Chapter 10: Brooks
I woke up this morning and couldn't get her out of my head. I’ve spent the last three days wondering what Olive is doing and trying to decide the best way to approach her again. I laid there in bed trying to push thoughts of her out so I could just get a little more sleep. Instead, I was tormented by fantasies of Olive. Olive in her blue dress. Olive in her chef coat. Olive unbuttoning her chef coat. I had to get out of my house. I knew that if I didn’t see her today, I was going to drive myself crazy.
Pulling into the bakery parking lot, I drive around to the side lot and back into a spot under a large oak tree. I’m just about to get out when Olive steps out of the side door talking on her cell phone. Her brows are drawn and the little scowl she’s making is adorable. I’m torn between interrupting her and watching her. She makes a couple quick phone calls, her frown deepening with each call until it looks like she gets an answer she likes.
Grabbing my laptop I start to get out but I freeze when I see Olive sit on the step and pull her knees up, hugging them and hiding her face. Fuck. She’s crying. I don’t know what to do. I want to fix whatever is wrong, but I’ll probably just make it worse. She doesn’t trust me. At least not yet.
I worry a hand through my beard weighing my options, but just as I decide to get out and comfort her, she stands and wipes her face. She takes a deep breath and does a full body shimmy before straightening her chef coat and going back inside. I don’t know what the fuck that was, but it was cute as shit.
I head around to the front door, climbing the steps two at a time. When I get to the front of the line, the baker, Luis, is putting bread in the display thing. He glares at me.
I try being friendly. “Hey, I didn’t get to meet you the other day. I’m Brooks. My company is managing the addition.”
“I know who you are. What do you want?” he asks irritably.
Well, this isn’t going well. “I just wanted to see Olive for a minute. Check on her.”
His eyebrows pinch together. “Check on her? She’s busy. It’s been a rough morning. I don’t want you upsetting her again.”
“Yeah… I saw her outside. Why was she crying?” I ask.
Luis squints one eye at me, thinking hard for a second. “Look man, that’s just Olive. Sometimes she just needs to cry. She’s tough as shit, but this place is a lot for one person to manage.”
I open my mouth to respond, but he cuts me off. “The Donovan kids grew up next door to me and my boys. I’ve known Olive all her life and trust me when I tell you that she doesn’t need you to fix her problems.”
“I’m not trying to fix her problems. I just want to see her. That’s all.”
Luis eyes me suspiciously. “About the addition?”
I shake my head, not wanting to lie. “I just need to see her.”
Luis raises an eyebrow. “Oh man, you’ve got it bad. Good luck with that. I’ll tell her you’re here but that’s it.” He laughs as he walks back towards the kitchen.