Souls ReAligned Read online

  Olivia looks at Shannon and sighs as she hesitantly reaches for the phone, “Ethan.”

  “I want to see you tonight,” he says, immediately taking control of the conversation.

  Olivia’s stomach drops at the sound of his voice. She wants to see him too, more than anything in the world, but she’s still trying to identify the defect in her brain.

  “Ethan, I’m just not sure it’s a good idea.”

  “Don’t be angry.”

  Olivia blows out a frustrated breath, “I’m not angry, Ethan.” How does she explain this to him? “I’m just not sure I can do this.”

  “You’re not sure you can do what?”

  “Be together.”

  “That’s nonsense. Nothing has changed. We just go back to the way things were. Take things one day at a time.” His voice is calm, commanding; nothing to indicate that he’s actually pacing the floor in his office trying not to lose his mind.

  “Ethan, try to understand. I don’t think I’m cut out to be in a relationship.”

  “Don’t!” he says, with growing consternation in his voice. “Don’t say shit like that! I’m not walking away from us. Get that thought out of your head, right now.”

  That commanding tone with his Irish brogue makes her feel nervous, unsettled, “Ethan, please. This is really hard for me.”

  Completely ignoring her, he changes the subject, “Have you bought a dress for the grand opening yet?”

  “Are you listening to me? I don’t think I should go to the grand opening.” Frustration furrows her brow, and she looks over at Shannon.

  “Not acceptable. Wear what you want but you will accompany me to the grand opening. It’s not open for discussion.”

  Olivia’s blood pumps through her veins at a rapid pace. Damn him! She desperately wants to fight his authoritative demands.

  “I’ll think about it. I have to go now.” Glancing over at Shannon, she frowns. She’s trying so hard to walk away and avoid the heartache, but he’s not going to let her.

  “Very well. I’ll talk to you later. But make no mistake, Olivia. I’m taking charge now. I’ll do whatever is necessary to put a stop to these ridiculous thoughts of yours. You and I are not over; we’re just beginning.”

  Her heart feels like it’s just been struck by lightning. Why does that happen when he takes control like that? Even over the phone, he affects her with his authoritative tone. She would have probably dropped to her knees in submission with her eyes to the floor had he demanded it.

  Then it happens. Olivia has a shocking realization. She has always felt like she was hardwired for dominant men. Now, she knows the truth. She’s not hardwired for dominant men… she’s hardwired for THIS particular dominant man. She is so screwed!

  “So you’re going to give him another chance?” Shannon asks curiously, as she takes back her phone.

  “I don’t know. He sort of frightens me,” she says raising her shoulders in a half shrug.

  Shannon starts to feel concerned by Olivia’s sadly spoken words. She knows she can’t discuss the details of his court case. John has already texted her twice to remind her of that. She wonders if Olivia can provide a little more insight into Ethan’s behaviors. If she’s going to represent him in a domestic violence charge, is there something about Ethan O’Connell that she should know? Just two little innocent questions, that’s all. “Why does he frighten you? Has he ever hurt you?” she asks, trying to sound casual and unconcerned.

  Olivia shakes her head stunned at Shannon’s question, “No! It’s just that being in a relationship again kind of frightens me, and Ethan, well, he’s kind of over the top sometimes,” she frowns at Shannon. “I can’t believe you would think that about him! You don’t know Ethan very well. It took me awhile to trust him. When I look into his eyes, there’s something there that I can’t explain. We argue a lot, but he would never strike out at me or harm me. Last night, confirmed that to me. He was livid, and he had been drinking. I could feel the tension in his body… hear it in his breathing when he reached out and grabbed my arm to stop me. He immediately let me go.” She shakes her head, “No, Shannon, not Ethan. He may be an asshole for a whole bunch of other reasons, but I don’t believe he has that in him.”

  “So why the brick wall? Why do you keep pushing him away?” Shannon pries.

  “I’m still fighting my own demons. Sometimes I win a few battles, but I’m not sure I’m winning the war.” She takes in a slow breath and closes her eyes. Willing the memories to stay out of her head.

  Shannon nods her head accepting Olivia’s assessment. This is a woman who survived abuse at the hand of horrible man. Olivia James is too strong… too smart to go down that road again. Shannon understands now why Olivia fought so hard to keep Ethan at a distance, at first. He’s a force of nature sometimes, with that Irish temper. She would have never let him in to her life if she felt in any way that he was capable of hurting her. It’s a long journey to recover from that kind of violence. Shannon hates that she had to ask, but she has learned some hard lessons as an attorney. Sometimes those who tell convincing stories, hide truths. Sometimes the guy next door, that everybody knows and loves, is capable of horrific violence.

  Chapter Three

  Olivia would rather be anywhere but the restaurant Ethan owns. She assumes that Shannon’s choice to have lunch at Ireland’s Pub is because John is working here today, and she can stare at his sexy ass while she eats.

  “Dear God!” Olivia complains. “Don’t you two share a hotel room? Couldn’t you have got that out of your system this morning when you went home to change?”

  Shannon smiles, “We did!”

  “Somebody’s grumpy,” Rachel adds. “Why don’t you just make up with your man? Obviously, you can’t live without him.”

  “Stop it,” Olivia bites out. “There’s no point in me going dress shopping. I’m not going anywhere with him.”

  Shannon stares at her, “Oh you are going. He’s already called me twice. He’s not taking no for an answer.”

  “See? He’s so bossy. How can we possibly have a relationship when he’s so bossy?” Olivia grumbles.

  “The same way you did before last night,” Shannon says, as she folds her menu in front of her.

  “That sure was a messed up night,” Rachel adds nervously, glancing over at Shannon.

  “Yes, it was. Maybe you should come clean about that, so Olivia stops blaming Ethan for it.” She gives Rachel an intimidating glare.

  Olivia looks over at Rachel and narrows her eyes. “What’s she talking about, Rach?”

  Rachel fidgets, folding and unfolding her napkin, trying to think of a way to tell her. “Well, Olivia… please don’t be angry with me. But that whole thing… dating Hannah…” She stops and looks into Olivia’s eyes.

  “Yes?” Olivia encourages her to continue.

  “Well, that was my idea. I told Ethan to do it.”

  Olivia’s mouth opens in shock as her chin drops. “Your idea? Rachel, why?” she asks, emotion starting to become evident in her voice.

  “I’m so sorry. You never told me about the things Hannah had said to you before, or I would never have suggested her.”

  “Question is,” Shannon interrupts. “Why were you suggesting anyone at all? Olivia is your friend.”

  Rachel gives Shannon an angry look, “Because I thought if she found out that Ethan was considering dating another woman, she would stop all her nonsense and acknowledge how she feels about him.”

  Olivia is stunned, “Wow, Rachel. I don’t know what to say.”

  “I didn’t know what else to do. I just wanted to try and snap you out of it,” she says apologetically. “Olivia, I thought you needed a reality check. He’s not going to hang around forever waiting for you. It’s time that you start moving forward with him.”

  Silently, Olivia lets that sink in. Shannon says nothing. Although she does understand Rachel’s motive, she doesn’t agree with her methods.

  “Olivia,” Cindy�
��s voice calls out as she and two other servers approach the table.

  Olivia forces a smile. “Hi, Cindy! I’m surprised you’re still talking to me after last night.”

  Cindy stands beside the table and rolls her eyes, “Oh, it got a lot more interesting after you left. Some guy came flying through the bar and punched Ethan right in the face.”

  “WHAT?” Olivia is shocked, “Tell me it wasn’t Noah. Please.”

  “No, it wasn’t Noah,” Cindy says.

  “Who was it then?” Olivia asks.

  Pretending not to know the answer Rachel shrugs when she looks at her. But Shannon… well, she knows something.

  “Shannon?” Olivia asks, “Who was it?”

  Shannon wrinkles her nose and fusses with her hair before frowning, “It was Carter.”

  “Carter?” she gasps, “Carter hit Ethan? Why?”

  “He was angry at Ethan for what he had done and furious that he let you walk off, unsafe and alone.”

  Cindy straightens her apron. “After he punched him, I heard him tell Ethan that he didn’t deserve you.”

  Olivia groans and puts her hands over her face. “What was he thinking?” she mumbles.

  “Olivia, I know you’re angry with Ethan, right now,” Cindy says hesitantly. “But there’s something you need to hear. This will only take a minute but it’s important.” Cindy looks over at Tammy who jumps in to the conversation.

  “Well, we were talking here, all us girls, about you two breaking up and how sad it is. Ethan used to tell us such romantic stories about you two. We were all jealous.”

  “Really? Like what?” Olivia asks, looking suspiciously back and forth between her two friends, as if they have somehow orchestrated an intervention.

  “One night, a few weeks ago, the bar had gotten pretty quiet and Mr. O’Connell… Ethan was helping to restock the bar. One of the girls mentioned that he looked tired. He told us that he had been really busy and hadn’t been able to see you for a couple of days. He said that he missed you so much that he couldn’t sleep so he took his blanket and pillows outside onto the deck. He laid there looking up into the stars, matching each one with a different reason as to why he was falling in love with you. He said he did that for hours… until he ran out of stars.”

  Olivia looks at Rachel and then over at Shannon, speechless.

  Jen pipes up, “It’s true, Olivia. He started talking about going home to Ireland and how much he missed it. He said he wanted to take you home with him to meet his friends and his family. Then he said he couldn’t wait to introduce his father to the woman he was going to marry.”

  Olivia’s face loses a little bit of color. She starts to feel that tight squeezing, like a fist around her heart.

  “But it wasn’t just what he said; it was the way he looked when he said it. There were tears in his eyes.”

  Holding her breath as a shiver runs through her, Olivia is certain that her heart stopped beating for several moments.

  “We thought that it was important that you hear that,” Cindy says to Olivia. “He can be a real tyrant as a boss sometimes, but the man really loves you.”

  “Thank you,” Olivia says quietly, feeling extremely overwhelmed.

  “Miss James? Olivia James?” A male voice inquires as he approaches the table.

  “Yes?”

  “I’m so sorry to interrupt your lunch,” the courier says apologetically. “I was supposed to deliver these to you before noon and… well, I’m sorry I didn’t make it on time. I tried your home and your office. They told me you were here.” He slides the flower box across the table toward her. “I apologize.”

  “That’s okay,” she says. “Thank you for tracking me down. Why was it so important to deliver them by noon?”

  “I’m not sure, Miss. The sender was quite insistent on making sure you received them today. It must be important because there was a $50 tip offered, if I got them to you on time.” He looks at his watch. “I guess that was an epic fail.”

  Olivia looks at her watch. 12:30 p.m. “So, how will they know they weren’t delivered on time?” she asks.

  “I have to take the signed receipt back to him with the time on it.”

  Olivia sighs. “No need to guess who they’re from,” she says to her friends, rolling her eyes. She holds her hand out. “Here, give me the receipt.” Taking the pen out of his hand, she begins to write. Pay the poor boy his damn tip, Ireland!

  Handing it back to him, she smiles as he reads it.

  “Thank you, Miss James.”

  “Open them, I want to see them,” Rachel begs.

  “My bet is roses. A cliché apology,” Olivia frowns. “I hate roses. I bet he had John send them for him.”

  “John better not have,” Shannon states.

  Slipping the ribbon off the box, Olivia lifts the lid. The beauty of the arrangement renders her speechless. Delicate pink and white daisies all wrapped up and bound with a beautiful pink ribbon. It wasn’t roses. It was perfect. As the girls strain to see what’s inside the box Olivia slips the card out to read it.

  “Wow, Olivia. Does this man know you inside out or what?” Rachel says, as she lifts the flowers out of the cardboard box so she can get a better look at them.

  Shannon becomes concerned when she see’s tears form in Olivia’s eyes while she reads the card. “Olivia? Are you okay? What does the card say? Can I read it?”

  Passing the card to Shannon, a steady flow of tears start to stream down her cheeks.

  With love's light wings did I o'er-perch these walls;

  For stony limits cannot hold love out Ethan xox

  Quickly pulling a tissue from out of her purse, she wipes at her tears, trying to quiet her sniffles. “It’s from Romeo and Juliet,” she says, her voice strained with emotion.

  Wandering over to the table, John finds all the girls bawling. He thinks about quietly slipping away in another direction, but Shannon has already seen him. “Do I want to know what’s going on?” he asks, his Irish accent sounding apprehensive.

  Shannon starts to laugh a little under her tears. “Ethan sent flowers,” she says pointing at the box and wiping the moisture from her eyes.

  Olivia looks up at John, afraid to ask, “Did you have anything to do with this, John?”

  Shannon folds her arms in front of her and stares at him, “You better not have, or that thing you liked so much this morning… that won’t be happening again for a very long time.”

  Rachel and Olivia look at each other and grin.

  John shakes his head as he looks at the delicate pink flowers on the table, “No, Olivia he did it all on his own. I had nothing to do with it.” Leaning down he kisses Shannon on the lips. “Good thing too, because I really, really liked that thing we did this morning.” Looking up at Olivia, he winks, “I take it from the tears that he made a good choice then?”

  Olivia nods and wipes at the moisture on her cheeks, feeling silly for having such a strong reaction. “They’re perfect. So beautiful.”

  Shannon instantly knows what’s on her mind and says it out loud, “So we’re shopping for a dress for Saturday, right?”

  Olivia smiles, “Yeah, I guess we are. Right after we eat. I’m suddenly starving.”

  Not one dress shop in the downtown Toronto core is safe from the threesome as they scrutinize every dress they can find on a rack. Rachel selects a short, classically designed, ‘little black dress.’ Shannon gushes over a mid length evening gown in a bright blue that matches her eyes and makes her look like a Greek goddess. Now they sit outside a changing room waiting for Olivia to try on the stack of dresses that they’ve selected for her. She hates the feminine curves of her body and her lack of tall gorgeous legs. She’s a track pants, high-top Converse kind of a girl. Trying on dresses, so truly feminine, makes her uncomfortable. She refuses to show the girls several of the dresses, much to their disapproval.

  Olivia opens the changing room doors and steps out in a beautiful burgundy strapless gown. The sweethea
rt neckline adequately showcases her chest, which in Olivia’s opinion, is the best part of her body and one of Ethan’s favorites. Although, she imagines he would have a difficult time, if he were forced to choose just one.

  The satiny dress fits snugly around her hips, making the slit in the front necessary so she can move in it. Walking down the hall, she stands in front of the mirror. The girls gasp at how perfect it is on her. It’s the first dress she’s tried on today that makes her feel feminine… pretty.

  “Wow!” Rachel says, as Olivia turns in different directions to view it from every possible angle in the mirror.

  She grimaces at how low it dips at the back, “I’m not sure. It’s cut really low at the back and Ethan will freak at how short it is.” Wrinkling up her nose, she stands in front of the mirror and tugs at the bottom of it, trying to lengthen it. She’s never worn anything this short…and it’s extremely short.

  “You’re ridiculous, woman!” Shannon says. “That dress is beautiful on you. This is definitely the one.”

  Turning to look at the back again, she takes a deep breath and smiles, “I really like this one.”

  “Great!” Shannon and Rachel say in unison.

  When she ducks back into the changing room Rachel looks at Shannon and raises her eyebrows, “You know the minute she looks at the price tag she’s going home with nothing right?”

  Shannon smiles, “Not on my watch. I’ve been given strict instructions that if she refuses to spend the money, then I’m to purchase it for her myself.”

  Rachel throws her head back in laughter, “Oh my God! She’ll have a fit.”

  “Oh, that’s not all,” Shannon says, smirking. “The instructions were… shoes, undergarments, hair, make up… whatever she needs.” Spying a beautiful white halter dress with a delicate floral pattern in a soft lilac, Shannon heads across the room. Scooping it off the rack, she heads to the changing room, and throws it over the door, “Here, try this one on,” she insists.

  They wait patiently as they hear things banging around in the tiny room. Rachel is just about to comment when Olivia stands in front of them in the most adorable dress, frowning, “I think I have a problem.”