Edward most certainly did not expect a knock on his door the following week at 8:00 pm. The six raps told him all he needed to know. He ignored the first set in hopes that they'd vanish. The second set was far more panicked. He groaned.
Why did he have a conscience again?
She stood outside the door in the same tight red shirt and cargo pants she had worn the first day they met. He held the door in one hand and the frame in the other.
"Officer, how can I help you?"
She bowed her head and refused to meet his eyes. "Can I come in?"
"As long as you're civil."
Olivia nodded and stepped inside with a small smile. Edward eyed the outfit. After a nearly a month, he knew didn't fit with her personality one bit. Olivia was too modest to show off her midriff, despite how well she maintained her abs. He noticed a dark blue and yellow tinge on her left side larger than his hand.
"Come here for a minute," he said. He got her to turn by gently guiding her shoulders to confirm that the tinge continued up her back past the hem of her top. "Olivia, what happened?"
She flinched as soon as his fingers made contact with the bruised skin. He applied virtually no pressure, but the memory was probably still there.
She kept her head low. "I was distracted during a combat exercise."
"Olivia, bruises like that don't come from an exercise. Whoever they were, they should have stopped. This much bruising is assault."
Her nostrils flared. "Don't pretend you know what goes on in other parts of this colony. You have no idea what it's like outside of your perfect world of computer repair."
He placed a hand on her shoulder. Her immediate reaction to a challenge of her ideals had only been anger lately. Edward began to realize he shouldn't take it too personally. "Then explain it to me."
"Ask your co-worker about the inner workings of the colony," she said as he threw his hand off her shoulder.
"Nate is involved in this?"
Her eyes grew like pancakes over a hot skillet. "No, there's no connection. I'm just frustrated with everything and taking it out on you." Her breaths slowed at this point and her shoulders relaxed. "I only came by tonight to see where our agreement stands. We never had any formal discussion about terminating it. I do honor my commitments. Are we continuing our arrangement?"
"Do you want to?"
Olivia nodded slowly with slumped shoulders.
"The only way I'll agree is if you'll be open with me, no more lying your way out of things. If you can do that, I'm game."
Her eyes widened and she smoothed her hands on her pant legs. "Will you be open with me?"
"Whatever you want to know is yours."
Olivia studied his face for a good thirty seconds before she bit her lip and sighed. "Okay, I will try."
"Here, sit down and I'll be right back." He handed her a blanket and offered her the couch. In a couple minutes, a kettle started whistling. Edward walked back over with a couple cups of apple cider.
"Where did you get this?"
"Alfonzo has a poker group that I've been cleaning up on. I won a couple packs awhile back. It's not much, but when I used to come home from school and kids had been beating me up or calling me 'fat-ass' or 'retard', my mom always could sense it. She always had a blanket and a cup of cider ready for me." Edward's chest weighed heavy with the memory. For years he'd blocked them out, but now it felt so far removed from the present situation.
"Your mom was a supportive woman."
"I was lucky to have her as long as I did," Edward said with a sigh.
Olivia took a sip of her cider before turning back to his downcast face. "What happened?"
"Lung cancer took her from us. She was a wonderful woman with an awful habit."
"I'm sorry," she said, taking his hand in her free one. He tried to hide his surprise at her suddenly compassionate action. Maybe she was turning over a new leaf. "How old were you?"
"Twenty one." Olivia nodded. "The worst part was that just after, my sister found out she was pregnant. Mom never got to meet her grandson and she would have loved the little guy."
"How old is he now?"
"He would have been six when the disaster hit."
Silence followed as Edward took a drink of the cider. He could still feel his mom's gentle hands wiping the blood of his scrapes as the taste stuck in his mouth. Olivia's youth probably held a different fate.
"What did they call you in school?"
"Frigid bitch. Dyke."
Edward nodded and tried to imagine Olivia's personality in his graduating class. At least he had had humour on his side, when all else failed. She probably just had intensity and solitude. It explained a fair bit about her current issues.
"C'mere," he said. "You can't have all that blanket to yourself." They set the cider down and she scooted over to his side. He put an arm around her shoulder. She flinched again and he realized the bruise must run down most of her back. "You know they're assholes, whoever hurt you like that now and in the past."
Olivia swallowed. "It was justified."
"That's what we tell ourselves. It doesn't make it true."
Olivia's pale face cringed a few moments before she released a few small breaths. "How are things at work?"
"They're good, lots of projects keeping us busy. Some hardware upgrades here and there, security increases too."
"And you like working with Mr. Hues?"
"Oh yeah, Nate's a great guy who really knows his stuff. Good sense of humor too. He's dealing with this daughter of his right now who sounds like handful."
"How so?"
"Boy drama apparently, isn't that always the case with teen girls."
"Are they fighting?"
"Oh no, he knows how to handle things."
Olivia leaned onto his shoulder and snuggled up to him. This was certainly new but he didn't dare make a move.
"How's work for you?"
"I'm stuck supervising the colonies top pick of women to bear children for the colony. You'll get called down with all the men soon so they can select the ideal father's genes."
"Did they pick you yet? You have to be shortlisted for the top -- attractive and good physical health," Edward said with a wink. Her mental state left a little to be desired, but hopefully that wouldn't be hereditary.
"I'm too old to be considered. Too many complications at 32, according to the reproduction team."
"You know what, fuck them. We should show them, right now. Take off your pants and let's make this happen."
Olivia began to laugh. Edward breathed a sigh of relief before continuing.
"There's no better way to say 'fuck the man' than by actually fucking a man, who is me. You show them who can have children without complications. Who can? Olivia can!"
Now, she'd begun to shake her head as the laughter continued. The smile lit up her face for a brief moment he tried to hang onto. He gave her hand a gentle squeeze under that blanket.
"Sorry, I can get quite passionate about women's rights."
Olivia cocked her head to the side. "I'm not sure if you're going about this the right way. It really doesn't bother me. It's a rather tough process for the ones who are selected anyway. They carry the child to term and get a weekly visitation. Some of them are up in arms about it and won't stop bawling."
"Sounds kind of rough. But you're alright with the reproduction team telling you what you can and can't do?"
"I've never wanted children." She paused for a moment as a vacant look crossed her face. She snapped out of it a moment later. "For the moment, our priorities line up."
"What happens when they don't line up?"
"I have over a decade's worth of experience in various forms of armed and unarmed combat techniques issued through the US government. I'm sure you could make an educated guess."
Edward grimaced. He would have preferred that her tone be joking when she spoke. It actually surprised him that she had never used any on him.
"I should count myself lucky then."
"Quite lucky," Olivia said as she glared at the wall.
But truth weighed heavily on Edward. If she was so skilled at defending herself, there had to be some higher official with more power skills than her. Or maybe she had been honest when she said she deserved it. He couldn't imagine what it could be for.
"Does anyone else know about this?" he asked looking down at her blanket covered torso.
Olivia's eyes went wide and she tugged the blanket closer before meeting his gaze. "Other than the one responsible? No."
"No one else?"
"Perhaps officers Williams. He is reasonably observant and not half as stupid as you think he is."
"What?" Edward said and threw his hands up in defense.
"You don't think I overheard your conversation in recruitment camp nearly every night?"
"I noticed a smile here and there between those lustful stares."
Her jaw dropped. "Excuse me?"
"Others might mistake them as looks of discomfort or rage, but I knew better. I knew you were after a piece of this beautiful as-"
"Stop! You are so full of yourself." A smile threatened to break across her face.
"So Williams isn't the one who hurt you."
"No, I have been here longer and we hold the same rank."
She shifted to sit upright, but from the grimace on her face, Edward assumed her body wouldn't allow it.
"I don't think I need to make myself clear on the fact that this is confidential in nature."
Everything about her was confidential. But took away enough from her previous statement. She had given up on the training exercise story, knowing he hadn't bought it. Whoever had hurt her held a higher rank and more important role in the organization.
"Will you tell me if it happens again?"
"I'm taking steps to ensure that it doesn't," Olivia said. She glanced down at her hands then up at Edward.
"I'm going to assume there's no kind of labour board you can go to."
Olivia shook her head.
"So who's the lucky bastard in charge of this whole thing?"
"You're better off not knowing."
"But it is one person? Like Hitler or Stalin?"
"No," Olivia said firmly, "this is nothing like that. We simply have a head of state like a president."
"The funny thing about having presidents and democracy is that they involve an election and people's choices, which go to make it a fair and visible process. That way people are held accountable for the actions and can't abuse their power."
Olivia's eyes narrowed at the word 'abuse'. "Do you honestly think democracy existed or our money-driven society? The company with the highest pay-off budget got their way while anyone or thing standing in their way conveniently went bankrupt, got bought out or changed their ideals. Heads of state and countries were simply pawns in a game of check books and capital. The people who gave a damn were cast aside time and time again. That's why those companies needed to be..."
Her sudden pause jarred his thoughts. He wasn't used to seeing her this worked up about politics, not since the desert camps. Something here didn't sit right. The natural disasters had wiped out society as they knew it outside their colony. Her anger shouldn't have been this fresh.
"Needed to be what, Olivia?"
"Forget about it."
"Whose agenda are you vocalizing your personal one or the colony's mission statement?"
"It's not important."
"I'm just as deserving of information as you are. We both live and work here. I should know what this place stands for too."
"Edward, you are fed and sheltered, but ultimately a cog on the wheel. It's best to remember that."
"Don't give me that crap. I'm not some random off the street who-"
"Ambition like yours and information like that come at a price."
"And what price would that be?"
Olivia paused to allow herself to breathe for a moment. She had grown red in the face. "Losing the people you care most about."
"Isn't that always a risk?"
"Yes, but it can also be used as a consequence for disobedience."
He braced himself for the yelling the next question would induce. "Is that what happened with your fiancé?"
She closed her eyes and sat idly, slowly breathing in and out. Her balled up fists turned white with the pressure she applied. He nearly retracted the statement when a single tear slid down her cheek and her head down and back to its position for a brief moment.
Shit. First they took care of her fiancé and now that she had nothing left to lose, they beat her. How did she stick around this place?
He looked down at her and gently tucked a stray hair behind her ear. Instead of flinching, her right hand relaxed and let go of the tension. Her took her hand and gently rubbed circles on the back with his thumb. As he looked down, he noticed her skin felt soft, not a cut or bruise in sight. He examined her nails and palms too. Not a single defensive wound backed up her training exercise story on either side.
Why Olivia? Why would you possibly think a human being deserved so much pain?
Instead of asking, he brought her hand to his lips for a fleeting moment. She cast her eyes down at the gesture but didn't break his light grip.