Chapter 7: Chapter 7

As the days went by, Olivia felt more and more like a child again. She watched several cows give birth and then stayed up late to make sure the calves got fed. Sometimes she even fell asleep in the hay and was woken up the next morning by a cow brushing its wet nose against her face. She also helped her mother cook in the kitchen. She realised how much she missed cooking, as she never quite had enough time back in the city to just cook a meal. Poppy also went on many rides with her, walking up and down the hills and through the small rivers to see the sunset at night.

Olivia knew that saying goodbye at the end of the five days would be hard, but it was much harder than she thought. Thinking about all the mess back in San Francisco just made her want to stay longer. But, running away from her problems never helped. It only made things worse.

Her mother closed the taxi’s door behind her. Olivia rolled the window down to say goodbye.

“We will miss you, Honey! Come back soon,” her mother said.

“Yes, don’t wait until Christmas again,” her father added.

“I promise I’ll be back. It’s only goodbye for a short while,” said Olivia, with promise in her eyes.

“Goodbye, see you soon then,” her parents replied, waving as Olivia closed the window.

Olivia waved back at them as the taxi reversed out and drove off.

Looking back, Olivia never had such a good time as when she was on the farm. All her happiest memories were on the farm. She always told her parents that she would return soon and then only returned for Christmas. This time she really meant it. It felt like this time Oakdale Farm kept a bigger part of her heart than it usually did. Distance indeed makes the heart grow fonder, she thought. That scared her. What if she had not made the right choices in life? Did she? She wasn’t sure anymore. She almost turned the taxi around.

Getting on the plane to San Francisco made her stomach turn. Back to my life’s mess, she told herself. It was the only thought that stayed in her head. Even when the plane took off, her hands kept sweating from anxiety. She knew that there would be no turning back. At the same time, she was excited. She would see Tyler again. She would feel that warm, safe feeling in his presence when she just wanted to be herself. That was the only thing to motivate her to go back.

Olivia did not own a car, since she lived across from work and all the shops she frequented used were within a few blocks from her apartment, she just used Kate’s car. This day was no different. She had arranged for Kate to pick her up at the airport. She quickly spotted Kate’s red Honda, when she walked out of the airport. She always liked it that Kate drove a red car, considering almost all the other cars at the airport were dark coloured. She was therefore easy to spot.

“Hey, stranger,” Kate greeted her somewhat excitedly when she stopped in front of the entrance. She got out and helped Olivia load her bags.

“Hey,” was all Olivia could get out.

They both got into the car and drove off. Entering the “thunderstorm”, Olivia thought.

“How was your trip,” asked Kate, looking at Olivia with a disturbed look. A rare look. They both knew each other so well that they could tell when the other one wanted to say something. Olivia just shook the thought off, not wanting more complications and turned her head to the window on her side.

“Great. I got some time to rest and focus on myself.”

“Look at you! Finally taking care of yourself,” Kate replied, acting like a mother again.

It wasn’t long before Kate pulled in front of the twenty-story apartment block. They unloaded the car, with Kate helping Olivia carry her luggage up to her apartment.

“Well, welcome home. I’m glad that I don’t have to talk to myself anymore,” said Kate. “I’ll give you some time to settle in. See you tomorrow at work?”

“See you tomorrow,” Olivia mumbled like an unsatisfied child, not even inviting Kate to stay for coffee.

“Oh, please don’t look so sad. You get to see Tyler tomorrow,” Kate joked.

“Funny. Thanks for picking me up.”

Kate left, leaving an exhausted Olivia all by herself. After all these years of being friends, Kate knew when Olivia needed space.

The fight with Lilly had been bothering Olivia the whole time she was home. She must make things right with her little sister. Not the next day or the next week. That day. She hated carrying around unnecessary stress; she couldn’t take any more pressure. Fixing things with Lilly would give her confidence to conquer the rest of her problems that were ahead.

She quickly texted Lilly, before she could change her mind.

- Coffee at my place? We need to talk. -

Less than five minutes later, Lilly responded.

- Okay… I ‘ll be there in 20. -

Since Gilbert, Lilly’s husband, also worked in the city, they too lived in San Francisco. This meant that, luckily, Lilly lived very close to Olivia. Still, twenty minutes was a long time to wait so Olivia paced up and down from one room to the other, practising what she would say. She always wanted to be prepared for the unknown, which made some aspects of life harder than necessary.

Twenty-five minutes later, Lilly arrived. All Olivia’s practice was forgotten.

“Hey, come in,” Olivia greeted her sister. She showed Lilly to the couch where she had already prepared coffee.

“Hey.”

Sitting on the couch, overlooking the few buildings across the street, Olivia started to lift the weight off her shoulders.

“Lilly, I visited mom and dad this week,” she started.

This clearly shocked Lilly.

“You did? But you only visit them on Christmas and Thanksgiving.”

“I know. I got off at work. Listen, Lilly, I asked you to come here to apologise to you. These last few years I have worked my butt off to fulfill my dreams of living the city life. Being an assistant to a billionaire was a lot harder than I thought. What a person would do for her dreams, right?” said Olivia, laughing at her own stupid, but simple, dream. “I know you don’t understand why I chose to be an assistant, but I just wanted to live in the city for a few years, even if it meant becoming an assistant. I never planned on staying here for more than a few years. I always planned on moving back to Livingston. I promise to spend more time with family.”

When Olivia looked up, she was surprised to see Lilly was astonished.

“You surprise me, sis. For someone who is usually afraid to speak her mind, you’re talking like you’ve done it your whole life.”

“Uhm,” said Olivia, blushing.

“You know, I must admit that I don’t know what or who did it, but you’ve gained so much confidence. Not just confidence in your abilities, but confidence in yourself. And I am proud of you.”

Olivia stared confusedly at Lilly, unsure what to say next. Lilly had completely changed the topic from herself to Olivia.

“I meant: I am sorry,” Olivia added to make sure Lilly understood what she was saying.

“I know, Olivia. I just saw something in my sister that I haven’t seen in years.”

“Okay?”

Realising she needed to get back to the topic, Lilly continued, “I would be lying if I said it was easy for me to not see or hear from you for months. Some nights I was so mad I even deleted your number. So, I was glad when I saw your text. That was something I needed to lift off my chest too. I hope we can spend much more time together. I forgive you.”

Olivia felt her heart jumping up and down. She had a new sense of relief. Her first instinct was to jump up and hug her sister. Standing in the middle of her apartment, they shared a love for each other that had been lost for a while but had been found again.

True love finds a way to reveal itself through the cracks, even when two hearts are broken. It was only then that she realised what the authors of her romance novels meant.