Claiming Olivia II (8 page)

“Okay, so
you
call Mitchell and tell him that,” I replied shoving my phone at him.

“Do you think hearing another man will make him feel better? Especially speaking for his woman?” Gabé asked, raising an eyebrow.

I bit my lip and looked away. He was right; the ghost of Gabrien had returned to give me wisdom and now it was up to me to decide what to do.

“How’d you figure it out, Mars?” I asked her softly.

“I never went back,” she replied quietly. “You know that. If I did Ethan would’ve taken every opportunity to make me believe that things would be different and everything would change and I would’ve believed him. Gabrien has never once raised a hand to me and barely raises his voice. We have two beautiful children together and I’m happier than I’ve ever been here in Greece. Where would you be happy, Liv? Spain or America? Would you be happier with someone who pays too much attention to you or none at all? You have to look inside yourself and see how much you’re worth; that’s when you’ll know.”

I got up from the chair and left the kitchen. I went out into the backyard and found the twins playing at the edge of the property under the watchful eyes of their grandparents and I sat down in the grass. They both came over and immediately tackled me absolutely taken over with the giggles.

I fell back against the grass laughing as they crawled all over me throwing grass and flowers into my hair before they were exhausted and fell asleep on me. I closed my eyes happily as the weight of the little children combined kept me pinned to the grass.

Dominico came over and gently scooped them off of me and reached a hand down to help me up.

“Sorry about that. They tend to wear themselves out on people rather than in their beds,” he said with a quiet laugh.

I grinned, “It’s okay. Playing with them and having them fall asleep on me finally woke me up in a way.”

“How do you mean?” he asked as I took Alexa from him and followed him toward the house.

“I mean I have an announcement to make once we get the little ones into their beds.”

He nodded and I followed him up the stairs to the kids’ room and tucked Alexa into her toddler bed while he tucked Markos into his.

I went into the kitchen where the four of them were still sitting and went over to Marley.

“You, my dear, need to help me with something,” I said steering her out of the room.

“Sure, what’s going on Liv?”

“Markos and Alexa; they totally helped me figure this entire thing out just by falling asleep on me,” I explained with a laugh as we walked through the house toward the front door.

“Really?” she asked excitedly. “What do you need from me?”

“One plane ticket. Which is to say that you’re going to know before the rest of them do who I’ve chosen,” I replied with a sly smile. “I just need you to keep everyone occupied. I have two phone calls to make and I don’t want to do it with an audience.”

Marley nodded and took position at the front door as I stepped outside and closed it behind me.

I called Mitch first. I told him that my plan was for him and Alejandro to both go to the airport that evening and take the overnight flight. I told him  that there would be a plane ticket to Greece for one of them and the other  would go home; be it America home or Spain home. 

When I hung up with Mitch, I called Alejandro and told him the same thing. Both agreed to it and both said they would see me in the morning.

I shook my head and stepped back in. “Alright Mars, to the computer. We need to set this up asap.”

She nodded and we went into Gabé’s den. She sat down and powered on the desktop. I reached into my back pocket and pulled out my cigarettes, lighting one and giving one to her before lighting one for myself.

Marley did the majority of it herself. She put in all of the flight information and moved on to the customer information page.

“And the winner is ...,” she asked her voice trailing off.

I grinned at her and told her who I had chosen. Marley laughed and shook her head as she put the information into the system.

“Before I hit confirm on all of this, are you absolutely sure?” she asked with a smile.

“Positive,” I replied.

W
e all went to sleep early that night. I felt like a kid on Christmas eve waiting for Santa to show up personally.  The only thing that I was doing different is that one person would get their heart broken tonight while the other would (hopefully) be happy with me forever.

The next morning I stretched in bed and yawned. I was greeted by two pairs of light green eyes staring at me with big smiles attached and I laughed.

It was Marley’s babies and they seemed to have taken a shine to me already.

“Hi Thea!” they both said cheerfully before Marley entered the room and scooted them out.

“Sorry about that. I had a feeling this is where they were when we couldn’t find them,” she said with an apologetic laugh.

“It’s fine, but they called me Thea,” I replied sitting up.

“It’s Greek for aunt,” she replied with a smile. “Now, get up
Thea
Olivia. We need to head to the airport in an hour and pick up Prince Charming.”

I grinned at her and threw my covers off. I practically skipped into the bathroom where one of the girls had left my carry-on bag for me. I turned on the water and I got in singing to myself the entire time.

When I was done and my hair was dried, I put on my favorite pair of black denim shorts, a white band t-shirt, and my best pair Converse black and white soled sneakers.

I went into the kitchen where everyone was eating, including his parents who immediately apologized to me for playing along with Gabrien and Marley’s scheme for getting me to Greece, before they left.

I ate my food quickly and helped Marley with the dishes before we all went outside and jumped into Gabrien’s SUV. I sat behind him so that I could look across and chat with Mars who was the only other person that knew what was about to happen.

Twenty five minutes later we arrived at Athens International Airport and I jumped out as soon as Gabrien parked the truck. I linked arms with Marley and Sofia who had linked arms with Cassidy as we walked in.

I went over to the information board and found the flight I was waiting for. It said it arrived at the gate in five minutes.

“Where’s that at?” I asked Gabé.

“This way,” he said nodding and leading us down to the other end of the airport. We went down to the baggage claim area and I stood there impatiently waiting for any sign that the plane had landed.

Fifteen minutes later, the luggage conveyor belt light came on and bags started to appear. I looked at Marley nervously before I walked by myself to where the passengers were starting to come through.

Come on, come on. Please tell me you got on the plane,
I thought nervously as the passengers kept coming and I still hadn’t seen any sign of him.

I had my hands on my hips as the line started to thin out and I felt a horrible sadness starting to take over me. I got up on my tiptoes and strained my neck to see.

Just as I was about to give up, I saw him. I saw the baseball cap that I had bought for him years ago. I saw the oversized t-shirt and the oversized denim shorts; but most of all I saw his smile. His blue eyes filled with hope and melting into a calm love when they met mine. I ran forward and I wrapped my arms around Mitch’s neck and sobbed.

“I seriously didn’t expect that,” Cassidy said once we were all back at Marley’s lounging in her backyard.

“Me either,” Sofia said.

Gabrien had just exited the house and handed Mitch a beer and sat down across from him at the large glass patio table that the men were sitting at, while us girls laid around on lawn chairs about ten feet away.

“Why
did
you choose Mitchell?” Marley asked curiously.

“Because I loved him most of all. There were times that I was in Spain with Alejandro that I secretly wished it was Mitch. Even in Italy, I would take pictures of the skyline and send them to him because I missed him so much. Mitch may be simple, not have a lot of money, and not be able to give me the world, but to me he
is
the world and that’s what counts.”

I glanced over at Mitch who was laughing with Gabrien and Dominico and felt happier than I ever had in a very long time.

––––––––

W
hy can't I find a normal man that's interesting AND interested in me?? Not to mention handsome... I seem to attract these weirdo goofballs who are more concerned with the digits in their bank accounts or how many kills their last streak on Call of Duty encompassed than how to treat a lady. From one extreme to the other, I can't catch a break. These guys make me seriously consider becoming a lesbian. Just give me time to cut my hair, pierce my lip, buy some slip-on shoes, and raid my brother's closet and you can count on me to smash my face into the biggest set of tits I can find!!!

“Hey, sugar. You should let me take you to dinner one night. You look like you could use a good time and I’m pretty sure that I would be the right one to fill that spot. Whaddaya say, sweetheart?” That douche. He actually thinks that women go for that shit! Maybe some do, but not this one. Hopefully my polite smile hides the disgust simmering just below the surface of my calm exterior. “Thanks for the offer but I’m gonna have to decline. Maybe some other time. Right now isn’t really a good time for me. My sister just had surgery and I’m stuck taking care of her when I’m not working. Sorry,” I offer what I hope passes as a genuinely apologetic expression and look back down at my paperwork on the counter. “Aw, now. Don’t be that way. Gimme a chance, babe. You’ll always wonder what you missed if you don’t let me show you. Just gimme your number and I’ll call you.” 

Regardless of how adorable his dimples may be beneath the frames of his glasses or how hot he looks with his tight polo stretched across his impressive expanse of chest, he still strikes me as a bit odd. What the hell. Never know unless you try it. Might as well give the fella a date. There’s no harm in a free meal and a good story.

Eh, I like dick too much for the whole lesbian thing. I think I need to start performing thorough background checks and social checks on any male who even glances in my direction. However, the lip ring doesn't seem like such a bad idea...

It’s that train of thought and that particular episode of reminiscence that lead me into my favorite tattoo parlor that just so happens to be the place of employment of my best friend to have another hole poked into my body. If her schedule allows, I think I'll invest in some new ink while I'm here. I need some serious distraction to draw my mind from the thoughts of the train wreck of a date that followed that first conversation with Chris. What the hell was I thinking??

Back to the present...

Jaime is more than accommodating when I ask if she has time to sling out a small piece for me. "Girl, I've got nothing going on for three more hours. What are you calling small this time?" she asks with one of her doubly pierced, perfectly arched eyebrows raised in question. "Your legs are looking nice but your shoulders are looking kind of bare these days. What'll it be, pretty lady?" she asks as she walks circles around me while examining various areas of my body to find the area for her next canvas.

After a moment of contemplation and my explanation of the idea that’s been floating around in my mind lately, I feel the certain giddiness that comes with the knowledge that I'll soon be getting some much needed meditation that seems to only result from that certain, highly therapeutic gun buzzing across my skin, marking its path with the colors that will remain with me until the day I’m turned to ash. Being from a highly religious family, I've gotten a lot of grief from my older relatives since I came to Christmas dinner sporting my first tattoo shortly after my eighteenth birthday- a black and green two-headed dragon with each of its heads resting behind an ear, twin necks stretching from one earlobe to the other before joining in the middle and disappearing beneath the collar of my shirt. I thought that my grandmother would have a coronary right there at the table. Ten years and thousands of dollars later, she's still alive and I'm gloriously decorated from my neck to my toes and they have finally stopped complaining about my choice of bodily décor. I browse the books covering the tasteful glass and steel coffee tables and scattered about the lobby of the shop and the hundreds of framed work hanging on the walls. I see nothing that I must have on my body before my current idea gets put onto my skin so I go for another grouping of meaningful lines to keep with me forever. Making my eighth Chinese symbol, "memory" will soon be on the right side of my collarbone, barely concealed by the collar of a tee shirt. 

Prepped and stenciled, I lay on the table and close my eyes as I hear Jaime start her gun and the familiar buzz fills the air, effectively setting my zone within easy reach. As the cluster of needles makes contact with my skin, I take off into the corners of my mind. Reality is merely an inconvenience to which I'll return in an hour or so. 

Before I realize that time had slipped away from me, I feel a cool sensation of my overly sensitized skin being wiped clean of the excess ink surrounding my latest acquisition. "Check it out," Jaime points toward the large mirror with the thick, extravagantly carved frame hanging on the wall behind me. I move to the mirror and focus, an enormous grin spreading across my face and tears flooding freely down my cheeks. "You've outdone yourself this time, Jaime. How long have I been in here? There's no way you did all of that in an hour’s time!"

"You were zoned out for about two and a half hours. You looked like you needed the break when you came in the door. You only grumble to yourself like that when you've either had a bad date or a bad lay. Or both," she explained with a snicker. "No extra charge. The additional work is all on me." Tears continue to cascade down my face at an alarming rate with a renewed fierceness; I see an amazing piece of work that is more than worthy of a magazine spotlight staring back at me.