Tell Me to Stay Read online

  No, I have to play along.

  For now, anyway. First, I need to figure out what to do.

  It takes a long time to come up with a good plan.

  It takes research and determination.

  It takes a commitment.

  For now, I will become his friend. If I want to be there to protect Olive, I need to make Owen trust me.

  Whoever he turned in is still after him and I have to be near Olive to help her in case anything like what happened before happens again.

  I will put myself in their inner circle so that I can

  be there.

  I take a deep breath and step outside.

  6

  Olive

  When there’s a knock on the door…

  Back at my apartment, Owen and I indulge in a few drinks. Now that he’s out on parole, he is on probation, which comes with its own set of rules.

  Find meaningful employment.

  No hanging out with criminals.

  No leaving the city.

  No drugs and no alcohol.

  Owen is supposed to check in with his parole officer tomorrow morning, so these rules aren’t set in stone yet.

  A beer or two won’t hurt anything, right?

  “I can’t believe that I now get a buzz after only three beers,” Owen says. “You should’ve seen how many it took back in the day.”

  “I’m not sure if that’s something you should be proud of,” I say, laughing, finishing my second.

  “I’m not drinking anymore after this,” he says, cracking open the top of another bottle. “I’m not going to be one of those idiots who goes back in there because he doesn’t know how to follow the rules of parole. I’m going to follow all of them to the T, you know what I mean?”

  I nod and smile.

  “And I’ll be here for you,” I say.

  “But ten years is a long time to go without a drop of booze,” he adds, taking another sip. I agree but I also know that he can’t have anymore tonight.

  “Okay, this is it,” I insist. “You don’t want to show up to your probation officer tomorrow morning with a hangover.”

  “Parole officer and probation officer aren’t the same thing,” he says, laughing and nodding his head in agreement.

  It takes me a second to process this statement.

  “Wait, what?” I ask through my alcohol-induced haze.

  I’m not much of a drinker, even consuming one drink a little too fast makes me a bit weak at the knees.

  “Don’t look so horrified,” Owen jokes. “Most people don’t know. Why would they? Probation and parole officers have similar duties but parole officers deal with people who have been released from prison and probation officers supervise those who have been sentenced to serve probation instead of being incarcerated.”

  I stare at him for second letting all of that sink in.

  “Okay, I get that, but let me ask you something else,” I say.

  “Shoot.”

  “Why do you all start to speak in this formal police talk?”

  He furrows his brows in confusion.

  “Like instead of car, you say it’s a vehicle. Instead of woman, it’s a female. You know, formal words like that?”

  Owen twists his lips to one side demonstratively thinking about the answer.

  “I guess it’s ‘cause we spend way too much time with cops,” he says and we both chuckle.

  Owen and I laugh for a very long time this evening.

  Whatever worries I had going into this day have all disappeared.

  He’s exactly the person who I grew to love over the course of our emails, only he’s even better than I had imagined him to be.

  He’s fun.

  He has a good sense of humor.

  He knows exactly what to say to lighten the mood.

  He doesn’t take himself too seriously.

  “So, you must be itching to go out and have some fun,” I say after a moment. “Like girl fun, I mean.”

  “You mean with a girl who isn’t my sister?” he jokes.

  I shrug. “I know that I’m a total blast to hang out with but I know you have…needs.”

  “Oh my God, you make me sound like a total douche.”

  “I’m not saying that women don’t have needs. Christ, if I had spent that much time in prison, the one thing that I would really want to do is get laid.”

  Owen shakes his head.

  “What? Am I wrong?” I ask.

  “No, you’re not wrong. I just …can’t believe that I’m talking about this with my sister.”

  “Eh, what are siblings for, right?”

  We laugh.

  “Okay, I’m going to tell you something now,” Owen says, taking another sip of his beer. “But you have to promise that you’ll never tell anyone about this. Ever.”

  “Yeah, sure,” I mumble.

  “Olive, I’m serious. You really need to promise.”

  I take a moment to gather my composure. Forcing the inquisitive smile off my face, I give him a stern nod.

  “Okay, yes, I won’t tell a soul.”

  “Yes, I do want to get laid, but…I wasn’t exactly celibate inside.”

  “Oh, really!” My eyebrows pop up to the middle of my forehead. “Who was it? Your cellmate? A guy down the hall?”

  “Okay, don’t get too excited!” Owen laughs.

  “Dammit.” I smile. “So…what’s with all the intrigue?”

  “I sort of had this thing with…my teacher.”

  My mouth drops open.

  “She started working there about a year ago and we started flirting with each other and then one thing led to another.”

  “Oh my God,” I whisper. “Are you serious?”

  He nods.

  “So, have you two…done it?”

  Owen laughs, nodding.

  “Seriously? But how? I thought there were cameras everywhere.”

  “You’d be surprised at how secretive inmates can get after a few years on the inside. And no, there aren’t cameras everywhere and not all cameras are being watched all the time. That’s how people get killed and…laid.”

  “So, what is she like?” I ask.

  He thinks about it for a moment, looking for just the right word. “Sweet. Innocent. But not on the outside.”

  Not sure of what that means exactly, I cock my head to one side.

  “She has this hard shell,” Owen explains. “Stronger and more difficult to get through than most of the men I met in there. She doesn’t take any shit and she doesn’t play games.”

  “So, how did she end up falling for you?”

  “Very funny.” He rolls his eyes and smiles. But the expression on his face gets serious. “We were just talking one day about the Count of Monte Cristo. I was really proud of myself for reading the whole book. It is well over a thousand pages. I was really inspired by the story about this poor illiterate man who got convicted of a crime he didn’t commit, sent to an awful prison where he was subjected to the worst cruelty a man could suffer…and how despite all of that he learned to read and to learn and started a whole new life for himself.”

  “There was a bit about him finding some treasure and getting revenge on everyone who had ever wronged him,” I add with a smile.

  “Yeah, those parts didn’t hurt either.” He grins. “Anyway, we were talking about that and I touched her hand and then I leaned over and kissed her.”

  “You did?” My eyes light up as I lean toward him to hear more details.

  “Yeah, I did. It just sort of happened. I had no idea I even had feelings for her until that point and then I couldn’t stop thinking about her.”

  “So, what about now?” I ask.

  “I don’t know,” he says with a shrug. “We’ll see.”

  I wrap my arms around my brother and hug him as tightly as I can. He has been through so much pain and suffering and now things are finally turning around for him.

  “Everything will be fine from now on,” I whisper. “I just kn
ow it.”

  A loud knock on the door pushes me away from him.

  My heart sinks into the bottom of my stomach.

  Who could that be?

  7

  Olive

  When things escalate…

  Walking over to the front door, I hold my breath. If it’s someone coming to do us harm then they wouldn’t knock, right?

  They would just burst in.

  I stand up on my tiptoes to look out of the peephole. A sigh of relief washes over me just as another wave of anxiety sweeps up.

  It’s not a stranger coming to kill him (or me), but it’s not anyone I want to see now either.

  “Olive, I have to talk to you,” Nicholas says.

  “I can’t right now. Go away,” I say and walk away.

  He knocks again.

  And again.

  “It’s him, isn’t it?” Owen asks.

  “Just ignore him.”

  “Why is he here?”

  “I don’t know.” I shrug.

  “Is he stalking you?” Owen asks.

  I furrow my brows and look at him in disbelief.

  “No.” I shake my head.

  “So, why is he here?”

  “Because he’s my fucking boyfriend and we had a fight.”

  When I turn away from him, I roll my eyes. Nicholas’ continuous knock thunders into the apartment.

  “Go away! I’ll call you tomorrow!” I yell.

  “I need to talk to you!” he yells.

  “No, you don’t. I have company.”

  I pick up the plates and the beer bottles from the coffee table and before I can place them into the sink, Owen opens the door.

  The world starts to move in slow motion.

  Before I can let go of the dishes, my body turns toward the foyer in an effort to stop the inevitable.

  Nicholas isn’t supposed to be here because he knows that Owen is staying with me.

  That’s why I didn’t let him in.

  I wanted to keep them apart until I could figure out a more delicate way to deal with all of this. But now…

  The plates hit the floor with a bang, making both Owen and Nicholas jump.

  But the sound doesn’t faze me.

  I step over the mess and walk closer to them.

  “I don’t want to talk right now,” I say, my voice cracking in the middle of the plea. “I’ll call you tomorrow.”

  “Listen, I just wanted to come by and apologize,” Nicholas says quickly. “I’m so sorry. I should have never put you in that position. I was a selfish asshole.”

  “What else is new?” Owen says under his breath.

  My eyes widen expecting a blow back from Nicholas.

  But much to my surprise he doesn’t take the bait.

  “Hi, I’m Nicholas,” he says, extending his hand. “You must be Owen.”

  “You don’t remember me, do you?” Owen asks, crossing his arms.

  Nicholas leaves his hand out in the open for a moment before putting it back into his pocket.

  “Of course, I do,” Nicholas says, meeting his eyes.

  They glare at each other so hard that I wait for bolts of electricity to surge in between them. “I just thought that I would introduce myself to start on better footing.”

  “I’m not interested in starting anything again,” Owen says. “My sister asked you to leave, so leave.”

  Nicholas takes a deep breath.

  I hate the way that he asked him but I want Nicholas to do as he was told.

  This isn’t the right time for this.

  But instead, he waltzes past both of us and kneels over the broken dishes.

  “I’ll get that, it’s fine,” I start to say when he is already carrying them to the garbage can.

  “I’m sorry I startled you,” he whispers.

  “You have to leave,” I whisper back.

  Owen and I have talked about almost everything and anything today except what is really important.

  I wonder now if that was a mistake.

  He has only a few glimpses of my relationship with Nicholas and I know nothing about why he was really released.

  Did he really turn on someone?

  Is that person out for blood? Or did Nicholas just fill my head with lies?

  “Well, I guess I’ll talk to you tomorrow then,” Nicholas says and a wave of relief washes over me.

  “Yes, sure, of course.” I stumble over my words.

  “Or maybe I can just stay for a drink?” he asks in his flirtatious way. He isn’t imposing. He’s just putting out an idea. No pressure, right?

  “That is not a good idea. It’s getting late, and Olive has work in the morning,” Owen steps in. I don’t know if he’s trying to be helpful or just trying to assert his territory, in either case he is in over his head.

  “No, she doesn’t,” Nicholas says, nonchalantly. I turn around and give him a stern look, but it’s not enough to make him stop talking.

  Turning to him, he explains, “We don’t have work tomorrow. So, you two can spend the day together if you want.”

  Owen looks at me. I don’t say a word.

  “What does he mean by ‘we’?”

  I don’t reply.

  It’s none of his business.

  I don’t have to explain myself to anyone. I’m not a child.

  “I thought you worked writing test questions for an educational company?” Owen asks.

  “That’s what I used to do,” I finally say when the silence becomes too unbearable.

  I go over the reasons why I no longer wanted to work there again even though I doubt that he cares.

  He focuses his attention entirely on Nicholas.

  While Owen scowls, Nicholas paints a plastic half-smile on his face which gives his expression a mixture of something in between acquiesce and contempt.

  “So, what is it that you’re doing now?” Owen asks me quietly. “Working for him?”

  I nod slightly.

  “Doing what exactly? Lying? Scamming? Defrauding people? Or have you two moved on to something else now?”

  “What are you talking about?” I demand to know, anger rising deep within me.

  “Anyone show up dead yet?” Owen asks, his voice drenched in condensation.

  Shivers run up my spine. What is he talking about? What does he know? Is he referring to Caitlyn or the man who tried to take me?

  “You need to calm down, Owen,” I say. “I don’t owe you a fucking explanation.”

  “Yes, you do. Especially if you’re going to hang out with the likes of him.”

  “There’s nothing wrong with him,” I insist. “He didn’t just spend a decade in prison.”

  “Fuck you, Olive. I’m just trying to look after you.”

  “She doesn’t need you to look after her,” Nicholas pipes in.

  “Shut up! Both of you!” I shout over them. “I don’t know who you think you are but you can’t just barge into my life and start telling me what to do. I’ve been an adult for a long time now, making my own decisions.”

  I walk over to Nicholas and put my hand on his chest. “Please leave,” I say quietly. “He’s my brother and he has nowhere else to go.”

  “Don’t throw me a pity party, will you?” Owen says from across the room.

  “Shut up!” I hiss at him.

  Nicholas gives me a nod and allows me to walk him across the room.

  When we reach Owen in the foyer, it takes him a minute to move out of the way.

  “Can I see you tomorrow?” Nicholas asks.

  “No, you can’t,” Owen answers for me.

  “Shut up,” I say and turn back toward Nicholas. “I don’t know. Maybe.”

  “Please? I have to talk to you about something.”

  “Listen, man, she already said no. Can’t you take that for an answer?” Owen says, shoving his finger in the air.

  “Why don’t you get that out of my fucking face?” Nicholas says, grabbing it with his hand.

  A second later, one
of them throws a punch and a full blown fight begins.

  8

  Olive

  When things escalate…

  Once they start throwing punches, I can barely sneak past them without getting hit. They make only some nominal space for me to escape and once I’m out, their fists continue the attack on each other’s bodies.

  “Stop it! Stop fighting!” I yell at the top of my lungs.

  When I make a move to separate them, an elbow collides with my shoulder tossing me into the wall.

  “Look what you did!” one of them screams.

  “You are the one who made me do it!” the other yells.

  The pain in my shoulder runs up and down my arm and I can’t help but lean against the wall and slide down to the floor.

  This seems to do the trick because they both crowd on top of me with concerned expressions on their faces.

  “You’re both assholes,” I whisper through my teeth.

  “It was all his fault,” they say simultaneously. I shake my head and try to rise back up to my feet. But Owen pushes me back down.

  “Get away from her,” Nicholas says. “Can’t you see that she’s trying to stand up?”

  “Don’t touch me!” Owen roars back.

  With no more energy to devote to them, I slide out of the way keeping my back to the wall and my butt on the floor.

  Once I have enough space, I wince and force myself to my feet.

  I get all the way to the kitchen before either of them notices that I am gone.

  When they finally do, they race over to me.

  “Stay away,” I say to both of them at the same time.

  My eyes dart from one confused face to another.

  Owen opens his mouth to say something, but I put my index finger up to his lips.

  “I’m so…“ Nicholas manages to get out before I shut him down as well.

  “I’m sick of you,” I finally say when I have their full attention. “Both of you.”

  I pause and wait for them to speak up but now they both know better.

  “Owen, I quit my job because I hated it. Nicholas’ offer was just the impetus I needed to do something…dangerous,” I say.