure. So many stars. She never before saw them so bright.

“Every day we look at the bad things in our life. Our bad decisions and their consequences. The daily mess we must deal with. Sometimes, we forget to look up at the treasure we have and the things we don’t appreciate enough.” He turned to Olivia and continued, “You make me love the things I always wanted to hide. I love you, Liv.”

He pulled her closer to him. He looked deep into her eyes, asking for consent. He always seemed to first need her consent before making a move. Then he kissed her. While they kissed, he suddenly pulled away and turned his back to the river, pulling Olivia in front of him.

“Hiding from the stars. They’re very curious.”

Olivia laughed. Tyler hugged her close to his strong chest, wrapping his arms around her. She could smell his scent. It made her feel welcome.

There’s no place I’d rather be, she thought, as she felt the warmth of true love standing so near him.