10 - Moment Of Truth

Noah turned on his heel, his jaw dropping at the sight of me. “Olivia? My God, you’re soaked.”

“Oh...yeah, I guess I am.”

“Jesus. What are you doing walking out in the rain while you’re sick?”

I blinked up at him, thrown for a moment. Sick? Oh, right, that was the excuse I'd texted him earlier. “I, uh…”

He sighed, cocking a thumb at the door. “Could you…?”

“Yeah, sure.” I pulled out the key, unlocking it. He pushed the door open wide, holding it for me.

“Thanks.”

“You’re dripping wet. Where’s your apartment?”

He was asking me a lot of questions in a short time. With how numb I was from cold, I was having trouble keeping up. “352,” I said quietly, moving towards the elevator.

Noah followed me, joining me on the way up. Without a word, he pulled the coat off my back, wringing rainwater out of it.

Up on the third floor, I led the way down to my apartment, unlocking the front door.

I made my way in, keeping an eye out for Levi. But he was nowhere to be seen.

“You’d better get out of those clothes, Olivia,” Noah piped up behind me.

I tried to ignore how in a different situation, those words would have sounded like a come-on. “OK. But first...why are you here?” I asked, meeting his gaze. “Did you come here to check up on me?”

He stared at me, his mouth falling open briefly. “I was worried. You haven’t taken a sick day since you joined. And you weren’t answering any of my calls.”

“Oh. Sorry, I guess my phone was on silent.”

“Go get changed, Olivia, then we can talk.”

Talk? Why did we need to talk? “Um, sure,” I murmured, heading into my bedroom. Unlike with Levi, I didn’t bother locking the door behind me.

Did I just trust Noah that much? Or did I want something to happen here?

I put on a sweater, a skirt and some fuzzy slippers, towel-drying my hair before returning to the living room. I saw that Noah had moved to the kitchen, where he had prepared a cup of hot tea for me. “Here.”

I took the mug from him, fingers brushing his. “Thanks.”

Noah leaned one hip against the counter, watching me. He’d taken off his coat, standing now in one of his many perfectly tailored suits, although he’d loosened the tie. He waited until I’d taken a few sips before clearing his throat. “Now...do you want to tell me what were you doing, wandering out in a storm?”

I stared into my tea, seeing in my mind's eye a picture of Cloverdale Cemetery and the tombstone that had drawn me there - Jane. Who was she?

“Olivia?” Noah prompted in a slightly stern voice. His boss voice.

“This is going to sound strange,” I said quietly. “But I think I found my mother.”

A frown crossed Noah’s dark, handsome features. “What?”

“My birth mother,” I elaborated, looking up into his eyes. “I think I found her.”

“Really?”

“She’s dead.”

His expression softened in sympathy. “Oh. Are you sure?”

“Pretty sure.” I put the mug down, pressing a hand to my temple as I felt the first throb of a headache. “I never even got a chance to…I don’t know.”

“I’m sorry, Olivia.”

“Yeah. Me too.”

Noah leaned forward, surprising me by wrapping both arms around me. His hold was warm and strong, a welcome comfort. “That’s rough,” he said softly, gently caressing my back with both hands. “But that’s no excuse for risking your own health like that.”

“I didn’t mean to.”

“Don’t do it again.”

“O-OK.” I inhaled deeply, breathing in the scent of him that tasted so intoxicatingly good. “Noah...why are you being so nice to me?”

My words made him stiffen against me. He pulled back slightly, his dark, wavy hair touching mine. His gray eyes were more earnest than I’d ever seen. “Because I care about you.”

A roar sounded in my ears when I heard that. Noah...and me?

“I-I care about you too,” I whispered.

Noah nodded at this. He reached up, cupping my face with both hands and lightly stroking my cheeks. Leaning over, his lips met mine - our lips were cool and tasted slightly of salt from the rain. It was a kiss that made me feel warm all over.

I looped my arms around Noah’s neck, wanting him against me. But abruptly, he pulled back, his face flushed with guilt. “I shouldn’t be doing this…”

But I wasn’t about to let him go so easily. I grabbed his tie, pulling him back so that our lips met again. Noah’s hands found my shoulders, then moved slowly down my back before clutching my hips. He moved forward a step, causing me to bump up against the kitchen table. “Olivia...we should...stop,” he tried to tell me in between kisses.

“I don’t want to.”

“I don’t want to either, but…”

“Please,” I told him, my voice shaking. “I can’t take anyone else leaving me.”

He looked surprised at my tone. “I’m not going anywhere.”

“Don’t you want me?”

“Are you kidding?” he went, tipping up my chin with his finger. “This is something I’ve wanted ever since I first laid eyes on you. But I’m your boss, Olivia.”

“It’s just a job.”

“I feel like I’m taking advantage of you.”

“Maybe I like that.”

“Jesus,” he said quietly, raking a hand through his hair. “Maybe I shouldn’t have come here.”

“But you did.” I took one of his hands, slipping it under my top, all the way up soft, warm skin to my breast.

I saw the way he swallowed as I cupped his fingers around the nipple so that it grew taut at his touch.

“What are you doing to me?” he said huskily, his brows knitting together. But he came up against me, moving his other hand under my clothes to play with my other breast while he kissed me again.

Moans rose in my throat and his, while the rain pounded loudly outside. I grasped the ends of my sweater, pulling it off and standing braless before him.

Noah hugged me close, planting kisses from my cheek to my collarbone down to already-sensitive nipples.

I arched my back, sweeping my fingers through his hair as he sucked and teased with his tongue. After a few moments, he reached down, one hand gently cupping between my legs.

“Noah,” I murmured, pulling down my underwear an inch so that he could explore with his fingers. I heard him catch his breath as he touched me, like he couldn’t believe this was happening, that I was letting him do this.

I had shut my eyes for a while but opened them now. And then I almost screamed when I saw Levi standing in the kitchen entryway, watching us. Instead, I did a rude jerk, and Noah stopped what he was doing. He straightened up, eyes focused only on me.

“Are you OK?” Noah asked. “Did I hurt you?”

“N-no,” I said in answer, grabbing my top and self-consciously covering myself with it. Levi smirked, and I knew only I could see it.

“This is moving too fast, isn’t it?” Noah guessed, folding his arms over his chest and stepping away from me.

“Y-yeah, maybe. I'm sorry.”

“It's OK. Don't apologize. I'm the one who..." He didn't finish, his face shadowing. "I should go. I'll see you back in the office tomorrow?”

I nodded.

“OK, then. We’ll, um, find another time to talk,” he said, coughing over that last word.

“Good idea.” I walked him to the door, watching with disappointment as he vanished into the elevator. With a sigh, I shut the door again, turning to face Levi.

“Definitely not a virgin anymore,” he remarked. “I'm proud of you, Olivia.”

“What the hell was that?”

“What?”

“Why were you creeping on us like that??”

“Sexual energy,” he said simply with a shrug of his shoulders. “Where else would I be?”

“That’s it. I want you out of my life, Levi. I mean it.”

“So you can have your boss fuck your brains out? Are you sure that’s a good idea?”

“I *like* him.”

“And you think he likes you?”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“I know his type. He’ll just use you and throw you away.”

“Noah wouldn’t do that.”

“Oh, you poor naive human.”

“What do you care anyway, what happens to me?”

“I don’t,” he said, a little hotly.

I stared at him, anger growing inside me. My mind leapt back to that moment in the alley when Levi had tried to have his way with me, before a strange thing happened - a strange thing I did, apparently.

I clenched my hands into fists, feeling like a wave was crashing over me. Energy filled my limbs, hot and fierce. Then, to my surprise, the feeling subsided, leaving behind only calm and quiet.

Finally, I knew what to do.

I marched back to the kitchen, opening a drawer.

“What are you doing?” Levi asked, curious.

“I’ve had enough,” I said in a monotone as I continue to rummage.

Levi frowned, not understanding.

I pulled something out of the drawer, standing before him. A kitchen knife.

Levi stared back at me, not moving. For the first time ever, I saw doubt in his eye. “Olivia...what do you think you’re doing?”

I said nothing for a moment. Then I leapt forward, swinging the knife out at him for all I was worth.