Saving Zola

6

Olivia threw her keys on her desk and fell down in her chair with a huff. "I went by your apartment last night. You weren't there."

"Yeah, well I had a thing."

Elliot nodded seeing straight through her. "You know exactly where Zo is, don't you?" he asked.

She hesitated for a second and then said, "Of course I do. She's definitely at his condo. Figures. Zola went somewhere I'm familiar with. She knows I know where to find her just in case anything happens. Zola's young and stupid, but she's no fool. If she really wanted to leave and not have me know where she is, she'd hop a train to the Upper East Side, New Jersey, Virginia even. Miguel's place is the last place she'd run to."

"And what? Are you gonna sleep outside in an unmarked car every night til she comes home?"

"You got it."

"Livia-"

"I'm not leaving her by herself with that prick. Anything can happen."

Elliot nodded his head knowing he'd do the same for one of his kids. "Heard from her yet?"

"Nope. It's been one day. One. And I feel like it's been forever."

"She'll come back. It's just a phase."

"Oh, I know that. I just hope it's not in a body bag."

"You can't think like that."

"You know that Miguel guy is no good. He's linked to that drug lord on the lower east side. I just... I don't know if I made the right decision by letting her go. She's my baby girl."

"And sometimes your baby girl needs a wake up call. She'll be back. I won't say she won't come back with a few bumps and bruises but-"

"Hey!"

"Liv, what I'm trying to say is that she'll come back, but don't expect her to come back the same way you sent her. The real world is gonna smack her in the face and after she gets smacked, then she'll come home."

"I just don't understand how she ended up this way."

Elliot looked up at her from his sitting position. He picked up his pen and continued writing not wanting to make eye contact after he said, "Ever looked in the mirror?"

"You son of a-" She scrubbed a hand over her face. "Don't you dare judge me! Don't you dare act like this is all my fault."

"Takes two to tango."

"I..."

"I'm not saying it's all your fault. But you're pretty busy these days, Olivia. Even too busy for Zola. And without her dad being in the picture... it just makes things more complicated. She only flocked to that guy because she has daddy issues."

"Woah, now I don't think that's true. I have daddy issues and I'm nothing-"

"Oh, c'mon. It's not the same thing with the two of you. Your dad was a monster. Hers... he loved you but he just didn't want her and she knows that," Elliot paused knowing he was treading deep waters. "Liv, you were sixteen once. You wanted to marry that college student. Don't forget that history repeats itself, love."

She shot him a look but she had no comeback. He was right. "Sometimes I feel like I'm looking at a smaller version of myself." Olivia sighed and shook her head. Of course Zola was trying to escape and she'd done nothing but push her out. "I've been seeing it for a long time. I've tried and tried to keep her away from being like me but..."