Chapter 17

"I know you've been married this whole time, and I don't know where my conscience has come from regarding that, but for some reason, it really sits heavy with me.  I think"

"I think you're looking for excuses."

"To do what?"

"Bail on me and get out of the agreement." he sits up, looking out to the river.  The afternoon is gorgeous and the view is just as wonderful.  He watches some geese on the river bank, "To get away from me."

Olivia lets out a small laugh and says, "Quite the opposite Jon.  I don't want to share you and I don't want to be alone anymore."

"And I have made the changes that you wanted and you still want out?" he isn't sure what she wants to do, and he's even less sure of what he should do himself.  "I filed for divorce, Dorothea and I no longer live together - what else can I do to prove to you, to show you that I'm ready and that I want a life with you?"

"I don't know." she's laying there in his bed, in the room that he shared with his wife.  Looking up at the ceiling, she's wondering how to say what she has to say, so she just let's it roll.  "Honestly Jon, I don't know how it would work.  I'm so set in my ways, my goals are hammered out in stone and I have grown used to life without you.  What happens if we do this 100%, if we're both all in and it blows up in my face?  What then?"  she rolls over to face him.  "What happens if I get what I want and it's really not what I want?"

He looks back at her and says the first thing that comes to mind, "How about we worry about that when and if we get to that point.  We really can't let the what if's get in the way, can we?"  He stands, walking into the bathroom he adds, "Are we going to the beach?"

Olivia jumps up and she's right behind him.  As he stands at the toilet and relieves himself, she steps up behind him and admits, "I'll do anything that you want to do.  I've already missed my class today.  I wonder when the Dean will call me and ask why I'm a no call, no show."

"Does he normally call you?"

"Only when it's important." she explains, leaning into the mirror and fixing the make up mess that's on her face.  The sweat made her make up run, her hair is a mess - half in and half out of the bun she had it in.  "I've never not gone to work and not called."

"Call then." he says, flushing the toilet and washing his hands.  "What class did you have today?"  He doesn't know what her schedule is exactly, he just knows that if she's not in a classroom she's in the emergency room.  Her schedule is full and he's now seeing why she pushes herself so hard. 

"Today was a continuing education class that I agreed to teach for surgical technicians.  It was an update class on sterilization techniques.  No biggie, really."

"Will you get in trouble?" he laughs as he asks, "Will you be sent to detention, or get slapped with a ruler?"

Olivia laughs, "No, not me.  Or at least I don't think I will.  I've never not shown up to work before."  She goes back into the bedroom and starts to put her clothes on.  As she's sliding her panties up over her butt, she feels a hand make contact and it made a loud crack.  She jumps, with an automatic scream and turns around to see Jon smiling.  "OW, that hurt."

"Baby, your ass said smack me.  I couldn't help myself."  Olivia kisses him, feeling herself melt into him again but she stops it.  They really need to get out of that bedroom, because she knows that she could stay in there with him all day.  She misses the days that they would lay in bed and just be together.  Sex was always a magical thing between them, but what made it so special was that they could be together and not have to have sex.  They could lay around all day and talk for hours, they could nap together like they had been together for years and those are the things that Olivia wants from Jon.  She wants, she needs, she craves the WE moments that they used to have, but she doesn't want them to be penciled in or scheduled.  Olivia shakes her head, "What are we doing?  I need to go get my bathing suit from my car."

"I'll go get it.  Where is it?"  he asks as he slides on swimming shorts, "Backseat or the trunk?"

"My bag is in the trunk.  Can you grab my purse from the car, or lock it for me?" she questions, folding her clothes and laying them on the bed.  She found Jon's robe and slips in to that.

Together they walk downstairs.  At the bottom of the stairs, Jon heads outside to get Olivia her things and Olivia walks through the house to the kitchen.  Turning the corner into the kitchen, she is startled by the figure sitting at the kitchen table.  She stops.  She's frozen. 

"Are you done fucking my husband?" was the first thing that Dorothea says when Olivia rounded the corner and stopped. 

"What are you doing here?" Olivia asks Dorothea, without even thinking.  It was her gut reaction and it was the best reaction.  She can't help the feeling that she had just been caught, her heart races and she can feel her palms get sweaty.  "You shouldn't be here."

"Um, this is my house."  Dorothea snaps as she walks toward Olivia, "This is where my children live.  YOU shouldn't be here, what are you doing here?"  The look that Dorothea gives Olivia leads Olivia to think that Dorothea had no idea about her and Jon - until right now.

The look that Dorothea's gave Olivia the courage that she needed to respond the way that she does, "I'm here seeing Jon."  She says with a smirk on her face.  "Isn't that obvious?"

"You go from family doctor to mistress and here I thought you were intelligent."

"What are you doing here Dorothea?" Olivia makes herself at home and opens the refrigerator and grabs a bottle of apple juice.  After she cracks the seal, she takes a big drink, keeping her eye on Dorothea the entire time, "Jon should be in in a minute, he ran to my car for me."  Olivia smirks again.

"How long have you been fucking my husband?"  the question made Olivia choke on her apple juice. 

"What?" she questions, through coughs.  Her eyes are watering and she can't catch her breath.  With juice in hand, Olivia sits in the chair closest to her and says nothing more.  She just looks at Dorothea until Jon comes inside.

He rounds the corner and is stunned by what he sees.  He was just in the driveway and didn't see Dorothea's car.  "What are you doing here?" he looks to Dorothea, walking to Olivia.  "What's the matter with you?" he sees that her eyes were watering?

"Chocked on my juice." she mumbles, looking up at him, wiping her eyes. 

"Jon, what is she doing here?" Dorothea barks at him from across the kitchen, "In our house, really?"

Jon hands Olivia her things and leans on the counter, keeping his eyes fixed on her, he tells Dorothea, "We have been seeing each other for two years." he just admits, like it's nothing.

"YOU DIDN"T TELL HER?"  Olivia manages to get out, even with the occasional cough, "I thought you told her everything when you filed for divorce?"

"Everything?  What the fuck else is there to tell me?"  Dorothea snaps, "What, Jon?"

His look is still fixed on Olivia, "She knows all about you, everyone knows about you.  Dorothea leaked it to the press."  his expression doesn't change as he sees the seriousness that is coming over Olivia's face.

"What do you mean, leaked to the press?" Olivia asks, standing up and walking toward Dorothea.  "You gave my name?"

Dorothea shakes her head no.  "The news figured out who you are, I only asked that they leave us alone and let us deal with this as a family."

"Like what you're doing right now?" Jon asks, lifting himself from leaning on the counter, "Why are you here Dorothea?  And how long have you been here?"

"Long enough to see you two having sex and long enough to hear you tell her that you love her." Dorothea swallows over the lump in her throat, fighting the urge to cry, "I've been here a while."

Jon is now getting angry.  The two women in his life are face to face in the kitchen and one of them needs to leave.  As she stands there, next to Olivia, he tells Dorothea, "You need to leave."

"I came to save my marriage." Dorothea responds, with tears and the beginning of a sobbing cry.  "I came to save my family."

Olivia didn't need to hear anymore.  As quietly as she came into the kitchen, she leaves the kitchen; leaving Jon to deal with Dorothea on his own.  As she makes her way up the stairs, she can hear that he's getting loud, so she can only imagine what Dorothea is saying and what she's feeling.  She feels bad.

Olivia dresses and makes her way back downstairs.  When she gets to the bottom, she walks into the foyer, where she can still hear Jon and Dorothea going at it.  He hears Dorothea says, "For the love of God Jon, she's a doctor." 

And his response is, "Would you rather she be a housewife with 4 kids and no job or hobbies?"

When Olivia hears that the conversation is heading that way, in a way that she doesn't even want to be involved, she takes her bag and her purse and leaves the New Jersey house without even saying goodbye.  She couldn't, and she didn't want to interrupt a conversation that she knows Dorothea needs to have.  She knows from her many years of dealing with people, there are certain stages that each upset in life needs to go through.  She assumes Jon just told her that they were getting a divorce and that was that.  Any mention of Olivia was in passing or meant to hurt.