CHAPTER NINE
Olivia hadnt' slept at all the previous night. It was probably the worst night she had experienced in recent memory, which was saying a lot as she was also coming off what had previously been the best week in living memory. How could things turn around so quickly?
The worst part was that she only had herself to blame. When Lieutenant Randall had approached her with the deal, she had initially considered telling him to go to hell. That would have been the right thing to do. If she had done that she wouldn't be feeling as awful as she currently did.
But she was weak. She saw her end goal, so close and for the first time actually tangible, and she couldn’t say no. So she told herself that she could have her cake and eat it to by bringing Clint up on lesser charges. She had convinced herself that he would be OK with it. That if she explsained the situation he would be fine and nothing would change between them. But as witnessed, that wasn't to be. Not even close.
When he accosted her, when he yelled at her, she knew that it was all her fault. Like a knife driving into her stomach, she had never felt such pain. She spent that entire night, curled up in a ball on her floor, crying her eyes out. She considered calling Clint maybe one hundred times, but never did. She was just too weak.
Her only consolation, if it could even be called that, was the fact that soon she would be entered in the Navy SEAL training program. That was all she had to hang on to. That was the only thing that got her out of bed. And as such, that was where she was headed. She had an hour before she had to be on a boat back to San Diego, so before she made that journey, she just had to confirm with Randall that their deal was still a go ahead.
Lieutenant Randall was just about to leave his office as Olivia approached him. In fact, when he spotted her heading towards him, he seemed to pick up speed, quickly locking the door and rushing from his office as fast as he could.
"Lieutenant Randall. A quick word," Olivia said as she hurried toward him.
"Ah, Conway. I'm actually a little busy," he began, not bothering to slow down as she fell in line beside him. "Maybe another time?"
"It will only take a second," she insisted.
"OK. But just a second. I really am... In a rush."
"I just wanted to double check that our... I don't want to say deal but, well that the understanding we came to is still in place?" she asked.
"Ah," Randall said. It may have been her imagination but he seemed to increase his pace, which was pretty impressive considering his size and physical fitness. "Well you see Conway I spoke to some people and it turns out that they really just don't want a female Navy SEAL in the program."
"Wait a minute," she said, reaching for his arm in an attempt to pull him up. Unfortunately he dodged her manoveur, continuing to speed ahead.
"Like I said, I'm in a rush and I really can't stand around talking all day."
"We had a deal," she said, trying to maintain her composure, but finding it very difficult.
"And I lived up to it. All I said was that I would try and help. Try and did that thus concludes my end of the bargain. I can't make miracles happen Conway. Some things aren't meant to be."
Olivia didn't even bother arguing. As Randall increased his speed again, hurrying down the docks, Olivia slowed up, staring at the back of the man in disbelief. She had been played, as simple as that. Randall had wanted Clint prosecuted and all but lied as a means to ensure that it happened. And Olivia, in her ignorance, fell for it. Hook, line and sinker.
As she watched him go, she felt a few droplets of rain fall on her face. The sky above her was starting to turn. There was a storm coming. Appropriate, she thought to herself as right then she felt like she were drowning.
*
Clint's apartment was usually clean to the point of being clinical. He had little furniture to speak of, zero decorations lining the walls and flat benches and never, ever left mess out. Even the kitchen appliances were kept in cupboards until they needed to be used. Navy SEAL life had him trained.
It was only through knowing this, that one would be able to appreciate just how broken Clint was at that very moment. He sat in his apartment, flipping through TV channels but unable to keep anything on for more than a second. DVD boxes littered the ground in front of him, and in his kitchen a pizza box could be seen on the bench. Indeed, resting in his lap was a half eaten slice of cold pizza, and by his legs a discarded crust lay. There sat a broken man.
To describe the way he was feeling would be nearly pointless. From his actions alone it's clear that he had given up. He usually cooked his own food, never eating out. And he usually read rather than watched TV. His five o'clock shadow too was beginning to come in.
The phone suddenly rang, cutting through the silence. Clint stared at it without any intention of actually getting up to answer. The machine would get it, and if the call was important, which he somehow doubted, then he would call back.
"Hey Clint? Are you there?" Olivia's voice spoke out from the machine. Clint's eyes flicked to it, pausing on the machine for a second before purposefully looking away. "I'm, I'm sorry, Clint. You have no idea how sorry I am." She sounded desperate, worn out, sad. She sounded nearly as broken as he felt. "I know you probably don't want to speak to me ever again. And that's fine, you don't have too. I'm about to get on the ferry to San Diego and if you never speak to me again... I'll understand. But, if you do decide to, please know that... that I want you to call. Bye." And she hung up.
Clint's eyes flicked back to the phone, again pausing on it. She had sounded hurt, Clint couldn't deny that. Really he never had. He didn't doubt that making the choice she did had hurt her. But that wasn't the point. The fact that she made that choice anyway was what stung the most. He couldn't forgive her for that. He couldn't.
He pulled his eyes away from the flashing light on the machine. Instead looking outside, the complete opposite direction. It was then that he noticed the storm coming. The sky was as black as night, with the odd flash of lightning exploding within the darkness. It crept closer and closer, ominous and forbidding. Soon it would be on them.
Despite himself, Clint suddenly thought of the ferry that Olivia was about to get on. Hopefully the storm would pass by then. But then again, Clint had hopped for a lot of things. None of which had come to pass.