OLIVIA
Chapter Thirty

Olivia and Rose stared at one another for what seemed an eternity. Olivia now knew beyond anything that the woman standing before her was indeed Rose DeWitt Bukater. But how she came to be here in Los Angeles, living in this small house under the name of Rose Dawson, was mystifying, considering the last anyone knew of her, she was lost on the Titanic.

"It’s really you, isn’t it?" Olivia accused in a strained voice. "All of this time…" She shook her head in disbelief. "Why?"

"I said, who are you?" Suzanne demanded again. "What’s this about?"

"You have no right to be here!" Rose snapped, visibly shaken by Olivia’s appearance. "Just go away."

"Just go away?" Olivia repeated as she shook her head. "This has to be resolved, and you know it, Rose. I can’t go away until I talk to you. Why, everyone thinks you’re--"

"No!" Rose cried as she stepped forward. "I don’t want you here. I don’t want to talk to you. Go back to where you belong."

Olivia couldn’t believe what she was hearing. This was insane. The whole thing was insane. Rose was not dead, but alive, and now she was ordering her to go away, as if she could really do that. Didn’t she know that what this meant? Didn’t she understand how this news would change everything in all of their lives?

"It’s where you belong, too, or have you forgotten that?" Olivia pointed out boldly.

Rose shook her head defiantly. "No, I haven’t forgotten, but I’m not going back."

Suzanne looked at Rose in confusion. "Rose? What is she talking about?"

As if shaking herself from a dream, Rose took a deep breath and turned to her friend. "Suzanne, I can’t explain this to you right now, but I’m asking you to trust me. I just need a few minutes to talk to this lady."

Suzanne clearly didn’t like it, but after some hesitation, she agreed to Rose’s request. "Fine. I’ll go for a walk. But I won’t be long, and I’ll be coming back." She glared at Olivia as she spoke.

"Thank you," Rose told her as she made her way past Olivia. The two women didn’t speak until Suzanne was down the walkway and out onto the sidewalk. Rose crossed her arms tightly as she turned to Olivia.

"How did you find me? Does anyone else know you’re here?" she asked grittily.

"No. No one knows I’m here. I’m alone," Olivia answered. She glanced at her surroundings, taking in Rose’s home. "Why are you here? How did you get here? None of this makes sense."

"How I got here is not important. I don’t expect you to understand my actions, Olivia. I did what I did because it was my life and my choice. I have to live with it, no one else."

"This is absurd, Rose. You can’t just walk away and pretend you were not who you were. What about your mother? And Cal? They mourned you. Your friends mourned you. Everyone thinks you’re dead, and you’re not! You have to go back and make it right."

Rose laughed sarcastically then. "That will never happen. I’m never going back to that way of life again. Rose DeWitt Bukater is dead. She’s been dead a long time now. I’m no longer that person."

Olivia stared at her for a moment, trying to make sense of what was happening. "I don’t understand any of this. You cannot honestly believe this will last, Rose. You can’t hide out here forever, pretending to be some kind of actress."

Shaking her head, Rose glared dubiously at her. "What do you want, Olivia? Surely you don’t expect me to believe you’re on some humanitarian mission to save me. I know who you are now, Mrs. Hockley."

Drawing herself up, Olivia narrowed her eyes at her. "So, you know."

Rose smiled coldly. "Yes, I know. How unfortunate for you."

"How dare you?" Olivia gasped. "You know nothing of my life."

"Nor do you know anything of mine. So, we’re even."

Releasing a deep breath, Olivia held up her hand. "Enough. I’m not here to fight with you, Rose. That’s not why I came."

"Then why did you come? What do you want?" Rose asked defensively.

"To talk to you, to see you…" She paused. "Isn’t it obvious? I had to know if it was you. And…"

"And what? What, Olivia?" Rose questioned uneasily. "I’m not going back. I’m never going back. You’re married to him now, so just leave well enough alone. No one has to know you found me."

"What about your mother? Don’t you even care about what’s happened to her?"

Rose paused for a moment. She lowered her eyes away from Olivia and sighed. "I’m sure my mother has survived quite nicely without me being around. She always has."

"She’s remarried now," Olivia told her. "She’s living in New York, too. That’s all I know."

As if letting the news of her mother’s marriage sink in, Rose turned away from Olivia. "I’m happy for her. But if I know my mother, she’s moved on with her life without much fanfare. I’m sure my disappearance only gave her a minor pause of grief."

"How can you be so cold? The Rose I knew was not like this."

"I’m sorry if you don’t approve, but I can’t worry about that now. I just want to be left alone to live my life the way I want. Let well enough alone, Olivia. Don’t tell anyone you found me. Just leave…leave and don’t look back." She stressed the last.

Closing her eyes, Olivia’s mind whirled with the thoughts of what could happen, and she realized that perhaps Rose was right. Why should she get involved? This was her life, and what she did with it was her own affair. Besides, if Cal knew, it would change everything about her life as she knew it. She shouldn’t have come here. She should have just let it go. Raising her eyes back to Rose, she felt her resolve crumble.

"I’m sorry, Rose. I should go now," she whispered hoarsely. "You don’t have to worry. I won’t tell anyone of your whereabouts. You’re free to live your life without any threat from me."

Relief mixed with disbelief eased across Rose’s face. "Thank you." She nodded. Then, unexpectedly, she stepped forward and grabbed Olivia’s hands. "I know we weren’t great friends, but we were friends at one time. Be happy, Olivia. Life is short, and you only get to live it once…make it count."

Staring at her, Olivia felt the weight of the words lay on her shoulders. Nodding slowly, she turned away and walked toward the door. She paused for a moment and turned back to her. "I hope you find what you’re looking for. Good-bye, Rose."

Opening the door, she stepped out into the bright sunshine and down the short steps to the still-waiting cab. Once inside, she told the driver to go, and not once did she look back.

The ride back to the bungalow was strange and troubling. She didn’t know what had been accomplished, other than finding out once and for all that Rose was alive, but now that she had this information, she could do nothing with it. Perhaps it wasn’t her place to do anything about it, but the burden of it was heavy, nonetheless.

She was so lost in thought that she didn’t realize when the taxi pulled through the gates and stopped in front of the bungalow. Glancing out the window, she saw the door open and Cal step out onto the porch. From the scowl on his face, she knew she was about to walk into the storm. She quickly paid the driver and got out, slamming the door as he drove off.

"Well, if it isn’t my wife back from her solitary adventure," he drawled in a dark voice.

"Cal," she started, but stopped when he smiled wickedly and shook his head.

"The only thing I want to hear from you is an explanation of where you have been for five hours. No one seems to know where you were off to, so I’m waiting to hear what was so important that you couldn’t tell anyone where you were."

Swallowing hard, Olivia’s mind raced with any number of lies to tell, but nothing came to her. She was already strung tight from her encounter with Rose, and now to face Cal’s wrath was even more stressful on her nerves.

"I’m waiting, Olivia. Where have you been?" he nearly growled in his anger.

"I…I can’t tell you." She breathed hard and stepped back when he tried to seize her by the arm.

"Can’t tell me?" he snapped. "I have been breaking my back trying to please you, and you do this to me? I want an explanation, Olivia, and I want it now!"

"Cal, can’t we go inside? Please, let’s go inside," she pleaded with him.

Staring down at her, he pulled her in front of him. "Yes, let’s do," he breathed in her ear. Giving her no room to walk on her own, he led her to their room, where he slammed the door behind them. Finally, he released her arm with a jerk and ran an impatient hand through his hair.

"I’m trying, Olivia, really I am, but when I find that my wife has disappeared and no one seems to know where she is, that does not make me a happy man. Then, my wife herself refuses to tell me where she was for five hours, so what am I to think?"

"Cal, please." She shook her head quickly. "I had something to take care of. That’s all. Something personal."

"So personal you refuse to tell me?" he questioned impatiently. He walked over to her and leaned over her menacingly. His dark eyes, made darker now by his anger, burned into hers. "Again, where were you?"

Olivia gripped the bed tightly as she looked at Cal. He must never know. He must never know, her mind said over and over again. Her head began to swim, so she closed her eyes. She saw Rose pleading with her not to tell, she saw Cal’s face swathed in anger, both pulling at her, wanting something from her she couldn’t give. Grasping her head in her hands, she screamed. "Stop! Just stop! Don’t do this to me!"

With a growl, he lifted her from the bed. "Don’t do this to you? What have you done to me? What am I supposed to think when you refuse to tell me where you’ve been?"

"Cal, listen to me!" She grasped his waist as he held her tight and hard against him. "It’s not what you think. I promise you it’s not," she rasped, reaching for anything now. "I didn’t want to tell you until I was sure, but, I…I think I’m pregnant again. I didn’t want to tell you yet."

"What?" he breathed while his hold on her lessened. He looked down at her as if she had just slapped him. "What did you say?"

"I’m late and I…I just wanted to see a doctor, but it’s too early to tell."

"Another baby?" He swallowed hard. "And that’s why the secrecy?"

"Yes," she lied to mask her fear. She hated lying to him, but she didn’t know what else to do. Once he started, he wouldn’t stop. She searched his face and saw a small smile form on his lips. Then, suddenly, he let out a deep, rumbling laugh and pulled her close to him, burying his head in her shoulder. "I’m sorry, Olivia. I didn’t realize."

Quenching the desire to cry, she bit her lip and let him hold her. Finally, he pulled back and kissed her on the forehead. "I should have known it was something like that."

She gave him a hesitant smile, but didn’t say anything else.

"Well, that would explain the tiredness you’ve been experiencing the last few days. You haven’t been sleeping well, either."

"No, I haven’t. I’m not feeling very well right now," she told him, which wasn’t a lie. She felt wretched and horrible for lying to him this way. She rubbed her temples to ward off the headache she felt coming on.

Cal frowned at her with concern on his face. "Why don’t you lie down? I’ll have them make something light and we’ll eat out on the patio tonight."

Nodding, Olivia did as he said and let him lead her to the bed. Pulling the covers back, she crawled beneath them and rolled on her side. Cal kissed her, nuzzling her ear in the process.

"Get some rest. I’ll check on you later," he whispered. "Oh, and one more thing before I leave you." He stroked her cheek as he spoke. "You’ve given me no reason not to trust you up to this point, but if I ever found that you’ve lied to me, I would be very upset with you. But I know you wouldn’t do that…would you, Olivia?" His words were like pieces of ice surrounding her heart. She glanced up at him and into his dark, unwavering eyes. With an ominous and yet gentle smile, he kissed her forehead again and left her alone.

The sun cast its low shadows across the bed as Olivia lay there quietly. Finally, grasping the pillow, she buried her face in it and cried, letting the overwhelming feelings from the day finally find their release. It was then and only then that, in spite of feeling raw and exposed, she fell into an exhausted and dreamless sleep.

Chapter Thirty-One
Stories