10 years after- 2019
As the restaurant manager put a sign in the door notifying the population of New York City that they would be closing early today, Peter drew a sigh of relief.
At least I won't be recognized here, he thought.
As the majority of the staff left the establishment, leaving only the chef, one waitress and the maitre d, Peter was shown to his table.
"She should be here any minute" Peter told the man for the hundredth time. "She has shoulder length brown hair, and just... gorgeous blue eyes. The color of the pacific ocean. Have you ever seen the pacific ocean? Then you know what I mean. She's beautiful- you'll know her when you see her."
As the host bowed graciously, as if he were royalty, Peter felt slightly embarrassed at how he had rambled on about Olivia. He hadn't seen her in almost a month since she interviewed him-and before that it had been almost 9 years.
Yet somehow, he had never gotten over her. And it pleased him to realize, Olivia hadn't settled down, so perhaps she wasn't over him either.
Peter looked at the clock- he had arrived somewhat early to make sure the restaurant was ready and the date would go on as planned. He had certainly paid enough for it to. By the current time, Olivia should arrive any minute and Peter was nervous.
Peter had to acknowledge that they both had changed. It had really been the summer before college since he had been on a proper date with Olivia. After that, Peter started at the University of Wisconsin on a football scholarship and Olivia went to NYU to study journalism. It was obvious to the young couple that their lives were going in two completely different directions and after only a month, they amicably decided to break up with no hard feelings.
Their lives became so busy that they simply had no time for long distance relationships. They had been friends on social media until Peter's career exploded and he disabled all forums-never sure who he could trust. He had no clue where Olivia's life had taken her until the interview.
"Ah, you must be Olivia White, yes?" Peter heard the door open and the man speak. He quickly stood up and straightened his blazer.
"Oh, yes." Peter heard her say as she walked in. "How did you-" Her eyes landed on Peter and she laughed slightly before The maitre d walked her over to the table and escaped to the kitchen.
"I should have known, Peter Jacobs. You always were one for theatrics." Olivia said as Peter kissed her cheek and helped her sit down. She was more stunning than ever in her low-cut, little black dress. She was tasteful and sexy all at once and Peter had to sit down as she crossed her legs confidently.
"Theatrics?" Peter laughed, trying to gather his wits. "I have no idea what you mean."
"Oh yes you do." She smirked "Do you remember that date, senior year, down by the lake? You paid that Jackson kid 50 bucks to carve our initials out of cheese and smuggled beer from your dad's cooler!"
"We're from Wisconsin! What's more romantic than cheese and beer? Not to mention I was only, like, 17." Peter and Olivia laughed for a minute before placing their drink orders.
"I was sorry to hear about your father. Bill was always so nice to me. He was a good man." Olivia said softly.
Peter nodded and thanked her. His father had died 3 months ago of lung cancer and had been brought up in most interviews Peter had done, due to the notorious photograph that went around the world. Him and his father hugging after being reunited back in 2009.
"I appreciated the fact that you didn't bring it up during the interview." Peter said. "Most people did."
"I'm not most people." Olivia said, sipping her wine.
Peter remembered that day, last month when he saw Olivia. Peter had interview commitments to meet, being contracted as the quarterback for the Green bay Packers. He had just done 2 interviews about his recent Superbowl win, and Bill had been brought up into conversation and was still raw about it. His agent was there telling him just one more interview with NBC and then he could go home. He turned towards the crowd of people, and there with the NBC backdoor pass around her neck, was Olivia.
They were both genuinely pleased to see the other and after the interview they had exchanged numbers, Peter informing her he would be in New York the following month.
"I was surprised to see you that day. I usually am interviewed by former athletes or rich men."
"Hmm." Olivia giggled while finishing her wine. "I was just filling in. I usually do hard hitting stories. You know about, corruption or global warming, poverty. Things like that."
"Yes, you never were too fond of sports, were you?" Peter joked, remembering how Olivia used to be in high school.
During the entrees, conversation shifted back again to high school.
"Did you watch Bridgette Goldroy's documentary last Thursday?" Olivia asked.
"Yup. I didn't know her too well back then but I feel sorry for her. The foundation she's created is amazing but..."
"But she seems like a money-hungry killer insect living off of the tragedy?" Olivia suggested.
"Precisely." Peter agreed, remembering the documentary Bridgette had commissioned ABC to make to commemorate the 10 year anniversary of the massacre.
"The movie itself wasn't bad, it's just Bridgette...the way she cried seemed so odd. I hate to judge other people but her whole story never did make sense. She claims to have been gunned down and shot in the spine by the shooter but I've talked to Beverly and Bridgette was in the theater. She was safe and chose to leave the room. It's like she chose to be shot." Olivia said shaking her head. "I think she just lost it. Like Edward did, remember? Apparently Bridgette never got any better- totally shunned Beverly afterwards. And Nina...God, I hate to even think about her. She had such potential."
Peter listened intently to Olivia. It was not the first time they had discussed the Wilson-Battawa Massacre but it was the first time talking to each other about it as adults.
"Did you know about Nina before the documentary aired?" Peter asked softly, knowing that Olivia and Nina had been acquaintances before the shooting.
"I knew about her drug use. Word gets around but...I didn't know she had died." Olivia shook her head. "Beverly said Nina never got over what happened that day, always blamed herself for Mr. McGee's death. It's not surprising that she had the issues she did, I wish I could have helped her but she pushed everyone away. No, I didn't know. I would have gone to the funeral if I had known."
The two sat in silence for a moment, thinking about Nina, a talented girl with so much potential, plagued by her memory and conscience until she could take it no longer. Her body had been found in a run down motel off of the highway back in Battawa.
"Bridgette's people wanted me in the documentary." Peter admitted. "My agent was all for it."
Olivia's eyebrows raised a bit and Peter saw a twinkle in her eye.
"But you weren't?" She asked teasingly.
"Nope." He shrugged easily. "I get enough attention from football. And I don't need to go back and relive my adolescent years."
The two gradually moved on to other conversation over dessert and Peter enjoyed hearing about Olivia's life. She had traveled to the middle east, Asia, and all over Europe for her work. She lived alone with one cat- Mr. Tubbykins, her mother had recently started internet dating after the divorce from Olivia's stepfather, Hal. And Olivia loved New York City and wanted to live there forever.
After they exited the restaurant, Peter walked the 8 blocks to Olivia's apartment to make sure she got there safely. As they stood on the stairs, Peter finally worked up the courage to ask her a question.
"Would you mind showing me around New York sometime? I've only visited a couple times for games."
"Show you around?" Olivia cocked her head to the side, confused. "But, aren't you going back to Wisconsin tomorrow?"
"Ah, about that...no, actually." He smiled, enjoying teasing her.
"Oh?" Olivia said leaning her backside against the railing. Peter unashamedly ran his eyes over her curvy hips.
"Yeah, you see I was here today to meet with the owner of the New York Giants." Peter licked his lips and inched closer to Olivia. He heard her slight gasp.
"And?" She asked.
Peter was face to face with the most beautiful girl in the world, and she was staring at his lips.
"I've been traded." He simply said, before kissing Olivia with all his might.
This was the girl he loved. He let her get away before, but never again.
There were many people involved in the Wilson-Battawa massacre, many lives lost, countless hearts broken. But as Olivia unlocked her apartment door and invited Peter inside, he was thankful that he had met her and that they had moved beyond the tragedy.
~
THE END