Five Years of Fame [COMPLETE]

4. Band Practice

Winter, Day 2

Olivia couldn't sleep. Her brain refused to shut off. She had slipped Jon's business card into the back of her pocket after he left, first examining the neat handwriting that had written a personal cell phone number on the back.

She had made sure to take it out when she changed into her pajamas. She left it on her bureau, hoping distance would quiet the millions of thoughts running rampant in her mind. It didn't. It seemed to only stir up the monkey chatter.

Thoughts of whether or not the business card actually existed started popping up, followed closely by the idea that maybe the whole interaction had been an extremely vivid dream or hallucination. Or even worse, that she had misunderstood what he was saying and what he was implying.

A few hours laying on her side and Olivia finally crossed the room and grabbed the business card. She leaned it against the lamp on her bedside table so she could see it from her bed. After twenty minutes of rearranging the letters in his name, finding other words among them, sorting them into alphabetical order and Olivia turned on her light and opened her computer.

What followed was an intense deep dive into the depths of the internet to find out everything she could about Jon Baxter. There wasn't much on the man himself but lots on the people he had helped create, names Olivia had heard a million times on the radio.

It was only when Olivia couldn't hold her eyes open that she finally set the computer aside and tried once again to get some sleep. The sun was just starting to rise when she fell asleep, the business card clutched tight in her hand.

It lived in the back pocket of her jeans for the first half of the day, Olivia developing an obsessive habit of checking that it hadn't accidentally fallen out every five minutes. After every time she went to the bathroom, getting out of her car driving to work, and periodically for no good reason throughout the day.

She was sitting at her bar-stool, leaving the sandwich on the plate in front of her untouched, the coffee in her mug running cold. She figures traced the sharp edges of the thick card stock. She ran over the embossed name on the front and flipped it over to examine the personal scroll.

As she was trying to memorize the number, her co-worker interrupted her concentration.

"Incoming."

Kate nodded past Olivia's shoulder to the front door where the bell had just chimed as it swung shut. Olivia heaved a sigh and put the business card back into her pocket, getting up from her bar-stool and returning to work as the newcomer approached her. She had her back turned to him when he stopped at the counter, the wooden surface between them creating physical distance to represent the emotional.

"What do you want, Tony?"

"Good morning to you too, Olivia."

It was Olivia. Not Liv or even Livvie. He was mad. What else was new?

Olivia glanced up at the clock hung over the entrance.

"It's one o'clock," she replied.

"Whatever."

Olivia grabbed a tray and a washcloth and headed in the opposite direction from where Tony stood. She didn't have to look at him to know the look on his face. His square jaw would be set, his usually light brown eyes narrowed and brooding. His scowl did nothing kind to his light brown skin. He looked exactly like his uncle Hank when he was mad and hated it when Olivia pointed out that fact.

Olivia left the protection of the counter behind her, making herself busy by clearing dishes and wiping down counters, occasionally hurrying back to grab a coffee pot for a refill.